eeanwassurprised.

can’tbelievethatactuallyworked. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

venhehimselfhadn’tbeenconfidentwhenhethrewthesuggestionoutthere,soseeingtheotherpersonactuallyreactlefthimgenuinelyamazed.

“Whatareyoudoing?”

“Ah.Right.’llguideyouthereimmediately.”

eeanansweredtheinsaneduplicateonreflex,thenbelatedlyrealizedtheproblem.

Cometothinkofit,whiletheinsaneduplicatemightwanttomeetSeniorCatten,therewasnoguaranteeSeniorCattenwouldfeelthesameway.

Andifafifth-yearseniorwhorankedamongthestrongestinhisyearendedupholdingagrudge,lifeatinroguardcouldbecomealotmoretroublesomegoingforward.

...’lljustsayhewasforcedtocomealong.

***

“J-Junior!”

Catten,afifth-yearstudentfromtheWhiteigerower,lookedateeanwithtearsbrimminginhiseyes.

heyweren’ttearsofbetrayaloranger,buttearsofpureemotion.

“othinkyouwouldbringsuchagreatpersontosomeoneasworthlessasthismage...”

“...reallydolikeyou,Senior.aha.”

SWS!

Unabletocontainhisemotions,Cattenpulledeeanintoahug.

Catbeastmenweregenerallysmallerthanhumans,andCattenwasnoexception.

Buthisstrengthwasbeyondimagination.veneean,whohadendureddirectblowsfrommonstrousenemies,nearlyscreamed.

“...ah!Senior.hathurts.”

“Ah,sorry,Junior.gottooexcited.”

Cattenhurriedlyapologized.

ewassimplytoooverwhelmedbythechancetoseetheSkullPrincipal’sprojection.

“AchancetoreceiveguidancefromthePrincipal’sprojection...”

“Whydidn’tyoujustaskthePrincipaldirectly?”

eeanwaspuzzled.

fcourse,mostinroguardstudentsweren’texactlyeagertoapproachtheSkullPrincipal.

omatterhowinsaneinroguardstudentswere,therewerelimits.

heywouldaskprofessorsquestions,sure—butwhywouldanyonewillinglyquestionamadArchmage?

Still,fromeean’sperspective,withSeniorCatten’sparticularbrandofmadness,itwouldn’thavebeenstrangeatallforhimtoseekmagicalguidancefromtheSkullPrincipal.

Moreimportantly,bythefifthyear,itwasrarernottohaveaskedtheSkullPrincipalsomethingatleastonce.

“usedtoaskhimthingsoften.”

Cattenansweredinaslightlydejectedvoice.

“Butatsomepoint,hestartedavoidingme.”

“...”

eeanwashonestlyimpressed.

othinksomeonecouldbepersistentenoughtomakeeventheSkullPrincipalflee.

Amazing!

“ewasobviouslyinside,buthekeptsayinghewasn’tthere...”

“hat’saprettyshamelesslie.”

“knewyou’dunderstand,Junior.hat’swhybrokethroughthewallandforcedmywayin,butthenendedupinthepunishmentcells...”

“...”

“But’mtrulyhappytohavethischancetolearn!”

Cattenbeamedbrightly.

Atthatmoment,however,asuddenworrycreptintoeean’smind.

feventheSkullPrincipalhadrunawaybecauseteachinghimwasunbearable,wouldthisprojectionreallybeanydifferent?

...ewon’ttakehisangeroutonme,right?

“Pleaseteachme!”

Unawareofeean’sinneranxiety,Cattenrespectfullybowedhishead.

“Atleastyouunderstandbasicmanners.Unlikethatmage.”

MaybemeetingProfessorerdusfirstwasactuallyfortunate.

eeanletoutaquietsighofreliefattheinsaneduplicate’sreaction.

PerhapsbecausehehadencounteredProfessorerdusfirst,everyothermageafterwardautomaticallyseemedreasonablebycomparison.

“fyouwishtoreceiveinstruction,thendemonstrateyourskillbeforeroyalty.”

“Yes!”

Cattenansweredenergeticallyanddrewhissword.

eeanhadalreadyseentheswordsmanshipofinroguard’smostinfamousrepeat-failingfifth-yearseveraltimesbefore.

ttrulywastheculminationofeverykindofmagicthatcouldpossiblybecrammedintoswordsmanship.

nfact,whoelseinthempirewouldevenattemptsomethinglikethis?

