Aethernea Episode 43 – Catch the Cube

Episode 43 – Catch the Cube

Previously:

The second test started, testing the mana control ability of the examinees. Rau Eryey and Kady Ailert explained the details of the test. Because of the peer pressure, Kiel stepped out to take the exam.

Unperturbed by the voices and stares, Kiel walked unhurriedly to the cube. His face indifferent, the definition of calm. His posture, mannerisms aura – everything radiated nobility and power. Making everyone who was looking at him have their heart skip a beat and their blood rush to their face.

Saying that Kiel was alluring, sexy, enchanting, or hot wouldn’t be wrong, but his bearing wasn’t intended to be so. Rather, his appearance gave it an inherent allure that could only be enhanced, and never covered up.

When his steps stilled, the entire sound within the room died down. His icy blue eyes locked onto Rau and he offered him his exam pass.

Rau glanced at it briefly, before giving it to Kady. She inspected it shortly as well, and then smiled kindly at him. She flipped the hourglass standing on her desk and nodded her head in approval.

Without further ado, Kiel concentrated full-heartedly onto the cube. The voices, the gazes, everything else ceased to matter.

The light azure mana separated from his aura, into strands that followed the crevices of the cube. Like water flowing through canals, his mana slowly filled every gap. Constantly he directed it to tighten, to become denser.

The cube slowly rotated, floating in front of him.

With its every movement, Kiel’s spell also moved accordingly.

For others, it was a challenging task. For Kiel, it was simplicity itself. His mana was as much of a part of him as his own arms and legs.

His heart didn’t accelerate; his hands didn’t shake. Calm and confident.

That is who Kiel Rroda was. He wasn’t a kindhearted polite person he acted as. He wasn’t an easily riled up fool that he appeared to be when confronted by Elaru.

No. This was true Kiel Rroda.

In a flash, a pulse of power spread through the cube as his weaving reached its apex.

The spiral on the side of the cube started glowing brilliantly, the glow slowly spreading from the center outwards.

Examinees almost stopped breathing, looking closely at the spiral, waiting for the glow to stop spreading.

5…7…10.

As it reached the 15th marker, people started nodding their head.

“As expected. He is good at weaving as well.”

“It isn’t as alarming as his casting speed though.”

“Did you see how fast he finished the test. He weaved it even faster than the professor.”

“That’s because he is good when it comes to speed. However, with speed, the accuracy suffers. Just watch.”

When the light passed over 17, it still showed no signs of stopping.

People were already exclaiming in surprise.

“Ah! He is even better than expected!”

“He should be reaching his limit.”

“He won’t go past 20.”

“What are you saying? I say he won’t go past 18!”

Yet the light grew and grew.

16…18…20…

At this point, everyone’s hearts were beating hard.

Too dangerous!

This boy is too dangerous!

What does it mean to be both fast and accurate? Not only were they unable to compare to his speed, but his potential for learning more complex spells far surpassed them too.

His spellcasting wouldn’t fail. When he decided to cast a spell, in a flash, that desire would turn into reality.

Kiel’s expression showed no excitement nor pride. He stared at the spiral as if he already knew the result.

21…22…23…

Rau’s pupils shrunk. Kady’s fingers gripping her pen turned white.

24…

Everyone held their breath.

25.

As the glow reached that final number, examinees felt as if a bomb exploded beside their ears. Absolute silence enveloped the room.

The first sound to break it was the soft sound of pen writing on paper. Kady was noting down Kiel’s exam score. “Wonderful performance. 25/25.” She praised.

As her words fell, the room erupted in an uproar.

“Impossible!”

“How can someone both be fast and accurate to such an extent!”

“Monster. He is simply a monster.”

The black haired male with flawless pale skin, standing with his head held high and his back perfectly straight, at that moment, in their eyes, looked no different than a god.

* * *

The time for Arion’s and Elaru’s second exam was moved later because of the delay caused by breaking of the speedometer. When they were let into the room, they noticed that their examiners were still Deora Thayn and Zerel Reysic.

As soon as they entered, Deora’s eyes were glued on Elaru, giving her a deathglare.

The mood was very tense. Knowing how quickly Deora could erupt, everyone kept quiet, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Whether Deora noticed that the number of examinees had decreased or not was unclear. He didn’t comment on it, instead explaining the usage of the cube. After that, he proceeded to demonstrate his own skill in weaving.

Like they were rereading the same book over and over, a similar scene to the one earlier today played out again. Deora proudly puffed out his chest, flaunting his 24/25 points as if no one could compare to him. Zerel clapped and praised him. “In doing it fast, almost no one can compare to you little Dei! You’re done before anyone can react!”

Examinees stood with their lips tightly pressed together, not knowing what to say. This praise…is he actually making fun of him?

This two-man show was simply too ridiculous. Once again, Deora didn’t doubt the validity of Zerel’s words, basking in glory for a while before asking if there were any questions. His gaze rested immediately on Elaru, giving her a deathglare, just daring her to ask a question.

Elaru didn’t disappoint. “Are we allowed to touch the cube?”

Deora stared at her and blinked a few times.

What?

Just…

What?

“Why would you want to touch the cube?” Deora finally responded, momentarily forgetting his hate towards Elaru.

“Someone might find it easier to weave if the cube was in their hands.” Elaru shrugged.

Deora’s mouth twitched a few times before he started laughing uproariously. Zerel looked at Elaru with interest. He didn’t believe she was stupid or asked questions without a purpose in mind. Yet, he couldn’t see through her intention at all.

