Chapter 27 : Overwheld
As Sal and Divinity headed toward the elevator, Divinity was pouring out apologies like a fountain.
It was an apology for inadvertently letting slip the fact that her abilities had been strengthened because of Sal.
Sal tried to put his complicated feelings aside and calm Divinity down, but his attempts had absolutely no effect.
Every ti she opened her mouth, Divinity unleashed another storm of apologies.
"Really... I wanted to tell you personally, but Neuro was right there! Plus, he already knew, and I was dying of curiosity! That's why it just popped out! I'm really sorry!"
It was a wonder she found ti to breathe, as Divinity jumped endlessly from one worry to the next.
"No, but testing to see if such an ability really exists is exciting, right? Oh, sorry. I an, I find it interesting, but from your perspective, being asked to replicate sothing you didn't even know about your own ability could be stressful! Ah seriously, it would have been better if I hadn't said anything at all... I'm so sorry!"
Divinity bit her lip and frowned.
She was regretting her words, clearly pained by them.
"But... it might not be that bad, right? If your ability really works that way? Wow! Then could I get angel wings like you?"
"Angel wings?"
Sal asked back in confusion, but Divinity didn't stop.
"Doesn't that an you can upgrade all the amazing abilities right now? Of course, like the principal said, it might be a temporary change, so we'll have to wait a day or two... but it's still interesting. Don't you think?"
Divinity's smile finally won the war between guilt and excitent, and Sal was secretly relieved by the outco.
He scratched the back of his neck and pressed the elevator call button.
"Well... it is quite interesting. I'm just glad they already knew about the disasters. Thanks to us, they know more about the third disaster... and if we join that team, we might get a bit closer to the Savior Class, right?"
As the elevator doors opened, Sal took a step inside, then turned around on the spot.
The visions of the future he had seen still wouldn't leave his mind.
Through those visions, his respect for the academy and the guilds had deepened even further.
"I wonder how many disasters they've already stopped?"
He muttered casually as if talking to himself and looked at Divinity.
"Hmm, I stopped three before enrolling. If we can beco friends with that disaster-level kid, that would be the fourth."
Divinity shrugged, but she didn't lose her smile.
"I think it's good, though. Even if I miss sothing, soone else can catch it and stop the disaster."
Sal had never thought of it from that perspective, and hearing it made him feel quite reassured.
The future he had seen was too terrible and truly frightening.
He was truly grateful that people like Divinity existed, looking into the future every day to protect everyone.
Divinity was already an amazing hero, and that fact made him rethink his own efforts.
He wasn't sure what contribution he was making to society.
The conversation he had with Upgrade still lingered in his mind.
'Will I create sothing helpful to society soday too? Is there a way to utilize my ability better than just holing up in a workshop making gear?'
Until a few weeks ago, he had thought he would live his life working in administration for a large guild or returning to his hotown to help with the family auction house.
But now, he was soone who could foresee future disasters and craft Mythos-grade gear.
If what Divinity said during the eting was true, he might even be able to untie the knots tangled in other people's abilities.
"Sal, are you okay?"
At Divinity's voice, he snapped back to reality.
The elevator doors were already open.
Divinity had one foot in the lobby and the other blocking the door to keep it from closing. Sal shook his head lightly and walked past her out of the elevator, looking apologetic.
"Just... I have a lot to think about. I feel a bit lost, I guess."
He gave a sheepish smile, but Divinity's expression didn't soften at all.
Divinity grabbed his shirt sleeve to stop him, then looked him straight in the eye.
"I know exactly how that feels."
Divinity pointed to her own eyes, then pointed to Sal's eyes.
"Do you think they treat a kid who can see the future as a kid?"
Had Divinity been seeing these disasters since she was very young?
Those scenes were not sothing a young child should have to bear.
"Once you realize how many lives were saved thanks to that, you can endure sacrificing the joys of childhood to so extent."
Divinity's voice lowered slightly, and she tugged gently on Sal's sleeve.
"I've been trained like that for years, but even now, I sotis get overwheld. But you? You were just living and working with your family. No one, not even you, knew what amazing abilities you had. Soone might have already told you, but Sal, you are special too. Maybe the most special among us. And I think you're going to be a truly great hero."
