Chapter 92: B-Grade Skill Book 2

"...Lady Kina? Are you serious?" Adelle was swamped. She’d been struggling with the sheer volume of attention flooding into Canelo Academy ever since Kina’s identity had been exposed.

So, with dark circles under her eyes, a stack of documents needing to be read and signed piled on her desk, Adelle blinked as she looked at Kina, standing there brimming with excitement.

"Yes, headmaster."

Seeing not a hint of hesitation on Kina’s face left Adelle at a loss for words.

Fine, Kina had just shown up, asking permission to use the empty field behind the Academy to demonstrate a B-Grade skill.

That B-Grade skill was supposedly one belonging to her Master himself, written by him personally, and would be demonstrated by the Master himself, no less.

Adelle’s gaze then settled on the skill book Kina was hugging. A book with a cover depicting a sheep performing some kind of concert.

"...."

With a grim expression and clear signs of sleep deprivation, she set down the stack of documents in her hand, took a deep breath, then met Kina’s gaze again with her tired eyes.

"...And your Master just gave this to you, just like that?"

As though it weren’t even worth a second thought? Even with her disciple still stuck at Rank-F?

Kina nodded vigorously, sparkling stars practically shining brightly across her face.

’Just as expected.’

Adelle smiled, breaking into cold sweat. She knew this Hidden Master was extraordinary, but Adelle was fairly certain she’d never truly get used to all of this.

How could she possibly get used to it?

So, when asked whether she’d grant permission or not, the answer, honestly, was remarkably simple.

’How could I possibly refuse?’

Adelle herself was genuinely curious, what kind of skill had this Hidden Master written entirely on his own?

Because if he’d written it himself, it was easy enough to say this skill definitely didn’t exist anywhere in the Academy’s archive.

Adelle smoothed down her long green hair, and despite her exhaustion and overwhelming drowsiness, she still carried an undeniable charm as she quietly rose, letting out a small sigh.

"I’ll grant permission," she said, smiling sweetly. "But I want to watch too."

***

In this world, there were countless skill books, but not all of them could simply be studied just because someone wanted to learn them.

Skill Books were obtained through Invaders, who sometimes carried items that didn’t originate from this world at all.

Because of that, since Invaders came from entirely different civilizations, their Skill Books were written in languages humans couldn’t read.

Thanks to that, people in ancient times relied far more heavily on their own innate Talents and skills, while trying to preserve and pass down their skills by documenting them and turning them into skill books.

On the other hand, there were also a handful of people genuinely obsessed with a particular Alien species’ language, studying it obsessively until they eventually succeeded in translating it, making that species’ skill books readable.

Unfortunately, every different Alien species carried its own distinct language, making it essentially impossible to translate all of them.

For that reason, Skills originating from beyond this world were extraordinarily rare, yet highly coveted, since each one carried an immense wealth of information.

Adelle had come to watch Julian’s demonstration for a few different reasons. She was genuinely intrigued and curious, but she also found herself wondering.

Was this a skill tied to Julian’s own innate Talent, one he’d created entirely from scratch, or perhaps one he’d translated from an Alien skill book?

Standing in the middle of the field, Julian appeared to be running a hand over his sword’s blade, while Adelle and Kina stood at the field’s edge to watch.

Behind them stood the Academy building. A few students had noticed something was about to happen and had gathered to watch as well.

Not a large number, but enough to ensure the rumors would spread quickly afterward.

"Watch closely."

Adelle then heard Julian’s voice echo through the silence.

"Yes, Master!" Across from him, Kina spoke up, nodding with an enthusiasm that showed no signs of fading, if anything, growing even more excited.

Julian gave a small nod, then finally began. Right then, Adelle immediately felt the air shift the moment Julian raised his sword.

Dense, tightly controlled Mana began swirling, and the next instant, Adelle felt something soft brush against her body.

She didn’t look up to figure out what had touched her. That was because the temperature had dropped so drastically, the wind swirling as snow began falling from the sky above.

The entire surrounding area sank beneath that snowfall.

’This... this is a type of skill I’ve never seen before. But, clearly, considering Kina comes from the Mivelo family, this is a skill that must suit her perfectly.’

Especially since this skill genuinely revolved around snow, ice, and extreme, biting cold.

Adelle could hear Kina’s awed exclamations at the environment around her.

Meanwhile, Julian’s sword had frozen completely solid, coated in gleaming crystals of ice that kept stretching upward, extending from the sword itself, reaching a height equal to two stories of a building.

Freezing energy gathered around that sword.

Strangely, Adelle felt like she was watching the fundamental structure of One Slash and Frost Edge simultaneously combined into one.

She wasn’t sure whether that was mere coincidence or not, but her thought cut off as the sword finally fell, unleashing a tremendous roar of wind, accompanied by a whistling sound as a single, devastatingly destructive slash tore through everything in its path.

The air itself seemed to split apart, the ground torn and thrown into the air, and the moment the sword struck the ground, an enormous explosion followed.

A small snowstorm formed, revealing a swirling vortex of snow that never seemed to stop spinning. The freezing air dropped even further, reaching a level that cut straight to the bone.

Snow scattered wildly through the air, while the area surrounding Julian was completely swallowed by that snow, blanketing everything in a crystalline white haze.

Adelle couldn’t say a single word, lost entirely in awe, while Kina, equally captivated, had even lost her usual cheerfulness, replaced instead by something far more genuine.

Once the snowstorm finally settled, the field that had once been fairly dry was now blanketed in a thick layer of snow.

As though the season itself had shifted, specifically for that field alone, into a snowy winter.

"...Incredible."

Adelle let out a small breath, watching it condense into visible mist against the bitter cold air.

But she brushed all of that aside, focusing entirely on Julian’s figure standing there.

Strangely, surrounded by that extreme, bitter cold, her body somehow felt warm instead.