Chapter 8 Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
In a dimly lit forest.
Two figures were facing each other in front of the wreckage of a collapsed and
burned hut.
One was Nozomu
Bountis, a young man with katana at his waist.
He was dressed in a
white Solminati Academy uniform and was taking a deep breath with a tense
expression on his face.
The other was Zonne,
an old man with a white beard, wearing a robe.
He had come to the
city as Tiamat's observer and was staring intently and seriously at the young
man in front of him with his wrinkled arms folded.
A tense atmosphere
filled the air between them.
Eventually, Nozomu put
his hand on his chest and clenched his palm as if grabbing something.
Then, as soon as he
shook off his clenched hand, an enormous torrent of power became scattered out
in all directions.
"Guu!"
Nozomu let out a cry
of anguish.
Perhaps Tiamat's power
was running through his body along with intense pain, his face tensed up, and
his palms were clenched until they turned white.
Nevertheless, Nozomu
desperately tried to control the rampaging power.
With his eyes tightly
closed, he kept focusing his consciousness within himself.
The power that was
being scattered around him like a storm gradually subsided.
However, Nozomu's
expression became more distorted than before, and soon his skin began to tear
with a tearing sound. Facing Tiamat's immense power, the self-inflicted wounds
had begun.
Even so, Nozomu
refused to be subdued by this power.
He kept consolidating
his mind, not caring about his own blood dripping.
(Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!)
Some of the leaked
power roared vindictively, blowing away the pebbles and sand in the area.
Then, part of the
overflowing power entangled Zonne as if to strangle him. It was as if it were
speaking for the will of the master of the power.
Zonne, however, showed
no particular sign of trying to stop the light of chaos that was entwining
around him, and he watched the scene before him with a fixed gaze.
After a few minutes,
there was a loud *snap!* sound. Along with that reverberating sound, the blood
flowing from Nozomu's laceration increased all at once.
At that moment, Zonne
opened his mouth.
"That's
enough."
At exactly the same
time as he said those words, the power that Nozomu had released subsided.
The raging power
subsided as soon as the invisible chains wrapped around Nozomu's body. At the
same time, Nozomu fell to his knees, crumpling to the ground.
"Haa, haa,
haa..."
Rough breathing leaked
from Nozomu's mouth, and blood dripped down from the open wound, smearing the
ground with a red color.
Zonne quickly deployed
magic to heal the wounds on Nozomu's body and at the same time washed away the
blood and smell that had seeped into his uniform.
The purpose of the two
of them being in this forest was to control Tiamat's power.
It was to learn how to
control the spirit, the main source of the dragon's power, and the power of the
element.
However, as far as
Nozomu was concerned, the results were not good.
"It's been about
two weeks since I started training. I'd say I'm about ten seconds ahead of
where I was the first time."
"For the past
week or so, it's been ...... stabilizing ..."
While Nozomu looked
disappointed, Zonne showed no sign of concern.
"Your body is
still that of a human being. As long as you can't control your powers, you
can't expect to improve your growth."
[Soul-Sealing Chain]
Nozomu's unique skill,
the lifeline that held him together.
Nozomu's goal was to
master this unique skill.
However, in the two
weeks, since he began training, Nozomu had shown no signs of being able to
control this skill.
"How does one
control one's unique skill in the first place?"
"Your unique skill
as a Dragon Slayer is slightly different from the original form of the ability.
The Dragon Slayer's skill is a form of instinctive control of the dragon's
power that you have taken in. And this skill is somewhat different for each
individual. It's similar to what you call 'Ability'."
Unique Skill is
basically a general term for the powers and abilities possessed by a particular
species. Abilities, on the other hand, are a general term for abilities
possessed by an individual.
In that sense, the
Dragon Slayer's unique skill can be considered either of them.
"However, since
the form of your unique skill itself originated from yourself, you are the only
one who can learn it. In that case, you have no choice but to keep asking
yourself about your own abilities."
After speaking up to
that point, Zonne changed the subject.
"So, how was the
other assignment going? Were you able to sense the presence of the
spirits?"
He tried to control
his powers by unifying his mind while releasing his power to the limit. Another
task was to sense the presence of spirits around him.
The power of the
dragon is the power of the spirits. The power of the elements. It is the
fundamental power that builds this world.
Mastery of spirit
magic is nothing more than indirect contact with this power. But for Nozomu, it
could be a different approach to controlling the power he had taken in. For
this reason, he was also attempting to master spirit magic.
"Not at
all……"
"Hmm, you can't
even sense the spirits around you, can you? Even though you've taken a spirit
into your body as a Dragon Slayer, your body is still that of a human. At this
rate, isn't it hopeless to master spirit magic? ......"
The first step in
learning spirit magic is to sense the spirits that exist around him.
Next, communicate with
the spirits he has sensed.
Finally, he transfers
his power to the spirit, makes a contract with it, and borrows its power.
However, Nozomu had
already stumbled on the first step.
At first, without
releasing his power, he tried to sense the spirits around him through mind
unification. However, he could not sense them at all.
Zonne thought that the
cause might be the [Soul-Sealing Chain], so he instructed him to try to sense
the spirits with his power released, but the results were not good.
