[Magic power increased by 666%]
[Mana sensitivity increased by 666%]
[Spell casting speed increased by 666%]
[Mana recovery rate increased by 666%]
[Temporary talent "Magic (Prodigy)" applied]
[Temporary immunity to all mental magic]
[Entered a transcendent state of emotion called "Sloth"]
[Lasts for 66 seconds]
As I used the skill, numerous message windows appeared, accompanied by a sense of emptiness that I had never experienced before.
Is this how the emotions of a transcendent being feel, devoid of the emotions of this world?
'I can't be bothered to think.'
I can't be bothered to move. I can't be bothered to open my eyes. I can't be bothered to breathe. I can't be bothered for my heart to beat.
Everything is just bothersome.
Let's just die.
And so, my breathing stopped, my heart stopped, and my pulse started to fade away.
["Where do you think you're going to die so easily?"]
['Original Sin' begins to engulf the host.]
"Ugh."
My heart, which had stopped, started beating again, and my breath returned.
The sudden rush of oxygen jolted my head.
My entire body trembled uncontrollably.
And naturally, I cast magic towards Pahyat, who stood before me.
"Earth Shield."
Unlike before, an Earth Shield with compressed strength, as hard as diamond, emerged from the ground, rising up like paper.
In an instant, the thin Earth Shield that emerged from below sliced through Pahyat's left arm, which was holding Vivianne.
"Huh?"
Looking at his severed arm, Pahyat raised an eyebrow, then casually applied pressure to stop the bleeding.
"What kind of magic is this?"
I didn't bother answering his nonchalant question.
Stumbling, I created hundreds, thousands of Rock Spheres.
These Rock Spheres, like the Earth Shield that severed Pahyat's arm earlier, were compressed to the maximum, boasting incredible strength.
"Ohoho. What's going on here? What's happening?" he said, looking nonchalant.
The ground trembled.
I infused mana into the ground, shaking the entire chamber.
Using excessive magical power caused pain in my heart.
As a result, my nose started bleeding, but I paid it no mind.
Feeling pain, my body breaking down, and the calmness with which my opponent looked at me—all of it was bothersome.
"I'm tired of it all."
Let's just die already.
I quickly pulled the mana in the vicinity towards my heart.
And although I couldn't fully grasp what Salem had taught me, I applied the concept of mana waves and shot out Rock Spheres compressed to the size of my fingers.
Like bullets piercing through a barrel, an explosion of magical power occurred as the rock bullets flew at a speed faster than bullets.
With only one arm remaining, Pahyat attempted to swing his sword, but due to the shaking ground, he couldn't block all the rock bullets flying at him faster than bullets.
Pew pew pew pew!
"Hohoho. Who are you really?"
Although my opponent tried to defend himself by covering his body with aura, the rock bullets propelled by the modified wave of Salem pierced through him with tremendous force.
Thanks to that, Pahyat was bleeding all over his body as he laughed.
It would be so much easier if he just died.
Bang!
In an instant, Pahyat was right in front of me.
But I was already reading his movements and used the Rock Spheres embedded in his body to immobilize him.
The tremendous mana sensitivity allowed me to control the embedded Rock Spheres.
While his sword stopped in front of my forehead, creating a gash and making blood trickle down, that was the end of it.
"Just die already."
Pahyat's muscles pushed away my Rock Spheres.
But with his body floating in the air due to the Rock Spheres that had already emerged, he posed no threat to me.
That's when the thought of having the upper hand fleetingly crossed my mind.
[The duration of the special skill 'Laziness' has ended.]
[Recoil is imminent.]
Laziness ended.
With it, blood started to flow from my eyes, mouth, and ears.
"Shit..."
Another damn strong recoil.
Although my emotions had returned, my body had reached its limit.
As a result, Pahyat, who was floating in the air, fell to the ground.
While the Rock Spheres wreaked havoc on his body, leaving him in a less than ideal state, he was still a formidable opponent near the level of Aura Masters.
At this point, it was a clear defeat for me.
'I've used up all my mana so cleanly. It's the first time I've ever used it to the point of emptiness.'
If I had enough mana to summon Nickel, he would have been the one defeated.
Pwoosh!
Before my thoughts could fully form, a sword sprang from Pahyat's chest as he staggered to his feet.
The protruding sword returned to him and severed his supply.
Sergeuk.
As the giant Pahyat fell, Vivianne appeared behind him, blood trickling down her forehead.
"Adrius!"
She limped towards me and embraced my fallen body.
In Vivianne's arms, I trembled and searched through her embrace with trembling hands.
"It's broken."
The potion I had prepared in case of emergencies shattered from the impact.
My body felt sluggish.
'Is this how it ends?'
The reality of death loomed before me.
It's not funny. I didn't expect to die from the recoil of a special skill.
'It couldn't be helped. Even with Nickel and Timur, it would have been impossible. Especially against someone like Pahyat, who approached the level of Aura Masters.'
If Nickel and Timur undergo a few more evolutions in the future, they may surpass their abilities during their lives. But for now, they couldn't match Pahyat, who was close to an Aura Master.
So, I had to use the special skill anyway.
Of course, I never dreamed there would be such a strong recoil.
Still, sacrificing my own body to save Vivianne, even if only for that, I felt a vague sense of relief.
"Adrius, snap out of it. I will definitely save you."
Vivianne, despite her own injuries, carried me on her back and began to escape from the stronghold.
Her limping figure overlapped with the young Vivianne that she had seen within the confines of Sloth's bond.
"I'm sorry, Vivianne."
