Ori
of the Dragon Chain
Translator : PolterGlast
Editor : Karlsen
Proofreader : Karlsen
Chapter
1 – Part 1
Editor’s Note: I’ll be using “-“ as spacing between scenes
where the POV remains the same. I’ll be using “-/(POV)/-“ as spacing between
scenes where the POV does shift.
Solminati
Academy, a place where youngsters from all around the continent gather. It’s an
academy filled with dreams, hopes, and ambitions. The academy is based on a
rather simple principle – meritocracy. It’s a merciless place if you
cannot achieve satisfactory results. Those who do, are respected. Those who
don’t, will be dismissed. As I, Nozomu Bountis, was relaxing on a sunny roof, I
was recalling my experience with Solminati Academy so far.
Editor’s Note:
“Meritocracy is a system in which people are chosen and moved into positions of
success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and
merit” – Merriam Webster. Basically, your performance is the deciding factor
for how you are treated.
I
arrived at this school two years ago with my two childhood friends; Ken Notis -
my best friend since we were little -, and Lisa Hounds; my lover. Lisa was a
true beauty, with her red coloured ponytail as her trademark.
I
still remember the day I met her vividly. I had recently turned eight, and as I
was fishing in a river close to our village, a girl with short, red hair
approached me.
“H-
Hello! Are you free right now?”
As
I looked at who had spoken, I became momentarily dazed. Her blushed expression
and shy gaze captivated me. I think I fell in love with her at that exact
moment.
We
started talking, and she told me about herself. Her family used to move a lot, and
her parents moved around a lot between many different countries. However, when
her father died, her mother decided to return to this village and settle down so
she could raise Lisa properly. She told me she looked up to her father, and
that her father had been an adventurer. Adventurers are exactly what one would
think they are; pioneers who discover new lands and face extreme danger on a
constant basis.
At
the time, I had no real desire to become an adventurer, or go on an adventure.
However, since I was a child, and a boy no less, I was fascinated by tales of
heroes of the old. That’s why the tales Lisa shared of her father entranced me.
The stories of heroes we told one another was the cause for losing the track of
time. We ended up speaking till the evening, even though it was only our first
meeting.
As
time progressed, we eventually became lovers. At one point, Lisa told me her dream;
she wanted to attend Solminati Academy. The underlying motivation behind this
decision was that she wanted to follow in her father’s footprints; she wanted
to become an adventurer and see the world in the same way her father did. As
she finished explaining her reasoning to me, she showed hesitance, and waited
for my reaction. At that very moment, I decided to attend Solminati Academy
with her so I could support her dream. My motivation was extraordinarily strong
at that time, with my love for her as my main incentive. I vowed in my heart at
that time to help Lisa attain her goal.
As
I told her my decision, she started tearing up.
“You
would do that for me?” she asked with a shaky and quiet voice.
“If
the girl I love wants to make her dream come true, I will support it will all
I’ve got” I responded resolutely.
She
gave me a large hug, and her eyes were screaming joy. She sniffled into my
chest as I held around her.
She
sniffled out some faint words “Thank you Nozomu… I’m happy… very much so” as
she tightened her hug around me.
-
I
was abruptly awoken from my daydreams as the school bell rang, indicating the
end of the lunch break. I sighed softly and got up, brushing away any dust that
had accumulated. I set course for the afternoon class I needed to attend, as my
thoughts were forcefully cut off from the vow I could no longer fulfil.
I
attend the 10th class, which is incidentally the lowest ranked class
in the 2nd year. Among the class, I am at rock bottom, and an easy
target for bullies. As I entered the classroom, only contempt and ridicule from
my fellow classmates greeted me.
I
heard various whispering and snickering as I found my seat.
“He’s
here again, the lowest.”
“I
wish he would just disappear.”
“Why
doesn’t he just drop out already?”
Those
heartless voices shook my heart with fear, and a nasty feeling started
blossoming in my stomach. I attempted to not let it show on the outside as I
ignored everyone. The moment I sat down at my seat, three of my least liked
classmates approached me and gathered around my seat.
“For
what purpose did you come here?” Mars, the leader and large man in the middle
said with contempt and sarcasm, almost as if he was genuinely confused.
His
two henchmen snickered, then followed it up with a ridiculing tone,
“I
wish you’d just give up already, don’t you realize it’s futile?”
“The
fact that you even think you’re on the same level as us is repulsive.”
Mars
looked around, making sure people were paying attention to the little scene he
was causing.
