The training room of Claris, bustling with the influx of people due to the ranking matches.
Edwin Gwynn, ranked C, was engrossed in his practice.
‘Yeriel should be okay now…?’
He had just visited her but she was nowhere to be found.
He wanted to express his gratitude for arranging practice sessions with Aveline and for her help during dungeon investigation exercises, but…
Where had she gone with her ailing body?
‘Forget it. For now, let’s focus.’
Edwin tightened his grip on the sword hilt.
Hwoosh.
The sound of the sword slicing through the air cuts away his distractions.
The blows he had previously practiced haphazardly with sheer determination had now begun to take shape.
The hilt of the practice sword had become second nature, fitting perfectly in his hand.
After hundreds of strikes, he finally took a deep breath.
Huuu.
As he halted his movements, thoughts flooded back in.
‘By the way, I really messed up…’
He applied for a ranking duel with Caeran Hiss, the number two in S rank.
Since it was initiated by the lower-ranked Edwin, Caeran wouldn’t be able to refuse.
The other students observing would think it was insane, but Edwin could no longer stay idle.
He simply couldn’t… stand it.
Melissa, Aveline…
The fellow students who had supported his training…
Ah, Edwin? You’ve been training all this time?
You need help…? I… I have circle activities to attend…
Sorry, but I can only stay until here today.
I don’t think I can hang out for a while…
…
One by one, they disappeared.
‘At this rate, I’m just a nuisance…’
He hadn’t been able to repay their help.
‘Caeran…’
It was because of that guy.
He formed a circle called the Royal Class and took people with him.
Moreover, he didn’t even properly remember Edwin’s name.
So…
“I have to make it known that I exist…!”
He wanted to showcase that his weakness also had a conviction that could not be ignored.
And…
Whenever he thought of that red-haired man, another person came to mind.
That was Lev Denec.
The man who had applied for a duel against Caeran before Edwin.
In truth, Edwin had been spurred on by this as well, but the turning point came just yesterday.
…
Black House, it’s urgent.
Huh?
While Edwin was training in the practice room all night, Professor Sinatis approached.
Yeriel, it’s dangerous.
Her usual concise tone bore a sense of urgency.
Yeriel, dangerous.
Upon hearing this, Edwin immediately moved toward the Black House.
‘I had heard it was originally a monster…!’
Using great amounts of mana to build the Evolution Chamber, Sinatis struggled to maintain her polymorphed state.
Thus, she was unable to assist in combat.
Yet, for some reason, it was only he, ranked C, who was called upon by Lev Denec.
When he finally arrived beneath where Yeriel was,
Only the terrible traces of magic remained.
Thud!
A heavy pressure instinctively repelled his body.
Urgh. Is it a demon attack…?
He could feel the presence of a demon’s magic steeped in a murky aura.
It was similar to the feeling he sensed when Lev Denec had ambushed him the day before the positioning.
However, contrary to his expectation… the demon was nowhere to be found.
!!
Only Yeriel and Lev, leaning against each other, lay collapsed.
Yer…iel!
And only a purple jewel floated slowly in the distance.
!!
At that moment, Edwin instinctively realized something.
His instincts churned inside him.
‘The soul of the demon…’
He had to cut it down.
As Edwin lifted his sword vertically, pure white light enveloped the blade, and in the moment he swung his arm,
Crack!!!
His [Executioner’s Sword] activated, absorbing the soul.
After that, nothing significant happened.
The academy guardians arrived late, and the situation was resolved.
Naturally, he didn’t even have the leisure to find out what had happened.
…
‘If only I had stayed by Yeriel’s side then…!’
Crackle.
Edwin bit down hard on his lower lip.
It was reminiscent of when he was in the dungeon investigation.
Back then, it was Aria.
Now, it was Yeriel in danger.
And each time, Lev Denec had been the one to arrive first.
‘How… did he sense the danger a step ahead again this time?’
If it hadn’t been for him, Edwin couldn’t bear to think of the results.
At the last possible moment, he always threw himself into the fray and resolved everything.
‘In the end, I… couldn’t do anything again…’
The frustration of not being able to help those precious to him sent chills through Edwin’s body.
Grrr…
He clenched his fist tightly.
