"Cough! Cough!"
I tilted Lumian's body and patted his waist to search for the Artifact.
'Aha, there it is!'
My eyes sparkled.
I took it, looked at the Artifact, and nodded. That's right, this is the Vorthas Artifact. Its shape is round, but it has a long cone on its side that emits magic energy to detect Artifacts of the same type.
When I channeled mana into the Artifact, the cone began to emit magic energy like cigar smoke, but with a clear direction pointing toward something. Up ahead. The Artifact was up ahead.
Just as I was about to leave, my foot accidentally kicked Lumian's Saint Sword.
For a moment, I remembered how powerful that sword would become later. I wanted to take it, but... this was a sword given by his master, which he considered very precious. So, I guess I won't take it. Besides, I'll be in the same Academy as him; if I took it, he would definitely nag me to death. That would ruin the plans I had already prepared for the Academy. The Artifact alone was enough.
Oh right, I just remembered. Lumian's plot for coming here wasn't just to find a cheat, but to gain combat experience with monsters and get their crystals to pay for his aunt's medical treatment...
'You should be glad your god still cares about you.'
I put down a pouch containing half the crystals I had obtained.
Umm... maybe add a little more?
Feeling hesitant, I added a few more. But I felt it still wasn't enough because he was so poor.
Adding some more...
Adding even more...
Adding more and more...
In the end, I threw my entire pouch of crystals at him. Whether he wants to accept it or not later is up to him, the important thing is I've helped.
It's fine... I'll just hunt for crystals again.
I left him behind.
...
Maybe twenty minutes? Thirty minutes? Or... ahh, whatever, it was roughly around that much time I spent before finally finding the place where the treasure was located...
...The artifact's smoke pointed inside a cave.
The cave was massive with stalactites decorating its ceiling. If it weren't for the glowing crystals, this place would be pitch black.
Honestly, I was already exhausted after fighting the wolves and Lumian. But it was a given that I would have to fight again here against the cave guardian.
Sigh... I can already feel its killing intent from here.
'Hmm, I have an idea so this fight can be over quickly...' I grinned widely while stroking my chin. 'But this is a gamble. However, my chances of winning should be over 90% because the spider monster inside will definitely follow the scenario I wrote.'
After nodding to myself, I used a combo of fire and wind magic to produce a lightning effect. For this monster, I would use almost all my mana (leaving a little to escape if the plan failed. A Villain must know when to retreat).
This lightning arrow was stronger than the one I sent at Lumian.
Carrying the heavy burden of that magic, I stepped forward.
In the scenario I wrote, there should be a spider web shot from inside when Lumian reached a certain coordinate. If so, that meant the spider was straight ahead of me. So, I just needed to shoot this magic straight ahead to blow up its abdomen.
Just as I expected, a white liquid suddenly shot out from the darkness. Immediately, I released my magic. It cleaved through the sticky liquid and shot deeper inside–
I heard a loud hiss followed by the sound of splattering liquid. That must be the explosion of the spider's guts.
"And it's done..."
If the one who entered was Lumian, he would have struggled against that spider because he wouldn't have expected a web shot.
Using fire for illumination, I saw the giant spider's body had exploded, with green liquid leaking from its body.
The spider was still alive, but very weak from losing so much fluid.
Seeing it gave me goosebumps; honestly, I was 'a bit' scared of spiders because of the terrifying shape of their mandibles. Plus, its body was huge!
From a safe distance of about fifteen meters from the spider's head, I shot it with a fireball to end its life.
[+5 points]
"Bye-bye."
I walked past the monster to head toward the main prize of this exhausting raid.
A few steps further in, it started being illuminated by crystals. At the end of this cave, I saw a chest.
Arriving there, I immediately channeled mana into my Artifact. It caused a reaction in the chest. Then a Click! sound came from the chest, indicating its lock had been released.
I picked up a Crystal inside...
...this is the Sigil Eye Rune Crystal.
