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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 82
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"..."
Very slowly, I steadied my breathing.
To compose my extremely fatigued body, even just a little, and because it was worth the risk.
The greatest growth I could hope for right now. That was none other than a skill.
Normally, it would be a stage unimaginable for a Level 4 Trait user, but I had miraculously grasped a clue about a skill.
The hand holding the spear felt incredibly heavy.
My body, pushed to its limits, cried out in pain just from holding the spear. Nevertheless, enduring the pain, I slowly recalled the concept.
—Pierce a single point and twist it.
It wasn't a complete concept yet. Just a concept that felt that way to me.
Even this incomplete concept had shown absolute power when I unleashed it.
In the previous spar with Luna, it pierced through her vast mana and twisted her Kite Shield, and even the full-force wind pressure unleashed by Gerard vanished by twisting a single point.
However, after only two uses, my body began to show adverse reactions, so I had stopped trying to master the skill for a while.
"It's possible."
I told myself, as if making a vow, and began to flesh out the concept further.
The catalyst for thinking of this concept. It originated from imagining something I could never deal with normally.
'I thought the spearhead couldn't reach.'
Leonhardt, whom I faced in the first spar, was exactly like that. Even though I had reached Trait Level 4 at the time, I distinctly felt my spear slowly being caught by Leonhardt.
I clearly believed I could reach him, yet my spearhead still couldn't.
In speed, in strength, as if our very origins were different.
That's why I desperately wanted something that could pierce his sword. If it couldn't pierce, then something that could twist the sword itself and erase the attack.
——!
Thinking calmly, I slowly adopted my stance.
*Swoosh*. Taking a step back, the tip of the hand gripping the spear shaft moved backward again, a stance similar to before yet completely different.
It was a stance that seemed ready to unleash the spear with immense force at any moment.
——!
In an instant, faint mana imbued the spearhead, causing it to glow with a subtle blue light.
At the same time, I conjured Leonhardt from the empty air.
I imagined and recalled his form, even stronger and more evolved than the Leonhardt I faced in our last spar.
"..."
Then, something slowly began to appear.
Leonhardt, standing proudly, his sword raised.
Though clearly an illusion, Leonhardt's distinct blue eyes appeared calm and serene. And the brilliant blue aura imbued in the sword he held surged magnificently, as if about to swallow space itself.
His appearance, having grown incomparably stronger than my own rate of progress, was all too easy to envision.
...And I could envision what came next.
The moment the sword, imbued with immense power, surged towards me.
The aura of the Sky-Shattering Sword was too immense for me to pierce. I couldn't directly confront the Sky-Shattering Sword's aura with my spear.
'Therefore.'
Pierce a single point and twist that utterly immense power.
The moment the thought connected. I was already thrusting the spear forward.
———————!!!
I didn't even know when I had thrust the spear, or if I had consciously swung it, in that moment.
It simply captivated my eyes. My spearhead was moving forward, brilliantly shining and cutting through the air.
The blue aura, stronger than ever before, coiled around the spearhead, and the air where the spear passed fiercely rippled and violently reacted.
*Swoosh…!*
At the same time, the spear, rotating in a spiral, felt different from its previous two uses.
The moment its tip met Leonhardt's sword.
...The spear abruptly stopped.
At that moment, I felt an incomprehensible 'discrepancy'.
It could twist and erase. The spear held such immense power.
But it suddenly stopped. Even the spear, rotating in a spiral, came to a halt.
Something inexplicable... but something was definitely lacking.
I instinctively felt that something was still missing for me to fully reach the skill...
And I couldn't even tell what it was.
*Clang!*
As the spear, uselessly abandoned by my hand, clattered violently onto the ground, immense pain surged through my entire body.
The pain was so unexpected that for a moment, I couldn't even gasp.
"…!"
My body sagged as if collapsing, and my vision twisted violently.
The extreme dizziness made it feel as if I couldn't see anything in front of me.
*Thud.*
As my body hit the ground, the pain throughout my entire being intensified to the extreme, and it felt as if my consciousness was floating away.
Not a single word escaped me, and it felt as though I was suffocating.
How long had it been? A few seconds?
It felt like an eternity.
"Haa... haaa..."
When I could finally breathe again, I focused solely on getting enough oxygen.
For a moment, it felt like I had faced death. Like I had died and come back to life, with only an incredibly vivid pain lingering throughout my entire body.
"Ughhh..."
A groan escaped me from the unbearable pain, and I couldn't even move.
It felt as if someone was trampling my body, trying to burst it open. Extreme pain, as if my body and mind were being torn to shreds.
Even my mind felt like my brain was burning up from the pain.