‘That means I… need to get stronger…’
Edwin had been living passively until now, but as he encountered numerous strong opponents at Claris Academy, his thoughts began to change.
He needed to whip himself for being weak, for feebly getting things taken from him.
‘Now, I have to do it myself…’
It was frustrating, but he needed to emulate Lev Denec’s decisiveness.
This time, he would directly persuade Melissa and Aveline away from Caeran.
*
———————————————————
Day 7 Matchup
Caeran Hiss (Rank S)
Edwin Gwynn (Rank C)
———————————————————
What the… is this?
Yesterday, Raymond, who is the same rank, got severely beaten by Caeran, right?
Yeah, I couldn’t bear to watch it, it was just too pathetic.
I heard he already reached out to scout from Crow Pay; maybe that’s what he intended?
If by some stroke of luck he lands a hit, other guilds might show interest.
Still, does an S rank make sense? That’s total arrogance… Caeran’s three wins are a certainty.
The odds should be interesting this time, right?
You’re not going to start betting again, are you?
Shhhh!
“Well, he really made a big blunder.”
The training room buzzed with chatter after the Day 7 matchup was announced.
The lowest rank C,
And the highest rank S.
It was simple arithmetic.
Since it would be a duel with a huge gap, the interest from the students was inevitable.
But it wasn’t overly surprising.
In fanfics, the reason Edwin duels Caeran is precisely because one by one the heroines turn their backs on him.
It’s too cringy to read, so I skimmed over it, but…
Right about now, he’s probably rallying his resolve like a tragic male lead.
So ultimately, it seems human nature doesn’t change that easily.
To some extent, the situation aligned with the flow of narrative.
‘Perhaps I should do some spying soon.’
Having finished my rehab in the practice room, I looked around.
‘Is the parasite worm doing okay?’
It would be good to check on Caeran’s condition.
At that moment, I noticed a few students gathered and chatting in an open practice room.
Wow… their swordsmanship is as smooth as flowing water…
I haven’t seen him lately, but they say his magic skills are also top-notch?
This is the first time I’ve seen Caeran practice like this.
Well, even if a genius tries, no matter how much of a Crow Pay, they can’t stand being lazy.
Caeran… is practicing?
Clearly, his character is associated with laziness.
A talent that reaches its peak is an infuriating trait.
But practicing? The sun must’ve risen in the west.
With an invisible barrier, I secretly used my magic eye to check on Caeran in personal training.
Ding!
———————————————————
[Caeran Hiss]
▶[Average Status]
: 4.05 (Infected!)
▶[Specialization]
Sword Proficiency (7) (Infected!)
Circle Magic (4) (Infected!)
▶[Unique Traits]
Resilience (Lv.3) (Infected!)
Gust (Lv.2)
Slaughter (Lv.2)
Immunity (Lv.1) (Infected!)
Copy (Lv. None)
Combat Recovery (Lv.1) (Infected!)
Absolute Growth (Lv.2)
———————————————————
Now that my magic eye reached level 2, I was able to confirm the infection of unique traits as well.
“Well, the luck has flown away…”
His characteristic of becoming stronger due to good fortune was already long gone.
It’s unfortunate that the parasite worm hasn’t attached itself to Copy yet, but since he’s already infected, it’s just a matter of time.
“It’s going smoothly, but…”
One variable was that compared to his traits, the drops in specialization and status were minimal.
The reason seems straightforward.
He has started training maniacally.
The drops are staved off and suppressed by his growth.
Of course, even considering that, it’s evident that he has dropped in the end; unless he trains for 24 hours straight, it’s like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
The author, who has been obsessively doing his own character development, is just running around.
‘Still, I think Edwin will win?’
If we assume they’re fighting in this state, Caeran has the upper hand, coldly speaking.
Nevertheless, the outcome wouldn’t change.
Even if Caeran copies Edwin’s execution trait, [Executioner’s Sword], the propagation of parasites cannot be stopped.
In the end, the only conclusion for Caeran is that everything resets.
“Go ahead and spin around.”
Just as I was about to leave the fitness center, a female voice pierced my ears.
“Mmm~ Why has our Caeran gotten so weak?”
“!”
Her languid voice and droopy eyes, with sky-blue hair.
