eeanwassurprised.


can’tbelievethatactuallyworked.


venhehimselfhadn’tbeenconfidentwhenhethrewthesuggestionoutthere,soseeingtheotherpersonactuallyreactlefthimgenuinelyamazed.


“Whatareyoudoing?”


“Ah.Right.’llguideyouthereimmediately.”


eeanansweredtheinsaneduplicateonreflex,thenbelatedlyrealizedtheproblem.


Cometothinkofit,whiletheinsaneduplicatemightwanttomeetSeniorCatten,therewasnoguaranteeSeniorCattenwouldfeelthesameway.


Andifafifth-yearseniorwhorankedamongthestrongestinhisyearendedupholdingagrudge,lifeatinroguardcouldbecomealotmoretroublesomegoingforward.


…’lljustsayhewasforcedtocomealong.


***


“J-Junior!”


Catten,afifth-yearstudentfromtheWhiteigerower,lookedateeanwithtearsbrimminginhiseyes.


heyweren’ttearsofbetrayaloranger,buttearsofpureemotion.


“othinkyouwouldbringsuchagreatpersontosomeoneasworthlessasthismage…”


“…reallydolikeyou,Senior.aha.”


SWS!


Unabletocontainhisemotions,Cattenpulledeeanintoahug.


Catbeastmenweregenerallysmallerthanhumans,andCattenwasnoexception.


Buthisstrengthwasbeyondimagination.veneean,whohadendureddirectblowsfrommonstrousenemies,nearlyscreamed.


“…ah!Senior.hathurts.”


“Ah,sorry,Junior.gottooexcited.”


Cattenhurriedlyapologized.


ewassimplytoooverwhelmedbythechancetoseetheSkullPrincipal’sprojection.


“AchancetoreceiveguidancefromthePrincipal’sprojection…”


“Whydidn’tyoujustaskthePrincipaldirectly?”


eeanwaspuzzled.


fcourse,mostinroguardstudentsweren’texactlyeagertoapproachtheSkullPrincipal.


omatterhowinsaneinroguardstudentswere,therewerelimits.


heywouldaskprofessorsquestions,sure—butwhywouldanyonewillinglyquestionamadArchmage?


Still,fromeean’sperspective,withSeniorCatten’sparticularbrandofmadness,itwouldn’thavebeenstrangeatallforhimtoseekmagicalguidancefromtheSkullPrincipal.


Moreimportantly,bythefifthyear,itwasrarernottohaveaskedtheSkullPrincipalsomethingatleastonce.


“usedtoaskhimthingsoften.”


Cattenansweredinaslightlydejectedvoice.


“Butatsomepoint,hestartedavoidingme.”


“…”


eeanwashonestlyimpressed.


othinksomeonecouldbepersistentenoughtomakeeventheSkullPrincipalflee.


Amazing!


“ewasobviouslyinside,buthekeptsayinghewasn’tthere…”


“hat’saprettyshamelesslie.”


“knewyou’dunderstand,Junior.hat’swhybrokethroughthewallandforcedmywayin,butthenendedupinthepunishmentcells…”


“…”


“But’mtrulyhappytohavethischancetolearn!”


Cattenbeamedbrightly.


Atthatmoment,however,asuddenworrycreptintoeean’smind.


feventheSkullPrincipalhadrunawaybecauseteachinghimwasunbearable,wouldthisprojectionreallybeanydifferent?


…ewon’ttakehisangeroutonme,right?


“Pleaseteachme!”


Unawareofeean’sinneranxiety,Cattenrespectfullybowedhishead.


“Atleastyouunderstandbasicmanners.Unlikethatmage.”


MaybemeetingProfessorerdusfirstwasactuallyfortunate.


eeanletoutaquietsighofreliefattheinsaneduplicate’sreaction.


PerhapsbecausehehadencounteredProfessorerdusfirst,everyothermageafterwardautomaticallyseemedreasonablebycomparison.


“fyouwishtoreceiveinstruction,thendemonstrateyourskillbeforeroyalty.”


“Yes!”


Cattenansweredenergeticallyanddrewhissword.


eeanhadalreadyseentheswordsmanshipofinroguard’smostinfamousrepeat-failingfifth-yearseveraltimesbefore.


ttrulywastheculminationofeverykindofmagicthatcouldpossiblybecrammedintoswordsmanship.


nfact,whoelseinthempirewouldevenattemptsomethinglikethis?


