Chapter 24 - The Second Time

As light returned to the world, the moon that flew in split the lightning.

The vertically split lightning, instead of disappearing, divided to both sides and fell to the ground. A roar followed.

Boom!!

The massive lightning wave swept through the forest, annihilating everything. But the place where Fernan stood was intact. He brushed up his rain-soaked hair and smiled refreshingly. In contrast, Acel grimaced due to magical power depletion symptoms and staggered.

High-level magic manifested by strengthening and resonating the spell formula with all kinds of characters. Just that alone had emptied his core, and on top of that, he had directly faced Fernan's imagery. Although magical power was slowly entering his core so there was no need to worry about losing his life, he couldn't prevent his consciousness from scattering. Acel stared at Fernan with increasingly blurring vision and opened his mouth.

"...Did I pass the test?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Fernan smiled slightly and put away his sword.

"You easily surpassed the standard, and you'll probably take the top spot too."

"That's a relief."

As long as he passed, it was fine. Acel let go of the consciousness he had been forcibly holding onto and collapsed on the spot. His face plunged into a puddle of rainwater, and Elena, who was standing next to him, patted his shoulder in alarm.

"A-Acel? Acel, are you okay?"

"...It's magical power depletion. Seems he overdid it," Ellen said as she checked Acel's pulse.

Fortunately, his pulse was normal, but magical power depletion itself is a symptom with many variables, so it needed to be dealt with quickly. On battlefields, many mages died suddenly from magical power depletion. It was dangerous to assume Acel would be fine no matter what.

She arbitrarily manipulated Acel's bracelet to activate the teleportation spell and said to Fernan, "I'll transport the injured for now."

"Alright. You two go as well. Ah, you've passed the exam too, just so you know."

"...Unlike Acel, we didn't do much, though."

"What's important for vanguards moving with a mage isn't achievement, but opening the way for the mage. You fulfilled that role faithfully," Fernan answered while shaking off the blood dripping from his body. 

Ellen frowned slightly, as if somewhat dissatisfied, but nodded.

"...I understand."

"Your expression doesn't look like it at all."

"..."

"Never mind. But know this one thing. Warriors who perform more greatly than mages are either overwhelmingly more skilled than mages to begin with, or madmen who want to die in foreign lands."

He didn't wait for an answer. Fernan waved his hand at Ellen, who was moving her lips, and laid down as if collapsing. Ellen also didn't continue the conversation and immediately moved to the injured tent with Elena.

Swoosh!!

In the forest where everyone had disappeared. The sound of pouring rain beats the ears. The lingering traces of lightning that hadn't yet disappeared occasionally burst into huge thunder, and the flowing rainwater mercilessly soaked Fernan's face. He looked up at the sky with a blank face, then smiled slightly and closed his eyes.

"It hurts like hell."

He felt pain as if his brain was being heated where he had been directly hit by magic. The wound wasn't very deep, but due to the nature of lightning magic that directly affected the nervous system, the pain was intense regardless of the wound. Even a Master couldn't train their nervous system, so writhing in pain was unavoidable.

Although he had pretended to be fine in front of the three, Fernan was also mentally pushed to his limits.

If he had been hit by the magic Acel used at the end, he wouldn't have been able to lie down like this of his own will. He would have fainted from the extreme pain or quickly knocked down the three and tried to erase the lightning that had penetrated his body.

"...Unique magic is indeed unique."

Magic that worked on a Master with an overwhelmingly different level. It wasn't classified as unique magic for nothing. No, rather than the type of magic, was it because its owner was too amazing?

Fernan exhaled deeply and devoured the lightning that had penetrated his body with aura.

It wasn't easy. Acel's magical power rampaged as if it had its own will, and occasionally even showed attempts to encroach on Fernan's aura. As expected of a genius, even his magical power overflowed with individuality. Even Ena's magical power didn't have this much autonomy. He wondered where such a monster had popped out from.

Although overshadowed by Acel, the Hargelin lady and Vampire Princess were quite good too. They'll become more useful with some polishing.

The level of those two wasn't bad either. Both had good bloodlines, so it must be thanks to various trainings they received at the family level since childhood.

And Grace Bydel.

