I knew very well just how much it meant to Alter, what I did.
Out of the many characters I created in The Academy's Regressor, Alter by far had been one of the people who suffered the most.
She experienced losing her parents at a young age to an S rank demon.
She was forced to grow up at an age when most kids would've been playing.
For this, I knew how much pain she had bottled up inside her, just waiting to be unleashed.
And as someone who has never felt any sort of familial love aside from her brother, she was as starved for affection as a wolf for food.
I hated taking advantage of people's weaknesses, but it was all for the greater good.
As I watched her decimating the oncoming mass of ghouls easily through the small opening of my half-closed eyes, I laughed to myself. What kind of monster was she?
After this, I hope she has a somewhat better view of me. Her haughtiness couldn't be taken away, though. That's basically her inner trait.
Right as the last ghoul's body dropped to the floor, Alter turned back and headed toward me.
"We're going." She called out to me.
"Are you okay? Your mana levels are abnormally low. We can take a rest for a bit if–"
"I'm fine." She cut me off.
"I see."
I knew better than to argue with her. Once she put her head into something, she'd give it her all to see it through. I was sure this was no different.
Getting up from the floor, I did a few stretches to make sure my right arm was working properly.
Great. Seems like I can still swing it around relatively well. I should be good to swing Dainsleif again after a few minutes or so.
Yup. Even for a D rank like me, a few minutes was good enough to heal a minor injury. That was just how strong Heroes were compared to normal people.
I looked to my side and noticed Alter staring at me. My eyes met hers for a split second before she suddenly turned away.
Looks like she's trusting me a bit more now.
"Come on. There might be another enemy behind this door, so I need you rested and ready for battle."
"Fine."
***
Dignitas… Dignitas Qwerdan. Why did he do that!?
I was fully prepared to take a hit from the ghoul. I knew the dangers of this exam very well and yet still decided to enter with my brother.
It was because we had to get stronger. We had to enact revenge on that person. The demon who killed Mother and Father.
That was our sole reason for entering the academy.
On our first day here, we were immediately greeted by some man who called himself Dignitas Qwerdan. I wanted to brush him off as just another male looking for a relationship, but my brother seemed to like him.
From the way he approached us, I thought he had evil intentions. Why else would you approach a pair of siblings?
I had to limit his interaction with my brother as much as possible. That was why I decided to be his partner.
He was weird! Firstly, he somehow knew about a dungeon. In a restaurant, of all places.
Secondly, the way he talked to me. It was like he knew me, and was greeting an old friend.
And lastly, that sword on his waist. I had only ever heard of a weapon with a red blade once. It has to be it. Dainsleif.
I should've taken his offer and inspected his sword.
And on top of all this, he willingly jumped into danger to protect me. I wasn't someone who needed protecting, but he still decided to take the hit for me and injure his arm.
Why? Why would he do this!?
***
After we were all rested up and my arm was working well, Alter finally continued her attempt at breaking the puzzle.
It took her a few more minutes, but we were eventually able to successfully unlock the door.
Pushing it open, we were surprised to find the thin hallway had spread out into a large arena.
In the middle, there was an abnormally sized wolf. It had orange fur and terrifyingly long claws.
Fortunately for us, it was currently asleep and didn't look like it would wake up anytime soon.
And at the end of the room behind it, there was a metallic ball with a button on the side of it.
There was the care package. Now the only thing left to do was grab it.
"Shh." I brought my finger to my lips.
We slowly began to move, taking as small of a step as we could, as carefully as possible.
A single mistake could warrant our deaths in this scenario. I wasn't planning on risking my life just to get to the care package at the end of the room a few minutes faster.
It was difficult, to say the least. Small pebbles lined the stone floors, making every step we took to cause a slight cracking noise to resound.
Thankfully, we were able to get to the other end of the room in a few minutes. I carefully placed my hand on the button, making sure I did so as quietly as possible.
*ding*
Seriously?
Who the hell decided opening these packages would cause a loud ding to come out!?
The sound from the button seemed to have awakened the beast, much to our displeasure. I felt very breath it took like it was a gust of wind.
The wolf's facial expression quickly turned sour upon seeing the two of us.
It raised its arm in preparation for a slam.
"Move!"
I pushed Alter out of the attack's radius, simultaneously bringing out Dainsleif and blocking the attack with its blade.
It soon turned into a battle of strength as I struggled desperately to push back the wolf's gigantic hand.
Luckily for me, the weight on my sword was soon lifted as I saw Alter casting two orbs made from her mana.
I knew those orbs very well. It was one of her signature spells: Chaos Orb.
As one of the very few Chaos affinity magicians in the world, Alter's attacks were geared toward causing as much havoc as possible.
I knew what this particular spell did. I leapt backward and retreated to her side.
The wolf, despite being exceedingly large in size, was quite agile. It flexibly moved its titanic body out of the Chaos Orbs' range.
But even so, I knew it wasn't over. Alter's Chaos Orbs suddenly turned back and began chasing the wolf once again.
For a monster, this thing was quite smart. It could probably sense the amount of mana packed into those tiny little orbs and instinctively moved away.
I wasn't planning on letting Alter's hard work go to waste though. With Dainsleif in my hand, I charged forward.
Using a nearby pedestal to gain some height, I leapt into the air and unleashed a devastating stab attack.
I was quite literally ramming my sword through the wolf's skin like a jackhammer.
Feeling the sharp pain coming from Dainsleif, the wolf screamed in pain, allowing the Chaos Orbs to successfully close the distance.
Boom! Like a bomb, the Orbs exploded.
Another scream was heard from the wolf as it struggled to retain its balance.
Somehow though, it was able to recover its wounds from the Chaos Orbs.
But it looked at the gaping hole still present on its backside. The wound that I had inflicted on its body would never disappear.
This was Dainsleif's skill. Any wound that was inflicted by the sword could never heal.
Any attempts to cure it would only make it worse, causing pain to course through its enemies' bodies.
I never had the chance to properly use it in battle, mostly because all the enemies I fought were either dead or dead.
But now I was finally able to see in action the full (current) power of Dainsleif. All of my doubts had been washed away by a single attack.
And this thing is supposed to grow stronger? Hah.
By now, the wolf was whimpering, but the flame of anger in its eyes still didn't disappear. I kept my guard up and my sword drawn.
Just as I thought.
The moment I got just a tiny bit closer, the wolf decided to lunge forward, its mouth open.
I was pondering on whether I should lodge Dainsleif in between the wolf's mouth, but I instead decided to dodge upon seeing orange mana beginning to converge.
I barely made it out. A fiery ball of heat exploded in my original location, causing the entire dungeon to shake.
I looked to my side and noticed Alter gearing up for another spell of her own.
Attacks when launched in tandem were enough to tear down most defenses. This I believed in wholeheartedly.
That was why the moment she shot her Orbs out, I followed close behind, making sure to match its speed.
For the first time in this fight, I activated Death's Vision. Mirages, possible futures where the wolf would attack me began to appear.
Seeing as it was nearing closer to death, I had a bit more faith in the skill and decided to trust it.
Its next attack was going to be two swipes and a fireball of the same magnitude as earlier.
Looks like I was correct. The wolf eagerly closed the distance between both of us and slashed with its long claws sideways.
I dodged the first one with ease, and then stopped the second with a stab from Dainsleif.
The wolf screamed in pain once more but was unable to get more than a few seconds of howling before Alter's remaining Chaos Orbs came in to finish the job.
With a loud thud, the wolf's body fell to the floor, scattering dust all around the arena.
After a few seconds, it began to subside until the whole area was clear.
All that was left was the two of us, a dead wolf, and a care package filled with food.