WhenCattenfinallymanifestedaprimitiveesserWorld,theinsaneduplicate’s◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)browstwitchedfaintly.


hesurroundingrealitydistortedaroundthesword,andtheblazingauratransformedintowater.heinsaneduplicateclickedhistongueindisbelief.


veninancienttimes,swordsmenbornwiththisleveloftalenthadbeenrare.


hiswasn’tsomeordinarygift,likeheightenedmanasensitivityorsuperiorbodilyawareness.


o—


thiswastheaudacitytothrowoneselfattheworlditselfandtearitapart.


Somemightcallitcrudeorviolent.


Butthiswaspreciselythetalentatrueswordsmanshouldpossess.


fmagesreshapetheworld,thenswordsmendestroyit.


heproblemwas—


“sn’titamazing?”


“hewastefulnessisamazing.Whyisheusingsuchinefficientmethodsdespitehavingthismuchtalent?”


—hekeptdoingbizarrethingswiththattalent.


fhewastrulyaswordsman,heshouldhavefocusedinward.WhyforciblymanifestaprimitiveesserWorldinstead?


“Seniorisdeeplyinterestedinmagic.”


“henthepeoplearoundhimshouldhavestoppedhimproperly.”


“sn’titultimatelySenior’schoice?omatterhowrecklessitseems,ifthat’swhathewants,alltherestofuscandoisofferadvice.”


Ateean’swords,theinsaneduplicatepausedbriefly.


hemomenthismasterfellsilent,eeanimmediatelypreparedhimselfdefensively.


hedefensivemagiccancurrentlyuseis…


“see.hat’sactuallyafairlyreasonableperspective.”


“!”


eeanwasstartledwhentheotherpersonacknowledgedhiswordsinsteadofexplodingwithoutrage.


sheseriouslyinanunbelievablygoodmoodrightnow?


therwise,therewasnoexplanation.


“Youagreewiththat?”


“Withwhat?”


“Uh…Senior’srecklessdecisions…”


“Whatdocare?e’snotroyalty’sdisciple.houghhewouldmakeausefulguard.”


heinsaneduplicateevaluatedCattenfarmorehighlythaneeanhadexpected.


Whilepowerfulmagesnolongerneededguardsafterreachingacertainlevel,theyabsolutelyrequiredprotectionbeforereachingthatpoint.


avingaswordsmanlikeCattenguardingyouwouldhardlybeabadarrangement.


“ood.shallteachyoumagic.”


“-sthattrulypossible?!”


Cattencriedoutemotionally.heinsaneduplicatenodded.


“Whatkindofmagicinterestsyou?Ancientsecrets,darkmagic,esserWorlds,reversemagic,incantations,souls…”


“wanttolearn【BasicFlameBarrier】!”


“…?”


heinsaneduplicatedoubtedhisownearsandslowlyturnedtowardeean.


eeanquietlyavertedhisgaze.


“wanttolearn【BasicFlameBarrier】!Pleaseteachme!”


“…”


Untilnow,theinsaneduplicatehadonlyrealizedthatCattenpossessedextraordinarytalentinswordsmanship.


Discoveringthathismagicaltalentwasthisterriblecameasagenuineshock.


omatterwhat,hehadneverimagineditwouldbethisbad…?!


***


heinsaneduplicate’slessonswereprofound,mysterious,andimpossiblyadvanced.


AndtheywerefartoodifficultforCattentounderstand.


helongerhetaughthim,themoretheinsaneduplicaterealizedjusthowmonstrouslygiftedhisoriginaldisciplehadbeen.


“hankyouverymuchforyourteachings!”


“…”


ncethelessonended,thethoroughlyexhaustedinsaneduplicateturnedawaywithoutanotherword.


eeancautiouslyaskedCatten,


“Wasitatleastsomewhathelpful?”


“otatall,Junior!”


“…Sorry.”


“Whyareyouapologizing?’mveryhappy.”


Cattenlookedateeanasifhegenuinelycouldn’tunderstandthequestion.


ishistoryoffailurehadstretchedonforfartoolongforhimtobecomedepressedsimplybecausehefailedtoimmediatelyunderstandsomething.


Atthispoint,hewouldn’tfeeldisappointedoversomethinglikethat.


eeanfoundhimselfslightlymovedbyhissenior’sunwaveringmindset.


fitwerehim,hewouldhavefalteredorbrokendownlongago.


owadmirable.


hatkindofmentalitywasprobablywhyCattencouldcontinuetrainingwithoutwaveringeveninsidethepunishmentcells.


Whileeeanlookedathimwithnewfoundrespect,Cattencasuallypackedhisbelongings.Aseeanwatchedhimstoreemergencyrationsandseveralartifacts,heaskedcuriously,


“Areyouheadingsomewhereafterthelecture?”


“’mplanningtovisittheFrostiants’dimension.”


