Subjugation of the Floating Island – Interlude (2)

Dorothy Gale crossed a field filled with white reeds.

The golden sunlight gently enveloped her skin.

The cluster of reeds swayed softly with every breeze.

The reason why the young girl could confidently traverse this field of reed, even as it obscured her sight, was because there was a rainbow in the sky.

Somewhere, over that rainbow.

There was a place she had heard about in a lullaby.

Because she believed that her maternal aunt, uncle, Toto, and the people of the rural village that Dorothy had once lived in were all beyond that rainbow, the young girl ran without rest towards it.

Passing through the field of reeds, Dorothy finally reached the world beyond the rainbow, where there was a small red board-framed house.

As she was embraced in the arms of her aunt, she wore a bright smile.

At the end of such a scene, Dorothy faced her final moments, taking the Floating Island as her companion to the afterlife, leaving nothing but ashes.

❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ episode 2, 「Back Story – Wizard of Oz」.

There was nothing left for Dorothy.

Thus, she prepared herself for an inevitable end even as she lived on.

She rid herself of any lingering attachments…

…And then, Isaac appeared.

He burdened Dorothy with many lingering attachments.

He caused her to take out the teddy bear hidden in the wardrobe of her dorm.

He caused her to engrave the places she wanted to go and the things she wanted to do in her heart.

He shattered her resolve to give up on everything and let go.

But most importantly of all… he promised to save her.

He found her and asked her to return.

Dorthy pulled away from Isaac's lips, slipping out from under the witch hat she had put on him.

He was already unconscious.

It was easy to notice that he was only pretending to be alright. He had pushed himself too hard, so it was only natural that he was hurting.

As she saw his unfocused eyes, Dorthy realized that Isaac couldn't see in front of him.

And since he was forcibly opening his eyes, trying to keep conscious, she had told him to close his eyes as a sign that it was time for rest.

Because he had already pushed himself to the limit, he fell asleep as soon as his eyes closed.

Isaac's body was robust. Moreover, the transcendental ice mana flowing in his veins had been steadily reinforcing his mana circuit since a while ago.

After a deep rest, he would wake back up in a healthy state.

He truly was a monster of a man.

While gazing at Isaac, Dorothy let out a faint smile.

Dorothy had the ability to read people's emotions.

She always saw emotions of affection whenever Isaac looked at her. It had a similar form to the emotions she had always seen from her aunt, uncle, and Toto.

─'Do you like me, President?'

She had tried testing those emotions on several occasions. In fact, she often made tasteless jokes

However, Isaac always remained the same. Without change, he continued to cherish Dorothy, worry for her, and harbor affection for her.

A heart filled with pure sincerity that never had any selfish motives behind it.

The buzzing of bugs could not be heard at all.

Only a rapid and rhythmic heartbeat echoed inside Dorothy's ears.

"Goodnight, Isaac."

Dorothy smiled softly, leaning Isaac comfortably against the wall…

And quietly closed her eyes as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

First snow began to fall.

Gradually, the winter night deepened.

* * *

[Status]

Name: Isaac

Lv: 102

Gender: Male

Year: 1st

Title: Eager First Year

Mana: [ ※ Mana Completely Depleted ]

– Mana Recovery Speed (B+)

– Stamina (A-)

– Strength (A-)

– Intelligence (B)

– Willpower (A+)

[Combat Skills]

Elemental Series 1: Ice

– Elemental Firepower (A-)

– Elemental Efficiency (A-)

– Elemental Synergy (A)

Elemental Series 2: Rock

– Elemental Firepower (B)

– Elemental Efficiency (B)

– Elemental Synergy (B-)

[Potential]

Stat Points: 0

◈ Growth Rate

– Physical Training Efficiency (S): 100/100 [MAX]

– Magic Training Efficiency (S): 100/100 [MAX]

– Learning Efficiency (A+): 84/100 [UP]

[Physical Training Efficiency] and [Magic Training Efficiency] have both reached MAX!]

[Acquired unique trait [Ultra Magic Knight]!]

[※Activation condition for unique trait [Ultra Magic Knight] has not been met! The unique trait remains sealed]

Morning. Butterfly garden. The butterfly garden sparkled as the snow that fell during the night piled softly.

I was quietly organizing my thoughts as I went on my morning jogging.

The situation had been resolved.

Despite the appearance of the Floating Island, the academy hadn't suffered any major damage and the most severe injuries were only minor.

A huge part of such a result was due to Luce's intervention.

I'm so proud of that kid.

Last night, I ascended high above the clouds with Dorothy after falling into the sea. After all, I couldn't afford to be noticed.

As such, we decided to take a rest at the hideout within Josena Forest.

And I had lost all my bodily functions before falling into a deep slumber.

My memories were fuzzy, as if I had blacked out after drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

Dorothy's hat was on my head and I had a vague memory of my head leaning back.

