Ch. 250 - Noble Soul (4)

Chapter 250: Noble Soul (4)

Aether’s Far East, Eastern Terrace.

There was a beautiful tourist spot called ‘Heavenly Dragon Cliff.’

It was so named because the shadow cast by the cliff when the sun shone upon it resembled a dragon ascending into the heavens.

Although it seemed like the place had reached the end of its life as a tourist destination due to corruption by dark magic over the past 100 years, it remained a popular spot for adventurers. 

The breath of life still lingered in this place… But today, it appeared that breath had finally ceased.

Clouds began to rise from the ground. 

Not metaphorical clouds, but the very clouds that hovered in the sky.

However, due to the distortion of space, those clouds had lost their sense of direction and temporarily descended to the ground. They appeared like a blanket of mist.

As the clouds were swept away by the wind, the landscape revealed was no longer a cliff, but more akin to a basin.

The once majestic and imposing cliff had completely collapsed, turning into flat land. 

The mountain range that formed the backbone of the East had been uprooted and forcibly relocated. 

Adventurers visiting this place might need to redraw their maps.

"… Ah. This is troublesome."

Rudrik Hallow, the Master of the New Moon Tower.

He tried to wipe the blood trickling from his mouth with his sleeve. However, in the next second, he realized that his right arm had long been crushed and disappeared beyond the rift in the dimension.

"Haha. It seems the Twelve Divine Moons are still a bit too much for me…"

The duel with Fawn Prevernal Moon had been a valuable experience for him.

The magical duels of spatial mages were unlike any ordinary magical duel.

For them, the phrase ‘seeing a step ahead’ lost all meaning as they fight while disregarding spatial constraints.

Step!

Fawn Prevernal Moon emerged through the clouds, his expression cold as he gazed down at the fallen Rudrik.

“You’re wasting your time. Is there a reason for this, mage?”

"Who knows."

Even though he knew he would lose, it wasn’t entirely meaningless.

He could alter a very trivial event that was set to happen in the future.

If Rudrik’s predictions were correct, Fawn Prevernal Moon would now sense the deranged fate from the Silver Autumn Moon.

Of course, any class 9 mage could sense the current distortion of fate, so there was no way Fawn Prevernal Moon would have missed it.

However, he likely wouldn’t have discovered the most critical cause of this change in fate. 

The moment the Twelve Divine Moons recklessly intervened in the world, all events and stories would be altered.

Fawn Prevernal Moon would not move in ignorance. He would certainly seek out the one cause through the Silver Autumn Moon that was distorting fate and attempt to eliminate it.

That couldn’t be allowed.

Fawn Prevernal Moon could observe the entire world, but… He couldn’t see the very small and trivial things. 

This fatal flaw must be exploited as much as possible.

Someday… Until the boy could stand against Fawn Prevernal Moon.

"There are less than 10 years left until the end of the world. Such meaningless struggle, mage."

Fawn Prevernal Moon said as he gazed into the void, searching for traces of the vanished Silver Autumn Moon. 

However, true to his reputation, the old man had fled quickly, leaving no trace behind.

"… Next time, I won't let it slide like this."

Fawn Prevernal Moon said this before disappearing through the grayish space.

Sigh…

Rudrick Hallow exhaled a hot breath as he slowly stood up and brushed his left hand over the spot where his right arm had vanished.

As he did, a golden light shimmered, and in an instant, his severed arm regrew. 

The process of restoring the missing limb had consumed an enormous amount of mana, but it was better than being crippled.

"By the way, you’re quite impressive."

Rudrick spoke as if talking to himself into the empty space. 

Surprisingly, a silver line appeared in the air, and the space cracked open, revealing the figure of Silver Autumn Moon, who had disappeared long ago.

"To think you’re skilled enough in spatial manipulation to deceive even one of the Twelve Divine Moons…"

"Time and space are inseparable. After living on the run for hundreds of years, you have to get good at it."

Silver Autumn Moon murmured bitterly.

