EP.23
And then Altina opened her eyes.
“…..”
Her head throbbed with pain. What in the world was going on? What happened? Why was she lying in such a place?
“Have you awoken?”
At the sound of a voice beside her, Altina turned to look. There was Erekaya, sitting next to her, holding a book in one hand, seemingly having been reading just moments before.
“…Kaya.”
“Don’t call me by that nickname, Altina. We’re no longer the children we once were, are we?”
Erekaya spoke firmly, cutting off the affectionate name directed at her.
Her demeanor was so cold and devoid of emotion that Altina instinctively bit her lower lip.
It seemed that her perception of Erekaya as a ‘friend’ had been nothing more than a one-sided illusion.
“…Yes, Erekaya. I made a mistake. Both you and I have grown up long ago.”
With a deep sigh, Altina attempted to sit up.
“Ugh—”
However, the moment she tried to rise, an intense pain surged throughout her body, eliciting a groan from her lips.
“Don’t overexert yourself. You’re still a patient. You’ll need to rest in bed for a while.”
“…Patient?”
“Don’t you remember? In that last moment, you used your aura to forcibly block the ogre’s attack. Since you were still inexperienced in using aura, your entire meridian was temporarily depleted. If you rest well for a day or two, you should be able to regain your condition.”
Right, now that she thought about it, she remembered. The ogre that had been trapped in the iron cage was released due to the spear of Coquitous used by Claire, and she had forcibly summoned her aura to withstand the backlash, resulting in internal injuries—
…No, more importantly, what did Erekaya just say?
“You just mentioned ‘aura’—”
That’s absurd. Since awakening her aura last night, Altina hadn’t told anyone but Jin that she had crossed the wall and reached the level of Master.
Naturally, unless she disclosed it herself, there was no way for anyone to know that she was an aura user.
It wasn’t that there was any reason to hide the fact that she had surpassed the barrier and reached the level of Master.
…However, there was one exception. Even if her opponent concealed their status as an aura user, there was a means to discern that they were indeed an aura user.
That was the act of awakening aura itself. Those who had awakened aura possessed transcendent senses and a spiritual eye, allowing them to easily perceive the flow of life energy coursing through another’s body.
Altina had not revealed the fact that she had awakened her aura to Erekaya, yet Erekaya seemed to know that Altina had awakened her aura without her saying a word.
Thus, putting all the facts together—
“Yes, that’s right. I too have reached the level of Master and awakened my aura.”
Erekaya accepted this fact with surprising ease.
Seeing Erekaya’s demeanor, Altina could only clench her fists tightly.
She had fallen behind once again. Once again, she was lagging behind her.
Since childhood, she had always found herself a step behind. Altina had always gazed at Erekaya’s back as she moved ahead.
And now, having awakened her aura, she thought perhaps she could surpass Erekaya. She believed that they stood on equal footing now, and she wouldn’t have to chase after her anymore.
But that was a truly naïve misconception. The truth was, Erekaya had always been positioned far ahead of her.
“I didn’t mean to pry into your affairs. It just so happened that I witnessed you using your aura to protect the other students when the ogre was freed from the cage.”
To be precise, it was this scene that had raised her suspicions, and observing Altina, who was now unconscious, helped her confirm her suspicions.
“But you were reckless. If that person hadn’t protected you, while you may not have lost your life to the ogre, you could have sustained even greater injuries.”
“…That person?”
In that instant, a blurred memory flickered into Altina’s mind.
The man who had shielded her just before she took a direct hit from the ogre’s fist.
Even as his whole body was covered in blood, he never backed down and continued to protect her until the very last moment, his strong and steadfast back.
“Right, that person. Is he safe? He hasn’t… died, has he?”
“He’s not dead. However, he’s certainly not in good condition either. That man is also currently lying in a hospital room. As you saw, his state was truly dire.”
As a side note, the healer in charge of the infirmary was left speechless by Jin’s appalling condition.
“Did this guy swallow a bomb or something? No, it’s impossible for someone’s body to be so thoroughly wrecked otherwise.”
“And the reason I was waiting for you to awaken here is because of that man, Jin.”
“…Why?”
“I’ll ask you directly. Altina, what do you think of that man, Jin?”
What does she think? It was only two days since they first met, so why was she throwing such a grand question?
“Well… I don’t know.”
If Altina had been asked this question yesterday, without hesitation she would have answered that he was a strange guy who could make anyone uncomfortable.
But in just one night, so much had changed.
He was not an ordinary person. He was someone entirely different from the numerous misfits scattered about here.
He was a person with the ‘insight’ to lead Altina, who was facing the wall, to the level of Master, and he was also a capable individual who could effortlessly slay ogres said to be on par with a typical knight brigade.
The question remained—why did such a capable person enroll in Nineveh, and what could he possibly learn while pretending to be a student?
‘Altina—!’
Just before she lost consciousness, she vividly remembered Jin rushing toward her, calling her name as he struggled to contain his emotions.
