Anakin recalled the first time he heard Evan’s voice.
On the day of the second exam at Pasadian, a suspicious conversation had taken place in the hallway on the 4th floor of Tran.
It was a place called a restricted zone, where disciples were not allowed to enter.
At the time, he had been too distracted to think much of it, but now that he thought about it, he wondered why the 4th floor was restricted while other floors were not.
‘Could it have been a place where Evan and his gang gathered to plot?’
The only evidence was the conversation he heard that day, but it was a fairly plausible theory.
If the opportunity arose, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to secretly explore the 4th floor.
Seeing Anakin lost in thought, Mantis smiled and said.
“Don’t worry. It’s a grand event that even the elders attend. Evan and that senior disciple will have to watch their step for a while.”
“Yeah… I hope so.”
Anakin didn’t think the cautious Evan would dare to cause trouble at the tournament.
“More importantly, the elders are attending?”
‘The elders.’
At the mention of that word, a shiver seemed to run through Anakin’s hands and feet.
‘Is the opportunity to see a Pasadian elder in person finally coming?’
Since arriving here, Anakin hadn’t even caught a glimpse of a Pasadian elder.
He had even met an elder from Latus—who had nothing to do with this place—before ever seeing one from Pasadian.
“I’m not sure how many are attending. They say it changes every year. Anyway, I’m so excited.”
Mantis’s face was the brightest Anakin had ever seen at Pasadian.
‘He must be really excited.’
“Have you recovered?”
A week had already passed since that day’s training.
Some children were still just sleeping and recovering slowly, while others were enduring the pain and attending class as if nothing happened.
Anakin remembered that Mantis had been quite badly injured as well.
At Anakin’s concerned look, Mantis said with a sheepish face.
“Not yet. I almost died, you know. But fortunately, I survived thanks to Hilde.”
“What does that mean?”
As Anakin looked curious, Mantis narrowed his eyes and recalled that day.
“Hilde. He was truly, amazingly strong. I don’t know how many people he fought alone.”
Even when they were looking for partners, Mantis had been awkward with Hilde, but now that they had developed some closeness, he called his name naturally.
‘I guess they got close.’
“Honestly, I didn’t do anything. Hilde solved almost all the traps… and at the very end, we were about to have everything stolen by other kids, but Hilde blocked them. He must have been completely out of mana by then, too.”
Anakin thought of Hilde when he fought Katarina.
Hilde certainly had a level of mana that was unrivaled.
For Hilde, who had grown up in a prestigious magic family, overwhelming an opponent was perhaps only natural.
“He really was amazing. But are you okay, Anakin? You didn’t look well.”
Anakin had also been suffering for a week from the aftereffects of that day.
Ever since meeting Hilde and Lucien, a fever had begun to burn in his body as if it were a lie.
He had expected as much, having fallen off a cliff with a body as fragile as porcelain and having pushed through grueling traps.
“I’m okay. I’m all better now.”
Anakin stretched lightly to loosen up his body. Indeed, after getting some rest, his body felt much lighter.
“Now, I need to train again.”
There was a mountain of work to do.
He had to increase his mana and continue researching ether.
And he also had to learn Pasadian-style magic techniques.
Ether, in particular, was more profound and difficult than he had thought.
It was hard to increase the amount of ether through the standard training method, the mana breathing technique.
‘Come to think of it, when I met the spirit Infernon, he said that absorbing holy energy would increase ether faster.’
Anakin, who had been contemplating for a moment, asked Mantis.
“Mantis. Where would one find objects imbued with holiness?”
“Huh? Objects imbued with holiness? Hmm. Wouldn’t they mostly be in temples?”
“……Temples, huh.”
‘Is going to a temple the only way to increase my ether?’
“It’s hard to find holy and clean objects. Besides, they’ll be quite expensive. It’ll be hard to find them inside Pasadian.”
“Ugh…”
Anakin frowned even more deeply.
He wanted to increase his ether as quickly as possible, but he felt frustrated because there was nothing he could do right now.
‘If I just had enough ether, I could really become strong.’
‘Isn’t there any place I can source holiness?’
At that moment, Mantis said:
“Honestly, if you need holiness, holding a Saint’s hand is the fastest way.”
“……Is that so?”
There would be no energy holier and cleaner than that of a Saint who directly receives revelations from God.
“But it’s hard to meet a Saint right now. There’s too much to do, and we can’t just leave Pasadian as we please.”
“Hmm. Then how about this method?”
“What kind?”
Anakin’s eyes sparkled at Mantis’s words.
