Chapter 16
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Episode 4 - Weekend [1]
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"Ah... ah..."
Lumina raised her hand to her forehead to wipe away the sweat running down her face.
'Using the second form of Fallen Moon at this moment is very exhausting.'
Using the second form of Fallen Moon requires great stamina.
It's not about having more mana or anything like that; the second form only requires enormous stamina.
And for Lumina, her stamina has always been weak.
Therefore, she can only use it twice a day.
Otherwise, she could tear the muscles in her body and even suffer a mana backlash.
'Training with Adel during my previous regression on inverted mana was very helpful.'
Thanks to Adel, mana reflux, or inverted mana, is not much of a problem for Lumina.
However, manipulating inverted mana remains an impossible task for her.
In any case, when she knocked out Adel using the second form of Fallen Moon, Adel's body was about to fall forward.
Lumina moved and stood in front of him.
She soon embraced Adel, preventing him from falling to the ground. Then, she rested her head on his shoulder and looked at Professor Franklin, saying in a cold voice,
"Could you give me the elixir, Professor?"
Professor Franklin reacted too late, then walked over to Lumina and handed her the elixir.
"Here, but don't waste it."
As he spoke those last words, his gaze shifted toward Adel, who was in Lumina's arms.
Lumina said nothing; she simply stepped down from the platform and headed for the infirmary with Adel on her back.
Seeing this, the cadets looked at each other in disbelief.
They wondered why Lumina was helping Adel and taking him to the infirmary.
There were people in charge of taking the wounded to the infirmary.
Ignoring the cadets' murmurs, Lumina went straight to the infirmary.
Upon arriving at Building A-5, he laid Adel down on a bed. Then, he looked around and noticed that the nurses and aides were attending to the other cadets without looking in his direction.
"...."
Lumina looked at Adel and then at the elixir in her hands, and a memory came to her mind.
"I don't mind giving you my blood."
"Even so..."
"Don't say anything. Anyway, I'm used to it, you know?"
Adel didn't mind hurting herself to give her blood to others.
Especially with her; Lumina was the only one who received more of his blood than anyone else.
Seeing the elixir in her hand, she could only sigh and smile.
Then she put it in her pocket. Next, she looked around and closed the curtains, making sure no one was watching.
Then he took a few steps toward Adel, lowered his head, and moved closer to her face.
Then, his lips approached Adel's.
"At least I can repay you, even if only a little, for all the help you've given me."
But Adel didn't remember her.
Lumina decided to take a step back from Adel, thinking about the future and also to prevent her death.
She would do whatever it took to prevent his death.
***
I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling. Then, I looked around and figured I was probably in the infirmary.
The smell was typical of a place with medicine and things like that.
I sat up in bed and thought about what had happened in my duel with Lumina.
'She went all out from the start. She even managed to knock me out, something that should be nearly impossible for me.'
Because of my trait, Immunity to Pain, not only did I feel no pain, but it was nearly impossible for me to pass out from blows.
The only way for me to pass out would be for something to affect me from the inside.
'Anyway... Mhm.'
I brought my hand to my lips; somehow, I felt that they were wet.
After taking a deep breath, I wiped my lips and got up from the bed.
I was probably drooling in my sleep.
At the same time, as I left the infirmary, Alice's voice came to my mind, saying:
〖That girl, Lumina, I think she did something to you. I'm not sure, since I can't see, but I can sense others' mana.〗
Frowning, I asked her.
"What do you mean? The people in charge of taking cadets to the infirmary didn't bring me here, Lumina brought me."
〖Yes, because when she knocked you out, she carried you and brought you here. Also, when she laid you on the bed, she got close to you. I'm not sure what she did, since, as I said, I can only sense mana.〗
"I see."
She probably used one of her abilities to examine me closely.
After all, I'm someone who didn't exist before; it's only natural that she would have been observing me all this time and would take the opportunity to look at me more closely.
'I suppose she used the Divine Eye.'
It's true that the Divine Eye is an ability obtained after reaching ten stars.
But, since it's a visual ability, it didn't disappear every time she went back in time.
'The Divine Eye has many functions. One of them is to see people's true nature and assess an opponent's strength.'
With a sigh, I finally left Building A-5 and went to the cafeteria.
I didn't know what time it was, but I was quite hungry, so it was probably time for a break.
When I arrived, my assumption was correct.
There were already cadets eating, and there was no line, which probably meant that the break had started about ten minutes earlier.
When I went to order something, I noticed that the person who served the cadets wasn't there.
