Chapter 98: Warmth

…

“… you’ve seen the new rankings?…”

“Go to the Hall of Fame… new display…”

“Authority 7 Cyclops…”

“Cooper…”

“A common- I think he heard us!”

“… placed straight into fourth year…”

“… freaking cold summoner!…”

“… got suspended… the President…”

“… with the Talerrias!?…”

“A bounty?…”

“Shit. They’re everywhere.”

Eyes instantly snapped to him when he walked out into the hallway, a hushed whisper permeating through the crowd. 

The Magisterium campus had come back to life after winter break, students bundled in thick clothes clustering in groups across the open campus. But only one thing seemed to be on their minds: John. 

He clicked his tongue and went on his way, arriving at a doorway where Umara was waiting. 

The two linked up, glancing around them. 

“You sure are popular now.”

“I know. If I kissed you now, it would really catch some attention.”

“L-Let’s control ourselves, please.”

Her face flushed scarlet, not all from the cold, as she took his arm. It was a bit embarrassing to walk around with so many eyes on them. They were basically broadcasting their relationship. 

She normally didn’t mind the attention on John much; no matter what she did he would somehow attract more. She just preferred subtlety, especially right now. They were having enough issues as it was, and this definitely wouldn’t help. 

Not that they could do much about it other than hide away in their rooms. But necessity called, and they needed to go to plenty of places. 

The first being the Ranking Stele. 

They made their way to the leaderboard, having yet to confirm John’s new ranking. 

Killing an Authority 7 had been achieved before, but it had been so long ago nobody knew how many points it would bestow. 

The last time he checked his rank, he had been Rank 11 with around 500 points to his name. 

That had increased with each trip, rising into the thousands. 

Now…

He looked up near the top. 

Rank 1: Ponteck Gulliard – 3060 points

Rank 2: Feiden Desmus – 2800 points

Rank 3: John Cooper – 2780 points

Rank 4: Vetsmon Verga – 2550 points

Rank 6: Umara Talerria – 2420 points

Rank 12: Tana Choron – 1660 points

The couple saw their new ranks and smiled. 

“You’ve officially surpassed me.”

“It was a special circumstance. It means little.”

John had a small smile, but when Umara saw it, she didn’t sense any amount of happiness. 

That’s when she suddenly remembered something, though it made her confused. 

“By the way, about that Crown you were going to make with the corpse. Did you decide against it?”

“No, not really. Having the Scout’s observation would be a huge indirect buff.”

“… what’s a buff?”

“A benefit. Anyways, you know how important sight is for acquiring targets at a range.”

“Yes, I do. So why are they saying the corpse is in the Hall of Fame?”

“…Well, let’s go see it first.”

John mumbled with a low voice, Umara walking with him to the Hall. 

It was a grand building spanning the entire west side of the Magisterium. It was quite literally a hall, walkable from end to end, the eternally-preserved spoils of war from the Magisterium’s founding to current day sprawled across its length. 

On the side of the hall most relevant to recent events, an entire building’s worth of space was occupied by a large crystal prism. 

“John!”

There was a shout as they walked near. John and Umara saw the rest of their squad, Vetsmon, Feiden, and Tana. 

They smiled and approached, giving greetings. 

“It’s good to see you guys. Have a good vacation?”

“Of course. Did you?”

“I enjoyed myself. We both did.”

I wrapped my arm around Umara’s shoulder, squeezing her as she play-fought back. 

“Alright, alright. Let me see this case.”

She moved away, everyone’s eyes drawn to the glass case. 

A polished bronze plaque made itself known. John’s name was pressed in bold black lettering on top with smaller letters detailing exactly what was done and when. Inside the case was a series of stands and wires that pieced together the mangled corpse of the Cyclops Scout. While much had been mulched by John’s anger-fueled Trench Gun, enough of the body remained intact to make it seem whole. It was still as tall and lanky as when it was alive. 

As a rather bitter capstone, the intact head with its huge single eye glared at all passersby. 

Vetsmon sighed. 

“I still can’t believe you actually killed that thing. It gives me the creeps, even in how it looks now.”

“Like I said to Umara, it was a unique circumstance.”

“An Authority 7 is an Authority 7. You saw how many it killed. And it may have killed us too if not for you.”

