How the Shadow of the Marquis Lives

Episode 9

What is the image world?

In fact, it is not well defined.

Opinions are divided even in the academic world, and even advanced wizards and warriors have their own definitions.

Nonetheless, if I had to define it in one way.

The landscape that lies dormant inside a person and forms the source of that person.

Or a phenomenon or a special being.

In fact, the world of imagination is just a floating story, except for those who have reached the stage of High Master.

But not for those who have reached that level.

A wizard is a person who twists the providence of the world with his own rules.

A wizard who has risen to the stage changes reality through his own image world.

A warrior is a person who creates an ideal self through endless training.

A warrior who has reached the stage achieves the status of a half-god himself through the world of imagery.

That’s why Xian was also curious.

High Master, that is still a long way from him. But it was also the stage we were aiming for.

Because of that, Xian was also very curious about his own image world.

‘There’s nothing more than I thought… … .’

Clinging to the cliff, he concentrated magic on his fingertips and stretched them up.

After fumbling around for a while, I feel a small groove. Aiming for that place, he processed the mana that he put on his finger into an awl.

And give it some strength.

Passasak.

Stone dust runs down your fingers.

There was a hole for a finger to fit through.

‘It’s an ordeal of endlessly climbing a cliff in a dark place… … .’

According to the explanation of the sign he saw outside, this would not mean that this was his image world.

To be precise, it was said that it was an ordeal based on imagery.

If so, what would your own mental world look like?

Doesn’t it look very different from this space? If that’s the guy who’s my origin, what the hell does it mean?

‘Let’s focus for now.’

Pushing the thought to one side of his head, he put strength into his arm.

It’s just a finger hanging over a small groove, but there’s no problem supporting the weight even if it’s just this much.

Tendons flared up on his hard forearms. His back twitched and his body rose.

He dug a wall with the same magical powers that he processed like an awl on his feet.

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Just enough to cover one big toe.

“Sigh.”

It stretches out its hands above its invisible head to find a suitable path, and puts magical energy into its hands and feet to dig up the stone wall and create a support.

After climbing for a while, I came up with a trick.

The difficult point was the distribution of mana.

If you want to, you can dig a hole that will fit all your hands, not just one finger.

But you can’t.

If I did that now, when I couldn’t tell how high the ceiling was, there was a risk that my mana would be discharged in the middle.

First of all, it was best to go up while reducing consumption as much as possible.

“… … .”

As he got used to the minimum distribution of mana, his body began to rise.

He didn’t climb at nearly the speed of a run like he usually did during training, but his movement was unhindered.

It was very stable even though it was only relying on one finger and one toe in such a small space.

I don’t know if it’s an environment where even strong winds blow, but it was easy to balance here with no wind.

1 hours… … 2 hours… … .

how long has it been Breathing quickens slowly.

Normally, I don’t get so tired after riding the cliff for about 2 hours.

It seemed that the fact that he was using the delicate operation of his magic power at the same time, and that he was climbing only by touch because he couldn’t see anything, seemed to have eaten away his stamina considerably.

‘I’ll go up a bit more, and if there’s nothing, I’ll have to go down again.’

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Judgment was quick.

It’s a pity that I’ve come up so far, but I can’t help it.

The light hadn’t come any closer yet, but it was already quite far from the floor.

If you fall from here, you won’t be able to avoid injury no matter how hard you are.

It was then that he placed his hand over his large chin.

“uh.”

He groped and touched his chin with his hand.

It was completely different from the home where not even a finger could go in until now.

There was a place that was wide enough to sit on, not even against the wall.

‘Is this a resting place?’

A blush flashed across his face.

It was a time when I was really struggling with physical strength and magic.

So I was thinking that I should give up and go down, but there was nothing better than having a resting place.

“Whoa… … .”

He sat down and took a deep breath.

When I touched my forehead, it was wet with sweat.

‘middle… … is absolutely not We’re not very close yet.’

Taking a breath, he looked up.

His trained stamina had risen to the point where he was almost exhausted. Even so, the light of the stars above was still far away.

How much higher do you have to climb to get there?

It seems like a long way to finish it within today.

An ordeal in a dream is literally just an ordeal in a dream, so when you wake up, you have no choice but to be kicked out.

Well, according to the description, you can start again from this location the next day, but… … .

When I’m taking a break while thinking about that.

―Ugh… … !

“huh?”

There was something in his hand.

* * *

4 days passed.

In the meantime, there were many duels between freshmen.

To the extent that you can see Colosseum magic unfolding anywhere on this large site.

Originally, freshmen would not fall into a duel in such a short period of time.

All of this was because of Ran.

Because the second-place ring was passed to the weaker one, a scramble took place temporarily, and many students began to enjoy the duel.

However, Ran, the real culprit.

“Ran, do you have any plans to challenge for second place again?”

“not really.”

I haven’t had any duels since that day.

She was seen training hard at the training grounds a lot, but no one saw her fighting a duel.

Ring was also still ranked 292nd.

Students chatted about such a column.

“I heard that class 4 has rumors.”

“Ah, that fairy palace?”

“I passed by it briefly the other day, but it was really pretty.”

It had only been a few days, but there was no first grader who didn’t know Yuseol’s name.

The ace of class 4 who took the second place ring.

A student who might be the strongest freshman.

Wizard of Snow and Ice.

However, the reason she said that she might be the strongest, not the strongest, is because the top students have not yet tried each other.

Ran also hasn’t fought Yoo Seol yet.

So, the students in class 1 used to look at Ran with some kind of expectation.

“I’m not interested in anything other than first place.”

Ran threw that gaze away with a single knife.

At her words, the eyes of the students turned to one side.