With those words, Divinity let go of his sleeve and walked into the lobby first.
"If you ntion what I just said later, I'll pretend I don't know what you're talking about. So enjoy this sentintal mont, got it?"
Her laughter spread through the air, and Sal smiled automatically. Her words resonated deeply, and the feelings of helplessness and pressure that had weighed him down lifted a little. The fact that he wasn't alone was the greatest comfort of all.
"Thanks, Divinity."
Sal said, shaking his head lightly. They walked together back to the dormitory.
***
Exhaustion washed over Sal, and he had to focus hard just to get off at his dormitory floor properly.
As he walked down the hallway alone, he reflected on how he had treated his body.
He had stayed up all night making shirts, lost consciousness twice due to energy depletion and skill usage, and in the midst of that, experienced a scam-like event where a crazy healer forcibly drained his Essence and then returned it.
He had witnessed nurous disasters, and imdiately after that, he had his mind read by Neuro.
No matter how much Divinity comforted him, Sal still felt a heavy burden and expectation, and it was all crashing down on him at once now.
The elevator doors opened, and Sal forced his body upright, stepped into the hallway, and turned right.
There, Hannah was leaning against the wall, and a male student was pressed close to her body.
Sal was tired, but he could read the atmosphere between the two imdiately.
The male student stopped his hand, which had been caressing Hannah's waist, and glared straight at Sal.
Hannah seed to hesitate about what to say, but Sal reacted very simply.
"Have a good ti."
Sal had taken about three steps when Hannah called out to him.
"Are you going to the party tomorrow night? They're calling it Survive... It's to celebrate our first week of survival!"
Hannah said with a laugh.
Sal turned around to answer.
The first thing that caught his eye was the male student's hostile expression, but Sal ignored him and looked at Hannah.
"I don't know. All I can think about right now is sleep. Can I let you know tomorrow?"
Before leaving, Sal noticed she was still wearing the gauntlet he had made.
Perhaps because of his tired brain, he pressed two fingers to his lips and blew, mimicking her signature move.
At that, Hannah laughed loudly, and the male student reacted as if he were infuriated.
He pulled away from Hannah and approached Sal.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Before Sal could even blink, the male student fell to the floor.
In front of him, as he clutched his nose in pain, a hard wall of blue light stood tall.
Sal looked over the fallen student and saw Hannah doing the exact sa gesture he had just mimicked.
Hannah shook her head side to side and opened her door.
"Think about the party, okay?"
She entered her room and closed the door without giving the guy a single glance.
Sal stood awkwardly in the hallway for a mont before quietly backing away to find his own door.
The fallen student was still rolling on the floor, clutching his face.
A few minutes later, Sal felt relieved to be inside his room, but he locked the door just in case.
He threw off his pants and tossed the shirt he had been using as a blanket onto the floor.
Seeing the workshop door, Sal frowned and walked across the room to close it.
"Not tonight, Sal."
Sal muttered that he would get into bed soon as he looked at it, but he had to wash up first.
When he was a few steps away from the bathroom door, Sal discovered a package on the floor next to the entrance.
It must have been flush against the wall, so he hadn't noticed it when he ca in.
Checking the label, it was the organizer board he had ordered from the credit shop last night.
It felt like days had passed since then, but Sal made a promise to himself not to touch it until tomorrow morning.
An hour later, Sal had finished his shower but... he had also broken his promise to himself.
He was installing the newly received board.
The workbench had been moved in front of the window, and the wall was gradually filling up with handwritten notes. Closing the countless tabs on his pad one by one, he filled his board with nurous goals and observations.
Since he was young, the only way for Sal to organize his mind was to write everything down.
An hour after that, he had recorded every vision he had seen and organized the entire roster of students in the Silver Cohort.
He knew less than 10% of them, and Sal had no idea how he and Divinity would filter out the students at risk of expulsion.
Still, stepping back from the board, Sal smiled with satisfaction.
There were many parts that needed more refining and organizing, but at least he had managed to move everything floating around in his head onto the board.
It wasn't even midnight yet, but Sal was on the verge of collapsing.
He fixed his gaze on one na on the board for the last ti and vowed to stop the fourth disaster sohow.
Rank 986, lanie Delahunt.
Necromancer.
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