Chapter 25 – A Test of Endurance

Chapter 25 – A Test of Endurance

The battlefield still reeked of blood and burnt flesh. Smoke curled from the remains of torn monsters, their bodies sprawled across the broken earth. The mana surge had drawn them in like a call to feast. Now, the knights moved through the aftermath, not with caution, but with precise, trained efficiency.

Unlike the academy students, these warriors were not here to prove themselves—they were here to finish the job.

A pair of knights moved in perfect coordination, shields raised as a monster lunged toward them. The beast's teeth scraped against the reinforced metal, its weight slamming into the barrier—but neither knight flinched.

They didn't need to.

A third knight, standing just behind them, adjusted his stance. He wasn't wielding a refined dueling sword or an elegant enchanted blade. His weapon was a heavier longsword—built not for precision, but for raw, brutal execution.

The moment the beast reared back for another attack, the knight stepped forward. With a single, deliberate swing, the blade cut clean through its neck.

Blood splattered against the ground. The corpse hit the dirt before the two shield-bearers even moved to reset their stance.

It was seamless. Brutal. Efficient.

One of the younger knights, watching from the rear, exhaled. "That looked easy."

The heavy-blade wielder snorted. "That's because it is. If you have the right weapon."

The knight next to him rolled his shoulder. "Small weapons control. Heavy swords execute. That's the whole point."

No elemental augmentation. No complicated formations. Just teamwork, positioning, and a weapon strong enough to kill without magic.

A short distance away, Hannelore's gaze lingered on the knights.

She wasn't watching the fight itself, but rather the methodology.

The fluidity of it. The uncomplicated practicality of how the heavy sword carved through the enemy with no need for additional reinforcement.

Her fingers curled slightly at her side.

"Tobias was right about heavy weapons."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Are you keeping a tally now?"

She didn't reply.

The knights continued their formation-based combat, but something was shifting.

One of the rear guards paused, his fingers flexing slightly. A soft glow flickered across his hand, the first sign of stable mana flow returning.

"Magic's stabilizing," someone muttered.

Another knight tested a low-level earth spell, watching as the ground trembled beneath his fingers. The disruption was fading.

"Took long enough," one of them muttered. "Would've been nice to have it ten minutes ago."

The elite knight leading the retrieval effort exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulder as he finally felt his magic settle back into place.

His gaze moved toward the broken remains of the relic, still half-buried in the earth. Excavation was a waste of time.

The knight stepped forward, placing a palm flat against the shattered ground.

The earth rumbled beneath his touch.

With a deep breath, he lifted his arm—and the entire section of ground beneath the relic tore free, rising into the air like a floating island.

A massive chunk of battlefield, several meters wide, hovered above them—the relic still buried inside, surrounded by layers of stone and sediment.

The knight wiped the sweat from his brow and rolled his shoulder.

"I don't wanna fucking be here anymore."

He turned, already walking. "We're taking the whole damn thing back. Deal with the excavation later."

One of the other knights nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's move before another wave shows up."

With the floating chunk of battlefield hovering behind them, the knights disappeared into the treeline—silent, orderly, and uninterested in staying here a second longer than necessary.

Back at Arcadia, the sharp thudding of fists against Jessica's door had long since stopped being an annoyance and had become background noise—just another rhythmic irritation she could ignore.

She exhaled slowly, rolling her wrist as she sat on the edge of her bed. It still hurt.

The door rattled.

"Lady Moran! You need to return to the infirmary!"

Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose. The healers were persistent, she'd give them that.

"I'm fine."

A second voice chimed in—this one from the elite student healer.

"We told you already—your body isn't responding to generalized healing magic! It requires precise, surgical treatment!"

Jessica clicked her tongue. "Yes, yes. 'Generalized healing won't work, and I need surgical precision, blah blah blah.' I heard you the first time."

Then a low, unimpressed voice rumbled from the other side.

"Unlock the door before I kick it down."

She sighed. Of course, Tobias was here.

The moment she unlocked it, he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

Jessica kicked her legs, trying to wiggle free. "You're seriously doing this?!"

Tobias didn't slow. "You're giving the medical staff a hard time, and I'm not dealing with your nonsense today."

The first treatment had been brutal.

The second wasn't any better.

The hissing steam hadn't stopped.

"At this rate... we're going to need at least fifty of these treatments minimum."

Jessica muttered dryly.

"I'm glad to receive the blessing of the scalding hot boiled water witch."

A younger healer coughed, suppressing a laugh.

Jessica had gone completely still. Not out of defiance. Just... tired.

Then, Tobias noticed it.

Tears.

Not sobs. Not broken cries. Just silent, involuntary tears running down her face.

Tobias had seen his sister fight through pain. He had seen her brush off wounds without so much as a wince.

But even she had stopped talking now.

The healer sighed, shaking her head.

"When we start working on the abdominal region, we might have to restrain her."

Tobias' jaw tensed slightly. "...You're serious?"

The only sound in the room was the steady hiss of steam rising from Jessica's arms.

For the first time, Tobias actually looked concerned.

Jessica finally blinked, her gaze shifting toward him.

For once, she didn't have a quip ready.

The pain hadn't broken her. But it had made her tired.

Tobias met her eyes for a brief second.

Then, after a long, steady breath, he turned back to the healers. "Just get it over with."

No sarcasm. No annoyance.

Just quiet, resigned acceptance.