Chapter 46 - Entrance Exam (7)

To subdue a Plantera with freezing, one had to freeze it solid from the inside out.

The bombs Cecil gave me were far more powerful than the ones I'd used to catch fish.

As a magic scholar, combat would become somewhat difficult once consumables were depleted. It felt strange to think she'd handed over magic bombs that were like lifelines to her. I'd received more goodwill than expected.

There were still more gates remaining for the top advance party, and with some sections' breakthroughs uncertain, I had to test it.

The experiment was a great success.

Cecil's gift had opened up a slight path forward.

It wasn't all good, though. The Plantera's punch hurt terribly.

Fighting the Plantera on the exam site had taught me something. These things only tried to subdue candidates, not kill them. This combat mechanism had made me let my guard down slightly. It was my oversight.

Lilith was calming herself down where she sat. Still shaken from fear, she continued to sniffle occasionally.

I sat leaning against the wall. My clothes were a mess from rolling on the ground. Blood was seeping through the shirt hidden under my cloak. It wasn’t a particularly good situation.

Lilith approached my side slowly, still not fully calm.

"I should say this, sniff. Thank you for saving me..."

"..."

"Now I know for sure. You're incredibly strong."

“...”

"And you... you're the craziest person I've ever seen or heard of in my life."

She must have been raised in a greenhouse, not knowing how diverse humans could be. She'd foam at the mouth if she knew how the Griffin Potion recipe was created.

While stories of friendship born through adversity were nice, I had no time to worry about Lilith right now. Having worn no proper armor, I'd taken the impact with my whole body.

I took off my cloak. Then, I started unbuttoning my shirt from the top.

Lilith questioned my actions.

"...?"

She spoke in a momentarily confused voice, "W-wait, what are you doing..."

When I removed my shirt, my bare skin was exposed.

My shoulder and chest were gouged from the rocks, and my side to back was deeply torn.

Seeing the wounds, she seemed to understand the reason for my actions and said nothing more.

I took out a potion from my backpack. It was the potion Silveryn had given me to use if I got hurt.

Lilith's gaze was piercing. She stood with her hands behind her back, staring down at me blankly. Her fidgeting feet were annoying, so I raised my head to meet her eyes. Only then did she slightly turn her head away.

"..."

Is this how Cecil felt when she was tearing up her skirt?

Is this your first time seeing a man's body or something?

I opened the cork and downed one bottle straight into my throat. Once the potion components began circulating in my blood vessels, the internal damage invisible to the naked eye would heal adequately.

I tossed aside the empty bottle and took out another one.

Lilith stared at the empty bottle with strange eyes.

"W-wait, what did you just drink?"

I ignored her words and started roughly pouring the bottle over my wounds.

"No, wait! That's not how you use this!"

She clung to me and grabbed my wrist.

"This pattern on the glass bottle. I'm sure of it; this is Merikania Special Elixir!"

Lilith looked alarmed.

"How did you get an elixir when you don't even know how to use it? You can't get this even with money!"

"..."

Even while saying this, Lilith continued to sniffle.

I didn't understand why she was holding onto someone who felt like they were dying.

When I stared at her blankly, Lilith stammered, "T-that... Never mind. Haa, give it here. I'll apply it for you."

Lilith snatched the potion from my hand and took out a handkerchief from her chest.

She soaked the handkerchief with the potion and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm going to apply it?"

Then, with a serious face, she started dabbing it on my wounds.

She was so tense that her hand movements were stiff.

She was so focused that she didn't even notice some of her ash-gray hair touching my body and becoming stained with blood.

She unknowingly placed her free hand on my body, then startled herself and pulled it away.

"Uh... s-show me your back."

When I turned around, Lilith continued applying the potion to my wounds.

"The elixir heals quickly, so if you don't apply it slowly, sniff, it'll heal with scars."

The penetration scar on my abdomen from fighting the Wraith bothered me.

Though she didn't mention it, this scar was something that would leave a strong impression in her mind.

To me, it was like a medal, so I didn't want to erase it.

I should be careful about taking off my shirt while I’m not wearing my mask. 

"See, it healed nicely?"

Her sniffling had stopped now, and a satisfied smile bloomed on her face.

Lilith closed the elixir's cap. Though the wounds had all healed, some potion remained.

After confirming the wounds had healed, I gathered my clothes. There was no time for further delay.

Lilith spoke curtly, "Would it kill you to answer?"

