I thrust my hand forward. The sword in my grip erupted with a blinding flash of stellar light, the radiance so intense it painted the world in shades of white and gold. The temperature around me spiked sharply, the air growing thick and heavy. Glancing down, I saw the delicate flowers near my feet—petals slightly wilted, stems hunched as if bowing to the sheer heat radiating from my blade.
The muscles in my arms tensed as I moved. The movement was so fast that my hand seemed to blur.
In my eyes, time seemed to slow as I performed the first thrust, then the second, the third all the way to the sixth. I made sure that every time I performed the next thrust, it had to match the previous one exactly. The speed had to be the same, the pressure, the heat and the energy as well.
No mistakes were permitted.
And I delivered. Flawlessly.
The astonishing part? The entire sequence took less than twenty seconds. A breathtaking speed, at least by my standards.
Six large, bright stellar-infused thrusts shot toward the golem at a terrifying speed. They left a trail of burning flowers in their wake as they closed in.
The golem had already crossed its huge arms over its chest the moment it saw the attack coming.
The attack reached it in no time.
They struck simultaneously—a cannon blast of condensed stellar force. The golem's defense shattered like glass against a battering ram. The thrusts, each the size of a battering ram themselves, engulfed its body. Legs, torso, head, arms—every inch was consumed by the blinding light.
And the moment they landed, a blinding explosion of light burst out and the flowers all around swayed from the force of it.
When the dust settled, the golem was gone. Nothing remained but chunks of stone on the ground. I had obliterated it completely.
Finally!
I had expected to perform the same way Virgil did, but it went beyond even that.
The damage I had done to the surroundings wasn't as great as Virgil's, but I didn't care about that right now.
My shoulders trembled.
"Heh..." I let out a breathless sound and then I just started laughing. "Hehehehehe!"
"I fucking did it!" I screamed with my arms wide open.
But then I realised I had screamed too loud. I shut my mouth and spun around.
Virgil was still sleeping soundly. My laugh hadn't woken him up.
Heh, I can't celebrate yet. I still need to do the second technique.
I snickered a few more times before locking in.
I checked my core. Exactly half of the stellar energy was still remaining, just as I had planned.
With a single thought, I commanded the golem to reconstruct itself. In a heartbeat it was back to its gigantic form.
"Reversing time really is something else."
I raised my sword and released the stellar energy.
It burst up into the air like a volcano, so strong that my hand trembled slightly, though it was nothing unbearable. It spun wildly like a tornado.
What I needed to do now was stop it from running loose and compress it onto my sword.
I guided the energy inward, pulling it toward a single point.
It shrank and shrank until it wrapped around the sword like a second skin.
I looked at the golem and let my sword fall into position.
[Stellar Series First Technique: Lota Lupi]
My hand blurred as I slashed down in a straight arc of blinding light and heat.
The arc moved at high speed toward the golem, hit it from the front, and came out clean through its back like it had passed right through.
Then the aftermath came.
The earth split open in a straight line along the path the arc had traveled. Soil and flowers flew up into the air in reaction to the force of the attack.
The golem, which had been standing straight just a moment ago, split into two clean halves. Steam rose from the cut as both halves toppled into the small ravine below.
Huff, huff. I panted hard, staring at what I had done with wide eyes.
Well, it wasn't exactly what I had planned. But that didn't mean I wasn't happy about it.
I had done more than I expected.
I let myself fall back onto the ground.
"Hehehehe..." I laughed loudly, not even caring anymore if Virgil woke up.
"I fucking did it!"
After so many tries, I had finally executed both techniques without a single flaw.
I now had two techniques I could use, one for defense and one for attack.
The unbeatable strength I was chasing was still far away, but I had just taken a small step toward it.
"I will get there..." My left hand clenched tight.
Then I started wondering about the others. London, Andromeda, the nobles and the other young people from the other empires.
They were probably training hard right now. After all, the military academy entrance exam was in three years. And from what I knew, only a set number of people were allowed in, so everyone had to fight for a spot. Including me.
In other novels I had read, royals and certain high-ranking nobles never had to go through that kind of process. They were admitted straight away because of their status.
But here it was different. The military academy didn't work like that. It judged fairly, because it only wanted exceptional people who had earned their place through hard work, not through status or connections. In a war against the Ancient Evil, status meant nothing. You would die just the same if you held onto it like a trophy.
That was exactly why I was going to train as hard as I possibly could. I couldn't afford to fall behind anyone. If possible, I wanted first place, but there were other strong people out there so it wouldn't come easy. At the very least, top five was something I was certain I could achieve.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice a man with a pair of cosmic eyes staring down at me.
I almost flinched, but caught myself.
"What?" I asked.
Virgil stared at me for a moment before speaking. ⌈You did better than I expected. Mastering the first two techniques in such a short amount of time. Not bad...⌋ He paused. ⌈For a human.⌋
I rolled my eyes at that, but a smirk was already on my lips.
⌈But of course you would do amazingly.⌋ Arthur closed his eyes and nodded slowly to himself. ⌈After all, it would be an insult to me if you couldn't produce great results after being taught by me. Hoh, my greatness truly has no bounds.⌋
There he goes again.
But his words did raise a question.
Was it his teaching that was that good, or was I just that good at learning?
My mind leaned toward the latter. After all, I was a reincarnated person. Was I not bound to be a little special in some way?
Well, aside from already having one of the most handsome faces in this world.
Ahem. That was not narcissism. That was just facts.
Then I got an idea. I didn't know if it would work, but I figured I would try anyway.
I looked up at Virgil, who was still staring at me, and smirked. "Stop staring. I know you can't help it. My beauty is something else, I get it."
A few different expressions crossed his face. First confusion, then a frown, then flat out disbelief.
⌈Blasphemy!⌋ Virgil threw both arms up in the air. ⌈How dare you say your face is divine when you are standing in front of the most handsome man in all the realms!⌋
It worked. Just as I thought. Virgil really did not like the idea of anyone calling themselves more handsome than him. With that pride of his, he took this kind of thing very seriously. I already knew he was more handsome than me, I was just messing with him.
⌈Do you have any idea how many goddesses have tried to be with this deity, only to be turned away?⌋ Virgil pointed at himself with one finger. ⌈I, Virgil, am the most handsome being to have ever existed!⌋
The longer he went on, the harder it became to keep a straight face. I really did not want to get incinerated, so I held it together.
He kept rambling for a good ten minutes. I sighed and finally apologized, mostly because I didn't want to waste any more time.
Once Virgil had calmed down, I got to the point.
"So, will you teach me the spells now?"
⌈Tsk.⌋ He clicked his tongue. ⌈Fine. Since you've done well, I suppose I will.⌋
He paused. ⌈What do you know about magic?⌋
I sat up from the ground and thought about it. "Uh... I know that magic uses spells?"
Smack.
A sharp hit landed at the back of my head. My hand flew straight up to cover the spot.
"What was that for?!" I frowned.
⌈Nothing. Your head just looked smackable.⌋
"That is not even a real word..." I muttered, still frowning.
⌈It is now. I'm a god. I invented it.⌋