IRM Chapter 129

After three years apart, Evan’s appearance had changed considerably. His features had fully matured, losing some of that innocent, naive childishness, while his brow carried an added touch of cold, murderous aura. However, this coldness would involuntarily melt away when facing familiar people, transforming him back into a little sun hanging in the sky.

Evan composed his emotions and had the Enforcement Council’s people drag the Holy Knight, who was collapsed on the ground like a dead dog, to the judgment chamber. Under the awed gazes of passersby, he led Ji Chi away.

“That person is… Chief Evan?” someone quietly asked their companion nearby.

“Ah… probably, that badge, it should be…” The companion was also quite confused. “But he can actually show that kind of expression?”

“Didn’t the rumors say he was practically like a human version of the Archangel… I thought he looked quite gentle?”

“…You can go before him and praise the Church of Light a bit to try it out, then you’ll know if he’s gentle or not.”

“…Oh, never mind then.”

They were somewhat excited, and their discussion wasn’t quiet. Ji Chi overheard a few sentences and laughed as he turned his head to tell Evan, “You’re quite famous in the academy. I just arrived and already heard quite a few rumors.”

Evan gave him an ambiguous look and said gently, “If you had come back a few years earlier, today’s discussion would definitely include a part about you.”

It seemed he’d brought up something he shouldn’t have again. Ji Chi shut his mouth and touched his nose.

But indeed, the Eastern youth who had forged a legendary weapon in the arena back then had been quite famous across the continent for a time. Except for places too remote like the Northern Fortress, other regions more or less all had legends about him.

And the legendary weapon he had forged, which pioneered a new direction, was enshrined in the center of the Saint Trilley Empire Alchemist Association’s hall for people coming and going to admire.

Unfortunately, however, before even his appearance could be widely spread, he had lost all trace, with no news for several years.

So people gradually quieted down from their initial frenzy, until finally they even suspected it was a myth fabricated by someone with ulterior motives.

However, Ji Chi was quite satisfied with this result. On this continent, fame brought no benefits, but the risks were considerable, especially now when the Church of Light was still eyeing them covetously. Remaining obscure was the best protective coloring.

Evan led the way ahead, introducing him to the Combat Academy’s layout. “You should already know that the Combat Academy is divided into north and south districts. The north is the combat zone, and the south is the living quarters. We’re currently in the north district, where the training grounds and classrooms are located.”

“And the south district living quarters have the dining hall and dormitories, etc. The layout is similar to the Magic Academy…” He paused in his speech and asked Ji Chi, “The academy provides each student with a dormitory, single rooms. Will you be living in the academy from now on? Or will you continue living on North Street?”

Thinking of all the messy secrets he carried, Ji Chi shook his head. “I’ll still stay on North Street. It’s more convenient there.”

Evan nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment with no discernible emotion. He didn’t say more and continued introducing the courses to Ji Chi. “Students here aren’t divided by grade level, but there are various courses subdivided by profession, as well as comprehensive combat training. Here, the seven professions can freely form teams, and after finding a suitable squad, they can accept missions to earn points.”

Evan smiled. “It’s actually very similar to the Magic Academy’s midterm training, except that the seven years of studying here are all one arduous training period.”

Ji Chi thought these rules were actually quite acceptable. The three years he was trained by the Beast God—that was truly arduous.

Evan thought of something and made a sound. “I just remembered, there’s a magic course in the north district in a bit. Do you want to attend?”

Ji Chi seemed to have passed through his rebellious phase and wasn’t as resistant to magic anymore, but he had long since made refusing magic a habit and instinctively didn’t want to deal with it.

He was very firm. “No thanks.”

Evan’s eyes curved. “As expected, you still don’t like magic. Then I’ll take you to the summoner area. I remember Saintess Coralie also chose a summoning course, you might run into her there.”

They chatted and laughed softly along the way, frightening the people they passed quite badly. They stole glances at Evan, showing expressions as if they’d seen a ghost.