With that, I passed out almost immediately after closing my eyes…

However, you know… Uh given the circumstances, I couldn't help but seriously ask myself.

'Did we kiss?'

Me… and Dorothy?

When I couldn't feel anything? When I was no different from some stone grandpa?

How can I accept such a thing? I can never…!

It's so unfair if I got my favorite character's first kiss but I couldn't even feel it…

'…Well, I was probably overreacting.'

Whatever. I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Yesterday, I was in an absolutely fucked up state, so it could all be speculation.

I could find and ask Dorothy later, 'Did we happen to kiss?'

'No, wait… If I just suddenly ask her like that…'

'It might make me look easy.'

…Let's just ask later when the time is right.

Anyway.

After resting at the hideout, I regained my senses. Perhaps Dorothy had healed my body little by little as her mana recovered.

After I could move my body to a certain extent, I joined the academy shelter at dawn. Of course, I went separately from Dorothy.

At the shelter, there were many students gathered after all.

Since there were many injured people due to the minions of the Floating Island, I could blend in without attracting attention with my physical condition.

After all, externally, I was just a first-year Class C student in the Magic Department.

As soon as I entered the shelter, Luce found me with her monstrous eyesight, as she ran up and hugged me. She also used her seductive voice to torment my ears, whispering how worried she had been.

My legs were already shaking, but because of her voice, they lost all strength. My whole body felt like it was going to melt.

The academy staff announced that they would start investigating who dealt with the Floating Island and whether it was definitively defeated.

Of course, from my perspective, I just hoped for the investigation to end without any problems.

Putting that aside though…

After a nice deep slumber, my condition had recovered and my body felt relatively fine.

I expected the aftereffects to last quite a while, so I didn't expect for me to recover so quickly

Maybe it's because I ceaselessly trained my body.

'No…'

Although it could've had some influence, the most significant effect seemed to be from briefly dipping my toes into the full power of [Ice Sovereign] while fighting the Floating Island.

Since then, I felt a change in my body. How should I put this… The mana itself was depleted, but the mana circuit seemed to have become more robust.

'Not only that…'

Looking at the status window, I couldn't help but smile.

Just defeating the Floating Island increased my level by a whopping 10. In total, it had gained 16 levels in just one night.

'What a dogshit game…'

This was the hell difficulty of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.

Because it was set to hell difficulty, the enemies that appeared were stronger, but the experience gained was not much different from other difficulties.

However, even with such limitations, I explosively leveled up after defeating the Floating Island. In essence, it could be considered an incredible result.

And now, I was in a state of mana depletion. As mentioned before, once mana was depleted until it hit rock bottom, the mana recovery rate slowed down to an abysmal rate until it fully recovered.

Therefore, since it would take quite some time for my mana to fully recover, I needed to refrain from magic training for a while. Well, in the first place, any magic training was challenging in my current situation.

As such, I decided to take this opportunity to recharge as much as possible.

'Of course, I can't just rest.'

It wasn't long before the end-of-semester evaluation for the second semester of the first year began.

My goal was to receive the 'Self-Development Excellence' scholarship given to the student with the largest increase in grades compared to the previous semester. With that, I could face the first semester of the second year without worrying about tuition fees.

Basically, I couldn't just take it easy for the end-of-semester evaluation.

'Also, preparing for exams can also help me get stronger.'

Knowledge played a significant role in learning new magic or developing magic skills. In other words, studying itself would become a stepping stone to becoming stronger.

I hoped that my mana would fully recover by the end-of-semester evaluation.

And I had finally obtained the unique trait I wanted: [Ultra Magic Knight].

Except, this Unique Trait was effective only when I became a second-year student, so it was currently in a sealed state. How regrettable.

The effect of [Ultra Magic Knight] was to apply the effect of the Unique Trait [Weapon Master], which rapidly increased the proficiency of magic weapons, to ultimate elemental weapons.

It also enhanced the power of magic as much as the trained physical abilities. As such, it was truly a dramatic talent for a Magic Knight.

Moreover, my current state was trained extensively, compared to when I fought against the 'Hello' demon, Trevion the Evil.

If I reached Level 120 in the future, it was clear that my mana would be even higher than when [Hunter] had first activated.

'I'm diligently leveling up.'

How satisfying.

Now that I had surpassed Level 100, [Hunter] would activate at a fixed level of 200.

Level 200 was also the qualification needed to achieve EX-Grade stats.

Therefore, in order for me to defeat the Evil God, my next long-term goal was to obtain EX-Grade stats.

During the winter vacation, I had to obtain the rock ultimate weapon, 'Gormos' Greatsword', and prepare to pound the Pillar Demons, also known as the Tower of Demons.

If I raised Potential [Learning Efficiency] to S-Grade as well, I should also allocate stats to [vs. Race Combat Power].

'After all, I must prepare for the Alice Subjugation when I enter the second year.'