It must be Yellody Latashia.
Wasn’t she supposed to come in Chapter 4 or 5?
‘Why is she here so early…?’
As if saying it for me to hear, I didn’t flinch and left the scene.
*
“Wow…”
Leaving the scene immediately was a wise choice.
In that moment, I would have struggled to manage my expression due to being startled.
‘Yellody Latashia.’
In fanfics, she’s described as mysterious and neutral, suddenly appearing to offer solutions when protagonists are troubled.
In Chapters 1, 2, and 3, she had no significant presence, but unlike Liris, who’s a demon with an authentic background… she is truly a ‘demon.’
She ends up becoming strong enough to create an opposing dynamic with the Saint Psyche, one of the heroes of war.
In summary, someone I absolutely shouldn’t associate with.
‘But why is she here…?’
The number of third and fourth years at Claris is less than half that of first and second years.
The reason is that once students reach the second year, their potential typically becomes evident, leading to many being scouted by guilds or joining knight orders.
In the end, only those nobles who have financial stability or students with exceptionally high potential tend to remain at the academy for long.
Even those who do are mostly practicing and have little time on campus, so I had thought I wouldn’t run into them, which was a mistake.
Here, things aren’t just as laid out in the fanfic, it’s reality.
There’s no law stating that characters must appear in chronological order.
There could also be random encounters with later characters.
‘What’s the point in thinking about it…’
Anyway, what I needed to think about right now was something else.
Based on the recent experiments I conducted in the private practice room,
———————————————————
▶[Fallen Angel Transformation] [Lv. None] (Active) (Ultimate Skill)
: Controls the power of the fallen angel, becoming engulfed in darkness for a set amount of time.
All stats increase slightly. (*Increases based on the need for evil)
The mana consumption of all skills except for ‘Fallen Angel Transformation’ decreases.
[Passive – Necessity of Evil] – While this skill is in use, defeating demons will permanently enhance ‘Fallen Angel Transformation.’
(*Current mana capacity for sustained use: 52 seconds)
Evil counters evil.
-Archangel, Belial.
Exp: (None)
Acquisition Difficulty: Extremely High
———————————————————
In the end, the skill I couldn’t resist picking, Fallen Angel Transformation…
Faced the problem that it couldn’t be stacked.
Ding.
[Cannot register the same type of skill together.]
No, it doesn’t even go into the ultimate skill slot to begin with.
Moreover…
Demon transformation increases my stats and generates dark magic during its duration.
Fallen Angel Transformation reduces the mana consumption of my skills and generates dark magic during its duration.
It would be great if I could use them alternately, but the cooldown for switching slots is one hour.
Hence, the actual operating rate… isn’t there at all.
That was somewhat to be expected.
It was the same in the original game.
“Hmmm.”
It seems to align with the mechanism that you can’t register holy and dark magic together in some way.
In fact, it’s not that there aren’t options.
Using a method that veteran players often resort to,
[Memorize: Ring of Induction.]
An item that would allow registering of one spell, enabling dual casting.
And in Closed Beta, there were no limitations on skills to register, so both holy and dark skills could be used in tandem.
So obtaining this item would solve the issue.
The problem is… it’s an extremely rare and expensive legendary-grade item.
The fanfic mentioned this item in the later chapters.
Initially thought to be merely an accessory, this ring was later described as being purchased by Lev Denec, the master of ‘Crow Pay,’ who recognized its worth at an auction.
In other words, unless I offer more money than Lev Denec, in which case I would have to eliminate him—the final boss who appears late in the fanfic—I wouldn’t be able to get it.
“Killing him… is absolutely impossible unless I use cheats.”
His followers are many.
Crow Pay is one of the seven large guilds.
And besides, Lev has spent half his life in the imperial court and is the guild master. So he must be swimming in cash.
In the end, even if I wanted to intercept it, it seems I’d just be twiddling my thumbs.
“Ways to rake in quick cash…”
At that moment, the words spoken by the students earlier in the personal training room flashed through my mind.
…
Caeran’s three wins are a certainty.
This time, the odds should be interesting, right?
…
“……………there is.”
A proper way to make a big score.
By going against the narrative and,
“I just have to let Edwin win!”
