Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Luize Valente, ranked second among the second-year students of Aqar Quf’s Department of Elements.

Her parents are C-rank heroes who died during an extermination mission eight years ago. She has relatives but does not talk with them.

She has shown exceptional talent ever since enrollment, and she grew rapidly throughout her curriculum. During the first semester of her second year, she rose to second rank and became an honor student candidate of Aqar Quf, receiving full support from the Ivory Tower. She was also invited to the Noblesse, but she declined.

Then, during the previous summer vacation, an accident occurred during a duel with Gerwin Kruger, the top second year of the Department of Operation Commands of Aqar Quf, where her wand exploded.

As a result, she suffered mana impairment in her neck and right hand. It significantly reduced her aptitude for mana utilization by more than fifty percent, resulting in all support from the Ivory Tower being put on hold. She is currently on a leave of absence, but it seems difficult for her to return...

“...”

Reviewing the information handed over by Sung-Ha, Se-Hoon looked out the dark window.

“Fxck my life, man...”

He had thought that the incident hadn’t happened since he couldn’t find news or information about it on the internet, but it turned out that it was because it had already ended six months ago.

Since he thought he had successfully prevented Luize’s injury, the news gave him a stinging pain in the back of his head.

So she ended up suffering from mana impairment.... This is troublesome.

Mana impairment was a kind of injury where one’s mana circuits were permanently damaged, causing not only a decrease in mana efficiency but also excruciating pain whenever mana passed through the affected area. It was one of the most dreaded injuries by heroes.

If a mage suffers mana impairment in the neck and hand... that’s practically a death sentence.

Every time she drew up mana for casting spells or forming contracts, she would feel pain from the body parts inflicted with mana impairment; it would feel like those parts were being torn apart, disrupting her concentration.

Although Sung-Ha mentioned that there was about a fifty percent reduction in aptitude for mana utilization, it was no exaggeration to say that, actually, it had been reduced to more than ninety percent.

And that was no different from a death sentence for a mage. It was a hopeless situation, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she became a good-for-nothing.

Still, maybe I’m lucky that it’s not as severe yet...

He still had a chance to set things right.

She’s currently undergoing rehabilitation treatment at Ur’s general hospital ward for vitality tests. However, she has shown no significant improvement so far, and many are skeptical about the success of her treatment.

It’s fine as long as she’s still at Babel Academy.

If he had regressed a year later, she might have formed a contract with them and left the academy. The thought of him almost having to fight the fanatical mages of that group all around the world made him dizzy.

Tch, I really need to figure out a way to deal with my damn memory soon.

But before that, resolving the situation of Blast Dog Luize was the priority. He turned the page of the packet of information that he received from Sung-Ha and reviewed the content he had read earlier.

Luize Valente sued Vier Barmuth, the blacksmith of the wand she used and the top-ranking second-year student of the Department of Blacksmithing. She claimed that he intentionally sold her a defective wand.

However, the investigation found out that Vier Barmuth was not at fault. In response, Vier Barmuth filed a defamation suit. But after he suddenly withdrew the lawsuit, the matter was considered resolved.

This was the moment that turned Luize into the Blast Dog.

Reading the name of Vier Barmuth, who was now the current third-year top-ranking student of the Department of Blacksmithing and could be considered the root of all of these issues, Se-Hoon murmured in a low voice, “Right. It was you, not Hans...”

Even though the incident had already ended, it was never too late for revenge as long as the offender was still alive and well.

Rubbing the still stinging back of his head, he chewed over the name with cold eyes.

***

The next morning, Se-Hoon went down to the main floor of the dormitory, and upon seeing the students gathered in a bustling group, he made a listless expression.

How are they so energetic in the morning...

This wasn’t their first time gathering like this, so it was surprising they weren’t tired of it yet. Ignoring them like usual, Se-Hoon made his way through and took a step through the entrance.

“Good morning!”

And immediately saw Jake cheerfully greeting him.

“...Did you two plan this?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. What’s up?”

“Oh, you know how we weren’t able to come to a settlement about our fight as the professor came by suddenly yesterday? There’s that and...”

Jake paused, glanced around sneakily, and then continued in a low voice, “The proposal you gave me.”

“...I see.”

Although Jake hadn’t given a clear answer to Se-Hoon’s proposal, given that he had come all this way, it was as good as saying that he agreed to it.

Se-Hoon glanced at the students crowded around them and then nodded.

“Let’s talk as we walk. We’ll get scolded for blocking the entrance if we stay here.”

“Ahem. I guess I was being a bit inconsiderate.”

The rumor that this time it was Jake, not Erika, who had been waiting for Se-Hoon must have spread already, as more and more students continued to gather at the entrance.

Since some students kept trying to speak to Jake, perhaps because he was the honor student of Aqar Quf, Se-Hoon decided to move quickly toward the bus stop with Jake.

“Let’s settle our match first,” Se-Hoon told him.

“Ah, here.”

Receiving the void pocket from Jake, he took out the Black Flame Hammer from within.

Hm. It’s pretty good, as expected.

As Se-Hoon was shifting the hammer to find the right grip by flicking his wrist, Jake carefully opened his mouth after looking around cautiously.

“Yesterday, you said that you would forge a sword that I could use, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Is it really possible?”

His question was filled with both doubt and anticipation, but he still looked somewhat excited. Se-Hoon chuckled at the sight.

“It’s not impossible. Well, unless your grip strength is monstrously beyond that of even the Perfect Ones.”

“It’s not that extreme, but...”

Looking down at his own hand, Jake murmured in a troubled voice, “I’ve even broken a Hero-tier sword before...”

“Hero-tier?”

