Chapter 21

EP.21 Class Assignment Test (5)

A blizzard rages across the snowy mountains of the north. In that blizzard, one cannot see even a step ahead. Taking a step forward seems futile. It doesn’t feel like walking. In fact, it’s even questionable whether one is standing.

In that blizzard.

Senses are distorted.

Vision wavers.

Rak, who was born and raised in the north, had experienced such a blizzard before. He had felt the helplessness of a human being in the face of such overwhelming nature.

“Huff, huff...”

And now.

Rak is feeling that helplessness once again.

Rak strained his eyes. Veins bulged. However, his eyes did not open wide. Through his squinted eyes, he could only see blurry shapes.

His body would not move as he wished.

“Thirty, now halfway.”

Rak looked at Lania.

Even in this space that seemed to squeeze every part of her body, her voice did not waver. She sat on a rock in the grass, calmly counting.

Looking at her.

Rak recalled his father’s teachings.

-You’ve experienced a blizzard, I see.

-Yes, Rak. What did you feel?

Fear, and helplessness.

-Yes, fear and helplessness.

-Then, what would you call someone who overcomes them?

A great warrior.

A true warrior of the north.

Click.

Rak gritted his teeth and took a step forward. His bones creaked ominously, but Rak did not stop.

“Forty.”

One step.

“Fifty.”

Another step.

With each step he took, time passed. When Rak took his third step,

“Sixty.”

One minute, the agreed-upon time, came to an end.

That was his limit. Rak’s legs gave out, unable to bear the strain of enduring for one minute.

Thud.

Rak fell to the ground.

Even as he fell, he stretched out his hand. It was sheer determination.

Tap.

And that determination.

Reached Lania’s feet.

“Hmm.”

Seeing Rak’s fingers touch her feet.

She smiled faintly.

2.

‘This kid... is really something.’

I lifted the fallen Rak and carried him out of the boundary. Then, I laid him down and adjusted the mana in his limbs.

Honestly, he exceeded my expectations.

This was a disadvantageous area for Rak from the start.

‘I was going to let him pass if he could endure for about 30 seconds.’

He lasted twice that long, and even managed to move.

I was genuinely impressed by his determination.

“Looks like you lost, though?”

I turned my head and looked at Bellnoa, who was still inside the boundary. Bellnoa was just about to snap her fourth finger.

Incantation, Offering.

I didn’t stop her from using incantations.

I wanted to see how far she could handle them. That’s why I set the time to one minute, which would be impossible to endure without them.

‘She definitely has a talent for incantations.’

In such a situation, she limited her offering to her ‘fingers.’ It was an impossible feat for someone without exceptional talent.

“Come out. The minute is up.”

“Cough, cough!”

I grabbed Bellnoa by the nape of her neck and pulled her out of the boundary.

“The terms, the terms.”

“Keep your word. According to the agreement, the offering will be nullified, and I’ll report this as a draw.”

“...”

That seemed to be her limit. After hearing my answer, Bellnoa collapsed onto the grass. Seeing this, I was genuinely impressed.

“Kids these days are really something.”

What was I doing at that age? At eighteen, I was probably preparing to become the next tower master. Pushing and punishing students to get results...

‘Those were the fun days.’

And if my memory serves me right.

It was around this time that I first stepped into the Mana Spring.

-Can you endure the Mana Spring?

-How do you endure the saturated mana?

-Even Lady Laniel would find it impossible.

Hearing such stories circulating in the tower, I challenged it out of a mix of curiosity and stubbornness.

‘And I failed, didn’t I?’

I probably crawled to the center of the Mana Spring and then crawled back out, covered in blood.

‘What about now?’

Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.

I had experienced all sorts of things, wandering battlefields and the Demon Realm. Reflecting on it, it didn’t seem too difficult.

‘I even used Balance in front of the Demon King. Why wouldn’t I be able to do this?’

There was still quite a bit of time left until the test ended.

I crossed the boundary and entered the forest. Since I was the only supervisor in the northern section, no one was watching, so I walked with ease.

The concentration of mana grew thicker as I moved deeper into the forest.

Saturated mana sparked in the air.

How long had I walked?

A massive ancient tree came into view.

This is why this forest is called the Harmain Forest.

At the base of the ancient tree, named Harmain, given by an ancient dragon mage, a large pool of water had gathered.

‘The Mana Spring.’

Pure and saturated mana.

That pool of liquid was more like a lump of mana than a spring.

I took off my shoes and dipped my feet into the spring. Splash. The water rose to my ankles. I gauged the depth, considering my changed body, and moved further into the spring.

The water rose to my calves.

In the past, this was my limit.

Crossing this point, my breathing would start to become labored.

‘Going any further, my blood vessels would start to burst.’

But not now.

I boldly stepped into the center of the spring. The water rose to my lower body, slightly wetting my abdomen. I took another step.

At the center of the spring.

I stood there.

Saturated mana permeated the air.

