Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 21.2
He certainly had a low opinion of B-Class Guides.
Clicking my tongue, I propped myself up and took in my surroundings. We were on the lawn right in front of the main building where Acteon was. The grass was thick, since this wasn’t a space used for training.
On that bright green lawn, staff members and a few upperclassmen stood, watching the main building for any sign of movement.
They were all Guides.
Most of the upperclassmen, like the headmaster, were people I already knew. That must be why I’d woken up here and not in the auxiliary building used for emergency evacuation.
‘Still, there was no need to call the cadets, was there? The professors are much more experienced at stabilization than any cadet with little experience.’
And it made no sense for Hyacine and Cassiel to just leave me here alone. Would the people who’d gone so far as to knock me out to stop me from rushing in really leave me by myself in front of the main building?
But I was able to confirm what happened right away.
“We’ve lost the signal! There’s no trace of Professor Hession’s mana anymore—!”
Professor Hession was the one who had first examined Acteon’s mana flow earlier. He was so skilled and experienced that he was in charge of all the academy’s guiding classes, and when it came to mana stabilization for Transcendents, he was said to be more capable than even some A-Class Guides.
For his signal to disappear…
‘…He’s dead.’
A chill ran through my chest, and I gasped.
Before I could even cover my mouth, the image of ‘me’ popped into my mind. Even if I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but compare myself to the original ‘me’ who must have died in exactly the same situation.
News that the most skilled Guide had died, at a time when all the high-level personnel had already been sent to the front lines, spread rapidly.
The headmaster’s rattled response, and the agitation among the faculty because of it, quickly filtered down to the cadets below.
A cloud of anxiety settled over the faces of all the cadets who were Guides.
It was only natural.
I felt it too, and everyone else knew it as well.
Now that the best Guide had died, like it or not, we would all end up being sent inside as well.
‘…Damn it.’
It was a bad situation.
Unless an S-Class like Millia appeared among the first awakeners, they’d just try to suppress Acteon’s mana with sheer numbers, until higher-level Guides arrived from nearby research institutes and the capital.
‘And in the process, there would only be more casualties.’
I got to my feet, trying to catch my breath before it could become too ragged.
…The reason Acteon was classified as S-Class.
It was because of how he handled mana.
Most Transcendents draw in natural mana, and use their bodies to turn it into a miraculous power. Their bodies act as a kind of filter for mana. The mana they draw in is refined inside and then released outside as a weapon, taking the form of fire, water, lightning, or other elements depending on the Transcendent’s traits.
But Acteon was different.
He didn’t need to mimic natural disasters.
He simply visualized his own or natural mana so that it could be seen.
The mana he shaped would transform into something like a crystal or gemstone.
The ability to freely control this crystallized mana was what made Acteon so terrifying.
The countless forms of crystallized mana were sharper, more dangerous, and more beautiful than any weapon in the world, but they also had a natural ability to tear apart and devastate everything around him.
With a single gesture, he could grind a person to pieces in an instant.
‘And right now, this whole academy was at risk of ending up like that.’
If only they’d managed to use the control stones in the Garden of Oaths, things might not have gotten so out of hand.
But that place was now just an empty auditorium, and the only thing left to suppress Acteon’s mana was guiding.
In the end, we were back to square one.
All that effort to survive, all that desperate struggle, had come to nothing.
After straightening my disheveled uniform, I moved to approach the headmaster, but someone stood firmly in my way.
“What are you trying to do?”
Cassiel glared at me, eyes wide.
He must’ve stayed because he was Acteon’s only family in the academy.
“What? Why are you still here? What about Hyacine?”
“The professors sent all the first awakeners to the auxiliary building since they wouldn’t be any help.”
Great, he’s probably sulking hard by now.
I could picture him making a big scene.
“…Whatever you’re planning, just stay out of it. Hiding you away is no problem…”
“Cassiel.”
I cut him off.
He wasn’t someone who’d listen to persuasion.
“Stop being so stubborn.”
As I took a hard line, Cassiel’s eyes turned cold.
He was quick to realize the academy would be sending every available Guide inside.
But even as a Brondearn, there was no way he could pull a Guide out of a situation like this, and he didn’t look like he planned to step aside, either.
The reason he was trying so hard to stop me was obvious.
He must have been thinking of the late Claire Brondearn, and the Guide who died with her.
It was both funny and suffocating, how neither of us could hide our anxiety.
“I told you. You accept reality too easily. You came back saying you finally knew what to do, but you’re acting the same as before, just getting annoyed at me for it. What’s the point, huh?”
“So what? A professor’s already dead. What are you going to do if you go in there? Just die a pointless death?”
“I’ve already guided Acteon once.”
I shot back calmly, despite his outburst, but Cassiel didn’t care.
He gritted his teeth and grabbed my shoulder.
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