“h.recentlyencounteredFrostiantsinadimensionvisitedtoo.Whatacoincidence.”


Morespecifically,itwasthedimensionhehadvisitedduringProfessorMilei’slecture.


Forthissemester’ssummoningmagicassignment,ProfessorMileihadinstructedthestudentstoexploreandmapunfamiliardimensions…


…eeanandhisgrouphadcompletedtheassignmentwithabsurdeasethankstoArsil’sassistance,onlytogetsaddledwiththeadditionaltaskofretrievingartifactspossessedbytheFrostiants.


Dealingwithpowerfulandmalevolentbeingswasalwaysdangerous.


AndyetCattenintendedtoheadtherevoluntarily.


twasaratherstrangecoincidence.


“hat’sthesamedimension,Junior.”


“…What?!”


eeanwasstartled.


WhywouldCattenbegoingtotheverydimensioneeanandhisfriendshadexplored?


“Professorngledelaskedmeto.Shewantedmetodeterminewhetheritwouldbesuitableforfinalexams.”


“o,wait.owcouldadimensionfilledwithFrostiantspossiblybesuitableforfinalexams?!”


Feelingbetrayedbyaprofessorhetrusted,eeanshoutedindisbelief.


owcouldProfessorngledel,ofallpeople—notevenProfessoroladi—preparesomethingthiscruel?


Perhapssensinghisjunior’semotions,Cattenlookedawkward.


“don’treallyknoweither…heprofessorsaidthatsecond-yearstudentsseemtovisitextradimensionsfrequentlythesedays,soratherthanstoppingthem,shewantedtohelpthemprepareproperly.”


“Whatlunaticspreadsuchabsurdrumors?!”


Aseeanshoutedfuriously,amemorysuddenlysurfaced.


Cometothinkofit,hehimselfhadsubmittedareporttoProfessorngledelaboutvisitingthedimensioncontainingthePrideDuke,thewangmokKing,andArsil.


twouldn’thavebeenstrangeforProfessorngledeltoseethatreportandconclude:


Second-yearstudentsarerecklesslyexploringextradimensionswithoutunderstandingthedangers.


Coulditbe—


“mm.fyou’retrulycurious,Junior,couldasktheprofessortoinvestigatewhospreadtherumor…”


“owthatthingshavealreadyreachedthispoint,what’sthepointinfindingtheculprit?’lljustfaceitcalmlylikeaproperinroguardstudent.”


Cattenlookedimpressedbyeean’sattitude.


houghyounger,hisjuniorpossessedacomposureandcourageworthlearningfrom.


Wait.hismightactuallybeagoodchancetoretrievethoseartifactstoo.


eeanfellintothought.


hisweekwastheinsaneduplicate’ssurveillanceweek,buttherewasnotellinghowlongthearrangementwouldlast.


JustliketheSkullPrincipal,thatinsaneduplicatewasalsoutterlyeccentricandunpredictable.


Wouldn’tthisbetheperfectchancetorecovertheFrostiants’artifactswhileboththeinsaneduplicateandCattenwerepresent?


“Senior.’llcomehelptoo.Mynextlectureperiodhappenstobefree.”


“owcouldthatbe?!”


“fcourseyou’resurprisedthatameresecond-yearwouldvolunteertocomealong.Butmymasterwillalso—”


“o.’msurprisedthatyournextlectureperiodisfree,Junior.”


“…”


eeanwasleftspeechless.


“Fromthewayyouaskedearlier,thoughtyouwantedtocome.Youenjoythesesortsofthings,Junior.”


“WhatkindofdimensiondoesSeniorthinkhisjuniorlivesintoenjoythingslike—…evermind.’lltakethataspermission.”


otwantingtowasteanymoretimearguing,eeanimmediatelygaveup.


estillhadtopersuadetheinsaneduplicate.


“Master.oday’slectureisover,andmysenior…”


WheneeanexplainedabouttheFrostiants’dimensionandtheartifactshiddenthere,theinsaneduplicatelistenedsilently.


henhespoke.


“obehonest,whenyoufirstcametoattendthislecture,royaltysuspectedyouweretryingtoslackofffromyourstudies.”


“!”


owdidheknow?


eeanshudderedathismaster’sfrighteninglyaccuratededuction.


BringingSeniorCattentotheinsaneduplicatehadabsolutelybeenpartiallymotivatedbyeean’sdesiretoreducethepressureonhimself.


“owever,afterhearingwhatyoujustsaid,itappearsroyaltywasmistaken.Sothiswasyourobjectivefromthebeginning?”


“…xactly.’vebeenplanningthisforquitesometime.”



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