Ch. 88 - Familiar Contract Ceremony (1)

Chapter 88: Familiar Contract Ceremony (1)

The next day, in the morning.

Hae Won-Ryang, who woke up in the University Hospital of Sky Flower Cradle, looked out the window with a dazed expression.

Chirp! Chirp!

The sound of chirping birds tickled his ears. He turned slightly to the side and saw Flame peeling an apple.

She had a strangely excited expression.

"You know the situation where a nurse peels an apple for the patient as they wake up? I've always wanted to try that. You woke up at just the right time, didn’t you?" she playfully said, revealing her pearly white teeth.

Bewildered, Hae Won-Ryang asked, "Where’s this...?"

"What? You don't remember? We came to play in Sky Flower Cradle."

To be precise, it was a field trip. Hae Won-Ryang would normally have corrected her, but his mind hadn't fully returned.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I... don't know."

"Is that so?"

Flame secretly sighed in relief. It would be better if he didn't remember. The memories of being controlled by a dark mage would only bring shame as a mage.

Only five people knew about this incident.

Kaen and Hyejin were not the type to reveal such things, and it was inappropriate for them to do so either.

Baek Yu-Seol and Ma Yu-Seong decided to keep the fact that he was controlled by dark mages a secret to protect his honor.

If Hae Won-Ryang were to find out that he had become a dark mage, he would be consumed by endless guilt.

They were truly kind boys in many ways.

"Recently, you had an unknown fever in your body, but it has been completely treated now."

"How...?"

"How did it happen? I did it. Even though I look like this, I'm a brilliant mage, you know?"

"Is that so?"

Hae Won-Ryang sighed deeply, touching his forehead.

Somehow, he felt a weight lifted off his chest. The unpleasant emotions that had been stabbing at his heart were completely gone.

Thinking of Baek Yu-Seol and Ma Yu-Seong, he didn't feel any jealousy or inferiority. Instead, he felt a strong sense of determination.

‘That's your true self.’

Seeing Hae Won-Ryang's fiery gaze, Flame thought it fortunate.

Then, their eyes met. There was no change in the affectionate gaze they exchanged.

Feeling apologetic, Flame forced a bitter smile.

‘There are so many pretty girls in the world. Why me?’

The statement that there couldn’t be friendship between a man and a woman was a complete lie.

From a woman's perspective, there were often cases where they genuinely wanted to be friends with men.

Flame had no feelings for Hae Won-Ryang beyond friendship. That was why she was worried. If he ever confessed, their friendship would break immediately.

Should she draw a line beforehand? How did one even do that?

‘Maybe because it's a romance fantasy world, I have to worry about relationships here...?’

In her original world, she was so focused on studying and work that such worries were completely unfamiliar to her.

"Instructor Lee Han-Wol has taken a look at you. If you want to participate in the Familiar Contract Ceremony, you can, but it's better to rest. The aftereffects haven't completely subsided yet."

"Alright. If you tell me to rest, I’ll rest."

"Oh, just rest. Who knows, the Familiar Contract ceremony might not be a big deal? It's better than getting injured.”

‘Hae Won-Ryang won't be able to make a contract with a divine being during the Familiar Contract Ceremony. He’ll eventually make a contract with some divine being, but that's a long way off.’

"Well then, rest well. I have to go now. It’s almost time for assembly."

As Flame left, Hae Won-Ryang absentmindedly soaked up the sunlight and watched her retreating figure.

He no longer had any negative thoughts. He didn't know what had happened, but it was definitely something unpleasant.

Perhaps Flame quietly resolved it and was trying to bury it secretly, afraid of causing him harm.

That was why Hae Won-Ryang didn't ask about what had happened. It wouldn't be respectful to Flame, who had made an effort for his sake.

However, a faint smile appeared on his lips. He was glad that she had made even a little effort for him.

He knew Flame didn't feel any emotions beyond friendship for him.

An unrequited love?

It wasn't about environment, race, or background, but simply a matter of pure emotions. They couldn't be together.

Hae Won-Ryang smiled bitterly. He knew, but still, it wouldn't be easy to give up on this love for a while.

It was always like that with teenage first love.

The Birth of World Tree Festival came to an end. Before the fantastic afterglow completely faded, Stella Academy's students had to move on to the next schedule.

"From now on, you’ll enter the roots of the world tree to contract with divine beasts. It is a sort of subspace, and the environment there is different from reality."

At the entrance of the heavenly tree’s roots, in a place where even ordinary elves couldn't approach recklessly, thousands of magic disciples were gathered.

Inside the roots was a space where familiars could live. It was said that the world tree itself created the space to protect those who were highly vulnerable to the dark magic of the dark mages.

Since it was a sensitive place, it was not open to anyone, and the security was also very strict.

Elven guardians were patrolling around the entrance to the roots.

Instructor Lee Han-Wol, representing Class S, briefly explained to the first-year disciples, "You will be given one week. The space allowed for you is up to the third layer of the roots."

Dangerous familiars with aggressive tendencies were confined by the elven guardians below the fourth layer. Anything beyond was sealed off with magic that was impossible for first-years to penetrate.

"So don't even think about accessing the fourth layer."

His voice carried a sense of intimidation and compulsion.

As a delinquent student, Baek Yu-Seol had no intention of listening to him.

If one proceeded with the episodes normally, all the stories would occur in the third layer. However, very rarely, players accidentally discovered hidden passages that allowed them to break through the boundary and head to the fourth layer.

It would certainly be dangerous. But this was a risk worth taking. The heart of a divine being could only be found on the 4th level, and the Pink Spring Moon was there too.

Fortunately, his trusty specs recorded hidden routes that countless players had used to move around, avoiding the sight of the familiars through trial and error.

