Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Did... I really do this...?”

Persica stared blankly with wide, rabbit-like eyes, her mouth hanging open as if she could not believe it even after doing it herself.

At this rate, a fly was going to get in there.

It seemed this was the first time she had ever successfully used Flash Lightning Thunder Sword in real combat.

[Not bad. Not as good as Ishara, though.]

“...Did you really have to say that?”

Even as she snapped back, her usual shrill edge was gone, leaving behind nothing more than a cute complaint.

At this point, she probably had no choice but to admit it herself.

It was true that she had learned well, but that did not mean I was going to say something I did not mean.

[What else am I supposed to say when it is true?]

“I said, did you really have to say that!?”

There she went again, showing her true colors.

She looked like she was angry, but her lips were already curved into a smile.

As the frustration over her lack of skill faded, heat began to gather in her gaze and in the sound of her breathing.

“...Thank you.”

[That is enough. I am going back now.]

I had done more than enough for her.

Now that the one weak link had been patched up as well,

it was time to begin the real strategy.

—Then take this as well.

A strange light began to ripple over the giant body of the creature.

That was the special pattern called Aura.

I closely examined the light dwelling within the golem.

‘This is... the unavoidable type.’

A pattern that swept across the ground while wrapped in the same golden light as Divinity.

Auras were divided into types depending on the Trait, and that one was the unavoidable type.

[Jump back!]

Blocking it with our strength was impossible.

The only way to deal with it was to get outside its attack range.

The moment I gave the signal, all three of them sprang out at once.

Whoooosh!

The massive arm swept across the floor, sending snow and dirt flying in every direction.

Persica and Dominic had already done this once, so I was sure they had dodged it easily enough.

And Ishara...

“Got you.”

...had already taken up a ready stance the moment she escaped.

Unlike the other two, who had focused all their attention on dodging, Ishara was already moving with the next step in mind.

‘What is this?’

It was almost as if she already knew that the golem would suffer a long opening after using that pattern.

Was this also a kind of instinct?

I was so taken aback that I could not even admire it properly.

“Let us go, Isran!”

[Y-yeah.]

I snapped back to my senses and moved forward.

This time too, I was the one who moved first. Unlike Ishara, I had experience using Divinity.

Before my build had settled into place, I had tried every build I possibly could, and naturally that included using Magic Power and Divinity until I was sick of them.

Fighting while taking Divinity’s natural recovery into account was child’s play.

More than anything, I knew every last one of that golem’s patterns, from one to ten.

Boom!

I narrowly avoided the incoming fist by a hair’s breadth, then drove hard off the ground.

Because of its huge body, its movements during recovery were bigger than before.

Large movements were poison for Ishara’s condition, but that was no longer true now that she was benefiting from Divinity.

[How does it feel?]

“I feel like I could fly!”

Even though she was moving far faster and with much larger motions than before, Ishara was not tiring in the slightest.

Instead of cold sweat pouring down a pale face, she was flushed with color, working up the kind of sweat that felt good.

Life filled her breathing.

Her body did not tire, no matter how many actions followed one after another.

Freed from the limitation of stamina, Ishara truly flew across the ground as though it were the sky.

“Hah!”

She leaped over the arm sweeping across the floor, landed on top of it, and launched herself like a spring toward the creature’s head.

[Ishara!]

“I know!”

Magic Power gathered in her sword, and pale light condensed along the blade.

“For now, one strike!”

Clang!

Her blade struck the golem’s head with a clean, ringing blow.

‘That makes one.’

This test only required them to strike the golem using a Trait, so it did not have to be the very Trait granted by the golem.

In other words, Ishara had just passed the test.

Now that Ishara, the last one, was finished, the others had begun packing their things, but it was still too early to leave.

We still had plenty of business left with that golem.

“One more time! That is possible, right?”

At the voice calling for an encore, everyone’s eyes widened.

“What!? Again!?”

“Hm. So that was the plan.”

Now they understood why I had made them promise.

To nobles who prized honor, a promise was worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Even if it had been made with a commoner, once a promise had been given, they had no choice but to keep it.

‘And it is working.’

Right in the center of the creature’s forehead, where the tip of the sword had pierced, I could see a tiny crack.

The signature effect of Magic Power, Piercing, was taking hold.

—Do you wish to be retested?

“Yes!”

—I understand.

Since the theme of this test was “experiencing” a Trait, they could retake it as many times as they wished.

After all, there were three different kinds of Traits, and this was supposed to be an experience. What would be the point if they only let you try it once?

I intended to take full advantage of that now.

“N-no way. Did they say they would go last just for this?”

“They were trying to be considerate of us....”

By this point, people had started misunderstanding our reason for choosing the final turn, assuming it was because we wanted to let them rest.

‘If that had really been the reason, we would have gone first before people started dying off.’

The real reason we had chosen the last slot was because we were going to destroy the golem this time.

If we broke it, the others probably would not be able to take the test afterward.

Ah, well, looked at that way, maybe it was consideration after all.

—What power do you desire this time?

“I will keep Divinity.”

—And you?

“I will keep mine as well.”

“Seriously... fine! I am keeping mine too!”

Neither the others nor Ishara chose to add another Trait at this point.

Suddenly increasing the number of powers they could wield would only make them fumble.

More than anything, Divinity was compensating for Ishara’s only weakness right now: her stamina.

An Ishara with infinite stamina.

From that moment on, she was already invincible.

“Isran!”

[Let us go.]

The test began once again.

Now then, 1,566 times remained.

***

...Fifth round.

The battle continued.

Once. Then once more.

With every step she took and every blow she struck, Ishara grew stronger.

Not as if she were learning, but as though she were remembering something she had once forgotten, she became stronger at a dazzling pace.

.

.

.

...Thirty-eighth round.