WhenCattenfinallymanifestedaprimitiveesserWorld,theinsaneduplicate’s◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)browstwitchedfaintly.

hesurroundingrealitydistortedaroundthesword,andtheblazingauratransformedintowater.heinsaneduplicateclickedhistongueindisbelief.

veninancienttimes,swordsmenbornwiththisleveloftalenthadbeenrare.

hiswasn’tsomeordinarygift,likeheightenedmanasensitivityorsuperiorbodilyawareness.

o—

thiswastheaudacitytothrowoneselfattheworlditselfandtearitapart.

Somemightcallitcrudeorviolent.

Butthiswaspreciselythetalentatrueswordsmanshouldpossess.

fmagesreshapetheworld,thenswordsmendestroyit.

heproblemwas—

“sn’titamazing?”

“hewastefulnessisamazing.Whyisheusingsuchinefficientmethodsdespitehavingthismuchtalent?”

—hekeptdoingbizarrethingswiththattalent.

fhewastrulyaswordsman,heshouldhavefocusedinward.WhyforciblymanifestaprimitiveesserWorldinstead?

“Seniorisdeeplyinterestedinmagic.”

“henthepeoplearoundhimshouldhavestoppedhimproperly.”

“sn’titultimatelySenior’schoice?omatterhowrecklessitseems,ifthat’swhathewants,alltherestofuscandoisofferadvice.”

Ateean’swords,theinsaneduplicatepausedbriefly.

hemomenthismasterfellsilent,eeanimmediatelypreparedhimselfdefensively.

hedefensivemagiccancurrentlyuseis...

“see.hat’sactuallyafairlyreasonableperspective.”

“!”

eeanwasstartledwhentheotherpersonacknowledgedhiswordsinsteadofexplodingwithoutrage.

sheseriouslyinanunbelievablygoodmoodrightnow?

therwise,therewasnoexplanation.

“Youagreewiththat?”

“Withwhat?”

“Uh...Senior’srecklessdecisions...”

“Whatdocare?e’snotroyalty’sdisciple.houghhewouldmakeausefulguard.”

heinsaneduplicateevaluatedCattenfarmorehighlythaneeanhadexpected.

Whilepowerfulmagesnolongerneededguardsafterreachingacertainlevel,theyabsolutelyrequiredprotectionbeforereachingthatpoint.

avingaswordsmanlikeCattenguardingyouwouldhardlybeabadarrangement.

“ood.shallteachyoumagic.”

“-sthattrulypossible?!”

Cattencriedoutemotionally.heinsaneduplicatenodded.

“Whatkindofmagicinterestsyou?Ancientsecrets,darkmagic,esserWorlds,reversemagic,incantations,souls...”

“wanttolearn【BasicFlameBarrier】!”

“...?”

heinsaneduplicatedoubtedhisownearsandslowlyturnedtowardeean.

eeanquietlyavertedhisgaze.

“wanttolearn【BasicFlameBarrier】!Pleaseteachme!”

“...”

Untilnow,theinsaneduplicatehadonlyrealizedthatCattenpossessedextraordinarytalentinswordsmanship.

Discoveringthathismagicaltalentwasthisterriblecameasagenuineshock.

omatterwhat,hehadneverimagineditwouldbethisbad...?!

***

heinsaneduplicate’slessonswereprofound,mysterious,andimpossiblyadvanced.

AndtheywerefartoodifficultforCattentounderstand.

helongerhetaughthim,themoretheinsaneduplicaterealizedjusthowmonstrouslygiftedhisoriginaldisciplehadbeen.

“hankyouverymuchforyourteachings!”

“...”

ncethelessonended,thethoroughlyexhaustedinsaneduplicateturnedawaywithoutanotherword.

eeancautiouslyaskedCatten,

“Wasitatleastsomewhathelpful?”

“otatall,Junior!”

“...Sorry.”

“Whyareyouapologizing?’mveryhappy.”

Cattenlookedateeanasifhegenuinelycouldn’tunderstandthequestion.

ishistoryoffailurehadstretchedonforfartoolongforhimtobecomedepressedsimplybecausehefailedtoimmediatelyunderstandsomething.

Atthispoint,hewouldn’tfeeldisappointedoversomethinglikethat.

eeanfoundhimselfslightlymovedbyhissenior’sunwaveringmindset.

fitwerehim,hewouldhavefalteredorbrokendownlongago.

owadmirable.

hatkindofmentalitywasprobablywhyCattencouldcontinuetrainingwithoutwaveringeveninsidethepunishmentcells.

Whileeeanlookedathimwithnewfoundrespect,Cattencasuallypackedhisbelongings.Aseeanwatchedhimstoreemergencyrationsandseveralartifacts,heaskedcuriously,

“Areyouheadingsomewhereafterthelecture?”

“’mplanningtovisittheFrostiants’dimension.”