“Oh,
got nothing to say, huh? Makes sense. After all, he was abandoned by the Red-Haired
Princess. Shouldn’t he stop daydreaming already?” Mars laughed.
Mars’s
laugh created a domino effect, and soon enough nearly everyone in the class was
laughing along with his mockery.
As
I continued to look down, ignoring all. Mars got increasingly annoyed, he
slammed his palm down on my desk and spoke calmly with disdain “Hey, are you
going to continue to ignore us? Are you going to continue to ignore reality?”
I
was biting my lips in anger, as the teacher finally arrived. “What exactly do
you think you’re doing?”
Mars
and his goons turned around, and responded with a chuckle “Nothing, just having
a little chat with Nozomu here.”
Our
teacher stood silently looking at the three, before taking his place in front
of the classroom.
The
teacher began his long-winded lecture, “So as you all know, magic is the
process of coarsening one’s own mental power. By continuously fortifying your
mental strength, you can eventually manifest different elements. Magic can be
used for many things, you can strengthen your body, you can affect the world
around you, […]”
My
thoughts drifted, and I started thinking about what Mars had said to me a
moment ago. I was reminded of the painful scene when Lisa dumped me. Her face
at that moment brought shivers to my body, I could still hear her words which
were full of disgust when she ended it all.
Lisa
received the Red-Haired Princess as a nickname due to her excellent abilities
and appearance. She is both respected and looked up upon. It is the opposite
for me, however. My appearance is normal, lacking a distinct feature like Lisa.
My grades are terrible, and instead of being respected, I’m disrespected and
looked down upon. It does make sense that I’ve become a target for others
though, considering I was dating Lisa who people consider to be the complete
opposite of myself. It’s almost obvious that I’d become a target for jealousy
and hatred the moment she broke up with me. In addition to all of this, all the
friends I thought I had, turned on me when we split up.
I’m
not sure how I ended up like this, nor am I sure what I could’ve done to
prevent it, but I’m certain one of the main reasons for it was due to my
inability to progress any further. My progress was steady when I first started
out at this academy, though admittedly, it was slow. Nevertheless, I persisted.
At one point however, I hit a wall, and I had yet to overcome it. It feels like
there were chains locking me down in place, refusing to let me advance any
further.
I
was lonely, though I continued to persist. I took my classes seriously, and I
did not lack self-discipline. I was still working to keep the vow I had made,
though I was unsure if I would ever fulfil it.
This
was how I was living for a short while. Yet, as if the world hadn’t been cruel
enough to me, I learned later that Lisa had started dating our best friend from
childhood, Ken Notis. As I watched them during training, I realized that they
were incredible together. It was with a sour heart that I had to admit that
they showed amazing teamwork when they beat other pairs in 2v2 mock battles. I
bit my lip and was forced to understand the fact that I had no place next to
her, nor her heart.
-
After
the lecture in the classroom, it was now time for practical lessons at the
training ground. In addition to the training room, there were several
facilities in this schools where one could experiment with magic for instance.
Students were divided amongst these, so that each to their own could study
whichever ability they clicked with. The training grounds we were at was
divided into multiple areas; this was so that multiple classes could use it at
the same time.
Today,
the focus was on training for interpersonal battles, and every student was to
fight an automaton with a simulated sword. The automaton was a puppet which
when infused with magical power could act like an amateur swordsman.
Unfortunately, since I was in the 10th class the quality on these
automatons were quite poor; instead of having the automaton act like an amateur
swordsman, it acted more like a drunken braggart.
When
we had finished the so-called warmup, our teacher called out loudly “Next is a
mock battle in pairs, and I shall announce them~.” She then started announcing
the different pairs.
Anri
Var, our 10th grade teacher, seemed at first glance like a gentle
woman – and she was, though she had her quirks. She had wavy brown hair, soft
eyes, which resulted in a rather beautiful face. At second glance however, one
could tell she had a couple of screws loose here and there. A common opinion
among the students was that she wasn’t really fit for this academy, which was
rooted in meritocracy. Considering she was hired here though; it was clear that
her abilities had to be considerably decent.
When
my name was finally mentioned in the combination, my thought process got
interrupted. I didn’t hear who I was set up against, so I was about to ask when
someone called out to me.
“Hey,
loser, stop wasting my time and get over here.”
I
was awfully familiar with this voice, which unfortunately was not to say that
it was someone I was fond of.
“Let’s
get started already, low one.” Mars spat out.
