[38] A Bridge That Cannot Be Crossed (5)
It took just over a second to reach the end, and this time even Shirone's heart dropped.
'I can't give up!'
A jolt of electricity hit his brain, and Shirone steadied the Spirit Zone that Mark's scream had shaken.
That was one-tenth of a second.
Shirone thought: do I have time?
He could imagine dividing a second into ten, but he couldn't experience a tenth of a second ten separate times.
There was only one option: keep splitting it further.
One-hundredth of a second.
He reconstructed in his head how the Dragon's Maze formed.
The overall shape was a heptagonal star. There were six forks.
One-thousandth of a second.
Tracing the maze's pattern back, he found an exit.
To get out, he'd have to cast teleportation at least nine times in immediate succession.
"No—! Not with Mark!"
If there wasn't room for both of them to escape, he had to find another route.
At that moment the Dragon's Maze swallowed Shirone.
The boys looked away; the girls screamed at the gruesome scene they'd imagined.
Seriel's scream was the loudest.
Puf-puf-puf-pow!
The explosive sounds in the cramped space resembled Shirone's and Mark's own cries.
And then, finally, the noise stopped.
One ten-thousandth of a second.
In an instant too brief to ponder even with insight, Shirone analyzed every pattern again and found the exit.
A flash of teleportation shot out of the Dragon's Maze, and Shirone, streaking with brilliant light, crossed the finish line and landed.
"Hah, hah."
Shirone set Mark down, took a few more steps, then—unable to hold it—went to his knees.
No one could make a sound. The students stared at Shirone with terror-struck faces as if they were looking at a ghost.
Etella cast a teleport toward Shiina, who had gone to find Sade, and not long after the mechanism shut down and Echo's voice came over the system.
- Deactivating the Impassable Bridge mechanism. Level Zero. Level Zero.
The iron bars slowed, the structures that had grown like wooden vines leveled out, and the course began reverting to its original Impassable Bridge form.
"W-what...?"
All the students felt the same thing.
"How is this even possible?"
"No way. It was Level Ten. And he got through the Dragon's Maze."
As the students murmured, Shirone—still slumped on the ground—finally collected himself and looked around.
'Why are they all looking at me?'
Some memories were blank, but the fact that he'd crossed the Impassable Bridge was immutable.
Reality settled in, and Shirone's face crumpled.
"Ugh, I really thought I was going to die."
It was embarrassingly plain for someone who had just made history.
But Seriel knew this was exactly the Shirone who spoke right before jumping off a cliff.
"Amy! Shirone did it! Your boyfriend did it!"
She probably should have left out "boyfriend," but Amy let it slide, crying with joy.
Students swarmed forward, competing to speak to Shirone.
"Congratulations! You were amazing!"
"So does that mean you're promoted to Class Five? Haha—Class Six'll be pissed."
While Shirone received congratulations, the teachers who'd gone to the engine room and Maria teleported back.
Shiina checked on Shirone first.
He was dizzy from being surrounded by students, but he didn't seem seriously injured.
'He passed through the Dragon's Maze? How in the world did he do that? The graduation class practices that thing dozens of times.'
Sade shrugged and offered a lame excuse when given a reproachful look for missing the historic moment.
"As you know—well, I don't know—but I did my best."
Shiina sighed and walked over to Alpheas.
If, by any chance, both Shirone and Mark had reached the end together, it would be best to announce the result clearly to avoid rumors.
"Principal, please announce the results of the early promotion exam—"
Alpheas, who had momentarily blanked, regained his composure and, wearing a kindly smile, addressed the students.
"The successful candidate of the early promotion exam is Arian Shirone. Shirone will be promoted to Class Five. However, I am proud of every student who participated. The courage you showed today will be the driving force that leads Alpheas School of Magic forward. Continue to train and achieve good results."
Applause started with the seniors and spread to the juniors.
No one remained resentful of Shirone's early promotion, and even Mark, who had faced him directly, had to acknowledge it.
'So geniuses really do exist.'
The image of Shirone casting teleportation at incredible speed inside the Dragon's Maze remained vivid in his mind.
It wasn't just talent.
In an impossible situation some give up and retreat, while others think of nothing but overcoming it.
'No excuses left now.'
Mark walked over to Shirone on trembling legs.
Most students had guessed there might be some arrangement behind this test, but Mark, as if resigned, publicly admitted defeat.
"Senior, I lost. It was a great match and I learned a lot! Please take care of me from now on!"
With Alpheas's approval, Shirone would now have to be addressed as a senior.
"Yeah, good work today. I'll do my best too."
Amy, smiling happily at the scene, turned to Seriel.
"Let's go down."
