Grade: Ordinary Magician
Specialized Field: Elements
Common Magic:
܀ Fast Casting Level 5܀ Mana Sense Level 6
Fire Element Magic:
܀ Ignite Level 12
Wind Element Magic:
܀ Wind Blade Level 11
Spirit-type Magic:
܀ Spirit Resonance Level 7܀ Spirit Understanding Level 7
"Ehh, what a shame."
I couldn't help but let out a sigh as I crouched down in the lobby of the library.
My beginner magic had finally broken through the wall that was level 10 after training against the spirits till I reached my limit. Ignite had reached level 12, to the extent that I could now one-shot low-ranking spirits with its fire.
It was a good enough foundation to try and start acquiring intermediate magic. I was able to break some ground tonight.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of regret.
Spirit Resonance and Spirit Understanding were both at level 7. Just a little bit more…
When the sum of the levels of these two skills exceeds 15, the field of spirit-type magic would become available, and Spirit Contract slots would open up. Then I could form a contract with an appropriate spirit in proportion to my Intelligence stat, my amount of magic power, and my Spirit Understanding.
My capabilities in combat and production would greatly expand if that were to happen. I would be able to apply various attributes to enchant my arrows using spirit skills. And by raising my production level, I could try and begin crafting basic magic tools with the spirits' protection.
With such a hopeful dream, I fought and trained until I was completely out of energy in my entire body. But I was ultimately blocked at the very end of the threshold.
I could no longer see any spirits wandering around the academic district. There were no new spirits coming towards the library either.
That clearly meant the Glaskan Subjugation team had already entered the Student Center, marking the start of Phase 2. The main stage for the story would now be the Student Center, where Janica was summoning Glaskan.
"This is too cruel. Even though I caught so many…"
The two spirit-type skills had been stuck at level 7 for a while. I kept hoping for one more level, just one more! With that in mind, I defeated and depleted all of my magic until my whole body was completely exhausted. But the experience points I needed at that level had already increased significantly, so both their levels had barely risen.
"I guess this is it… since I've only been catching Fluid Spirits and low-ranking spirits."
If I were to catch a mid-ranking spirit instead, I could probably gain a lot of experience points all at once, and maybe even open up a Spirit Contract slot.
But I would need to go to the Student Center to do that, and I would have to push past all the low-ranking spirits just to get there. It might be possible now with how much their numbers had dwindled since Phase 2 started, but my body was in too bad a shape to even attempt it.
And not only that, but all the important characters of the main story would be there. And nothing good would come out of hanging around a place where the all-star cast of the first-years was gathered.
I had no choice but to just wait for the next chance. Although disappointed, I called it quits and promised myself to do it another time.
Main story.
After ignoring it for a while, a question came to mind the minute it came up again.
"What is Ziggs doing here?"
I let him in since he was in a hurry, but now that I thought about it, Ziggs was a key member of the subjugation team.
An ominous feeling dawned on me. At that moment, I realized I needed to reorganize this whole situation.
Stomp. Stomp.
I heard footsteps coming from Reading Room 3.
Sure enough, I looked, and Ziggs was slowly making his way down the lobby with Elka on his back.
He stopped right in front of me and slowly asked,
"What are you doing here?"
"….."
I couldn't read any emotion in his voice. It must have been hard for him to completely ignore me when he saw I was resting and wounded.
"I asked, what are you doing here?"
This was a question I didn't need to lie to answer.
"…training."
"Ha!"
Ziggs laughed for a bit.
"Haha! That's quite some training."
I didn't expect him to laugh. Ziggs continued to talk in a less serious voice than I had expected.
"This is a crisis situation. We don't know what will happen next. There's a barrier all across the sky, and spirits won't stop attacking us… and yet you were here training all by yourself? When you should be worrying about your life?"
And with that, Ziggs stopped smiling.
"No matter how naive a person is, who would believe that."
"..."
"Okay, I feel like I'm beginning to understand you a bit as a human being. You're this kind of person in the first place, anyway."
A stretch of silence engulfed us.
Ziggs looked at me with a serious look on his face, and then, after a while, he closed his eyes and got lost in his own thoughts.
After standing still for a long time, what Ziggs did next was completely unexpected.
With Elka still on his back, Ziggs bowed his head and bent all the way to his waist.
