Chapter 59
‘The wrong path?’
I reread the newly issued quest several times.
Whenever a quest appeared, the first thing I always looked at was the reward.
Completing main quests granted titles, allowed class selection, or taught new skills.
Sub-quests also offered stat points, making rewards the first thing to catch my eye.
But in this quest, the reward wasn’t the first thing that stood out.
‘Cynthia is heading down the wrong path?’
I was quite taken aback.
Even when I had the quest to thwart Elaine’s abduction on the day of the entrance ceremony, it wasn’t this startling.
“Ryu?”
“Ah, yes.”
Professor Amilion had to call my name again before I could close the quest window.
Professor Amilion was staring at me with a confused expression, while Cynthia looked apologetic as they both gazed at me.
“Oh, sorry. I just got distracted for a moment.”
“Well… Anyway, let’s call it a day. It’s late.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“…Okay.”
Professor Amilion wrapped up the situation.
In the awkward atmosphere, the three of us exited the forest together.
When we had completely left the forest—
‘I have to talk to her.’
“Cynthia, can I have a word…?”
“I’ll head out first!”
“Oh…”
“Sorry. Let’s talk tomorrow. I’ll go now!”
Before I could even finish, Cynthia interrupted, bowed, and ran ahead.
Both Professor Amilion and I stood silently, watching Cynthia’s retreating figure.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found Cynthia’s behavior strange.
“I’ll head out first as well.”
“All right.”
I need to investigate Cynthia further.
***
Lately, it had become more frequent.
‘Sigh, I didn’t mean to say it like that.’
As she walked aimlessly toward the outskirts of the academy, Cynthia regretted her actions from earlier.
She realized she had overreacted to Ryu’s words.
“Phew, what’s wrong with me?”
This wasn’t the first time.
Lately, she had often found herself losing her temper over someone’s words.
Even in casual conversations with her friends, she had moments where her anger flared.
It was something she could have easily brushed off, yet it infuriated her.
At least when she was with her friends, she managed to keep it in check, but not this time.
She wasn’t usually this short-tempered.
“Ugh.”
Now that one side of her life was going well, it felt like stress was cropping up from elsewhere.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, Cynthia changed her direction.
Going home in this mood would only make her feel worse.
At times like this, she needed to blow off some steam.
As she walked, Cynthia alternated between touching the bow strapped to her back and the candy in her pocket.
Both were still in their places.
Step, step—
Moments ago, she had walked with no energy, but now her steps brimmed with confidence.
Cynthia now found going to the training hall both fun and rewarding.
She no longer missed her targets or struggled to control mana arrows like she used to.
Gulp—
Arriving at the training hall, Cynthia habitually took out a candy from her pocket and placed it in her mouth.
The translucent blue candy melted as soon as it touched her tongue, turning into liquid.
Swallowing the liquid, Cynthia felt a surge of confidence and readied her bow.
Now, she could clearly see a different world.
Targets over 200 meters away appeared as though they were right in front of her.
Even the insects flying nearby were vividly detailed.
‘Today, I’ll shoot three at once.’
Creak—
Cynthia drew her bowstring without loading any arrows.
As she pulled, a blue light began to flow from her hand.
The light quickly shaped into an arrow and settled into place.
A mana arrow made of blue light.
Cynthia easily managed to create three arrows simultaneously, just as she had envisioned.
The next step was to hit her targets.
Creak—
Pulling the bowstring as far back as possible, Cynthia closed one eye to aim.
One arrow for the bullseye, one for a flying insect, and one for a falling leaf.
With her targets aligned, Cynthia released the bowstring.
Swoosh—
With a slicing sound, the three arrows flew in different directions toward their respective targets.
Thud—
One arrow struck the center of the target.
Poof—
Another disintegrated the falling leaf.
Whoosh—
“Ah!”
Cynthia gasped.
The last arrow, which had been aimed at the insect flying around the target, missed its mark.
The blue arrow cut through the air and continued flying inward.
As expected, hitting a moving target wasn’t easy.
‘I feel like I can get it with just a bit more practice.’
Cynthia clenched her fist in frustration and began preparing to fire another arrow.