Alice Carroll. Boss Name: Queen of Hearts-Alice.

Alice was shrouded in more mystery than any other character.

How did she end up supporting the Evil God? How did she recognize that the Evil God was resurrecting in the first place? How did she find out that she shouldn't mess with Ian Fairytale's household?

All these questions remained hidden behind her kind smile even until the very end of the game.

Although the identity of Alice was a subject of intense curiosity in the game community, there was no official answer from the company in the end.

As such, users naturally engaged in discussions on Alice's identity in the community whenever there was a chance.

'Alice is a modern person that possessed a character in the game', 'Alice is a regressor who can go back to the past. That's why she knows everything, 'Alice only found out everything with her mysterious abilities and she just concocted the destruction of the world because of her, similar to Luce, human-hating ideology', 'Alice is just KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIII~', and so on and so forth.

Of course, in the end, it was an inconclusive and meaningless debate.

Personally, I leaned toward the idea that Alice was a regressor.

'After all, usually for these things, it was a common cliche that they were actually regressors.'

Alice repeated countless regressions until her mind broke and she somehow started dreaming of the world's destruction… This was the story I had imagined.

However, now that I was here, it didn't seem like that at all.

If Alice was really a regressor, she would have quickly noticed the differences from the previous rounds and would have come to deal with me already. My attempts to hide my identity would have been utterly meaningless.

Therefore, Alice was a character with a lot of uncertainty.

All I could do was lay as low as possible until Alice revealed her true self and was subjugated.

Well… Whatever. Let's put aside useless fantasies that don't have an answer to anyway.

Alice was a Dorothy Victim so I should be able to safely overcome the Alice Subjugation Battle.

'Probably.'

Of course, things rarely went according to my plans. How troublesome…

'Anyway, putting that aside…'

Primordial Beast-Diakan.

I never imagined this little bastard was hiding inside of me.

Currently, I couldn't feel anything and my insides were so calm that it actually made me even more uneasy.

In my current state where [Hunter] was inactive, I couldn't even sense that this guy was inside me.

I probably had to activate [Hunter] and also use the power of [Ice Sovereign] in order to properly control him. For now, he was undoubtedly my minion after all.

For reference, familiars and minions were strictly different.

A familiar was a close relationship formed by a pact with the master. Mana sharing and emotion sharing were possible and if the master's skill could keep up, then it was even possible to summon it by reducing its size. Moreover, one person could only have up to three familiars.

On the other hand, minions didn't have any of that. After summoning it, there was nothing else that came with it. There was also no limit to how many one could own. It was just a matter of who obeyed whom.

Because I summoned the Primordial Beast, I had probably scraped the bottom of my mana reserves. After all, I couldn't even summon Eden, who was usually easy peasy to do ssssso…

"President"

"Whoa!"

Oh shit. That scared the crap outta me…!

When I ran past a tree, a female student suddenly popped out, as if she was lying in ambush.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look in the direction of the female student who had been hiding behind the tree.

It seemed like my reaction was funny as she was giggling, 'Nihihi'.

"Senior?"

A female student with long light purple hair tied only at the end.

It was Dorothy Hearnova.

[Dorothy Heartnova]

Lv: 182

Race: Human

Elements: Wind, Rock, Starlight

Danger: X

Psychology: [★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆]

Last night, Dorothy's mana was almost depleted, so [Psychological Insight] had worked briefly.

It seemed that she had recovered a considerable amount of mana overnight. After all, due to her starlight mana, [Psychological Insight] was blocked once again.

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn't read her psychology though…

"As expected of a training manic, are you training even in these wee hours? Did you forget that you pushed yourself really hard yesterday? President, it'll hurt my heart if you overexert yourself again, you know?"

Dorothy made a jokingly sorrowful expression as she placed her hand on her chest. The corners of her mouth were lifted.

"It's just exercise. Senior, you're here so early in the morning."

"Oh, well. It's just that the morning air was so refreshing! I also happened to see the President, so I thought I should come say hello. So, um…"

Dorothy had a subtle blush on her cheek. Was she trying to say something embarrassing?

I turned my body completely towards Dorothy and silently waited for her to say what she wanted.

Dorothy rubbed the brim of her witch hat a few times before finally making eye contact. And with that…

"…Good morning, Isaac."

All she did was call my name and give me a simple morning greeting.

Come to think of it, today was the tomorrow that Dorothy could never reach in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱. It was the first morning she had faced as a completely free person.

As if nothing had happened, she stood before me, and…

It didn't feel real that I had actually saved Dorothy.

This situation… This greeting just felt natural and predetermined, as if it was always meant to be.

"Yes, Senior. Good morning."

So, I smiled and returned her greeting as if it were the most simple and natural thing in the world.

Dorothy let out a dazzling smile.

The trees were adorned with white snowflakes.

As we casually bantered, we slowly walked along this white path lined with trees.