Chapter 85: The Rumors of a Madman (2)

Luna was clearly displeased.

“You took a huge risk. Your curse doesn’t just respond to the Night Lords—it reacts to all forms of dark mana,” she said with a frown, thinking carefully.

“It would be extremely difficult to create a barrier that protects you from every form of dark mana. Not even my master could accomplish something like that.”

Ethan shook his head in response.

“It’s fine. Blocking the Night Lords is enough for me.”

“And my last risk was necessary. If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have won the duel.”

Luna sighed deeply as she began purifying the traces of Mathius’s mana.

“Your opponent was just that worthless James Heart. Did you really have to go that far?”

Ethan laughed.

“Worthless, you say? He was an advanced knight. Everyone expected him to win, as you know.”

“Was he really that impressive?” she asked skeptically.

That made Ethan amend his statement.

“Well… he died pretty easily against me, so I guess he wasn’t.”

Turning toward her, he remembered something else.

“Come to think of it… you didn’t attend the duel, did you? Do you really care so little about your senior here?”

Luna raised an eyebrow.

“And why would I come to watch you? I have nothing to do with you.”

“How cruel…”

He let out a hollow laugh.

Silence settled between them for a moment.

A silence that lingered until Luna spoke again of her own accord.

“I had a feeling you would win.”

Her words surprised Ethan slightly.

“Really?”

She nodded.

“You carry a fifth-tier curse, the most powerful of its kind.”

“If something like that didn’t kill you… how could someone as insignificant as James possibly do it?”

It was strange logic.

Yet somehow, it made sense.

“Haha… you’re kinder than you look,” Ethan said with a laugh.

Luna immediately smacked the back of his neck and stepped away.

“I’m finished. Stop fooling around and hide that disgusting curse of yours already.”

She spoke seriously as she warned him.

“Try to stay as far away from cursed areas as possible. We don’t know when another creature capable of affecting your curse might appear.”

Ethan smiled faintly at that.

“You know I can’t do that.”

She nodded.

“You’re right. We hunters can’t stay away from the curse for long.”

Ethan suddenly realized something important when he heard that.

“We hunters? Wait… did you actually become a hunter?”

He asked with curiosity.

Luna nodded.

“I’ll turn eighteen in a few days. I’ll officially become a hunter then.”

“The squad I’ll be joining has already been decided.”

“That was fast…” Ethan muttered, scratching his hair in surprise at how quickly time had passed.

“I don’t know whether I should congratulate you. Nothing good ever comes from carrying the title of a hunter.”

“Despite saying that… you fought fiercely to obtain it.”

Luna responded with a smile, and Ethan couldn’t deny it.

Still, his situation was somewhat unique.

“So? Which squad are you joining? Don’t tell me it’s the Third.”

He said it jokingly. If she joined them, it would feel like something straight out of a movie.

But Luna shook her head.

“I’ve been assigned to the Second Squad.”

The moment Ethan heard that, he was genuinely surprised.

For two reasons.

The first was that the Second Squad was considered the second strongest unit. That meant Luna had earned enough recognition from the elders to be placed among them.

The second… was the mystery surrounding that squad.

Ethan grew serious immediately, remembering the warning given by the Messenger of Balance—the cunning sorceress Schierke.

“What are they like? Is there something special about the Second Squad?” he asked with curiosity.

But Luna shook her head again.

“I don’t know much about them. I haven’t met them yet since they haven’t returned from their exploration expedition.”

Then she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh! But one of the members of the Second Squad is already quite famous…”

“And he’s very similar to you.”

“Similar to me? How exactly?”

What Luna said next captured Ethan’s interest even more.

“Because he’s cursed too… just like you.”

“Verso Heart. He’s only a year older than you, but they say he’s a talent comparable to my sister Moon.”

“He’s the youngest person to ever reach Elite Rank, equivalent to Level 40.”

“But what truly sets him apart… is his Fourth-Tier Full Eclipse Curse.”

The Full Eclipse—the stage just before Ethan’s own Blood Eclipse, which belonged to the fifth tier.

“That’s surprising. I didn’t expect another cursed bearer among the Hearts besides me.”

Ethan thought about it for a moment, wondering if Verso was the person the Balance messenger had mentioned.

Fortunately, since Luna was about to join that squad, he had gained a way to observe them through her.

And to do that, he would need to meet Luna more often from now on.

He had already begun thinking about how to make that happen.

Luna’s clone was about to dissipate after finishing her task.

But Ethan stopped her.

“Before you go, I have a favor to ask,” he said with a smile.

Suspicion immediately appeared on Luna’s face.

“What do you want?”

His request completely caught her off guard.

“Could you teach me magic?”

He asked politely.

Luna looked utterly confused.

“What?”

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

She frowned.

“You know knights can’t use magic, right?”

Ethan nodded.

“I’m fully aware of that.”

His confirmation only deepened her frown.

“So you’re saying you’re not a knight… but a Magic Knight, just like Moon?”

It was an extremely rare class.

The Magic Knight, also known as the Prisoner.

Those who belonged to that class could raise the attributes of both knights and mages simultaneously.

“That’s impossible. Your affinity with mana is nonexistent because of your low Intelligence stat.”

Luna spoke casually, her crimson eyes glowing faintly as she infused them with mana to examine Ethan more closely.

But what she saw left her stunned.

Mana was clearly dancing around Ethan.

It wasn’t powerful—he was only at the Skilled rank—but it was unmistakable.

“You… really can use magic,” she whispered in astonishment.

“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Ethan’s smile widened as he repeated his request.

“Luna… would you teach me magic?”

He had decided to make use of her to master his new class.

Swordsmanship from Asterion.

Magic from her.

Ethan wanted to expand his sources of power as much as possible.

For what was coming.

Luna was about to respond—

but suddenly froze.

The same thing happened to Ethan.

Out of nowhere, both of them felt it.

It was like a tremor … accompanied by a terrifying surge of mana rising from beneath the ground.

A quake shook all of Ashvarn.

Fear spread through the hearts of its inhabitants.

The tremor lasted several seconds before gradually fading, leaving everyone stunned.

“What… was that?” Luna said, shock written across her face.

Meanwhile, Ethan cursed under his breath.

’Damn it… this happened sooner than I expected.’

He turned toward the window.

The surge had come from beneath the earth.

From Old Ashvarn, to be precise.

Something had changed there.

Something that heralded a disaster looming on the horizon.

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