LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 21
EP.21 Exam Allocation (5)
In the northern mountain range, a snowstorm rages. In that blizzard, visibility is almost zero. It feels as if moving even a step forward is impossible. It doesn’t feel like walking. No, even standing still feels questionable.
In that snowstorm.
The senses become tangled.
The vision shakes.
Lac, born and raised in the North, had experienced this snowstorm before. He had felt firsthand how powerless a mere human can become in front of such colossal nature.
“Huff, huff…”
And now.
Lac feels that powerlessness once again.
Lac focuses his gaze. The veins bulge. However, his eyes do not widen. He can only see vague shapes through his narrow-opened eyes.
His body won’t move as he desires.
“Thirty, now halfway.”
Lac looks at Rania.
Even in this constricting space, her voice echoes without wavering. She sits comfortably on a rock in the bushes, leisurely counting.
Looking at her.
Lac recalls his father’s teachings.
– Have you experienced a snowstorm?
– Yes, Lac. What did you feel?
Fear, and powerlessness.
– Yes, fear and powerlessness.
– Then, what do you call someone who overcomes that?
A great warrior.
A true warrior of the North.
Thud.
Lac clenches his teeth and takes a step forward. His bones creak ominously, but he does not stop.
“Forty.”
One step.
“Fifty.”
Another step.
With every step Lac takes, time flows. As he takes his third step.
“Sixty.”
One minute, the agreed time reaches its end.
That was his limit. Lac’s legs, which had been holding on to the thought of enduring for one minute, gave way helplessly.
Thud.
Lac collapsed to the ground.
Even while falling, Lac reaches out. It was his sheer willpower.
Thunk.
And that determination.
Touches Rania’s feet.
“Hmm.”
Seeing Lac’s fingers at her feet.
She smiles gently.
2.
‘This kid… is something else.’
I lifted the collapsed Lac and brought him outside the boundary line. Then, I laid him on the ground and appropriately adjusted the mana clumped in his limbs.
Honestly, it exceeded my expectations.
This was a territory inherently disadvantageous to Lac.
‘I was thinking of passing him if he could hold on for about 30 seconds.’
He achieved double that and even moved around.
I was genuinely impressed with that determination.
“This seems like you lost, huh?”
I turned my head and looked at Belnoa, who was still standing inside the boundary line. Belnoa had just bent his fourth finger.
Sorcery, offering.
I didn’t stop Belnoa from using sorcery.
I intended to see how far he could handle it. That’s why I set the time of one minute, which they couldn’t simply endure.
‘He definitely has a talent for sorcery.’
Even in this situation, he limited the offering to “fingers.” It’s something that wouldn’t be possible with average talent.
“Come on out. One minute is over.”
“Cough, cough!”
I grabbed Belnoa by the nape of the neck and pulled him outside the boundary.
“Those involved in the promise…”
“I’ll keep my word. I’ll consider the offering as if it never happened, and I’ll report it as a draw.”
“…”
That seemed to be his limit; Belnoa collapsed onto the bushes after hearing my answer. Watching him, I honestly felt amazed.
“Kids nowadays are impressive.”
What was I doing at that age? When I was eighteen, I was probably already involved in work to become the next Master of the Tower. I used to push the kids around, beat them, and get results…
‘What a fun time that was.’
And… if my memory is correct.
It must have been around this time.
When I first set foot in this place, the Mana Spring.
– Can you withstand the Mana Spring?
– How do you endure the saturated mana?
– Even Raniael couldn’t possibly do it.
Hearing such stories circulating within the tower, I half-heartedly challenged it.
‘And then I failed, right?’
I probably crawled to the center of the Mana Spring and then crawled out, covered in blood.
‘So, how about now?’
That thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Traveling the battlefield, I’ve experienced all sorts of things. Thinking back, it didn’t seem particularly difficult.
‘I used Balance in front of the Demon Lord, so why wouldn’t I be able to do this?’
After all, there was still a good amount of time left until the exam ended.
I crossed the boundary and entered the forest. I was the only supervisor for the northern section anyway. Without worrying about being watched, I walked with ease.
As I went deeper inside, the concentration of mana thickened.
Saturated mana sparked in the air.
How long did it take?
A massive ancient tree came into view.
This is why it’s called Harmain Forest.
Under the enormous Harmain tree, gifted by the Ancient Dragon Mage, a significant amount of water accumulated.
‘The Mana Spring.’
Pure, saturated mana.
What is gathered there, if I had to put it into words, is more akin to a mana mass than a spring.
I took off my shoes and dipped my feet into the spring. Splash. The water rose to my ankles. Taking into account my altered body, I measured the depth. Advancing further into the spring.
The water rose to my calves.
In the past, this was my limit.
Just beyond this point, my breath would begin to tighten.
‘Going deeper would lead to ruptured blood vessels.’
But now, that wasn’t the case.
I boldly stepped into the center of the spring. The water reached my lower body, lightly wetting my abdomen. I took another step.
To the center of the spring.
I stood right there.
Saturated mana filled the air.
The risen water was the very essence of saturated mana.
Saturated mana resonates with the mana within the body. The resonating mana begins to vibrate and compresses the flesh. This pressure is not merely physical.
‘The vessels tighten, the heart is pressured, breathing becomes rapid. The disturbed mana arrangement confounds the mind, even causing hallucinations.’
Eighteen years old.
‘That’s why no one could properly handle the Mana Spring. It was simply too dangerous.’
Back then, I had vomited blood when I stood in the center.
But how is it now?
“Hmm.”
I looked at my raised arm.
It seemed smooth. The veins did not seem prominent at all.
‘Looks alright.’
