SCWED 12

Chapter 12

The successive rounds of mana refinement came to an end.

The trainees were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, but most of them were steadily refining their mana and growing stronger without any major problems.

Everyone except Ethan.

“Again.”

Walter spoke.

Ethan brought the Grade 3 runestone in his hand toward his heart.

With a faint vibration, mana flowed into his body.

He tried to maintain the proper balance and engrave the rune in accordance with his own mana.

But—

Crack!

The runestone shattered.

The fragments scattered across his palm like powder.

“How many times has he broken one now?”

“It is kind of amazing, seeing Ethan like this.”

The trainees whispered among themselves.

It wasn’t his first failure.

It was already his fifth.

The runestone couldn’t withstand him and shattered before the rune could even be engraved onto his heart.

“Hm.”

Walter’s expression subtly hardened.

At first, he had thought it was simply a matter of failure.

But repeated failures to this extent were extremely rare.

Moreover, Ethan’s mana refinement ability had never been particularly poor.

“This is… an unusual case.”

“What’s wrong?”

Ethan asked, looking confused.

By now, anxiety was beginning to show on his face.

Even Walter, who was usually adept at handling the trainees, folded his arms with a troubled expression.

After thinking for a while, he finally reached a conclusion.

“Your body is too strong.”

“…What?”

“It’s because of Hittite Body Hardening. Normally, if someone’s body is this strong, the rune naturally adapts to it. But your body is too strong in the opposite direction, so it can’t properly absorb the runestone. It’s a phenomenon caused by the imbalance between your body and the runestone. Simply put, your body isn’t failing to withstand the power of a Grade 3 runestone. It’s rejecting it.”

Ethan had thought it strange from the beginning that the runestone wouldn’t take hold in his heart.

But he had never expected the cause to be that he was too strong.

“Then… what am I supposed to do?”

Ethan asked awkwardly.

He couldn’t keep failing forever.

“You’ll need to use a stronger runestone.”

“Don’t tell me… a Grade 2 runestone?”

Walter stared intently at Ethan.

Grade 2 runestones were incomparably purer than Grade 3 ones.

And therefore, much more dangerous.

The flow of mana could become violent, and the absorption process could cause physical side effects.

And…

They were incredibly expensive.

“Yes. But we have to make this decision carefully. A Grade 3 runestone is being destroyed because it can’t handle you. But a Grade 2 runestone could destroy your body instead of protecting it. It’s even more dangerous because we’re not simply refining mana—we’re engraving it directly onto your heart.”

Ethan bit down firmly on his lip.

Even so, he knew.

There was no other choice.

Walter sighed.

“This isn’t a decision I can make on my own. I’ll have to report this to the higher-ups.”

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, he looked at Ethan.

“For now, go to the equipment room and bring back whatever runestones are left. I’ll report to the higher-ups in the meantime.”

“Understood.”

Ethan nodded and walked away.

Ethan opened the equipment room door at a brisk pace.

But the sight before him forced him to stop.

“…What? There’s nothing here.”

The storage compartments where the runestones should have been neatly stocked were completely empty.

He had expected at least a few to remain.

But there wasn’t even a trace of them.

His thoughts immediately became complicated.

He had heard that plenty of training runestones were prepared in advance.

There was no way the entire supply could have been used up.

Then—

Thud.

The sound of something solid falling to the floor.

Thud. Thud-thud.

More heavy objects continued to fall.

Ethan instinctively turned around.

When did she get there?

A woman stood there wearing a dazzling white robe.

Her cold silver hair flowed loosely behind her, and a peculiar rune tattoo ran from her temple all the way down to her jawline across her pale face.

“…Who are you?”

The woman was pouring runestones by the handful into a massive sack.

“…!”

Ethan’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing?! If you use them all up like that, what are the trainees supposed to do?!”

His surprise quickly turned into anger.

No matter how many there were, runestones were a precious resource.

