We sprint toward each other, and I perfectly parry his strikes with my dagger. I jump back and take a short breath. The Sword Saint does the same and breathes heavily.
"You—what's your name?" I ask the Sword Saint while breathing."I am Kronado," Kronado says, also breathing heavily.
I nod, and a smile appears on my face, and one appears on Kronado's as well. "Wait, these purple numbers are more accurate than the status, which is just for show—at least that's what a legend says," I think, but I don't let it shake me. Still, my thoughts remain on the idea that the status might mean nothing, and that would also mean the status itself is meaningless. Whatever, then I won't cling to it anymore. My true power is therefore 120000.
I jump up toward the wall and duplicate my daggers, one dagger drenched in black and the other glowing in bright blue. Kronado jumps up and swings his sword, but stops when I dodge and kicks me down. A small crater appears in the ground. I spit as I hit the ground. I slowly stand up and take a short breath. My daggers begin to glow, and my eyes turn red-purple, resembling flames. Kronado remains frozen in place at my mana, and the other examinees also stand still, as if they are seeing a monster.
"Kronado, you are truly powerful," I say to him with a smile.
He smiles even more and then sprints toward me. I stand calmly, block his sword with one dagger, and with the other I strike him with the flat side into a wall. He spits a little, this time even blood. The examiner is about to declare the fight in my favor, but Kronado waves it off and wants to continue fighting.
I return to my combat stance and blur in my movement. A flash of motion appears, and I arrive in front of Kronado and swing both daggers at him. He barely parries and quickly jumps back. We breathe again. I look at him with enjoyment while the other examinees watch us intensely, eager to see who will win.
I sprint again and appear lightning-fast behind him. As he turns backward, I kick him into the ceiling, jump up in parallel, and kick him straight back down as he slowly falls from the ceiling. He crashes to the ground, spits even more blood, and slowly stands up again. His eyes show that he is considering giving up, but he grips his sword tighter and jumps up. He thrusts a hundred times per second, and I dodge every strike except one, because I am too slow. I fly into a wall and bleed slightly, spitting blood as well. I fall to the ground, and my eyes blaze even more, but my mana remains just as strong. I stand up, breathing heavily and slightly weakened, yet my eyes are filled with joy at facing a powerful opponent.
I sprint forward again while creating a healing barrier that glows green. My daggers collide with his sword, and it shatters. Some fragments hit Kronado, and he raises his hand.
"I… give up," Kronado says and lowers his hand again.
The examiner raises his hand in my direction and declares me the winner. The examinees look at me in surprise while I stand there smiling and staring at the ceiling. I look forward and leave the combat area. Everyone looks at me with slight fear. The princess has noticed me for quite some time now, which was to be expected since I had to step forward, but she stayed silent the entire time. However, as I walk down, Luna comes to me and looks at the ground as if thinking about something.
I keep walking, and she suddenly grabs the sleeve of my cloak. I look at her.
"Min, tell me, why are you on the side of the Demis?" Luna asks quietly and uncertainly, afraid of being killed by me because she said Demi."That's none of your business," I say angrily and shake her off.
I continue walking while Luna falls and sits there almost crying. Everyone looks at me in confusion, and I return to the place where I have been standing the whole time. Luna stands up and walks back. The examiner steps forward and announces the results. Fifteen out of one hundred and twenty have passed, including the four prodigies and, of course, me, because the points are measured by how one performed, not simply by whether one succeeded. The fourteen others who passed rejoice wildly and jump up and down. I remain calm, and the examiner declares the exam finished.
I jump onto the school roof, and everyone freezes at my jumping power. I look down briefly and then jump onto the next roof, and then onto the next again and again. I land in front of my house and smile briefly before going inside. The cat girl stands anxiously in the entrance hall and looks at me at the door. Her posture relaxes slightly, as she trusts me a bit more now. I smile at her, and she gets a small smile on her face as well. She holds an apple in her hand and takes a bite. I place my cloak on the chair and put the dagger away. I sit down on the couch and look at her.
"What's your name, anyway?" I ask the cat girl.
