Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 44 - In Pieces

In the previous Episode:

Deora threw the testing cube at Elaru wanting to catch her off-guard and hit her with it. Elaru caught the cube reflexively, however, for an unknown reason she became alarmed and started casting the trigger spell as quick as she could instead of concentrating on accuracy the test is supposed to test. After finishing the testing in a record time, she returned the cube to Deora and is awaiting her result. The spiral is slowly lighting up, showing Elaru's score, surprising everyone present.

* * *

Judging by the difficulty of the last exam most of them would not surpass that score, yet this girl who rushed her spellcasting managed to reach it. Doesn't that mean that they were vastly inferior? Even if they managed to reach the same score as her, the speed of their weaving couldn't be compared to hers.

As they watched the glowing spiral, their faces turned pale.

That was because the spiral was still continuing to light up.

15...17...19

Come on!! As Elaru gritted her teeth, the mouths of others gaped open.

The hands with which Deora held the cube started shaking. But even the shaking of the cube couldn't cover up the increase in score.

21...23

Everyone's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets.

As the spiral finished lighting up, everyone felt as if a bomb went off inside their skulls. Their mouths turned dry, their jaws almost dislocating from how wide they were gaping.

25.

When the spiral finally lit up completely, Elaru let out a long breath. Phew! Safe!

Just as she thought that, before anyone could recover from the previous shock, another outrageous thing happened – like a string stretched to its limit, the enchantment cast on the cube snapped.

Like a snake, the spell writhed left and right and disintegrated like melting snow.

As if it was broken porcelain, the cube in Deora's hands fell apart, clattering loudly as the mythril pieces fell to the floor.

"Eeeeeh!?!?"

"Wh...what happened?!"

"It broke! It broke again!!"

"My god! It fell apart!"

The one with the palest face, the face with the most comical shocked expression, was actually Deora. He stared at the mythril pieces around his feet in disbelief.

He stared at it for several seconds before his bloodshot eyes slowly rose up to meet Elaru's. With a shaking finger, he pointed straight at her face and bellowed. "What did you do?!?!"

Elaru placed her hand on her chest acting out shock and pain. "Me? Why do you assume it was me?" Her long ears dropped down pitifully, her large eyes looking at him innocently as if saying "How could you even think it was me?"

"If it wasn't you then who was it?!"

Elaru raised her hands in surrender, still looking pitiful. "It fell apart while in your hands, didn't it?"

Arion Urwin found himself covering his mouth trying not to burst out laughing.

Deora's two honey yellow eyes glowed like embers. "Do you think I am braindead?!"

He puffed up like a balloon, his hands twitching to strangle the annoying redhead that ended up destroying everything she touched.

"Out. OUT!" Deora screamed so loudly that the building almost shook.