The first-year Adele Hall students were instructed to gather in the lobby on the first floor of the fortress. Just as they arrived, the Knights Division entered, and familiar faces began to appear. Limberton chuckled with a resigned look.
“Heh, now it’s spirits.”
“Calm down….”
“…Can I even do that? We just dealt with the undead, and now it’s spirits. Who knows what’ll co next?”
If I told them, they might just run away. As I stayed silent, Aslay raised a troubled expression and asked, “Boss, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Our ancestors taught us to be friendly with spirits. Are we really supposed to kill them?”
So that’s what was bothering him—he thought it was sacrilegious to attack spirits.
“Ah, your tribe must have revered spirits.”
Spirits have been revered in many cultures across ti. They’re often seen as blessings, bringing abundance to farmlands or success in hunting to tribes living in the wild. But these were curses.
“They’re corrupted spirits, Aslay. They spread plagues and cause droughts.”
That they were locked in a prison within the spirit realm was proof enough. Aslay let out a sigh of relief, having shed his guilt.
“So it’s fine to crush them without hesitation.”
“Understood, boss.”
After a few monts, the rest of the Knights Division lined up and assembled in the lobby. Mircel passed by the division instructor and approached .
“Hey, bro.”
“You look a bit excited.”
“Of course. Last ti I fought a spirit, it was way too easy.”
Ah, co to think of it, Mircel had dueled a sorcerer who wielded spirit magic during the battle for the Ten Positions. It had ended rather anticlimactically back then. ᚱÂŊöΒÈᶊ
“Still, fight carefully. This one is far stronger than that naless spirit you fought.”
Saying that, I adjusted Mircel’s equipnt slightly. Then, I looked over at the Knights Division instructor and Professor Gomon, who were exchanging strained expressions. After finishing their discussion, Professor Gomon cleared his throat to draw attention.
“Ahem. I assu you all know the situation. The spirits that infiltrated the fortress have been cleared out, but they’re still swarming outside. We don’t know why they’re trying to attack this place, but for now, rest assured that the outer wall’s barrier is active. You all saw how sturdy it was during the Luon incident, right?”
It was a barrier strong enough that not even soone like Bellen or Arkandric could break through it easily. But that didn’t an we could relax.
“Don’t think we’ll just hide here, either. We’re Pathfinders. We’re not here to rely protect the land—we’re here to conquer it.”
If it were any other academy, they might have chosen safety, but this was Frostheart, a place that nurtured those who would consider losing ground to be a disgrace.
A student raised their hand and asked, “Professor, how about sending a ssage to the Empire? We could hold out until reinforcents arrive.”
Professor Gomon shook his head.
“Don’t even think about it. It’d get blocked by headquarters anyway. I know what kind of people those elders are, and they’d just tell us to use this as a chance to gain experience.”
Well, that’s true. Those elders are always saying things like, “At your age, you should be able to do this with ease,” every ti they see a young person. Of course, Elder Arental, who’s relatively young, is an exception.
“And even if we did send it—though it’s highly unlikely—who knows when they’d arrive? I can’t guarantee the barrier will hold until then.”
When the student who asked the question nodded, Professor Gomon scanned the Knights Division mbers and continued speaking.
“I heard from Professor Ildiran. Among you in the Knights Division, those capable of aura release are Riamon, Leana, Silla, Aslay, Limberton… and Erucel and Mircel, correct?”
The nad mbers nodded.
“You’ve been briefed already. For a swordsman, the minimum requirent to handle a spirit is aura release.”
Perhaps it was because they were becoming more accustod to battle, but from their serious expressions, it seed they imdiately understood the significance.
“In this group, your roles are crucial. To secure a path for our allies to advance, you’ll need to lead the way and clear a path.”
This battle would shift from fortress defense to reclaiming the grounds. The other Knights Division mbers still hadn’t reached the level of aura release. To clear out the spirit legion and reclaim the training grounds, these aura users would need to shoulder multiple roles.
“That doesn’t an the other Knights Division mbers should just sit idle. The Mages Division will enhance your weapons with elental attributes. You’ll have to strike a few tis and retreat, but even that will make a significant impact on the battlefield.”
Elental enhancent was basic—infusing blades with magical flas, for instance. The effect only lasted a few strikes before needing replenishnt, but it was essential for establishing the front line.
