Chapter 30
Simon swallowed hard. Rena, who once again examined Kamibarez’s wounds, spoke calmly.
"You got into a fight with other students, didn’t you? If there’s a problem, it’s best to deal with it while you’re still under student protection. Just suffering silently won’t solve anything…"
"I didn’t fight with students."
He had been attacked by a Priest who betrayed Keyzen, but he couldn’t tell the truth. The very existence of Keyzen was a secret that could shake everything, and if things went wrong, even Rena could be in danger.
"Then what is it?"
"It’s a bit complicated, so I can’t tell you everything. I’m sorry."
"......"
Rena pressed her fingers to her forehead, her face stiff. From beyond the curtain, Simon’s silhouette could be seen bowing his head.
In truth, she already knew from long experience: even if assistants tried to get involved in student affairs, it never changed anything.
'First, the treatment.'
She pulled out a first-aid kit and several medications from the drawer. She wiped away the blood with gauze and disinfected the wounds with practiced hands.
Kamibarez, still asleep, furrowed her brows and let out a soft moan. After finishing the disinfection, Rena gently applied a slime-based regenerative salve to prevent scarring and covered it with a bandage.
Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. The worst wound, on the thigh, was thoroughly bandaged. Kamibarez’s sleeping expression looked noticeably more relaxed.
"Simon."
Rena stepped out from behind the curtain.
"Take off your clothes."
"......P-Pardon?"
Simon’s pupils quivered. She crossed her arms, expressionless.
"I need to check your wounds too. Take off your top."
"Ah, yes!"
Thinking that he’d been surprised several times today already, Simon took off his uniform. He removed his jacket and shirt, and rolled up his pants to above the knee.
"I’ll disinfect first."
Rena knelt in front of him, holding a cotton swab soaked in disinfectant.
Ahem.
Now that she was actually looking at Simon’s bare torso, she felt the blood rush uncontrollably to her face.
Seriously, why does a student have such a good body?
And at that age, abs like that?
'...Ugh, so embarrassing. Don’t get ahead of yourself, heart.'
There’s pride in being an adult, there’s no way she could entertain improper thoughts about a teenager who still had baby fat.
Composing herself, she disinfected the wounds with a professional mindset. Simon twitched and screamed from time to time.
"Ugh, it hurts too much!"
"Just bear with it a little."
Rena smacked Simon’s leg lightly and said it firmly. Such a crybaby, definitely still a kid.
After disinfecting the wounds, she applied the salve carefully and wrapped them in bandages.
"The wounds might get worse if you overdo it. Try not to push yourself for a while."
"Thank you!"
Simon bowed politely.
A student bowing to an assistant? Rena was momentarily flustered, stepped back slightly, then gave an awkward cough.
"I don’t know what happened today… but there’s nothing more important than your health. You need to be in good shape if you’re going to survive in Keyzen or not. You get what I’m saying?"
"Yes!"
"And the girl’s safe too. I’ll call some reliable people from the girls’ dormitory and have her taken back quietly."
"Thank you so much! I won’t forget this kindness."
Simon gave another respectful bow.
After Simon left the duty room, Rena let out a sigh and slumped into a chair.
‘...Will I get to see that student for long?’
She couldn’t help but think he had a rare, human charm that was hard to find in Keyzen.
A strange sense of lingering emotion tickled her.
* * *
"Si-Simon! You’re safe!"
As soon as Simon entered the dormitory room, Dick, who had been pacing nervously, ran over to him.
"What happened? What about Kami?"
Simon calmly explained what happened.
He told him they had been chased by wardens and gotten lost deep in the forest.
Of course, he left out the part about the Priest. He figured he’d discuss that with Kamibarez separately later.
Dick had also arrived late after evading the wardens, and said that Maelyn, left alone in the practice room, had been trembling with rage and frustration. But once he explained about the wardens showing up, she seemed to understand.
In the end, Dick had also safely retrieved the ingredients from Rochest, so they should be able to make the potion tomorrow.
Boom!
"Yikes, that scared me!"
The door slammed open, and Kajan Edvalt came in.
He must’ve stopped by the bathhouse, he had a towel over his wet hair.
"You're back, Kajan."
Simon greeted him with a smile.
Kajan didn’t reply. He just flung off his uniform, climbed up to the top bunk, and buried himself under the blankets.
Within a minute, loud snoring could be heard.
"...I really don’t know what that guy’s deal is."
Dick shrugged and went to his own bed. Simon stared at the sleeping Kajan for a moment, then grabbed his blanket and headed to bed.
The day had been utterly exhausting.
* * *
The next morning.
Simon told Dick to head to class first, then leaned against the wall at the building’s entrance, waiting.
As familiar Class A students passed by, Hector and his clique appeared. They looked slightly surprised to see Simon and whispered among themselves.