I
could feel an involuntary chill rising in the depths of my stomach as he pulled
out his greatsword from the back. Though Mars was a despicable human, he also
had a considerable amount of ability. Though he was a part of the 10th
class, he was nothing to scoff at, since the reason he was put in the 10th
class to begin with was due to behaviour, not his ability.
I
took a deep breath, strengthened my resolve, and gathered my confidence. I
could do this, it was doable… probably.
I
pulled out my sword, which was a replica of a katana, a sword which was
supposedly famous in an eastern island nation. The katana specializes in
slicing, and sometimes stabbing. It is said that a master swordsman should be
able to slice through iron and steel easily with this type of sword. However, to
do that, you need to be incredibly skilled. The reason I use this uncommon
sword, is because it was the one that I was the most compatible with, since I couldn’t
really rely on any magical enhancements.
As
Mars and I glared at each other, Anri-sensei finally spoke out “Then… start~!”
Mars
charged me and swung his greatsword in a line right towards me as he grunted
loudly.
I
tried to parry by redirecting the force of the greatsword and managed to
deviate his sword. It struck the ground to my right. I saw a window of
opportunity and stepped in towards Mars’s left shoulder. I aimed at his neck
and slashed as fast as I could.
“You’re
slow!” Mars shouted as he blocked the slash with his gauntlet. Unfortunately,
the replica I was using wasn’t as sharp as a real katana, so it was repelled by
his gauntlet.
He
tried to land a punch on my face after repelling my attack. I managed to twist my
upper torso to the left as I used my momentum to attempt yet another slash. The
moment my sword neared Mars however, he swung and parried with his greatsword.
I was forced to retreat back a couple steps. Mars kept swinging in long curves
as I dodged and tried to infiltrate the gap which remained for a short period
of time after his every swing.
I
was light on my toes, attempting to navigate around in an erratic order. Mars
got annoyed and started slashing even faster as he cursed towards me. He sliced
downwards, upwards, and sideways. Each blow was getting closer and closer to wounding
me gravelly. This kept on going until we were both panting.
Mars
slowed down for a bit and muttered quietly “Qi”.
I
knew the battle had just gotten started when I heard that, and I once again
prepared myself. ‘Qi’, a technique which originates in the east, is a type of
magic which enhances physique of your body, it grants you a temporary boost of
stamina, movement, and power. The downside, however, is that it consumes one’s
lifeforce.
Mars
lunged towards me with unmatched speed as I rolled to the side with a last
second dodge. His greatsword created a whirl of dust as it hit only the ground.
“Che!
Did I hesitate? This lowly…” Mars grumbled as frustration was clearly visible
on his face.
He
lifted the greatsword and swung it again with great speed; it was incomparable
to the speed he had used earlier in the fight. It was like trying to
continuously avoid the claws of a giant bear, that is if the bears claws were 1.5
metres (5 feet) long…
The
sound of iron colliding could tell one of the fierceness of this battle, but
unfortunately for me, its contents were one-sided. Mars’ physical strengthening
was significantly more effective than mine. I once again silently cursed my
peculiarity which hindered the growth of my abilities.
Though
Mars was a horrible person, his ability was nothing to scoff it, he was one of
the highest ranked in our class. I was only able to handle him due to the tiny
amounts of Qi I could produce, even then, I was mostly parring and dodging,
never having a good opportunity for a counterstrike.
Mars
became increasingly frustrated the longer this fight went on, he was shouting
curses at me ever since he missed his first strike with Qi. I had to commend
his lung capacity though, being able to shout at the same time as fighting
someone was impressive.
Eventually,
I reached my limit. Though Mars had a pattern that was easy to read, he had significantly
more stamina than me, and that was my demise.
“DIE!”
He shouted as he swung sideways one final time, I didn’t have time to parry,
and my vision became black as a massive force of power hit my chest.
-/
Third Person /-
“Oww,
It hurts!” A voice complained. It was the voice of Nozomu.
“Oh,
are you awake?” someone asked.
Nozomu
opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed in the infirmary. He scanned
his surroundings quietly and spotted a woman with glasses in a white coat. It
was Norn Altina, a rather intelligent woman who was the school nurse.
She
approached Nozomu as he sat up. She moved her finger in front of his eyes;
left, right, left, right, up, down. Nozomu’s eyes followed the finger easily. “Okay,
you’re fully conscious, that’s clear. Do you feel pain anywhere in your body?”
She asked softly.
“I
have a slight headache, and my chest feels numb, but not much more.”
