Afterwards, the Tower soared towards the western wing, en route to Drywall.
The morning had fully penetrated the sky, and snow was falling from the clouds, drifting softly onto the floors and roofs of the airship.
There were still a large number of people, even though many had been dropped off along the way.
Eleina stood at the left edge of the deck, gazing at the sky with her hand slightly outstretched. She lowered her gaze and watched as a snowflake gently settled on her small but calloused palm.
So much had happened in one life... and in such a short time. It seemed the world gave her no time to breathe between the torrent of shocks she kept receiving.
She stood there staring at the flakes on her palm, her eyes fixated on them, but her mind elsewhere.
In the blink of an eye, the entire academy had crumbled to dust. Everything had happened before she could even grasp what was unfolding.
She had lost many rades, several students, but many more had also been rescued... by the one person she least expected.
Rian was a student they all presumed weak. He was in the non-bative school—why else would he be there if not because he didn’t fit into the bative school?
He might have been skilled at one or two things, and certainly physically capable, but at the end of the day, he lacked a talent well-suited for battle—or so Eleina and several other forge masters had believed.
But he had proven himself an exceptional blacksmith. Most of them in the Forge couldn’t stop gawking, couldn’t stop marveling at how magnificent and flawless his forgery was.
He knew how to read a resource and determine the optimal way to utilize such minerals.
He could examine steel and mune with it in ways that only ancient forgers ever could.
Being able to discover the essence of a resource was something lost to the ages. The forgers of this era had long settled for mediocrity.
Of course, in special places there were exceptional crafters, but they were rarer than the norm and were typically restricted to a clan or nation.
Unlike the Academy forgers who generally accepted jobs throughout the continent and delivered, those craftsmen were confined and probably never renowned.
This was why, among everyone, Rian was considered a prodigious forger who would usher in a new era for the academy’s smiths.
Of course, right now, that same academy was gone, and none of those accolades mattered anymore.
But still, he was already extraordinary. Rian was.
Who would have ever imagined in their wildest dreams that he was a formidable warrior? A Sage, no less?
He manded an airship of his own and had assembled a crew so powerful that one person could shift the tide of battle—not to mention himself.
Eleina hadn’t witnessed the battle with the Leviathan clearly, but on the ship, the students who had seen it wouldn’t stop talking about it.
The student councils were silenced by his might and presence. They were the academy’s elite, yet they claimed they had never witnessed anything like it in their lives.
The surviving instructors spoke of it, saying they would never stand a chance.
Before long, they were paring him to legendary figures.
"How do you think he would fare against the Tomb Riders?"
"To be honest, I can’t say... I’ve never heard of a Sage defeating a Leviathan."
"It’s almost absurd—I doubt I would ever believe such a tale if I hadn’t seen it myself."
The instructors spoke with such terror and awe that it was slowly drifting toward reverence.
All the same, this was Rian... whom she knew, who had been her student.
It was so difficult for Eleina to believe.
"Are you okay, master?"
Eleina frowned, nearly shivering as she heard the familiar hoarse voice.
She glanced sideways as Northern joined her at the ship’s edge where she stood.
Then she quickly turned forward, trying not to look at his face.
Somehow, she felt so awkward, so ashamed of the moments she had manded him around and acted like she was shit without ever considering that the tables could turn on her.
Who would have known that he had always been this strong, this powerful... this important.
Now, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and disappointed in herself.
"The past few days have been overwhelming for me... I should have e to see you sooner."
Eleina tensed at his words. She nearly stumbled over her first word before it left her mouth, but she held her peace for a moment, breathed steadily, and spoke.
"Why? You didn’t need to."
Northern looked at her with a strange kind of passion.
"You are my master. My growth as a blacksmith is owed greatly to you—it’s only natural that I treat you with respect. Are you refusing that... refusing me?"
Eleina only felt more confused. His words sounded so wrong, so strange, so unexpected. He was a Sage! A Sage—one who could determine the fate of nations. At least, she had watched him do so these past three days.
How could he be saying all these things, treating her with respect? All she had done was teach him blacksmithing, and moreover, she wasn’t exceptional. She wasn’t important! Why was he speaking to her like he cared? What was happening?
She sighed deeply.
"You are an incredibly strong person, someone who carries the burden of the continent’s fate. Whether this continent will still exist next year—which begins tomorrow, by the way—I believe will be largely determined by your actions. What we share is too small and insignificant pared to the magnitude of what lies ahead of you. I think it’s only natural that you focus on that..."
Eleina looked at him with slightly widened eyes. She expected this to be mon sense and was bewildered that it wasn’t to him.
Northern looked down for a moment.
"While you make sense, I also don’t think that should be any excuse for anyone to abandon people who have taught them greatly and contributed to their growth."
Eleina suddenly felt exhausted.
’Ah... he’s stubborn...’
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