Chapter 8 — Cadenza, The Great Concerto

1

Anais was enjoying the full moon night with her dormitory friend, Kael.

It was a day when going outside the dormitory was forbidden, but also a day when they could enjoy freedom inside the dormitory.

The atmosphere would have been perfect if not for Kael constantly complaining about feeling unwell and lying face down.

While blankly watching the full moon rise, she felt something strange.

An odd mana spread, making her feel nauseous.

“-Kael, hey, wake up.”

“Hmm? Why?”

It was uncomfortable.

Anais slightly frowned and asked her friend.

“Why do I keep feeling nauseous? Don’t you feel it?”

“…I’m dying.”

As expected, Kael was feeling strange too.

Anais calmed her churning stomach with deep breaths, then gazed at the red full moon as if entranced.

But, isn’t the atmosphere a bit weird?

Kael, who had her face buried, slowly lifted her head.

Strange.

The school didn’t usually have this kind of atmosphere.

Anais looked around quickly.

Then she pressed herself against the window that overlooked the outside.

Kael slowly got up from her seat and approached her.

“What’s wrong?”

“-Look at that.”

“Huh? That is reinforced glass…”

No, that’s not it.

Anais stretched out her finger, pointing towards the forest.

In the open space between the forest and the dormitory.

Something oddly shaped was approaching a trembling girl.

And then-.

“Isn’t, isn’t that a sword?”

“It has four arms too.”

“-We need to save her.”

After muttering, Kael instinctively ran towards the ground.

It’s about saving a person.

They’d probably overlook breaking the Academy’s rules just this once.

Anais hurriedly followed her as well.

What on earth is happening-!

“Hey, hey-! Kael! Let’s go together!”

The atmosphere was strange.

This wasn’t the night atmosphere she was used to.

She hastily put on her robe and went outside.

Still a first-year.

The floor wasn’t that high, so they could quickly head to the first floor.

‘By the way, why is it so quiet?’

Without time to question, the two of them ran like mad through the empty corridor.

A monstrous creature rampaging inside the Academy.

They had never heard of such a thing.

They had never heard of anything like this at all.

When they rushed outside, there was an unconscious woman and a strange monster holding a sword.

She instinctively unleashed magic towards the mask.

[Ignis]

“-Stop it, you monster.”

She drew attention with the most basic magic and gathered mana.

However, the giant masked monster didn’t give her time to gather mana.

It kicked the ground with its solid legs and swung two swords simultaneously.

‘Dangerous-.’

[Edge]

Kaang-!

A sharp metallic sound was heard.

1st-Class Magic: Edge.

Another name called by the relics: Shield.

A single petal blocked the stabbing blade.

Magic that came from Kael, who had her hand stretched out.

It was truly an excellent and clean deployment.

How about the speed?

There probably isn’t anyone among the current first-years who can unfold this level of magic at this speed.

But-.

[Hmm-!]

“Kyak-!”

Petals, as always, fall helplessly.

The sword possessed by the Demonium had unimaginable destructive power.

Although she wasn’t directly hit by the sharp blade, as the Edge shattered, mana fragments overwhelmed Anais.

[Aura]

Kael’s magic manifested again.

A fierce gust turned into a blade, cutting through the mana fragments and the grotesque arm.

Screech-!

With a sharp sound, the black arm fell off.

“Ugh… At least the sword… Huh?”

“It’s… regenerating.”

The arm regenerating with a gurgling sound.

The sight of it pulling out the deeply embedded sword infected them with fear as well.

Both Kael and Anais instinctively knew.

‘How can we beat that-!’

“Weakness, there must be a weakness.”

Anais’s specialty was fire.

Unfortunately, the Mage Arcana is resistant to fire magic.

Kael can learn all elemental magic, but currently, she only knows wind and fire magic, and common magic.

Wind deals average damage, but with Kael’s current stats, it’s not nearly enough of an attack.

[Hmm-!]

The great calamity slowly approached.

Can they defeat something like that?

A deep shadow fell over both of their faces.

2

Something went wrong.

Manus unfolded his arms and watched the two people’s battle.

It was desperate.

