Chapter 13
Waking up.
Gather, gather, power!
Before eating.
Gather, gather, power!
After dessert.
Gather, gather, power!
Watching the sunset.
Gather, gather, power!
Before bed.
Gather, gather, power!
Sigrin was a model student.
She diligently reviewed class material.
At first, progress was slow, but she gradually sensed what ether was.
One day, she felt a sudden change.
Like a light switch flicking on in a dark room.
“Apple, come here for a sec.”
“Huh? Sure!”
Sigrin focused ether sharply into her eyes.
Staring at Apple with concentrated effort, she saw a faint red haze near her heart.
‘Is that a latent core?’
The energy’s color was pale, its shape unstable and jagged.
When she’d checked the core of a pickpocket, Chelisky, that morning, it had a vivid, stable circular shape.
‘Can I see my own core?’
Sigrin approached the lake and gazed at her reflection.
Unlike Apple’s unstable, spherical haze, her eyes held two solid green circles.
‘What…?’
It was a bit creepy but funny, like wearing sunglasses.
‘Hmm, maybe I’m a double-core user too?’
Sigrin chuckled to herself.
With clear direction and effort, her learning accelerated.
Finding the path was hard; effort was easy.
Gazing at the core in her left eye, Sigrin cheered inwardly.
‘Ugh, 10 seconds is my limit.’
Using the ability as described in the book made her nauseous, with aching eyes and head.
She quickly closed her eyes and pressed her palms against them.
✦ ✦ ✦
Those with a brain core produce ‘magic’ through it.
Those with a heart core produce ‘spiritual power.’
Those with a dantian core produce ‘ki.’
So, what power does an eye core produce?
‘How do I create chemforce…?’
She reread ‘The Flower of Variant Cores - The Eye of Ether’ three more times.
Chemforce is transmitted through the light reflected by objects, making it highly sensitive to light.
That was the only useful sentence. Even then, it wasn’t clear.
Sigrin hit another wall. With no other eye core users around, every step forward felt like facing a massive barrier.
‘Why is nothing in my life ever easy?’
Sigrin sighed deeply.
“Miss, this is the most popular restaurant in our academy!”
‘Chemforce… Chemforce…’
Lunchtime.
Apple led a pensive Sigrin to the ‘Sky Noodle Shop.’
As a popular spot, it was bustling with students and guild members. The rich broth, generous noodles, and cheap prices drew crowds.
“Hm? Feels like eyes are on us. My imagination?”
Apple scratched her head as they sat.
‘Chemforce…’
“Well, the regulars here are always curious about others!”
‘Chemforce, chemforce…’
Ordering two bowls of sky noodles, they didn’t wait long.
Sigrin picked up a fork, twirling the noodles like spaghetti.
“Miss, you’re supposed to use chopsticks for noodles. Tastes better that way.”
“Chemforce?”
“Huh? Miss, you okay?”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
“…Miss, you’ve seemed down lately. Something wrong?”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yeah.”
Noticing Sigrin’s subtle mood shifts was second nature to Apple.
“I’m just stuck on something.”
“Stuck?”
“Yeah, it’s trivial. Don’t worry.”
‘Chemforce, chemforce.’
Nodding, Sigrin sighed.
Explaining would mean detailing eye cores and chemforce from scratch, so she held back.
Instead, she muttered under her breath, almost inaudibly.
“Tch… Gotta go back to the library.”
‘Tch, chemforce.’
She’d need to ask Teacher Angel for a Search Paper on ‘eye core’ or ‘chemforce’ and sneak into the library again at night.
But this time, she’d surely get caught.
Passing it off as a dream only worked once or twice.
Sighing, Sigrin ate her noodles, feeling stifled.
Also, the person at the next table kept staring.
“Is there something on my face? Or do you have something to say?”
‘Chemforce, chemforce?’
“…!! N-No, sorry!”
Unable to bear the stare, Sigrin spoke up.
The student mumbled an apology and looked down.
✦ ✦ ✦
A student-favorite eatery in Panoplia, Midriba’s Sky Noodle Shop.
The shop’s hall was small for its fame, with tables close enough to overhear neighbors.
Thus, most rumors in Luxnova started at the Sky Noodle Shop.
Ding~
The bell rang as two female students left.
Once they were out of sight, students eating noodles began whispering.
“Hey, huge news! I heard when the Lemaos Boss Battle’s happening! I was right next to them and got all the details!”
A commotion erupted.
Lately, the most mentioned names at the Sky Noodle Shop were ‘Sigrin Ebenkera’ and ‘Luca Drümuel.’
With the rumor’s subject showing up in person, chaos was inevitable.
“So, what’d she say? When’s the mafia fighting?”
“Today! Right after afternoon classes, she’s going to the library!”
Waaaah! Finally!!
The students in the hall roared with excitement.
✦ ✦ ✦
For her first semester in high school, Sigrin had signed up for the now-completed remedial class and an alchemy class.
All elective classes were core-focused, limiting her options. Alchemy, being core-neutral, was accessible without a core.
She could take up to three electives per semester, but there weren’t many other options.
“Here, pretty student. This is the alchemy class textbook~! Alchemy starts a bit late, so enjoy the free time for now, okay?”
After picking up the textbook from the main office, Sigrin sat on a nearby grassy patch, relaxing.
‘Chemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforcechemforce.’
Her mind was consumed with chemforce. She felt her intelligence dropping.
‘Anything useful in the case’s magic artifacts?’
Like an ether amplifier, maybe.
Sigrin opened her weapon case and rummaged through.
Inside were a shield artifact ring, a short-range teleport bracelet, and basic elemental orb-firing magic tools.
She’d expected a variety of magic tools with the number of weapons, but there was more quantity than diversity.
Hmm, am I being greedy?
Closing the case, Sigrin lifted a fruit bag from a nearby shop.
Taking an apple, she tried wrapping it with chemforce.
“Amazing Chem-Chem Wrapping!!”
She mixed in exotic foreign words for flair, but no luck.
Lowering her head, Sigrin sighed again.
‘Time to head back to the tent.’
She’d practice Ether Breathing and Ether Fixation, then review basic liberal arts.
Good grades were key for a good job, after all.
Sigrin brushed off her backside and stood.