"Have I been living too irresponsibly and letting everything go too easily?"

"… That’s not true."

Rudrick denied his words, but he couldn’t help feeling sorrowful.

Perhaps… Silver Autumn Moon had seen some terrible vision. Something even more horrific and brutal than the end of the world, which was predicted to occur in ten years.

That was why he gave up on his foresight.

He chose to abandon everything, including his memories. He entrusted them to his fragment, and lived a secluded life, which led to the current situation.

‘What on earth did he see that made even Silver Autumn Moon unable to overcome his fear and turn his back to flee?’

This was a question that had always troubled Rudrick.

"Are you worried?"

When Silver Autumn Moon suddenly asked this, Rudrick nodded.

"… Yes."

The old man smiled bitterly, turned around, and walked off somewhere.

"I really am a pitiful sight."

But why did his back appear light? 

It was as if he had shrugged off all the burdens he had been carrying.

There was no doubt about it.

He had made up his mind about something.

It was likely a decision he had made long before even meeting Rudrick.

What had caused him to change?

Just as the question arose, it was answered.

There was only one person in this world capable of challenging fate like this.

‘It’s only been half a year since he appeared in the world, yet…’

He was a remarkably quick boy.

With that thought, Rudrick closed his eyes. 

He was utterly exhausted from the earlier battle… So he needed to rest a bit.

  —

Compared to modern times, the communication methods in Aether were exceedingly inconvenient. 

It wasn’t just that there were no personal cell phones—if the other person wasn’t near a phone, getting in touch with them was incredibly difficult.

"I'm fine so you don’t need to worry."

Especially when the person on the other end was the Elf King. 

For an ordinary student to contact her privately without scheduling it in advance was practically unthinkable, but thanks to Alterisha, Baek Yu-Seol had managed to get the number for his personal phone set up in the dormitory, so contact was barely possible.

"Are you sure nothing’s wrong?"

"Of course. Are you worried about me?"

When Florin responded with a teasing tone, Baek Yu-Seol replied nonchalantly.

"Naturally, I am."

"… Oh, really?"

She was silent for a moment before she let out a soft laugh.

"Hehe. I don’t know why, but that makes me feel good."

Even after hearing her response, Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t feel relieved. 

It wasn’t just that he was worried about her—he was worried about himself.

Recently, something had gone wrong with his mind.

To be precise, it was more accurate to say that there was a problem with the skill ‘The Blessing of Pink Spring Moon.’

Baek Yu-Seol knew his own mental strength well. While it was ridiculous to quantify mental strength, he’d always considered himself to have been born with a reasonably strong mind to have overcome a difficult childhood with a positive attitude. 

On top of that, he’d received the blessing of the Pink Spring Moon, so he thought he had developed a mental fortitude that wouldn't waver or crumble under any circumstances. 

But there was a persistent negative feeling invading his mind.

'Despair.'

So, it would be correct to assume that there was a problem with the Pink Spring Moon... 

Yet, Florin was doing just fine without any worries. 

Recently, she had been taking off her mask more often, which had been quite refreshing. 

There was no problem with Florin, who received the blessing of Pink Spring Moon along with him. 

This meant that the issue wasn’t with Pink Spring Moon but rather with his own mind. 

If that was the case, there were two possible reasons. 

Either Baek Yu-Seol had become so negative that even the blessings of Pink Spring Moon couldn’t handle it, or there was a problem with someone mentally connected to him.

It was not the former. 

He’d always lived with the mindset of 'What's the worst that could happen? Death?' and enjoyed life without any particular worries. 

In other words, it meant that ‘Leafanel,' who was mentally connected to him, was definitely the cause.

"Hmm. Do you have time?"

"... Time?"

Florin hesitated for a moment as if pondering, and that was when Baek Yu-Seol realized he had made a mistake. 

To ask the Elf King, who was always busy, if she had time. And that too as a student... 

Even a chimpanzee wouldn't ask such a silly question.

