Chapter 385: Forty-seven No need to explain (5K)_2
Finally, as the sun began its descent, Hewinia completed all her training. Panting and drenched in sweat, she lay sprawled on the ground, her disheveled state belying her status as a Player.
“Okay, that should be enough,” Bai Wei said leisurely. “Training’s over. Let’s take on Phinis tomorrow! If you manage to defeat Phinis without injury, there will even be a reward for you.”
She couldn’t tell if it was just her perception, but she felt that Bai Wei seemed to be playing a game, one called “Training the Player,” and she was the Player being trained.
Despite the gravity of the situation — after all, the death of Phinis might well trigger a series of unpredictable chain reactions — it appeared to be of little consequence in the eyes of Bai Wei.
However, it made sense when she thought about it. In Holy Sound, the only thing that seemed capable of grabbing Visa’s attention would probably be the Holy Sound Master himself.
With this thought, Hewinia’s previously heavy heart relaxed slightly.
Perhaps it was because, no matter what, she had Bai Wei as a backup.
After a brief rest, Hewinia left the training room and returned to her dormitory.
She planned to clean herself up before dining; heading to the cafeteria in her current sweaty state would draw far too much attention.
However, as she passed through the lobby, something caught her eye, and she immediately stopped.
She spotted a girl who had fallen asleep with her head resting on a table in the corner of the lobby.
But that wasn’t what was important. The important thing was the book being pressed under the girl’s arm.
At first glance, the girl seemed to have simply fallen asleep while studying in the lobby and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But, with the extraordinary vision of Bai Wei’s left eye, Hewinia caught sight of a few words on the pages of the book.
Hewinia’s pupils constricted slightly.
She then moved towards the girl without drawing attention. The girl remained oblivious, continuing to sleep in evident exhaustion.
Naturally, Hewinia could also see, from the girl’s loose neckline, her pale skin and the silver note etched with blood upon it.
Sure enough, this girl too was using Ascension Magic.
Just like Ogg, like Orenna.
Hewinia had already been puzzled. After all, Ascension Magic was taboo magic, where were they finding it?
It would be understandable for Orenna to obtain such a thing given her backing from the Lawrence Family, and for Ogg, as the librarian, to incidentally come across a book of forbidden spells was conceivable.
But where did this girl get her “Ascension Magic” from?
Was it merely a coincidence to encounter three individuals using “Ascension Magic,” or were there more practitioners than she had imagined, hence her stumbling upon them repeatedly?
It was just as Daniel had said: he had seen quite a few students trying to stealthily ascend during his morning strolls in the Forbidden Forest.
But how could that be? Could it be that so many people each possessed a copy of “Ascension Magic”?
Hewinia hadn’t been particularly concerned with this, given she didn’t need to ascend.
Yet, she couldn’t convince herself to ignore something that seemed so widespread and abnormal.
Thus, after a moment of hesitation, Hewinia reached for the “Ascension Magic” book under the girl’s arm, intending to discover what the book was all about.
But just as her hand barely brushed against it, a thud sounded from behind her.
Someone had fallen to the ground, accompanied by the screams of bystanders.
The girl who was sleeping woke up with a start, and fortunately, Hewinia had already retracted her hand, ensuring her actions went unnoticed by the girl.
Hewinia had thought someone was intentionally hindering her, and she quickly turned around to look.
Then she saw a girl, her body turning purple, lying on the floor, clutching her throat and convulsing — it was clear she had been poisoned.
Beside her was an opened letter, bearing the crest of some noble.
Hewinia instantly understood: this was another “Amiya.”
Such incidents were still occurring.
The fallen girl and Amiya were clearly not afflicted by the same poison; she wasn’t dying instantly like Amiya, but her body was rapidly decaying, turning black, becoming a ghastly sight.
Her throat seemed to be corroded by the toxin, preventing her from articulating complete words, only managing to whisper intermittently.
But no one dared approach, everyone was wary of her discolored skin, afraid of becoming contaminated by the toxin themselves.
Consequently, the onlookers did no more than admonish her to hang on while they ran to get a teacher. No one offered her help, simply watching her blacken and decay.
Hewinia did the same; she looked on for a moment and then decided to leave first, planning to return after the commotion had settled to see if she could find one or two “Ascension Magic” books. If this thing had truly become as popular among the students as she suspected, then finding copies shouldn’t be difficult.
If she stayed, she would likely be taken away by the patrolling teachers, which would waste time she didn’t have. And time was what she was short on.
With that thought, Hewinia walked towards the staircase, ready to return to her room.