Irene heard that the owner of the footprints was not Oknodie, but at the same time, she had also heard otherwise.
She wasn’t the only one spending the term only looking at Oknodie’s back.
She also had a desperate desire to gain Oknodie’s favor and recruit him as an ally from the North.
‘But I couldn’t tell, and they could.’
Should she acknowledge and accept this difference in skill? No, that couldn’t be the case.
“Oknodie or not, these are relatively recent traces. The owner of these footprints might not even know Oknodie.”
Dorothy showed interest in Irene’s decision.
“Then let’s help each other and follow these traces!”
“If Dorothy’s going, I’m going too.”
Irene thought it was surprising that Dorothy and Rockbell wanted to help her.
“Why aren’t you joining the ones searching for Oknodie’s traces? Honestly, I doubt anyone among the first years can track better than you.”
“It’s nearly impossible to find desired traces in a Mana Disaster area. It’s the same in our forest! It’s definitely more advantageous to follow clear traces in times like this.”
…How did Dorothy survive in such a forest?
Irene tried to turn away from the rising doubts.
“But these traces are incredibly technical, rivaling Oknodie’s skill!”
Dorothy gasped in awe at the footprint marked by a tree that sprang up fifteen meters high after stepping once.
This was not the only astonishing move.
The mud marks on the bent branches proved that the owner of the footprints had manipulated the Mana Flow Technique to distribute their weight so perfectly that the branch wouldn’t break, and even reinforced it to avoid destruction while kicking off.
They had perfect control over their body.
Adjusting their impact and balance freely.
They could even extend that influence onto the surrounding objects.
Mana Sword.
Magical Blade.
This showed that their training and control had reached such an extreme that their overflowing Mana and Spirit/Energy could damage the surroundings.
“Wow. How can this not be Oknodie?”
As Dorothy quickly scanned the area where the tree-footprint had landed, mixed with confusion, she exclaimed in admiration.
“Where did it land?”
“Over there. The top of another tree, more than 50m away.”
“!!”
It wasn’t a lower spot from the branch it jumped off.
The reached location was even ‘higher.’
It’s natural for physical phenomena to lose power due to gravity, and even if speed increases while cloaked in Spirit/Energy, their defense power decreases, forcing heights to drop.
Yet, the owner of the footprints blatantly defied such laws of physics, Mana Science, and Spirit laws.
They flew such a far distance to land on a higher tree while taking minimal losses due to overwhelming control.
At this rate, one would believe it was a magic missile rather than a person.
“They converged the Spirit/Energy consumed while released externally back to their interior to eliminate losses. There might be few adept beings with such skills even in the Northern military.”
Irene recognized this.
This level was not typical for first years.
Even among the upper class of first years, it was an extraordinary talent rare to find.
To catch up would take a long time. Since their speed was incredible, the distance would be long too. Both of you, be firmly determined to chase it down!”
Though Dorothy may not be capable of jumping 50m off the trees all at once like the target, she too was light on her feet while tracking in two or three jumps.
The pursuit continued relentlessly.
Reputed for its most heinous danger among the three great forests, the chaos zone from the dimensional rift’s Monsters, both Dorothy and Rockbell had honed their movement techniques for survival.
Irene, who equally trained for survival in the barren Northern ice plains through military service, had also embodied similar techniques.
It wasn’t intentional, but they had inadvertently assembled the optimal pursuit team.
“Hmm? There’s… nowhere to step here??”
Emerging from a cloud of dust, a gaping cliff appeared before them.
Seeing a massive hole over 100m wide, Irene expressed her doubts.
“Did we lose the trace?”
“No. I considered retracing steps and false leads as well, so there’s no way they fooled my eyes.”
“What about traces across the cliff?”
“Ugh. I can’t see them.”
“…Did they fall to their death?”
Honestly, that seemed more plausible.
By employing not just a single maneuver but several shortcuts, it was not an impossible gap to clear…
Whew!!
Gugugugu.
Air and Mana were drawn toward the edge of the cliff.
Accomplishing tricks amidst the whirlwind of tremendous Mana wind is quite a different challenge.
When such Mana wind blows through, the natural Mana becomes sparse in the immediate area, raising the difficulty for casting magic since the number of Mana puzzles mobilized is drastically reduced.
In such a place, a magician must have plenty of Mana puzzles at their disposal with a high degree of purity to unleash significant power using smaller puzzles.
