BFBG 27

Chapter 27

Leaving the Ice Golem behind, I moved to a quiet nearby park.

Since the other students were in class, the park was extremely deserted.

‘Just what is going on with my body?’

I sat in a corner of that empty park, staring intently at my status window.

[Race: Dragon, Ancient Spirit, ???]

In the race category, after Dragon and Ancient Spirit, the “???” still remained.

That meant there was still an undiscovered race.

In other words, at least three different races’ blood flowed through my veins.

‘Not two races… but a mixed bloodline of three?’

As I said before, dragons are a pureblood species that can only reproduce with other dragons.

Mixing dragon blood with another species is nearly impossible.

And Ancient Spirits are also a pureblood race capable of reproducing only among themselves.

‘Having a child between two pureblood races already makes no sense, and on top of that there’s another race mixed in too?’

How could something like this be possible?

‘Then the parents who gave birth to me would have to be half-bloods too. Since half-bloods aren’t purebloods anymore, maybe they can have children with other races?’

One parent would be a miraculous being born between a dragon and an Ancient Spirit.

And because that miracle became a half-blood, they were no longer pureblood and gained the ability to have children with other races.

If I assume that…

‘No. This isn’t a hypothesis—it’s delusion.’

I’d gone too far.

This wasn’t logic at all, just baseless imagination.

Wanting to shake away all these thoughts, I lightly shook my head.

[The Ancient Spirit factor has firmly taken root.]

[Two or more races have been confirmed. Locked information is being unlocked.]

At that moment, a system message appeared before my eyes.

[Jian’s “Background” category has been unlocked.]

‘Oh!’

This was exactly the information I needed right now.

I immediately closed and reopened my status window.

Then I noticed a new category called “Background” had appeared beneath the race section.

I instantly pressed it and checked the details.

[An artificial lifeform created by Zeiraon, leader of Black Night, to serve as the new vessel he would transfer into.]

[Zeiraon desired his new body to surpass every being in this world, and ultimately decided to gather the genetic factors of numerous superior races to create a lifeform.]

[The only successful specimen among 1,932 test subjects.]

[Although successful, it is an unstable success.]

[As it was created by mixing factors from various races, the body is extremely unstable.]

‘Jian is an artificial lifeform created by Zeiraon? No, more importantly…’

The Background section explained in considerable detail the reason why blood from multiple races flowed through my body—the thing I’d been most curious about.

‘Not mixed blood from three races… but from countless races?’

So inside my body were the factors of every race Zeiraon considered “superior.”

One of Black Night’s bases.

A hideout beneath the Canarian Kingdom.

Reaper was communicating with the executive ranked 18th, “Professor.”

“So the Ice Golem in the lair was destroyed?”

—Correct.

Professor was a researcher and technical advisor working in the organization’s deepest rear lines.

Practically all special equipment and artifacts used by Black Night were created by this Professor.

“Then we should assume Heneta noticed our plan and destroyed it.”

The “control usurpation spell” engraved into the Ice Golem core stored in Heneta’s lair had also been created by Professor.

—No. The Last Dragon didn’t notice and act.

That was why he could say it with certainty.

The Ice Golem wasn’t destroyed because their plan had been discovered.

—Just before destruction, the Ice Golem was transferred to the academy. And it was destroyed within the academy. If Heneta had noticed my spell and intended to destroy it, there would’ve been no reason to move it to the academy.

“The Ice Golem was moved to the academy?”

—Yes. The last confirmed location before destruction was the Academy Monster Prison.

Reaper narrowed his eyes.

He looked deep in thought.

“Hm. So it was destroyed after being moved to Garam Academy.”

Reaper stroked his chin.

Why would Heneta bother moving the Ice Golem to Garam Academy before destroying it?

“I think I understand.”

The answer came surprisingly quickly.

“Professor. When the Ice Golem was destroyed, did you specifically check the control seizure spell?”

—Why would I need to?

If the Ice Golem was destroyed, naturally the spell should’ve been destroyed too.

“If you haven’t checked, could you verify it?”

