Chapter 142
“Huff, huff, huff. Damn it… you… your damn defense hasn’t rusted a bit.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Ugh, your calm face makes it even more annoying.”
Sara swung her rapier at me again, flames flaring around her.
In response, I made full use of the power of the Water Rune.
Water layered over the blade of Mistcatcher.
Just like during the midterms, I coated the sword with water to block Sara’s attacks.
Ssshhh—! Hissss—!
“Alright. That’s enough, both of you.”
At Luke’s words, Sara and I stopped our sparring.
It had been a week since the start of the new semester after summer break.
After all the afternoon Swordsmanship Classes were over, Luke had been personally training me and Sara.
The reason, of course, was the Academy Tournament coming up in October.
“Gideon. I’ve said this before, but Eisen’s flames are much stronger than Sara’s. So for now, focus on strengthening the power of your Water Rune. With that in mind, practice alone for a bit… Sara.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
“I don’t have much advice to give about your flames. But when it comes to your swordsmanship… I do have some.”
Luke drew his sword and approached Sara.
“To be blunt, your swordsmanship is inferior to Eisen’s.”
“…Yes. I know. Eisen oppa… is an incredible genius, unlike me.”
“Right. You’re not talentless, but as you said, Eisen is an extraordinary genius. And you’re in a position where you have to challenge that genius.”
Sara bit her lip slightly in frustration.
“What do I have to do… to defeat Eisen oppa?”
“Let’s start by refining your family’s swordsmanship.”
Luke raised his sword, taking the opening stance of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family’s sword style.
“Unless you learn a different sword style, you’ll have to face Eisen using the same techniques. So rather than focusing on your flame magic, it’s better to polish your swordsmanship. You’ll need to at least surpass him in swordsmanship to have a chance.”
“…A different sword style, huh.”
“Hmm? Why? Do you want to try learning another one?”
“That’s something I might have to… think about.”
With that, Sara raised her rapier and followed Luke’s stance of the Isrinbloom Family Swordsmanship.
“But for now, I’ll focus on my swordsmanship. As you said, Instructor, if I want to beat Eisen oppa, I should start with that.”
With those words, Sara and Luke began sparring.
Both of them displayed the Isrinbloom Ducal Family’s signature graceful and elegant swordplay as their blades clashed.
‘Sara’s improved quite a bit. But… Luke’s still a step ahead.’
For Sara to win against Eisen, she would first have to surpass Luke—
At least, when it came to the Isrinbloom Swordsmanship.
Well, Sara seemed to be handling things just fine on her own, so I decided to stop worrying and…
‘I need to train more too.’
I coated Mistcatcher’s blade with water.
Just as Luke said, Eisen’s flames would be far stronger than Sara’s.
At this level of water flow, I might not be able to block it.
Which meant I needed to strengthen the Water Rune engraved on my body—to summon greater volumes of water.
But there was one problem.
‘How was this Rune supposed to be strengthened again?’
Each Rune had a different method of enhancement.
And I had never once strengthened the Water Rune in the game.
‘The barrier from the Water Rune didn’t get much stronger after enhancement anyway. I only got it for its healing ability, so I never thought it was worth the trouble.’
But now, things were different from the game.
I wasn’t just using the Rune’s healing ability anymore.
‘What was the enhancement method again? I think it involved going into water and doing something…’
I’d probably have to immerse myself in water soon and experiment a bit.
But that could wait—right now…
‘I still can’t maintain the Rune’s power for long.’
Keeping the water flow around my blade, and on top of that, controlling my aura—
Both demanded intense concentration.
For the time being, I needed to focus on training that.
‘The goal is to use these powers as naturally as breathing, without exhausting my mind. That’s the target, so first, let’s refine the aura...’
Leaving Luke and Sara’s sparring behind, I continued my own preparations for the tournament in my own way.
After training until evening, I was about to head off with Lisa to handle Disciplinary Committee duties when—
“Whoooosh!”
“Hm?”
While I was focusing alone, an owl suddenly flew in through the gym window.
A white owl—rare and nearly impossible to find within the Empire.
“Oh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Hoot.”
“Ah, thanks.”
The owl handed me the letter it carried, then perched naturally on my shoulder.
I chuckled softly and patted it once.
Then, I checked the letter it had brought.
“Gideon. What’s that owl?”
A white owl appearing out of nowhere—Luke stopped sparring with Sara and approached me, curiosity in his eyes.
“It’s Instructor Kara’s owl.”
“Instructor Kara’s? Ah, if it’s from her… then that letter’s from her too?”
“Yes. She says she wants to meet during lunch tomorrow.”
Now that I thought about it, it had been quite a while since I’d last seen Kara.
I’d been meaning to talk to her about something anyway, so her timing was perfect.
“You want to learn to control water?”
“Would that be possible?”
“It’s possible for me to teach you. Possible, yes… but not easy.”
The next day at lunch, after receiving Kara’s letter, I met her again by the lake deep in the forest—the same place where we’d always met for lessons during the first semester.
“Water-element magic is the hardest among all elemental magics. Most magicians only learn it last.”
“Would learning it within a month… be impossible?”
“A month? Hardly. It took me quite some time to learn even the basics. But why within a month…? Ah, you’re representing the Academy in the tournament, right?”
Kara nodded in understanding.
“It’s because of Eisen, isn’t it?”
“Wouldn’t water be the best way to counter fire?”
