Chapter 32: Training (2)

The three of them were sent flying backwards before looking up at an enormous root that resembled a gigantic worm. Their heads tilted upwards as they stared at the massive root belonging to Teacher Aelin.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING TEACHER AELIN JUST BROUGHT OUT?!"

Magnus complained.

"What? Have the three of you already given up just by looking at this?"

Aelin teased them slightly, trying to reignite their fighting spirit.

Philip began to feel regret and immediately questioned Aelin, his voice filled with frustration and a hint of shouting.

"WHY DIDN’T YOU USE THAT WHEN WE WERE FIGHTING VAELCRYST?!"

Hearing Philip’s question, Aelin burst into laughter.

"You foolish student. If I had used this, the entire palace would have been destroyed."

Philip immediately felt embarrassed. He had never considered that possibility.

Without saying anything further, Aelin sent her enormous root charging towards the three of them.

The three quickly dodged, running in different directions to maintain their distance from Aelin’s root.

"Her roots are way too big for me to use Rift Distortion. This is seriously bad."

Haruki stopped for a moment to catch his breath, just like Magnus.

He then opened his system and suddenly remembered that he had an Invisibility skill.

"Huh? How could I have forgotten about this?"

He noticed that Aelin was currently focused on Philip. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Haruki quickly activated his Invisibility skill to launch a surprise attack on her.

[INVISIBILITY SKILL ACTIVATED]

His body slowly began to disappear until he became completely invisible.

Haruki cautiously approached Aelin while keeping an eye on her enormous roots, making sure not to get caught by them.

"Huh? Haruki, do you have another plan?"

A few seconds passed, but Haruki gave no response to Magnus.

Magnus then looked around, trying to find Haruki.

*’Where did he go? Don’t tell me he ran away.’*

For a moment, Magnus let his guard down and nearly got hit by one of Aelin’s roots.

His eyes, which had been tightly shut in surprise, slowly opened. To his confusion, Magnus suddenly found himself standing near Philip.

"Don’t let your guard down, you idiot Magnus."

"So you used your magic, huh?"

Philip began to notice that Haruki was nowhere to be seen and asked Magnus about it. However, Magnus had no idea either.

Aelin continued attacking the two of them without realizing that Haruki was slowly approaching her.

Philip told Magnus that he wanted to use Rift Hate, but Magnus firmly refused to let him use it just yet.

For the time being, Philip could only rely on his Rift Step and Rift Distortion.

Magnus began to stand up and further strengthened his Enhancement Magic, causing his eyes to glow as if they were burning.

"Let’s go, Philip."

"I know. That would be stupid."

The enormous root began rushing towards the two of them. Philip and Magnus prepared to counterattack.

Suddenly, Aelin’s massive root came to an abrupt halt just before it could hit them.

"Huh? What happened?"

Philip moved slightly to the side to see what was going on.

He looked to his right, but there was nothing there.

Meanwhile, Magnus quickly called out to Philip, urging him to look at something happening to Aelin.

"H-Hey, Philip! L-Look at that..."

"Huh? What is it—"

The two of them were left completely speechless when they saw Haruki holding his dagger against Aelin’s throat.

"S-Since when was he over there?!"

Magnus could hardly believe what Haruki had just accomplished. He had disappeared moments ago, yet now he was standing right beside Aelin.

"We win, Teacher Aelin."

Aelin smiled before retracting her roots. She then stepped backwards and sat down on the ground, taking a long breath.

"Since when could you turn invisible?"

Haruki took a deep breath before collapsing into a sitting position.

Philip and Magnus slowly approached the two of them, who were now sitting on the ground.

Philip still couldn’t believe that Haruki had managed to defeat Teacher Aelin.

Regardless, all of them eventually sat down, catching their breath after the exhausting battle.

"Next time, I won’t lose so easily, you know."

Philip immediately lay down, gazing at the stars scattered across the night sky.

Aelin then turned her attention towards Philip.

"Next, I’ll teach the three of you how to fully master your magic."

"Because all three of your magical abilities are still as weak as ants."