—Hm. I think it’s a waste of time… but fine. I’ll look.

Mechanical beeping echoed through the communication.

About a minute passed.

—Interesting.

Professor spoke with a noticeably excited voice.

—The spell engraved on the Ice Golem’s core wasn’t destroyed. It naturally dissipated.

“As expected, my guess was correct.”

Like a detective uncovering the truth behind a case, Reaper smiled brightly.

“The one who destroyed the Ice Golem wasn’t Heneta. It was Master.”

—Oh?

Professor’s tone rose slightly in surprise.

—Does that mean Master succeeded in absorbing the ‘Pure Frost Mana’ from the Ice Golem’s core?

“Yes. The control seizure spell activated successfully. It then naturally disappeared.”

The spell vanished only after fully completing its role of transferring control of the Ice Golem to Zeiraon.

—I see. Then moving the Ice Golem to the academy was also Master’s doing.

“That’s correct.”

He didn’t know exactly how Master had made the Ice Golem get brought out.

But Master was undoubtedly the one who induced it.

—Remarkable.

Professor sounded even more excited.

—Didn’t you say the plans had gone terribly wrong because of your mistake?

“…Yes.”

Reaper gave a bitter smile.

—Despite your blunder practically ruining everything, Master still achieved the result of obtaining the Ice Golem this early?

“To produce the best outcome in any situation—that is Lord Zeiraon, our master.”

—Your devotion to your master remains unchanged.

“Of course.”

Reaper’s eyes shone like those of a fanatic.

“Ah, Master. I shall follow you forever.”

This didn’t merely cover for Reaper’s mistake—it produced results beyond that.

How could he not praise him?

—Hm. But is this really alright?

At that moment, Professor asked with a mix of concern and anticipation.

—If Master absorbed Pure Frost Mana, that means the ‘Ancient Spirit factor’ has activated… With Master’s current physical condition, enduring the Ancient Spirit factor should be difficult.

No one understood Jian’s unstable body better than Professor, the one who had finalized its adjustments.

If the Ancient Spirit factor awakened this early, the body itself could collapse.

“Professor. Do you truly think Master would act without considering something like that?”

Reaper frowned as if offended.

“There’s no way Master proceeded without understanding his own body’s condition. If he activated the Ancient Spirit factor, then naturally he judged there would be no issue.”

—I see. So Master wouldn’t act without considering even that.

If he believed it would become a problem, he wouldn’t have absorbed it in the first place.

Then it was only right to assume he absorbed it with confidence.

—Then that means the stabilization speed of his body far exceeds my expectations…

“Yes. That’s likely.”

Reaper recalled the image of Zeiraon using magic through Jian’s body.

His magic had been incredibly stable—nothing suggesting trouble from the racial factors.

—Then shouldn’t we move up the plans?

“Yes. Especially that plan could be executed immediately.”

Zeiraon’s body had stabilized faster than expected.

That meant some plans no longer needed to wait six months or a year.

“Professor. Move up Plan 21. Contact him and tell him to go to the academy immediately.”

Afterward.

I quickly returned to class in time for the next lesson.

Honestly, I wanted to skip all classes today and sort out my thoughts.

But unauthorized absences resulted in penalty points, so I couldn’t.

“Sorry for being late.”

“Jian Bellomata. You’re the first first-year student I’ve seen openly arrive late like this.”

Upon entering, the trash instructor Collo welcomed me with sarcasm.

“In addition to one penalty point for tardiness, I’ll add two extra points using instructor authority. Total: three penalty points.”

Tardiness should only be one point.

It suddenly became three.

‘This petty bastard. He’s still holding a grudge over that incident.’

I looked at Instructor Collo’s smug grin and shook my head.

“Apparently the principal didn’t inform you.”

“The principal?”

The moment the principal was mentioned, his expression turned serious.

“I was summoned by the principal this morning and remained in the principal’s office until now.”

“…The principal’s office?”

His face immediately darkened.

This instructor, true to being garbage, was meek before authority.

Opposing the principal was impossible.

