Chapter 144

Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was a moment so brief that it felt like blinking.

Yet, in that short span, the two exchanged over ten seconds of intense combat.

To an untrained eye, it seemed like a fierce battle with no room for retreat, but a true master would notice that the elf monk, desperately pressing the attack, was actually being pushed back.

While the elf monk frantically maneuvered to strike, the man receiving the attacks didn’t move an inch, effortlessly deflecting every blow.

“Kugh! You mere pawn of the demonic cult…!”

“Kuhahaha! So this is the famed strength of the elf Shaolin, boasting a thousand years of history? If this is the level of the so-called ‘North Star of the Righteous Path,’ I can only imagine how weak the martial arts of the Central Plains must be!”

“You dare insult the spirit of our Shaolin, blessed by the World Tree, training day and night?! You must have a death wish!”

Though the elf monk shouted defiantly, the situation was dire.

The sects that should have united to fight the demonic cult’s invasion had long lost their sense of justice, becoming selfish and corrupt.

Centuries ago, when he was young, the Central Plains were different. But now, righteousness and camaraderie had vanished from the martial world.

If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before each sect fell one by one to the demonic cult’s onslaught.

And the first victim would likely be the elf Shaolin.

“Kuhahaha! A mere monk preaching about the ‘killing precept’—how laughable! Is this the true face of the righteous martial world? Fine! I’ll end this farce now!”

With that, the demonic cult warrior gathered mana in both hands and unleashed the legendary “Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms,” a secret technique said to have been passed down by dragons of old.

A sinister red glow, alive and writhing, emanated from his palms, shooting forth a devastating beam of energy like a dragon’s breath.

“Kyaaah!”

The demonic cult warrior didn’t stop there, chasing after the fallen elf monk to deliver the final blow.

But at that moment, a steel sphere intervened between them.

“W-what is this…?!”

Seeing the object, the demonic cult warrior halted his attack and immediately took a defensive stance.

Simultaneously, a rain of steel needles poured out from the sphere, targeting the demonic cult warrior.

“Tch…! Is this a toy from the Dang Clan? Why are they here…?!”

“Kuhahaha! Monk! I’ve come to help!”

“What…? Why are you here…?!”

The one who appeared to save the elf monk was a warrior from the Dwarven Dang Clan.

The dwarves, with their innate craftsmanship, created ingenious inventions beyond the imagination of other martial artists. The steel sphere, which unleashed a storm of needles, was one of their secret techniques.

“Kuhahaha! It’s not just me! The entire martial world has gathered to protect the Central Plains!”

“E-everyone…!”

One by one, martial artists from the Central Plains appeared behind the Dang Clan warrior.

The elf monk, overwhelmed, looked at the faces of those who had come to his aid.

A lion beastkin roaring with deep mana.

A dryad spirit wielding the “Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”

Even a werewolf using the “Wolf Wind Fist,” a forbidden martial art.

They had come, regardless of faction—righteous, rogue, or demonic—to protect the Central Plains.

“Thank you. With you here, we will not lose!”

And so, the martial artists of the Central Plains clashed with the demonic cult warriors.

This marked the beginning of the great conflict between the righteous and demonic factions, known as the Righteous-Demonic War.

However, it would only be revealed much later that the demonic cult, formed by outcast orcs, goblins, and ogres, had been manipulated by an even darker force.

That force was the sinister scheme of the Vampire Blood Sect, who saw the martial artists of the Central Plains as nothing more than food…

—

In the Astram Academy’s second-year class, Yuri absentmindedly raised her head, feeling someone call her name.

“…ri! Yuri!”

The voice belonged to Professor Spade, who sounded less than pleased.

Yuri, who had been jotting down her fantasies in her notebook, quickly closed it and stood up upon seeing Spade’s stern expression.

“Y-yes!”

“Daydreaming again during class? What’s so fascinating about those nonsensical martial arts stories? Instead of wasting time on those, wouldn’t it be more practical to read a book on mana engineering, Lady Yuri Blossom?”

Realizing things were about to go south, Yuri hastily interrupted Spade and tried to deflect.

“Ah, no! I was paying attention…!”

“…Really?”

Spade looked at her with a skeptical gaze.

“O-of course! I was just so focused on the lesson that my reaction was delayed.”

“Hmm… Then you should be able to answer my question.”

“Uh… A question…?”

“Yes. About today’s lesson. Magical beasts are ordinary animals mutated by mana, altering their very species. So, what’s the biggest difference between magical beasts and ordinary animals?”

“Uh… That is…”

Yuri desperately glanced around, trying to recall the answer.

“So…”

“You don’t know?”

“N-no! Ah! The biggest difference is that magical beasts have organs or body parts that control mana! Like the horn of a One-Horned Rabbit or the eyes of a Basilisk! These parts often solidify into mana stones when the beast dies, which are crucial resources in human society!”

Fortunately, today’s lesson covered something she knew, and Yuri managed to stammer out an answer.

“Hmm… Alright. I thought I saw you doodling in your notebook and grinning like a fool, but I must’ve been mistaken.”

‘Ugh… I’m doomed.’

Despite giving the correct answer, Spade’s words were merciless, and Yuri closed her eyes tightly as the class erupted in laughter.

—

Ding dong ding dong.

“Hahaha. Yuri, that was hilarious!”

“…”

“If you were a girl, you’d laugh too.”

After class, Rosemary, Yuri’s best friend, teased her while trying to hold back her laughter.

Rosemary laughed so hard she even shed a tear, but Yuri, the subject of the joke, found it anything but funny.

“But Professor Spade isn’t wrong. You keep daydreaming during class, so no wonder he’s targeting you.”

“That’s…”

Rosemary’s words, though well-meaning, stung Yuri deeply.

As someone who consistently daydreamed during lectures, Yuri couldn’t argue back and silently listened.

“And those martial arts stories… Yuri, we’re second-years now. How long are you going to stay obsessed with those unrealistic tales?”

“…Unrealistic?”

But dismissing her daydreaming and belittling her favorite stories were two different things.

Yuri never expected her best friend to criticize her hobby and stared at her in shock.

Rosemary, oblivious to Yuri’s hurt, continued.

“Yeah. Honestly, they’re too unrealistic. It’s time to grow out of that.”

“It’s just a hobby!”

“That’s why I’m saying you should find a more worthwhile one. Like Professor Spade said, instead of wasting your youth on those stories, why not study mana science, magical beast ecology, or interspecies history? Things that are actually useful in real life.”

Of course, Rosemary meant no harm.

As Yuri’s closest friend, she genuinely wanted Yuri to focus on more practical pursuits.

But good advice is only valuable if the listener takes it well.

After listening to Rosemary, Yuri grabbed her bag and stormed out of the academy without a word.

“Yuri? Yuri!”

—

“Sniff… Meanie. She knows how much I love adventure stories…”

Yuri, unable to contain her frustration, found herself at the Adventurer Guild of Astram.

Though she had always dreamed of adventure, reading countless tales of heroes and adventurers, she had never actually visited the guild.

Perhaps it was because she vaguely understood the gap between dreams and reality, or maybe she was just too scared to take that step.

After all, her love for adventure stories was just a hobby—she never seriously considered becoming an adventurer.

But now, after being ignored by her professor, laughed at by her classmates, and even betrayed by her best friend, Yuri had stormed into the guild in a fit of anger.

She imagined that the adventurers here, who surely loved adventure as much as she did, wouldn’t mock her for her passion.