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chapter 44
“Aiden.”
Even though the voice wasn’t loud, he immediately turned around. What amazed me was that he didn’t stop moving even then.
You do plan to hide your strength, right?
“You’d better pay attention to that guy.”
He followed my line of sight. At the end of it, the black Cerberus was already rising to its feet.
Unlike the other younger ones, panicking and fleeing, this one clung to its master’s legs with a calm demeanor, completely unshaken.
When the black Cerberus finally stood, I roughly figured out where its confidence came from.
It stood three meters tall, and horizontally—excluding the tail—it seemed about twice that in width.
But even more than its massive size, an intense magical power began to surge.
From its yawning mouth, a foreboding black magic concentrated, sending chills down the spine just from looking at it.
–chzzzt
“Whoa.”
I couldn’t help but exclaim.
‘So it does have a breath attack.’
Curious if this was as common as a dandelion-eating monster, I glanced at the two men nearby. Their expressions were completely frozen.
Hmm. As expected, a wolf-like creature that shoots a breath isn’t exactly common knowledge in this world either.
“Damn, what the hell kind of Cerberus is that?”
Felix shouted as he swung his sword to cut down an adult Cerberus charging at him.
The black Cerberus focused its intense gaze on Aiden, who had avoided its first breath, and began gathering power for a second one.
“Hey, just in case, let’s run! This is way beyond what we can handle. If anything goes wrong…”
[Current (A) – Bio Manipulation (A)]
I raised my hand, and the wolf froze in place.
Focusing my mind, I tried not to electrocute it while keeping it as still as possible.
‘Gotta put what I learned into practice.’
Isn’t this the charm of hands-on training?
I wondered how many seconds I could hold it “alive” in place.
Manipulating the brain and nerves without killing the subject was both a tricky and strangely fascinating task.
I hadn’t even been immersed in this captivating experiment for five seconds before Aiden’s sword cut the black Cerberus’ neck.
A regular sword without any aura rang sharply as it struck, but the Cerberus’ neck was unusually tough.
For a moment, hesitation flickered in his eyes.
‘In front of me? Or Felix?’
The moment he was exposed as a Sword Master, he would be drawn into exhausting political struggles, not just simple annoyances. Naturally, this “exhaustion” also included threats to his life.
Judging by the fact that even his roommate Felix didn’t know Aiden’s true ability, his wariness made sense.
‘Can’t help it.’
I decided to step in first for him.
My power could never be completely exposed, but Aiden’s situation was slightly different.
But it seemed I had underestimated him a little.
Before I could intervene, a golden aura began flowing through his sword.
The radiant light illuminated the dark forest like a shooting star streaking in a straight line.
Shrek
The sound was markedly different from the initial stone-cutting-like strike.
As the golden trail passed, a sharp sound of flesh and bones being sliced penetrated my ears.
In a single blow, he cut through the black Cerberus’ neck.
Thunk. Roll.
“Gotta run immediately… huh?”
Meanwhile, Felix, who had been rushing toward Aiden and lecturing, froze when he saw the fallen wolf’s head and Aiden’s golden aura. His jaw dropped in astonishment.
“You, you, you, you…!”
Felix pointed at Aiden like a broken robot, and Aiden let out a tired sigh.
“Being too good is practically a sin.”
What a guy.
I glared at him with cold eyes, having cooled off from my earlier royal-prince-like excitement.
‘This guy could never be the main character.’
No matter how dark-haired, a frosty, aloof type like this could never be the protagonist.
No wonder extras get their necks sliced in the early or mid-stages…
It’s harsh, but I wish he’d consider my position having to listen to that cringe-worthy royal speech every time.
Actually, the original protagonist, the crown prince, also talks like that. I decided to let it go.
“Could it be that you awakened in the nick of time?!”
“Yeah… actually, at first… what did you say?”
The two of them were still performing a dramatic little skit.
Aiden opened his sharp eyes at Felix’s ridiculous misunderstanding and nodded quickly. Then, without even wetting his lips, he started lying.
“Yeah. Swinging my sword in a trance-like state made it happen. Since it’s impossible now, it must’ve been superhuman strength.”
“Ohhh, as expected!”
Felix, completely taken in by Aiden’s lie, looked at him with sparkling eyes.
“You’re about to cross the wall! I’m proud of you as a friend!”
“Who said I’m friends with someone like you?”
“Of course it’s you!”
“…Gross, stay away!”
They sure were having fun.
Aiden, who noticed my gaze first, cleared his throat and looked away.
“…Since I need the assignment submission, I’ll just cut off the ears first.”
“I kinda want to take it whole.”
I muttered while looking at the black Cerberus’ corpse.
It was the king of wolves that shoots a breath attack, after all.
Even if just a mutant, its value was high. If I carried the whole corpse, professors interested in monster ecology would drool, and I’d gain some fame again.
‘Not bad.’
“Don’t even think about it. Something that big can’t fit in a carriage. And anyway, monster corpses turn into magic energy after a few days and scatter. That’s why professors set the group assignment period tightly. You have to capture the corpse right before the submission date anyway.”
Of course, I quickly dismissed that thought.
Even if skills could preserve it, taking it out and explaining it one by one just seemed exhausting.
“Usually we just cut the tail or ears, but the tail’s too big. Just take the tips of the ears.”
Felix skillfully drew a dismantling dagger and sliced the black Cerberus’ ear.
Well, he tried to.
–Clang!
Until the dagger’s edge chipped with a clear sound.
Momentarily flustered, he soon recalled what had happened at the beginning and understood.
“Hey, Aiden…”
“I told you it’s impossible now.”
“Damn it!”
His face immediately fell.
“Making such a huge discovery just for us… this is a major loss in potential grades.”
Unexpectedly, this guy, who seemed all muscle in his head, actually cared about grades.
Neither I nor Aiden, who killed it, really cared, but Felix couldn’t tear himself away, fiddling with the Cerberus’ head.
“Haah, and yet the fur’s soft for a monster… huh?”
He poked through the fur with his fingers, frowned, and probed a section with both hands.
“…Strange?”
“Why?”
Felix didn’t answer me. His red eyebrows twitched.
Unlike his earlier playful and brazen demeanor, he seriously dug through the fur, staring at something intently.
It was as if someone was repeatedly checking something they weren’t supposed to see.
“This can’t be. No, it’s impossible… But then the movements earlier and its body strength all make sense… Really?”
Felix muttered like a madman several times.
It was very different from his usual silly chatter.
These words, filled with extreme anxiety, seemed to flow straight from thought to speech, raw and unfiltered.
“Felix Agrippa.”
Unable to watch any longer, Aiden approached.
“If this is some weird joke, you better stop.”
Though speaking sharply, even he seemed to sense something off about Felix, his tone weighted.
He sighed once and passed me to go toward Felix.
Aiden’s deep green eyes were fixed on the black Cerberus’ head—the same thing Felix had been staring at for a while.
He opened his mouth.
“This is…”
