Chapter 53: Lumine’s Trial

Thanks to my dedicated training over the past few days, my Aura became more vivid.

Now, anyone could tell it was Aura.

Feeling myself growing stronger, I immersed myself in training even more.

“Hey, Louis. The tip of your sword is wavering! Focus.”

“Yes!”

After our chance encounter, Lycan, perhaps taking a liking to me, helped me train every single day.

Today, as always, I swung my sword under Lycan’s personal guidance.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

“Gasp… Gasp…!”

Exhaling the breath I’d been holding, I collapsed onto the floor.

My entire body was drenched in sweat.

My heart pounded like crazy.

And on top of that, the throbbing muscle pain tormented me all over.

It was painful.

But there was an exhilarating pleasure that surpassed all of it.

It was the sense of accomplishment from feeling myself grow stronger.

And the realization that all this pain was growing pains made me forget the pain for a while.

“Louis, you definitely have talent. Your growth rate is incredible.”

“Gulp, gulp. Thank you.”

The setting I’d half-heartedly neglected, thinking it was pointless to try.

The talent that was promising since childhood was finally shining.

“But even with talent, there are limits. The reason you’re growing so fast is due to your various experiences. You seem to have lived quite a rough life.”

I had indeed gone through a lot.

Fighting golems that shot lasers.

Fighting a man with a Red Wolf tattoo.

And even Chimeras with all sorts of unique abilities.

The experience I’d gained in the past few days was equivalent to what an ordinary academy student might experience in a lifetime.

And those real-life experiences became the foundation for my rapid growth.

“I’ve lived my life diligently.”

“Is that so? Your experiences have made you who you are today.”

Lycan tossed me a towel as he spoke words of comfort.

Despite his rugged appearance.

I’d strongly felt the warmth and kindness within him over the past few days.

“But it’s strange, how did you break through your dantian?”

Lycan stroked his chin, puzzled, as he watched my mana deplete repeatedly during training.

That was my question too.

I thought I still didn’t have enough mana to manifest Aura.

But I awakened it against all expectations, so it was only natural to be puzzled.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I opened the Sage’s Bookmark on the day I awakened my Aura and asked.

How did I break through the wall?

And the bookmark’s answer.

-Frequent mana usage. Weakened wall.

I pondered the meaning of the disjointed answer for a moment and then nodded.

So that was it.

The Orb of Dreams, which I’d used countless times.

Through battles using the Orb of Dreams, I’d drawn out my mana countless times.

In the process, although unintentional.

It definitely had an effect on my body.

And it seemed to have played a role in breaking down the walls of my dantian.

By constantly knocking on the wall, the tightly closed dantian finally opened.

Until now, it was common to awaken Aura by simply pouring in a large amount of mana. But I pioneered a path through a method close to a shortcut.

A combination of luck and coincidence.

It was a truly fortunate case.

“You’ve rested enough. Pick up your sword again, Louis!”

Huh?

As I finished resting and got up, Lycan said, looking at me.

Wasn’t today’s training over?

My arms and legs were already trembling from overuse.

If I continued, I might not be able to walk properly tomorrow.

And with my mana and stamina already depleted, how could I train any further?

Just as I was about to open my mouth in alarm.

Fortunately, someone intervened.

“That’s enough, Lycan. You’ll break his dantian if you overwork him like that.”

“Training is supposed to be like this, Dominic. And the dantian won’t break from a little training.”

Dominic, who entered the training room, stopped Lycan, who was continuing to push me.

“That’s because you’re an Orc. Humans are different.”

“Tsk. Human bodies are fragile.”

“You’re just unnecessarily tough.”

Lycan finally backed down at Dominic’s concerned intervention.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew… I survived.

But then his following words made my face turn pale again.

“Then we’ll train his body instead of his swordsmanship.”

…What did that mean?

I was in no condition to move my body.

I looked at Dominic, hoping he would save me from further torture.

But.

“That’s fine.”

I sent Dominic a pleading look, holding onto a sliver of hope, but he only nodded in agreement with Lycan.

“Follow me, Louis.”

“Sigh…”

“Did you just sigh? How impudent. One more set.”

“…….”

I quietly entered the training room without saying a word.

As the midterm exams approached, the atmosphere in the academy seemed to have calmed down a bit.

Even in the classroom, where students arrived early in the morning, more and more were starting to study, which they didn’t usually do.

“Hi, Louis!”

“Good morning.”

Lisa greeted me as soon as she saw me enter the classroom.

Now fully integrated into the class, Lisa was chatting amicably with Elena.

“Have you seen this? It’s a new menu item!”

“What is it?”

Lisa handed me a piece of paper as soon as I sat down.

What was this?

A flyer…?

The flyer-like paper had pictures of various desserts.

“Let’s go eat this together after class today!”

“It’s new? Looks delicious! But the price seems a bit high…?”

“I’ll treat you! Let’s go!”

“…Really?”

“Yes! Is everyone free today?”

Seeing Elena’s positive reaction, Lisa clung to her and persuaded her.

Since Elena loved desserts, it was almost certain they would go to the cafe together after school.

The two of them, chatting happily, looked like energetic high school girls.

While some of us were busy sweating with other guys in the gymnasium.

‘Not that I have any complaints….’

Even though we attended the same academy, I felt a significant temperature difference between Lisa and myself.

And where did she get the money?

“Midterm exams….”

Come to think of it.

There was a big event before the midterm exams in the comic.

But it was an episode unrelated to me.

A major episode involving Class E, where Edmund, the protagonist, belonged.

So I didn’t need to worry about it.

Suffer a little, Edmund.

I’ll be resting in the meantime.

Just as I was wishing Edmund good luck.

Someone entered the classroom.

And both Lisa and I were surprised to see the person’s face.

“Louis…. Isn’t that the person from before?”

“Yes. But why is she here….”

The girl who asked me for directions when I was showing Lisa around the academy.

She was entering the classroom.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lumine, and I’ll be in charge of your practical training from now on.”

And she introduced herself as a special instructor out of the blue.

But I widened my eyes at the familiar name.

Wait a minute.

‘Lumine…? Then is she perhaps….’

“I look forward to working with you. Feel free to ask any questions.”

Lumine was one of the characters from the comic.

The mischievous Lumine.

Her true identity was a legendary creature capable of destroying a country single-handedly.

A Dragon.

But.

‘Lumine didn’t look like that in the comic…?’

Lumine in the comic wasn’t a child.

She had a more mature face and a great figure….

‘What’s going on?’

And she wasn’t supposed to be in charge of this class.

Confused, I just rolled my eyes.

“But before that….”

A familiar line.

Hearing that, I finally began to understand the situation.

“….”

Was it really that?

Lumine, who was originally assigned to Edmund’s Class E.

Her appearance here meant that incident was about to happen.

With a sense of foreboding, I quietly grabbed Elena’s arm.

“…Louis?”

“Hold on tight to me.”

Elena looked at me questioningly when I grabbed her arm.

But I kept my gaze fixed on Lumine with a serious expression.

And.

“Shall we test your skills?”

As soon as Lumine finished speaking, a light erupted from beneath where we were sitting.

It’s coming.

“Wh, what…!”

A magic circle appeared on the floor, and a strange sensation filled my body.

And I knew what this was.

The same feeling I felt at the Chimera lab.

Teleportation.

It felt exactly the same.

“Struggle as much as you like.”

With those words.

We were enveloped in light and teleported somewhere.