John halfheartedly agreed in response, staring at the corpse with an intensely neutral face. 

Umara leaned over and tapped him softly. 

“So? What about the Crown?”

“…Well, the material for it is right there.”

He waved to the glass case, causing her to look at it again. 

The corpse, in its entirety, was locked in the glass case. Even the Black Crystal, which Umara could faintly sense, was solidly encased in the flesh of its head, untouched since initial mulching and transportation. 

The others had been listening and picked up what they were talking about, coming to a unanimous agreement that the Scout Crown would be incredibly useful. But one problem remained. 

John was on one side, the eye on another, and a wall of crystal between the two. 

Umara felt her heart sinking. 

“Are you going to retrieve the corpse?”

“I was. But Carrion told me, according to Magisterium and Kingdom law, I had no rights to the corpse. So I will not be retrieving it.”

“Fuck the laws.”

The curse practically lept from her lips, an ineffectual expression of rage against rancid inequality. 

“Are they seriously going to take this away from you? They would stoop that low?!”

“According to Carrion, it’s a great way for him to get back at me for what happened at his mansion.”

“No! That’s not right! You made the kill so you should have the right to do whatever you want with it!”

“Not according to the laws. Carrion has every right to do what he did and pin the corpse up in here.”

*Dink*

John raised his knuckle and tapped the glass. 

“Hm, seems strong.”

*Woosh*

Some wind was kicked up right as he said that. 

He looked at Umara. She had rage painted all over her face. Even the mana around her couldn’t help but react to her emotions. 

But she didn’t explode. Not yet. She just looked at John, almost like he was the one she was mad at. 

“When did you talk to Carrion?”

“The day I got back.”

“You didn’t tell me for three weeks?”

“You had your own business to deal with.”

“And after that?”

“…I wanted us to enjoy our time. I had long accepted this by then. I didn’t need to make you this mad during that time.”

“…Fuck!”

She stomped, a pressure wave exploding from her foot and kicking up the air in the surroundings. 

All eyes fell on them, silence reigning through the hall. 

But Umara didn’t care. All she did was turn back to the case. 

Then, a large spell appeared before her, wind gathering before forming a long, dangerously sharp blade. 

The air was tangible as it was compressed, almost enough to condense it into a liquid. 

And then, it was launched forth. 

*SCREE*

A slicing scream was let out as the air blade and the glass collided. But even after that, there was only the slightest scuff mark left behind. 

John scoffed. 

“He really pulled out all the stops. It can’t even be stolen. That glass is probably worth more than the corpse inside it.”

“He’s mocking you…”

“Yes, he is.”

John confirmed Umara’s statement with a simple nod.

“He’s mocking me with my own achievement. He knows how valuable it would be to me and so he hangs it over my head. And there’s nothing anyone can do to change this.”

“Yes there is. I can do something.”

“But you’re not going to.”

He looked down at Umara, his expression neutral. But she could feel how dead serious he was. 

“Just leave it, Umara. It’s nothing more than a missed opportunity. There will be plenty more in the future, and now I’ve learned my lesson, so this won’t happen again.”

“We both know that’s not the point.”

“Yes, we do. But there’s nothing I can do about it that won’t just make things worse. So I’m going to swallow my pride and let him have this win. Can you do that with me, please?”

“…”

Umara was silent, the rage filling her mind, yet held back by the rationale and John’s request. 

She wanted to be unreasonable and try to exercise her authority to fight against this. But disregarding how ineffective that would be, doing as John was doing was the smart choice, and she knew it.

Her fists trembled as she held herself back, her voice trembling in response. 

“Fine…”

“Thank you, my love.”

He hugged her to his chest, looking over her head at the corpse in front of them. 

The others beside them had realized what was happening, even if it took a minute for it to settle in. 

Feiden suddenly frowned and took out his spear, filling it with Vigor and stabbing forward, all of it concentrated on a single point. 

*TING*

It met the glass and stopped, nothing but the tiniest pinprick left behind on the glass. 

His hands trembled in response, all the pressure from the strike reverberating right back through his palms. 

“…Sorry. I can’t break it.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just go.”

John turned and started walking with Umara, leaving the Hall. The others followed behind him, while many watched from the sides. 

They needed to be at training soon anyway. 

……

After walking for a while we arrived at the training grounds where we found all the other Elites and the Puppet Master. 