Se-Hoon stopped walking and looked at him.

“What was the ratio of durability?”

“Huh? Oh... it was twenty percent into sharpness and eighty percent into durability. It was specially ordered to withstand my grip strength, but... it broke instantly.”

The Noblesse was a social gathering where the elite members of Babel Academy invited and recruited talented students to their cliques. And Luize had once declined the invitation to such a meeting. Se-Hoon wasn’t sure whether it was related to her accident or not.

So those two were in cahoots.

However, he was sure that the explosion of the wand was no accident.

“There was an incident half a year ago where the second-ranking student of the Department of Elements was seriously injured during a duel with Gerwin Kruger. Find out if Vier Barmuth was involved in that,” said Se-Hoon.

“This sounds more complicated than I thought. I’ll look into it. Anything else?”

“And...”

A moment of contemplation later, Se-Hoon was seemingly struck by a satisfactory idea and requested, “Break my arm for me.”

“...?”

“Cleanly.”

“...”

***

The general hospital ward, Askus, was located at the eastern end of Ur.

At easily three times the size of an average department building, Askus was renowned not only within the academy but also externally—thanks to the full support of Chairman Ludwig, the heroes who specialized in healing and were employed as professors, and the quality of medical staff they brought in.

“Hah... hah...”

Askus was also renowned as one of the top three hospitals in the world, and it was undisputedly number one in the field of rehabilitation, which was something heroes especially cared about.

“Huff... huff...”

However, there were still some patients even they could not heal.

In the center of a white room, a girl in a hospital gown was extending her right hand forward. Cold sweat trailed down her pale skin, each breath causing her dull silver hair, which reached down to her chin, to flutter.

She looked like she was going to collapse any second, but she just narrowed her blue eyes and barely managed to spit out some words.

“159th attempt... starting... now...”

Steadying her rough breathing, she focused on the tip of her right hand and mana began to flow from her heart.

She imagined lava being called to her fingertips, surging through the cracks in the earth’s mantle and erupting into the air. Having formed the image of the spell, she naturally recalled its pattern and began concentrating it at her fingertips.

But, all of a sudden, she felt a surge of intense pain, as if a giant blade had pierced through her palm.

Her breath stopped, nearly causing a reflux of mana. However, she bit her lip and continued to cast the spell.

Mana began to condense at her fingertips, igniting a spark.

The moment the condensed mana burst, the spell she had envisioned in her mind would be complete. Thinking about the image in her head, her mouth opened.

“Lava Ba—”

Crack.

Her throat tore, forcing her to spit blood out.

“Ek...!”

Despite knowing that the blood was actually from biting on her lip too hard, she felt her body tremble as her mana began to backflow.

The pain, reminiscent of what she felt during the accident, and the sight of blood staining the floor red seemed to have tricked her into thinking her wounds had reopened.

—Mana backflow detected. Initiating mana freeze.

A magic array quickly activated in the room and calmed Luize’s mana. The doctors outside immediately rushed in.

“Halt the experiment right now. Administer the mana neutralizer and a sedative immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Check her mana circuit for any cases of new mana impairment, just in case.”

Following the professor’s orders, the assistants quickly proceeded with the treatment.

As the sting of the mana neutralizer and sedative spread through her neck, the pain gradually faded. Realizing that she had been tricked by her own sensations, she steadied her breath and looked at the professor with a stern face.

“I’m okay... I just need a little rest... then I can continue the experiment...”

“No. That’s enough for today. You should rest.”

“But...”

“And for the time being, we will limit the rehabilitation experiments to fifty times a day. We’ll also be adjusting the spells used to basic level spells.”

“Excuse me?”

She found it outrageous that they were reducing the number of her rehabilitation experiment opportunities to a third and limiting her to basic spells, which were hardly beneficial for rehabilitation. It was virtually the same as pausing the rehabilitation experiments for a while. Startled, Luize urgently spoke up.

“Wait a minute, Professor. I... cough...!”

“Go back to your room and rest for now. Let’s start cleaning up, everyone.”

The professor, seemingly not open to opinion, turned around and left the room. Luize wanted to voice her objection, but the sedative took effect too quickly, fading her consciousness.

And when she opened her eyes again, the familiar sight of the hospital room ceiling greeted her. She groaned as she felt her dry throat.

“...Ah. Fu...ck.”

The fact that she was kicked out just for coughing up some blood made her mad, and all sorts of complaints flooded her mind, but she kept them to herself. After all, she was the one who had pleaded to increase the number of attempts from the original hundred.

I should’ve stopped at 150...

She ended up wasting her chance, thinking something might work out after pushing herself to her limits. Lying in bed, she sighed repeatedly before forcing her limp body to sit up.

If rehabilitation experiments aren’t an option, I need to do something else.

She had to try something, whether it was exercising, reading, or even meditating. Maybe something would help heal the mana impairment in her neck and hand and restore her to her former self.

Fueled with determination, despite the situation that might have broken others, she stepped out of her room.

Thump!

And walked straight into the chest of a young man passing by the door.

“Ugh! Ah... fuck...”

She tried to stop before colliding with him, but it seemed that the sedative still hadn’t fully worn off. Embarrassed by unintentionally burying her face in the chest of a complete stranger, she looked up at the young man she had bumped into.

“...”

His hair was pitch black, and his sharp eyes made him look like someone who had just murdered a few people. But overall, his fierce expression which was more akin to that of a ferocious dog than a person made her curiously inspect him.

“What are you looking at?”

With a right arm wrapped in a cast, Se-Hoon, a young man with a temperament as foul as a rabid dog, greeted Luize with a gruff voice.