Ji Chi observed this from the corner of his eye, feeling quite uncomfortable.

These three years were the period when youths’ emotions were most delicate. Counting it up, Ji Chi was several years older than them. He had experienced that turbulent and sensitive age, and since his own experience hadn’t gone well, he wanted to help those he cared about be able to laugh freely without worries.

But it seemed he had still failed.

The smile at the corners of Ji Chi’s mouth faintly faded.

They walked to a purple banner, and Evan stopped, telling Ji Chi, “Inside here is the summoner area. If you walk straight ahead you’ll be able to find the classroom. You can enter any open room to listen to lectures. I won’t follow you in—randomly entering other professions’ areas is against the rules.”

Ji Chi didn’t quite understand why this would be against the rules, but he didn’t ask much. Seeing the pile of materials in Evan’s hands and remembering what had just happened, he knew he was busy, so he nodded. “Then I’ll go in. You take care of things first, we’ll chat later.”

“Mm.” Evan stood in place, quietly watching Ji Chi’s retreating figure. After a very long time, he finally blinked his dry eyes and looked up at the sun. The scorching sunlight dazzled his eyes painfully, yet he curved the corners of his mouth in a smile.

This wasn’t a dream. His sunshine had returned.

Following behind a group of summoners, Ji Chi finally understood why there was a rule against other professions casually visiting.

“BOOM——” A massive stone giant was summoned without warning and crashed heavily onto the open ground.

But its master summoner had limited abilities and couldn’t control such a powerful creature. Instead, he was chased all over the place by the stone giant, crying for his parents as he dodged the stone giant’s repeated stomping attacks.

If a fragile mage accidentally ran in here, one stomp could turn them into meat paste.

“Run! I can’t control it!” That summoner showed a terrified expression as he ran toward another group of summoners!

There happened to be a class soon, and quite a few summoners were heading to the classroom. They casually looked up and saw the stone giant blocking out the sky behind him. Their whole being went wrong, and one person frantically running instantly turned into a group frantically running.

“Which bastard summoned this?! If you can’t control it, why summon a stone giant!”

“I’m sorry! I just drew the summoning array according to the professor’s notes! He didn’t tell me this was a stone giant!”

“Which professor?! Is he trying to kill you?!”

“No! I think he’s trying to kill us!”

“Stop talking nonsense! Quickly think of a solution! What creature can eliminate a stone giant?”

“Fire-breathing dragon! Fire-breathing dragon! Who knows how to summon one, hurry up!”

“I can… but…”

“If you can, hurry up! Don’t you see it’s about to catch up?”

“……”

“Ahhh it’s so hot! If you can’t control it either, say so earlier!”

Ji Chi stood to the side, watching a stone giant and a fire-breathing dragon chase a group of wailing summoners all over the street, thinking these people’s brains might have some problems.

He looked carefully and discovered there were actually quite a few demons among them.

All right then, brain problems confirmed.

“Heh, are their brains just for decoration?”

Hearing someone beside him voice his own thoughts, Ji Chi couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

The speaker was an old man with a snow-white goatee, thin and stooped. He was glancing at that group of howling idiots with a mocking expression. “My notes clearly showed a fire giant. Being able to summon a stone giant is also quite talented.”

I think no matter which giant it was, their outcome should be about the same. Ji Chi couldn’t help but give the old man a deadpan look.

The old man noticed Ji Chi’s gaze, glanced over, sized him up and down, and lifted his eyelids. “A mage? Carrying a sword too? What are you doing in the summoner area? Planning to summon a ranger to coordinate with you?”

Your tone and content are damnably familiar! How much Saintess Coralie did you have to eat to achieve this effect!

Ji Chi looked somewhat alarmed at the summoner area ahead, feeling the air here was permeated with a passive-aggressive atmosphere.

“What’s going on?” He was just thinking this when a familiar voice came from behind him. Ji Chi didn’t need to turn around to know she definitely had an expression of speechless disdain right now.