“The approach isn’t wrong, but the problem is time. Even if you devote yourself completely to learning Water-element magic for a month, you won’t be able to overcome Eisen’s flames.”
With those words, Kara brought her fingers to her temple.
Then she drew out a single glowing thread from her head.
The thread spread through the air and projected an image.
“This is my memory from last year’s tournament. What I saw of Eisen from the stands.”
A massive arena.
In that arena stood a male student wreathed in immense flames, unleashing a dazzling sword strike.
He had black hair and bore an uncanny resemblance to Sara.
“I guarantee you, even if you master Water magic for a month, you won’t be able to quell those massive flames.”
“Yes, it does look impossible.”
“It’d be better to focus on preparing your own Fire magic instead. Or maybe I could teach you some Earth-element magic? In a month, I could probably teach you one or two spells.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad either.”
After replying casually, I turned my attention back to Kara’s memory.
Eisen’s flames were just as magnificent as they had been in the game—no, perhaps even more so.
Just as Luke had said, Sara’s fire didn’t even come close in comparison.
“To be honest, defeating him will be difficult.”
As if reading my thoughts, Kara smiled faintly and withdrew the memory thread back into her mind.
“You’d be better off just giving up.”
“I’m not the kind of person who takes the easy road.”
“Oh? You’ve got some spirit. Right, only those who endure the hard path can reach true success.”
“Still, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to win.”
Letting out a small sigh, I lightly shook my head.
For now, I wanted to put thoughts of Eisen aside.
“Well, that aside… Instructor, did you have a good vacation?”
“I’ve been incredibly busy since I last saw you.”
“Writing your thesis?”
“I stayed up night after night writing until right before the semester started. But I still have a lot to write. I haven’t even started the section on Elves yet.”
Seeing her lips pout slightly, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You still look happy, though.”
“Of course I’m happy.”
Dark shadows lingered beneath her eyes—proof that she’d indeed lost several nights of sleep.
But even so, she looked genuinely content being able to write a thesis about other races.
“Being able to study what you love day and night—that’s the greatest joy a scholar can have.”
“Heh. Come to think of it, someone in my class once said something similar.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Roy Varbellos…”
“Ah, that boy who loves Ancient Studies? He doesn’t talk much, but he’s a talented magician. I know him well. Speaking of Ancient Studies, though…”
Kara trailed off, glancing around cautiously.
She seemed to be making sure no one else was nearby.
“You remember that incident involving your family and the other races? I told you during vacation that it might be connected to the Ancient Beings.”
“Yes, you did. I did some digging into it myself, and I’ve narrowed it down to two—Evil God Bedir and Evil Dragon Suiroti.”
“Bedir? Suiroti? Ooh… I see. I’ll look into it too when I get some time. Anyway, while I was doing my own research into Ancient Studies, I found something strange.”
“What kind of thing?”
“The line of Ancient Studies research suddenly died out about three hundred years ago. Did you know that?”
“Ah, yes. I heard something similar once before.”
That was the story Nia had told me before summer break.
About three hundred years ago… three hundred years, huh…
“So I looked into what happened in the Empire back then… and surprisingly, there was nothing.”
“…Nothing at all?”
“Yeah, and that’s what’s strange. On the surface, it really seems like nothing happened, like that period just passed quietly… but something feels off. I don’t have evidence, but my gut tells me something’s wrong. The records from that era—everything about the Empire three hundred years ago—are… too clean. Too smooth, too flawless. Almost unnaturally so.”
“Three hundred years ago…”
My family and the other races—
They were attacked by the Ancient Beings centuries ago.
If that time coincided with around three hundred years ago…
Then it was definitely worth investigating.
“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll look into it myself.”
“How will you do that?”
“I know someone who’s an expert in this kind of thing.”
“You’re asking what happened in the Empire three hundred years ago?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
After meeting with Kara at lunch,
During the break in the afternoon Swordsmanship Class,
I met with Jason privately to speak in secret.
“Do you happen to know of any event that took place about three hundred years ago, something not recorded in the Empire’s history? Anything at all.”
“Hmm… First, can you tell me why you’re asking me this?”
“There’s a saying, isn’t there? ‘The Hawkbat Family knows everything about the Empire.’”
I answered Jason’s question calmly.
“I’ve heard that the Hawkbat Family possesses knowledge even of events unrecorded in the Empire’s official history.”
“Well, that’s true. But why specifically three hundred years ago?”
“…You probably know I’ve recently taken an interest in Ancient Studies. But when I looked into it, I learned that the study of Ancient History abruptly vanished around three hundred years ago. And the records from that period seem… off.”
As I spoke, Jason’s expression grew increasingly thoughtful.
“So I thought maybe there was a history that wasn’t recorded—and that your family might know something about it. That’s why I came to ask you directly, Sir Jason.”
“…You really are an interesting one, Gideon. I never imagined I’d hear someone mention the Empire’s three-hundred-year-old history from your mouth.”
Jason smiled faintly as he answered quietly.
He definitely knew something.
“Could you tell me what you meant by that just now?”
“To get straight to the point, I don’t know what exactly happened three hundred years ago. More precisely… I’d say we’re not supposed to know.”
I tilted my head in confusion at Jason’s words.
But he continued, unfazed—
And what he said next was completely unexpected.
“I don’t know what happened three hundred years ago… but I’ve heard that all the key members of our family were wiped out at once during that time.”