Chapter 6: Irreversible matter

After getting lunch, I returned in the afternoon.

I was caught by the masters and dragged to the cliff behind the academy.

Today, like every day, the training session had begun, and the goal was to reach the top of the steep cliff.

“Phew…! Phew…!”

“You refused my duel, saying you were busy, but you dared to go on a date?”

“It wasn’t a date… Ugh! I just had lunch as a reward for helping out!”

The masters’ territory only extended to the academy and the cliff behind it.

It was impossible to go beyond that.

So, whenever I went out, they would always ask what I had been doing, like they were now.

I understood why, but at this point, their questioning felt a bit too malicious.

“Anyway, the truth is you were out having fun with a girl, right?”

“I wasn’t having fun! Just… please stop asking me! I’m dying from exhaustion!”

I stretched my arm up and placed my hand on a protruding rock.

I clenched my fingers to secure it firmly, then used the strength of my arm to pull my body up.

Even though I struggled, I only moved about 50 centimeters in one go.

With a cliff that was a massive 1000 meters high, it felt like I hadn’t made much progress at all.

“1700…!”

On top of that, I was climbing while wearing shackles and handcuffs, each weighing 2.5KG, totaling 10KG.

There were no safety devices, so I had to figure out how to survive the fall on my own.

Even if I barely survived, I would have to climb up again from the very beginning.

It was like the “starting village” in a climbing game—something you experience in reality.

“Grrr!”

“Argh! Argh!”

Moreover, below the cliff, the hellhound demons were barking loudly and scratching at the wall.

Spitting saliva with a mountain-like appearance, they were eagerly waiting for me to fall.

They were small creatures, but if I exhausted all my energy climbing, they could pose a danger.

The presence of these hellhounds only made me more desperate to reach the top.

“A little more…!”

I kept my breathing steady, moving slowly and carefully searching for rocks to climb.

Although my skin was scraping and blood was dripping, I gritted my teeth and continued to climb.

After repeating these hardships, I finally reached the edge of the cliff.

***

“Haah..! Haah..! I… I made it!”

With great effort, I swung my legs over the edge and flipped my body.

Lying flat, I exhaled all at once, catching my breath.

As I rested, someone appeared beside me.

‘Bjorn, who had carried heavy metal weights while climbing the cliff, would surely praise me now, right?’

“You’re a minute late. Start from the beginning.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Bjorn immediately grabbed my shoulders and tried to push me back down the cliff.

I resisted fiercely, but there was no way I could overpower his strength.

In the end, I was thrown back to the “starting village.”

“Hey, you piece of trash!”

“Get stronger and come back.”

I cursed out every swear word I had ever used in my life.

I wanted to punch Bjorn in the face, but surviving was my priority.

‘If I fell like this, my body would be shattered.’

The only option was to use magic to reduce the impact, so I tried to slow my fall by creating a gust of wind.

But before I could prepare the spell, I was interrupted.

“I clearly told you that magic below 5th rank isn’t allowed, didn’t I?”

“It’s an emergency! Could you just let it slide…?”

“No. You’re doing all of this for your own good, so you have to follow the rules!”

Thanks to Sherthia’s restriction, I couldn’t use most spells.

Though exhausted, I reluctantly gathered all my mana.

In the middle of the fall, I calmly cast a 6th rank spell, “Gravity Manipulation.”

Just before hitting the ground, my body floated up, and I managed to stabilize myself.

I adjusted my balance to ensure my feet were facing the ground, then released the spell.

When my feet touched the ground lightly, the hellhounds, who had turned their backs to me, turned back around.

They approached, opening their mouths wide enough to swallow my head.

“Grr?!”

Suddenly, roots shot up from the ground, wrapping around the hellhounds’ mouths and legs.

The roots dug deep into the flesh of the hellhounds, holding them firmly in place as if not allowing them to move at all.

I didn’t do anything, though.

It was my forest spirit, who had always been friendly with me, that helped me on its own.

“Good! Keep holding them tight.”

I rushed over to the restrained hellhound and slammed my knee into its face.

Then, I wrapped the chain from the handcuffs around its neck and pulled with all my strength.

Crack!

The hellhound, gasping for air, met its end when its neck broke from the chain.

“Phew! Is that all of them?”

I quickly dealt with the remaining hellhounds in the same way.

Thanks to the forest spirit’s help, I was able to eliminate these troublesome enemies with ease.

It didn’t expect anything in return, just helping me out of goodwill.

“Thank you for the help.”

Out of gratitude, I gently stroked one of the roots that had popped up.

It seemed to enjoy my touch, as it wrapped around my arm and brushed its roots against my cheek, showing affection.

It felt like a dog happily licking me.

“Did you take care of all the little ones? Then it’s time for the boss to show up, right?”

***

As I was communicating with the spirit, I suddenly heard a voice full of malice.

I looked up, and there was Itshin, smiling a creepy grin at me.

The forest spirit flinched and quickly returned to the ground.

“What are you doing? The boss is here, so get ready!”

“But master, he’s not a hellhound, is he?”

“He’s not a hellhound, but there was a time when people called him a mad dog. Want me to show you? Woof woof! Argh…!”

“That’s just embarrassing. Please stop.”

