The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes - The Saint and the Dark Blade—Before the Dawn of the Branch Shrine

The cold stone pavement of the alley transmitted through the soles of Philen's feet. He ran. Simply ran. The back alleys of the South District were a labyrinth, and anyone unfamiliar with the area would get lost. But Philen Kazaar knew this place. For twenty years, he had completed countless requests in Blaze. His body remembered the uneven ground, the joints between the stones, which corner led to what. Every detail was etched into his muscle memory. A white light flickered ahead. A holy attribute barrier—a wall of light formed by releasing essence—was visibly fading. There wasn't enough essence left to maintain it. How long had one person been holding out alone? (Make it in time.) Philen drew Gevalt from his waist and dove inside the barrier. That instant. The back of his right hand grew hot. That sensation he'd felt for the first time in the previous encounter. A darkness-colored light seeping from the surface of his palm. The blade of Gevalt was dyed a deep purple-black, as if wrapping around the steel. In this place where holy light should be overflowing, the opposite color had appeared. (Again... it came out.) Confusion lasted only a moment. There was no time to think. Philen drove his blade forward without hesitation at the lead dark-winged moth—a large dark-attribute monster with a wingspan exceeding three meters, its scales capable of completely stealing vision—ahead of him. There was impact. Clearly different from a normal slash. The instant the blade made contact, the monster's dark essence interfered and burst apart. One of the dark-winged moths let out a brief death cry and vanished into particles of light. (It worked...? But how?) He didn't understand it himself. He wasn't controlling it. His hand just moved, and when he realized it, the blade was dyed. That was the sensation. Like someone was pulling his arm— "Now! Purifying Light—!" Elnaad Serivil's voice rang out. Holy light radiated outward all at once. Philen's vision went completely white. "—!" He couldn't see anything ahead. It wasn't a matter of brightness. It was complete white. Philen reflexively closed his eyes and dropped to one knee, lowering his stance. This was bad. Not now. His foot that had been about to advance stopped, and his accelerating body came to an abrupt halt. Gradually, his vision returned. Seconds later, what spread before him was five remaining dark-winged moths and a girl standing in the depths of the alley with both hands extended forward. Silver-white long hair. It flowed past her shoulders with a slight wave. A faint azure light mark floated on her forehead—an attribute mark indicating essence affinity—and her eyes were a clear golden color. Odd-eyed, with different colors in each eye. Her small frame, around 158 centimeters, was dressed in the white ceremonial robes of the Akatsuki Temple—a religious academic institution governing holy attribute practice and healing. The hem of the robes was soiled, and blood seeped from her right knee. Elnaad Serivil. A sixteen-year-old girl raised in the Akatsuki Temple as a candidate saint, dispatched to Blaze for her first real combat mission. Philen had heard her name at the Iron Ring Alliance branch. Elnaad resumed her incantation. With a concentrated expression, she moved her lips, preparing for the next purification spell. One of the monsters, seizing the opportunity, spread its wings from the side. Philen moved instantly. He ran, keeping his body low as he crossed the alley, positioning himself in front of the monster. He kicked—driving his sole into its abdomen and launching it backward. The incantation broke. "Ah—!" Elnaad let out a voiceless cry. Just as she'd finally concentrated, a large man suddenly crossed in front of her and kicked the monster away. (Sorry, but can't be helped.) Philen turned forward without apologizing. Four remaining. The blade of Gevalt was still dyed dark. He didn't understand why it didn't interfere despite all this holy light. But it worked. For now, that was enough. "I'll break the front. Do the purification after I create an angle," Philen said curtly, not looking back. There was a brief pause. "...Understood," Elnaad replied, her voice stiff, but she seemed to comprehend. Philen moved forward. He drew two dark-winged moths left and right while moving diagonally to break up their formation. The remaining two stayed in front of Elnaad. That was fine. An angle for the purifying light had been created. "—Purify!" Elnaad called out. Light streaked across. This time it didn't come toward Philen. The two monsters in front vanished in the light. Philen retreated while using Gevalt to keep the remaining two at bay— The last one spread its wings and jumped high. A diving attack. It came from directly above, scattering scales. Philen held Gevalt vertically, and instead of meeting it head-on, he sidestepped and deflected it with his blade. The dark light burst, and the monster lost its balance. In that opening— Elnaad's holy light pierced through from the side. The monster vanished into particles of light. Silence. Only two remained in the alley. Philen slowly turned around while catching his breath. Elnaad also faced forward, lowering her arms. Which one would point out the other's mistake first? Philen opened his mouth. Elnaad also opened