"I really owe you a great favor, Ed."
Ziggs suddenly speaking to me with respect was surprising enough, but the unexpected action made it even more difficult to figure out what would happen next.
"I will definitely repay this debt when the opportunity arises."
It was at this moment that I finally figured out what was going on. That girl, Elka, on Ziggs's back was definitely… his lover, or would be his lover, someone who had been with him since their childhood.
I couldn't help but think about it. Ziggs's past was not given much importance in the game. The name Elka was only mentioned in a supplementary book, so it was an unknown name even to the most dedicated fans.
"Then hurry and go back to the Student Center."
The words came out on their own.
Ziggs, who still had his head down, looked as if he had been stabbed in the lungs.
"Didn't you abandon the Student Center and run all the way here to save Elka?"
Fortunately, he didn't ask me how I knew all of that. Ziggs was in shock and didn't have time to argue about such things.
"I'm not going to scold you for making such a selfish decision. But now that you've confirmed Elka is safe, you should go and hurry up and do what you have to do."
There was no need for me to say much.
Ziggs was one of the most talented first-year students in Sylvania. Ziggs's participation would determine the victory or defeat of the subjugation force. There was no need to worry if the main story was progressing the way it should, because if Ziggs was here right now, then the subjugation force itself wouldn't get established in the first place.
They may be able to go past Phase 2, but Phase 3 with the high-ranking fire spirit Takan was a different matter.
The only way to break through Takan was with Ziggs.
The main character Taylor would knock off some of Takan's scales, and then cut its tail off using the Elemental Slash skill. Then Ziggs, who had excellent battle sense and agility, would climb on top of Takan's body and directly inflict magic damage on its torn flesh.
Takan would scream in pain from this. Meanwhile, Ziggs would make a hole in its neck, and Taylor would jump down from the ceiling to cut it off again.
In order for this battle to happen, Ziggs needed to be there.
"Go and give Taylor a hand. Just do whatever he wants. Some way or another, everything will work out just fine."
"Taylor… Do you mean Taylor Mclore?"
"That's right. That guy who barely escapes failing every single day."
Although Taylor shouldn't be that weak nowadays, given that it's already the Act 1 finale. I'm sure he'd been training to increase his stats. Plus, he had already gone through various events at this point. He must have already gotten some sort of special skill or ability.
If he had been fostering his skills with optimal efficiency and not wasting an inch, he should be able to use intermediate magic. Although, I didn't think he would've gotten that far by now.
I was sure Taylor's efforts in raising the level of his skills were not up to my satisfaction. But he should still be trying his best… This episode was when he would receive a swordmaster skill, which meant that he would be able to take care of things by himself soon enough.
Ziggs made a weird face.
"Ed, don't you hate Taylor?"
Shit!
Since Ziggs saw the incident at the entrance exam, he would've definitely felt something was off from my words.
"This isn't the time to be arguing about what's right and wrong."
I waved my hand, dismissing the topic.
"And I don't see why people value Taylor so highly… I never had the chance to talk with him properly yet…"
"It's not over-evaluating him. A particular example would be the high-ranking fire spirit Takan. You won't be able to deal damage to it unless Taylor uses Elemental Slash. It's not about the destructive power, it's about the compatibility of the skills in a given situation."
Since it had already come to this, giving this much of a tip should be fine.
"Listen carefully. Don't go trying to break through Takan's scales with magic. Wait until Taylor cuts through the scales with his Elemental Slash. I don't think there is anyone in the subjugation force with enough pure firepower to break through Takan's scales. So don't go around wasting your magic power trying to. Stay calm and wait for the right moment."
The key to this battle was to attack the part of Takan's scales that had been exposed by Elemental Slash.
I didn't really want to give too much away, but I figured I might as well tell him this for insurance. The moment Ziggs appeared at the library, the original timeline had already been messed up anyway. I thought it was only reasonable to take some backup measures such as this, just in case.
"…I'll keep that in mind."
Ziggs seemed like he still had a lot of things to say, but he held them in and merely accepted everything I had said.
It seemed he may have realized it too—that the summoning circle for Glaskan in the sky kept getting darker and darker. We didn't have much time left.
"There is a temporary base that the first-year students had built in the Student Square. I'll escort you there."
"Forget it. Go by yourself. There's not much time left, so hurry up and get moving. I'm just going to rest here."