It was an ancient Artifact that is used by swallowing it. Then a few moments later, the user will immediately feel its effects, like the body feeling lighter and perception becoming sharper.
However, that was just the side effect. The main effect is the Sigil Eye. An eye that can see one second into the future and can copy other people's magic depending on how much mana is used.
[You have successfully Consumed the Sigil Eye Rune Artifact]
[You obtained the power of the Sigil Eye]
Sure enough, when I consumed it, I could immediately feel all the effects that I wrote back then.
However, this eye made me dizzy because my vision overlapped with one second in the future, since my other eye was still a normal eye. So, I deactivated the eye for now.
Eh, maybe I'll get used to it after a few days.
With this eye, I will hunt for even more power before I enter the Academy...
The Artifact Hunt begins
***
Ever since the fight with Julian that day, Lumian was still confused as to why his opponent left crystals for him. At first, he wanted to return them later when Julian returned to the Academy out of pride, and just wanted his Artifact back.
But he realized that his aunt's cough was getting worse, so he had to take her to the hospital.
Finally, he was forced to use the crystals, exchanging them for money to fund all of his aunt's medical treatments.
'Whatever. It was his fault for taking my Artifact. So, this is the payment.' That was what Lumian thought.
Then the doctor said that it was a good thing Lumian brought his aunt to the hospital sooner, because otherwise her lung cancer would have worsened. So now she was safe.
Of course, it wasn't just because he brought her in sooner, but because he paid for all the treatments. If he hadn't? The hospital wouldn't have treated the patient, especially since poor people like him didn't have a deposit to pay for the treatment.
Because of that, he felt grateful for the crystals Julian had given him and considered it a fair trade for the taken artifact. Also, there was still some change left from exchanging the crystals to buy other necessities. So, he bought a new dress for his eleven-year-old little sister, Evangeline.
"Eva, look." Lumian brought out a cream-colored dress.
Eva's eyes sparkled. "For me?"
"Who else?"
Because Eva was still a baby during the coup, she didn't understand her origins. So up until now, she only understood living as a poor person, unaware that she was a princess of the emperor. That was a secret the small family kept buried deep.
For him, seeing Eva happy was enough, even if it was the result of covering things up.
That whole week, Lumian relaxed after constantly thinking about revenge for so long.
'Come to think of it, what is revenge even for... isn't it nice just the way things are now? Revenge won't bring my parents back either, right? Besides, what power do I have against the empire? I'm weak, I even lost to a low-ranking noble...
'Also, right now I'm already struggling financially... Revenge would only add more and more burdens. It's better if I just finish my education to get a job and escape poverty, so at least Eva can have a better life in the future.
'I'm sorry, Father, Mother…'
Monday arrived, and Lumian entered the Grand Asteria Crucible Academy with a new feeling. A liberating sense of peace.
All this time, he had only thought about revenge to the point of sacrificing so much time. Youth only happens once, so he had to enjoy it.
"Hey look, what's up with you? Why are you smiling like that, hmm?" said his companion named Lilith. She then joined him as he walked to class.
"Nothing... just... it's a secret anyway." Lumian quickened his pace, then glanced back slightly. "Hurry up, Lily, we're already late, you know."
"Hey, wait up!"
Lumian entered the classroom and sat at his desk with his newfound resolve.
At first, everything seemed calm. Very calm. Until finally...
"Ahem! Today we have a new student arriving. I'm sure some of you must recognize him," Professor Thorne said at the front, before gesturing for someone outside to come in.
"Come in."
The classroom instantly fell silent, waiting for the person about to enter.
–Tap! –Tap! –Tap!
The person walked in with slow steps. For some reason, the atmosphere turned tense. Or rather, only for the other kids–Lumian was just momentarily surprised because he recognized the guy.
He was a man with jet-black hair and sharp blue eyes. But his face looked sleepy, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He was none other than the guy he had encountered in the Amberwood Forest.
The guy gave a half-bow. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Julian Von D'Arclaine. Nice to meet you all."