As if to show that reality is incomparable to any game, the two were fighting while rolling on the ground.

“Why aren’t they using… Could it be.”

Ah-.

He never dreamed his existence would be such a big butterfly effect.

He thought he just needed to stay still.

He thought he just needed to slightly avoid death flags.

There was one thing Manus had overlooked.

The very early tutorial of the game.

The scene that everyone ‘skips’.

The fact that even the man before becoming Manus had pressed skip countless times without paying attention.

Urgh-.

He hurriedly gathered his robe.

At this rate, those two will die.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

That skip button pressed by many gamers worldwide.

He should have remembered that.

In the beginning, the catalyst for the protagonist awakening their abilities is none other than Manus himself.

The words he said.

Because of Manus’s actions, Kael would awaken Cadenza, the greatest cheat passive skill of the century.

When you play a game for too long, you tend to play the early parts without thinking.

At least, that’s how Manus was.

That was pushing them towards the cliff of death.

‘This was originally my role.’

So, this time too, Manus himself should do it.

He ran.

It was a very odd sight.

“Hold on a little longer.”

His shout echoed in the corridor.

At that moment, Anais was fighting dizziness while feeling her mana depleting.

Knowing that no matter how much she attacked it wouldn’t work, she focused on defense.

She knew a few common magic spells after all.

Kael, now exhausted as well, was breathing heavily.

It’s hopeless.

Their unnecessary bravado had brought disaster.

With just first-year level mana theory, they couldn’t handle such a monster-like creature.

‘We’ve been fighting so noisily, yet not a single person is coming — That’s even stranger!’

Anais barely moved her panting body to avoid the attack.

Rolling around on the grass was much better than consuming mana.

The deeply stabbing swords vibrated eerily.

[Hmm-!]

The masked being seemed displeased and roughly pulled out its sword to charge again.

No, no, no-!

Her feet tangle and her mind becomes distant.

[Hmm!]

With a creak, the mask moved like a broken doll and looked directly at Anais.

Side effect of mana depletion.

Anais momentarily lost control of her body and staggered.

The Demonium wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

‘No-!’

Kael also miscast.

An urgent mind cannot manifest magic.

A true mage always needs a solid and unwavering mind.

Mors’s minion: The Demonium didn’t miss the mages’ openings.

The sharp blade that looked like it could cut off limbs with a single wrong hit glinted in the moonlight.

Is the God of Death trying to take their lives?

‘Am I going to die so meaninglessly here? Even though I’m from the Flois family-?’

[Hmm-?]

But the monster stopped its approach towards the two.

Soft-.

The sound of stepping on grass was heard.

A snow-white ice flower bloomed.

The mask turned its gaze to the newly appeared figure.

Perhaps it thought that one was more dangerous.

Anais covered the goosebumps on her arms with her hands.

When she turned her gaze to where the mask was looking, there stood an ice queen in pure white.

Crack-!

The distinctive sound of ice magic resonated through the air.

[Glacier]

Glacia’s higher magic: Glacier.

The 2nd-Class ice magic hurled a mace towards the mask.

The Demonium blocked it with its sword, but its arm was slammed into the ground with a thud.

[Glacier — Telum]

Ice spears sprouted in the air, waiting for their master’s command.

The silver-haired owner, shining even more coldly in the moonlight, gestured gracefully.

Ping-!

A silver line shot towards the mask.

However, it didn’t achieve its purpose.

Instead, the spear took away two of the creature’s arms.

[Hmm-!]

The mask retreated stealthily.

The battle situation regained some composure.

“-Is everyone alright?”

“Senior… Alano?”

“Come behind me.”

The two who had staggered to their feet moved behind Alano.

Alano, the second-year student council president.

Known as the strongest mage among the second years, excluding Manus.

To think that she, of all people, would be their reinforcement!

A sigh of relief naturally escaped.

Still, it would be nice if there was one more person…

Just as Anais was having this wishful thought-.

“Struggling with something like that.”

-It actually happened.

The three people’s expressions changed subtly at the sudden criticism.

The sound of faintly glossy shoes was louder than the noise made by the Demonium.

The blue gaze was directed precisely at Kael.

Though he spoke calmly, he was currently in a state of confusion.