"Ed, you never know when the spirits might come over here again."
Phase 1 had already ended. The library should be safe from this point onwards. But Ziggs didn't know that and was worried for me.
"It's fine, just go. I'll figure this out."
"..."
"The most important thing right now is for you to get back to the Student Center. You know that too."
Even though he already knew that, Ziggs had already left everything behind just to come here. My words seemed to have hit a sore spot as a shadow passed over Ziggs's face.
"Whether you may be feeling guilt or shame, worry about that after all of this, okay?"
With that, I was able to clearly deliver my message to Ziggs.
Ziggs closed his eyes for a second to weigh the pros and cons before nodding with a stern expression. He fixed Elka on his back, then very clearly said,
"Thank you for the advice."
And just like that, Ziggs headed towards the entrance of the library.
I let out a sigh as I leaned my back against the statue, watching Ziggs walk away.
Ugh, what a headache.
Anyways, this should be the end of that. As long as Ziggs returned to the Student Center before Phase 3, in one way or another, things should work out fine…
"Hold on a second…"
All of a sudden, I thought of something that made me feel a weird sense of anxiety envelop my chest.
A strange echoing of words went through my head as I stared at Ziggs's back as he walked away.
I remembered the countless times I played 'Silvenia's Failed Swordsmaster'. I understood the basics, did my best to control the variables, and made sure that there were no harmful influences that would affect the main story.
And yet… I still kept feeling the strange claw of anxiety in my chest. I had no idea where it could be coming from.
No, if I really thought about it, it was…
"And I don't see why people value Taylor so highly… I never had the chance to talk with him properly yet…"
It was because of something Ziggs said.
From what I remembered, Ziggs was a supportive character who recognized and helped the main character, Taylor. Whether it was a crisis or whenever necessary, Ziggs would work together with Taylor, thus creating a closer bond between them.
To put it simply, he was a character designated to be the main character's friend—a "reliable colleague" or a "friend."
So it was strange that he didn't have much appreciation for Taylor. Wasn't Act 1 already about to end? Maybe there wasn't enough time for them to build a proper bond just yet.
But even then, Ziggs was talking about Taylor as if he had never even met him before… that was definitely strange.
I went through my memory and wracked my brain for when Taylor and Ziggs became friends for the first time. It was…
'Act 1 Chapter 9: End of Semester Evaluation.'
It was the first time Ziggs and Taylor fought each other in a duel. The story followed their battle and how Ziggs started to recognize Taylor, the boy continuing to grow with every moment of the fight.
But after thinking that far, all kinds of possibilities unfolded in my head.
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.
"Hey, Ziggs."
"Huh?"
I called to him as he made his way out.
"I changed my mind. I should go to the Student Center too."
It was a place where all the main characters would be gathering. There was no reason for me to go originally.
But unfortunately… everything had just collapsed.
The finale of Act 1, Glaskan's Subjugation, was currently underway.
However, I didn't know why, but the finale had happened last night instead of at the end of the semester. It had moved a whole month forward.
There was no way to know why Janica's actions had been accelerated so soon, or what type of variables had come into play. I wasn't sure if we would ever find out in the future either. But right now, every move Janica Faylover made was like an empty piece of the puzzle.
But there was one fact that I became certain of.
Because Glaskan's Subjugation happened earlier than scheduled, 'Act 1 Chapter 9: End of Semester Evaluation' hadn't happened yet.
And what did that mean?
A phrase from a strategy guide I read a long time ago suddenly came to mind.
■ Phase 3: The Battle at Training Hall's Corridor
Achievement Condition:Get to the Combat Practice Field where Elementalist Janica is waiting
Appearing Enemies:High-Ranking Fire Spirit Takan x1
※ The entrance will be different depending on what you chose after defeating Altair. The turning point will pass by quickly, so make sure to pay attention.
※ The key to defeating Takan is to continuously damage its tail using your Elemental Slash, which you should've learned from Act 1 Chapter 9. After you cut off the tail using Elemental Slash, use it again to attack the head.
At this point in time, when Act 1 Chapter 9 still hadn't happened, Taylor didn't have Elemental Slash just yet…
But what this meant was that right now, Taylor couldn't beat Takan.
Needless to say, it meant the collapse of all the major premises of the story.