Deora looked at Elaru, scorn written all over his face. Aren’t you grasping at straws here? The reason why the cube is set up to float in the air, slowly rotating is to make it easier for you to weave, without having to turn the cube yourself. Stupid!

If one had to manually turn the cube, their bodily movement might not be synced with their control of their mana. The rotation of the cube currently had a constant velocity. However, her body wouldn’t have such precise control of rotation.

Deora’s eyes suddenly started glittering. He had found a way to get back at her for the fiasco from the previous test. If you want to make it more difficult for yourself, by all means, go ahead!

Deora picked up the cube easily. Although the cube looked large and heavy, it actually had a zero gravity field set up around it, which is why it continued to float, and why it rotated with a constant velocity. When he took it between his hands, it stilled.

He looked towards Elaru, who was ostracized by almost everyone, with no one standing close to her. Arion too moved away from her sheepishly, not wanting to draw Deora’s fury towards himself.

Deora’s mouth curled into a smirk, and his hands moved quickly, flicking the cube towards Elaru. “Sure! Go ahead!”

Not only would he “generously” give her the cube so she could touch it as she asked, but he would take the opportunity to throw the cube straight at her face. He hoped she got a broken nose or a black eye when hit by the cube.

The cube was made out of mythril which was an incredibly hard material, almost impossible to break, so he wasn’t worried about the cube getting damaged. The only one getting damaged here would be Elaru.

If she dared complain that he had hostile motives towards her and hit her with the cube on purpose, he would just innocently claim that he was just giving her the cube as she asked. That he didn’t do anything wrong. And besides, everyone had signed an agreement when applying for the exams, stating that Muni held no responsibility for their injuries.

She couldn’t do anything to him. As long as he didn’t hurt her too badly and claimed innocence, no one could touch him. Not even headmaster Eruan would bother with it.

This would be so refreshing and enjoyable. Deora watched Elaru with excitement, just waiting to see her miserable appearance. His throw was quick and unexpected, she couldn’t catch it.

Elaru’s eyes didn’t even have the chance to widen before she reflexively reacted. Her hands moved so fast a slapping sound was heard when she caught the cube.

Deora’s face darkened, revealing a pout of dissatisfaction. Darn it! What fast reflexes!

However, Elaru’s face, instead of revealing relief or pride turned completely stoic.

Even Zerel, who caught a brief flash of panic pass through her eyes, attributed it to the sudden “attack”.

He was wrong.

Elaru was used to people shooting stuff at her – usually daggers, arrows, and fireballs. How could she possibly reveal panic because of a fast moving cube?

The problem lied in the fact that she was caught unprepared. She didn’t manage to move her mana away from the cube as it entered her dense mana field. Her mana field…was much more than just mage armor.

The dense mana making her aura hit the cube like an avalanche.

Cold sweat covered her back instantly when she realized her own bad luck.

Her eyes darted towards Deora who seemed to be sulking, and Zerel whose eyes glittered with interest. Neither realized what just happened.

Without further ado she flicked her badge towards Zerel, bypassing Deora completely. “May I begin?” She asked, trying her best to contain her urgency.

Zerel effortlessly caught her exam pass and nodded his head without even looking at it “Of course.” Deora wanted to protest, angry that she completely ignored him, but Zerel had already flipped the hourglass.

She wasted no time, pushing mana around the cube so fast it looked like her life depended on it. Her expressionless face revealed no clue about how much she was swearing inside.

Examinees stared at her dumbfounded. This isn’t a casting speed test!

Deora didn’t know whether to huff because she hurt his pride, or laugh because she was racing through an accuracy test.

As they watched Elaru rush with the test, people around her started revealing mocking expressions.

Who are you trying to impress?

Are you trying to weave it fast to use the speed as the excuse for not having a high score?

Idiot!

Haha! I’ll eat the entire cube if you manage to reach 10 points with such speed!

Arion was the only one among the examinees who didn’t have scorn and disregard splattered over his face. He stared at Elaru, with a solemn face, deep in thought.

What is she doing?

He was an excellent judge of character. And his instincts told him that Elaru was in no way stupid.

Does she actually have the ability to weave flawlessly while retaining such speed?

Elaru completely ignored all the scorn and employed her full concentration and ability on the task at hand.Faster! Faster!! Faster!!!

She chanted inside her head, sweat dripping down her forehead. Speed had no effect on the score of this test. However, because of her mistake…or rather…Deora’s mistake, she had no choice but to hurry.

Soon the spell was completed, and the spiral started lighting up.

Without waiting for it to finish, she accelerated towards Deora and pushed the cube into his hands. As if the cube was on fire and would hurt her if she continued touching it.

Deora looked at her dumbfounded for several seconds before looking down at the glowing spiral.

The spreading of light seemed so slow. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Elaru repeated inside her head, yet her urgency never showed on her face.

3…5…8

The examinees chuckled, not feeling the result suspenseful at all. It would stop climbing at any moment. There was no way to have a high score with that speed. The girl clearly had no idea what she was doing.

Elaru clenched her fists quietly.

10…13

When the spiral reached 14, the room was in an uproar.

Coming up in the next episode:

The one with the palest face, the face with the most comical shocked expression, was actually Deora.

He stared at it for several seconds before his bloodshot eyes slowly rose up to meet Elaru’s. With a shaking finger, he pointed straight at her face and bellowed. “What did you do?!?!”

“Out. OUT!” Deora screamed so loudly that the building almost shook.

After exiting the room with the other examinees, Elaru wiped the sweat off of her forehead. That was close…

Elaru strode towards him gracefully and grabbed his arm. In a sing-song voice pleasant to the ear, she chimed: “Let’s go shopping.”

Chapter end