Countless trainees were supposed to use them while sweating through their limits in order to gain greater strength.

Yet this woman was simply sweeping them all up as if they belonged to her.

The woman raised one eyebrow and glanced at Ethan.

Her gaze was deep and cold.

“That’s more wasteful.”

“…What did you say?”

“Most of them are going to die anyway.”

Her voice was indifferent.

She spoke as calmly as though stating an unchangeable truth.

“It’s better if I use them instead.”

Ethan let out an incredulous laugh.

“That doesn’t mean you should take away the chance for people who are working hard to reap the rewards of their efforts.”

The woman looked at him with interest.

“Chance?”

She murmured the word as though it were unfamiliar.

Then a cold smile appeared on her lips.

“Fine. Then I’ll give you a chance.”

She nudged one of the runestones scattered at her feet with her toe.

“Try taking even one runestone from me.”

Ethan carefully studied the woman before him.

Her skin was pale, while her long silver hair flowed down her back like brilliant white threads.

Her eyes were a cold, frozen pale violet, making her emotions difficult to read.

But what stood out most was the tattoo crossing her face.

The lines carried a faint silver sheen and connected smoothly, almost as though they were alive.

Ethan didn’t know who she was.

But anyone who could enter the training camp was unlikely to be an ordinary person.

Ethan smiled lightly.

“Wouldn’t taking just one be too easy?”

He immediately reached toward the runestones scattered across the floor.

They were lying right there.

All he had to do was pick one up.

But then—

His vision suddenly tilted.

What?!

It happened in an instant.

The woman closed the distance at incredible speed and seized Ethan’s wrist.

Then she casually twisted it.

“…”

His body was flung around.

His vision spun.

His body rose into the air.

Bang!

Ethan was slammed onto the floor.

The ground struck his back hard, knocking the breath out of him.

At the same time, the impact sent a runestone flying into the air.

But Ethan didn’t panic.

‘Not yet!’

Ethan twisted his body in midair and regained his balance.

Just before touching the floor, he planted one hand against it to generate momentum and reached for the runestone flying upward.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch it—

Thump!

A powerful force struck his abdomen.

“Ugh!”

The woman had merely pressed her palm lightly against his stomach.

Yet his body was mercilessly sent flying.

Crash! Bang! Bang!

He bounced off the ground twice, then a third time, before rolling away.

The runestone once again floated through the air and moved farther away.

Ethan gathered himself.

It had been a brief exchange, but the strength involved was on an entirely different level from ordinary sparring.

She was testing him.

“Hm. Your Body Hardening technique is better than it looks. Are you done?”

“As if.”

Ethan got back to his feet, keeping his guard up.

Among all the opponents around his age he had faced so far, very few possessed such overwhelming strength.

She wasn’t merely strong.

Her movements suggested that she had mastered combat instincts to a frightening degree.

‘This isn’t just a contest of strength.’

The fight wasn’t over yet, but for the moment, she had completely seized the initiative.

Ethan caught his breath before speaking.

“My name is Ethan Fritz. Who are you?”

She narrowed her pale-violet eyes and looked down at him.

Her gaze was cold, making her emotions impossible to read.

Then she slightly raised the corner of her mouth.

“Who do you think I am?”

Ethan stared at her for a moment before giving a small chuckle.

“Perhaps… my senior?”

A brief silence followed.

Unexpectedly, she raised the corners of her lips and laughed softly.

“As a trainee, isn’t it a little early to call me your senior?”

She took a step forward and introduced herself.

“My name is Aisha Kranzhar. I’m from the 60th Class, so I suppose you could call me your senior.”

The moment Ethan heard her name, he remembered what Lowfang had told him before.

—Once you pass the first stage, there’ll be a second-stage test. You’ll meet Aisha there.

—She’s famous by the nickname the White Witch.

Ethan had never imagined he would meet her like this.

Without realizing it, he muttered,

“…The White Witch.”

The very next moment—

Whoosh.