The old professor beside Ji Chi suddenly twisted his head around, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the newcomer. “Little Coralie, you’re finally here. Come, come, come, let’s research together what creature we can summon to defeat both the stone giant and fire-breathing dragon in one go~”

Saintess Coralie coolly glanced at him. “If you don’t go save them, are you planning to summon their souls to attend class next time?”

Here it comes, the familiar passive-aggressive tone has arrived.

The old professor didn’t get angry either and chuckled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. This is the Combat Academy—how can it be called combat without taking some injuries?”

However, the old professor still had some conscience. He waved his hand before Ji Chi and said, “You go. The stone giant and fire-breathing dragon are both magical creatures, perfect for a mage like you to handle.”

Ji Chi shrugged. “Then I’m very sorry, but I really don’t know magic.”

Upon hearing this, Saintess Coralie’s body stiffened. She turned her eyes toward him, staring directly at him.

The old professor didn’t notice Saintess Coralie’s change and was still mocking Ji Chi. “Hahaha! And yet you’re wearing mage robes! You don’t even know magic but want to learn summoning? Why don’t you go be a melee warrior… oh wait, you actually do have a sword. No, who do you think you are, that all-system genius from a few years ago? Young man, wake up. Do you think everyone is Little Coralie? She’s so outstanding, surely she’s——Little Coralie?”

This was the first time he’d seen Saintess Coralie with such a loss of composure.

Ji Chi sighed and greeted Saintess Coralie with a smile. “Long time no see.”

Saintess Coralie pressed her lips together as she looked at him, her face like still water.

Ji Chi had already prepared himself for a barrage of her passive-aggressive remarks and said helplessly to the old professor. “You might need to save those people first. I’m afraid it’ll be too late soon.”

“No, let me do it,” Saintess Coralie interrupted him. She walked past Ji Chi with a cold face, and just when Ji Chi almost thought she didn’t recognize him, she let out a light remark, “You said it yourself, that you’d always stand by our side… I hope you remember the promise you made.”

Ji Chi looked at her in a daze, not knowing what to say for a moment.

“Save us! We’re going to die——Little Master?” The demon who was so scared his bone wings had emerged saw Saintess Coralie approaching and instantly became even more terrified. He fiercely flapped his bone wings and shot forward a great distance.

“How… do you… still have the energy… to run so fast?” The human summoner beside him was nearly exhausted and asked in disbelief.

The demon’s face darkened, very calmly, “If you don’t want to die too miserably, I suggest you run a bit faster.”

The human didn’t understand and looked back.

Saintess Coralie stood between the stone giant and fire-breathing dragon, her red eyes like blood, her jet-black long hair rising without wind, and the magnificent bone wings behind her suddenly spreading with a swoosh.

The human immediately shut his mouth and ran forward at his fastest speed——

ROAR—— A dark troll from the depths of the Dark Night Forest crawled up from underground. Its ferocious appearance occupied everyone’s field of vision, and just one front claw alone was enough to grind the stone giant into powder.

Of course, it was also enough to grind the slow-running summoners into meat paste.

Those summoners charged forward a great distance before stopping and turning back in stunned amazement, murmuring, “Good heavens, who made her so angry… she even summoned a troll…”

The old professor was also very incredulous. He stared blankly at the troll, then glanced at Ji Chi, asking, “To make her that angry, who exactly are you…”

Ji Chi smiled bitterly. “Perhaps, you still remember the all-system genius?”

For the rest of the time, Ji Chi didn’t dare provoke Saintess Coralie. He always felt her emotions were constantly on the edge of erupting, and the recent battle hadn’t been enough to make her completely calm down.

Ji Chi had been thinking about whether to have her drink some cool water, but some kind of male intuition made him abandon this terrifying idea.

The old professor glanced at the group of summoners who were obviously distracted, knocked on the lectern, coughed a few times, and asked Ji Chi, “That mage, you tell me, what is the most powerful force of a summoner?”