"I will never let you die! Don't say such things!"
I'm sorry.
My eyes closed, unable to go on any longer...
Ding!
[Conditions have been met.]
[A potential candidate for evolution has been detected.]
What is this? Is it a gift from the afterlife?
[Evolution potential of Adrius Cromwell: 33%]
[Evolution will result in a single branching path.]
Will I evolve?
'This can't be a joke.'
Unbeknownst to me, a smile formed on my face as I confirmed the message and closed my eyes.
.
.
.
.
Upon hearing the story and surveying the stronghold with the heads of each department, Bart couldn't contain his anger and released his mana in a fit of rage.
Observing his anger, Berial Castero, the head of the Department of Magical Arts, shrugged and spoke.
"So, it was true. By the way, are all the corpses here students?"
Upon his question, Surahan, the head of the Department of Knightly Arts who had come together, furrowed his brow.
"At least these three are students from the Department of Knightly Arts."
"Oh, this one is a student from the Department of Magical Arts. Ah, how cleverly hidden."
Berial's nonchalant remark provoked discomfort in Bart, who was already uneasy.
"Berial, is that all you have to say?"
"Well, um... I guess that's... all. I'll be more careful next time."
Berial, smiling, surrounded himself with mana and shielded himself from Bart's storm of mana.
Unfortunately, despite his exceptional talent, Berial, who held the title of the Youngest Warlock, was a psychopath who lacked empathy for the surrounding situation.
"If these bombs had exploded, hundreds of people in the arena would have died. And do you think the enemy would have stopped at just the bombs? They probably would have carried out a massacre afterward."
Upon Surahan's words, Berial nodded approvingly and exclaimed, "That's probably true. If that had happened, everyone would have died, right?"
"Berial, it was undoubtedly your responsibility to ensure security and defense. How can you be so careless?"
"Yes, but nothing happened, did it? I just had to stop them."
Bart couldn't contain his anger and erupted in rage. "You're saying that now? Because of you, two students are wandering in danger. And you think that's nothing?"
"Well, it is my responsibility, but I don't understand why you're so upset, Tower Master."
Berial, who had said that, added with a subtle smile, "Could it be that you're worried that Lord Adrius and Lady Vivian were involved in the incident? I heard that both of them were at the arena today..."
"Berial, it seems you've reached your limit."
"Hahaha! Is that so? Well, well. I never expected the Tower Master to get so worked up."
Bart, who was glaring at Berial's blatant provocation, took a deep breath and regained control of his emotions.
Berial had made such provocations more than once before.
As someone who aimed not only for the position of the Head of Laurent Academy but also for the Master of the Tower, Berial was always prepared to fight Bart.
As Bart knew this well, he didn't want to provide unnecessary grounds for confrontation.
'The nerve of that guy. I'll have to sort him out someday.'
Although he wasn't lacking in confidence when it came to combat, an accidental fight that wasn't an official duel would only be politically disadvantageous for him.
In the end, Bart maintained his composure and ignored Berial's provocations.
"Ah, how boring."
Noticing Bart's reaction, Berial deflated like a deflating balloon.
Surahan, who had been observing the standoff between the two, shook his head and noticed a lifeless body in a corner.
The headless corpse was truly a body meant for battle, boasting robust and formidable muscles. Surahan's eyes lit up as he noticed the severed limb nearby.
"Pahyat Corbon."
Upon Surahan's words, Bahat and Berial, who had maintained their composed stances, approached.
"Pahyat? The owner of the Muriel entertainment district?"
"That's correct. I remember meeting him before. He was an extremely powerful opponent, someone you wouldn't encounter easily."
Berial and Bart immediately recognized that Pahyat's body was riddled with magical wounds.
"How fascinating."
Berial's eyes gleamed as he manipulated Pahyat's wounds and retrieved small pieces of stone.
The compressed stones were opaque and shaped in a way that minimized air resistance when they were launched.
"It's astonishing. This mana arrangement creates stones of extreme strength through maximum compression. And the shape, too."
Bahat approached and examined Pahyat's corpse, then used Mana Detect to scan the surroundings.
As a result, he was able to detect the scattered fragments of stones in all directions.
"At least thousands of stone fragments..."
What was even more amusing was that the mana arrangement used was a basic-level Rock Sphere, despite the genius-level mana arrangement technique.
"So, the dullard Adrius Cromwell pulled off this madness?"
Soon, the notion of the Sin crossed Bart's mind.
'Could it be...?'
Did Adrius possess a Sin?
However, the effects of the Sin weren't particularly impressive.
Furthermore, how could Adrius conceal a Sin that took the form of a tree?
But...
'There's enough reason to suspect.'
While Bart entertained such thoughts, Berial, on the other hand, was purely in awe.
"It's true. This doesn't seem to be the skill level of ordinary students. Could there have been a third accomplice?"
"Indeed, the probability of that is high. It's unbelievable that only two students defeated Pahyat."
Bart and Berial's speculations were left unchallenged.
Adrius himself considered the likelihood to be even higher.
"They are both in a coma now, so we can't question them."
"That's true. Still, it's fortunate that this place was discovered and evacuated. If it had been a time-triggered bomb, and it wasn't the student..."
Berial, after saying that much, smiled ominously as he looked at Bart.
"Perhaps everyone in the arena has already been killed. Haha."
"Hmph, I won't let that happen. You damn bastard."
Bart glared at Berial once and pondered inwardly.
"I hate to admit it, but I'm in debt to him."
Adrius Cromwell.
How long will you continue to burden me with guilt?