Chapter 82
Where we were headed now was a place I’d saved for when I got to know Choi Yeon a little better, a place I couldn’t even attempt without her.
“……garden?”
“You’ve never been here before, have you?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen this place before.”
Titania, a garden located inside the Academy.
After Ray Pendragon became student council president. The garden was built as a welfare center for the students, an artificial forest created by countless Elementals, Mages, and Awakened.
It was the size of a large university campus, and a favorite date spot for Academy couples.
“But why are you here? You can’t be…….”
What kind of weird idea does she have──
“Duel?”
Yes, this was the kind of character Choi Yeon was.
No matter what, she could only think of a duel?
I sighed and pointed to the map at the entrance.
“That’s where we’re going.”
“……Lake Vivian?”
“Yeah, we’re going there.”
The Elixir Vault, to be exact.
The forest was a public space created by Ray Pendragon, who collected student fees to provide a place for students to relax, a place that all students could freely access and relax.
However, when players enter the academy, they receive a mysterious note one day, and following the trail of the note, they learn the truth about the Student Council and Ray Pendragon…….!
The Student Council route is one of the places where the scenario climaxes but I’m going to ignore all of that and just skim the reward.
I’m going to use Choi Yeon.
“Hey, Choi Yeon, just out of curiosity, can you use the water element?”
“Ripple? I can use it, but……?”
“Good, then follow me.”
As Choi Yeon follows me into the forest, the air is crisp and the fragrant scent of the flowers wafting from the surrounding trees tickles my nose.
Butterflies and bees flit around, as well as the occasional fairy.
Choi Yeon spins around in circles, taking in her surroundings as if she’s in awe of the scenery.
“I don’t think this is Korea.”
“Of course not, because this is a man-made mana spot created by Pendragon to reenact the myth.”
“……Mana spot?”
“Yes, a mana spot.”
And then there was the dungeon beneath our clubhouse.
“When students use their abilities inside the academy, they don’t scatter their mana, they collect it here. Or, more accurately, to a lake in the middle of the forest.”
And that mana is then transformed into an elixir under the influence of this mythical forest.
The elixir is called Vivian’s Spring.
It was an elixir that increased mana and aura by a large amount, and its value was priceless as it increased the current stats to the maximum.
Not surprisingly, it was made not from ordinary heroes, but from the mana of the world’s most talented children at the Seoul Hero Academy.
“Is it similar to our mountain?”
Choi Yeon mumbles as he listens to my explanation.
She was referring to the mountain owned by Choi Yeon’s family, the Sword Saint Family, and used as a training ground.
Well, it’s a similar principle there, so it’s the right answer. Still, I’d have to feign ignorance for now.
“You mean the mountain that your Choi family owns?”
“Yes. I heard that’s where the magic power gathers, and that’s why everyone from the Choi Family trains there.”
Huh? Wait.
“…… Is that something you can tell outsiders?”
“Oh. Right.”
As far as I know, it’s a family secret that a mountain owned by the Choi family is a place to gather magic power but the person in front of me was talking about it like it was nothing.
“Forget what I just said. If my grandfather finds out, I’ll be punished.”
He’s not going to punish you, he’s going to kill me to shut me up!
I sighed and shook my head.
“Let’s just say I didn’t hear that.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
No way, kid. She couldn’t have been telling the other kids…….
No way would Choi Yeon do that.
She’s just a character who’s a little dumb. She wasn’t stupid.
“……Butterflies. Pretty.”
Choi Yeon smiles as he follows the butterflies fluttering around her.
……Not really an idiot.
She’s still got it, though, judging by the way she snatched that elusive blue fairy butterfly with her bare hands.
“Let him go. It’s registered school property and you’ll be getting detention.”
“Oh.”
Hearing my words, Choi Yeon lets go of the butterfly with a regretful expression.
She waved at the butterfly and said hello.
I realized that if I kept going like this, I wouldn’t be able to finish by the end of the first period, so I grabbed Choi Yeon’s sleeve.
“What?”
“Come with me. We’ll walk around.”
“Oh, okay.”
Even if we walked diligently, it would still take us about ten minutes to reach our destination, thanks to this place’s unnecessarily large size.
We’ll be in the forest for the rest of the time, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.
But…….
“I’ve never seen that flower before.”
“Are those butterflies shiny……?”
“Is that a snake? My grandfather would love it if we caught it.”
“There’s also a stream.”
Her mouth, which was practically dragging along, never stopped moving.
Was she always this talkative?
No, she was definitely not a talkative NPC.
“Do you usually talk this much when there are other children around?”
“Hmm……? No. I don’t think so.”
“Well, for someone like that, you seem to be talking quite a bit right now.”
