Chapter 49: "A little monster and a big monster."

"Frost... Edge...?"

Kina had always understood that her Master was extraordinary. She’d understood that ever since the very first time she’d witnessed just how absurd everything he’d shown her truly was.

She knew her Master was incredibly strong, but wasn’t this the first time?

This was the first time Kina had watched her Master use something different. It had started with One Slash, then Flash Step.

Both of those were simply F-Grade skills, mastered to an extraordinary degree. But this time, her Master hadn’t used an F-Grade skill, he’d used a D-Grade one.

Watching that suddenly set Kina’s mind racing. ’Those are all Skills I currently possess.’

And how her Master used each one, one after another, felt almost as though he were deliberately showing Kina, this is how it’s done.

A blue glimmer flickered in Kina’s eyes.

She watched her Master standing there, the sword driven straight through the Invader’s body, a freezing mist radiating outward with overwhelming pressure, gradually draining the color from everything around it, in a radius small but still considerable.

The Invader froze in place, its throat seizing as an agonized shriek tore out, startling the students, several of them clapping their hands over their ears.

Kina winced slightly at the scream, but refused to look away, forcing herself to keep watching what would happen next.

The Invader tried something, but her Master raised the sword and tore through its body from within. Dark blood sprayed out, and along with it, the freezing cold gradually took hold of the creature, its skin visibly turning blue from the inside out.

The next instant, a small burst of ice crystals shattered outward, and the Invader’s body collapsed lifelessly, its life extinguished just like that.

Kina held her breath.

’How did that go, exactly?’

She understood, intellectually, how she should channel her Mana, how she should move, but the moment she tried imagining herself actually pulling it off, something felt fundamentally off.

As though her mind still wasn’t capable enough of processing that information and translating it into reality.

Kina’s head throbbed painfully, but she forced herself to keep thinking it through, only snapping back to reality when the students suddenly erupted in awestruck cheers.

"H-he won! The Invader’s dead!"

"WHAT!? DID YOU ALL SEE THAT? THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!"

"Who exactly is that guy!? Isn’t he from the Slums too?"

"That’s genuinely impressive... he won without breaking a sweat."

"He’s Kiena’s guardian... turns out he’s not just riding on her name. There’s a real reason he’s with Kiena after all."

"A little monster and a big monster."

For a moment, watching the students marvel over her Master left Kina speechless, before a crooked smile spread across her face, laced with a hint of pride.

’Yes, exactly... you should all worship a Master like that.’

Kina always felt a flare of irritation whenever someone badmouthed her Master or looked down on him. They had no idea just how extraordinary her Master truly was, yet they had the sheer nerve to mock him without shame.

Kina always found herself itching with frustration, why did her Master have to stay so humble about everything? Couldn’t he just use his power and make them all bow down, it wouldn’t even be difficult for him.

Still, Kina never questioned that decision aloud. What right did a beginner like her have, questioning someone who’d already lived far longer than anyone could imagine?

Regardless, Kina felt genuinely delighted, watching that long-overdue recognition finally come naturally to her Master.

"Heh...heh...heh."

She let out a satisfied laugh, then felt Ilunia’s "gaze" on her from across the way.

"...Kiena? Why are you laughing like that, it’s kind of creepy."

Kina clamped her mouth shut, though the smile stayed firmly in place. "It’s nothing."

"Hmm... is that so?" Ilunia didn’t dwell on it further, turning her face away, and without Kina noticing, Ilunia suddenly looked visibly flustered.

Her breathing had grown ragged, her face flushed slightly red. Even though she couldn’t see what was happening, she could sense it, faintly, and more importantly, hadn’t the students’ whispers already said it all?

’Just as I expected... there’s no way I’ve got the wrong person.’

***

[Rank Progress +19%]

Julian froze in place, staring at the translucent blue screen in front of him, cold sweat pouring down his face.

’What the hell was I even doing just now? Julian, you absolute idiot, we nearly died just then!’

He screamed internally, raking a hand through his hair in sheer terror. For a moment, Julian even felt like he’d lost track of his own memories, questioning what he was doing here, why he was here, and who he even was.

But that only lasted a brief moment. Julian managed to steady himself remarkably fast this time.

"Well, either way, this is over now, right?"

Julian let out a small sigh. His gaze traced over the Invader’s body briefly, then quickly looked away, feeling nauseous at the sight of that gaping wound.

He refused to look at the exposed internal organs. So, without glancing at the Invader again, Julian shifted his gaze toward the still-open Breach, standing just three paces ahead of him.

He was close enough to see clearly inside it. What Julian saw wasn’t drastically different from what he’d read about on social media.

A dark space, scattered with stars, a perfect glimpse into what the universe was supposed to look like.

’Ugh... no Invader’s suddenly going to come bursting out of there, right? Right?’

Fortunately, given how notoriously difficult Breaches were for Invaders to cross, there shouldn’t be another one emerging anytime within the next few hours.

Besides, judging by the scale of its impact on the surroundings, sizable but not catastrophic enough to level everything, that was enough for Julian to gauge that this Breach likely sat around Rank-E, or Rank-D at the very lowest possibility.

Of course, all of that was based purely on things he’d read online, not any firsthand knowledge or actual training.

Julian could only pray no other Invader would suddenly show up. So, with heavy footsteps and a mind still reeling with inner chaos, he made his way back.

Right then, he spotted Kina and Ilunia emerging together from the building. Ilunia looked genuinely pale, struggling to keep pace as Kina yanked her arm and dragged her along, while Kina, as expected, was practically bursting with energy and excitement.

"Master, you can use Frost Edge too? But how? Could you teach me something? Oh, right, how did Master know there’d be a Breach here? Why did Master have to handle it? Is the academy really that useless that they—blahblahblah."

"Ugh... Kiena... wait, could you slow down a little?"

’What’s going on with that seemingly infinite well of energy?’

Julian smiled awkwardly to himself, watching Kina. He genuinely couldn’t wrap his head around it, was it possible Kina had simply been born with a natural gift for socializing?

With that kind of talkative streak and endless supply of topics, she’d never struggle to make friends anywhere.

Ilunia, on the other hand, was simply too gentle. Standing next to someone as overwhelmingly energetic as Kina, whatever Ilunia tried to say ended up feeling increasingly insignificant by comparison.

Maybe Ilunia just needed to practice speaking up a little louder.

’Well, whatever the case, it’s good to see both of them safe.’

Julian let out another sigh.

Right then, from a distance, the figures of Adelle and Lurker finally came into view.

They were incredibly, incredibly late.