SRS 156

Yohan whispered; he didn’t dare shout for fear others might overhear. Mikael reassuringly patted his hand.

“It’s fine. With your power surrounding us, others won’t be able to see clearly. Besides, Professor Homern is overseeing the class today, not the angel professor.”

“That’s not the issue. Your body…”

It wasn’t Mikael’s race being discovered that Yohan feared. He knew exactly what state Mikael ended up in after using his divine power. No matter how important the evaluation was, this was too much.

“…This is too much.”

“Learning in the field is the fastest way. Dangerous things have been happening lately. It’ll be good for you to learn this.”

“…….”

Yohan parted his lips, but he couldn’t find the words to counter Mikael’s argument. If he put it that way, it meant he was willing to endure the aftermath just to help Yohan. There was so much he wanted to say, but unfortunately, they didn’t have the time. Knowing how stubborn Mikael could be, Yohan gave up on trying to persuade him. Instead, he focused on the battle, determined to master the technique quickly and lighten Mikael’s burden.

He focused on the high-purity divine power flowing into his body. Following the direction of the flow, he entwined his own divine power with Mikael’s. As Mikael guided him, the power gathered at his fingertips began to vibrate with a brilliant light.

“Now,” Mikael whispered.

Yohan timed it perfectly and fired the concentrated power at one of the mana gluttons.

Bang!

The light tore through the air and slammed into the rampaging creature.

–Skreeeeeek!

Struck by the divine bullet, one of the birds shrieked and plummeted. As it tried to regain its balance and fly again, Yohan aimed his fingertips once more.

Bang!

The second shot hit the creature in the chest. Unable to withstand the impact, the bird spiraled downward. The other mana gluttons swarmed Yohan in a rage upon seeing their companion fall. Mikael let go of Yohan’s hand. Yohan immediately turned towards him when he felt the sudden cold against his sweat-dampened palm.

“You can do it on your own now, right? I’ll handle their attacks; you take them out.”

Despite the sweat soaking his forehead, Mikael’s expression was still the same. He moved away from Yohan and took over the role of luring the monsters. He fired mana at the creatures targeting Yohan, and swung his sword at their wings to force them to change their focus to him. Yohan took the opening to gather his divine power again.

Stay calm.

Just do exactly what Mikael taught me.

He took a deep breath and etched the sensation of his recent success into his mind. He Read on fired again. This time, a more precise shot pierced a mana glutton’s head.

“Ugh…!”

After three shots, the strain on his body became apparent. Compressing such immense power before launching it from his fingertips was no small feat. Yohan grabbed his aching wrist to dull the pain and cast a healing spell on his raw fingertips. His divine power mended the injury. As soon as the wound closed, he targeted the final bird.

–Kieeeeeek!

The last mana glutton engaging Mikael vanished into thin air with a last scream.

“I did it…!”

Yohan’s voice rose in excitement, but as he moved to find Mikael, the mana sustaining his flight spell suddenly vanished. Deprived of his buoyancy, his body began a descent.

“Mikael!”

Yohan knew exactly what this meant. He looked around for his friend. He wasn’t above or beside him. The dread made his stomach churn. Yohan looked down to see Mikael plummeting toward the ground.

Using divine power while having his mana drained by the mana gluttons had been too much for Mikael’s body. He had lost consciousness from the pain. Yohan fired a divine bullet toward the ground, an improvised application of the technique he had just learned.

The recoil propelled him downward at high speed.

“Mikael!”

He shouted, but he didn’t wake. A few students who had been busy fighting the hydra looked up in shock at the commotion.

“Yohan! What’s happening?”

“What happened to Mikael?”

“Yo–Whoa!”

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about us and keep fighting!”

He couldn’t let their formation break now. Yohan watched in horror as some of his distracted friends were swatted away by the hydra’s tail. He immediately called out to his spirit.

“Undine! I know it’s hard, but help me one more time!”

At her master’s desperate plea, the water spirit nodded. She flew toward Mikael and encased him in water. The sphere slowed his fall just long enough for Yohan to reach out and pull Mikael into his arms.