I quietly looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were gradually covering it.

***

Joyce was climbing up the valley with his Wiesel Knight Order companions.

His fellow knight Julian said, "Is this the right way?"

"Just a moment."

Joyce took out a map. What he held was different from the map distributed by the Eternia judges.

This map, which he had barely obtained through inquiries in Rigbed, showed a secret route that led directly to checkpoint 2 without passing through checkpoint 1.

Thanks to this, they were traveling through areas unknown to other candidates.

"I'm sure. But didn't they say there would be Planteras stationed here too?"

Though they would encounter fewer than following the officially distributed map, they had been warned that some Planteras would be stationed along this shortcut.

Unlike the herb gatherer's explanation who sold the map, the valley was eerily quiet.

"Let's go for now."

They set out, following the unofficial map.

After advancing for a while, Julian suddenly shouted in shock at something he saw, "Ahhh!"

He grabbed Joyce's arm.

"Damn. There was a Plantera gatekeeper here too!"

Julian pointed to a spot in the valley.

A house-sized Plantera had partially revealed itself, with its two arms and head resting on one part of the valley.

A gatekeeper that should only be seen after checkpoint 1 was holding firm even on the unofficial route.

It seemed Eternia had anticipated candidates using such routes. Though they hadn't expected much, sure enough, they didn't allow such tricks.

As Julian tried to flee with his companions, Joyce urged them, "Wait, wait!"

Joyce sensed something unnatural.

"Look. It's not moving?"

Everyone calmed their startled hearts and looked at the gatekeeper.

Though it was peeking its head out and looking down menacingly at the Wiesel Knight Order, it showed no other movement.

"...It's true. Something's strange."

Every member of the Knight Order party gulped and exchanged glances.

At Joyce's gesture, they began entering the valley quietly, muffling their footsteps.

And when they pushed through an area hidden by trees and stone piles, a large clearing appeared.

Those who witnessed the sight were shocked.

Someone had come through and swept through this place first.

Dozens of Planteras lay scattered, cut in half.

Most impressive was the Plantera gatekeeper.

The house-sized gatekeeper was embedded in one side of the valley wall with its upper body completely severed.

"What in the..."

And on the gatekeeper's severed upper body, a blue afterglow remained, smoking.

Joyce said, "...Looks like another candidate passed through first."

Julian shook his head repeatedly in disbelief and said, "What is this... Crazy, this isn't something a person could do."

"..."

"...Damn, this is a monster. Surely this wasn't done by a candidate like us? Right? This is on a completely different level from us."

Joyce quietly observed the Plantera remains.

He had heard rumors about a sword that left blue light.

It had already spread widely after the confrontation with Gale.

"Only one person could do this."

That person had quite a few titles.

Master of the Demon Sword Sibelin. The Talent of the Century. Disciple of the Sword Master.

The rumors were true. This was an overwhelming level that no other candidate could match.

"Sion, only Sion."

***

The masked man caught a deer and gathered an appropriate amount of meat. Lilith collected dry branches and mushrooms.

Just as they finished moving all their supplies into the cave, rain began pouring down.

As he clicked the flint in front of the branches piled inside the cave, Lilith said, "Move aside. There’s no need for that."

When she chanted a spell, fire immediately arose.

"..."

The man silently skewered mushrooms and meat onto sticks.

Lilith rubbed her handkerchief against the falling rainwater. The handkerchief was stained dark with blood.

"Haa, it was one of my favorites."

She spread the handkerchief on a rock away from the rain and sat opposite the man.

Then, she started skewering venison and mushrooms and grilling them over the fire.

It felt like they worked well together, even without much conversation.

A strange sense of stability after long drifting. Though the environment was severely inferior to her usual surroundings, she felt oddly good.

Looking at the sizzling skewers, she suddenly thought.

"Hey,"

"..."

"At this point, we're practically companions, aren't we?"

The man stared at Lilith intently.

Then, he firmly shook his head.

"Huh?"

Traveling together all day, personally tending to injuries, sharing gathered food amicably, camping together in a cave just the two of them.

After going through such adversity together, we're not companions?

It meant he could abandon Lilith without farewell at any time.

Something welled up inside her.

Sadness. And a strange sense of disappointment.

Even if it’s insincere, can’t he at least give a nicer response?

Lilith said with a deeply annoyed expression, "You're really nasty, you know that?"