Philip immediately raised his upper body slightly, clearly displeased with Teacher Aelin’s remark about his magic.

Meanwhile, Haruki received a notification from his system.

[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AELIN]

**Rewards:**

- 2 Skill Slots Unlocked

- 2 Magic Slots Unlocked

"Nice."

"What exactly is so nice, Haruki?" Magnus asked.

"Ah, it’s nothing."

Aelin stood up and handed them some water and biscuits.

The three of them accepted the biscuits and began eating.

Every now and then, Magnus would sneakily steal a piece of Philip’s biscuit.

Amidst this warm moment, Haruki suddenly remembered the statue he had discovered in the Arcane Palace. He decided to take this opportunity to ask them about it.

"Ah, hey, everyone."

All of them immediately turned towards Haruki, their mouths still full of biscuits.

Haruki took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. He was somewhat hesitant, as he wasn’t sure whether the topic he was about to bring up was something serious or something he shouldn’t know about.

"Do any of you know anything about ’The Sovereign of the Unwritten’?"

Their chewing suddenly stopped.

Not because they were shocked or frightened, but quite the opposite.

"What the hell is that, Haruki?" Philip asked.

Haruki felt slightly disappointed. He had thought they might know something about the statue.

He then tried asking again using simpler words.

"Then, do any of you know anything about the seven statues that look like angels or demons?"

Aelin slightly raised an eyebrow before speaking.

"Do you mean the God Kings?"

"God Kings? What does that mean?"

Aelin quickly finished her biscuit before leaning slightly closer to Haruki.

She explained that whenever someone was crowned king in this world, the Absolute God would choose a worthy king and grant them the title of a God.

The Absolute God was also said to be the one who had granted magic to the people of this world.

Aelin paused for a moment before continuing.

When a king became a God, their kingdom would receive numerous blessings.

And that was how they came to be known as the **God Kings**.

Magnus and Philip also listened attentively to Aelin’s story.

However, the kings who had been chosen to become Gods eventually grew increasingly hungry for power. They began fighting over the authority and power of the other God Kings, leading to an extraordinary war.

Upon learning of this, the Absolute God decided to seal them away because of their abuse of power.

But unwilling to surrender their authority, the God Kings instead plotted to kill the Absolute God.

And so, another war broke out, this time between the Absolute God and the God Kings.

The war was so devastating that the world was no longer considered a place fit for living. It had practically become a living hell.

In the end, the Absolute God emerged victorious.

The Absolute God sealed the God Kings away, although no one knew exactly how or in what form they had been sealed.

What mattered most was that the Absolute God had lost almost all of his power.

The war had nearly destroyed the entire world and universe. The Absolute God began to believe that he was no longer worthy of his title, having committed what he considered a grave sin against the God Kings.

With the remnants of his power, the Absolute God then used everything he had left to restore the entire universe, including this world.

Eventually, the world returned to normal, although wars continued to occur even after that.

"And Haruki, there were only six God Kings. That doesn’t include the Absolute God."

Haruki was momentarily stunned before asking another question.

"Then, was one of them called ’The Sovereign of the Unwritten’?"

"No one knows their names. But what makes you so interested in this, Haruki?"

"Ah, nothing. I was just asking."

*’There were six? But the statue I found showed seven. Or was the story wrong?’*

*’No, I’m certain I saw the words "God King" written on that statue.’*

After that, Philip spoke while yawning.

"You still believe in that nonsense?"

"That’s just a bedtime story my mother used to tell me."

Magnus then interrupted, teasing Philip about how he needed bedtime stories before going to sleep.

"What the hell is your problem, Magnus?!"

"Bleh, nothing. Hehe."

"Ah, don’t take it so seriously, Haruki. This story is nothing more than a fairy tale."

Haruki simply nodded before returning to the biscuit in his hand.

’Huff... What am I even thinking about?’

Haruki quickly chewed his cookie again and immediately choked.Aelin then told them to eat quickly for the second training session, which was magic training.

And they ate the biscuits quickly and slowly got up from their seats and prepared themselves.