Pop.

Undine’s energy completely spent, the mid spirit returned to her realm. Yohan choked on the blood rising in his throat and clicked his tongue. He tightly held Mikael. He didn’t have enough strength left to manifest divine wings; the effort of learning a new technique had drained his remaining power and left his concentration fractured. He doubted his fledgling wings could even support Mikael’s weight.

Desperate for a solution, Yohan grabbed Mikael’s hand. He began to channel [Read on]his own divine power into him.

Doing this for something other than healing was strange, and made him feel dizzy. Despite the strain, he stubbornly pushed his power through and aimed Mikael’s limp hand at the hydra.

Just as Mikael had guided him earlier, Yohan used his own power to trigger the divine power remaining in Mikael’s body.

Flash.

A brilliant light shone at Mikael’s fingertips. Yohan gritted his teeth as he stared at the hydra.

I can do this.

After using Descent, his connection to the divine had grown stronger, making him feel as though the path to the heavens had widened. With Mikael’s power added to his own, he felt a surge of strength. He parted his blood-stained lips.

If mages used incantations to refine their magic and hone their will, then for users of divine power – or rather, for the heavens themselves – there was divine words.

It was said that gods and the angels of the Divine Realm could speak this language. Yohan knew only one phrase. It was something he had seen the angel professor perform during a Divine Studies lecture.

“‘Pierce.’”

He mimicked the pronunciation as best he could. The power at Mikael’s fingertips erupted with intense momentum. Like a bolt of lightning, the beam of light flew with a speed and power incomparable to Yohan’s initial bullets and hit the hydra’s face.

He had aimed for the eyes, but between [unauthorized copy]the fall and his clumsy pronunciation, his aim was slightly wrong.

The momentum, however, was more than enough.

The hydra’s left face melted under the impact, and the beast flailed in agony.

“Yohan! Yohan helped us!”

“Now’s our chance! Attack!”

As the hydra roared and went bersek, the students seized the opportunity to attack it. Yohan closed his eyes and held Mikael closer. The ground was rushing up to meet them. He counted the seconds in his head.

Three.

Two.

One…!

He was certain they would crash, but then something happened.

Flash!

A brilliant light enveloped them, and Yohan and Mikael vanished from the barrier.

“Yohan Herse, Mikael! Congratulations on reaching your contribution quota! That was some clever thinking!”

Hahaha!

Homern boisterously laughed and ruffled Yohan’s hair. He was still stunned from being suddenly teleported out of the barrier. Thump, thump, thump! The professor proceeded to slap him on the back so hard it hurt. He finally regained his senses and looked at the screen showing the inside of the barrier. Yohan sighed in relief.

He felt strength draining from his body, and he fell to the floor with Mikael still in his arms.

It worked.

To save Mikael and avoid burdening the others, his only option was to fill their contribution quota and get ejected from the barrier. His heart rate finally slowed as he watched the screen.

He felt a bit guilty about leaving early, but they had disposed of the mana gluttons, and with Suhyeok and Kylus still there, along with the heavy damage he’d dealt the hydra, they would be fine.

As expected, the students were now relentlessly targeting the hydra’s wounds. Spears, arrows, and swords plunged into the beast’s melting face as it wailed.

“That poor hydra. Fantasiademia turns these students into such savages! To kill such a pitiful creature so brutally!”

Professor Homern, who had been watching the screen with clenched fists and filtering out those who met their quotas, shouted. The students who had been ejected along with Yohan stared at the professor in disbelief.

He’s worried about the hydra…?

The students exchanged glances and sighed in unison.

“That Melek brat! Always whining, but he’s actually quite good in a fight. I should increase his individual training hours!”

Homern’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he watched Melek lead the mages and point out the hydra’s weaknesses.

Yohan silently prayed for Melek’s soul.

Learning and growth were usually something to be proud of, but within the walls of Fantasiademia, they were rarely a sign of good things to come.