"Oh, I'm sorry—"

"It seems I can make time."

"... You can?"

"Yes. Although it's hard to carve out much time since I'm swamped with work..."

She let out a deep sigh full of worry. 

It appeared the void left by the retirement of Orenha, her aide, was quite significant.

"Hmm... Even a brief moment is fine. I was thinking of going to see Leafanel."

"Oh my, really?"

Baek Yu-Seol heard that Leafanel was one of Florin’s very, very close friends. 

Perhaps even her only friend. 

Anyway, she cherished Leafanel greatly, and as a High Elf, she would be extremely sensitive to any changes in the spirit's state. 

Besides that, Baek Yu-Seol also wanted to arrange a time to meet with Leafanel together.

"That sounds wonderful. When should we set the time?"

"Is this weekend okay?"

After speaking, a trivial thought crossed his mind.

‘Could it be that the king is just as busy on weekends as on weekdays?’

But Florin answered without hesitation.

"Yes! Then, let's meet on the weekend."

After ending the call, Baek Yu-Seol checked the time. 

It was almost time to head out for dinner with Ma Yu-Seong and Eisel under the pretense of club activities. 

Since it was summer, he didn’t need a coat, so he just wore a vest over his academy uniform shirt and stepped out. 

In the hallway, several second-year seniors were gathering and heading somewhere in a hurry.

By their attire, Baek Yu-Seol could tell right away.

'League of Spirit'

If Soul Chess was the top intellectual sport in the magic world, then League of Spirit was definitely the top physical sport. 

Of course, Stella Academy had a League of Spirit club, and its size was incomparable to Baek Yu-Seol’s food club. 

It received an astronomical amount of sponsorship, almost rivaling professional sports teams. It made sense considering that every year, a massive tournament was held where youth teams from magic academies gathered.

Moreover, considering that this academy carried the prestigious name of Stella, the astronomical sponsorships appeared almost inevitable. After all, this was a matter of pride between academies.

"Hmm, this is troublesome… What should we do?"

"Let's just bring in senior Malek from the third year."

"That senior has excellent individual skills, but his teamwork is... And he doesn't follow orders well."

"And the remaining spots have to be filled by first-years. If we bring in a third-year, we’ll get a penalty."

"What can we do?"

As Baek Yu-Seol tried to walk past them, it appeared like they were facing some sort of difficult issue. 

He had a hunch.

'A sub-episode flag.’

In the game Aether World Online, if one played with the character ‘Flame,' this kind of event happened quite frequently. 

It was a very common and cliché setup where an ordinary commoner girl, Flame, who wasn't particularly interested in clubs, ended up filling in as a substitute in the League of Spirit, where her dazzling talent was discovered.

This served as a prologue event that players go through before engaging in a League of Spirit match online, and it was an episode that over 90% of players experienced.

And now, that event was happening here.

"Hey, aren't you Baek Yu-Seol, the first-year student?"

"Yeah. I've heard you're smart."

"It doesn't seem like you've played League of Spirit before... But wouldn't you do just fine?"

Then the seniors approached Baek Yu-Seol and asked.

"Have you ever tried League of—"

"I'm not interested."

He quickly declined and made a run for it.

"Wait. Just listen to us until the end! It doesn't matter if we lose the match!"

"I'll buy you something delicious afterward!"

"No thanks."

As unfortunate as it was, Baek Yu-Seol had no interest in the League of Spirit. 

To be precise, he was tired of team games. 

When he lived in Korea, he played 5 vs. 5 team battle games to the point of exhaustion, and he realized one undeniable truth.

‘When five people gather, one of them is bound to be trash.’

Even among those seniors, who knew who might be the troll. There was nothing more frustrating than losing because of bad team luck when you played really well. 

Baek Yu-Seol definitely preferred 1 vs. 1 individual play.

"Just once..."

He shook off the senior's hand reaching out to him from behind and quickly picked up his pace. 

‘Sorry, but I'd rather they ask Flame for that kind of favor.’

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