Chapter 16
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Episode 4 - Weekend [1]
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"Ah… ah…"
Lumina brought a hand to her forehead, wiping away the sweat running down her face.
'Using Fallen Moon's second form right now… is extremely exhausting.'
Using Fallen Moon's second form requires tremendous stamina.
It's not about having more mana or anything like that; the second form only demands enormous endurance.
And for Lumina, stamina had always been her weakness.
Naturally, she could only use the second form about twice a day.
Otherwise, she could tear the muscles in her body and even suffer mana backlash.
'Receiving training from Adel in my previous regression about reversed mana is a huge help.'
Thanks to Adel, mana backlash or reversed mana was not much of a problem for Lumina.
However, using mana in reverse was still an impossible task for her.
In any case, when she knocked Adel unconscious using Fallen Moon's second form, Adel's body nearly fell face-first onto the ground.
However, Lumina moved and stood in front of him.
Soon, she embraced Adel, preventing him from falling to the floor. Then she rested his head against her shoulder, looked toward Professor Franklin, and spoke in an icy voice.
"Could you give me the elixir, Professor?"
Professor Franklin reacted late, then walked toward Lumina and handed her the elixir.
"Here, but don't waste it."
When he said 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 to the infirmary, carrying Adel on her back.
Seeing this, the cadets looked at each other in disbelief.
Wondering why Lumina was helping Adel and carrying him to the infirmary.
Especially when there were already people assigned to transport the injured cadets there.
Ignoring the cadets' murmurs, Lumina went straight to the infirmary.
Upon arriving at Building A-5, she laid Adel on a bed. Then she looked around, noticing that the nurses and assistants were tending to the other cadets without paying attention to her direction.
"..."
Lumina looked at Adel and then at the elixir in her hands, and a memory came to mind.
"I don't mind giving you my blood."
"Even so…"
"Don't say anything. I'm already used to it anyway, you know?"
Adel never cared about hurting himself to use his blood for others.
Especially for her; Lumina was the only one who received more of his blood than anyone else.
Looking at the elixir in her hand, she could only sigh and form a faint smile.
Then she put it away in her pocket. After that, she looked around and closed the curtains, making sure no one was watching.
Then she took a few steps closer to Adel, lowered her head, and moved closer to his face.
Soon, her lips approached Adel's lips.
'At the very least, I can repay you, even if only a little, for everything you've done for me.'
Even though the current Adel did not remember her.
Lumina decided to keep a certain distance from Adel, considering the future and also to avoid his death.
She would do whatever was necessary 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 guessed it was probably the infirmary.
There was also the typical smell of a place filled with medicine and other medical supplies.
I sat up on the bed and thought about what had happened during my duel against Lumina.
'She went all out from the very beginning. She even managed to knock me out, something that should be almost impossible for me.'
Because of my trait, Immunity to Pain, not only did I feel no pain, but being knocked unconscious through physical blows was also nearly impossible.
The only way for me to lose consciousness would be if something affected me internally.
'Anyway… Mhm.'
I brought my hand to my lips; somehow, they felt wet.
After letting out a sigh, I wiped my lips and got out of bed.
I was probably drooling in my sleep.
At the same time, as I walked out of the infirmary, Alice's voice reached 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 feel other people's mana〗
Frowning, I asked,
"What do you mean? It wasn't the staff in charge of taking cadets to the infirmary who brought me here. Lumina brought me herself."
〖Yes. After knocking you out, she carried you here herself. Also, when she laid you down on the bed, she got close to you, but I'm not sure what exactly she did because, like I said, I can't see and can only sense mana〗
"I see."
She probably used one of her traits to examine me closely.
In the end, I'm someone who never existed before. It's only natural that she had been observing me this whole time and took the opportunity to inspect me more closely.
'Well, I guess she used the
It's true that the Divine Eye is a trait obtained after reaching ten stars.
However, since it's a visual trait, every time she regressed to the past, the trait didn't disappear and remained with her.
'Since the Divine Eye has many functions, one of them is seeing the true nature of people, as well as evaluating an opponent's strength.'
With a sigh, I finally left Building A-5 and headed to the cafeteria.
