LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 5 - Academy, dirty and hard to get into. (1)
-Clop clop clop
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage finally stops, announcing our arrival.
The coachman quickly gets down from the carriage and opens the door.
“Ugh… urp…”
And I nearly died.
‘I… I didn’t think motion sickness could get this bad…’
I had been in the carriage for four days straight, not just one.
And on a pile of dirt that only resembled a ‘road,’ not even a modern paved one.
As I got off the carriage and carefully vomited in the field behind, I thought,
‘Asphalt was truly a great invention…’
-Pat pat
The coachman slowly patted my back.
“How strange. It’s my first time seeing a mana or aura user get motion sickness.”
One thing came to mind at those words.
‘I really am terminally ill…’
It might have been different if I had been using body enhancement. But motion sickness while having it activated for 24 hours, even while sleeping?
No matter how I thought about it, the cause had to be my terminal illness.
“Phew…”
Still, after emptying my stomach, my spinning mind seemed to clear a bit.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
The coachman bowed his head in farewell.
“Thanks to you, it was an enjoyable four days.”
“For me as well, it was one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had as a coachman.”
The coachman turned and climbed back onto the carriage.
“If we meet again, please cook for me once more. It was really delicious.”
I had been in charge of meals for the four days.
Why? Because it was cheaper that way.
Well… I suppose it’s fine since the person who ate was satisfied.
Especially since he said he wanted to eat it again next time.
“I’d be happy to cook for you anytime.”
It’s nice to be told such things, even if it was just out of courtesy.
-Wave wave
“See you next time!”
I waved goodbye to the departing carriage.
The distant coachman also waved his hand, and gradually, the distance between us grew until he was no longer visible.
“Phew…”
I finally arrived at my destination.
“The Academy!”
In the distance, I could see the castle-like structure – that’s the Academy.
That’s right.
In the distance.
“Damn…”
Feeling ridiculous, I covered my eyes with my hand and collapsed on the ground.
“This cursed fantasy world… couldn’t they at least make the entrance ceremony a bit more relaxed…”
—–
Entrance Ceremony
What am I talking about? It’s the day when new students first enter the school, and teachers celebrate the newcomers.
But it seems fantasy worlds are somewhat different.
“Do I really have to enter this place?”
To reach the Academy, I have to pass through a jungle full of monsters, which feels more like a demonic realm.
Actually, I know why this procedure exists.
It’s a kind of skill test.
The monsters that are released are those captured by seniors and professors during the vacation period, so their ranks aren’t that high.
That’s why they can confidently say,
‘If you can’t even cross a forest like this, do you really want to enter the Academy?’
There’s no need to catch the monsters.
You just need to pass through this vast jungle and arrive at the Academy.
Usually, most students entering the Academy are nobles, so with the mana and aura education they’ve received since childhood, their level is generally around 3rd Circle or Aura Expert.
They should be able to cross a forest like this without much difficulty.
The problem is…
“The difficulty has increased because of the Arcana!”
As the protagonist is entering, for some reason, the difficulty suddenly shoots up this year.
“I don’t want to go in.”
What’s the point of arriving a day early for the Academy’s entrance ceremony?
It takes a day to run to the Academy.
-Pat pat
I got up from my spot, dusting off the dirt that had clung to me while lying down.
“Let’s go.”
What can I do if I don’t want to go?
I have to go.
—–
-Thud thud thud thud
I never knew I could run this fast.
-Boom boom boom
“Please just go away!”
When your life is on the line, humans really do become stronger.
-Roar!
“Ah, I’m not food!”
Behind me, a Tyranno-like creature is chasing with its mouth wide open.
You know, among dinosaurs. The one with short arms and legs like oversized chicken legs, but looks cool when it opens its mouth and roars – that Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Instead of short arms, it has two additional legs like chicken legs, making it quadrupedal.
It’s good that I saw the Tyranno open its mouth, but why is it drooling and chasing after me?
“I’m really going to cry…”
I want to cry.
—–
“Huff… huff.”
-Roar!
“Go away, you beast! Shouldn’t you have given up by now?”
I’ve been running towards the Academy for about half a day, chased by that Tyranno (tentative name).
I finally managed to escape by climbing up a rather thick giant tree.
-Growl!
That stupid creature is scratching at the tree and crying, but.
“So what now?”
Climbing to the top of the giant tree, I’ve gotten quite close to the Academy.
-Whoosh
“Ah… it’s cold.”
Maybe because it’s such an enormously tall tree, the blowing wind feels sharp, carrying a low temperature that feels like a gale.
That’s how tall the tree was.
—
After waiting a few minutes.
“Should I start going down now?”
Looking down, the Tyranno has disappeared.
Even when I focus mana in my ears and eyes, there doesn’t seem to be any dangerous creatures around.
“That’s a relief.”