[Interference confirmed.]

[DLC character benefit activated.]

[Cadenza skill cooldown reduced by 999 hours.]

[Skill: Cadenza acquired]

[Please select the next skill — 1 slot available]

Knowledge was continuously injected into his mind.

Decomposition and reconstruction of magic formulas.

Synthesis.

Manifestation of another magic.

A throbbing head and hazy mind tormented Manus.

It felt like someone was forcibly playing a movie at high speed about 100 times.

-It was a very unpleasant and irritating feeling.

“You possess a special power. I stopped by because it was too pathetic.”

“…”

Kael blankly stared at Manus.

Frowning eyes.

Mana residue blooming like a mirage.

Her gaze was captivated by Manus, who spoke as if in a very bad mood, growling like a wolf.

He stretched out both hands.

[Ignis]

In one hand, a brilliant flame-.

[Aura]

In the other, a sharp wind.

Two different elements that originally cannot become one.

This is common sense in magic, and also fundamental.

But, there are always exceptions.

“Use your special ability.”

Genius.

A word used to describe those who achieve the impossible, and those who present new paths.

Or it can mean someone with outstanding talent.

Then-.

What should we call someone who meets all these criteria?

What should we call the great talent and genius that can never be approached with the same word?

No matter how much they rolled the words in their mouths, such words didn’t come to mind.

Alano, Anais, Kael.

The three witnessed a historic moment together.

Cadenza.

That great concerto manifested in Manus’s hands.

‘It’s composed of a more complex structure than I thought. Calculating this one by one is certainly difficult.’

No, it would be impossible for most.

It was completely outside the laws of magic.

Magic formulas are made up of ‘lines’.

The abbreviation of this is called a ‘star’.

Five-pointed star.

Six-pointed star.

Ten-pointed star.

Hundred-pointed star…

1st-Class magic averages 32 stars.

32 lines.

When these lines are drawn on different hands to complete two magics, it’s called double casting.

Then what is Cadenza?

The lines are split.

The magic formula, broken into pieces with mana-filled line segments, is connected in a new way.

[Recipe saved]

[Ignis] — [Aura]

[Double Spread]

Crackle-!

The phenomenon of magic circles colliding.

It was a precursor to the massive explosion that occurs when magic and magic collide.

“No-! Are you crazy?!”

Alano, with her keen eye, immediately tried to stop Manus.

This is madness.

It’s impossible-!

But Kael blankly analyzed the structure of the magic.

Split and combine.

Thus creating new magic.

Some truth struck her head.

Kwoooo-.

The air resonated.

It was too loud a noise to think it was just combining two 1st-Class magics.

[Result: Atabulus]

The spread was woven.

A new magic was constructed, producing a completely new result.

Ah-.

Alano blankly stared at Manus.

So did Anais and Kael.

“This is your magic-.”

Atabulus, a word meaning the sand-mixed hot wind blowing towards the Mediterranean.

True to its etymology, which means it dries and kills everything when it blows during the winter solstice, it was a strange flame that dried mouths and robbed the surrounding moisture.

Although the power was low because it was just two 1st-Class magics, it wasn’t so for the students’ level.

No one in history had ever demonstrated such magic at Manus’s age.

Not even the current Grand Magician!

“It’s the ability to break, combine, and create something new.”

“――――Ah.”

Kael’s mana fluctuated.

At the same time, Manus stretched out his hand.

Kuaaaaaaa-!

The hot wind that spread like a whirlwind engulfed the mask.

[Hmmmm-!!]

At the voice that seemed to be suppressing a scream, a sneer appeared on Manus’s lips.

This one blow won’t kill it.

The rest will be handled by that awakening woman.

He turned away without lingering.

He was short on mana, but he couldn’t reveal that fact straightforwardly.

“Wh-Where are you going?”

“I’ll leave the cleanup to you. I don’t like drinking lukewarm beverages.”

“…”

Alano looked at his retreating figure with bewildered eyes.

Anais also reacted by slightly opening her mouth.

“I can do it-.”

At that moment, Kael opened her eyes.

It was her awakening as the true protagonist.

–TL Notes–
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