49 Abandoned Heiress

In front of Nova was his signature large black hole.

『...Okay!』[Nova]

He dashed backwards a bit before the brownling began to scream.

The group of spectators stood with their jaws agape.

『...What?!』[Reagan]

『Did he..?』[Marn]

『He made the brownling..』[Katherin]

Thomas pointed at the Area behind the brownling.

『Bite itself!』[Thomas]

The head had bit into the limb that it was attached to, causing dark dust to explode out of it, before the limb went limp and the head stopped moving.

『...Did he do it?!』[Marn]

『...No, of course not. It's just the equivalent of bleeding for a human. It's losing some of its essence, but it's not going to die yet.』[Reagan]

The normally quiet Jade spoke up.

『...Essence?』[Jade]

『Blood, life force, mana, ect.』[Reagan]

Nova was jumping around the brownling, in an attempt to confuse it.

『But.. How will he kill it?』[Thomas]

『 Didn't you hear me earlier? He won't.』[Reagan]

Nova formed his blade and cut at the monster's tendons before his sword broke again.

「It's… way too tough! I won't be able to break through its defense!」

『...He's cutting the tendons? ...Isn't that technique a bit too advanced?』[Reagan]

Nova jumped around after causing the brownling to fall.

「I can… try to break through its defense!」[Nova]

He climbed on top of the immobile brownling and formed a stance while gathering mana into his right hand.

『What is he doing?!』[Marn]

『Is he.. Trying to punch a beast?』[Reagan]

『I think Nova has gone insane. There are limits..!』[Jenny]

As they were criticizing his actions, he formed a nukite, or spear palm and began to sharpen the flow of the mana around his hand.

Suddenly, memories of Reischneid's teachings flowed through his head.

『Form a spear with your hand, as if you were going to impale the enemy.』[Reischneid]

Nova had formed it and envisioned his palm turning into a sharp weapon.

『Now, pour mana into it and imagine the infinite twisting at the top of the lance.』[Reischneid]

Nova could faintly imagine the twisting of mana at the edge of his fingertips.

『Now, with your strengthened hand and arm, thrust into the enemy before letting the attack fly loose! 』[Reischneid]

Nova's mind returned to the present moment and felt his body tense up.

『Impact Form: True Gale!』[Nova]

He drove the spear palm into the brownling, which got through about 2 inches into its body before it stopped.

『...It didn't work!』[Thomas]

Reagan prepared to save Nova.

『You fool!』[Reagan]

However, before he could take action- a mist of black dust flew out from below Nova.

『..Huh?』[Jenny]

Underneath the brownling came a big wave of dust.

『What?!』[Thomas]

Nova retrieved his hand and jumped off from the brownling.

He landed perfectly on the ground, before a vortex of wind exploded from below, and a burst of wind and essence came flying out of the hole Nova made.

『...Not bad, I think?』[Nova]

Afterward, the brownling exploded into a bunch of dust, leaving behind a soccer ball sized crystal.

『Alright! I'm done here, how about you, Anastasia?』[Nova]

When he turned around, he saw Anastasia suddenly disappear, destroying the last 3 brownlings she was fighting- then appearing next to him.

『...Done.』[Anastasia]

He was a little surprised at her popping up next to him, but he gave her a thumbs up.

『Nice.』[Nova]

Katherin came running next to them.

『Woah! That was really great, you two!』[Katherin]

『You did a good job too!』[Nova]

Anastasia seemed to have trouble saying something and ended up just putting her hand in the air.

『...A high five?』[Nova]

Anastasia nodded her head vigorously, before the three of them exchanged awkward high fives.

『...Do you want to go eat dinner together later?』[Anastasia]

Katherin was caught a bit off guard.

『Uh… sure!』[Katherin]

『Yeah, sure. I'm okay with it.』[Nova]

Then, he picked up the large soccer ball of a crystal.

『So, let's pick up some loot!』[Nova]

『...』

...….

Sometime later, they had picked up the remainder of the crystals.

『Are you sure that destroying this forest is alright, Reagan?』[Marn]

『Yes. This is the outskirts of the kingdom. Anything past this is a no man's land, or opposing forces.』[Reagan]

『...Opposing forces?』[Jade]

『Yeah. Like the Fulbright empire, or the Rebellion. You'll have to worry about that after graduation.』[Reagan]

『So.. We're going to have to kill humans too?』[Sophia]

Reagan's face grew a little dark.

『...Maybe. It's not something you can get used to.』[Reagan]

He opened a portal and ended the conversation.

『Okay, let's go.』[Reagan]

They went through, and immediately Reagan began to dig into Nova.

『Nova, what kind of technique was that?』[Reagan]

『Huh?! Which one?』[Nova]

『The sharp hand attack.』[Reagan]

『Uh.. True Gale?』[Nova]

『...Sure. What kind of technique was that?!』[Reagan]

『A.. Martial art technique?』[Nova]

『...Then, who taught you?』[Reagan]

Nova opened his mouth to answer, before Reagan cut in.

『Wait, actually- I know exactly who. But your style is completely different..���[Reagan]

He sighed, then clapped his hands together.

『Yeah, class is done for today. Go ahead and skip this afternoon.』[Reagan]

He proceeded to leave at a decent speed.

『...I mean. I guess...』[Marn]

Most of the class left, until it was just the Anastasia, Nova, and Katherin.

『...How will we split this?』[Nova]

『You can have the large one, Anastasia can have the medium ones, then we can split the small ones?』[Katherin]

『...I'm okay with that.』[Anastasia]

They split it up and took it back to their rooms before meeting up in front of their classroom again.

『So, since we've got the whole day off- did you want to go out?』[Nova]

『...Yes.』[Anastasia]

Katherin looked a little uncomfortable

『..Uh.. are you guys sure you want me coming with you?』[Katherin]

They both looked at her with a strange look on their face.

『Yeah, why wouldn't we? We haven't really hung out personally besides during the training sessions.』[Nova]

Anastasia nodded her head as well.

『...I want to make friends.』[Anastasia]

Katherin hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

『Okay. Let's go! Nova, are you leading?』[Katherin]

『Yeah, sure.』[Nova]

…..

Nova had decided to take the two to the mall, but before long he was the one being dragged around.

��Nova! Over there! Look at all those clothes!』[Katherin]

『...Huh? Have you never been to a mall before?』[Nova]

Katherin shook her head.

『Nope! In my house, we just did lessons day in and out!』[Katherin]

She looked like she was a little refreshed.

『Hmm… How about you, Anastasia?』[Nova]

She looked a little troubled.

『...No.』[Anastasia]

『Really? Oswald didn't take you out or anything?』[Nova]

She suddenly had a cold frown on her face.

『...Don't talk about him.』[Anastasia]

Nova was suddenly taken aback.

『...Uh, did he do something?』[Nova]

Katherin, noticing the atmosphere, decided to step out for a moment.

『I… I'm going to be right back.』[Katherin]

She ran off in the direction they came from.

『...He's worthless.』[Anastasia]

Nova didn't know how to respond for a moment.

『...That's.. Not true. He's a great person!』[Nova]

She stared into Nova's eyes with an icy glare.

『...If he was a great person, would he leave his little sister to take over as the heir?』[Anastasia]

『...What?』[Nova]