Chapter 71
“He hasn’t come out of the training room for a week!!”
Evelyn was filled with confusion, worry, and fear.
She remembered the hero saying he wanted to test Elliot’s skills—and ever since then, Elliot hadn’t come out of the ruins.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
She didn’t look fine at all. Tinya watched as Evelyn bit her nails—an old habit she hadn’t seen since Evelyn was a child.
“If you’re that worried, why don’t you go to the training ground?”
“I can’t! I mustn’t interrupt his personal training.”
And besides, it wasn’t even about worrying. Inside the ruins, one didn’t need to eat or sleep. It was a place that guaranteed growth. Still, the mere fact that she hadn’t seen his face for a few days made her mood swing wildly.
“Even so, I think he’d be happy if you went to see him…”
“It’s rude to spy on another swordsman’s training.”
Evelyn shook her head firmly, and Tinya fell silent at the look on her face.
Well, then… at least she could sit down and take care of some paperwork. Since yesterday, Evelyn’s desk had been buried under a mountain of documents.
“Should I go? No, no!”
Anna and Tinya watched quietly as the Grand Duchess began mumbling to herself.
“This must be the first time they’ve been apart this long.”
As soon as the door closed, Anna whispered with an amused expression.
“Right? That’s what it seems like.”
Tinya squinted, amused.
They’d thought the Grand Duke had been so focused on training that he’d forgotten about Evelyn altogether. Apparently not.
“Let’s prepare some sweet snacks for her.”
“Good idea.”
The two women scurried off toward the kitchen.
Left alone in the room, Evelyn crossed her arms and stared out the window.
“Aaah…”
A groan of self-loathing escaped her lips. She had to stop herself from banging her head against the window.
“Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.”
It’s not that I like him. I don’t really like him. I’m just… mildly curious!
Evelyn felt bad for Elliot, having to endure Neraan’s hellish training… then she felt envious of his achievements… and then, she just missed him.
Bzzzz.
“It’s because we’re comrades. That’s why I miss him.”
Bzzzz.
[Just came out, by the way.]
Evelyn had been ignoring the holy sword’s humming. But when it gave that short buzz, her head shot up.
Even if it couldn’t speak words, she could sense what the holy sword was trying to say.
“Let’s go!”
She wanted to see just how much stronger Elliot had become.
“Lady Evelyn? Where are you going?!”
Tinya and Anna were on their way in with tea and snacks when Evelyn bolted out.
“I’ll be right back!”
Waving her arm as she ran, Evelyn disappeared down the corridor. Anna and Tinya tilted their heads.
“Where’s she off to?”
They stood in the hallway, watching Evelyn vanish in a blur of speed, then shrugged.
‘Faster. I need to go faster.’
If only she could fly like a raven. Evelyn bounded down the stairs, skipping steps at a time.
The attendants looked startled at the sight of the rushing Grand Duchess, but soon they smiled softly and returned to their work.
Meanwhile…
“Let’s go.”
[You miserable wretch.]
Elliot chuckled at Neraan’s grumbling voice. Evelyn had said two days inside felt like half a year. So he thought a week would feel like three years.
He was wrong.
It had felt closer to five years.
“Let’s never meet again.”
[You’d throw away the chance to grow stronger?]
“I’m just saying.”
Elliot smirked as he stepped onto the teleportation circle.
“Your Grace!!”
As soon as he emerged into the ruins’ physical training hall, the knights looked up from their drills.
Since Evelyn wasn’t present, it must’ve been the evening training session.
“You’ve made it through.”
Damian and Jeffrey approached to offer their congratulations. His hardened body and sharpened aura made it clear—Elliot had changed.
“The Duchess?”
“She went back to her duties.”
“Thank you for your work.”
Elliot praised the two for leading the knightly training in his absence and was about to return to the castle—
“Elliot!”
If it weren’t for the cheerful voice that stopped him.
Clang!
“Goodness!”
Evelyn had swung her sword at him the moment she saw him.
‘He might actually be stronger than me?’
[Focus!]
He’s coming.
At the holy sword’s warning, Evelyn gripped her sword tightly again.