Otherwise, they may slip under the Mana wind and accidentally cancel the spell as it disperses.
Body Reinforcement, while slightly easier than spellcasting, still presents significant difficulties for the same reasons.
Dorothy noticed even the meaning of the traces left on this cliff.
━━━
[Heavenly Barrier]
A massive cliff opened at a 100m interval.
The torrent of Mana winds rushing below resembled the gash made by a giant wielding a tremendous will.
━━━
This was a blade mark.
Someone swung it with such force that even after countless years, it left traces in the world.
To jump over the marks left by such a skilled individual is by no means an easy feat.
“Dorothy, is your intuition really pointing over there?”
“Yes. I’m certain!”
“Then Dorothy is right.”
Irene showed curiosity.
“You really trust your gut, huh?”
“Dorothy’s instincts never miss. If they did, she would’ve fallen prey to a monster long ago.”
The human brain warns of unconsciously perceived threats based on information processed without conscious awareness.
In that sense, Dorothy’s keen sense of danger was far more precise than others.
Although the reasoning might be invisible, her brain calculated that the target must have crossed here.
“Then I’ll create a stepping stone.”
Irene formed a massive ice bridge connecting the gap of the cliff, based on her unmatched purity in ice.
Whew!!
Gugugugu.
Though the bridge began cracking under the fierce winds, it held strong.
If it doesn’t vanish in an instant, they can leap across a distance even shorter than 100m.
“Now it’s my turn. Hold on tight.”
Swift Rockbell.
Always following just behind Dorothy, the long-haired man.
Irene had never witnessed his true potential.
In fact, no one had ever seen it.
No one had seen him use his full capabilities sincerely until today.
‘He’s fast!’
Not just the speed of his steps.
As he raced across the collapsing bridge, the distribution of Spirit/Energy used for Body Reinforcement was precise enough not to accelerate the bridge’s collapse.
Near-perfect control.
Even the natural Mana left in the spot he had just rushed through held a clear Will.
-Quickly. Even faster.
-A speed no one can match.
There’s a tale that the remnants of the heroes’ selves, who wielded the weapons used by great heroes, speak as if they were living humans.
This trace may not reach a communicative level, yet they inscribe their will in the atmosphere, even if only for a moment.
Realizing this magnificent ability, Irene came to a profound conclusion.
‘This man’s peak… might even surpass mine.’
The survivalist of the Monsters’ Forest.
Was this his true strength?
“This is where my guidance ends. Jump.”
The distance left to the other side of the cliff was half that, 50m.
Still harsh.
It was a gap that couldn’t be closed in one jump atop the trees, requiring two or three jumps.
[Mana Flow Technique]
[Awesome Hard Bullet]
Revealing hidden strength, he shot forward straight as a bullet over to the other side of the cliff.
He untied the rope fastened at his waist and instantly infused it with Spirit/Energy.
Swish!
A rope extended straight like a ladder.
Dorothy stepped onto it as she broke into a cold sweat, relieved.
“What about Irene?!”
“…Look back.”
[Flying Magic]
Dorothy’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“That’s low.”
“I can’t keep it up for long. Flying Magic consumes too much.”
The three of them safely made it across the cliff.
Near the cliff were patches of various Safe Zones spread out.
It was the perfect time to recover and reorganize their spent Spirit/Energy.
As long as they meet the entry conditions set by the previous users.
[Additional Entry Conditions: Join the Heavenly Barrier Investigation Team]
“Are you seriously going to investigate just beneath that cliff we passed…?”
Are they insane?
In response to what Dorothy blurted out, an answer came from within the Safe Zone.
“It’s crazy. Unless you have sufficient skill.”
“!!”
Unlike the frail seniors watching from the entrance, the presence of these seniors bore an aura reminiscent of the formidable power felt only during the athletic meet.
It was hard to understand why they remained as students despite their immense strength.
“Chasing after someone who went ahead is even crazier. The next Mana Disaster will be of a different ‘level’. It would be better to descend this cliff.”
“Did you see someone ahead?”
“A girl with an elegant appearance like a doll.”
“A doll-like… elegant?”
“There’s probably only one first-year with such looks.”
Dorothy and Rockbell’s faces hardened simultaneously.
Irene finally understood.
If the identity of the opponent was that girl, it indeed justified the difficulty of the chase.
“Zhang.”
What they were chasing was Oknodie’s best friend.
