I got into school for nothing - 119
I got into school for nothing (119)
Lesson 24. Where would you find a freshman like you? - 7
Surprisingly, Aire just dragged Light along and emerged in Ronica.
Light was quite surprised, but upon reflection, it was only natural.
“Because I handle my special activities alone.”
“Solo... Wait. Without a professor?”
“An escort is only required for the first quest. And my first quest is already done.”
Light knew that special activities were sometimes referred to as quests, but Aire's words made his head spin even more.
“When did that happen? Weren't special activities supposed to follow a separate schedule?”
“A day...? Are there other cases like you? Have other groups already begun their special activities without our knowledge?”
“Just me. The first-years will probably start around next week.”
“You speak as if you're not a first-year,” Light thought, but he bit his tongue.
An elite among elites, granted solo exploration privileges from the moment she enrolled—what was the point of lumping her into the same ‘first-year’ category? It just felt unfair.
He, too, originally wanted to be with Aire—no, that would've been impossible, after all.
“......So, what's the occasion?”
“First, I'll have that.”
Aire said, pointing to a fried food stall nestled in a corner of the street.
Light remembered Ban Yuwon once referring to that kind of fried food as ‘croquettes.’
“What...? Are you buying?”
“Yes.”
After a bit of hesitation, Light chose shrimp, while Aire picked both shrimp and pork.
The stall owner stared at them, perhaps finding it unusual to see Union Academy students out on a weekday afternoon, or perhaps captivated by Aire’s beauty, until, at some point, he suddenly bowed his head deeply, as if overcome with terror.
“You just scared the stall owner, didn't you...? And wait, you're going to eat two of these greasy things?!”
“Because I'm a glutton.”
“If you eat so much now, you won't have room for dinner.”
Light's comment sounded like a mother scolding her son for opening a snack bag at 4 PM, but Aire, gazing at the two croquettes in her hand, smiled contentedly and answered without hesitation.
“It's fine.”
Aire opened her mouth wide with an audible ‘waaang,’ biting into the pork croquette, her silver eyes sparkling.
Faintly, her pupils elongated into slits, then returned to normal.
“Because dragons are gluttonous. I can devour it all.”
“You idiot! If you talk so brazenly...!”
“Only Light can hear me. I cast a barrier.”
When did she even do that? What kind of idiot was he to have missed it entirely?
Light let out a soft sigh, feeling the same idiocy he sometimes experienced when with Ban Yuwon, now with Aire as well.
He'd thought he was well aware of her immense strength, yet it was newly frustrating to be surprised every single time something like this happened.
“But it's peculiar. Why can't Light hear Dragon Tongue?”
“So the barrier was chanted in Dragon Tongue.”
“The moment I took a bite.”
Aha.
The glimpse of dragon pupils had been because she was uttering Dragon Tongue at that exact moment.
Light nodded, convinced by her words, but then—as he finally grasped the full meaning of what she'd just said, a chill snaked down his spine.
He forced a semblance of composure, turning to her. “There's no way I... could possibly understand Dragon Tongue.”
“Why?” she asked, her expression conveying genuine confusion, before tossing the remaining half of her croquette into her mouth.
*Crunch, crunch, munch, munch, gulp.*
Aire, who had devoured one croquette in an instant, looked at Light with her clear, unblinking eyes and asked.
“Light, you're a Dragonoid. Aren't you?”
Light realized this was precisely why she had brought him out.
“......Are you saying I'm a dragon?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of joke is that...?”
Light chuckled and replied.
He couldn't, however, stop his hands from trembling.
That he managed to refrain from shouting was only thanks to remembering his promise to Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon.
For him, his true race wasn't a secret to be guarded, but rather a trauma he desperately wished to forget.
“How did you... know?”
“Because we're kin.”
Aire said nonchalantly, taking another bite of her croquette.
Glancing around, she seemed to find a suitable spot to sit and led Light towards it, speaking in a somewhat muffled voice, still chewing on her croquette.
“At first, I only knew that you were hiding your gender with advanced disguise magic.”
“And then?”
The foolish Light didn't realize she had just admitted to being a woman.
Then again, he'd just admitted to something far more significant, so perhaps his gender wasn't such a big revelation now.
“The moment you revealed your Dragonoid power in the dungeon, I heard the sound of a dragon's heart resonating deep within you.”
“Haaah...” Light let out a profound sigh.
Aire pulled him to a street bench and sat down, strengthening her barrier magic.
“I kept wondering why you were hiding your abilities. But I thought you might have your own reasons, so I simply observed, but I couldn't quite come to terms with it.”
“So you seized an opportunity for us to talk alone?”