The faint hint of amusement disappeared from her face.

Her expression turned cold.

Then she spoke with genuine disgust.

“For the record, that’s the nickname I hate the most.”

“Oh~ Is that so?”

Ethan flinched slightly at Aisha’s menacing atmosphere.

But he soon decided to analyze her movements and figure out how to deal with her.

Her Body Hardening technique was Hittite.

But her fighting style sought strength through fluidity rather than brute force.

‘That actually makes this worth trying.’

Once again, Ethan decided to break through head-on.

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground and charged toward the runestones.

But Aisha lightly clicked her tongue and muttered,

“If you think you can take my runestone with a move like that, you’re mistaken.”

Her wrist moved sharply.

She lightly slapped Ethan’s hand away.

The force was softer than he expected, but it was precisely enough to destroy his balance.

Ethan staggered.

But he immediately twisted his body with feline flexibility and landed on the ground.

His counterattack followed instantly.

Ethan reached for the hilt of Heavystalker at his waist.

Rather than being surprised, Aisha looked intrigued.

‘What a reckless kid. He must have had quite an unusual history before coming here.’

She immediately prepared to defend herself.

But at that moment, Ethan released the clip securing the sheath.

Then he threw Heavystalker, sheath and all, straight at her.

What is he thinking?

Aisha instinctively caught it.

At the same time, a system window appeared.

[Heavystalker’s weight has been set to 100 kg.]

In an instant, her arm was dragged downward as though she were holding onto a massive stone.

Aisha’s body swayed violently, and she lost her balance.

Ethan seized that brief opening and quickly picked up a runestone.

Then, with an expression of confidence that victory was his, he extended his hand and said,

“Looks like I managed to seize my chance.”

Seeing Ethan’s mischievous smile, Aisha burst into a hollow, incredulous laugh.

She grabbed Ethan’s hand and pulled herself to her feet as she muttered,

“…What an arrogant junior.”

She brushed the dust from her clothes before handing Ethan the sack filled with runestones.

“Take them.”

“Are you really giving them to me this easily?”

“A promise is a promise. Besides, Grade 3 runestones aren’t particularly difficult to obtain. I only wanted to use them because I was short on time.”

“Oh~ Then I’ll make good use of them. Thank you.”

Ethan wanted to keep talking a little longer, but he had no excuse to continue the conversation.

He decided to leave their next meeting for another time.

Just as he began slowly backing away, Aisha asked,

“But who did you hear that nickname from?”

She seemed unable to let it go and watched Ethan carefully.

“Lowfang.”

“?!”

The moment he said the name, her normally composed face crumbled into unmistakable shock.

“L-Lowfang?! Why?! Why did he mention me?!”

Her emotional outburst was intense enough to make Ethan feel slightly frightened.

“W-Well, he told me to come find you around the time I took the second-stage test.”

“You should have told me that from the beginning!”

Did she swallow a train whistle or something?

Ethan covered both ears with his hands, staring at her in bewilderment.

Aisha grabbed Ethan by the scruff of his neck without the slightest mercy and began dragging him away.

“Come with me.”

“Wait. I’m still in training. I have to go back.”

“Who’s your instructor?”

“I-Instructor Walter.”

A short while later—

“Whew. Why is that kid taking so long?”

Walter, whose training had been delayed because they had run out of runestones, stood with his arms crossed and let out a long sigh.

Bang!

At that moment, the training ground door flew open with a loud crash.

“Ethan. What took you so long?”

Walter sternly raised his voice.

Then he saw Aisha standing beyond the doorway, dragging Ethan by the scruff of his neck while glaring at him fiercely.

“W-What? Aisha?”

Bang!

Aisha threw the sack containing the runestones onto the floor and curtly said,

“This junior of yours. I’m taking him.”

Bang!

Before Walter could even answer, the door slammed shut.

“…”

What just happened?

Walter and every trainee in the training ground could only stare blankly at the closed door, completely speechless.