‘She’s late.’
Simon’s face showed growing anxiety as he glanced at the wall clock. Class time was approaching, but there was still no sign of Kamibarez.
What’s going on? Is she too hurt to move? Or is she too shocked by yesterday to come to class?
In truth, even Simon found it horrifying to remember the Priest praying in the forbidden forest. He’d had nightmares that night.
Luckily, Simon’s mother had been a Priest, so he was somewhat familiar with the prayer rituals, but for Kamibarez, the psychological shock must have been much worse.
‘After class, I should go check the girls’ dorm… Hm?’
Just then, a girl with a familiar face passed by with her bag. When her eyes met Simon’s, she beamed.
"Ah, Simon! Good morning!"
Kamibarez came running over in short steps. Contrary to Simon’s worries, she looked lively and energetic.
"...Hey, come here for a second, Kami."
The two moved to a quiet clearing behind the building.
"You were really scared yesterday, right? Are you sure you're okay?"
She nodded slightly.
"Yes, I’m fine. It just feels like… I had a dream."
"A dream?"
A pleasant nighttime stroll after a long while.
Picking mushrooms side by side with Simon.
Running away from the wardens.
Simon holding her and leaping off a cliff.
And finally, that horrifying moment of confronting the Priest.
"It felt like the dream turned into a nightmare, and then the memory cut off, like I just woke up… I don’t know how to describe it. It doesn’t feel very real."
She brushed her elbow softly as she spoke.
‘Is she processing it as a dream to soften the shock?’
Whatever the case, she looked fine, and that was a relief. Simon got straight to the point.
"The Priest ran away when he saw the wardens. Chances are he didn’t see your face."
"Oh…"
"Don’t tell anyone about this. Just act like usual. I’ll find out who that Priest really is."
"Me too…!"
Suddenly, she stepped close and rose up on her toes.
"I want to help you too, Simon!"
"Huh?"
"It’s not fair to say I should step away just because he didn’t see my face! This is our problem!"
Startled by her intensity, Simon leaned back slightly.
"Uh, okay. Got it. When the time comes, I’ll ask for your help."
"Yes!"
Just then, the bell rang to signal the start of class. The two ran off toward the lecture hall.
* * *
The first class was Bahil’s Katarology.
Once it began, the events of last night in the forbidden forest were completely forgotten amid the chaos. Bahil finished explaining the theory and jumped right into practice.
"In the last Exhaust class, I noticed many of you were relying on correction tools. So today, we’ll practice with an easier curse."
The Transfer Curse used a foundational Darkness formula that imposed Darkness on a target lifeform. The objective of this class was to manifest this magic circle in mid-air, without correction tools.
‘Hssss.’
Focusing his mind, Simon spread his palms apart.
It was like holding a large piece of fruit.
Now, he had to draw the magic circle in the air by channeling Darkness through his palms.
Simon’s deep blue Darkness flowed out and drew a circle, the base stage of the magic circle.
‘…It’s hard from the start.’
He barely managed to form the base circle, then began drawing runes in its center.
Naturally, it didn’t go as smoothly as he hoped. As he added runes, the base resisted and wobbled, and his hands began to tremble like he had the shakes.
Still, Simon awkwardly continued writing runes and formulas. Ideally, it should look like a clean diagram from a photocopier, but Simon’s magic circle had letters wriggling around however they pleased.
'Ugh.'
He decided to try casting the spell with what he had. On his desk stood a tall plant, something that grew by feeding on Darkness.
If the Transfer Curse succeeded, a bud would bloom on its body. Simon activated the spell with earnest hope.
Pop!
But instead of activating, the magic circle exploded with a loud sound and scattered.
Simon let out a sigh of disappointment.
"As expected, it’s not easy."
Simon had no time to struggle here—next week, he had to hunt a Cyclops. Gritting his teeth, he spread his palms once again.
"How is it? Doable?"
Just then, a warm hand settled gently on his shoulder.
When he turned his head, Bahil was standing there with a soft smile. Simon straightened up in nervous tension.
"Ah, yes! I’m doing my best…"
"The operation of your Core."
Simon’s words stopped short.
"Because your Core operation is unrefined, the density of your Darkness weakens, and the construction of the magic circle that follows falls apart as a result."
"Ah…"
His heart pounded. He’d already sensed this as a limitation, but hearing it straight from a Keyzen professor was a completely different experience.
"There’s hardly anywhere to properly learn Core operation. It’s too basic to be taught in Keyzen, and each person’s method of operation is different."
Bahil raised his index finger from the hand resting on Simon’s shoulder.
"Pardon me for a moment."
Then he pressed his index finger firmly into Simon’s shoulder.
Plop.
