Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw his back—yet the Fire Cancer mark wasn't there. Enrico placed his hand on his back, and the mark reappeared. What was happening was that ever since he returned, he had been thinking about how to hide it, not wanting others to find out he had it—somehow lucky that his clothes had lasted so long in the Val'Drakar dungeon.
What caused the mark to disappear was that he discovered he could at least control it and transfer it inside his body for ten minutes. After finding that out, he could now hide it whenever there was a risk of someone discovering it.
Enrico had been wondering whether he could control anything else about the Fire Cancer, but so far, he hadn't found anything.
"Now that I think about it, didn't the pain of my Fire Cancer get accelerated by a month because I stayed in that place?"
He had already experienced this month's Fire Cancer pain, but to him, at least a week had passed since then. So he would end up receiving even greater pain than the two previous times. He sighed but didn't care and left the room.
'The only thing I hope is that it doesn't happen in front of anyone. I was lucky Angela took care of me when it happened the second time.'
[The maid of this dorm is way too helpful for my taste.]
'Well, that's good for me.'
He had been suspecting for a while that Angela was taking care of him under Virelle's orders. The professor was clearly interested in making him her disciple, and he wanted that too, but looking at the original story, he would have to defeat the two students she had already sent to her family first. Only then could he become her disciple without objections.
Leaving the dorm, it was already nighttime, and the lights outside the academy were bright. Valença and Yumeha were standing in front of Serenya and Rina. It seemed like, in a way, they had formed pairs due to the rivalry between them.
"What are they arguing about?"
"It's just that Serenya and Rina wanted to go back to your dorm."
Seraphina approached and answered Enrico. Looking at them, he just shook his head, wondering why some young people behaved like that.
[You're a little young yourself, if we're being honest.]
'I agree, but I'm responsible for myself. I'm twenty-one.'
Walking with Seraphina, he ended up stopping that unnecessary argument. Serenya and Rina looked disappointed that he had missed the chance to step in and immediately broke their temporary alliance, turning back to rivals. Meanwhile, Valença and Yumeha shook hands, strengthening their bond.
"Thank you for stopping those... girls from making Master uncomfortable."
"No need to worry. I'll do whatever it takes to stop those... ladies from making my love— I mean, Enrico feel okay."
The two glanced at each other and then turned their faces, each thinking of ways to stop those two again. On the way, they ran into Kai, Elian, Giulio, and Liam, who were heading to meet the others.
The festival lights were beautiful, and surprisingly, even the booths had Sanos's luxurious touch. There were games, like the magic target shooting, foods like red-horned boar, and many other things.
They started with the magic target shooting—it was just like in the real world, only the weapons were different. To make it work, the bow held the arrow with magic, and one had to release it using their own magic. The bow would be filled with a magic limit, and if you used too much, it would break, and you'd lose. Too little, and the arrow wouldn't pierce the earth-magic target provided by the booth owner.
"You may begin, young ones."
The only one who didn't participate was Liam, since he had no arm. Enrico said he'd win a prize for him, so he didn't need to worry. When it started, Valença's arrow broke immediately because her magic output was too high—she didn't know how much to use, and even a small amount could break it. The only girl who succeeded was Yumeha, who was used to gauging how much magic to use in things like this. Looking arrogant, she stared down the other girls and even Valença, despite being her partner—but when she shot the arrow, it didn't pierce and dropped down instead, causing the girls to try to hold back their laughter.
Among the boys, everyone except Enrico and Kai failed to complete it. When they shot, both pierced the target. The owner was surprised—most young people who came couldn't even complete the first phase. Kai picked his prize while Enrico looked at him.
[Unique Skill Unlocked: God of War] – Any weapon or combat form seen by the user can be learned and mastered faster than anyone else.
Second part: ?????
Kai had unlocked his first Unique Skill, which had two parts. The second would only be revealed when he reached the fifth circle.
'How irritating.'
Getting an idea, he gave his prize to Liam—it was a glove to help him handle his spear better. The girls, seeing Enrico give the prize to Liam, looked a little down.
"I'll win prizes for you too."
Their eyes lit up as Enrico dragged Kai with him. He wasn't going to lose to a skill, so he challenged him to a contest of who could hit more targets. Kai, eager to compete, immediately accepted, and the two began.
Camila and Sílvia spotted them and came running, wanting to join in even without knowing what it was about. Caelan, arriving and seeing all this, started to approach but noticed a boy stealing from someone. He immediately ran over and trapped the thief in a water bubble. After the thief passed out from lack of air, he released him to prevent death.
"Thank you very much."
"No need to thank me."
Looking ahead, he saw a boy with black hair and eyes, but what was odd—and made him think he might be a vampire—was his pale skin.
"My name is Shade. What's yours?"
"Alright, Shade. You can call me Caelan."
He didn't know who the boy was, but had a weird feeling and wanted to leave. However, Shade insisted on thanking him and handed him money. Caelan, who actually liked money due to his family situation, accepted and thanked him before leaving.
'Good, now he won't suspect anything.'
No one was supposed to know his real identity or have ever seen him before, so he could move freely. The only thing he had to prove to others was that he wasn't a vampire—and proving he was human was easy, thanks to how much effort his father, Rirus, had put into him.
The only ones who knew who he really was were Deymon and another person he had convinced to join him.
'Since he touched the corrupted coin, the corruption will begin and explode in a few months.'
It was a skill combining his magic with Deymon's. Jago looked back, hiding in the shadows, watching Caelan getting closer to the others. Then he looked at Enrico and Kai shooting—every time he saw those two, he felt like something bad would happen if he got near.
'I don't know why I feel this way, especially since they've never seen what I look like.'
He was truly uncertain, but decided to trust his instincts and stay away, at least for now—especially since he had just reached Phase Rank Level Three. It was best to be cautious for now, since he was surrounded by elite mages in the city of Sano.