Choi Yeon tilted his head as if to say, “Is that really true?”
“Well…… I’m seeing a lot of new things, so maybe I’m just a little excited.”
“A lot of new things?”
“Yeah. I’ve only ever wielded a sword in my family, so being in a new place like this makes me excited.”
At that moment, I remembered that the most effective ways to increase my likability with Choi Yeon in the game were traveling and training.
I wondered why traveling, but not duels, had such a steady increase in favorability, and I wondered if there was a reason behind it…….
I couldn’t figure it out in a game with a fixed route.
So.
“……You have plenty of time before class ends, so take your time looking around.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I slowed my steps ever so slightly.
* * *
Soon enough, the sound of running water began to be heard.
‘Vivian’, a huge blue lake located in the center of the forest.
This was the location of the elixir that Pendragon had so diligently hidden.
“Choi Yeon, do you know anything about the myth of King Arthur?”
“A little……..Does it have anything to do with this place?”
“Well, yes and no. According to the myth, King Arthur was given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake, whose name was Vivian. And this lake is also named…….”
“……Vivian, right?”
“Yes, and we’re about to go inside.”
With that, I walked to the front of the lake and glanced at the sign that said “No Swimming”.
A seemingly ordinary sign.
But.
“That’s it.”
It wasn’t hard to turn off the security totem disguised as a warning sign.
I picked up the sign, plucked it out, and laid it meekly aside.
“Is it okay to pull that ……?”
“It’s a security device, I just turned it off for a while.”
“A security device?”
It was a simple security device that sent a signal when someone enters the water, but since it was a totem on the academy grounds, it could not be woven into a complicated ritual, so it could be turned off this simply.
Of course, that’s only possible if you know that such an insignificant sign is a totem.
“There, you just need to use Ripple toward the center of the lake. By the way, do you have a sword?”
Choi Yeon shakes his head at my question.
“No. I can do it with my fingertips, though. Want me to try?”
In ordinary water, I would have said yes, but this is a vault of sorts, holding elixirs.
Her fingertips might not be enough.
“Then wait a minute.”
Surely I’d have one by now…….
Ah, I found it.
“How about this one?”
With that, I pulled a hideous-looking machete that had once belonged to a triad I’d met at Incheon Harbor out of the cube.
It was a Rare grade item that looked like it was in tatters, but had a ‘durability enhancement’ on it.
I set it aside in case I needed to use it later, but luckily I found a use for it.
“……How much do I need to use the water element?”
“At full power.”
“Then it will only last for one use, is it okay if it breaks?”
You think a machete with a ‘durability boost’ on it will break after one swing?
“It’s alright if it breaks but……try to cause as little damage as possible to the surrounding area.”
“In that case, you don’t have to worry about it, it’s a quiet technique.”
With that, Choi Yeon grabs the machete I handed her and stops.
At the same time, aura rushes around her.
Then she swung her sword in a simple upward motion.
The tip of the machete grazes the surface of the water and at the same time.
──────!
The water split wide open on either side, revealing a hidden staircase.
This is the reason I came here with Choi Yeon.
Vivian loves talented swordsmen, that’s why Vivian’s Interior is a place that only swordsmen of a certain level can reach.
Ray Pendragon and Choi Yeon were probably the only ones in the academy who could open it.
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of excitement that I was able to get here so soon, even though my training centered around guns and fists.
Just then, Choi Yeon trudged over and handed me something with a grim look on her face.
“I tried, but it’s broken, I’m sorry.”
With her head down, Choi hands me a machete with only the handle left but compared to this Vivian’s Lake opener, I’d rather have a piece of iron.
“No, really, I just picked it up off the ground, so you don’t have to apologize. The fact that you opened this place is enough for me to thank you.”
“…… Really?”
She said, and then suddenly cleared his throat.
“Then thank me.”
……What the hell, I thought.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
I walk down the stairs, leaving a proud Choi Yeon behind.
I can see the ornamental fish swimming around in the walls of water on either side.
I feel like Moses walking through the water like this.
“Pretty.”
Choi Yeon, who was fascinated by the solidity of the water she had cracked with her technique, poked her finger at the wall of water and followed.
Leaving her behind, I stood in front of a pure white temple that looked like it was made of marble, and pushed open the pure white door.
Then, a heavy sound echoes, and the interior of the temple is gradually revealed.
“……It’s even more ridiculous now that I see it in person. You have to be the Academy’s student council president to build a facility like this in secret?”
The doors open, and a pure white light, like that of the sun, floods the interior of the temple.
The ceiling, walls, and floor are covered in runes and formulas.
They glowed with a subtle light that made the empty temple seem sacred.
And in the center of the temple was a small fountain, alone and radiating light…….
“──Found it.”