“Alright.
I’ve already applied medicine to your chest, but if you feel any pain, return
here. It’d be bad if you put up with it, and it got worse.” Norn said with a
smile.
Nozomu
smiled back “Thank you Norn-sensei”. He thought to himself “She is both reliable
and caring, just like an older sister” as his smile widened.
At
that time, a sweet voice entered the infirmary. “Norn~? How is my Nozomu doing~?”
It was Nozomu’s teacher, Anri-sensei.
“Anri.
This is a school, act your part.” Norn responded in a strict tone.
“Eh?
There’s nobody here, it’s fiiine~.”
“He’s
here too, you know.”
Anri
Var and Norn Altina were both students who had once attended Solminati Academy,
they had also been close classmates, hence their close relationship.
“How
are you feeling? You’re feeling fine right~?”
Anri
looked at Nozomu anxiously.
“This
is why…” Norn didn’t finish her sentence, instead she started anew as she
sighed, “He’s fine, just a bruise on his chest and a mild concussion.”
“Yeah,
I’m doing okay” Nozomu said with a small smile.
“I’m
glad~. I was worried you know; it would be bad if anything permanent had
happened to you~.” Anri said with a smile.
“It’s
okay Anri, he won’t be retiring any time soon at this level” Norn said with a
hint of sarcasm.
“Norn
is cold.” Anri said with puffed cheeks.
“It’s
alright to worry, but don’t be overprotective. Anri, you need to trust your
students in order for them to grow properly.”
Though
they were arguing with one another, one could tell this wasn’t an argument with
heavy hearts. There was a certainty of trust between them as they conversed.
Nozomu
glanced towards the window in the infirmary and saw the sun had begun setting.
He was filled with a feeling of haste, and quickly gathered his belongings.
“Thank
you, Norn-sensei, and Anri-sensei. Excuse me, I need to go!”
Only
3 seconds later, and he had disappeared from the infirmary.
“Is
he the one who is gossiped about regularly? I see those rumours are
unreliable.”
“That’s
right~”.
They
both smiled softly, staring at the empty doorway.
-/
Norn Altina /-
Nozomu
Bountis.
Due
to a certain incident, he fell to the bottom of his class, and ever since then
he’s been ridiculed. I didn’t think twice about the rumours, but when I took
care of him today, I discovered that he is by no means a sloppy person.
When
he was first brought in, I had to remove his clothes in order to check up on
his physical condition. I was shocked at his condition, however. His body was
incredibly fit, with trained, and hardened muscles all around. I would never
have believed this body belonged to a student, and especially not the lowest student.
The
most surprising thing, however, was the scars. There were countless traces of training
or battle on his body. It was comparable to the body of a veteran adventurer,
maybe even beyond that. Perhaps the rumours surrounding him are because of the
intertwining of his peculiarities, and him being the ex of the Red-Haired
Princess.
His
peculiarity, or skill, or ability if you will, was something he developed
during his first years.
Skills
are a broad term for abilities which can be integrated regardless of race. When
the skill is developed and nurtured, the person can receive various benefits
depending on the aspects of the ability the person has. There is a myriad of
different possibilities. One can have a skill which improves one’s aptitude of
magic, or maybe one that improves one’s physical ability.
Nozomu’s
skill however, is “ability suppression”.
When
it manifests, it only serves to supress the abilities of the host. It doesn’t
grow beyond a certain level. The level of suppression varies from person to
person, but in his case; physical power, magical power, and morale is heavily
suppressed. This means he has an incredibly large handicap. Although it is an
extremely rare skill, it had no benefits, only detriments.
Nozomu’s
abilities could be enhanced with items, magic, and qi, but the effect would be
many times lower than what a normal human would gain. This was the main cause
for the lowering of his grades, and his descent to the bottom of the 10th
class. The only reason he managed to advance to the 2nd year, was
due to him having enough points on his written test results.
“I
can understand why you care for him.” I told Anri, with a serious expression.
“Maybe~.
Everyone says bad things about Nozomu, but he did his best.”
Anri
sighed and looked towards the floor.
“I
want him to be respected, and I want his hard work to be acknowledged~.”
Though
Anri is usually clumsy and unreliable, she has a very keen eye when it comes to
students. She had only heard bad rumours about him, yet they did not match his
act at all.
“I’m
not sure why he’s going so far, but he’s working really hard. I want to support
him as both his teacher and as a human being” Anri muttered lost in thought.
-
END of part 1.