It was Xian sitting by the window.

Xian smiled at me and said.

“I have no intention of giving in.”

“Who wants to concede? I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry.”

“… … joy.”

Xian argues with Ran.

The eyes of the students looking at him were a little different from before.

Before, if I had the impression that I was just a ruffian who only believed in my family, and never wanted to get close to him.

Now there was a bit of a surprise in it.

It was because, despite having fought countless duels over the course of four days, the number 1 was still firmly shining on his hand.

“They say Ran lost too… … .”

“If Ran lost, wouldn’t he be number one in real skill?”

“No, but you haven’t been with Yu Seol yet.”

Initially, the evaluation was that Xian was frothy. He had good grades in admissions, but he would be a weakling in real life.

However, Ran revealed with her own mouth that she was broken by Xian.

After that, at least in Class 1, there were no people who looked down on Xian.

“No matter what, it’s not okay to be rude. Did you see him fight? All the top-ranked kids tried it, but they couldn’t even use their hands and fell out.”

“hey. You should have beaten Ran, but do you think you will lose to him?”

“I don’t know that.”

who is the strongest

In a topic that has no choice but to become hot regardless of the East and West, freshmen everywhere were talking about it.

In that atmosphere, students who wanted to improve their rankings appeared one after another.

The atmosphere that the instructors wanted, including Instructor Tail, had already been formed.

In the midst of the commotion, only Xian was one step away.

He was first in the first place, and he didn’t have any higher rankings, and most of all, these days, he had interests other than duels.

‘Because today is Friday… … I want to climb all of them before the start of next week.’

dream ordeal.

The only thought was in my head.

It rose steadily for four days, but there was still close to half of the starlight left.

‘I heard that classes, including practical training, will begin in earnest from next week.’

So far, most of the classes have been theory classes.

The first week after admission is just a period for adaptation.

But next week, they say, it’s different. At that time, there will be more classes going outside the campus as well as on campus.

If that happens, there will be more nights out, and you won’t be able to cling only to the trials of your dreams.

I wanted to clear it before that somehow.

“Are you going there again?”

As he was about to leave the classroom, Ran suddenly grabbed him.

It seems to have improved a little, but Xian is still treated like a boil in Ban.

When she suddenly called him over, the students near her flinched.

“uh.”

“Sheesh. You work hard too.”

“… … .”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Xian stared at her and asked.

“A letter?”

“what?”

“The letter I gave you. Have you thought about telling your father?”

I wonder what Gen Aslar’s reaction will be.

“No way.”

But Ran only snorted.

Xian licked his lips with regret. It seems that his impression has not changed much yet.

I’ve been feeling quite a lot of stares for the past 4 days, so I thought I might have changed my mind.

“Because I’m always fine.”

“Go fast, tsk.”

Ran clicked his tongue and kicked Xian out.

It’s a guy who wants to talk to you first, but when the topic that you don’t want to come up, you chase it away right away.

Xian shrugged and left.

Only Ran and a few students were left with a complicated expression on her face.

“ha.”

“As expected, Ran is amazing.”

“Talking to Xian like that.”

As Xian left, Ran relaxed his expression.

That guy isn’t the guy you think he is, I tried to say those words inadvertently, but I swallowed them.

What am I thinking? A guy is a guy.

‘Adding an assaulter to a cheater.’

Yes, this is because he is good at acting like a con artist. He was such a cunning fellow.

With that thought, Ran raised her guard against Xi’an alone.

Let’s never be fooled.

“But Ran. What are you talking about?”

“what?”

“Something like delivering a letter to my father.”

“huh? oh that’s it? No big deal.”

Ran waved her hands and evaded her moderately.

He did not hide the fact that he had lost the duel with Xian, but the circumstances of the letter were different.

To explain the letter, you have to mention the past incident where Xian assaulted his younger brother. A story related to his brother’s honor.

She didn’t want to talk about it.

Then, wild speculation began to flow among her friends.

“if… … Is there anything going on between the families?”

“The country is different, is that possible?”

“Of course it is possible! I heard from my mother the other day that it is a trend that has increased especially these days?”

At the words of his friends, Ran tilted his head. I had no idea what you were talking about.

“What is that?”

My friends responded as if it were natural.

“You’re talking about a betrothal?”

“Ask for something obvious.”

“Come to think of it, doesn’t it seem like Ran is only grumbling about Xian? I guess it’s a shameless feeling… … .”

“Apart from winning first place, is it possible that you are not interested in that kind of interest?”

As one person started talking, words were added one by one as if it was this time, and the atmosphere heated up.

It is a hot topic for children of this age. Even if the opponent is Xian.

“It’s not like that!”

Only then did Ran, who understood, frown and scream.

What a terrible sound!

“I know that? There are cases where foreign families are combined, and about half of them are trades that met their eyes in Everwhale.”

“really? Well, I’ll do it if I’m here.”

“Because we are none of our business.”

“That means, after all, Lando Xian and… … .”

However, the friends were already talking about a lot of things except for her, the person involved.

* * *

＜Heart of the Dreamer: The Trial of a Dream＞

Xian entered the trial of dreams again.

I climbed a total of 11 resting places in 4 days. This means that he stepped on almost three resting places in one day.

It made no sense, considering that he had to use almost all of his stamina and mana to climb a single resting place.

There was a reason for that.

“Ugh!”

The guy who greets Xian when he enters the dungeon.

“Yes, come again. I have to go up there today too.”

“yes!”

[Black Spirit Labyrinth]

A black object the size of a palm rode up Xian’s back to the top of his shoulder.

The helper I met at the first resting place.

Accompanied by the Black Spirit, he started climbing the wall.