“That’s true?”

“Of course. If you doubt me, ask the principal later.”

“…I see.”

Collo stared at me with obvious displeasure before biting his lip.

“If that’s the case, you should’ve said so earlier. Go take your seat.”

“Yes.”

As I headed to my seat, a chill suddenly ran down my spine, making me glance back.

“Ah, just to confirm. The penalty points are canceled, right?”

“…Yes. Of course. Forget the points I mentioned.”

His expression briefly twisted.

This bastard definitely planned to keep the three points if I hadn’t brought it up.

“Thank you.”

Internally cursing him, I bowed politely on the outside.

Then I returned to my seat.

“…Hmm.”

Princess Aris, seated beside me, stared intensely.

She clearly wanted to ask me many things, but seemed to be holding back because class had started.

‘Looks like I’m getting interrogated after class.’

Thinking that, I gave Aris a slight nod.

Then Collo’s utterly useless History of Magic class began.

“As everyone knows, dragons are the origin of magic. Though they’ve vanished into legend now, they definitely existed 500 years ago.”

I half-listened while reflecting again on what I’d just learned about my origins.

‘An artificial lifeform created by Black Night…’

My body was an artificial being made by mixing factors from dragons, Ancient Spirits, and numerous superior races.

A kind of chimera.

‘Never imagined my identity was something like this.’

A super-mix chimera created from countless races.

‘How did Zeiraon even manage to combine all those racial factors?’

Not just dragons and Ancient Spirits—most superior races in this world are purebloods incapable of reproducing with other species.

‘And yet he mixed all those pureblood factors together and created a complete lifeform.’

If compared metaphorically, it was like gathering every atom in existence and forging an entirely new atom.

‘Seriously, how?’

I couldn’t help admiring Zeiraon’s technological ability.

‘Ah… is that why he’s targeting the First King’s soul stored in this academy?’

Legend says the First King is the origin of all life.

‘If he’s the origin of all life, then he transcends all races.’

Maybe absorbing the First King’s soul could stabilize a body rendered unstable by mixed racial factors.

‘If that’s the case…’

Just as I was continuing these thoughts based on newly learned information—

Bang!

The classroom door was thrown open violently, and Garam Dorm’s supervisor, Seria, appeared.

“Instructor Seria?”

“Pardon the interruption.”

Seria bowed slightly to Instructor Collo, scanned the students, then fixed her gaze on me.

“Student Jian Bellomata. I’m sorry to interrupt your studies, but I believe you must come with me immediately.”

“Immediately…?”

“Yes. You have a visitor.”

…A visitor?

Who would come looking for me at this time?

More importantly, even if someone had, was it normal to pull me out during class?

“Instructor Seria. I don’t know who this visitor is, but interrupting class like this is beyond rude.”

Instructor Collo glared at her.

“Unless your visitor is a king of a major nation, I can’t imagi—”

“Not a king. But someone with influence… comparable to one.”

“…What?”

Collo looked bewildered.

“I’ll explain later. Student Jian, that person is waiting. Please come imme—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

At that moment, an elderly man stepped into the classroom.

“…!”

“Th-that…!”

With his appearance, more than a dozen students widened their eyes—including everyone except Collo and Princess Aris.

“The Sword of the People… Kylo Maxinert?”

“Why is he here…?”

Kylo Maxinert.

Also known as the Sword of the People.

His blade existed for the sake of ordinary people—that was how he earned the name.

His level was 86, stronger than Lionel.

“It’s been a while, Jian.”

The moment he called my name, everyone’s attention focused on me.

“You never contacted me, so I came personally.”

At his words, everyone’s eyes widened further.

Their expressions practically screamed, What’s their relationship?

Looking at Kylo, I remembered something I’d learned from speaking with the doppelgänger before.

Apparently, I had a hugely influential master.

“Yes. Since your master came personally, are you satisfied now?”

“M-master…!?”

“Kylo is Jian’s swordsmanship teacher?”

“No way…”

As expected.

The influential master the doppelgänger mentioned was none other than Kylo Maxinert.