Chapter 259: What Became of Our Promise?
"Yes," Calyra answered coldly. "I have abandoned that too, Rosalin." "Our promise no longer means anything to me." (+1,000PP)
Rosalin’s fingers trembled.
For a brief moment, she forgot to breathe, the light within her golden eyes quietly breaking apart as she searched Calyra’s face for even the smallest hint that this was another lie.
But there was none.
A quiet laugh escaped Rosalin’s lips.
It lasted only a second, yet it sounded far more painful than any cry.
"...I see."
The words barely left her mouth.
Years of hope she had just crumbled before her eyes.
Calyra watched her in silence. Then, after a long pause, she quietly asked, "What about you, Rosalin?"
Her gaze remained fixed on Rosalin’s sword.
"Do you still believe you can keep your word and become the greatest swordsman in the world?"
Rosalin slowly lifted her head.
"I do."
The instant those words left her lips, crimson flames erupted around her sword.
Fwoosh!
The blazing fire spiraled along the blade, filling the empty field with scorching heat as waves of flame danced around her like a swirling inferno.
Rosalin tightened her grip.
Her golden eyes still burned brightly with a conviction.
Calyra quietly watched the flames.
Then, she gave a small nod.
"I see."
She slowly raised her staff.
"Well then, how about this, Rosalin?"
"If you can defeat me here and now, if you can prove to me that you are truly a strong swordsman, then..."
She looked straight into Rosalin’s eyes.
"...I will dare to dream again." (+1,000PP)
Rosalin frowned. Then, a bitter smile slowly formed on her face.
"So..."
Her voice came out almost as a whisper.
"Even you are looking down on me now."
Rosalin lowered her gaze for a brief second.
The bitter smile on her face slowly disappeared, replaced by a determined look.
"You... really have changed, Calyra."
Raising her sword before her, Rosalin slid her left foot backward across the ground and pointed the blazing blade straight toward Calyra.
Several metres away, Calyra silently channelled her man into her staff.
Azure mana flowed around her body like a calm current, gathering around the tip of her staff as countless pale blue particles drifted into the air.
Drawing one deep breath, Rosalin never once took her eyes off Calyra.
Then, with unwavering conviction, she spoke.
"You are indeed right about one thing. People can change, and their values can change too. But because of that..."
She tightened her grip.
The flames around her sword suddenly burned even brighter.
"...I will change you back." (+1,000PP)
Boom!
Launching herself forward, Rosalin vanished from where she stood.
The instant her foot left the ground, the earth beneath her exploded apart, sending a deafening shockwave sweeping across the plains as thick layers of grass and soil were torn away.
Nearby trees bent violently under the pressure. When the dust settled, a deep crater was all that remained where Rosalin had been standing.
The distance between them disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The blazing sword cut through the air, leaving behind a trail of fire that split the land in two as it rushed straight toward Calyra.
Rosalin knew words were meaningless here. Calyra had already made up her mind. She had retreated too deeply into her own sorrow — locking herself away in a place where no one could ever hope to reach her.
A towering wall now stood around Calyra’s heart.
If Rosalin wished to reach her, then she would have to shatter that wall first, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Boom!
Rosalin’s sword crashed against Calyra’s [Magic Barrier]. Sparks scattered as ripples surged across the translucent barrier.
Rosalin ground her teeth as she stared into Calyra’s calm, unbothered face.
"Is that all you’ve got?" Calyra asked. "Your sword can’t even break my barrier, and yet you dare to say you’re going to—"
Before she could finish, flames burst to life around Rosalin’s free left hand. They coiled around her fist, growing hotter.
Calyra’s eyes widened.
Her gaze snapped from the sword to the burning fist.
’What is she...?’ (+500PP)
Bamm!
Rosalin drove her fist forward. The blazing punch crashed into the barrier, and spiderweb cracks spread across its surface before it shattered into countless fragments.
Calyra’s pupils shrank.
The flaming fist rushed toward her face. For a split second, everything slowed, and she watched it draw closer, inch by inch.
Then, just as it was about to connect....
[Blink]
Her figure vanished in a flash.
Rosalin’s flaming fist cut through empty air.
Calyra immediately turned back and looked up at Rosalin. Her eyes drifted to Rosalin’s left hand, and fresh blood ran down her clenched fist. The skin had split open from forcing that punch through her barrier.
’She just broke my barrier... with her bare hand?’
Her gaze slowly lifted again. The moment their eyes met, her expression froze. Something about Rosalin’s gaze had changed.
Rosalin’s face had grown darkened.
Her golden-amber eyes never left Calyra for even a single moment. They clung to her with a mad obsession.
It was only then that she remembered Ruvian’s warning.
—"But Calyra... a piece of advice. Rosalin may be weaker than you right now, and perhaps she will remain weaker than you for some time. However, driven people are far scarier than most realize, especially when they have narrowed their entire world to a single objective."
—"So... always keep that in mind." (+1,000PP)
*****
The Control Room aboard the ship fell into a small uproar. Instructors turned toward the floating screens one after another, their voices rising as Rosalin and Calyra continued to clash. Even the staff monitoring the other sectors began stealing glances at their dots.
"What the hell are they doing?" one instructor blurted out.
"Why are those two fighting when eliminating another scholar is forbidden until the seventh day of the test?"
Another frowned and added:
"Exactly, not to mention they’re both among the top scions of the first year."
Standing quietly near the front, Edvoss kept his eyes on the screen. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he folded his arms.
"Those two are your scholars, aren’t they, Veliana, is there something going on between them?"
Veliana let out a tired sigh. Her eyes never left the screen. "Haaa... I don’t know either, but if they keep this up, one of them is going to be penalized."
"Ho~ the scholar who is fighting, one of them is the daughter of House Arcanis, isn’t she?"
The calm voice came from behind them without warning. Several instructors flinched and quickly turned around. Their expressions changed the moment they saw who it was.
"C–chancellor!"
A few lowered their heads in greeting.
Only Veliana and Edvoss remained as they were, giving a respectful nod, already used to the Chancellor’s habit of appearing whenever she pleased.
Ophelia’s gaze stayed on the floating screen.
"Truthfully, I was rather surprised when that child chose to enroll at our academy," Ophelia said coldly. "Yet what surprised me even more was that she did not become the Top Seat Scholar. What a shame. Truly."
Honestly, Ophelia knew the reason all too well.
If the entrance examination had been based only on strength and knowledge, then Calyra was, without question, the one who deserved the top seat the most.
Yet every written paper she submitted received the exact same score.
80% percent — not a point absurdly high, and not a point absurdly low. Just enough to secure a second rank in Class A, but never enough to claim the highest seat.
Even so, Ophelia knew Calyra could have easily scored much higher if she had wanted to. It was almost as if she had purposely held herself back, making sure every result stopped at exactly eighty percent.
As for why she did it, Ophelia had no idea.
Then again, geniuses often had their own strange ways of thinking, ways that ordinary people could never understand.
Turning around, Ophelia slowly walked away.
"You’re leaving?" Edvoss asked.
"Yes. Rather than watching from here, I would rather see their battle with my own eyes."
She was not only interested in Calyra. Rosalin, too, had also caught her attention.
If Ophelia remembered correctly, there had been quite a lot of talk about her years ago, when Rosalin was only seven years old.
It happened during the Knight’s Awakening Rite; the ceremony every knight of House Varion had to go through before being recognized as an official knight candidate.
That day, something unexpected happened.
Something that left a deep impression on everyone who witnessed it.
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 259: What Became of Our Promise?]
Plot Points= 30,100