I looked around the kitchen, confused, then strained my senses and noticed that the supervisor was sitting there playing what looked like cards.
'Are you serious? These guys should be paying attention in case a cadet arrives late.'
I took a tray and looked at the variety of food I could choose from.
But, since I didn't know exactly what the dishes were, I stayed silent.
"That long thing over there must be bread, judging by the smell. And that thing looks like..."
As I was thinking, using my senses and my nose to guess what each thing was, a voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"I can help you."
It was none other than Rinna.
I nodded vigorously when I turned around.
"Oh, yes, I really do need help."
"It's nothing."
Rinna smiled and, after a moment, told me about all the options I could choose from.
I sat at the same table as always with Rinna and ordered the same coffee as yesterday.
As I took a bite of my sandwich, Rinna asked something I knew she was going to ask.
"Adel, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, but don't tell anyone."
She nodded, then asked her question.
"How did you cure me with your blood? I've never heard of anything like that."
As I finished swallowing the sandwich I had brought to my mouth, I said,
"Do you remember the elixir that Professor Franklin had?"
Rinna nodded.
"Yes, that Supreme Quality Elixir; even in the church, it's extremely rare to see one of those, but what does my question have to do with the elixir?"
I took a sip of coffee, then said in a low voice.
"In short, the red liquid in that Elixir is my blood."
"..."
I didn't pay attention to her reaction; I knew this would happen.
"Besides, if it's her, she definitely won't tell anyone. She'll probably investigate, but that's it.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying that elixir is made from your own blood?"
I nodded, then took the elixir I had obtained after killing that villain from my inventory without her seeing.
"If you want, you can check for yourself."
Seeing the elixir in my hand, Rinna was surprised.
"What? The professor was supposed to have given it to Lumina."
"This is another one I've had for a while."
Rinna nodded, then took the elixir, uncovered it, and brought her nose close to smell if it was blood.
His expression changed quickly, and he murmured.
"It's true... it smells like blood, and now that I think about it, it smells exactly like your blood."
He looked up and asked.
"But... why does this Elixir exist? I remember it's been circulating illegally, and even legally, for a decade, so..."
I nodded.
"Yes, when I was kidnapped as a child, they've been extracting my blood ever since."
"..."
Honestly, I didn't want to make Rinna feel sorry for me, but I thought about telling her something about Adel's past.
Then she'll trust me more and let her guard down.
"That's impossible. That's simply impossible. How could they do that to someone?"
I raised my hand to stop her from speaking so loudly. Rinna was clearly angry and probably thought that the people who drew Adel's blood were villains.
But that wasn't the case. If I told her who did that to Adel, I wasn't sure how she would react.
"Forget it. The past is the past, and now I'm in the present, and that's all that matters. Anyway, I lost my emotions years ago, and because of all the experiments they performed on me, I no longer feel pain."
"But..."
"No buts. Things are what they are, and I only told you because I trust you and I trust that you won't tell anyone."
Rinna didn't say anything; she simply remained silent and stopped eating.
In the end, she didn't eat anything, and I felt a little bad about it, but there was nothing I could do.
Rinna is a pretty stubborn character who won't listen no matter what you say.
Once back in my room, I went straight to the training room.
〖It's okay to reveal a little of your past to the Santa; at any moment, she could turn against you out of obligation to the Father, you know?〗
Well, that's true. There's an arc where Rinna is controlled by the Father and the High Priest of the Holy Church.
It is known as the Santa Church Arc.
However, that arc begins when the characters are in their second year at the Holy Academy.
So, there's still a year and a few months until that moment.
"No, don't worry."
〖Well, I'll take your word for it, my dear disciple.〗
"Since when do you call me 'beloved disciple'? You didn't say anything like that last time."
Alice fell silent and suddenly changed the subject.
〖Ahem, anyway, you told me you wanted to master the First Form of Inverted Heaven up to the Mastery Expert didn't you?〗
"..."
"Yes, before the end of this week, I need to master the first form of Inverted Heaven."
Alice then asked.
〖Is there a particular reason? According to my calculations, you can start training for the second form next month.〗
I couldn't tell Alice that the first chapter of Holy Land starts next week and that this world is a game.
The excuse I prepared for this was as follows:
"I suspect that my pursuers will find my location soon, and although this is the Holy Academy, they could send infiltrators."
Upon hearing my excuse, Alice responded.
〖That makes sense.〗
Then, with Alice's guidance, I trained until late at night.