Chapter 202

Ten days after the midterms.

Noa hurriedly walked under the bright blue sky without a cloud in sight. Following Ulan, she silently reflected on her memories from the past week.

‘It’s already been a week since that day.’

Since then, Noa had been trying to create opportunities to be alone with Ulan. She wanted to clear up the various questions that arose in Zone 5.

A few days ago, she finally managed to find a moment and let all her unanswered questions spill out.

Why had Fertisha gotten involved in the Trial of the Hero earlier than scheduled? How did she end up fighting the Phantom Knights?

‘To cut to the chase…’

The reason for the trial was something even Ulan didn’t know.

All he said was that while doing volunteer work, he spotted Fertisha heading towards the Source of Magic, and that’s when the trial began.

Back to square one with her questions.

Meanwhile, Noa’s expression was calm. If Ulan didn’t know, then there could only be one conclusion.

‘It probably just activated ahead of the original story by coincidentally meeting the activation conditions.’

The activation condition for the trial was simply that Fertisha must come into contact with a location linked to the Abyss.

And since Zone 5 would later be where the Gate of the Abyss opens, it practically meant all conditions for the Trial of the Hero were met.

‘The only difference from the original is probably the location of that contact.’

In the original story, it was the Abyssal Rift that opened in the Imperial Family. This time, it was merely the true Source of Magic in Zone 5. With that cleared up, Noa quickly moved on to the next topic.

‘The Phantom Knights.’

This was also a different scenario from the original.

Instead of the minions of the Phantom appearing, they encountered the Phantom Knights, one of the Lords of the Abyss.

‘But this too…’

She couldn’t resolve her doubts.

Even when she asked Ulan, all he gave back was that he didn’t know either. Unlike the trial she had just brought up, there weren’t any clues needed for resolution, making Noa inwardly sigh.

‘Well, whatever.’

Because the Knights had already been defeated.

Having taken them down, there was no urgent need to uncover the cause of that variable. So Noa shrugged off this question as well.

She had something much more pressing on her mind.

‘…The unidentified enemy.’

While talking to Ulan earlier, he had told her something strange.

He mentioned that aside from the Six Lords of the Abyss, there existed another enemy. Ulan referred to this one as “the enemy that must be defeated without fail.”

“I instinctively sensed it. If we don’t get rid of it, even if we defeat all the Lords, the threat of the Abyss will never be gone.”

Ulan said that with a serious look on his face.

He further described the enemy as “a monster with countless arms.”

However, despite Ulan’s serious explanation, all Noa could muster was a puzzled expression.

‘What the heck is that supposed to mean?’

Wasn’t it supposed to be solved simply by eliminating the Six Lords of the Abyss? That’s how she had started when she first played the original story!

A flood of questions washed over her.

But she wasn’t panicking.

‘Well, I guess it could be possible.’

The flow of the original story that Noa knew had already twisted long ago. Therefore, she couldn’t now consider those memories as absolute fact.

In other words, the information provided by Ulan, who had faced that enemy directly, was way more credible than what Noa had yet to experience.

‘There could also be a final boss.’

This was one of those clichés you commonly see in this kind of game or novel. So Noa wasn’t particularly flustered.

And there was another reason that helped Noa maintain her composure. She blinked while watching Ulan, who was walking ahead.

[Name]: Ulan Bator

[Age]: 17

[Rank]: SS+

[Trait]: Blessing of the God of War

[Characteristic]: Strength, Valor, Honor, Trust, Unyielding Belief, Berserker, Stamina King, Unbreakable, Thick-headed, Scholarly

Soon, his status screen appeared right before her.

Noa handed over the two bottles of Elixir she had received as achievements. Ulan then downed both of them in one go.

‘The first one was the Elixir of Creation.’

And as a result…

He gained the trait “Steel Skin.”

An ability that makes his skin as hard as stone when he receives injuries above a certain level. A fantastic trait for a warrior like Ulan.

‘Next…’

He took the regular Elixir.

In doing so, the newly acquired “Steel Skin” was enhanced to “Unbreakable.” It was one of those rare traits that you hardly ever see.

‘Regardless of conditions, the moment he’s injured, his skin becomes far harder than stone.’

Once activated, it doesn’t disappear until the wound heals, making it so that ordinary swords or arrows won’t even leave a scratch.

Seeing the effects of Unbreakable confirmed, Noa couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

‘It’s like raising a monster.’

This made Ulan even stronger.

Said strength was incomparable to the original.

Considering all this, it was natural that she wouldn’t have any worries about who the enemy might be.

‘Now, I’m actually curious about how strong he can get.’

Noa’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

At that moment, Ulan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Unaware of his halt, Noa continued forward and bumped her face right into his back.

“Ouch!”

It felt like slamming her face into a solid wall.

With a stinging pain from her nose, Noa momentarily staggered backward, glowering at Ulan.

“Ugh, why do you suddenly stop?”

“It’s meal time.”

That was Ulan’s blunt response.

Noa snapped out of her long reverie, finally taking in the scene before her. It was Ulan and the other students sitting down and taking out their lunch boxes.

‘Ah, right. That’s what it was.’

She soon regained her sense of reality.

The place Noa was currently at was the forest outside the Academy. With the midterms over, one of the major events of the fall semester had just begun.

The event referred to as the flower of the school days.

School trip.

2.

The school trip of Arsen Academy.

This was one of the schedules that started after the midterm exams of the second semester, aimed at broadening students’ horizons through various experiences.

Participants include first to third-year students.

The location of the school trip changes by year.

This year, the first-year students’ school trip destination is centered around the Source of Magic, to the southwest, within the Endrak Kingdom, part of the Kingdoms Union.

‘Famous as the land of mages.’

