Chapter 252

Even after Sivar went to wash off the soot, the practice continued.

Following Sivar, the rest of the practice went on as usual, but there was something unique about it.

“It’s easy, right? It’s easy, right? It’s easy, right?”

“How is this easy! It’s only easy by your standards!”

“I seriously almost died…”

Some were picking on Sivar, while others just looked dumbfounded.

It was a moment of realization that what was easy for Sivar wasn’t necessarily easy for everyone else.

Of course, it’s a problem in itself to blindly believe that everyone’s standards align. Thus, the professors meticulously ranked everyone based on their records.

“Next is Luna Estelle.”

Luna stepped forward, feeling a bit anxious upon being called.

She had felt relieved while Sivar was out, but there was no way to escape the tension from the evaluations that followed.

At least it was a relief that it wasn’t life-threatening. Moreover, despite having burnt marks, she hadn’t been actually injured.

‘This must mean that it’s okay to take it head-on.’

There is no such thing as a fire that’s not at least a little hot. But if it’s magic that takes the form of fire, that changes things.

That charred soot must have been specially treated magic. If anyone had actually gotten burned, they’d all be in the hospital by now.

The Academy wasn’t a complete disaster when it came to protecting students. Of course, if a student tried to be rebellious, they would be expelled without hesitation.

“As I said earlier, once you step inside, there will be weapons. After that, crossing the red line is the start.”

“Got it.”

Luna listened to the professor and stepped into the set. There should have been students causing a ruckus inside, but strangely, it was tidy.

It was only natural since the professors had been setting things up as students came out.

Luna then entered the set and began to assess the overall structure.

‘It looks normal on the outside, but…’

The moment she crossed the red line, everything changed.

KWAAAHH!!

The flame thrower that Sivar had nearly fallen victim to. When flames shot toward her face, Luna startled and instinctively moved her hands.

She was holding a sword that had been in the set.

SWISH!

As Luna sliced, the swirling flames split perfectly in half.

The flames that had split aside quickly hit the walls and dissipated with a faint noise.

“Wow, that startled me.”

Even though she said so, her expression was unchanging. She stared blankly at the sword in her hand.

She had instinctively cut through flames—flames that lack a solid shape.

While water has a shape when contained, fire does not. Therefore, cutting through fire is incredibly difficult.

‘The result of my training is showing.’

All thanks to Rod’s training. He taught her not just the basics of dueling but also various skills.

Especially helpful was the skill of cutting through shapeless power like fire. Magic is a prime example.

Fire, wind, or lightning—attacks that lack a form can’t be cut with a sword.

But upon closer inspection, they aren’t entirely formless. They’re just extremely faint, and humans can manipulate them.

‘If I train this well, I could even deflect lightning, right?’

Rod had also taught her skills that instilled manners in Sivar, which operate on a similar principle.

Of course, deflecting lightning would be an incredibly tough task, so starting with fire is the way to go.

‘Let’s keep moving.’

Luna gracefully dodged the first trap and advanced. The set itself was eerily similar to a cave.

Perhaps that’s why, while it was fine when dolls appeared during her journey, there were even more traps.

CLUNK!

“Whoa!”

There was, of course, a sudden trap that made the ground collapse.

PAVA-BA-BAK!

And arrows shot from the direction of the dolls.

BOOM!

Maybe something large fell from above, and so on.

Every kind of trap that could exist in a dungeon popped up like crazy.

So much so that she started examining her surroundings carefully with every single step she took.

And Luna’s excellent vision and special ability activated here as well.

[Concave Platform]

[It’s a concave platform. Something seems like it might happen if stepped on.]

That sort of thing. It was a great ability for disarming traps.

If she were a normal person, she would have avoided that platform, but maybe because of her curiosity, she sparked more interest.

After all sorts of traps had appeared, Luna couldn’t help but wonder what this might activate.

Was it information, curiosity? After pondering, Luna quietly lifted her foot.

‘Since it’s not a real situation, what’s the harm?’

With that, she gently stepped on the concave part.

SWISH!

Immediately, a cool stream of water poured down from above. She couldn’t even react in time.

Luna ended up soaked, dumbfounded, and just sat there dumbfounded for a while.

‘…Well, that explains why there were wet people earlier.’