“As for the Mages Division, you’ll proceed just as you practiced during the labyrinth training. Support with powerful attacks—understood? Now, let’s proceed with the usual unit formations. Familiarity is best.”
Listening quietly, I reminded Professor Gomon of sothing he had overlooked.
“Professor, what about the new recruits in Adele Hall?”
“Huh? Oh, right. I completely forgot. Yes, Ricks, Gravel, and Mircel… and Dorosian.”
Professor Gomon assigned Mircel, Gravel, and Ricks to a team. Mircel muttered with a look of displeasure.
“Eh? I wanted to go with my brother.”
“You rascal. I’d like to make things easier too, but there’s no way around it.”
After saying this to Mircel, Professor Gomon looked at , Limberton, and Aslay, letting out a deep sigh. I imdiately recognized the loaded aning behind it.
Of course, he would sigh. Aslay, who only knows grappling moves, Limberton, who only excels with a bow… and , a mage who can’t cast spells correctly. We’d managed to prove our worth as a team, but if we were assigned individually to a structured unit, things could fall apart quickly.
“Hersel, I’ll assign Dorosian to your unit as well. You know why, don’t you?”
When Professor Gomon ntioned her na, Dorosian, who had been leisurely leaning in a corner reading a book, looked up at . I nodded with a faintly bitter feeling.
“…I understand.”
Sure, he must see more as a swordsman than a mage.
“Formations are nearly set. Gather around.”
Professor Gomon assembled a few mbers of the Mages Division—those mages were grouped with the Knights Division mbers who couldn’t release aura.
“I’ll teach you the technique to enhance your weapons with elental attributes, so pay attention.”
Since this didn’t apply to the main fighters, I observed the enemies through the window. Tiny, almost cute spirits crashed into the barrier. But among them were grotesque spirits with decayed skin, exposing bones, making the atmosphere eerie.
After about three minutes of withstanding their attacks on the barrier, Rockefeller’s voice echoed through a loudspeaker.
“I know everyone’s preparing for battle, but hurry up. We’ve seen unusual movents from them. The barrier will soon—”
Outside, three higher spirits were tearing open the barrier with their hands. Through the breach, spirits began rushing in, from the main entrance to the windows.
“The barrier’s been breached! Set up a frontline imdiately to keep them from entering the fortress!”
At Rockefeller’s urgent command, Professor Gomon gave instructions.
“They’re coming. Don’t try to hold them off directly; keep so distance and position your units.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the windows shattered, and flas ignited at the main entrance.
* * *
Small raccoon-like spirits charged at us, drooling as if rabid. As they drew closer, Limberton pierced their foreheads with aura-infused arrows. The Mages Division frantically unleashed spells, though they fell short of delivering fatal blows.
“Knights Division, surround them now!”
Following the instructor’s command, the Knights Division mbers in each unit raised their swords. anwhile, Professor Gomon glanced at the sword strapped to my waist and cleared his throat. In response, I pulled out my staff.
“…A sword would work too.”
“I’m a mage.”
Leaving a disappointed Professor Gomon behind, the Knights Division intercepted the advancing spirits. Riamon swung his aura-infused greatsword broadly, while Aslay grabbed the spirits by their tails and threw them to the ground. Although his grappling skills wouldn’t inflict much damage, even with an aura, they still made an impact.
“…Aslay, use your shield. Provide cover with it.”
“Understood, Boss.”
anwhile, Silla, Leana, Erucel, and Mircel took on the lead in taking down the spirits one by one, while the rest of the Knights Division struck and withdrew to prevent their teammates from being surrounded. Of course, since they were still inexperienced with elental enhancents, there were so minor mishaps…
“What the heck? My blade just went out mid-swing!”
“Hey, stop charging it with electricity. Can’t you see I’m getting shocked too?”
“Who put ice on this thing? My hand’s frozen! Just stick to fire already!”
After so trial and error, the Mages Division finally settled on a unified “sticking flas” enchantnt for their weapons, and each mage cast their specialty spells whenever they found an opening. I joined in, using telekinetic magic to hurl broken window glass pieces left by the spirits. I tried attaching tiny flas to the shards before throwing them, but unfortunately, they didn’t hit effectively.
Dorosian, who was standing nearby with his arms folded, chuckled at .
“Are you just pretending to help?”
“How about you stop watching and lend a hand?”
“Is there really any need? It’s obvious this will be over soon.”