Sensing the presence
of spirits was something that very few human beings were able to do, but there
were times when someone who could sense the presence of spirits rarely appeared
among humans. Most of the time, though, it was buried under a lot of made-up
stories.
The reason why humans
were unable to obtain spirit magic was because of the second step. That was
because it was almost impossible for humans to communicate clearly with
spirits.
However, both the Qi
and the magic that humans used were based on the power of the soul, which was
originally called the origin elements. It was said that there were people in
the past, with time and training, who could handle the origin elements by
themselves.
Nozomu has the
strongest dragon in his body. Nozomu thought that he might be able to use
spirit magic, but so far there was no sign of that happening.
A color of
disappointment dyed Nozomu's face.
"What are you so
depressed about? Control of the unique skill, mastery of spirit magic. Both of
these things can't be done overnight by a mere mortal. Until now, countless
great men have tried and failed. Did you think that you, a halfling, could
manage to do it?"
Zonne directed his
words at Nozomu as if to provoke him.
Nozomu bit his lip in
frustration. Then suddenly the old man gave a mocking smile.
"Or do you want
to give up?"
"Are you kidding
me? If I were to give up just because of something like this, I wouldn't have
asked you to train me in the first place."
Nozomu immediately
retorted to Zonne's provocation.
There was a powerful
light in his eyes.
Just because of
something like this? At most, he had only a dozen cuts and a few torn blood
vessels.
Even if he vomited
blood, he would definitely muster his will to show his absolute control, then
slap the old man back with a provocative smile.
Zonne quietly deepened
the smile on his lips as he saw Nozomu looking straight back at him.
Nozomu also smiled
back. He had the same feeling when he was trained by his master in the past.
"Alright then. To
learn is to imitate. And that the only way for you to truly master it is to
repeat it over and over again..."
Nozomu whipped his
limp body into a standing position.
There was no way for
him to learn it with just a little practice. He needed to repeat it until it
was literally engraved into his body. He reminded himself once again that it
was a repetition of this process.
"But, to think
that you..."
"What is it, Old
Master?"
"... No, it's
nothing"
Seeing Nozomu standing
up, Zonnen let out a hint of an implication.
Nozomu asked what was
wrong, but Zonne only replied vaguely and fell silent.
A strange silence
flowed between them.
Nozomu looked at
Zonne, who had fallen silent, and slowly opened his mouth.
"Hey, Old Master.
What happened to Tiamat 5,000 years ago?"
"Are you curious
about her?"
"To be honest, I
thought Tiamat was just a nuisance at first. It's true that I've been helped by
this power, but at the same time, it also gave Iris and the others trouble.
It's just...”
"……?"
A doubt welled up
inside him. As if to confirm it, Nozomu took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He held his breath for
a second, then slowly exhaled the air in his lungs, and slowly opened his
mouth.
"I feel like
we're alike somehow. Me, and her..."
Upon hearing Nozomu's
words, Zonne stroked his beard while in thought.
"You have not
seen all of Tiamat's past, have you?"
"All I know is
that she built a country with your son, Mikael, and it was destroyed."
The scene that Nozom
saw was the appearance of the already destroyed country, the dead dragons, and
Tiamat suffering from the power she had taken in.
And Tiamat was
rejected by Mikael, to whom she clung, and broke down in despair and anger.
However, Nozomu had no
idea how that happened.
It was certain that
something happened.
That time. When he
turned his blade on Irisdina and the others in sync with Tiamat's anger, Nozomu
could hear the gentle voices of Tiamat and Mikael.
"It's just… I
wonder if Tiamat has been betrayed..."
However, every part
was fragmentary, and even though Nozomu knew what had happened, he had no idea
what caused it.
"Hmmm... I might
be able to tell you, but honestly, I can't tell you much. Even though I know
what happened to Arharant, I'm still an outsider after all..."
"Arharant?"
"It's the name of
the country that Tiamat and Mikael created. The name has long since been buried
and lost in the annals of human history..."
Arharant. Nozomu had
never heard of it.
"Outsider? ...
What do you mean?"
"That's exactly
what it means. If you want to know about it, there is someone more qualified
than I am."
Zonne looked at Nozomu
and then he suddenly put his hand on the ground.
"Well then, let's
go home."
"Ah~! Wait
..."
"We, the Dragon
Race, have sealed Arharant and Tiamat, but if you want to know more about it,
there is someone more qualified to tell you than I am. Wait until the time
comes..."
Shortly after Nozomu
raised his voice in protest, countless magic circles danced and glowed in the
air.
In the next instant,
the two figures suddenly disappeared from the forest.
=================================
When the white light
illuminating his vision subsided, Nozomu was confronted with a vast, dimly lit
space.
At his feet, a
complicated and bizarre magic character was laid out, giving off a faint light.
He is now in the
basement of the martial arts garden at the Solminati Academy, where a magic
formation that generates a magic barrier is laid out.
"Looks like you
have returned."
A heavy, low voice
echoed through the dimly lit basement. When Nozomu turned his gaze toward the
voice, he saw a man of mature age standing there, clad in white and silver
armor.
