Chapter 28: Heavenly Sight, Earthly Sound

It is the duty of every martial artist to train in the morning.

Liya had always believed this and acted upon it. Having cultivated the habit for over a century in her previous life, it was impossible to change. According to her training plan, she needed only six to seven hours of sleep to maintain peak condition. She would wake at six, exercise until seven-thirty, then have breakfast and begin her studies. After afternoon classes, she would jog around the academy, and in the evening, she would train again before sleeping soundly around eleven or twelve.

But over the past month, whenever Liya got up to train, she would always spot a heartening figure.

Alice.

Unlike Liya, Alice was a mage, so theoretically, there was no need for her to do morning exercise. Yet a month ago, while training in her room, Liya happened to see Alice passing by outside the window. After following her, she discovered that Alice had started exercising too—and it was morning running.

It was both delightful and comforting.

That Alice, a mage, would voluntarily exercise—there was no doubt it had something to do with her. Liya boldly speculated that her own martial aura and spirit had inspired Alice, prompting her to join the morning training army! Yes, it must be so!

‘Time to adjust my schedule. We can run together from now on…’ Liya planned to tell Alice that today.

Of course, she would not disrupt Alice’s routine over such a trivial matter. So she decided to wait until Alice finished her run before approaching her. They could have breakfast together and then head to class. This was the sort of friendly interaction she had never experienced in her past life—truly uplifting.

“Hmm~ Hmm~”

Yet, ten minutes before class, there was no sign of Alice—not in the dormitory, not in the cafeteria. A shadow of unease crept into Liya’s heart, a bad premonition.

‘…Where did she go?’

First, she checked the classroom, but Alice wasn’t there. After immediately reporting the situation to Teacher Annie, Liya dashed out of the classroom without looking back and continued searching. But the academy was vast, and she found no clue. She thought of every possible place Alice might be, but discovered nothing.

‘What on earth happened?!’

The first friend she had made since reincarnation—now about to lose her. Such fear gripped Liya’s heart. No! She absolutely could not let this happen!

‘…Don’t underestimate me.’

Abducted within the academy? Yes, Liya had to admit it was highly likely. But the kidnapper? Strangers shouldn’t be able to infiltrate the academy. If a teacher had called Alice away, someone would have notified Annie. Considering all this, abduction was probable. But the kidnapper couldn’t have gone far! The academy’s perimeter had dedicated guardian spirits. Annie had already promised to seal the academy, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

‘…As long as you haven’t gone far, I can find you!’

Finding an empty playground, Liya stood in the center, holding a small stone. She began to draw on the ground. White powder was conjured by magic, and as she traced, a white magic circle soon appeared on the green grass.

In her past life, within the alliance of human kingdoms, she had not only delved into martial arts but also studied celestial arts and Daoist magic—human-only abilities. As a martial artist, she couldn’t fully master Daoism, but like Annie’s Magic Cut, she had a trick.

‘With this magic circle… it should work!’

Channeling magic into her feet, the white circle began to emit light. Liya stood in its center, immersing herself in memories of her past life, activating the Daoist technique in her mind:

“Spirit, Divinity, Fortune, Wealth, Sharpness, Luck, Morning, Strength, Bone—Nine Qi converge to repel evil, dissolve calamity, bestow blessings, observe the four directions and six realms, listen to the three worlds and eight wastelands—Heavenly Sight, Earthly Sound!”

The nine Qi of the human world, converging to observe all directions—the theory wasn’t difficult, but Liya’s talent for Daoism was mediocre, so she had studied it for a long time. Her original purpose was merely to keep track of the outside world during her seclusion. Now, she was genuinely grateful for having learned this tracking technique.

Her magic spread across the entire academy. Sounds of reading and martial training entered her ears. In her perception, there were also many immense sources of magic, likely from powerful individuals. In Liya’s magical vision, these powerhouses blazed like wildfires, incredibly conspicuous. But she didn’t focus on them; instead, she continued concentrating, searching for Alice’s presence. Finally…

‘There!!!’

To the north of the academy, in what seemed like an abandoned warehouse—Cecilia had gossiped that it would soon be turned into a new arena. Alice was there! And!

Beside Alice, an enormous magic source! Indeed! No less than the ones she had sensed before—a truly massive magic source! Was that the kidnapper?!

This time, Liya didn’t hesitate. She closed the distance, pushing ‘Heavenly Sight, Earthly Sound’ to its limit. Penetrating the warehouse walls and obstacles, she saw the scene inside—

First, Alice. She appeared conscious, speaking with someone. Unfortunately, Liya couldn’t hear the words, but she seemed unharmed. That was good. Then, the magic source…?!

In her vision was the familiar youth from yesterday.

‘Yagesi?!’

The youth was gripping Alice’s hand, speaking excitedly, while Alice recoiled timidly… What was he going to do to her?!

A student had kidnapped Alice!! Such a thing?!

In an instant, Liya’s fury nearly erupted. Was there someone like this in the academy? Casually abducting and threatening a student, possibly causing harm… Why was such a student allowed in the academy? One of the Twelve Knights at that?

Alice had once said that Yagesi understood neither martial arts nor magic, and many called him a pure beast. Liya hadn’t taken it seriously… But now, Alice was right!

‘This… bastard!’

Blood dripped from her clenched fist. Liya’s eyes blazed with anger at Yagesi. A beast? Then let him be a beast, Yagesi!!

In the image from ‘Heavenly Sight, Earthly Sound,’ Yagesi seemed to sense something. He looked up at the warehouse ceiling, in the direction of Liya’s spell, his eyes flashing with a cold, green radiance. In an instant, Liya felt something go wrong with her technique.

‘The magic… is weakening?’

What kind of evil art was this? A spell?

Then, in the image, Yagesi opened his mouth, as if saying or shouting something. After that—

Pop! Like a bubble, the vision of ‘Heavenly Sight, Earthly Sound’ shattered, revealing nothing.

But that was fine. She had already seen enough. Good. Very good.

‘I had hoped for a manly duel with you, but now I see how foolish I was. There is no duel with a pure beast…’

‘…Bastard!’

Come, fight! Yagesi! I’ll make you regret what you’ve done today!!!

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