I made eye contact with him, the two of us nodding to each other before we got started. 

“Today’s scenario is a collective one. You all will be responsible for defending a small base. The wave of beasts will be constant and will last for two hours. In order to successfully defend yourselves, you will need to give everything you’ve got and work together. This means knights will need to form defensive lines and warlocks will need to coordinate spells. I will not tell you how to do any of that, so good luck figuring it out yourselves.”

He waved with that last word, teleportation magic enveloping us before sending us to the center of a military base. 

There were almost 40 Elites now, and all of us arrived in a massive group. Once we hit solid ground, there was a shout. 

“All warlocks, get up the walls! Knights, follow me!”

It was Ponteck Gulliard, and he immediately took charge. 

Nobody could argue with him, not to mention how stupid doing so would be when time was of the essence. 

Monsters were already besieging the walls. 

I rushed up the stairs with the warlocks. This would be a good chance for Umara and I to let off some steam. 

The knights below us formed a defensive line in front of the gates. They knew their own rotations best, and we could hear their shouts as they organized themselves into groups. 

The warlocks were similar, dividing themselves into sections along the wall where they took turns firing off spells. 

Normally this would all be good for a war of attrition. Many hours of defense required not just constant killing, but also enough rest. 

But it was clear that we wouldn’t be getting much rest. The monsters we saw were big and plentiful. 

It would take everything we had in order to defend for two hours, that much was certain. 

Taking out a chair, I equipped my new modified rifle and started shooting. I knew my own pace so I ignored everything else and simply did what I was good at.

……

**Time skip magic**

……

“Alright, good job. You’re done for the day. In two days we leave for the Blooded Hold, so finish your preparations and recover. Dismissed.”

The Puppet Master waved us all off, though half the Elites were sprawled on the floor in exhaustion. 

Even I was taking a knee, my breathing heavy and my head splitting with an ache. 

My eyes were focused downward on the snow beneath my feet, each one of my breaths letting out a long fog from the cold. 

It was only several minutes later when everyone started to rise and disperse. 

Vetsmon grumbled, several minor injuries across his body, his armor radiating some steam from the heat of his skin. 

“That guy is trying to kill us.”

“We’re getting better though…”

Feiden mumbled after him, causing me to nod in agreement. 

It was hard work, but everytime I drained my Psyka and stressed myself, I would have long dreams that assisted in my cultivation. 

Over a month had passed, putting us at the end of February. Tomorrow was the first day of March and we would be leaving for the Blooded Hold the next day. 

For around 40 days the Puppet Master pushed all the Elites to our limits. That was especially so for our group, who he seemed to have high expectations for. 

Tana couldn’t even walk since she was so tired, having bounded around the battlefield for 3 hours without rest. 

Umara was sprawled on the floor too, her mind in another universe after having her Mana drained so thoroughly. 

I was hardly better than them, but that was because I was improving just as fast, if not faster than them. 

Over 40 days, I had made strides in my progress. The original estimate for completion of my Authority 5 formation was 7 months, of which two had already passed. 

But I was starting to think that I was a bit ahead of schedule. 

I was now done with my first layer of the three layer formation. It happened so fast that I was starting to think dreaming was too strong of an ability. 

Then again, the others were improving at record speeds as well. 

Feiden was even faster than before, Vetsmon was around 20% stronger, and Tana had much more stamina. 

As for Umara, she had the greatest progress. I was helping her study science every night, and she was coming to a deep understanding of it all. She could already use some rudimentary fire magic despite not even properly creating whatever core she needed to gain her affinity. 

She understood it far better than I did, and all I knew was that my teaching was bringing her forward significantly. 

She was already an Authority 5, so she was on her way to becoming an Authority 6. Once she did that, she would gain a perfect affinity for that level and start using proper fire magic. 

The others were Authority 5 as well, making their way to Authority 6. I was pretty sure that Feiden was the furthest along, being close to the cusp. 

I was the only one still stuck at Authority 4, so I needed to catch up, which I seemed to be on my way to doing. 

After finally getting up, I bid goodbye to my squad, Umara and I walking off together. 

We were all tired, and tomorrow we were planning to have a dinner together, plus Feiden’s girlfriend. Since that was the case, we decided to just retire right after training. 

