Cling-!
Cling-!
Cling-!
In the midst of their ongoing exchange, the crisp sound of metal clashing rang out continuously.
'This guy's insane...'
Honestly, he'd underestimated him just a bit.
Even if it wasn't enough to draw out Elina's full strength.
With the ridiculous unique traits he'd seen so far, the Pioneer's behavioral aids, and the spatial dominance of Piercing Eyes,
under equal conditions of physical ability and mana, he thought he'd have the edge.
'No openings at all...'
But that was a mistake.
Elina was keeping up with his movements—boosted by behavioral aids—and his heightened senses from spatial dominance with combat instincts and reactions far sharper than he'd imagined.
'This won't do...'
At this rate, he wouldn't even glimpse Elina's true heart before tiring out first.
Thanks to the behavioral aids, he wasn't showing it yet, but his muscles were screaming in protest, at their limit.
He needed to make a decision.
Cling-!
He blocked Elina's incoming strike and kicked off the ground, leaping back.
Elina charged right after, swinging at him.
Within the dominated space, a warning flashed about the attack aimed at his throat.
His goal: to see Elina's true heart, even for a split second.
To do that, he just needed to unleash a strike she couldn't block with her physical prowess or mana.
One that would force her true strength out in panic.
The sword that would normally move to defend swung in a different direction instead.
Aden's target: her throat.
But he was one step too slow.
At this rate, Elina's strike would reach his throat first,
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡{Moonlight} activated.
- Moonlight dwells in your strike.
but in that instant, a bluish moonlight enveloped his mana-infused sword.
The blade shot toward Elina's throat at a speed far beyond before,
Thud-!
Crack-!
and Elina snatched Aden's sword mid-flight with a hand brimming with ferocious mana—an overwhelming amount unlike before.
The sword snapped like a cookie under the pressure.
And then, the cheerful alert chimed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Sub Quest - {Elina's True Heart} cleared! - Strength +10, Agility +10
A translucent window announcing the sub quest's success appeared before his eyes.
His body felt lighter, strength surging through him.
"Cadet Aden."
Elina called out to him as the bloodlust filling the space vanished in an instant.
Aden withdrew his own Pioneer-released bloodlust in response.
"Yes, Professor."
"Excellent. Free movement even amid bloodlust, flawless combat sense and instincts."
Hearing praise from her—rare even in the game—lifted his spirits.
"No other classes today, so you're free to head back, Cadet Aden. The remaining nine, stay and train."
Despair etched across the faces of the nine left behind.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Go ahead."
Hearing he could leave first, Aden quickly exited the auditorium.
Of course, he wasn't heading to the dorms.
The academy library.
There lay the opportunity he sought.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Practical Combat Professor Elina Levan
stood staring at the auditorium door Aden had just exited.
'Aden... no matter how I look at him, he's no ordinary cadet.'
She glanced down at the hand that had blocked his sword.
She'd perfectly parried it, yet it oddly throbbed with pain.
Top entrant Aden.
She calmly replayed the fight in her mind.
Bloodlust that countered her own—enough to make even her tense.
Chilling eyes that held a deeper void than her own.
Movements and senses on par with—or surpassing—hers, forged over years on the battlefield.
Mana manipulation, too.
'Just what is he...?'
Cadets entering the academy were fifteen.
Yet everything he possessed defied belief for that age.
Doubts had nagged her from the entrance exam to the inauguration speech, but clashing swords confirmed it.
He was no ordinary human.
'Guess I need to ask the Chairman.'
No way she was the only one who'd noticed.
Which meant the Chairman knew his secret and admitted him anyway.
"Urgh... Professor... that's... enough..."
Lost in thought, she heard groans from the floor.
The nine cadets she'd put through basic training for just over ten minutes lay sprawled, moaning.
'Still so fragile...'
This was normal for fresh entrants.
That ridiculous guy's image had overshadowed it momentarily.
"You're dismissed too."
She'd wanted more stamina drills, but it was the first day, and she had questions for the Chairman, so she called it.
"I'll head out first."
Ignoring the panting students, she left the auditorium and headed to the Chairman's office.
Soon, she reached the door and knocked.
"Chairman, it's Elina Levan. May I come in?"
The Chairman's voice replied promptly.
"Come in."
Creeak-
She opened the door and entered.
"Sorry for the sudden visit, Chairman."
"No worries. What's up?"
"It's about top entrant Aden. I have questions."
The Chairman flinched briefly at his name.
She definitely knew something.
"Top entrant Aden. Who is he?"
"Hah... acting so blatantly, yet no one suspects. Figures it'd be weird if they didn't."
She stood.
"Have a seat there. It's important—we need the man himself."
She seemed to cast a spell.
Elina sat as directed, waiting calmly; it felt weighty.
"He'll be here in about five minutes. I'll brief you till then. Tea? Black?"
"Yes, any tea's fine. But Aden's coming here?"
"Yeah, need the source."
The Chairman brewed two cups and sat.
"Drink up. Listen without freaking out."
Her grave expression tensed Elina too.
She braced for any truth,
but the Chairman's solemn face wound her tighter.
"Aden... is a regressor."
...?
Her mind blanked at the unimaginable words.
"Wh-what...?"
"I said don't freak."
Her head still reeled, rejecting the brief declaration.
Regressor...? As in, what she knew?
"A joke... right?"
She reflexively questioned the inconceivable identity,
but the Chairman's stern face ruled out pranks.
And above all...
'If he's a regressor, it all fits...'
If he was a regressor,
a being who'd turned back time, everything clicked.
Eyes hollow from decades of war.
Bloodlust surpassing hers.
Physical growth exploding since the entrance exam.
Overwhelming senses, movements,
and mana control.
If true, it explained it all.
"No joke. You'd notice—the feats he showed make sense as a regressor."
"Regression... is actually possible...?"
"Beats me. I thought impossible too. Defying causality, breaking logic—even gods can't. But..."
She continued, still incredulous.
"Sigh... in the crisis response exam, that final power he showed? Others missed it, but I saw: force ignoring causality, defying logic."
Her draconic eyes—the pinnacle of her immortal race—had confirmed it in him.
No mistake.
He was undoubtedly a regressor.
"Then why did he turn back time...?"
"Dunno. He can't say—causality's restraint."
"Causality's restraint?"
"Yeah, probably can't spill future details. World logic doesn't bend easy. Without it, he wouldn't loop endlessly."
Made sense.
Constraint fit defying common sense.
'Wait... just now, what'd she say...?'
"Endlessly...? More than once?"
"Yep. Those eyes, that bloodlust—not from one loop."
Innumerable regressions.
'That's why he's so worn...'
It all made sense.
Eyes, bloodlust, senses, movements—all products of endless repetition.
'What happens in the future...?'
What catastrophe awaited?
Fear and unease she'd thought battlefield-eroded stirred faintly.
"He's here. Rest from him."
A knock sounded right on cue.
Knock-knock-
"It's Aden. May I come in, Chairman?"
"Come in."
The door opened, revealing Aden.
White hair, hollow golden eyes.
Same as today's class, but heavier now.
She could guess the trials those eyes had endured.
"Sit here. What's with the book and sword?"
Her gaze shifted to his arms.
In his hands: an ominous, ancient-looking tome and a sword in a battered scabbard.