I didn't know what time it was, and in any case, I felt pretty hungry, so it was probably break time.
And when I arrived, my assumption was correct.
There were already cadets eating, and there was no line, which probably meant the break had started around ten minutes ago.
When I went to order something, I noticed that the person serving the cadets wasn't there.
I looked around the kitchen in confusion, then extended my senses and noticed that the person in charge was sitting down, playing what looked like cards.
'Seriously? These guys should be paying attention in case any cadet arrives late.'
I picked up a tray and looked at the variety of food I could choose from.
But since I didn't know exactly what any of the dishes were, I stayed silent.
'That long thing over there should be bread, judging by the smell; then that thing seems to be…'
While thinking, using my senses and nose to guess what each thing was, a voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"I can help you."
And it was none other than Rinna.
When I turned around, I nodded vigorously.
"Oh, yes, I really need help."
"It's nothing."
Rinna smiled and, after a while, explained each thing I could choose.
I sat at the same table as always together with Rinna, and also got the same coffee as yesterday.
While bringing a sandwich to my mouth, Rinna asked something I already knew she was going to ask.
"Adel, may I ask…"
"Sure, but don't tell anyone."
She nodded, then asked her question.
"How did you heal me with your blood? I've never heard of anything like that."
While finishing swallowing the sandwich I had brought to my mouth, I said,
"Do you remember the elixir 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 quietly,
"In simple terms, the red liquid inside 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 would be all.
"W-wait, wait a second, are you saying that Elixir is made from your own blood?"
I nodded, then took out the elixir I had obtained after killing that villain from my inventory without her noticing.
"If you want, you can check for yourself."
Seeing the elixir in my hand, Rinna was surprised.
"What? Professor Franklin was supposed to give that to Lumina."
"This is another one I've had for a little while now."
Rinna nodded, then took the elixir, uncorked it, and brought it close to her nose to smell whether it was blood.
Soon, her expression changed and she muttered,
"I-it's true… it smells like blood and, remembering the smell of your blood… it's the same."
She looked up and asked,
"But… why does this Elixir exist? I remember it has been circulating both illegally and legally for over a decade, so…"
I nodded my head.
"Yes, when I was kidnapped as a child, they've been extracting my blood in "that" place ever since."
"..."
Honestly, I didn't want Rinna to pity me, but I thought about telling her something about Adel's past.
That way, she would trust me more and lower her guard.
"Impossible, that's simply impossible… how could they dare do something like that to someone…?"
I raised my hand to stop her from speaking loudly. Rinna was clearly angry and probably thought that the people who extracted Adel's blood were villains.
But that wasn't the case. If I told her who the people that did that to Adel were, 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 can't feel pain either."
"But…"
"No buts. That's just how things are, and I only told you this because I trust you and trust that you won't tell anyone."
Rinna didn't say anything. She simply remained silent and stopped eating.
At the end of the day, she didn't eat anything, and I felt somewhat bad about it, but there was nothing I could do.
Rinna is quite a stubborn character who, no matter what you tell her, won't listen.
Once I returned to my room, I went directly to the training hall.
〖It's fine to reveal part of your past to the Saintess, but at any moment she could turn against you because of the Father's orders, 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.
Known as the Holy 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 left until that point.
"No, don't worry."
〖Well, I'll trust the words of my dear disciple〗
"Since when do you call me 'dear disciple'? Last time you didn't say anything like that."
Alice fell silent and suddenly changed the subject.
〖Ahem, anyway, you told me that you want to master the first form of Inverted Heaven to the Expert level, right?〗
"..."
"Yes, before this week ends, I need to raise my mastery to Expert."
Alice then asked,
〖Is there any particular reason? According to my calculations, you'll be able to start training the second form next month〗
I couldn't tell Alice that next week the first chapter of Holy Land begins and that this world was a game.
And the excuse I prepared for this was the following.
"I suspect my pursuers won't take long to find my location and, even though this is the Holy Academy, they could send infiltrators."
After hearing my excuse, Alice replied.
〖That makes sense〗
Then, with Alice's guidance, I trained until late into the night.