Umara and I didn’t stay at the Magisterium much anymore. The hotel was far nicer, so we always ended up staying there. 

After taking a carriage and greeting the Key Master at the desk, we took the elevator to my room. 

There, I entered my room and stripped my clothes. Umara was letting me have the shower first since I sweat from all the running. She could use magic, so her physical exertion was a level lower than mine. 

Once my sweating garments came off, I opened the walk in closet and took a look. 

A quarter of the closet was filled with my few sets of clothing, while the rest had gradually been taken by Umara. 

Dresses, stacks of casual wear, plus all her delicates organized neatly in a drawer. 

I smirked a bit. 

We were living together. 

I didn’t have any problem with it. Umara’s family had a property within the capital, but since she had the dorm, she was never expected to use that place. And now that I was here and we liked the hotel room a lot more, she phased herself in. 

We hadn’t talked about it properly, but there really wasn’t a need to. It happened naturally, and we were okay with it. There was nothing more to say about the matter. 

I washed myself up before letting her have the bath. She enjoyed stewing in a hot tub while I liked succinct and generally cool or cold showers. 

Plus, sitting in a hot bath was basically just marinating in your own filth. I didn’t get it, but she liked it and came out smelling nice, so I didn’t care much other than when I occasionally poked fun at her. 

I took my place on the couch, laying there before passing out for a bit, as I usually did. Unlike Vigor or Mana, draining Psyka directly made one tired. I could barely even think straight after such a strenuous day, so I at least needed a nap if I wanted to be functional for the rest of the evening. 

It was an hour later when I woke up, the alarm of my Aerial spurring my consciousness, and the scent of some cooking ingredients tickling my nose. 

I sighed and got up, walking over to the kitchen where Umara was chopping some ingredients. 

“I’m just getting it prepared.”

“That’s fine.”

I smiled and wrapped her in a hug from behind, watching her cut. 

Having been raised as the daughter of a dutchess, touching any kitchenware other than gold-plated dining utensils was out of the question. 

Ordinary society here was like olden society back on Earth. Women were taught how to cook. Such a thing was normal for most of the population, nobles being the exception. 

Umara had never learned an ounce of cooking, while I had learned enough to cook some tasty meals back on Earth. After some observation, she asked to learn some from me and after a day or so of teaching her, we established some ground rules. 

The main one was that, until she at least learned how to use a knife properly, she didn’t get to cook at all. I had to teach her how to prepare ingredients, so anytime we cooked, that was what she usually did. 

And she was a fast learner. Before long she was able to do most of the work while I needed to do the more important parts that required some experience, like the actual cooking part. She tended to overcook out of fear that something would still be raw, and for the sake of time and ingredients, she just let me take over that part, especially when we were tired. 

I watched her knife work, dicing what was basically blue garlic. Some vegetables were far different in this world, and garlic was apparently one of those. It still took the form of cloves but it was blue instead of white, making me apprehensive at first about using it. 

Once she was done dicing that, she moved on to slicing some chicken before preparing some spices, doing anything within arms reach so as to not interrupt our hug. 

But once she was finished with everything, she set her knife down and relaxed back into my embrace. 

The two of us silently stood there, tired and aching, finding some comfort and ease in the warmth of our bodies. 

The night was cold, sprinkles of snow falling outside the window, cooling the room. 

“I’m tired.”

Umara mumbled. I could tell she just wanted to go to sleep. 

But we needed our fuel to recover. That was one thing I learned from sports. You can’t skip the refueling process, even if it was a chore. 

I pat her waist. 

“I know. Go wait at the table. I’ll finish up.”

“Thank you.”

She let out a breath as I gave her a quick kiss. Once she separated, I grabbed the ingredients and finished making dinner. 

After plating everything and sitting down, our eating was spent in silence. 

On normal days we would have some kind of discussion, usually when she asked some questions about a scientific topic she didn’t understand. Ever since my lecture about the stars, she had been constantly asking more about it. 

But tonight, we found our enjoyment in silent communication, sitting right next to each other, the only sound being our forks tapping against our plates. 

And when that was done, we both went straight to the cold bed, piling two large blankets over our bodies and cuddling together. 

I could make the room whatever temperature I wanted, but leaving it cold, oddly enough, made it more comfortable when you found warmth in another person. 

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