Academy Main Building, Student Council Room.
"Then, let's begin."
Haruna, in front of me, closed her eyes and raised her hand above my head.
In her other hand, she tightly gripped a rosary, assuming a prayer-like posture.
"Once I activate the magic, your body will transform into another. You will remain in this transformed state for only two hours, during which you must resolve everything."
Light began to emanate from Haruna's rosary.
"But just because my body changes doesn't mean I can use its abilities, right?"
Surely, if my body changed, aspects like my mana might increase, but the real issue was knowledge.
To use magic, you need to understand its theory and also develop a certain intuitive feel for it.
Haruna shook her head in response.
"It's not just a body switch. Essentially, your consciousness will enter that person, so you'll be able to access all the knowledge that the future you possesses."
Being able to access knowledge...?
"Does accessing the knowledge mean I can see how I grow in the future?"
"Yes. You will know everything from the path that person has walked, to what abilities they can use, and even how to use those abilities."
The future me.
The me from the strongest timeline.
It's practically an answer key.
A guide indicating where I should head.
Is this what Haruna meant by doing this for the future?
"Then, I'm ready."
As I agreed, intense light spilled from the rosary.
I closed my eyes and surrendered to the light.
Suddenly, my body felt like it was swept into some space.
My body jolted, feeling strange, and I opened my eyes.
Haruna was nowhere, and only darkness greeted me.
“Ugh……! What…….”
Then, suddenly, my body started to move rapidly.
My head is spinning.
Being swept somewhere.
Into the darkness.
I kept going into it, falling endlessly.
"What is this...!"
I tried to get a hold of myself, but the dizziness made it hard to grasp the situation.
As I was pulled further into the darkness, I saw a distant light.
My body started moving towards it.
I tightly shut my eyes against the overwhelming brightness.
I felt the light weakening and blinked my eyes open.
“Ah……?”
Before my eyes, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Collapsed buildings.
The surroundings looked like ruins.
Only the sight of a vast wasteland, consumed by flames, was visible.
I stood in the center of it all.
"Where is this……."
With a baffled expression, I surveyed the surroundings.
Something was odd.
Despite the devastation, the place felt familiar.
Weirdly… the surroundings felt familiar.
The mountain visible in the background…
The positions of the collapsed buildings.
And then……
“Ah?”
The clothes I was wearing.
It was Liberion Academy’s uniform.
There was only one place where I’d wear this uniform.
“Ah……Academy?”
This was Liberion Academy.
And then…...
When I tried to look elsewhere, my body began to be swept away just like when I came here.
"What is this……!!"
I tried to shout, but it felt as if something was choking me.
Then... I lost consciousness.
"Ugh..."
I slowly started to regain consciousness.
"Are you alright?"
I heard Haruna's voice beside me.
"Uh... I think I'm okay..."
I spoke to Haruna while slowly lifting my body.
“How do you feel? Does it seem like you came back normally?"
"Normally......?"
How would I know if the one who used the magic doesn’t know?
I looked at Haruna, wondering what she meant.
Seeing Haruna's face, I felt something was off.
Even though she had her eyes open, her focus was not right.
Empty pupils.
Despite me standing in front of her, it was as if she wasn't seeing me.
As if she couldn’t see anything at all…
"Haruna, are you okay?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Yes, I'm fine. I just can't see in front of me, but everything else seems fine.”
And that's okay?
“We need to treat you right now…”
"No."
Haruna spoke firmly.
“We have more pressing matters at hand.”
"That's right. We don't have time to take it easy."
Then, a voice was heard from behind me.
A green-colored magic creature was sitting behind me.
"...Sylph?"
The intermediate wind elemental, Sylph, was sitting behind me.
"Rie and Yuni are in danger."
"Rie is...?"
Then, Haruna, who was next to me, also spoke.
"Just now, there was a large explosion sound in front of the building."
Sylph continued.
"Since Rie is there, something has happened."
Hearing that, my eyes widened.
"I'll go check it out. Haruna, you stay here. I’ll be back soon."
Then, Haruna smiled.
"Understood."
I got up and looked forward.
However, what abilities do I have...?
As I thought for a moment, a flood of knowledge started pouring in.
Like speed-reading through a book, countless pieces of information entered my brain.
"Huh?"
Then… I began to understand the world I had just seen.
This future me... had gone through the same developmental process as the current me.
"What is this..."
I opened my mouth in astonishment.
However, panicking wasn’t an option.
I closed my mouth and clenched my teeth tightly.
The present is more important than the possible future.
I shook my head and used magic.
"Teleport."
Space magic.
A magic only the Astria family can learn.
The future me was able to use this magic.
The scene before me changed.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})In front of me, there was a man holding a large sword, and further away, Yuni was seen bleeding.
"Ah."
Seeing that, I let out a sigh.
Turning my head for a moment, there was Rie, tightly closing her eyes and shedding tears.
The once strong and resilient Rie was now in tears.
I turned my head and reached out my hand.
"Who are you......"
I used magic before the other person could respond.
"Spatial Slash*."
Then, as if a sword was being swung, a line was drawn in space.
"Ah."
A line appeared on the arm of the other party.
The arm holding the sword was severed.
"Ugh……!! Who are you? What is this......"
The opponent screamed in surprise as the arm holding the sword was cut off.
I looked at the person with a cold face.
The one who made Yuni like that and tried to kill Rie.
Looking at him, my anger surged.
My anger boiled as I looked at him, making my face even more impassive.