This was all her own fault. She roughly pushed her damp bangs aside.

From now on, she vowed not to press anything like a cat.

[Strange Button]

[It seems like something interesting might happen if pressed.]

“… …”

What on earth is this thing’s standard for “interesting”? Just after she made that vow, she found herself in yet another dilemma.

Luna looked at the button that was sticking out, as though begging her to press it, and fell into another quandary.

If she pressed it, she’d look foolish, but if she didn’t, it’d feel uncomfortable.

Could it be that the reason she was getting delayed was simply because of her curiosity?

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say, and this was spot on.

‘… …I mean, I really don’t care about the records.’

With that thought, she pressed the button, half nervous and half excited.

Unlike before, initially, nothing happened. While she was puzzled by that, suddenly—

WHOOOSH!!

A dry, warm wind whipped around Luna. This wasn’t a trap; it was just plain wind.

Luna squinted her eyes shut, unable to handle the gust. In the moment of panic, she couldn’t react.

“… …”

For about a minute, the warm wind continued, drying off her soaked body and clothes.

It seemed like some device made for wet people. Luna let out a hollow laugh.

What a considerate test this was. It wasn’t like they were giving her poison along with the cure.

‘… …But I did this all myself, didn’t I?’

Unable to resist her curiosity, she poked at every trap there was. Even Sivar probably looked at her with disappointment.

While feeling an inexplicable sense of self-loathing, Luna continued onward. Fortunately, there weren’t any particularly dangerous traps left.

“Luna Estelle. 6 minutes and 52 seconds.”

As she stepped out of the exit, Godin promptly announced her record. Luna simply nodded and walked off.

Most students went to wash up after their practices. With a sigh, she headed towards the shower room.

‘Even though I slacked off, I only managed 7 minutes? How did Sivar do it?’

Lost in such thoughts, she arrived at the girls’ shower room, where quite a few students were already changing.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Among them was Kara who, having gone first, was looking fresh after just showering.

Inadvertently, Luna’s gaze fell on Kara’s chest. The size was impressive, and it contrasted sharply with her bronzed skin…

“Hey, what are you looking at? Have you never seen a human body before?”

“No, it’s just… fascinating.”

“What’s so fascinating about it?”

“Such things exist.”

Luna tried to dodge the question. There are some things that are not easy to say outright.

After she had cleaned herself up neatly, Kara was waiting for her. She thought she had already gone back.

“Why didn’t you leave first?”

“I’d be bored by myself.”

“So you’re pretty lonely, huh?”

“Do you want a punch?”

She asked out of curiosity, but why was she clenching her fist? Rather than panic, Luna felt puzzled.

Once in a while, she’d say something dumber than usual, but that hardly warranted a fist.

She had only spoken the truth, so why the overreaction? Still, everyone was nice enough that they really wouldn’t hit her.

“How many minutes did you take?”

“I took about 7 minutes.”

“You came out pretty quickly.”

“You only took 6 minutes.”

Kara’s record was exactly 6 minutes. While it wasn’t as fast as Sivar, it was still quite quick.

That made her even more curious. Just what did Sivar do to end up with a time of only 3 minutes?

If she eventually ran into Sivar, she’d ask him directly. But it wasn’t entirely unpredictable.

‘Maybe he just stormed right through?’

That was more than plausible for Sivar. Luna walked back to the practice area alongside Kara.

She could have just returned to the dorms, but she was looking for Sivar.

He was patiently waiting to return with Grace. Very calmly.

“Sivar.”

“Yeah?”

When Luna called out, Sivar turned his head. He looked fresh, having just washed up.

Luna stared at Sivar’s face for a while. Seeing him like this, she had to admit he was quite handsome.

Clearing her mind of unnecessary thoughts, she asked with curiosity.

“How did you get through? No matter how hard I try, I feel like 5 minutes is my limit at best.”

“Now that’s interesting. Just what did you do to manage only 3 minutes?”

Kara was equally curious and asked the same question. Upon hearing the question, Sivar blinked.

Blinking was one of Sivar’s peculiar habits. It came out whenever he thought deeply about something.

Then he glanced at the practice set and scratched his head.

“It was easy.”

“Easy?”

“Yeah. I avoided the traps and smashed the dolls. That’s all.”