Even though she hadn’t hit the insect, Cynthia didn’t feel discouraged.
She was already satisfied with being able to create three mana arrows at once and successfully hitting two of her targets.
Creak—
Without stopping, Cynthia immediately drew her bowstring again.
Her eyes sparkled intensely as she stared at the area around the target.
***
‘Was Cynthia always this skilled?’
After parting ways with Professor Amilion, I immediately followed Cynthia.
It was a gut feeling—an inexplicable urge to follow her right away.
Although I thought she was heading home, Cynthia turned her steps toward the training hall.
Swoosh—
Thud—
“Yes!”
Cynthia fired several arrows toward the target again and again.
She was shooting three arrows at once, but so far, only one was hitting the target.
This time was no different, yet she seemed noticeably pleased.
‘Something definitely feels off.’
It wasn’t Cynthia’s actions or training methods that felt suspicious.
I had been tailing her ever since she started walking toward the training hall, and I saw something clearly.
As soon as she entered the training hall, Cynthia quickly put something in her mouth.
Though I couldn’t fully see what it was because her hand was covering it, I could make an educated guess.
The memory of Cynthia receiving “candy” from someone late at night—something I’d forgotten due to Kane’s incident—suddenly resurfaced.
Recalling that moment, I became certain the thing Cynthia had put in her mouth was candy.
After eating the candy, Cynthia immediately picked up her bow and began firing arrows non-stop.
I remembered what Cynthia had said before about how difficult it was to create mana arrows.
When I once asked her why she didn’t just rely on mana arrows instead of carrying actual arrows, she had responded with a serious tone.
She explained that creating even a single mana arrow required immense focus and time.
But the Cynthia before me now was entirely different from the Cynthia who had said that.
Not only was she effortlessly creating three mana arrows at once, but she was also continuously firing them without pause.
She didn’t even look tired.
‘The power and speed are incredible.’
The power of Cynthia’s arrows was not something to be underestimated.
The speed of the arrows cutting through the air was so fast that even I had trouble following them with my eyes.
Honestly, based on her current skills, I couldn’t tell who would win if she fought Elaine.
Granted, if they fought at close range, Elaine would inevitably win because of her melee combat advantage.
‘…This doesn’t make sense.’
The fact that Cynthia even seemed comparable to Elaine was ironic in itself.
Just a few weeks ago, Cynthia wasn’t like this at all.
Even during the competition, she had been too frightened by ghouls and Death Knights to properly hold her bow.
“Whew.”
As I stood there staring blankly at this unfamiliar version of Cynthia, she finally lowered her bow.
How many times had she fired mana arrows consecutively?
Though mana arrows didn’t remain embedded in the target, the center of the target was deeply dented.
Creak—
Lowering her bow with a sigh, Cynthia picked it up again.
‘Is she not done yet?’
“Ah.”
I thought she was about to continue, but that wasn’t the case.
As she prepared to aim, Cynthia seemed to sense something off and lowered her bow again.
“Thirty minutes is my limit, after all.”
She quietly muttered to herself.
‘Thirty minutes…?’
Even though it was a distant murmur, I heard it clearly.
Thirty minutes, she said.
Creak—Zap—
Cynthia pointed her bow into the air and drew the string.
Naturally, I expected her to create another mana arrow, but nothing happened.
With a faint crackling sound, an arrow began to form but fizzled out before completion.
This performance was hard to believe, considering she had effortlessly created three arrows just moments ago.
Without hesitation, Cynthia slung her bow over her shoulder and began packing up.
‘Huh…’
She hastily cleaned up as if she wanted to leave the training hall as quickly as possible.
Watching Cynthia’s retreating figure, someone suddenly came to mind.
Kane Hover, who was still lying unconscious in the infirmary.
After drinking a potion, Kane had suddenly created nine firebirds.
Now, Cynthia was eating candy and easily creating mana arrows.
Potion, candy, newfound strength, the wrong path…
“Don’t tell me.”
Several words connected in my mind, forming a single, startling thought.
What started as a vague suspicion gradually solidified into certainty.
Just like Elaine’s abduction incident, Cynthia seemed to be in considerable danger.
Though the nature of the danger might be different.
—
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