"What? Leaving already? On a day like today you should be with your boyfriend."
"I don't have time. Shirone did it, so now it's my turn. I need to prepare for the promotion exam too."
"Are you sure you can leave now?"
Amy's feet were just as reluctant, but she felt she needed to do something to calm her excitement.
"Shirone."
When Shirone called, Amy shrugged and turned toward him.
As the two faced each other, the nearby students muttered in disbelief.
"Did he just call her name?"
"Of course. They're a couple, right?"
"But still—Amy-senior..."
Amy had never once lost first place and meant more than just an upperclassman to the underclassmen. She was regarded as someone who could perform even in the graduation class, so the situation was astonishing.
Shirone ignored the reactions and grinned at Amy, holding up two fingers.
"Two more steps."
"Ha... ha..."
Amy's smile trembled.
If she passed the graduation-class promotion test, there would only be two ranks between her and Shirone.
"Let's go, Seriel."
"Huh? Oh—right."
Amy turned and hurried down the mountain, Seriel following close behind.
Except for Class Seven, the other advanced students dispersed one by one, and only then did Sade approach Alpheas.
"Principal, I have something to report about Maria."
Sade recounted everything that had happened in the engine room.
"I see... how did such a mistake happen?" Alpheas murmured, regretful, as Maria stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry. I made an unforgivable mistake. I'll accept whatever punishment I deserve."
"Hmm, for now—"
Mark cut in.
"I have a confession. Everything that happened today was because of me."
All eyes turned to Mark, who stood with a sullen expression.
"What do you mean—your fault?"
"Truth is, I really pissed Maria off this morning. If I heard what I did, I'd have snapped too. So punish me—I'm the cause."
Shiina said, "Even so, Maria's actions were problematic. And why bring this up now? This could've gone unnoticed."
"I'm not a saint, but I'm not so pathetic I'd act without being ready to take responsibility. Besides, everyone knows what happened; keeping quiet'd be embarrassing. Also, I planned the operation to target Senior Shirone."
Mark, who'd lived believing winning was all that mattered, had been shaken by his duel with Shirone.
'Overwhelm with skill.'
Setting aside petty schemes and focusing solely on overcoming the obstacle to win had struck him like a blow that overturned his entire worldview.
"Anyway, that's how it is. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me, but go easy on the others. Especially Maria—"
Glancing at Maria, Mark added, "She must've been under a lot of stress. The kids were always scheming together to harass her. Who would do that without losing their mind?"
Alpheas had been thinking deeply about Maria too.
Her grades weren't good, but she had trained quietly longer than anyone else at the school to become a mage.
Seeing her on the verge of expulsion for an irreparable mistake reminded him of his younger self.
'Master...'
Sade, who knew Alpheas's past, looked at him with a tender expression.
The light of the Mirhi family.
Alpheas first made his name with light magic.
It's old theory now, but at the time it was a brilliant idea that even won him the Gold Circle award from the king.
That shining talent, however, dragged young Alpheas into turmoil.
What if, after one wrong judgment, he hadn't spent ten years groping through darkness?
Perhaps Alpheas might have become a mage whose name was etched in history.
"I will refer both of them to the disciplinary committee. Maria is guilty of illegally operating the mechanism and interfering with the exam. She also created unnecessary danger. However, since Mark was the instigator, I will take that into account when deciding punishment."
As Maria and Mark bowed their heads, students from Class Seven began raising their hands one by one.
"Teacher, I harassed Maria. Doesn't that make me partly responsible?"
"I was in the operation team and attacked Senior Shirone."
When the whole of Class Seven raised their hands, it showed the Maria incident stemmed from the class as a whole.
It would have come out sooner or later, but their willingness to confess showed a kind of mage-like courage.
"Then I will punish the entire class. Return to your dorms and wait for the ruling."
"And what will happen to Maria?"
"That will be considered by the disciplinary committee. Punishment will be directed at the whole class; Maria will not shoulder all the blame alone."
It wasn't a definitive verdict, but coming from the principal it carried weight.
Shiina asked, "Isn't that a risky statement? We don't even know what the discipline will be yet."
"We are teachers. We must guide our students, not act as judges. These children are our pupils to teach and raise."
Maria couldn't hold back and began to sob.
"Thank you. I'm sorry."
A smile spread across Sade's lips as he watched.
'Good. This is probably a miracle in Maria's life that won't come again.'
Much like when Sade first met Alpheas.
'Life is luck. If you give up, you won't even have a chance at that luck.'
If Maria hadn't truly loved magic, could she have endured so long in Class Seven?
The world is unfair, but Sade thought that's precisely why it was worth living.
If you truly long for a dream and endure, opportunity will come to anyone.