If Tyranno was still scratching at the tree, I might have been in danger of hypothermia on this cold treetop, given the chilly wind.
-Thump
Carefully climbing down the tree to the ground, I look around, but no monsters are in sight.
“It’s fortunate that the monsters are drawn to Arcana, elves, and the duke’s family.”
The monster boss that appears midway said something like that.
‘You lot are like honey found in a dirt floor overflowing with biscuits!’
To put it roughly, they give off a scent that monsters love to hunt.
I thought I wouldn’t give off such a scent since I’m not a main character, and it seems my prediction was correct.
-Growl
‘……’
I’m hungry.
I threw up this morning, and I haven’t eaten a single meal since then because I’ve been running away from various monsters.
“Isn’t there anything I can catch?”
Even if I want to eat something, there’s nothing to eat.
-Rustle rustle
No matter how much I search my bag, I can’t find my emergency jerky.
I must have dropped it while running away earlier.
“What should I do?”
-Growl
The sound from my stomach is getting louder and louder.
-Drip
“Rain?”
A water droplet falls from the sky.
-Sticky
When I touch the large water droplet that fell on my head, it feels sticky.
And there’s a strange smell too.
-Swish
I raise my head to look above me.
And then I saw it.
-Roar!
The Tyranno’s huge mouth, open and falling towards me.
-Swoosh
I barely dodge the Tyranno’s mouth.
-Growl
If it hasn’t eaten for half a day, shouldn’t it give up? Why is it like this?
-Swish swish
At that moment, the Tyranno starts to disappear before my eyes.
“Huh?”
I had forgotten for a moment.
This is a fantasy world, and why these aren’t called animals but monsters.
-Roar!
-Thwack
At that moment, I was dazed by the disappearing Tyranno. Then, it suddenly appeared in front of me and headbutted me, sending me flying far away.
-Crack
Flying far away like that, I could finally stop by crashing into a huge tree.
“Cough! Cough!”
-Whoosh whoosh
The dust created by my impact and crash obstructed my vision and breathing.
“Body enhancement, thank you so much.”
Despite being sent flying quite far by the Tyranno’s headbutt, it seems not a single bone in my body is broken.
Body enhancement is indeed body enhancement, I guess.
-Drip
That’s not to say I’m unharmed though.
-Rustle rustle
I quickly take a bandage from my bag and roughly wrap it around my head.
In such an urgent situation, with a mind fuzzy as if I have a concussion.
-Roar!
-Swoosh
The Tyranno disappears from my sight again and suddenly appears behind me.
I rotate my mana and barely manage to dodge.
“You, I just remembered.”
Damn classic RPG game.
Most of the mobs were in pixel art without illustrations, so it took time to recall.
“Pirkakaron… was it?”
It’s a mob, so I can’t even remember its name.
That’s right.
It’s just a mob.
Its only ability is invisibility.
Even that ability is naturally ignored thanks to the strange ‘sixth sense’ called intuition once you reach the third circle.
Despite being a monster, it can’t even use body enhancement, so it gets sliced like tofu with one sword strike from an aura user.
The only problem is that I don’t have the intuition of a third-circle mana user or the physical abilities of an aura user.
“Tsk.”
I know very well that I’m weak, even without feeling it like this, but why does life keep emphasizing it?
-Roar!
-Swoosh
As I’ve noticed since earlier, its attacks are just headbutts and charging straight ahead with its mouth open.
If you experience such simple attacks for half a day, even if you’re slower than your opponent, you can dodge them.
-Swoosh, swoosh
-Crack, crack
It charges at me with its mouth open several times, but I dodge them all narrowly.
“You…!”
-Whir!
My steadily rotating mana then spun as fast as it could.
-Swoosh
I swung my sword.
-Stab
“Ah, I messed up.”
My sword can pierce this thing’s skin,
Not cut.
-Roar!
-Whoosh
“Waaahh!”
The monster writhes in pain from the stabbed sword, and I’m hanging on its back, unable to even pull out the stuck sword.
‘This is why I ran away before…’
When I first entered the forest and saw this thing, I did try swinging my sword at it a few times to catch it.
It’s just that, like now, it only got stuck without cutting, so I couldn’t hurt it at all and gave up, running away.
-Whoosh
The sword came out due to the monster’s writhing, but
“Ah.”
I was thrown into the air along with the sword.
“I’m screwed.”
—–
The moment Aaron Dight flew up high into the sky,
An elf on a tree saw it.
-Stretch
And, she picked up her bow.
“Mother Earth, penetrate. Overwhelm.”
-Swish
In sync with her chant, an arrow is created on the drawn bowstring.
-Ping
The arrow imbued with elemental energy leaves the elf’s hand.
At the same time, life begins to stir in her green eyes, which had held darkness like a midnight forest.
“Found you.”