“Eek! Eek! Student, let’s have a duel!”

“Are you kidding me?”

Ignoring him, I started climbing the cliff again, only to find that I had to keep seeing that disgusting face.

‘The climbing with the time limit was already hard enough, but dealing with the swordmaster’s nonsense? Could I handle that?’

The answer was, of course, “No.”

“Fine. I’ll duel with you, but please go easy on me.”

“Alright, I’ll be generous! Today, I’ll fight with only 20% of my power!”

“10% would be hard enough.”

“Even if you die, Maya will bring you back, right? So come at me!”

It was clear that I was going to die by the swordmaster’s blade again today.

It didn’t even surprise me anymore.

After dying countless times over the past three years, I had been training endlessly.

If there ever comes a day when I think training is boring, I might not even be human anymore.

‘I miss the days when I didn’t know anything and was just blindly digging away…’

But now, there was no turning back.

Getting stronger is really hard.

“Here it is again, like clockwork.”

***

The next day, as I was tending to the flowers in the graveyard, Maya quietly spoke.

When I turned my head, I saw Azuki wandering around near the entrance of the graveyard like a lost puppy.

Due to Yuzuki’s warning, she wasn’t coming inside, but it seemed like she couldn’t let go of her feelings for me.

“Are you really going to leave me alone?”

“No. I couldn’t talk to you the other day because there was a distraction, so today, I have to say at least one word.”

I got up from my seat, brushing off the dirt on my pants.

As I turned to walk toward Azuki, she flinched and took a step back in surprise.

Azuki, her ears turning red, kept opening and closing her mouth, then turned her back and tried to run away.

“Kyaa!”

“Kyah!”

However, she was in such a hurry that she accidentally bumped into a female student who was passing by.

Of all people, the one Azuki bumped into seemed to be the daughter of a noble family.

“Ugh! Hey! Can’t you walk with your eyes open?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Look at what you’ve done! You’ve ruined my clothes! These are expensive! How are you going to compensate for this?”

The noblewoman screamed and flailed around in anger.

Azuki, not knowing what to do, looked pale with fear.

“Uh…! Is it okay if I wash your clothes clean and return them?”

“Shut up! How dare you try to touch my clothes with your filthy hands?”

Azuki’s homeland, the Eastern Continent, was a place where beastmen were commonly seen, but the Western Continent was different.

Because the beastmen had sided with the demon race in the past, the public’s perception was not good.

In fact, many of the nobility were claiming that beastmen should be treated as slaves, so it was understandable that their treatment was harsh.

It was truly a sad race in many ways.

“My uniform is not some mass-produced thing! It was handmade with care by a tailor! You, smelling like an animal, have no right to touch it! Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry…!”

Azuki, who had a soft heart, lowered her head and kept apologizing.

On the other hand, the noblewoman, realizing Azuki was easy to bully, became even more aggressive.

The more Azuki apologized, the harsher the insults became.

“I don’t understand why they even accepted a beast like you. Shouldn’t you be sleeping in a barn, not a dorm? You’d be better off as a breeding animal!”

“That’s too…!”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“…!”

As the insults crossed a line, I decided it was time to step in.

“That’s enough. It’s not like accidentally bumping into someone is a serious crime.”

“What are you?!”

I stepped between Azuki and the noblewoman, separating them.

The noblewoman seemed displeased by my interruption and scowled at me.

I ignored her and continued.

“I’m the caretaker of the cemetery behind. I’ve been watching you for a while, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I stepped in.”

“What’s this? Are you feeling pity for her because you’re both commoners? If not, stay out of it!”

“Technically, I’m not a third party. Your loud ranting has been distracting me from my work, so I had to step in.”

“You… you! Do you know who I am?!”

“No, and I don’t care.”

‘Why would I remember the noblewoman who hadn’t even appeared in the novel?’

I pretended not to care, picking my ear, and the noblewoman’s face turned bright red with anger.

She twisted her lips, trying to suppress her fury.

But her anger wasn’t easing, and she suddenly raised her hand as if to slap me.

I lightly grabbed her arm and stopped her.

“At the academy, discrimination based on status, origin, or race is strictly prohibited. Are you saying you don’t know the rules of Wellton?”

“Let go of me!”

“At Welton, everyone is equal. No one, not even you, has the right to treat someone poorly. So stop acting like a spoiled brat.”

“Tch!”

The noblewoman slapped my hand away and stepped back.

She clenched her teeth and glared at me.

Then, as if a brilliant idea crossed her mind, she suddenly made a smile on her lips.

“You just said that everyone is equal at Wellton, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Then I’ll treat you equally, just as you want!”

The noblewoman took off her white gloves and threw them at me while shouting loudly.

“I, Ayla Brittany, second daughter of the Count of Brittany, challenge you to a duel!”

***

I wanted to tell her, “Please, don’t cross that river,” but by accident, I grabbed the gloves, and in doing so, I had effectively accepted the duel.

‘Could I really fight with a mere student?’

Worried, I glanced at Maya, who was quietly smiling.

“Shall we bury you in a sunny spot?”

Maya’s words were oddly approving, and her smile didn’t match the coldness of her tone.

It was a chilling remark.