A genius of swordsmanship born in the Bydel Duke family. A monster who had theoretically mastered the swordsmanship passed down through blood inheritance at that age and could open her imagery to some extent.

If Acel had made several small wounds, Grace had carved one deep stab wound on one of Fernan's arms. Because of this, he couldn't avoid struggling slightly in the battle with Acel's group. Of course, if he had gone all out, the three's heads would have been flying through the air in an instant, but it wasn't easy when his arm was injured while he was moderately controlling himself.

While he was thinking, he had almost completely devoured the lightning that had penetrated his body. Fernan groaned as he got up and brushed up his hair that was stuck to his forehead from the rain. 

He tore his shirt slightly to stop the bleeding on his arm, and muttered with a deep sigh, "Ah, can't all four of them come to my class?"

He knew it wasn't an easy wish, but he couldn't help but desire it. He spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and operated the communication equipment.

Woong.

He activated the equipment by infusing aura and recalled the sentence he wanted to convey.

[Test finished. Grace Bydel was severely injured and defeated. Ellen Hargelin and Elena von Valdemia returned by manipulating their equipment. Genesis' disciple fainted and moved with the two of them.]

Beep.

The reply came back immediately.

[Ena's disciple fainted during the exam? Are you telling me to report this to her? Is this some new suicide method I don't know about?]

"..."

***

His eyes opened as consciousness surfaced. A pain as if his chest was being squeezed arose once, then slowly subsided. It was one of the typical symptoms of magical power depletion. If he forcibly moved his body in this state, the balance between his core and body would be shattered and he would die on the spot.

Although this was information he had read in books, it was still better to be careful.

Instead of getting up, Acel blankly stared at the ceiling.

A small magic lamp was glowing under the cloth ceiling. When he turned his head to the side, he saw other participants lying in similar states. None of them looked normal. Among them, Acel saw a man whose arms and legs were wrapped in lightning.

"Aaaagh!! It hurts, it hurts! Please erase this..."

It was a familiar face. He seemed to be the man who had gone down with one magic. Fortunately, contrary to his worry, he hadn't died. Well, if he had died, Fernan would have come for immediate execution rather than a test.

But he was clearly in critical condition. Due to its nature, lightning magic caused much more pain than other magics. Moreover, the magical power that spread after being directly hit by magic couldn't be erased with ordinary control.

Ruhan's situation was the same. His control wasn't enough to erase the lightning-natured magical power.

If left alone, he would keep repeating shock and fainting from the pain. There was no reason to leave it alone once he had noticed it. Acel forcibly moved his creaking magical power and collected the lightning wrapped around Ruhan's body.

Then Ruhan's contorted face relaxed stupidly.

"Just kill me... Huh? I-it's gone. It's gone! Damn it!" He shouted with joy. 

It must have been quite painful. Acel thought he should adjust the power of lightning spells more carefully in future duels with people and turned his head.

Their eyes met.

"Ah, hello...?"

The first thing that caught his eye was red hair. Her eyes shone like obsidian, and she was lying on the bed with bandages wrapped tightly around her arms and neck, looking this way.

It was a face in his memory. Acel slightly furrowed his brow and opened his mouth.

"That... from the exam site."

"Grace! Grace Bydel!" she shouted as she raised her upper body, then grimaced in pain.

"Urgh..."

"Did you fail?"

Since they weren't in the exam site, Acel used polite speech for now. 

Grace was startled and answered, "Please speak comfortably, I beg you."

The emotion in her voice was so desperate that Acel could only nod with a skeptical expression.

Where on earth did they have any connection for her to act like this?

He pondered, but couldn't find an answer. His first meeting with her was a week ago, and today was only their second meeting.

He hadn’t spent enough time with her to properly understand her tendencies. But Grace acted as if she had a lot of debt and emotion towards him. Showing such an unconditionally submissive attitude first wasn't good for relationships.

"...It wasn’t exactly a fail," while he was thinking, Grace spoke. 

She stroked her nape and smiled bitterly.

"Fernan came for a test and beat me up. I managed to wound his arm, but the result was my defeat."

"So you were the one who made that wound."

"...You met Fernan, too?"

"Same as you. I took the test and lost."

He wasn't sure if “lost” was the right expression, but if it had gone to the end, he would have been the one to lose, so it wasn't exactly wrong.