Amidst the terrible pain, something kept appearing and disappearing.
...I couldn't tell what it was. Just enduring this pain alone meant I had long surpassed my limits.
Then, just as I felt I might lose consciousness, I somehow clung to the thread of my awareness, even amidst the pain.
'No!'
I couldn't lose consciousness here.
The unprecedented sensation I had just felt seemed as if it would vanish like a fleeting dream.
"Ughhh..."
Through the suppressed groans... my vision continued to blur.
Despite that, I absolutely couldn't let go of my will.
***
Late at night, Millia slipped out of the dormitory.
For the first time in a while, she was walking alone.
*Clip-clop.*
*Clip-clop…*
With the gentle sound of her footsteps, as she wandered aimlessly, Millia felt a tightness in her chest.
Having always been by Luna's side, walking alone like this should have felt unfamiliar. Yet, paradoxically, walking alone felt more comfortable now.
"Haa..."
She sighed briefly and stared blankly at the moon.
The moon, illuminating the land brightly, was overwhelmingly radiant.
And even though she was looking at such a bright moon, her heart felt anything but bright... only a sense of dissonance.
...
As she walked aimlessly, many thoughts filled her mind.
It felt like just yesterday she had entered the academy, imagining bright and hopeful days, but now it all seemed like a dream.
She constantly felt like only she wasn't improving, and that she was falling behind other students.
Perhaps it was because her heart had become more complicated lately. Her trait showed no signs of improving.
Sessy was just a cute spirit by her side. There was no sign of her evolving at all.
"And lately, even with Luna... it feels like we're growing apart."
Thinking of Luna, a bitter smile played on her lips.
Lately, she could clearly feel Luna trying to treat her even better. There was nothing wrong with Luna herself.
It was just that the way she treated Luna wasn't the same as before...
Lately, she had started keeping her distance from Luna. She tried to change things by treating Luna a little coldly, as if pushing her away.
Recently, a thought had occurred to her.
'Is it right for me to be by Luna's side...?'
Was it possible that Luna was preventing her from progressing?
Subconsciously, she had been basking in Luna's halo.
Just as other students would naturally look at her when they looked at Luna, she had been unwittingly benefiting from Luna.
But now, she didn't want that anymore. She no longer wanted to live that way.
It felt like living as an insignificant star clinging to the side of a brilliantly shining star named Luna.
Lately, that feeling had grown stronger.
And if she lived like that, what meaning would it have for her?
"I'm... just me."
Luna's friend, the Millia Luna liked, wasn't her true essence. She was just herself.
*Clip-clop.*
Lost in thought, she realized she had entered a park.
*Sigh*. She sank onto an empty bench, a deep sigh escaping her.
As her thoughts of Luna quieted, a man's image suddenly came to mind.
Distinctive black eyes beneath black hair. And even that confident smile.
She didn't know how many times she'd thought of him already. Dozens of times a day, he would appear in her mind. Then disappear. And naturally, she became more conscious of him.
Then... she realized.
"I..."
Perhaps she was just making excuses.
The fundamental reason for her acting and thinking this way was just one.
The reason she was trying to distance herself from Luna, and treating her coldly lately.
Even making Luna apologize in the first place was because of this.
Normally, it would have been an issue that would just fade away due to the prestige of the Vermouth Duchy, where Luna resided. But she had persistently persuaded Luna to apologize to Han Cheonsung.
Why she had done that. She already knew the answer.
"I... liked Han Cheonsung, didn't I?"
It was more like love at first sight.
That's why all her actions had changed. And why she had grown to dislike Luna was also very clear.
Because even Han Cheonsung would now take an interest in Luna.
If she continued to stay by Luna's side, she would just remain Luna's friend.
That's why she was trying to distance herself from Luna and change.
"..."
As she truly realized and acknowledged her feelings, a self-deprecating laugh escaped her.
She felt so childish. The reason she was treating her long-time best friend coldly was because she had developed feelings for a man.
And because that man was showing a strange interest in her best friend, she had treated her best friend harshly.
...It was truly ugly jealousy.
Even if she acted like this, she would lose the best friend she'd been close to all this time, and there was no way the man she liked would choose her.
"…Ugh."
Then, at a sound she heard, she flinched in surprise.
At first, it was a faint sound, like static, but now she could hear it clearly.
Carefully, she rose and directed her gaze towards where the sound came from.
"…Is anyone there?"
*Clip-clop.*
As she spoke and approached the bushes in the park, her eyes widened involuntarily.
There...
was a man who shouldn't have been there.
And he was in a completely battered state.
"Han Cheonsung!?"
She cried out urgently, approaching him without even realizing it.