The water that rose was saturated mana itself.

Saturated mana resonates with the mana inside the body. As the mana began to resonate, it vibrated and exerted pressure on the body. This pressure was not just physical.

‘It constricts the blood vessels, presses on the heart, and makes breathing labored. Disrupted mana arrays can cause mental confusion and even hallucinations.’

At eighteen.

‘That’s why no one could properly handle the Mana Spring. It was too dangerous.’

Back then, I spat blood when I stood at the center.

How does it compare now?

“Hmm.”

I looked at my raised arm.

It was smooth. There were no bulging veins.

‘I’m fine.’

I felt nothing. My breathing was normal, and the mana flowing inside me was not disrupted at all.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

‘It’s been 7-8 years since then.’

Moreover, I spent 5 of those years primarily on battlefields and in the Demon Realm. I often had to invade territories of the Demon King’s army.

The Demon Realm. The most distinctive feature of that polluted land is undoubtedly the miasma.

Miasma (魔氣).

Polluted mana.

Something considered highly toxic to mages.

In the Demon Realm, finding a place not tainted by miasma is harder. The concentration might vary, but the areas I explored were deep within the Demon Realm, known as the Demon Expanse (魔境).

A place where miasma exists in a saturated state.

Just standing there can turn your blood black, pollute your mana. When I first entered the Demon Expanse, I couldn’t even stand properly.

Of course, not everyone struggled with the miasma.

Among my companions, only I was vulnerable to it.

Sara is a holy maiden.

Her mana is inherently divine.

She has complete immunity to the toxicity of miasma.

Remia is an elf.

Born and raised in the World Tree Forest, her mana arrays are robust. The mana blessed by the World Tree does not get disrupted by miasma.

Kail is a hero.

He has a body chosen by the stars.

Miasma would have no effect on him.

And I.

I was just a human.

A human who was good at handling magic.

Of course, I wasn’t without talent. I had plenty of it. I was born with a large amount of mana and the talent to control it.

However, I lacked any inherent special qualities.

I wasn’t a holy maiden, a hero, or a blessed elf. I was just a human, a mage who perceived miasma as a poison.

To continue my journey, I had to find a way. I had no complaints about this fact.

‘Mages are always seeking answers.’

That’s what I was taught.

That’s why I set out on my journey with that resolve.

It’s been five years.

During those five years, my mana changed.

No, saying it changed is an understatement.

I adapted my body to the given environment.

I imprinted the method to resist miasma into my mana. I created arrays that wouldn’t be disrupted by miasma. I found a way for my mana to purify miasma.

I scooped up the water from the Mana Spring with my hand.

Even as the droplets touched my skin, I felt nothing.

“...”

Standing at the center of the Mana Spring, I imagined.

I placed my eighteen-year-old self and my current self in the same spot, gauging the gap between them.

“Ah.”

I suddenly smiled.

“It wasn’t useless, after all.”

3.

Western section.

The class being tested is Summoner.

The western section where the summoners gathered was quiet. No one was fighting, and no one was preparing to fight. This wasn’t a characteristic of summoners.

It was just that there was no need to fight.

The winner of the test was clear.

“...”

In the center of the clearing where the mana stones were placed.

Despite the mana stones being clearly visible, no student approached them.

There was already a guardian in that spot.

The next tower master, Resty, with her ash-gray hair.

She held the mana stone in her hand. She showed no signs of moving or relocating the mana stone.

She just stood there.

The familiars surrounding her were the ones moving.

Ten familiars moved in formation. Their disciplined movements, unwavering and steady, spoke volumes about Resty’s mastery.

Familiars are controlled by mana.

The fact that there was no hint of wavering in their movements meant she had them under perfect control.

‘And she controls more than ten of them.’

Her presence made other summoners give up on the test. It seemed impossible to break through her.

As a result, the western section was calm.

Resty closed her eyes after confirming that the last competitor had disappeared from the vicinity.

However, closing her eyes did not mean she was letting her guard down. On the contrary, by closing her eyes, Resty gained a broader field of vision.

Shared vision.

The familiars hovering in the air were connected to her vision.

Resty looked down at the forest from above.

Some mages still lingered, looking at her with regret, but...

‘They’re not worth worrying about.’

There were no strong enough competitors left to worry about.

Resty controlled her familiars.

The bird-like familiars soared higher. The expanded field of vision soon covered the area bordering the western section.

Resty’s vision, which had been observing the forest, suddenly lingered on the northern section.

There was also an open clearing there. The mana stone placed on one side of the clearing came into view. However, no one was touching the mana stone.

“...?”

Resty’s curiosity was piqued for a moment.

The grass rustled, and someone walked toward the clearing. It wasn’t a student.

Drooping ash-gray hair.

Even from a high vantage point, Resty immediately recognized the person by their hair.

‘Lania von Trias.’

The person she had been keeping an eye on.

However, something seemed off about her state.

“She’s... wet?”