Thinking of Fernan reminded him of the “Imagery Release” he had shown. A secret technique and unique world that could be used when one reached the extreme in any field. He didn't know what kind of imagery Fernan held, but the ashen moon he had shown was beautiful and also lonely.

I wonder what Master's imagery is.

Ena habitually imbued her magic with imagery, but she had never actually released her imagery. He had noticed it was somewhat related to eternity, but didn't know the details.

It would be strange to directly ask about someone's personal imagery, so it seemed right to suppress his curiosity until she told or showed him. Acel exhaled deeply and opened his mouth.

"Do you know me?"

Other thoughts could wait. For now, Acel felt the need to talk about this with Grace.

Someone skilled enough to take a test with Fernan would surely be admitted to the academy. He wanted to avoid becoming awkward every time he met such a person at the academy, if possible.

He could tell she held some strange emotions towards him, but if she didn't explain this in detail, it would be more uncomfortable for him. Acel thought this as he glanced at Grace.

Grace met his gaze, but didn't immediately open her mouth. Countless agonies appeared and disappeared in her eyes. What remained at the end was a thread of hope. She forced a smile and barely managed to speak with trembling lips.

"...Acel, do you really not remember me?"

"That's right."

Grace collapsed at that single answer.

"...Ah."

Tears welled up in her eyes, then began to flow without any resistance. There was no sobbing. Just quietly. She laid still, looking at Acel and helplessly shedding tears. The emotion visible in that appearance was so pitiful that Acel quietly waited for her tears to stop.

How much time passed like that? Grace opened her mouth with a voice mixed with moisture.

"It's all... gone. The promise we made, the simple wedding we held, the house we built together."

"..."

"It's all, all gone."

Acel didn't understand her mutterings. But he understood the emotions she was showing.

Despair, grief, sadness, depression, and so on. All of them were nothing but negative. Acel rolled his eyes with an awkward expression.

Honestly, he didn't feel much empathy. He had only met this woman twice at most, and without any explanation, she was just crying. He had no words to say. What could he possibly say when he didn't know anything?

Should I try comforting her, or just stay quiet?

Acel thought for a moment, then decided to at least give a brief response. If left alone, she seemed like she would stay like this all day.

"Um... Grace?"

"...Huh?"

"I don't know why you're acting like this, but isn't it better to focus on the present rather than being buried in past events?"

"..."

No answer came back. He hadn't expected an answer, but when even the sobbing sounds disappeared, he couldn't help but worry if he had said something strange.

Still, at least she had stopped crying, so wasn't that good? Acel thought this and cleared his throat.

Grace stared at him intently, then eventually smiled bitterly and opened her mouth.

"...You're still the same at not giving proper comfort, now as then. I had told you that at times like this, you just need to hug..."

He had never heard that.

"...Right, as you said, if I stay immersed in the past, I won't be able to do anything. I need to get up, if only to avoid meeting the same end as before. But… I couldn’t help feeling sad."

Grace finished speaking like this and pulled the blanket over her head. Judging from the faint sobbing sounds, it seemed she was shedding her last tears. Acel sighed deeply and roughly ruffled his hair.

This doesn't suit my temperament.

Even in the slums, it was Evelyn who took charge of comforting orphans they happened to meet. All Acel had done was teach them how to survive. He had tried comforting crying children a few times when the opportunity arose, but they all either cried louder instead of stopping or he quickly gave up out of frustration. He never dreamed he would be doing this again after becoming an adult.

Fortunately, unlike children, Grace quickly stopped crying. She pulled back the blanket and said while rubbing her swollen eyes with her hands, "I know you have a lot of questions. I'll tell you when the time comes."

"Is there a reason to hide it?"

"...I'm not sure. I'm not mentally prepared yet, for one thing."

He wondered if there was anything to prepare for, but he nodded anyway. Grace smiled faintly seeing this.

"Let's have a duel later. I want to cross swords after a long time."

"...But I don't know how to use a sword?"

"...?"

"...?"

Both their faces crumpled similarly.

"...Aren't you a swordsman?"

"I'm a mage."

"A mage? The mercenary Acel famous for being a magic-monger is a mage?" Grace asked with round eyes. 

Acel frowned deeply.

The difference in their memories started from there.