EP.20 Placement Test (4)
The gist of witchcraft is transaction.
Offer a price and create a phenomenon worthy of it.
That is the basics of witchcraft: offering.
In that respect, witchcraft has something in common with dealing with the stars. However, to be more precise, witchcraft is closer to an act that imitates a deal with a star.
A magic spell based on balance.
Shamans who could not handle the stars admired the stars and created their own scales by imitating scales.
Witchcraft, offering sacrifices.
The process is simple compared to balance. There is no need for complex calculation processes. It does not require high skills. Instead of all of that, it only allows one payment method.
flesh.
The payment method for offering is the body of a living being. However, no one knows which parts or how much will disappear.
Controlling it is called talent in the magic world.
In that sense, Belnoa had a talent for magic.
Pop, pop, pop.
The sacrificed Belnoa’s fingers begin to break.
“·····.”
Belnoir is silent. There is no change in his expression either.
Of course, he also feels pain. However, he is not at a level that cannot be endured.
An offering repeated over and over again.
Because it was a pain I had become accustomed to in the process.
Belnoa calmly estimated the number.
‘five things.’
There are five fingers offered.
From experience, Belnoir instinctively realizes what an offering of this magnitude can cause.
Eventually, Belnoir becomes convinced.
‘This is enough.’
Intuition derived from experience.
Belnoa moves according to his intuition.
“… !”
Lark, who was jumping towards Belnoa, flinched and stopped. My intuition, which touches the realm of the supernatural and beast, warns me. Back off.
widely.
However, Lark does not back down.
Rather, he digs in one step further and leans his shoulders back. A spell is cast on the ax in her hand.
Haste.
The place where the ax is headed is Belnoa’s neck.
‘There are no such thing as true barbarians.’
Looking at that, Belnoa clicks his tongue.
‘I didn’t really plan on winning, but… this is a bit harsh.’
I resolve to give up one arm.
Eventually, the transaction comes to an end.
Throw in!
Belnoa’s fingers completely break, and the shadow he wears explodes. An offering worth five fingers. The stars answer that offering.
The exploding shadow heads towards Lark’s neck.
The accelerated hatchet was also aimed at Belnoa’s nape.
and.
“stop.”
Restriction.
Click, click.
Everything stops with the noise of something filling up.
“Until there.”
With a cold voice, Dok2 stops. A shadow is caught in the air. In that artificially created silence, the sound of someone’s footsteps is heard.
Again, again.
Belnoa turned his head and tried to look towards where the sound was coming from. However, the body does not move. The same goes for witchcraft. The shadow also doesn’t move.
‘What is this…’
Belnoir looks at Lark with a fixed view.
Lark is breaking into a cold sweat. Those eyes are shaking. At the end of the gaze stands a woman.
Gray hair, blue eyes.
Belnoir remembers her name.
‘Rania van Trias.’
The assistant professor I saw on the podium.
She pushed Lark away from Belnoa. And then, as if taking her place, she stood right in front of Belle Noah.
“this.”
A shadow gathered in front of Belnoa.
Pointing to it, she opens her mouth.
“I think I warned you that excessive competitive behavior is grounds for suspending the test?”
His voice is as cool as his eyes.
She stretched out her hand. Grab the shadow. Although it was a sharply forged shadow, it did not inflict even a scratch on her hand.
– Crispy.
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Eventually, the shadow crumbles.
The shadow did not stop at being destroyed. As she gestured, a scale appeared in the air. Belnoir recognized what it was at a glance.
‘Balance…?’
A shadow is placed on one side of the scale.
The remaining side contains Belnoa’s right hand, which moves on its own. The scale, which had tilted up and down several times, eventually became level.
Crack, cluck.
As if time was rewinding, broken bones were put back together. Belnoir looked at that figure as if possessed by something.
‘···The transaction was intercepted?’
The body that was ‘paid for’ as an offering.
It was returned by raising the shadow to the balance.
‘···Is that possible?’
This is an unprecedented method.
Belnoa blinked his eyes blankly. However, his attached fingers remain unchanged. Neat.
click.
Eventually, something that bound them falls apart. Belle Noah, who was sitting down on the floor, raised her head. He meets her eyes as she looks down at him.
Cool eyes.
The eyes were filled with hostility.
* * *
A spell using shadows.
‘Shadow Weaving.’
The guy who used this spell suddenly popped into my head. The wound is gone now, but the back of his neck itched for no reason.
‘···There are still people who use this.’
For now, I decided not to think too deeply.
I shook my head slightly and was about to open my mouth.
“I lost.”
Lark opened his mouth before I spoke.
Lark continued speaking while looking at Belnoir.
“You can’t avoid it. I felt that confident. So she dug in. “I decided that if I ripped off the arm that controlled the shadows, the shadows would stop.”
“·····.”
“But, I guess not. Even if the arm was torn off, the shadow would still remain. “Am I right?”
“that’s right.”
Belnoir admitted obediently.
“Offering… Anyway, once you pay the price, it is guaranteed to be true. No matter what happens to me.”
“I should have stopped it.”
“… Blocking it doesn’t mean it will be blocked, but it was probably the right choice.”
“Hmm,” Lark nodded.
“Then it is true that I lost. That’s amazing. “I admit defeat.”
Eventually, Lark looked at me.
He looked like he had become quite refreshed.
“I think I lost, Director.”
“hmm···.”
I don’t really have anything to add since I admit it, but something felt a little uneasy. That kid, Belnoir, didn’t look very happy either.
‘No, why did you put these two together in the first place?’