Jihad Raundel.
He is one of the
school's executives and the one who provided this place to Zonne.
It was some time after
Azel's attack that Nozomu learned of the connection between Zonne and Jihad.
At that time, Nozomu
and his friends were summoned to Jihad's office, where they learned that Jihad
and Zonne were cooperating with each other.
The [Five Scaled
Stones] that Jihad showed them were also provided by Zonne.
After that, a scene
unfolded in which Irisdina and the others questioned Zonne and Jihad, but in
the end, they were convinced, and thus the cooperative relationship continues.
Jihad then offered
this room as a relay point for Nozomu's training.
For Nozomu to train, a
place with few people is desirable. That's why it would be impossible for
Nozomu to train in the city.
However, even if he
were to go to the forest, Nozomu felt that he couldn't spare a second and
wasted it just going back and forth from the city to the forest.
Therefore, he proposed
to go directly to the forest from the basement of the martial arts garden with
Zonne's transfer magic.
As a result, he has
been training for the past two weeks, coming and going from this martial arts
garden's basement to the forest.
Jihad glanced at
Nozomu and frowned slightly, but returned to normal before Nozomu himself
noticed.
"Good work,
Nozomu-kun. Go home for the day."
"Y-, yes."
Jihad urged Nozomu to
go home without saying anything in particular.
Nozomu was still
thinking about Zonne's words, but he was unable to overcome the fatigue that
engulfed him, and he left the basement while feeling dizzy.
Jihad, who had
confirmed that Nozomu had left the basement, quickly approached Zonne and asked
in a hushed voice.
"So, how did it
go?"
"As usual,
there's no sign of him being able to master spirit magic. Based on his best
record in the past two weeks, the longest time he can unleash his power is
around ten seconds."
"Ten seconds
..."
Jihad repeated the
words "ten seconds", then exhaled heavily, as if sighing.
"That's right.
Ten seconds, that's..."
"That's amazing
..."
Zonne nodded slowly as
if agreeing with Jihad's words.
The power that Nozomu
Bountis had taken in was not something that could be contained within the
framework of human beings.
The reason why the
dragon race created a sealing world to contain it was because it was judged
that the immensity and quality of its power could not be overlooked.
Considering this fact,
one could understand how amazing ten seconds was.
"The kid himself
seems to be dissatisfied tho. He is somewhat impatient to control his power as
soon as possible."
Unlike Zonne and
Jihad's perception, Nozomu was somewhat dissatisfied with this result.
He probably understood
that this was not an easy thing to do.
However, the fact that
he had twice turned his blade against his friends seemed to have lingered in
his mind.
"Shouldn't you
tell him?"
"I don't want him
to lose his tension, and it may also have the opposite effect. That would be
more dangerous. It is necessary to maintain a sense of tension while continuing
his training."
This might make Nozomu
impatient, but it's definitely the tension that was driving him to train.
Besides, Nozomu had
once used his training as an escape, and from what Zonne had seen, it seemed
that Nozomu still wasn't completely immersed in training.
Instead of vague
delusions, he needed to continue his training after facing the reality.
"I'll leave it to
the ladies to decide how to handle it. That would be more effective and the boy
would be happy, wouldn't it? As for me, I'm envious of him..."
"Zonne-dono
..."
Indeed, the reason why
Nozomu is now immersed in his training is because of Irisdina and the others.
If that was the case, they would be better suited to appease Nozomu.
The second part of the
dialogue is a bit too personal, but that's a convincing reason.
"The boy,
however, has been through such training once before. The training may be
different, but he seems to have a grasp of the essential points."
"I thought
so…"
"He already
mastered the art of katana technique at such a young age. His instinctive sense
of knowing the line between life and death is superior to any other human being
I've ever seen."
What impressed Zonne
even more was Nozomu's concentration during his training.
He was on the verge of
sustaining a fatal wound from self-destruction, and as soon as Zonne stopped
him, he reapplied the [Soul-Sealing Chains] to his own body.
"He can do
unreasonable things. That's why he's always been reckless. But he knows the
line between life and death. Even after all this time, I'm starting to worry
about him."
"Whenever I train
him, I'm always on the edge of my seat. Good grief, after all this time, I got
such a ridiculous disciple..."
Zonne let out a deep
sigh, sympathizing with Nozomu's master and teachers, whom he had never met.
As a teacher, there
might be some students who made them worry like him.
"Alright, now, I
understand Nozomu-kun's situation. I have a meeting in the morning, so if
you'll excuse me."
"The opening
ceremony of a festival, right? There's a lot of talk about it in town. There
are a lot of events coming up."
"Yes, I hope
there won't be any disturbances."
After bowing to Zonne,
Jihad left the basement.
After seeing Jihad
off, Zonne glanced at the basement floor.
"Tiamat and
Mikael. Has time that had been stopped for 5,000 years started to move?..."
He remained
expressionless and kept staring at the floor as if to confirm something.
Eventually, Zonne
looked up and activated the transfer magic.
All that remained was
the light of a shining magic circle in the dimly lit basement.