It’s one of the two major mountains on the continent famous for magic, along with the Magic Tower of the Rubens Empire.

While the Magic Tower is a place focused on studying battle-oriented magics, Endrak Kingdom can be seen as purely a place for magical research.

‘Particularly renowned for magic engineering.’

The mages of Endrak blend magic with engineering technology, showcasing all sorts of extraordinary inventions.

The Magic Light, commonly used across the Empire and all other nations, was also an invention from Endrak Kingdom.

‘And…’

It’s also the home of “Plume Academy,” one of the many educational institutions that has a sister relationship with Arsen Academy.

But there’s no special need to pay attention to that.

As far as Noa knew, there were no Named Characters from Plume Academy.

‘Well, technically, there is one.’

There’s just one person worth mentioning.

Professor Melt Wirathim.

He’s a genius mage who became a professor at a young age and especially boasts overwhelming talent in the field of magic engineering.

‘He has no direct relation to the Abyss, though…’

One of the inventions he developed would later cause major issues.

Just when Noa was about to recall what it was, a sudden voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hehe, I’m really looking forward to this!”

That was Fertisha’s voice.

As soon as lunch break began, she approached Ulan with a happy smile and said, “I’ve never been on such a long trip before. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep last night.”

Fertisha appeared to be bubbling with joy.

Noa looked at her in surprise.

Considering the character of Crown Prince Chartang from the original story, there was absolutely no way she would have been allowed to participate in the school trip.

‘Did something change in his attitude?’

Or perhaps it was because he was busy finishing up his recent purges. Whatever the case, it was fortunate that Fertisha could now join the trip.

Just as they were enjoying their conversation.

“But you know,”

Ivella suddenly chimed in.

Throughout the meal, she had been looking over a map with a slight frown as she questioned, “Doesn’t 8 days and 9 nights sound a bit too short?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Just looking at the map, the distance is pretty significant. Even traveling by carriage would probably take over a week just one way.”

The Endrak Kingdom lies beyond the Arpen Duchy, so it boasts considerable distance.

As Ivella had said, it was practically impossible to cover that distance within an 8-night schedule. Just then, someone contradicted her.

“No, it wouldn’t take a week.”

“Huh?”

“Two days should be enough.”

It was none other than Ulan.

Having finished his meal in the blink of an eye, he pointed to the map that Ivella had been holding.

Then he added his thoughts.

“Assuming we dash straight from here to here, we could reach it within two days.”

“…”

For a moment, Ivella was left speechless.

She soon realized she had chosen the wrong person to explain things to.

So when she was awkwardly smiling, Noa interjected with a sigh, “That’s only possible for Ulan.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course! No sane person would jump off a cliff or bulldoze through a mountain just to get there faster!”

Last summer vacation.

Noa recalled the moment when she crossed the duchy’s borders to save Delia who was in peril.

As she thought back to how tough and dizzying that time was, she sighed repeatedly, and then Delia, who had been silent, finally spoke up.

“If you think about it normally, yes. But this time, like Ulan said, we could arrive in two days.”

“What? How?”

“Without jumping off the cliff?”

Is there really another way besides just dashing straight through with a body as sturdy as a monster and the stamina to boot?

This made both Ivella and Fertisha look quite intrigued. So Delia calmly answered.

“I heard that this time, the Endrak Kingdom developed a new means of transportation.”

“A new means of transport?”

“Yeah, it’s a magical carriage that runs on magic, and I think it looks something like this.”

When Ulan asked for clarification, Delia drew a picture on the ground with a faint smile. It looked like several carriages stuck together.

“What’s this?”

“Huh? There’s no horse to pull the carriage?”

“Is this thing really supposed to move?”

Questions poured in from all directions.

Delia simply nodded calmly.

“That’s what I heard.”

No one knew where she got the information, but her words were spot on. It was right about this time that the Endrak Kingdom was about to unveil its groundbreaking invention.

‘Magic-Powered Train.’

Simply put, it’s a train that moves using magic, and this train would later cause the major problem mentioned earlier, attributed to Professor Melt Wirathim.

‘The Endrak Kingdom is part of the Kingdoms Union.’

If a groundbreaking and effective power appears among nations with similar strengths, what occurs?

‘It sparks the flames of war.’

Those with tremendous power can’t just sit back and not wield it.

A magic-powered train is powerful enough to qualify as such. The moment the tracks expand to the front line, a supply route would be established that’s miles faster than any other nation.

‘Of course, Melt Wirathim probably never intended that at the start…’

Regardless of intention, the magic-powered train would throw the Kingdoms Union into turmoil.

And the Empire, which had been watching this situation, would soon step into the final stages of war.

For the ambition of continental unification.

‘A war shouldn’t occur.’

Even if the entire continent united to prepare against the Abyss, engaging in a battle that would whittle down their strengths would be a massive blunder.

Of course, considering that it would take at least another decade to expand the train tracks all the way to the front lines, there was no immediate need to worry.

But still, it’d be wise to prepare.

With that resolve, Noa returned to reality.

Afterward, the students resumed their journey, and it wasn’t until late afternoon that they reached their second destination.

The border area of the Kingdoms Union.

This was a neutral zone where all kingdoms in the Union exerted their influence, but among them, the Endrak Kingdom had the strongest presence.

Was that why? This place was practically one of the territories managed by the Endrak Kingdom.

As they scanned the surrounding area, a welcoming voice reached them.

“Nice to meet you all.”

People had come out to greet them at the border entrance.

The young man at the forefront of the group approached the professors from Arsen Academy.

“I am Melt Wirathim from Plume Academy, teaching magic engineering,” he said with a slight smile while adjusting his glasses. This was the very person who would eventually develop the invention that plunges the continent into chaos.

Chapter 47: School Trip

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