It felt completely normal. My breathing remained steady, and the mana flowing through my body was entirely undisturbed.
Thinking about it, this was only natural.
‘Seven to eight years have passed since then.’
Moreover, I spent five of those years primarily on the battlefield and in the Demon World. I found myself frequently raiding the territories of the Demon Lord’s Army.
The Demon World. If I were to pick out the most significant characteristic of that tainted land, it would undoubtedly be demonic energy.
Demonic Energy.
Polluted mana.
It is considered deadly poison by mages who handle mana.
Finding a place untouched by demonic energy in the Demon World is more difficult. There might be variance in concentration, but the places I ventured into were deep within the Demon World, in areas known as Phantom Territories.
Places overflowing with demonic energy to the point of saturation.
Just standing there would taint one’s blood black. The mana gets contaminated. When I first set foot in the Phantom Territories, I could hardly stand.
Of course, not everyone struggled with that demonic energy.
Among my companions, I alone was susceptible to it.
Sara is a Saint.
Her mana bears a divine quality.
She has complete immunity to the toxic aspects of demonic energy.
Remia is an Elf.
Growing up in the World Tree’s forest, her mana arrangement is robust. The mana blessed by the World Tree does not get disturbed by demonic energy.
Kyle is a Hero.
He possesses a body chosen by the star.
From the start, there’s no way demonic energy would work on him.
And I?
I’m just a human.
A human who handles magic well.
Of course, I wasn’t devoid of talent. I had plenty of impressive tricks. I had a considerable amount of innate mana and also a talent for tuning it.
Yet, there is nothing inherently special about my origin.
I wasn’t anything exceptional like a Saint, a Hero, or a blessed Elf. I was just human and a mage who accepted demonic energy as poison.
For someone like me, I had to find a method to continue my journey. Naturally, I had no dissatisfaction with that fact.
‘Mages are always beings who crave answers.’
So I learned.
I set out on this journey with that resolve.
And it’s been five years.
In those five years, my mana has changed.
No, that’s an understatement.
I adapted my body to the environment given.
I engraved methods to resist demonic energy into my mana. I created an arrangement that did not get disturbed by demonic energy. I discovered a way for mana itself to purify the demonic energy.
I drew the Mana Spring with my hands.
Even as those droplets touched my skin, I felt nothing.
“…”
Standing at the center of the Mana Spring, I imagined. I placed my eighteen-year-old self and my current self together in one place. I gauged the chasm lying between them.
“Aha.”
Suddenly, I chuckled.
“It wasn’t useless.”
3.
The western section.
The class taking the exam is Summoners.
The western section, where Summoners gathered, is quiet. There were no fighters, nor anyone preparing to fight. That isn’t a trait of Summoners, though.
It’s simply that there was no need to fight.
The victor of the exam was already clear.
“…”
In the center of the clearing lies a mana stone, the evaluation criterion for the exam. Yet, not a single student approached the mana stone.
Someone was already occupying that spot.
The soon-to-be Ashen Master, Resti.
She holds the mana stone in her hands. She doesn’t show any intention of moving it or acting with it.
She simply stands there.
The ones moving are her summoned beasts surrounding her.
A formation of ten summoned beasts moves in perfect sync. Their disciplined movements, the unwavering stance of the summoned beasts reflects Resti’s skill level.
Summoned beasts are controlled by mana.
The movement showing no signs of wavering means she holds them under complete control.
‘And over ten of them, no less.’
That sight made other Summoners give up on the exam. They couldn’t imagine breaking through that barrier.
As a result, the western section remains tranquil.
Confirming that the last competitor hovering nearby had vanished, Resti closed her eyes.
However, closing her eyes didn’t mean she was letting her guard down. On the contrary, by closing her eyes, Resti gains a broader perspective.
Vision sharing.
Her summoned beasts in the air maintain a connection with her sight.
Resti gazed down at the forest from above.
There were still some mages lingering, looking disappointed as if they had regrets…
‘But they’re not an issue.’
There were no stronger contenders remaining to worry about.
Resti maneuvered her summoned beasts.
One that resembled a bird soared to a higher altitude. The expanded view soon confirmed the place where the western section meets the boundary.
As Resti observed the forest, her gaze suddenly lingered on the northern section.
There was a cleared area there too. The mana stone placed at one end came into view. However, no one was touching that mana stone.
“…?”
For a moment, Resti questioned that sight.
The bushes rustled, and someone approached the clearing. It wasn’t a student.
With drooping ashen hair.
Though seen from a height, Resti instantly recognized who that figure was from that hair.
‘Rania van Trias.’
The person she had been keeping an eye on.
But somehow, there seemed to be something strange about her condition.
“Is she… wet?”
She looked as if she had been soaked in water.
She was sitting on a sunlit stump, wringing the ends of her robe tightly.
Resti tilted her head and lowered the altitude of her summoned beasts. Adjusting their position to aim for the northern forest, without crossing into the southern section.
The sight of that woman with soaked hair.
Skin glistening with moisture.
A woman wringing her wet robe.
Something felt off.
Resti recalled those assigned to the northern section.
Lac and Belnoa. They were the direct disciples of the White and Black Masters, so she had a memory of meeting them.
‘…Did they use water magic?’
As Resti recalled, neither Lac nor Belnoa had magic related to water.
And if there were to be water in this forest…
It would only be at the Mana Spring, right?
‘…Could it be?’
A certain possibility arose in Resti’s mind. However, she quickly shook her head. That was an absurd thought.
“…Maybe there was some water puddling at the base of a tree or something.”
Thinking back, it seemed to have rained not too long ago.
Resti dismissed her doubts with that thought.