NOVEL NEXT Chapter 352
<352 - Weight of Resolve>
‘Was it really like this?’
Russo’s legs trembled.
After a brief skirmish, he poured healing potion onto his bloodied legs, but the shaking didn’t stop.
The pain from the muscles healing from injury nagged at his nerves.
‘Even with a resolve to cut my lifespan, can I really not surpass a true genius?’
He felt like he might understand now.
Even accepting extreme poison, the inferior students fell for the temptations of the Foundation.
Russo’s life hadn’t been fierce.
At least, it hadn’t been while he was finishing his second year and taking the third-year advancement exam.
He had no resolve to sacrifice his lifespan back then.
Because he didn’t realize the harshness of reality.
Dreams are sweet.
If he honed his skills during his leave of absence and tried again, he could succeed in advancing.
Then he wouldn’t have to buy the advancement qualification certificate for one hundred times the amount.
Though he had fallen behind, it wasn’t the end.
The countless excuses he used to comfort himself vanished as he looked back at the depths of despair he was in.
He was nothing.
He realized that as he witnessed the figures of those expelled from the academy, unable to hold back their tears.
Next, it could be his turn.
He was just a dropout.
The advice from the veteran instructor was a decisive blow.
—“You idiot. Do you think others have been stuck for years and still couldn’t pass the advancement exam because they were fools? Do you really think the difficulty of the advancement exams won’t change?”
Having failed the first advancement exam, how could he possibly succeed in the second one, which was harder?
The same went for the third and the fourth.
Twenty-five years.
Enduring that overwhelming time through mere calculations became the only way to earn points.
So far away.
So far that the end wasn’t in sight.
So narrow.
As if he would fall if he went even slightly off course.
‘Can I hold on? For twenty-five years.’
If he had talent.
If he had money to replace points.
If he met a fortuitous opportunity to replace talent and points.
Every day, meaningless assumptions piled up.
On a day when even hope was dying.
A girl approached him.
—“Instructor. If you help me with my business, I can give you points… Are you interested?”
Even if they divided points made by improper means, turning a blind eye to injustice would drastically reduce the excessively long time of patience.
If this isn’t a fortuitous opportunity, what is?
“I will transfer it to you even if I have to tear up the contract!”
“If it’s a lie, you’ll just waste your lifespan.”
“I’m serious!”
“Do you know why fraudsters believe in the God of Contracts? Because a contract torn by a third party becomes void. A powerless person’s contract is meaningless!”
“Ugh…”
It was unfair.
Just when he had finally made up his mind.
After entering the academy, he was finally at a level where he could pass the advancement exam.
That cruel girl rendered even that attempt meaningless.
A sacrifice without points held no meaning.
Camela, without a contract, could never be trusted.
What’s the difference between not having a contract and sticking your hand into the mouth of an alligator for a woman who only deceives you while pretending to fulfill a contract?
If Camela had extraordinary patience and was particularly gentle, she wouldn’t close her teeth.
But the Camela he had seen was never that kind of person.
She even used her close aides as contracts.
A fundamental distrust of humans was underlying her actions.
‘Is a weed still a weed, even if it blooms?’
Possibility dwindled.
The future closed again.
The time spent was gone, and the remaining time shrunk.
“Don’t joke. Just how much are you ignoring me?”
In the despairing Russo’s ears rang Camela’s furious voice, biting her teeth.
“I command in the name of the Master of Contracts and forcibly nullify the contract with Russo!”
“Ah! No way! This is double betrayal!?”
“Russo. Because of this, I will have to pay a penalty for breaking the contract carelessly.”
“You…!”
“Yes. The contract is terminated, but inversely, a penalty contract exists. This is a goodwill I show for your sacrifice.”
“The penalty must have been all the points needed for the advancement exam. Why do something so reckless?”
Camela glared at Russo as fiercely as she did Oknodie.
“It’s because of you.”
“Are you… crying?”
“I know. I know what someone controlled by a pet contract feels like. Even if forced to move, there’s no obligation to try my best and fight with all my might.”
That was the blind spot of a coercive contract.
“Yet, did you think I would betray the sincerity of those who fought, risking their lifespan?”
Despite not trusting people, Camela used contracts, yet paradoxically, she could only grow colder towards people as the distance from them widened.
“After being betrayed by my parents, friends, and everyone around me during my childhood, there was no trust in others in my world. I learned how hollow even the closest relationships are without a contract.”
The woman, shaking from the betrayal, felt a sense of trust she had never received in her lifetime.
Perhaps it was the true feeling Camela pursued while playing with people’s hearts through the pet contract mocking it.
Hoping to have someone who wouldn’t hate her, even through a contract like this.
An immature thought that even she didn’t know.
Russo pierced through her inner gentle heart and the sadness that she had long ago abandoned without expectation with a fight that would cut his lifespan.
“This is a contract. It’s a contract established as my unilaterally paid penalty for your sincerity!!”
You staked your life because you trusted me.
Then I will stake a penalty as trust in you.
Even if I don’t receive the equivalent compensation.
Just like Russo, who sacrificed his life, resolved to do so.
Thud.
Drops of blood collected and fell on his scratched forearm.
Sweat, more than blood, streamed across his cheek.
Still, Russo’s eyes did not waver.
“I’m the same.”
Strength surged through Russo’s entire body.
Genuine astonishment appeared on Oknodie’s face.
“No one needed me. No matter how unjust the purpose is, this excessive contract was the first legitimate price I’ve ever received.”
If Russo took Camela’s first, Camela also took Russo’s first.