Boom!
Her foot dug into the ground but was pushed back. Her shoulder throbbed. Elliot had returned as a monster.
“You really have grown stronger.”
Elliot smiled, satisfied, as he moved his body. Inside the ruins, he’d fought endlessly strong versions of the hero, so he hadn’t noticed his own growth.
“How long did it take you?”
Evelyn asked in a small voice.
“Five years.”
“What?!”
I was in there for only six months!
No wonder he was so strong now.
“Argh!”
“Don’t get distracted. I just surpassed a barrier myself, so I’m still adjusting.”
His sword narrowly missed her thigh.
She couldn’t keep up with the speed of his attacks.
Clang!
“I yield.”
At last, the sword was knocked completely from her hands. Evelyn declared her defeat.
But her eyes sparkled.
“You’ve transcended.”
“It seems so.”
The realm that only the previous heroes were believed to reach—Grand Sword Master. One of the so-called realms of transcendence, named by humans.
And for the first time, Elliot thought maybe those words weren’t exaggerations.
Even when he wasn’t focusing, his senses were overloaded with information. He had to shake his head just to dull them a little.
“I need to go back in.”
Evelyn, envious of Elliot’s new level, declared boldly—only to feel her shoulder gripped from behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A voice like it was rising from the depths of a cliff. The knights turned toward the figure behind the Grand Duchess.
Even Elliot, freshly returned from transcending a barrier, looked confused and turned around.
“Raven?”
Evelyn whipped around to look at the person holding her.
“You… you’re alive?”
Nod, nod.
Should they call him a zombie? Or maybe the walking dead?
“Eek! Stay back! No, snap out of it!”
Behind Raven, mages staggered in. Their faces were blackened up to their jaws.
“Shouldn’t the Mana Room restore vitality?”
What on earth had he done?
The mages had been left alone to train. Evelyn had stopped checking on them for just a few days… and they returned looking like corpses.
“Hehehe.”
“Raven’s insane.”
“Wahaha!”
Raven burst into mad laughter at his friend’s horrified face. Elliot pulled Evelyn by the wrist to stand beside him.
“I’ve discovered a method to accelerate growth!”
He really was crazy. Evelyn shook her head at the sight of Raven laughing maniacally.
“You look like that and claim to have discovered something?”
“This is just the process of growth.”
Raven snickered, wiping his face.
“Give me food.”
“Move the mages to the castle.”
“No! I want to talk to Evelyn more—!”
Just as he was about to start bragging again, Elliot gestured, and a knight hoisted Raven onto his back.
“Evelyn! I discovered something incredible! Cough! Gwah!”
“Oh dear, Mage, please eat first before speaking!”
The knight carrying Raven patted his back, begging him not to throw up.
As Raven was hauled off into the distance, Evelyn met Elliot’s eyes.
“What the hell did he do in the Mana Room?”
“Don’t go in there!! Cough cough!!”
How he heard her plans to enter, no one knew—but Raven was still yelling as he was carried away.
The knights tilted their heads at the mage’s desperate cries.
“So… no one’s allowed in the Mana Room right now?”
“Correct. It’s off-limits until tomorrow.”
Ramain, watching the mages being taken away, chuckled darkly.
“Looks like the Tower Master’s disciple really is a genius.”
Evelyn tilted her head. Just yesterday, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“He studied the magic circle on the wall and improved the speed and affinity for storing mana and aura in the body.”
Ramain laughed grimly, saying that because of it, all the mages had been pushed to the brink working on modifying the circle.
They hadn’t believed it was possible—but they did it.
“He said he’ll soon be able to improve other areas too. I guess he really is a genius specialized in magic circles.”
“Ramain, enough talk. You need rest, too.”
Seeing the mage’s pale face, Elliot clicked his tongue.
“No one’s allowed in while the stabilization is ongoing!”
Shouting like a martyr, Ramain was also picked up and carried off by a knight.
“You all heard that? No one is to enter.”
At Elliot’s words, Damian decided to lock the ruins’ doors after today’s training.
They’d only open again once the mages gave the go-ahead.