"Your professors cannot accompany you down there. That means you have to take care of yourselves in that place. Understand? Don't rely on anyone and survive with your own strength. That's all!"

As Lee Han-Wol finished speaking, the students moved rapidly. They were eager to descend into the roots faster than anyone else, even though it wasn't necessary.

The elven guardians stepped aside.

The students began moving through the barrier, and Baek Yu-Seol walked slowly from behind, making sure not to collide with the crowd.

He could hear the students whispering.

"I heard that it's not very dangerous if we don't go below the first layer."

"I still want to go to the second layer. They say there aren't many strong or aggressive familiars there."

"Do you want to go together? I have a place I want to visit in the second layer."

With the rumors of potential danger, the students tended to move with their close friends. Baek Yu-Seol wondered how the protagonists would move.

Although it varied depending on the branch, they usually gathered in one place later on.

A very special familiar appeared in the third layer, one they all wanted to make a contract with.

He planned to be cautious and avoid encountering them as much as possible. There was going to be a confrontation between Eisel and Hong Bi-Yeon, which would conclude with Flame’s intervention.

The personalities of Hong Bi-Yeon and Flame had deviated quite a bit from the original, so he wasn't sure what would happen, but he doubted it would be anything significant.

After waiting for a while, most of the students had gone in. He followed behind and stepped beyond the boundary.

Whoosh!

The flow of air distorted completely, and the scenery changed in an instant.

[Episode 7]

[Familar Contract Ceremony]

"Wow..."

And then, a green landscape filled his vision.

It wasn't an ordinary green.

Baek Yu-Seol with his limited vocabulary thought it looked like a space filled with fluorescent green.

Every green plant emitted its own light, and firefly-like creatures hovered leisurely in the air, making the whole world glow even beneath the canopy.

Squish!

"Uh, what is this?"

A sparkling green liquid-like substance fell to the ground and slithered away somewhere.

At first, he thought it was slime, but upon closer inspection, it was a young familiar without intelligence. It would eventually take the form of an animal as it grew.

"Oh... It's quite fascinating."

As he gently poked the soft familiar with his finger, it wrapped its hand around his.

Clearly, there was a connection between the breathing exercises he did next to Leafanel. The familiar seemed to like him.

After playing with the soft creature and poking it with his finger for a while, it seeped into the ground and disappeared.

‘That’s enough sightseeing.’

‘There’s work to be done.’

"Alright, let's start."

As most of the students entered the space of the familiars, at the entrance of the roots, the elven guardians checked the number of people.

"1,139 people have entered.”

"Really? Weren't we supposed to allow 1,141 admissions this year?”

“One person is hospitalized, but we are short by one."

"Well, sometimes it happens. No matter how much they want to be magic warriors, some kids get scared and drop out."

"In that case, they shouldn't have aspired to be magical warriors."

"Anyway, the hopeless ones will be filtered out in the second year, right?"

"Is that so? Human schools are peculiar. Our Astral Flower Magic Academy for elven warriors carries on until the end, no matter how weak-willed they are."

"Haha, everyone has their quirks."

"Well, anyway, we have an exchange program with Stella Academy this year, so we'll see what happens then."

The elven guardians chatted while eating oranges. Their mission was to guard this place until the students came out in a week.

"Should we start closing the barrier, then?"

Once the barrier was closed, no one could enter or exit.

However, a senior guardian raised his head.

"Wait, it seems someone else is coming."

"Oh, really? He must have been late while doing something else."

"A Stella Academy student wouldn’t be tardy. They probably needed extra time to prepare."

"Right. They’re not running away, after all."

The approaching student had a slightly peculiar demeanor. He completely covered his face with a robe and bowed deeply.

But they understood because it was Stella's student. It was a place where many peculiar mages gathered, after all.

With the academy uniform and the pocket watch at their waist, their status was clearly proven, and they were instructed to enter. It wasn't a particularly difficult procedure.

Passing through their midst, he entered the realm beneath the tree's roots...

'Hah.'

Maizen Tyren threw off her robe and smiled brightly as if she had everything in the world.

"This was so easy!"

She had endured until now.

She had suppressed the emotions of resentment, anger, jealousy, and envy toward those who had made her miserable.

But there was no need to endure anymore.

[Progress of Dark Corruption: 49.99%]

[Progress of Dark Corruption: 50.00%]

[Progress of Dark Corruption: 71.84%]

Gloop! Gloop!

Maizen’s face contorted grotesquely, twisted, and then returned to its original form.

"Hoo!"

Breaking the enchantment that had been suppressing the dark corruption, a refreshing sense of liberation enveloped her body.

She felt an immense and incomparable power.

"Ah yes, this energy."

She gazed upon the space of the familiars in her partially open ecstatic eyes.

She couldn't even imagine that she could enter this space, where the intrusion of dark mages was not permitted, and so easily at that.

Even though things were going well, they were going too well. Everything was falling into place as if arranged by the gods themselves.

Thanks to the death of one of the students, thus reducing their number, she was able to enter without any suspicion.

And thanks to the enchantment from the cult leader, she was able to suppress the dark corruption and avoid detection.

From now on, Maizen’s task was simple. All she had to do was taint the familiars residing on the fourth layer and break the barrier to send them to the upper level.

If familiars with a minimum Danger Level of 5 were to be tainted and start rampaging, it would be nothing short of a disaster for the first-year students.

But they would have no space to escape. For a week, no one would be able to leave this place or enter here.

During that week, Maizen planned to consume their blood entirely. The blood of promising mages could become the power of the dark mages.

"One week. I can’t wait."

Maizen indulged in pleasant fantasies and stepped deeper into the roots.

Comments