She looks at the floor and doesn't know what to say. It feels like she still doesn't trust me enough, which is completely understandable. I stand up and get an apple from the kitchen. Then I go up one floor and onto the balcony. She comes with me and smiles slightly at the sky, where two dragons are flying around. I grin lightly and watch them. Then I look toward a lake that looks like a wolf snapping at something. It is also called the Lake of the Monster. No one knows why or what happens there.
"Wait…" I say quietly."…could it be the legend? I need to get it; maybe there's something written in it," I continue softly and look toward the palace, which can be seen from here."I'll be right back, then you can tell me your name, okay?" I say.
She only nods, and I jump onto the roof of my house. The streets are almost empty. In my haste, I forget my dagger and my cloak. I jump around in a completely black tracksuit. I slowly approach the palace. I look at a window behind which I see a library and keep jumping forward until I stop in front of the palace and press myself against a wall. I quickly look around and see no guard in front, only one who currently cannot have me in his sight.
I quietly jump onto a balcony of the library. The light is on, but no one is inside. I silently open the balcony window using movement magic. The window is only slightly open, and I carefully slip inside. I close the window again to leave no traces and begin searching for the legend. I repeatedly pull books from the shelves to find it, but the first shelf contains only stories, not even close to legends. So I move to the next shelf. I pull out every book there as well and put them back. I am about to move to the next shelf when I hear footsteps and quickly look around. I run into a wall, but instead of bouncing off, I stumble through it.
I hear a door open, and Princess Luna enters the library with a maid.
"Min won't leave my mind alone," she says thoughtfully to the maid.
The maid looks at her in confusion but says nothing. Luna picks up a book about a hero, but it is not the legend—only a copy that tells a myth about it. I walk down the short corridor and see a pedestal with the legend resting on it. "This concealment spell was good; only mana detection can notice it," I think and take the legend. I create a dimensional inventory and put it away. Before that, I create a realistic copy and place it where it was before.
I head back toward the library, and suddenly I hear Luna talking about me.
"He is strong for a farmer—no, for a living being. There are only twelve beings stronger than him in this world, but his way of thinking will kill him, and I don't want to be angry at him. What should I do?" she says in a long speech to her maid and then takes a deep breath.
I crouch in front of the exit of the permeable wall and look at the floor. I consider revealing myself, but that would be pretty stupid. I stand up, step out of the secret passage, wave casually at Luna, smile, and walk closer. Luna stands there confused but does not call the guards. The maid is about to call someone, but Luna stops her, shakes her head, and calms down again after a short breath.
"Min, what are you doing here?" she asks me, slightly confused."I'll be honest, I took the legend," I say calmly.
With my arms behind my neck, I smile lightly. The princess simply nods. I walk toward the window and glance briefly at Luna, who looks at me in confusion. I open the window, step onto the balcony, and jump away. Luna quickly runs to the balcony and watches me with a gentle gaze as I jump from roof to roof and land back on the balcony of my house.
The cat girl looks at me with her purple-colored eyes and smiles contentedly. Her black ears twitch slightly, and her black tail lies partly on the ground.
"Um, may I know your name now?" I ask her with a smile.
She nods and looks at the floor. I slowly lean against the railing.
"Yes, my name is Suri," she says softly, hesitantly, and shyly, but with a smile.
I look at her and nod, then wave it off and head into my bedroom. I take the legend out of the dimension and look at the paragraph. "The demons appeared, who were killed by the hero, which would later become a problem," is written in the final paragraph. I let magic flow into it again, and a full thirty words appear. That proves that more is revealed over time. It reads:
"The hero faces the demons alone, and no one trusts him, because something happened in the past with the Demis he protected and who should have died because of it, and yet…"
The paragraph ends there, and I cannot read further no matter what I do. The legend does not continue. I also cannot pour more mana into it. I put it back into the dimension and go straight to sleep. Next to my bed stands a jar of sweets with a note on it that says, "Thank you for helping me."
I smile and immediately know it is from Suri. I take a sweet and eat it slowly. The sweetness is not overpowering but actually perfect. Then I lie down and fall asleep peacefully.