Was Aplia’s level high enough to require dropping one of the two to get a place in the advanced class? It was definitely high, but I remember it not being that high.
‘What is the advanced class? Even if I throw it into the battlefield right away, I think it will do its job.’
It would be a waste of talent to drop one.
Needless to say, it’s Lark’s intuition… I don’t really like it, but the shadow spell used by Belnoa is a spell that even Kyle found difficult.
‘With just a little bit of work, I think I could be on par with a white captain right now…’
The class I was assigned to is an advanced class.
There is no need to put these two in advanced classes. Because wherever you put them, they will come up. However, I got a little greedy.
I think I would like to teach these two in person.
I don’t know why, and it’s a bit crude, but these two seemed to handle mana in a similar way to me. In other words, I can see it with my eyes.
How should I fix it?
How to handle mana more efficiently.
It feels like looking at a foreign object stuck in a sophisticated machine. If I just change it a little bit, it could be more perfect. So, if possible, I would like to keep both of them nearby…
‘Still, that would be against fairness.’
A plausible justification is needed.
I thought for a moment. Clearly, the assistant professors had said that the purpose of the test was ‘control of mana.’
Mana control, control…
“ah.”
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
When I thought about it, there was no better way to test my control of mana.
“Follow me.”
I walked ahead.
Not outside the forest, but into the center of the forest.
3.
“This place…?”
Belnoir blinked.
I felt strange from the moment I entered the center of the forest. I ignored the possibility that came to mind, saying, “I can’t believe I would do that.”
however.
“Isn’t this the fountain of mana…? ?”
When I see what is in front of me, I run out of words. Belnoa looked back and forth between the supervisor and the border line in front of him.
A gift left behind by an ancient dragon wizard.
Fountain of Mana.
It is a boundary line that marks the area of effect.
“You wouldn’t know it if you saw it?”
As if asking something, Rania pointed beyond the border.
“Go in for one minute.”
“yes?”
“If you last one minute, I’ll turn a blind eye to that witchcraft thing.”
What does that mean?
“I heard that just by approaching the fountain of mana, the mana in the blood vessels will overflow and the limbs will disintegrate.”
“under.”
She snorts at those words.
“That’s about taking a dip in the spring in the center. This is a long way from the spring. Plus, the limbs don’t disintegrate. “It’s just a burst blood vessel.”
Somehow, it’s a way of speaking that feels like something I’ve experienced before.
“lakh?”
“Yes, yes.”
“You too. “If you last one minute, I’ll ask Professor Rossell to put you in the advanced class.”
Lark swallows dry saliva.
Then he slowly turns his head and looks at Belnoa.
“what.”
“…Are you going in?”
“···I don’t know either.”
Belnoa was also going crazy and jumping around.
He put the blade to the back of my neck and said, ‘If I don’t kill you, you will die…’ The feeling he felt when receiving such training in the slums, Belnoa was feeling exactly the same feeling right now.
‘Is this person a professor?’
I opened my eyes and glanced at Rania, but only a cold gaze returned.
“···Are you really making it sound like something that never happened?”
“I swear in the name of the gray name… no, Trias. “It’s not difficult to change it to a draw and see.”
“·····.”
“So, are you going to do it or not?”
Belnoa is worried.
Even if he wins, if that assistant professor says that he used magic through ‘sacrifice’… everything becomes invalid.
Even if it is a competitive exam, the manifestation of witchcraft through sacrificial offerings is absolutely harmful. This is a problem that could lead to expulsion from school.
‘Then the old man… won’t protect Chloe’s identity.’
That’s not enough.
Belnoa gritted his teeth and answered.
“I’ll do it.”
“···Then I will do it too.”
As if waiting for the answer, Lark added.
Belnoa tilted his head at that sight.
“···Why you again?”
“If you do it, I will do it too.”
“so why?”
“The northern warriors spoke. Accept defeat, but don’t fall behind. “I don’t want to fall behind.”
What does he say?
Belnoir gave up trying to understand Lark. Bel Noah took his steps towards the border and slowly caught his breath.
“Whoa…”
I take a deep breath and make up my mind.
Belnoa took a big step forward. The moment the foot crosses the border and touches the area of the Mana Fountain.
thud!
A feeling of pressure comes upon me, as if something is weighing down my body.
“Sigh!”
Belnoir took a deep breath.
My eyes are bloodshot. It’s painful to breathe. My breath is blocked. Problems with breathing occur.
Belnoir unconsciously raised his hand. He lifted up and grabbed the nape of his neck. When he looks down, the veins on his arms are prominent.
‘I can not breathe.’
and.
“Humph….”
It was the same for Lark.
Belnoir glanced to the side and saw Lark bleeding from the nose. Knock, knock. Drops of blood falling to the floor. Not only Lark. Belnoa also felt a sore nose.
Looking down, blood is dripping.
Belnoir felt dizzy and burdened.
My eyes are spinning.
You can’t tell whether what you’re standing on is the ground or the sky.
I was on the verge of completely losing my mind.
“fifteen.”
The voice heard from behind grabs my spirit.
“Sixteen.”
The voice gets closer.
“seventeen.”
Eventually, the voice moves forward beyond him. The sound of shoes hitting the ground can be heard.
“eighteen.”
Belnoir barely raises his head.
“nineteen.”
In front of my eyes, I see gray hair.
“Twenty.”
The gray hair continues to recede.
Eventually, after going a while further into the forest, Gray turns around. The hair sways gently.
“Now we’re a third of the way there.”
There is no change in that breathing.
There is no change in the movement.
“Tell me you can’t bear it.”
That voice seems relaxed at first glance.
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