“Yes.”
Light didn't know it, but Ban Yuwon had always believed Aire acted exceptionally friendly towards him.
That's also why he thought she had a crush on him.
Though the reason was completely off, Ban Yuwon had accurately discerned Aire's feelings of affection for Light!
During the special activity in the Gellas dimension, Aire, convinced that Light was her kin, had, for that reason alone, treated him more comfortably than anyone else in the academy.
“Hey, Aire.”
“Yes.”
“The Dragonoid blood in me is... inferior.”
Aire simply nodded, as if telling him to continue.
“It's good that I inherited the dragon's power through my ancestors, but... the extent of it was far too weak. That's also why I can't hear Dragon Tongue.”
“Faint blood. Atavism?”
“Probably. It's embarrassing to even call myself a Dragonoid, and of course, I have no hidden powers. ...Though, thanks to that faint lineage, I could still wield the holy sword passed down from my ancestor.”
“Holy Sword. Ah, that one.”
Aire, remembering how Light had wielded the holy sword and performed incredible feats at the start of the semester, nodded silently.
Light took a bite of the croquette in his hand, then lowered his head and sighed.
“Ban told me I could wield the holy sword because I had talent... but I know. I was chosen by the holy sword simply because I had a trace of dragon blood. Yet Ban believes in me and supports me... I don't know what to do.”
Should he tell Ban Yuwon the truth?
That he possessed no talent, only dragon blood inherited purely by chance. Even that faint lineage's utility had ended with wielding the holy sword, and now, forced to distance himself from it, he had nothing left—.
He could never say that.
He didn't want to betray his expectations.
“Do you like him?”
“He's a precious friend. I suppose that's what he's become.”
Light cleared his throat with a ‘ahem,’ then proceeded to rattle off to her exactly how he'd ended up in a relationship where he could call Ban Yuwon a friend.
He recounted, without a hint of shame, how Ban Yuwon would eerily sense when he was having a particularly tough day and prepare hot cocoa for him, or how, despite teasing him relentlessly every day, he would, in crucial moments, courageously offer the very words of encouragement he longed to hear.
“Ahem, now you get it, right? Even without knowing I'm a woman, he's like this. That guy is so incredibly, disgustingly kind that he completely...”
“Yes. I like him too.”
“What?! You too...!”
Light flinched, a wary expression crossing his face.
Flustered by the exposure of his identity, had he perhaps blurted out more than he needed to?
But fortunately, the ‘liking’ Aire spoke of seemed to be quite different from his concerns.
“Even without being a Dragonoid, it's difficult to possess such magical intelligence and mana. He will undoubtedly become a grand mage who transcends the limits of his race. ...I don't want to lose to him.”
What Aire harbored for Ban Yuwon was an undeniable sense of rivalry.
For that distinguished Dragonoid to harbor rivalry against a human!
But recalling Ban Yuwon's multifaceted talents and his ability to see through the essence of all things, it made perfect sense.
Just as Light secretly felt a wave of relief—without even knowing why—Aire steered the conversation back.
“So, you want to live up to his expectations. Is that right?”
“Yeah... I suppose so? But why were we even discussing this?”
“It's within my expectations.”
“What?” Aire said to the squinting Light.
Before he knew it, she had even taken and devoured the remaining croquette from Light's hand.
“The possibility that you haven't properly awakened your Dragonoid power—I had considered it.”
“What?”
“After hearing your story, I understand. Atavism, and an environment where no one else knows anything about dragons besides you? It's entirely plausible.”
Aire spread her hand.
What floated above it was a silver, translucent magical orb.
Vertical lines etched themselves onto the orb, transforming it as if into a dragon's pupil, which Light stared at in a daze.
“I'll help you. Light, you can become strong even without the holy sword.”
“What...? Is that, by any chance, as a Dragonoid?”
“Of course, as a Dragonoid.”
Aire smiled faintly and said.
“There's no such thing as an inferior Dragonoid.”
Light met her beautiful smile, and with an expression of utter disbelief, he asked again.
“Why are you helping me like that?”
“And because you're one of the few of our kind.”
Light instinctively knew it wasn't just for that reason.
As expected, Aire added with a mischievous smile.
“Because I want to join Rebellion.”
“You're really something else, you know.”
At Aire's candid confession, Light couldn't help but laugh.
The necklace glowed faintly, and the headache in his head gradually intensified—he decided to ignore it, even if he had to force himself.
* * *
After showcasing his Aura to the seniors until they were thoroughly tired of it, Ban Yuwon commenced the club's regular activities: special training.
