Chapter 51:

“W-what?” Rine stammered as he stared blankly at the calmly smiling man.

“Stand down soldier,” Clint ordered the soldier who tried to attack Rine.

Immediately after, Rine saw a faint shimmer and, before his very eyes, Origin dispersed into tiny particles.

‘Since when did he send the second attack out?’ Rine asked himself as he felt a shiver shoot down his spine. The soldier’s attacks were on a completely different level than anything Rine had seen before.

What’s more, that fact only further emphasized the strength of the man who defended him.

“Clint Rhodes…” Rine muttered as he studied the man’s magnificent figure. Faintly he was reminded of Silva, who bravely fought to his last breath.

Clint, seeing the boy’s awed expression, widened his smile and gave the lad a wink.

“Sir yes sir!” The soldier said loudly before leaving the arena with the injured magician in his arms.

Clint nodded before turning his attention to the audience. “Comrades! Who among us has ever lied?”

The question was seemingly out of the blue, leaving the viewers confused.

But this did not faze Clint, instead, he carried on. “No, my question was too broad. Rather, I should be asking: Who among us has never lied? That should narrow it down more.”

Awkward bursts of laughter emanated from the audience; laughter that was clearly the result of wanting to be polite and not from genuine amusement.

Perhaps sensing this, Clint’s smile faltered for the briefest of seconds, but soon he regained his cool.

“My point is, rather than admonish this child for a small lie, wouldn’t it be better to applaud him for his talents?” Clint said magnanimously.

Rine looked up in shock at the man. Talented? Rine was? Since when?

“So I say, let’s not get stuck in stiff regulations that only serve to bog us down, and instead let us watch the amazing abilities of a supremely talented youth and his teammates. Let the match continue!” Clint said before grandly leaving the arena.

The audience, first unsure, began clapping to the idea of the matches’ continuation. Some even praised Rine.

As for the warriors who were the downed magician’s teammates, their faces were downcast and they seemed to grow more and more fatigued.

“Strong?” Rine heard none of this and was instead caught in his own world. The words of Clint had brought to him a revelation. All his fights, though few in number, were against opponents of a frankly ludicrous level. Hell, it was only recently that he had managed to match the strength of his first opponent, Amy, and how long had it been since then? Come to think of it, wasn’t each and every fight an utter farce? Just how did he manage to contend against William? Just how WAS he able to injure that bear?

Throughout all of this, Rine had been pushing himself farther and farther under the premise that he was too weak compared to his peers. But just who had he been comparing himself to? Was it Cort; who was a few years older than him and a monster of a warrior? Or was it Carson; a goddamned legend who advanced so far down the path of magic that Rine could not even visualize his level yet?

No, that was wrong. Rine was sure of that now. He is strong! Look at Calvin and Lucy who were useless in the fight against the wolves, look at Eddy and Eden who ran at the first sight of danger. Could he beat them in a fight? Most definitely. He might even beat them even if they all fought as a team against him.

“I. Am. Strong!” Rine admitted to himself finally as a faint layer of Origin began gathering around him unconsciously as if responding to his excitement.

Clenching his gloved hands so far his fingernails pierced into the fabric; Rine smiled victoriously as he basked under the crowd's cheers.

…………………………………………

Cort massaged his temple as he heard the sound of another scream issue from the arena. Another warrior had just fallen victim to Rine’s ruthless attack.

After Clint left the stadium, Rine seemed to have lost his mind as he was now wantonly attacking his opponents with reckless abandonment. His fearsome solar bomb ensured he injured at least a couple of people with each attack, friend or foe.

Worse yet, no one stopped him. His teammates, despite being injured, egged him on, blinded by the glory of victory. The judges, who just should have known better, were blatantly turning a blind eye. And the crowd? They fucking loved it. The visceral sight of youths being blasted away was too sweet of a treat.

Cort sighed again for the umpteenth time as things kept growing more troublesome. The situation had gone further south than he anticipated.

‘Ok, one problem at a time,’ Knowing he had a lot on his plate, Cort began planning his moves out. For now, he was unsure of Clint’s motives and total strength, so dealing with him was difficult.

Of course, he knew that the threat represented by the man was very real, but the key factor was Cort’s ignorance toward the man’s goal. It was clear as day that Clint orchestrated the whole threat against Rine, but why? For what reason; to what end? Had he simply wanted the young man’s admiration? No, preposterous.

‘Leaving that aside, the problem I first need to address is that…’ he thought to himself as he watched Rine mercilessly cut down another warrior.

…………………………………………

“Congratulations to team Cass for their victory!” The referee said loudly; however, the odd thing was the fact that he lifted the arm of Rine up and not the team leader's.

Cass looked dissatisfied but seemed too tired to argue. The rest of the team was similarly in disarray, most having burn marks on their bodies.