In that instant, Simon’s mind emptied, and he heard the sound of a water droplet falling. The noise of the surrounding students vanished as if it were a lie, and Simon’s body drifted in a void, separated from the classroom.
"There’s a common bias that curses are inherently harmful. As someone in the field, I find that unfortunate."
Bahil gave a wry smile.
Perhaps because all surrounding sound had disappeared, his voice was incredibly clear.
"Professor, this is…"
"Don’t be alarmed. It’s merely a modified sensory curse, used to heighten your senses. Now, focus again."
Bahil’s gentle voice somehow brought peace to Simon’s mind. It didn’t feel like he was about to do anything bad.
"Take a deep breath and try drawing in the mana from the air into your body."
Following the instructions, Simon gathered mana into his body. Then, Bahil placed his left hand on Simon’s other shoulder as well.
"Now you’ll pass that mana through your Core. Watch carefully as I demonstrate."
Among the mana in his body, Simon felt a single strand that he hadn’t been controlling. It flowed toward the Core beneath his heart.
But it didn’t just pass through the Core. The mana rotated along the Core, going through a viscous process of transformation.
"Simon, your Darkness is different from others. Just trying to extract it won’t be efficient."
"Then…"
"Circulation."
The mana rotating in the Core transformed naturally into Darkness and flowed outward. It looked like the corona of a black sun.
"Forget images like transformation, alteration, or modulation. Think of the Core as a living being. Coax it gently, lead it slowly. You must wait for the Darkness to fall away naturally."
"Ah…!"
"Now, it’s your turn."
Simon nodded and focused on the mana inside his body.
Not transformation, but circulation. The image of circulation.
He took the words he had repeated to himself and visualized them with mana. Responding to his will, the mana began to flow into the Core.
"You don’t need to forcefully control the Core. Just relax your mind and observe. Let it do what it wants."
As Bahil said, the Core moved on its own.
It spun the Darkness within, drew in mana from the surroundings, and gradually gave strength to the Darkness. Soon, the Core filled up, and the Darkness was released outward.
Ah…!
At last, the black sun within Simon was complete.
"Well done! Now let’s bring your senses down to 50%."
The hazy vision returned to normal. From the completely detached state, he could now faintly hear the chatter of the students beside him.
"Go ahead, try again."
"Yes!"
Simon repeated the process several times. At first, the Darkness wouldn’t respond like it did when his senses were heightened, and his first attempt failed. But on the second, he began to grasp the feeling, and by the third, he succeeded.
"Darkness has a tendency to remember."
Bahil tapped his own forehead.
"Like a person’s hands or feet. When you repeat the same movement hundreds or thousands of times, eventually, even without conscious thought, Darkness tries to replicate the learned flow. Fascinating, isn’t it? That’s why repetition and forming good habits are more important than anything."
He felt amazing.
It was like realizations were dropping perfectly into place.
Simon had thought Bahil was just a cold, calculating figure, but now he was seeing a new side of him.
"Alright, shall we move on to the curse while we’re at it?"
With Bahil’s voice, Simon’s senses were heightened once more. All distractions vanished, and he could focus solely on his body, the Darkness, and the plant before him.
"Now raise the Darkness."
At Bahil’s command, Simon held his palms facing each other. Darkness extended from his fingertips like ink.
"I’m supporting you, so don’t worry. Go ahead and complete the magic circle however you wish."
"Y-Yes!"
It felt completely different from doing it alone. The magic circle floating in the air didn’t waver at all—it held perfectly steady—so Simon could summon as much Darkness as he wanted without hesitation.
It was a thrilling sensation. What had been so clumsy just moments ago now came together in an instant.
"Now, activate it!"
As all his senses returned, Simon opened his eyes wide and activated the magic circle.
A streak of Darkness, like a bolt of lightning, shot out and hit the plant.
Fwoooosh!
Then came a breathtaking sight.
From the plant’s body, countless flower buds exploded into full bloom.
The flowers quickly covered Simon’s desk and began to spread in all directions. In the blink of an eye, Simon was surrounded in a field of flowers.
"Wowww!"
"What the—?!"
Students’ exclamations rang out across the room.
"P-Professor! This is…!"
"This is the potential you possess."
Bahil spoke just loud enough for Simon to hear.
"Don’t misunderstand. All I did was help stabilize your output. In the not-so-distant future, you’ll be able to do this on your own."
It was true. It had been Simon’s power that made the flowers bloom.
"Your Darkness is special, Simon Follentia."
Bahil’s fingers twitched where they rested on Simon’s shoulder. The blue flowers continued to grow, now covering even Simon’s chest.
"Please, think carefully."
Bahil’s expression turned serious.
"Think about the best way to bring your talent into full bloom. And what direction you should take to use this extraordinary Darkness to its full potential."
Superb.