Seeing Anakin like that, Mantis cleared his throat with red ears and answered.
“Requesting a guild or an organization. If you give them the right price, they’ll do anything for you.”
Anakin blinked slowly and looked at Mantis.
‘Come to think of it, the request the Crown Prince made last time was introduced by a member of the Tria Mercenary Guild.’
He had never once thought about becoming a requester himself.
“Where would I get the money, then?”
At that, Mantis looked at Anakin as if he were hearing something bizarre.
“Anakin. Are you mocking me right now?”
Anakin shook his head in embarrassment at Mantis, who was staring at him with a very twisted expression.
“No… I just didn’t want to ask my family for help if I could avoid it.”
Entering a school was equivalent to declaring independence from the family.
Furthermore, after boasting so loudly about proving himself, it was obvious what his family would think if he asked for money already.
“……Hmm.”
Anakin, who had no family backing, was certainly just an ordinary kid, no different from the others.
……Except for his looks, of course.
“But why are you trying to find an object imbued with holy energy? Isn’t it useless for ordinary people?”
Generally, people who have not received instructions from God cannot absorb holy power.
Unless it is imbued with a significant amount of holy power, one cannot even see or feel holy energy.
So, Mantis couldn’t help but be puzzled.
To his question, Anakin gave an awkward smile and said.
“It’s something I really need.”
“……I see. Alright.”
Seeing that there was a complicated story behind it, Mantis didn’t pry any further.
“But I don’t have any money either… what about borrowing some from Lucien or Hilde?”
“Huh? That’s a bit…”
Of course, he could borrow it, but….
It wasn’t something that would end as a one-time thing, as he would need it continuously in the future, so there was a clear limit to relying on their help.
Besides, he felt sorry.
Currently, what Anakin could call his assets were the artifact and 100 gold coins he had received from Oswald for completing the previous request.
And there was the extra living expenses he had received from his family.
He could manage with that for now, but in the long run, it was impossible.
“Is there any way to earn money?”
As Anakin spoke with a serious face, Mantis burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
“Are you serious, Anakin?”
“Mantis. Could you please stop laughing? I’m being very serious.”
It was funny even to him.
A noble coming to Pasadian and wanting to earn money. What kind of absurd thing was this?
But Anakin’s situation left him no choice.
His mana core was heading toward the 4th circle, but the rate of ether development was far behind.
Because the ether increased by only a tiny amount even after training hard, Anakin was on the verge of feeling frustrated for the first time since he started learning magic.
“The easiest way for a mage to make money is still requests or mercenary work. But a trainee disciple can’t do that either.”
“…….”
“And it’s not like I can be a merchant or go into trade…”
At Mantis’s realistic words, Anakin stared blankly into the void, his shoulders slumping.
Watching him, Mantis drifted off with a pitying face.
“Anakin… should I try borrowing some even if I have to go into debt?”
“……What? Don’t say things like that, even as a joke.”
Anakin let out a hollow laugh at the look in Mantis’s eyes, which were unnecessarily earnest.
“Forget it. I’ll figure it out myself. Mantis, thanks for listening.”
“I’m serious, though… but okay. Still, it’s nice to talk to you for the first time in a while.”
They shared a room, but because Anakin had been struggling for the past few days, there had been no time to talk.
Even this conversation was the first in quite a while.
“Let’s go to class. It’s almost time.”
While chatting with Mantis, the time for class had already arrived.
Anakin and Mantis rushed to the lecture hall.
“That was close.”
Comult, who was sitting in the front, acknowledged them.
Renya, who was sitting next to him, also greeted them warmly.
“Nice to see you, Anakin and Mantis.”
Anakin smiled and waved at Renya’s greeting, as she had never shown any interest in them before.
Comult and Renya, who witnessed Anakin right in front of them, stared at him blankly, as if enchanted.
“It feels like Pasadian suddenly got brighter.”
“……An extreme beauty.”
Anakin sat in his almost designated seat next to Hilde.
“It’s been a while.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Mm-hmm.”
For some reason, an awkward air flowed between them.
Perhaps it was because he remembered fighting Hilde.
Facing Hilde, whom he had fought as an enemy during the previous training, felt like a fresh experience.
“Hilde, you’ve been attending classes, right?”
“I didn’t really have any injuries, you see.”
‘If you’re strong and tough, you don’t get hurt.’
Anakin looked at Hilde with a slightly envious gaze.
Then, he turned his head and slowly looked around the classroom, which had become much brighter.
A different air and atmosphere than before.
Without Anakin knowing, Pasadian was changing little by little.
