The Protagonist Already Knows

Chapter 37: Day 1 [4]

Not skipping a beat, I leaped off the seven-floor castle keep, instantly turning intangible and flying straight.

Phasing through the wall of the right watchtower, I immediatly found myself in an empty wooden room with a single pedestal standing in the middle.

A single golden ball lay on the pedestal like an ancient artifact in a museum, leaking so many golden particles that a golden cloud filled the entire room from my point of view.

Glancing at the crowded staircase in the room, which led up to the top of the watchtower, I took a deep breath as I materialized, standing with my back against the wall.

If any one of the countless people on the top floor of the watchtower or staircase decided to come down for whatever reason, it was over.

Recalling my goal, I closed my eyes and attempted to hone and strengthen my intent, something that only Martial Artists at the stage of "A Loose Thread" could do.

Most mages also reached the first stage of "A Loose Thread" to increase their speed of mana accumulation. As Grandmaster Kim said, in the early stages, you could be both a Martial Artist and Mage without having to choose one.

I did feel the rate at which mana particles entered my body increase by a slight amount, but it was nothing compared to what a first-stage Martial Artist could do.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion as I stood completely still, hearing the screams continue to echo from just the floor above me.

"What should we do!?"

"We have to find food, water...set up places to sleep."

"We need a guard at all times; other advisories could attack at any time, now."

"Quick, let’s organize a group to go hunting in the forest to try and find us dinner."

Finally, at last, five minutes passed.

However...at that moment.

*STEP*

*STEP*

The sound of steps gradually drew closer, as I heard one...no two or perhaps even three pairs of footsteps descending from the staircase.

Not skipping a beat, I immediatly leaped forward from the wall and threw my hands around the golden ball, completely coming to terms with the fact that my identity as the golden ball stealer would like be revealed.

Sure, they could see me...but they wouldn’t be able to attack me in my wraith form.

As I felt the smooth surface of the golden ball, I immediatly activated Anubis’s Ferry, turning intangible.

However...just a moment later, I paused.

*BANG*

A loud sound reverberated through the room as the golden ball simply...phased through my hands and hit the wooden floor.

Looking down...I saw the golden ball and cloud of particles surrounding it, sitting right inside my leg as if...mocking me.

"Ah..."

I really should have tested my ability out...it seemed I couldn’t carry items infused with mana with me in my intangible form.

"SOMEONE’S DOWN HERE!"

"INVADER INVADER!"

"HE’S TRYING TO STEAL THE GOLDEN BALL!"

"WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?"

As shouts sounded from behind me and I heard a stampede of footsteps coming down the staircase, I didn’t hesitate to fly forward, phasing straight through the walls of the fortress and re-entering the forest.

Well...that plan was ruined.

...

...

...

Gazing at their golden ball, which was no longer sitting on its prideful pedestal but lying on the dirty wooden floor, the group of thirty-five students gathered in the cramped second floor of the right watch tower.

"Did anyone recognize him?"

"Which advisory is he with!?"

"More importantly, how did he get here without anyone noticing him!?"

One student nervously stepped forward to answer.

"I-i saw him go straight through a wall and escape...I think he has some sort of spatial distortion ability!"

"How are we supposed to defend against that!?"

"What are we supposed to do!?"

Finally, as the complaints came to an end, a confident boy, whom Ash would have recognized as the Rank #3 Han Li, stepped forward.

"First, we’ll have two people on guard at all times watching the golden ball. While he can enter this room, it seems he can’t leave this room with the golden ball...or else we would already have been eliminated."

"Next, some mages can set up some alarm spells in this room to alert us to any intruder’s presence."

"Everyone else, let’s get started on our food and water arrangements."

Nodding their heads at Han Li, the crowd of students dispersed, leaving Han Li and a few mages who knew how to set up alarm formations.

Clicking his tongue, Han Li gazed at the wall the figure had escaped through.

His gift was his memory.

If he saw a sword slash or jab once, he could replicate it himself within a minute.

Recalling the blurry back of the figure he had seen, Han Li searched his memory but found nothing.

But...that left him even more confused?

How could he not notice someone with such an amazing gift?

...

...

...

Clicking my tongue, I phased through the portcullis of my advisory’s fortress and easily slipped back into the crowd of students in the courtyard.

The fortress was deathly silent, most everyone coming to terms with the situation now.

At this moment, most of the students were simply sitting on the grass under the night-black sky, resting and waiting.

Notably, Ren was missing from this crowd.

We already had an easily accessible water source through the lake, and thankfully, some of the lower-ranked members of our advisory, which included sons of merchants and vendors, knew how to fish.

Another group of lower-ranked members in our advisory was setting up a pot, using Haerin’s fire magic to boil water.

It was interesting: the children of wealthy heroes and heirs to renowned families were now depending on the descendants of merchants to save them from hunger.

Joining the group of now-useless higher-ranked students, who usually had servants do this stuff for them, on the grass, I reconsidered my plan.

However, at that moment, a group of restless students, including Evangel and Lily, stood up from the grass and walked toward the lower-ranked students.

"Is there anything that we can help with?"