Why did he call her name that way? Why did he look at her with such a peculiar gaze?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer. No, she didn’t want to know.
Because the more she reflected on that moment, the more a sense of unease crept into her mind, as if something was probing into her thoughts.
“I don’t know. But it’s certain that he’s not an ordinary person.”
As she kept her turbulent thoughts hidden inside, Altina answered, and Erekaya nodded in agreement with her words.
“Did you know? When the spear of Coquitous struck the iron cage that held the ogre, I was already drawing up my aura throughout my body. If something went wrong, I would have revealed that I had reached the level of Master just to save you. However—”
That didn’t become necessary because, before Erekaya could even realize, Jin had charged the ogre and ended everything.
Yes, Erekaya had not noticed Jin rushing toward the ogre. Despite activating her aura, which had enhanced her reaction speed several times over, she had failed to properly discern his movements.
Erekaya knew that, at that time, Jin hadn’t used his aura. Because she hadn’t sensed the slightest trace of aura from him.
That meant he had moved faster than an aura user without even utilizing his aura. And he had done so solely with his own body, without any blessings or extraordinary abilities!
“…Is that even possible?”
“Of course, it’s nonsensical. But I already knew that he was hiding such potential because he is a Special Admission Student.”
“Special Admission Student?”
There was no way Altina wouldn’t understand the implication of that term.
After all, Altina herself was eligible for special admission, and she had chosen not to use that qualification to take the entrance exam and enroll at Nineveh.
As Erekaya said, the fact that the man, Jin, had used his special admission rights to enroll meant—
“That’s right. He is a descendant of those forgotten by the world. There is no doubt that his hidden abilities are far from beneath ours.”
“…..”
She had thought he was certainly an unusual person, but was he of that caliber?
“…However, he got severely injured just by defeating an ogre.”
“He was not injured by the ogre. His wounds are all the result of his own strength.”
Erekaya had seen it clearly, that eerie scene when Jin unleashed an unknown power, the violent flow of force emanating from his body tearing him apart.
A man wielding a power that grants him immense strength, yet at the same time indiscriminately shatters both friend and foe, even his own flesh.
‘…But something feels off.’
The power Jin wielded seemed fundamentally directed in a different way. It didn’t seem aimed at strengthening the user, but rather specialized in breaking down the user’s own body. Was it merely her misunderstanding?
“Regardless, he claims to be a descendant of heroes. Of course, I don’t intend to naively believe that fact, but it’s true that he possesses unusual power, which is why they’ve decided to monitor him for a while.”
“Then why are you telling me this? No matter how I look at it, it seems like information a mere student shouldn’t know.”
In response, Erekaya raised her index finger and slowly placed it over Altina’s lips.
“Don’t speak of what happened today or what you witnessed with anyone. I’ve shared this information with you for that reason. At least if you know the truth, you might think twice before you speak of it elsewhere.”
…In other words, it seemed Erekaya was effectively silencing Altina in exchange for revealing the truth.
It wasn’t necessarily because she trusted her; rather, she seemingly did not trust her enough to keep quiet about it.
However, that didn’t concern Altina at all. From the very beginning, even if Erekaya had said nothing, Altina had no intention of spilling what occurred today.
For Altina, Jin was a benefactor, so whatever secrets he held and whatever goals he pursued, she would treat him with gratitude.
Yet there was one pressing matter that needed addressing.
“…Erekaya, I want to ask you something. Can you answer me?”
“As long as it’s something I can answer, feel free.”
As Erekaya nodded in agreement, Altina struggled to calm her trembling hands and slowly began to speak.
“You said you awakened your aura a long time ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then when exactly did you awaken it?”
Suddenly, memories of her friendly duel with Erekaya from last year surfaced in Altina’s mind.
At that time, Altina had narrowly managed to win against Erekaya.
…Though she was well aware that Erekaya hadn’t fought at full strength.
The Erekaya Del Pendragon that Altina knew wasn’t someone who flaunted her power to impress others.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps, just perhaps, she might have reached an equal standing with Erekaya now. Even if she wasn’t genuinely on the same level, might Erekaya at least consider her a rival?
But.
“I awakened my aura two years ago. Why do you ask?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
From the start, there had never been an equal footing between Erekaya and Altina. No, rather than being equal, Altina hadn’t even been on the same level as Erekaya.
All of this had merely been a severe misunderstanding on Altina’s part.
“What a letdown. Anyway, take care of yourself. I’ll see you in the next class.”
With those words, Erekaya disappeared out of the infirmary. Yet the lingering aura she left behind clung tightly to Altina’s heart, refusing to let go.
…It was devastating. She felt so small and weak.
What must Erekaya have thought of Altina during that friendly match a year ago? How pitiful and frail must she have seemed?
She hadn’t been putting forth her full strength, and yet she had been so proud of her victory in that friendly duel. How pathetic must that have looked?
In this moment, all that filled Altina’s heart was an endless sense of failure and humiliation.
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