As Dorosian had predicted, the first-floor lobby was nearly cleared out. I glanced at the broken wall clock. It was fairly damaged, but the hands were still ticking.
“Quick work.”
Only three upper-level spirits had breached the barrier. Because of the bottleneck they’d caused, like a holiday highway jam, only a few had trickled in at a ti, making it easier to eliminate them. Still, it was above-average speed. It made sense, considering this scenario would normally occur just after the main fighters moved up to second year. Usually, the first-year positions would be filled by fresh recruits with little experience.
Instead, their places had been taken by classmates who’d already endured a range of lessons and labyrinth practices.
With the addition of second- and third-year students who had overco even more challenges than their juniors, our force was far superior in quality.
“This might be easier than expected,” I remarked.
Perhaps my words foreshadowed the outco. Everyone perford their roles without a single misstep, and soon enough, the first-floor lobby was covered in a thick layer of ash left behind by the defeated corrupted spirits. A few monts later, cheers erupted from beyond the walls and windows. It was undoubtedly the victorious cries of other units battling elsewhere.
The Knights Division instructor let out a soft sigh, curling his lips into a small smile.
“Seems like they made it up to the upper floors.”
“Of course, spirits often climb walls or fly around.”
Professor Gomon responded, gazing out the window. The higher-level spirits outside were still focused on tearing at the barrier but showed no sign of entering.
“Professor Ildiran, it looks like they’re not coming through just yet. How about giving the students a short break?”
“For a little while.”
With Ildiran’s agreent, Professor Gomon granted us so rest ti.
“Take a breather, everyone. From now on, Professor and I will handle any that make it through.”
Feigning exhaustion, I wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead and sat down, checking on the first-year students in Adele Hall. Though they looked slightly fatigued, they seed lively enough to jump back into battle at a mont’s notice.
“This wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Don’t get too complacent. Rember what the Professor said? Generally, the smaller they are, the weaker they are, though there are exceptions. We only fought lower-level spirits.”
“Yeah, look outside. It’s packed with those bigger ones. Guess we have to deal with all of them to finish this, huh?”
In that regard, they could rest easy. Despite the challenge posed by interdiate-level spirits, the students’ role was mainly to assist. The main battle would be fought by all the professors of Frostheart. The lead students only needed to follow Rockefeller’s instructions to identify the core of this incident and seek out and defeat the spirit, Ecok, amidst the turmoil.
As I considered the clear path ahead, Dorosian spoke with a bored expression.
“When will this finally end?”
The thought of Dorosian of the future made chuckle. Ironically, speeding things up had made this scenario easier. Perhaps this whole ordeal was calculated from the start.
“Soon, Rockefeller will lower the barrier and order us to reclaim the training grounds. Once we finish that, we’ll be able to rest properly.”
“Really?”
I casually awaited Rockefeller’s next orders, watching the two professors take care of incoming spirits. They were chatting leisurely as they tidied up the situation.
“Only assigning two professors, huh? Professor Rockefeller is quite bold.”
“Heh, don’t be too harsh, Professor Ildiran. I’d say it’s a sign of his confidence in our skills.”
Indeed, both of them were among the most skilled professors. They had graduated from the sa First Division, just in different years.
“By the way, I’m not too familiar with high-level spirits. Could you explain them a bit?”
“Eh? Haven’t fought spirits much, have you?”
“Not many chances, really.”
“Ah, right. Since we fight monsters, not humans, it’s understandable. Anyway, as for higher spirits—well, even Stone Bear might just barely qualify.”
Stone Bear, famous for crushing monster skulls with his fists, shrugged his shoulders.
“But having experienced it firsthand, I’d say even higher spirits have levels. Rember when I ntioned I was lucky enough to spar with a mage from the Magic Tower?”
“Ah, yes.”
“The spirit he controlled was sothing else, fitting for soone of his standing. Even our Stone Bear couldn’t move against it.”
Stone Bear lowered his head, looking downcast.
“Just like our mages, higher spirits have levels from beginner to advanced. But those out there look advanced, if not even stronger…”
“So you’re saying they might be stronger than the ones the mage from the Magic Tower controlled… We should stay on our guard.”
As the professors continued their conversation, it seed like the situation was nearly under control. But suddenly, the expression on the Knights Division instructor’s face filled with alarm.