Ji Chi hadn’t been paying attention to the earlier lesson at all. Aside from skills directly engraved in his mind, his foundation was weaker than an apprentice’s. He just randomly guessed. “Summoned beasts?”

The old professor’s face was full of disdain. “Hmph! If you don’t understand anything, listen well to the lecture! Stop talking big! Little Coralie~ you answer.”

Saintess Coralie didn’t look up. “The soul.”

“Exactly!” The old professor tugged at his beard. “The soul is a summoner’s most powerful force, and also the source of power for all professions! Your bodies can make mistakes, but your souls absolutely cannot lose their way, otherwise… you won’t even be able to summon a slime——”

The old professor’s tone became ominous at the end, and his childish intimidation actually did frighten quite a few summoners.

The soul again. Ji Chi’s thoughts also returned to business. More and more information was gradually filling in the missing parts of the rough framework. He was becoming increasingly clear about what he needed to do.

The class quickly ended. Before leaving, Ji Chi found Saintess Coralie and solemnly apologized to her.

Saintess Coralie looked at him somewhat strangely. “You didn’t do anything wrong, so why apologize?”

Ji Chi fell silent, momentarily unsure whether this was sincere or sarcastic.

Saintess Coralie seemed to see through his thoughts and finally smiled somewhat helplessly. “I’m only angry at myself… I can feel that you’re getting stronger and stronger, moving further and further away from us. It seems I can’t help at all.”

Ji Chi thought seriously for a moment and said, “You know, when I first came here, I even felt that everything was false, everything was meaningless, including my life.”

“So, I never thanked you all this whole time.” Ji Chi smiled. “Thank you for making me feel that I’m alive.”

A comfortable life could easily corrode a person’s will.

Ji Chi returned to North Street alone, deciding not to let himself become immersed in making up for lost time. What he needed to do now was fight for a glorious future.

He placed the Forging House next to his own house again and stepped into the teleportation array to enter. The Forging House still had many traces of life on Beast God Mountain—the fur used for bedding, precious ores casually picked up, and the “treasures” the Beast God had taken him everywhere to find.

“You can even forge?” One day, the Beast God ran in to tour his Forging House and said in surprise, “Then come here, I’ll find you something!”

They dragged Ji Chi around Beast God Mountain for half the day and dug out a red stone as crystal clear and translucent as crystal.

Ji Chi held it and discovered it was still warm, with a pulsing sensation.

Ji Chi felt somewhat uneasy. “What is this?”

The Beast God said indifferently, “Oh, my heart.”

Ji Chi: “???”

The Beast God looked at his expression and said with amusement, “Hahaha, I fell long ago. This is just a material. Unlike you humans, my heart won’t rot. I remember you humans even specifically slaughter dragons to obtain this kind of material.”

A dragon’s heart. In the forging cabin, Ji Chi gazed at the pulsing crystal heart in his hand.

The soul was the source of power, and the heart was the continuation of life.

He drew the Demon Sword from its sheath and placed it on the workbench.

Ji Chi picked up a wedge-shaped tool from the side and cleaned off the rust on the Demon Sword bit by bit.

With the rust removed, the Demon Sword looked much more attractive—at least it had some of the bearing of a legendary weapon now. The Demon Sword’s entire body was silver-white, with only a crack in the middle that was blood-red.

Ji Chi carefully counted. Beneath the rust, there were a total of seven cracks on the Demon Sword. He didn’t want to think about whether this was a coincidence. He only knew that even if it wasn’t a coincidence, he would spend everything to make an attempt.

Ji Chi summoned Yuan Yuan out.

Yuan Yuan circled around the Demon Sword, then returned to his side, quietly waiting.

“You said before that you could possess the Demon Sword, right?” Ji Chi asked.

Yuan Yuan bobbed its body up and down.

Ji Chi closed his eyes, reached out to gently tap Yuan Yuan’s body, and said softly, “Then, my soul… are you willing to split off half your power?”