“h.recentlyencounteredFrostiantsinadimensionvisitedtoo.Whatacoincidence.”

Morespecifically,itwasthedimensionhehadvisitedduringProfessorMilei’slecture.

Forthissemester’ssummoningmagicassignment,ProfessorMileihadinstructedthestudentstoexploreandmapunfamiliardimensions...

...eeanandhisgrouphadcompletedtheassignmentwithabsurdeasethankstoArsil’sassistance,onlytogetsaddledwiththeadditionaltaskofretrievingartifactspossessedbytheFrostiants.

Dealingwithpowerfulandmalevolentbeingswasalwaysdangerous.

AndyetCattenintendedtoheadtherevoluntarily.

twasaratherstrangecoincidence.

“hat’sthesamedimension,Junior.”

“...What?!”

eeanwasstartled.

WhywouldCattenbegoingtotheverydimensioneeanandhisfriendshadexplored?

“Professorngledelaskedmeto.Shewantedmetodeterminewhetheritwouldbesuitableforfinalexams.”

“o,wait.owcouldadimensionfilledwithFrostiantspossiblybesuitableforfinalexams?!”

Feelingbetrayedbyaprofessorhetrusted,eeanshoutedindisbelief.

owcouldProfessorngledel,ofallpeople—notevenProfessoroladi—preparesomethingthiscruel?

Perhapssensinghisjunior’semotions,Cattenlookedawkward.

“don’treallyknoweither...heprofessorsaidthatsecond-yearstudentsseemtovisitextradimensionsfrequentlythesedays,soratherthanstoppingthem,shewantedtohelpthemprepareproperly.”

“Whatlunaticspreadsuchabsurdrumors?!”

Aseeanshoutedfuriously,amemorysuddenlysurfaced.

Cometothinkofit,hehimselfhadsubmittedareporttoProfessorngledelaboutvisitingthedimensioncontainingthePrideDuke,thewangmokKing,andArsil.

twouldn’thavebeenstrangeforProfessorngledeltoseethatreportandconclude:

Second-yearstudentsarerecklesslyexploringextradimensionswithoutunderstandingthedangers.

Coulditbe—

“mm.fyou’retrulycurious,Junior,couldasktheprofessortoinvestigatewhospreadtherumor...”

“owthatthingshavealreadyreachedthispoint,what’sthepointinfindingtheculprit?’lljustfaceitcalmlylikeaproperinroguardstudent.”

Cattenlookedimpressedbyeean’sattitude.

houghyounger,hisjuniorpossessedacomposureandcourageworthlearningfrom.

Wait.hismightactuallybeagoodchancetoretrievethoseartifactstoo.

eeanfellintothought.

hisweekwastheinsaneduplicate’ssurveillanceweek,buttherewasnotellinghowlongthearrangementwouldlast.

JustliketheSkullPrincipal,thatinsaneduplicatewasalsoutterlyeccentricandunpredictable.

Wouldn’tthisbetheperfectchancetorecovertheFrostiants’artifactswhileboththeinsaneduplicateandCattenwerepresent?

“Senior.’llcomehelptoo.Mynextlectureperiodhappenstobefree.”

“owcouldthatbe?!”

“fcourseyou’resurprisedthatameresecond-yearwouldvolunteertocomealong.Butmymasterwillalso—”

“o.’msurprisedthatyournextlectureperiodisfree,Junior.”

“...”

eeanwasleftspeechless.

“Fromthewayyouaskedearlier,thoughtyouwantedtocome.Youenjoythesesortsofthings,Junior.”

“WhatkindofdimensiondoesSeniorthinkhisjuniorlivesintoenjoythingslike—...evermind.’lltakethataspermission.”

otwantingtowasteanymoretimearguing,eeanimmediatelygaveup.

estillhadtopersuadetheinsaneduplicate.

“Master.oday’slectureisover,andmysenior...”

WheneeanexplainedabouttheFrostiants’dimensionandtheartifactshiddenthere,theinsaneduplicatelistenedsilently.

henhespoke.

“obehonest,whenyoufirstcametoattendthislecture,royaltysuspectedyouweretryingtoslackofffromyourstudies.”

“!”

owdidheknow?

eeanshudderedathismaster’sfrighteninglyaccuratededuction.

BringingSeniorCattentotheinsaneduplicatehadabsolutelybeenpartiallymotivatedbyeean’sdesiretoreducethepressureonhimself.

“owever,afterhearingwhatyoujustsaid,itappearsroyaltywasmistaken.Sothiswasyourobjectivefromthebeginning?”

“...xactly.’vebeenplanningthisforquitesometime.”