Even after dozens of battles repeated themselves, Ishara did not tire.

If anything, the more accustomed she became, the faster she grew.

Her instinct for adapting to Divinity was extraordinary, almost as if she had wielded the Trait before.

She trimmed the excess from her movements, and with each added sword strike, she gradually approached perfection.

.

.

.

...One hundred ninety-eighth round.

Before we knew it, two days had passed, with rests mixed in between.

The crack that had formed in the golem’s head had now grown large enough to be plainly visible.

The patterns had settled into our bodies, and our use of the Traits had grown more refined.

We could still become faster.

.

.

.

...Five hundred twenty-second round.

Attacks kept leaking through somewhere, and it turned out Persica was the hole.

For someone who called herself a genius, was she really failing to understand even the parts I had taught her?

[Persica, how many times have I explained this...? Ugh, Cecil.]

[Y-yes, Lord Isran!]

[Just memorize it and explain it to her yourself.]

[Ah, understood!]

“Hey! Do not dump it on my fairy!”

Then maybe you should perform better.

Ishara picked things up right away even if I only told her once.

“I do not know what it is, but hurry up. My arm is going numb.”

“Persica!”

“Ugh, seriously—!”

Dominic was already complete, and Ishara was a genius.

Persica, who was neither of those things, finally exploded.

[M-my lady... so here, you should angle the sword....]

“Hey, Isran! Do not shove it onto Cecil, you do it yourself! Trial and error is natural!”

[Ishara got it in one try.]

“....”

“Of course she did! She is the invincible genius beauty, Ishara!”

“Grrrk...!”

.

.

.

...Eight hundred ninety-fifth round.

Five days had passed.

“Hey! Just how long are we going to keep doing this!?”

[As long as we already have.]

Persica was starting to tire.

She looked full of irritation, but she did not quit.

That was probably because even she could feel how rapidly her skill was improving.

“I think I understand your objective now.”

By now, the golem’s head was covered in cracks, large and small.

Dominic and the others had finally figured out what we were trying to do.

“You are trying to... destroy the golem.”

“Good heavens....”

The supervisor of the test.

The Golden Rule... a creation made by a god.

We were about to accomplish a feat that no one had managed in a thousand years.

[You can still keep going, right, Ishara?]

“Of course.”

Letting out a heated breath, she answered with a brilliant smile.

“Because I am invincible!”

[That is right.]

Because I was the strongest, and you were invincible.

We could do this.

“Let us go!”

I could feel the hand gripping the sword. I could feel the pounding pulse of her racing heart.

Her emotions came through to me exactly as they were—so happy, so overjoyed that she did not know what to do with herself.

She looked ahead.

With eyes shining like stars that would never rise in this world.

She was looking beyond it.

.

.

.

...One thousand one hundred ninety-second round.

“You know, if this is a dream.”

Was it sweat, or tears?

As she wiped away the droplets running down her face, she spoke.

“Then I never want to wake up again.”

Ishara was smiling.

***

And finally, the 1,567th round.

—Operation... disabled....

The golem, its head shattered, collapsed.

The giant body that had seemed impossible to destroy crumbled apart, breaking down into boulders, stones, and sand.

Since the examiner that would have reclaimed the power was gone, the Divinity dwelling within Ishara settled into her completely and became her second Trait.

Naturally, the same was true for the other two as well; the Magic Power they had been granted was added directly to the Magic Power they already possessed.

[You worked hard. It is over now.]

“...I feel like I am going to die. Even if you beat me to death, I am not moving.”

“It was a satisfying battle.”

We had ended up staying here for an entire week, but no one complained about it.

The other two had gained both greater skill and the reward of additional Magic Power, and everyone else had received a rare chance to regroup.

Even putting that aside, it had been a week full of things worth watching.

“Splendid. You are among the finest warriors I have ever met.”

“Thank you!”

“Ah, seriously! Fine, I will admit what deserves admitting! I... was bound to lose.”

“You did well too, Persica!”

Dominic praised her lavishly, and Persica finally seemed to acknowledge Ishara.

Yes. She had always been a wall that could never be surpassed.

I was the strongest, and Ishara was invincible.

Together, we were perfect.

“We did it.”

[Good work.]

Before I knew it, she was staring at the golden current swirling in her hand.

Divinity. One of the three Traits.

Something that normally could not be unlocked until at least the second floor of a dungeon had been unlocked here in the tutorial instead.

Her excited breathing and glittering eyes made it plain just how overwhelmed Ishara was by this joy.

“I did it! Ahaha!!”

She suddenly ran over and threw her arms around me.

As if she wanted to show me just how immense her joy was, she hugged me tight and spun around in place.

[You worked really hard.]

“Seriously!”

My restrained response made her burst out in frustration.

“You really do not smile! It is fine to smile at a time like this, you know? We succeeded together!”

[...I am not very good at that kind of thing.]

Ever since I was young, intense expressions of emotion had put too much strain on my body, so I had lived while suppressing them as much as possible.

It was not just exercise. Even emotional changes made my heart fall out of rhythm and cry out in pain.

Because I could not express them, I naturally forgot.

More than that, I had never really had the chance to feel powerful emotions in the first place.

Most of my life had been spent inside a narrow hospital room.

I did not have to be that way here.

But habits that had already sunk into my body did not disappear easily.

I could do it, but I could not. I did not know how.

“Here!”

After letting me go, Ishara stretched out both hands.

She raised her fingers and lifted the corners of my mouth on both sides.

“Smile!”

She beamed brightly.

Even though her hair was plastered to her face with sweat, and she was completely covered in dirt, she smiled as brightly as though she were glowing.

“See? You are much more handsome when you smile.”

[....]

She smiled.

As though she meant to smile in my place too, taking even my share upon herself.

“Come on! On to the final test!”