“......No, this is absurd? How can it be that among fifteen people wielding melee weapons, only five, including Woohyeolrin senior, can use Aura?”
In other words, only five people possessed talent in swordsmanship.
Ban Yuwon rolled ‘Stonemason’ senior—who was spouting nonsense about being able to awaken Aura instantly if only he were given a superb artifact—to one side, then, as he always did, he checked on each senior individually.
“Kshana senior, how's the training space?”
“It's perfect. Truly, this is the first time I've been able to use my abilities so unrestrainedly...!”
Among them, the fastest to grow was Kshana, the ability user who manipulates sound.
The second-year female student could remember, imitate, and even amplify all sorts of sounds, yet because she herself had undervalued her own abilities, she had never properly trained them.
But Ban Yuwon knew that manipulating sound meant manipulating vibration, and since he happened to possess vibrations reaching a depth of 50—he focused on her Authority first among all the special admissions seniors.
“How can you create such an amazing artifact? To absorb and store my sounds... thanks to it, I can shout as much as I want...!”
It was merely a simple Talisman created using ‘Sound Collection’ and ‘Storage.’
“It's nothing special. And the sounds stored in this Talisman can be released by you anytime, so it would be good to get a feel for that technique too.”
Ban Yuwon's primary goal was for Kshana to be able to attack enemies with her Authority.
Next, he aimed for her Authority to distinguish between friend and foe.
Thirdly, for her to perfectly mimic the voices of monsters that ‘contain specific power in their sounds.’
And finally, for her to be able to convert sound into mana, reversing the process of converting mana into sound.
“Even if you can only achieve three of these four, senior, you'll be able to aim for the top of your year.”
“C-can I really do it? Honestly, I still don't even grasp what attacking enemies with sound entails...”
“That's definitely possible, so don't worry. Once you achieve the first goal, I'll create an exclusive weapon just for you.”
“Really?”
“What?!”
It was a remark made to boost Kshana's motivation, but for some reason, ‘Stonemason’ senior, who was on the other side, reacted loudly.
“Make one for me too, an exclusive weapon!”
“Your ability isn't weapon-related, senior.”
“But you never know! I'll try my best to think of what kind of weapon would suit my ability starting now!”
If he had trained his swordsmanship with this much passion, he'd be wielding not just Aura, but even its progenitor by now.
He shook his head in utter disbelief.
Ban Yuwon felt a certain concept originating from ‘Stonemason’ attach itself to him.
‘Huh?’
No, it had been flowing towards him from even earlier.
It was merely very faint and subtle, impossible to properly discern, and if he didn't possess the Babylonia Code Authority, he would never have recognized it at all.
At any rate, it was absorbed quite naturally into Ban Yuwon's body, gradually swelling the magnitude of his concepts.
Ban Yuwon, his eyes wide in realization, only then understood that the concept was ‘Amplification.’
It was still subtle, yet it was unequivocally enhancing his abilities... by perhaps 1%? Or even 2%?
Presumably, the longer he remained in contact with ‘Stonemason,’ the more this effect would intensify.
‘Well, would you look at that?’
He widened his eyes and scrutinized everyone present in the training room.
He saw that ‘Amplification’ was being applied to every single one of them.
He had initially thought it was an ability that only applied to his party members, like a character skill in a game, but it turned out to apply to everyone he had a relationship with!
‘The claim that it only applied to his subordinates must have been a lie. Or perhaps he can control it at will.’
It was utterly dumbfounding.
Indeed, you never knew what unique traits special admission students might possess.
“‘Stonemason’ senior.”
“Huh? Did you think of what exclusive weapon you'll make for me?”
“I don't know about that, but I've just thought of what senior needs to do starting now.”
“What? Hey, my swordsmanship...”
Ban Yuwon grabbed ‘Stonemason’ senior by the scruff of his neck, pulling back the senior who had sensed something ominous and tried to escape, and took out a few Talismans.
These were Talismans he had stored with his own Hyungi, and since Hyungi was a purer energy than mana, it was entirely possible to convert the Hyungi within these Talismans into mana and pass it on to others.
“From now on, radiate your mana to its maximum while running around this training room. I've become curious about how senior's Authority actually manifests.”
“My Authority? That only applies to my subordinates...”
“I know that's not true, so just relax.”
Ban Yuwon smiled faintly and attached a Talisman to his back.
“Run.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Such a thing as hierarchy based on seniority did not exist in this club.
There was only a mad scientist and his willing victims.
“Where would you find a freshman like you?!”
“Thanks for the compliment, let's run a little faster.”
Powered by Ban Yuwon's ability to pierce through the essence of all things, Today, too, the special admissions students were growing stronger.
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