“Ah.”
Then, a voice came from behind.
It was Rie's voice.
I slightly turned my head and looked at Rie.
Rie was looking at me with a surprised face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Rudy?”
Seeing Rie like that, my expression softened a bit.
I gave a faint smile.
"I'll finish this quickly, Rie. Just wait a moment.”
I then moved my mana again.
"Ha......!"
The man looked at me and let out a laugh.
Despite his arm being cut off, it was unbelievable.
“Will cutting off your head stop that laughter?”
"You can’t kill me."
Then, something strange happened to his arm.
The severed surface swelled up, and the swollen part took shape, recreating the form of an arm.
Does he regenerate even after death?
Seeing that, I thought I understood what he meant.
"Hmm, is that so?"
I lifted the corner of my mouth.
"Then I won't kill you."
I stretched out my hand.
"Spatial Rift."
Crack.
I aimed a rift at his core.
A direct impact on the very fabric of space.
His body seemed to fracture, much like cracks in a windowpane.
However, he had already seen the technique.
He didn't just stand there and take it.
"Ugh......"
He moved his body quickly and escaped from the rift.
As he escaped from the rift, he rushed toward me.
I grabbed Rie’s hand behind me.
"Huh?"
"Teleport."
In an instant, Rie and I moved.
The opponent, running toward me with his sword, opened his eyes wide as our figures suddenly disappeared.
"What the......"
I had teleported near Yuni.
Rie, suddenly relocated, was very surprised.
Also, seeing Yuni collapsed below, she screamed loudly.
"Yuni......!"
Rie immediately bent down and grabbed Yuni.
"She’s still breathing!"
Rie said to me as she looked up.
I held Rie's shoulder, reassuringly, and quietly opened my mouth.
"I’ll finish this and be right back."
I stood up again and looked at my opponent.
I walked towards him.
"Huh!"
He gripped his greatsword, dark energy swirling around it, and approached me quickly.
It was undoubtedly threatening.
If it could emit sword aura to that extent, the original me would have never won.
Given his enhanced physique and regenerative ability, there was no way my past self could've defeated him.
But now, it's different.
From what I knew, a space magic user was a swordsman’s worst nightmare.
When you slice through space, you can cut through even the most solid objects.
A swordsman's physical enhancement ability would be practically useless.
If I use the other abilities I have on top of that......
The opponent swiftly approached and opened his mouth.
"One Slash."
He lifted his sword and slashed it down from above.
"Dark Flame."
A massive sword strike flew towards me.
A tremendous sized sword strike.
It was something I can dodge, but Rie and Yuni were behind me.
"Priscilla."
As I spoke, a large wolf appeared behind me.
A wolf with a mix of blue and silver fur.
It was the Ice Elemental, Priscilla.
"Freeze it."
"Grrrrr......"
As I spoke, Priscilla stretched her leg forward.
As Priscilla took a step forward, the dark sword energy gradually slowed down and began to freeze.
From the ground up, all of the sword energy began to freeze.
It was Priscilla's ability to freeze even mana.
"Hah......!"
The opponent, seeing this, looked at me as if in disbelief.
"Shall we finish this then?"
I looked at the frozen sword aura and slightly raised the corners of my mouth.
Then, Priscilla spoke from behind me.
"What's gotten into you?"
Priscilla spoke to me as if she didn’t understand.
"Oh, Priscilla. We'll talk later..."
"Why did you summon me?"
"Huh?"
I opened my eyes wide.
Priscilla seemed different.
The Priscilla of the future...
"I'm sorry, Priscilla. It seems like now is not the time for conversation."
I smiled awkwardly and spoke to Priscilla.
"Can you freeze that guy for now?"
"...Fine."
Priscilla glanced at me with a slight glare and nodded.
The opponent attempted to swing his sword again.
But before that, Priscilla's mana moved, and his legs slowly began to freeze.
“Kuh…….”
He looked at his freezing legs and scowled.
In a bold move, he cut off his own legs with his greatsword.
Blood splattered, and he collapsed to the ground.
It was meaningless.
Without legs, he couldn't move.
Freezing him was an action meant to immobilize him, so it didn’t matter.
"Spatial Rift."
"Ah."
The opponent opened his mouth when he heard my words.
A rift formed in the center of his collapsed body.
"I... will... not... die...!"
"Sure, you won't."
I clenched my fist tightly.
Then, bits of his flesh splattered around.
From his face to his body, he was fragmented into pieces.
The opponent couldn’t even scream properly and turned into small flesh lumps.
A technique that inflicts a shock to the space itself, tearing everything in that place into pieces.
Its power was, needless to say, immense.
However, the opponent's body was extremely bizarre.
The fallen flesh slowly gathered.
Like a split slime rejoining, it wobbles and regenerates.
"I... will... not... die..."
He spoke again as he regenerated.
I could continue to inflict pain in this way, but that would be time-consuming.
I had limited time with this body.
However, that wasn't the real issue.
Yuni, lying down.
I have to treat Yuni quickly.
If it gets any later, it might become serious.
"Space Creation."
Then, a black circle was drawn, and a new space emerged.
"Swallow him."
I put mana into that space and sucked the opponent into it.
"Ah..."
The opponent's body began to be sucked into the space before it could regenerate again.
"Kuaaak... The master will...!"
The opponent tried to shout something, but he was sucked into the space.
"Whew..."
I exhaled deeply after watching that.
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*I originally tl'd this as spatial slice, but I think spatial slash sounds better.