“… …”

It really sounded annoyingly straightforward, but then again, it was Sivar saying it, so it was hard to argue.

While Luna fell silent, Kara jumped in with a question from the side.

“Sure, that’s all fine, but what about the trap where the ground collapsed? That must have been hard to react to.”

“Oh right, I got caught in that too. What did you do around it, Sivar?”

Luna hadn’t used her ability then and had been caught completely off guard. It had taken her a minute just to get free from the trap.

So, did Sivar fall for that trap as well? Upon hearing that question, Sivar replied curtly.

“I rebounded.”

“You rebounded?”

“Yeah. I bounced myself off hard and hit the wall. Then I climbed back up the wall.”

“… …?”

That explanation was just incomprehensible.

******

While Sivar was diligently attending classes at the Academy,

Father Alexander, a follower of Gaia who returned from Byzantium, had just come back.

After returning to the temple, he offered a brief prayer to the statue of Gaia and headed straight to his room.

As the world’s first and only temple, it had a strong antique appearance, but the interior had a reasonably modern decor.

If judged purely on grandeur, it could be considered more opulent than the Papal Palace, though that was because the Papal Palace was relatively bland.

“Cardinal Vidal. I have just returned after hearing your orders.”

“… …”

In the empty joint worship hall, there stood the statue of Gaia.

A statue created in the likeness of a beautiful maiden. In front of that statue, an elderly man dressed in white was gazing at it.

“Good. Father Alexander. Was there anything strange?”

His heavy voice bore the weight of age. Hearing those words, Father Alexander further bowed his head.

The Cardinal was the most authoritative person within the Gaia sect. Excluding the Pope, he was the most powerful figure in Byzantium.

“There were countless strange occurrences. However, as the saint is protecting us, I couldn’t interfere any further.”

“Hm… …”

As Alexander’s report ended, the Cardinal stroked his beard. His face was deeply troubled.

His face, already worn with age, seemed to have more wrinkles. With a sorrowful look, he spoke.

“Father Alexander.”

“Yes.”

“Ever since Lady Gaia has vanished, strange occurrences have been happening one after another.”

“… …”

Gaia had disappeared. That wasn’t something the Cardinal should be saying.

Yet, it accurately described the current situation. Gaia was absent, meaning she was missing.

As a result, there had been major difficulties in training priests. After all, blessings ultimately came from Lady Gaia.

“Even the once-prominent individual that was a Pope has fallen into chaos. This might have disappointed Lady Gaia.”

Cardinal Vidal mentioned the Pope, who had been causing a stir every time trying to escape. He was originally a follower of Gaia.

However, at some point, Rize took him away, and his power diminished significantly. In its place, chaos had taken root.

Ideally, a believer of life would take the Pope’s position, and they would be able to extend Gaia’s influence through that power.

“And now, hybrids chosen by chaos and destruction have begun to appear, despite showing rejection toward Life. Do you really think all of this is mere coincidence?”

“… … I do not see it as coincidence. But with the saint guarding us, it’s hard to even approach.”

“Indeed. Even for you, it must be daunting with the saint glaring right at you.”

Rize, who is praised as a saint, has true power in her fists.

Rather than killing demons with divine power, she erases them with her raw strength.

By combining that with divine power, she becomes a figure that instills fear in demons.

But she’s so strong that it had led to chaos gaining even more power. Neither life nor destruction, but pure chaos.

“However, I don’t suppose the saint will harm us.”

“I know that too well. The moment we try to harm her, we’ll be the ones disappearing first.”

Ordinary strength would have been fine. It could have been discreetly taken care of.

But her powers were absurdly strong. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a way to overcome her.

“But chaos is growing stronger. The distinction between life and destruction, which couldn’t originally exist in harmony, is blurring. This is extremely dangerous.”

“… …”

“Father Alexander. I am entrusting you with full authority regarding this matter.”

“That means… …”

When Father Alexander was unable to hide his shock, Cardinal Vidal turned his back.

With a stubborn face and a multitude of wrinkles, there was a faint madness in his eyes.

“I want a thorough investigation into that man protected by Rize.”

“If any issues arise during the process…”

“It doesn’t matter. For now, we must find someone who can take the place of the Pope.”

Cardinal Vidal continued.

“To ensure that Lady Gaia can once again keep watch over us.”

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