The trust exchanged between a man and a woman who shared their firsts was not light.
“It’s twenty-five years.”
Underneath the broken tiles, the floor engraved with auto-recovery magic circuits vibrated fiercely.
“Even the student council didn’t show this much faith and sincerity to a weakling like me. So it’s okay just this once. A coward who couldn’t stake his life on his own life also throws it away for others.”
Days turned into weeks.
It wasn’t a measly amount of power.
Months turned into years.
That much output burned through twenty-five years of lifespan.
This wasn’t a fight to endure for six hours.
The trust of twenty-five years that Camela showed.
That was what Russo genuinely resolved to use to burn his lifespan to defeat Oknodie today.
That heavy resolve fueled Russo’s charge.
[Explosion Level]
[Triple Explosion - Full Body Enhancement]
The blood rushing through his heart accelerated the speed of thought in his brain.
This was not simply the damage borne by his entire body to instantaneously enhance his arms or legs.
It touched the two most important organs in the human body.
His heart and brain.
While he lived with no care, he couldn’t say it was clean, but losing even this would mean losing his own body, the one asset he had, and even tomorrow, through blood vessels and mana circuits.
Bam!
No more acceleration shadows would work.
He couldn’t deceive the scaled-up focus beyond the limits of his brain’s functionality, which analyzed every moment like snapping a camera shutter as he sent out clones.
The wall that Oknodie stepped on couldn’t withstand the shock and collapsed.
The fool in the next room, eavesdropping with his ear against the wall, tumbled down with the debris.
“!!”
It was an accident.
Everyone, including Russo, Oknodie, and even the foolish guy caught in the scene, couldn’t have predicted this situation.
Russo proved his resolve.
However, it was a resolve to stake his life.
Right now, continuing his attack on Oknodie at this moment would inflict irreversible severe injuries on that fool and likely would mean certain death.
—“Don’t touch freshmen. No matter what happens. If you don’t want to waste all the points you’ve painfully earned.”
The warning of the veteran instructor flashed through his mind.
“A, ah…”
The foolish figure of the fool rolling on the ground with a stupid expression.
‘Am I going to… kill him?’
This isn’t right.
Even though this fight had twenty-five years at stake, crossing that line would lead to regret for a lifetime.
Loosening muscles slowly.
Eyes twitching with resentment.
Yet if he didn’t use strength, the wildly pulled muscles would cause even more shock to his body.
He had to let it out.
Russo extended his leg.
The biggest strike of his life, a mix of exhilaration and despair, was aimed not at Oknodie, but out the window.
Swish.
A stream of blood-mixed crimson rushed forth.
It reached a level akin to what they often referred to as sword energy projection.
No matter how many times he tried, he had only managed to strengthen his ability to not surpass that of weapons while in [Martial Artist].
He brought down steel with [Sword] and [Mana Coating] and even beyond that to the level of projectiles of a swordsman.
[Wing Cutter]
The multiple defensive spells were neatly sliced away in one strike.
Seeing the tree outside get cleanly cut in half shocked the roommates, who had been trembling in fear pressed against the opposite wall.
“Whoa? But just a moment ago the barrier…”
“I reclaimed it. Even a pinch of power dedicated to maintaining the barrier.”
Russo’s fist smashed into the wall.
Boom.
Everyone jolted in surprise at the tremors traveling through the wall, but tears streaming down his face clogged Russo’s throat.
“That was the level of sincerity. It shouldn’t have come to this.”
Had he maintained the barrier, they could have continued to fight in a secluded environment isolated from the outside.
The mistake stemming from a momentary misjudgment brought Russo profound regret.
But what he didn’t know was not only his own foolishness.
“Who do you think you are to act as if everything has finished?”
Whoosh. Russo intercepted something Oknodie threw.
He looked down at the potion in his hand.
“What trick is this? If it’s just sympathy…”
“Hmph. Don’t be foolish. If you thought this would end without me seeking revenge on you, you’re mistaken.”
“…What are you trying to do?”
“Drink it. It may not be as fine a product as the one I gave Sing, but it helps strengthen the human body’s energy flow.”
“You, who should have been the enemy, are now providing something good. Are you asking me to believe that?”
“Don’t want to? Then I’ll make you believe it. If you don’t drink that and fight again, I will hit Camela right now. She won’t die, but it’ll be enough to stop her from attending lectures for a month, in a manner severe enough that even a healer can’t help.”
Still not going to drink it?
Russo looked down at the potion again because of Oknodie’s provocation.
“Stop it! If you really do something foolish like that, it’ll be a loss for Oknodie, and besides, the barrier has been解除, so the dorm supervisor and instructors will come anyway!”
Camela’s desperate shout ignited Russo’s lost anger again.
The empty potion bottle rolled on the floor.
“Ah… why do something so foolish…”
“Beliefs make a fool of a person. Regardless, this fight cannot be avoided. Look, Oknodie’s hand.”
In Oknodie’s left hand hung a wand.
A weapon he hadn’t used even once in the previous fight.
Camela might get wet, but Russo had clearly sensed it.
The turbulent power waves running across the ground amidst the confusion.
“This place is already within the barrier.”
“A barrier, really? That guy just opened a door!”
“The conditions are the same. Those who go out cannot return while the barrier is maintained. The internal space is preserved without destruction. It just differs in scope.”
Camela, looking out the corridor, gasped.
Clearly, as the fool’s roommate rushed down the hallway screaming, he stepped through the fire door of the dormitory and immediately vanished from sight.
Russo continued, his face heavy.
“The entire floor of this place is already within Oknodie’s barrier.”