The only relatively clean member was the culprit himself, Rine. But he did not seem to care and was instead basking in the cheers of the crowd before him. Even the wind palace’s soldiers, who seemed to look down on adventurers, were calling his name. Better yet, the soldier who had previously attacked him was now sitting calmly with an approving look on his face.

The only thing that soured the joyous event were the groans of the injured opponents as they were being carried away to be healed.

Suddenly everyone went silent as a polite cough rang out. Everyone turned to Clint who had just stood up.

“Rine,” He addressed the young man directly, “Well done!” And with that, the match was officially over and the one after it began.

The day went on without a hitch, though one could say it was a bit boring. Things perked up when the stronger adventurers began duking it out, but nothing was as exciting as the red-haired underdog who shook the entire arena with his might.

Or so told the rumors Rine heard as he walked toward his sleeping quarters, tired from the day’s festivities.

Indeed, he was fatigued, but in a good way; similar to an artist who had just completed another magnificent piece.

And the cherry to top it all of? His badge began glowing and his number increased, making him the highest out of his team.

With a satisfied smile, he slid into his bed, unaware of the shadow looming over him.

Just as he was about to slip into slumber, a sudden voice jolted him awake.

“You look happy, partner,” Rine’s eyes widened at the sight of Cort materializing at the foot of his bed. All at once, he became aware of an oddity, despite being a shared sleeping space, no one else was around at the moment.

“C-cor-” But before he could continue, he was dragged out of bed and through a window. Cort had grabbed him by the face and was dashing out of the room.

“Mghmmm” Rine struggled to speak as he felt the inhuman speed at which Cort was accelerating with; a sudden bout of vertigo overtook him.

Rine was physically still just a child and he had never experienced the true meaning of speed, but now he had, and it frightened him.

Soon they arrived before a training field that was also empty.

Saying no words, Cort tossed Rine away and he landed meters away from him.

“W-what are you doing!?” Rine said angrily as he regained his breath. He hated when Cort did this type of thing.

His anger seemed to fuel the surrounding Origin which began to gather around him.

“Explain!” Rine screamed at the impassive Cort.

The questioned youth on the other hand was the same as ever, unimpressed. Instead of replying, he tossed something at Rine.

The latter tried to catch it, but he clumsily dropped it on the ground. It was then that he realized it was a locket as evidenced by how it opened up, revealing a drawing.

Rine was dazed by this and couldn’t help but study the image. It was a little girl no older than three who was smiling brightly. Though it was a drawing, it was so lifelike it might as well have been a photograph. The girl was wearing a frilly blue dress with pieces of cotton candy sticking to the side of her mouth. The image was undeniably cute.

“This...Is this your sister?!” Rine said with a gasp.

Cort sighed before speaking up. “No, it belonged to the man you nearly killed today,”

Rine’s eyes shot up and he looked straight at Cort. He seemed to want to ask something, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

“It’s ok, you don't have to ask, I know the question. Which one?” Cort said coldly. "The first magician."

Rine reflexively wanted to retort but he was cut off.

“He deserved it,” Cort said, mimicking Rine’s tone “Is what you wanted to say, right?”

Rine nodded despite himself. Once again his eyes were drawn to the drawing.

“It’s his little sister, supposedly she’s a bright girl who wanted to become a scholar; she could have done it too, I heard, but sadly she was never given the chance. You see, just as she reached the age of six, she came down with an illness so vile it robbed her of her mind. She’s now in a coma; hopes of waking her up dwindle by the da-”

“Enough!” Rine said as he clutched the locket, slamming it shut.

“Her older brother had hoped to find a cure, but their family was poor. Their parents only had him and his sister. She was a gem, but in comparison, he was rather dull and only fit to become a farmer. It was only through sheer luck that he managed to tap into the power of Origin and at last, a chance had come; if only he could distinguish himself in this war if only he could grab the attention of the wind palace or really anybody with the means to help. Maybe then…”

Rine’s hands were shaking now.

“But now it’s too late. He won't be able to move for another month, and by then the war would be over. Thus he will probably return to his family with his tail between his legs; a failure, one from birth and most likely one to his death. From there, he probably won’t give up; he’ll keep being an adventurer or he might even try to enroll in a school. Hell, he might even break through to Core Formation, but then what? According to people who knew him, he isn’t very talented; it took him two whole years to advance from grade one to two. Slower than a turtle am I right? At least that is compared to our talented Rine~”

“Enough!” Rine roared as he sent out a fireball toward Cort.

Smiling Calmly, Cort dodged it with ease; only tilting his head slightly.

“You’re one to talk, you hypocrite! Where was all this talk when you killed William? Where was all this talk when you slaughtered all those gang members as if killing chicken?” Rine said indignantly as he rose from the ground, staring Cort dead-on. “You’re a monster, you have no right to talk.”

Instead of reacting negatively Cort just widened his smile.