“Huh, Gomon, sothing seems off with your Stone Bear…”
Stone Bear, who had thrown a spirit to the ground, was now trembling in terror, unable to deliver the final punch. Noticing the odd behavior, Professor Gomon spoke with a concerned tone.
“Stone Bear? What’s wrong all of a sudden…”
When Stone Bear focused intently on the main entrance, Professor Gomon turned to look as well. Wondering if perhaps a high-level spirit had already entered, I also turned my gaze toward the entrance.
Contrary to our concerns, what Stone Bear was looking at was not a high-level spirit, but a troop of monkeys.
“Oookikiki!”
The monkey troop was sothing we had expected. Even so, I furrowed my brows. At the center of the troop stood a single commanding monkey. Dressed elegantly in a black robe, it held a cigarette in its mouth, and blood dripped from its hand. It was clear that this outfit and cigarette had been taken from a slain professor.
‘Was that part of the scenario?’
It was undeniable.
* * *
“Why did you choose this place?”
Ecok raised his head to look at the spirit who had asked the question. It wore a mask reminiscent of a plague doctor’s. This spirit had been the first to erge when the spirit realm opened.
‘I thought spirits couldn’t speak, but this one seems to have a way with words,’ thought Ecok, feeling uneasy as he replied.
“Do you know the Magan Chamber? This place is a vortex of mana currents.”
“And so?”
“Idiot. From here, I can manipulate dark energy without being detected. There’s no better place to hide.”
If he manipulated dark energy out of the ordinary, the professors would certainly notice. Given what he was about to do, hiding in the flow of mana was essential.
Ecok held the orb containing the soul of the Tyrant and opened his spellbook.
‘Let’s see… it says to fill this spot with dark energy to perform the ritual.’
There was more than enough dark energy in the dungeons below to fuel the ritual. Ecok turned to the page with the necessary ritual and sat cross-legged, feeling the dark energy flow into the spellbook.
“Hm. It’s a bit slow, isn’t it?”
Judging by the rate, it would take a while to fully charge. With nothing to do in the anti, Ecok turned to the plague-masked spirit.
“So why are you helping , exactly? Your king is ant to be my prey, you know. You’re truly fine with that?”
Ecok was wary, but according to the contents of the spellbook, there was no risk of being devoured by the Tyrant. The ritual was more of a binding spell that would trap the awakened spirit within his own body.
“The only thing that matters is conquering the mortal realm. I need soone who can make that happen. Even if it’s not the king I once served, as long as my long-held goal is realized, it’s enough.”
“And you won’t betray in the end?” Ecok asked suspiciously, and the plague-masked spirit leaned in close. Its long beak passed over his shoulder as it replied.
“Ecok, I’ve waited thousands of years for a king who would conquer the mortal realm. It’s been so long… long enough to consider ending it all.”
It continued, “When you first appeared, I slled Dordone on you. Do you know what thought crossed my mind then?”
“…What?”
At Ecok’s question, a blue light flickered in the glass covering the spirit’s eyes.
“If this one holds even a sliver of ambition to conquer the mortal realm, then it’s worth testing. So, let ask again: Do you truly intend to conquer the mortal realm?”
Ecok closed his eyes and considered. At first, his goals weren’t quite so grand. He’d thought that simply possessing power would free him from a miserable life. But now he saw that was just wasted potential.
“Yes, that’s right. If I truly gain the kind of power you’re talking about, I’ll rise to the top. I’ll stand above everything in the world and flaunt my dominance.”
He wanted to sever the heads of those who had looked down on him, to wipe the smiles off the faces of those who laughed while he suffered. He wanted to eat whatever he pleased and live freely, doing as he wished.
“Funny, isn’t it? Just empty fantasies I used to have when I got beaten up as a kid.”
“It’s possible, Ecok. No longer just a fantasy, but sothing you can make a reality.”
With that, the plague-masked spirit straightened up, releasing a faint chuckle as he pulled out an orb. Inside, a monkey wearing a black robe and smoking a cigarette was visible.
“Glad I persuaded the others not to kill him.”
To read Chapters ahead 👇
CH 161-165 (Spirit Battle) $3
CH 166-170 (Invincible pinky) $3
CH 171-175 (Tyrant Dordone) $3
CH 176-180 (Alon Vs Ecok) $3
CH 181-185 (Academy’s downfall) $3
CH 186-190 (Rockefeller) $3
CH 191-195 (Student council president) $3
CH 196-200 (The King) $3
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