her mouth. Both at the same time—they fell silent. For a while, neither said anything. A cat meowed somewhere in the depths of the alley. A street lamp powered by essence-conducting ore dimly illuminated the two of them. Philen sighed. "...Well, it's over anyway." "...Yes," Elnaad replied. Elnaad straightened her posture. She adjusted the hem of her robes and bowed deeply. "I am most grateful for your assistance this evening. I am Elnaad Serivil, a saint candidate dispatched to the Akatsuki Temple Blaze Branch. Your efforts—" Philen wasn't listening anymore. He had crouched down. His gaze was fixed on Elnaad's knee area, checking how much blood was seeping. "...Um, I still have more to—" "Your shoe is wet," Philen said. "Eh?" "Blood. From the knee wound, it's reached your shoe." Elnaad looked down at her feet. The white ceremonial shoe was stained dark red. "...The wound is minor and poses no hindrance to continued combat." "Can you walk to the branch?" "I can walk." "Then let's go." Philen stood up and started walking ahead. Elnaad was momentarily dazed before hurrying after him. Her words of gratitude weren't even a third finished. "Um—I still haven't finished my thanks—" "I'll listen when we get there." A short reply. Elnaad pressed her lips together slightly and followed silently. The Akatsuki Temple Blaze Branch was about a ten-minute walk from the South District toward the center. It was a small shrine with only three resident priests, a quiet place. At night, the priests were resting. As they walked, Elnaad spoke. "I need to report tonight's monster appearance to the Iron Ring Alliance. There's a possibility that attribute divergence—a phenomenon where monsters of a specific attribute abnormally accumulate in one location and multiply explosively—may be affecting the South District as well." "Talk normally," Philen said. "...What do you mean?" "The formal language and ceremony. Not needed right now." Elnaad paused for a moment. "...Then, shall I—" "That's fine." The sound of footsteps on stone continued. After a while, Elnaad spoke again. "Philen... I heard you're a silver-rank adventurer with the Iron Ring Alliance." "I said talk normally." "...Are you a silver-rank adventurer?" "Yeah." "...How do I know what's normal?" Philen stopped walking. Elnaad's expression was serious. She genuinely didn't know what a "normal" conversation was supposed to be like. She'd never learned. Philen struggled for an answer. "...I can't explain it well either." "I see." "But even that 'I see' sounds a bit formal." "...Then what should I say?" "'Yeah' or 'got it' works." "...Got it," Elnaad said hesitantly, as if testing out unfamiliar words. There was a pause in her delivery. Philen's eyes softened slightly. When they pushed open the small wooden gate of the branch, no one was in the grounds. The priests must have been sleeping; only one light flickered in a window deep inside. Philen led her to a small room beside the shrine building—a waiting room used for treating visitors. He took out bandages from a shelf. Elnaad sat against the wall. He examined her knee wound and arm scrapes. The knee was shallow but long. The arm was just scraped. Philen decided to start with the arm wound. He held the edge of the bandage and gently grasped Elnaad's wrist to secure the cloth. That instant— Something ran through them. Not light. Not heat. If he had to describe it, it was like a thin electric current. Something pulling from Philen's right hand toward Elnaad's wrist. Elnaad froze. Philen stopped moving. One second. Two seconds. Only the sound of the candle flame flickering in the room. Philen tried to process it technically. "...The essence flow is disturbed. You must have been exhausted from overuse." He released her hand. "...Yes. I seem to have used too much," Elnaad said quietly, going along with it. Neither of them touched on what that sensation actually was. Neither had the words for it. He continued wrapping the bandage. Elnaad kept her gaze lowered, silent. Philen worked quietly without saying anything unnecessary. He tied off the final bandage. Elnaad slowly looked up. Her gaze remained to the side of Philen's face as she paused before speaking. "...I heard you were non-attributed." Philen's hands stopped. "Where did you hear that?" "I checked the Iron Ring Alliance registration information. Before being dispatched to Blaze, I researched adventurers who might cooperate with us." The fact that she'd investigated him was casually revealed. Elnaad didn't seem to think it was rude. She spoke as if it were natural. Somehow, that straightforwardness was oddly amusing. "...I'm registered as non-attributed. I've been that way for twenty years." "Then tonight's blade was—" "I don't know either." He answered honestly. There was no other way to answer. Philen himself didn't understand what that dark blade was, why it manifested in him, how to control it—he understood nothing. Twenty years of career and experience felt suspended in air tonight. Elnaad fell silent. It wasn't a silence of blame or suspicion, just the silence of someone thinking. Like she was seeing an adult without a perfect answer for the first time. After a while, Elnaad lowered her gaze to the floor. When she spoke again, it was without the mask of a saint. "...At the Akatsuki Temple, not knowing things wasn't permitted." Philen listened silently. "How to handle essence. The steps of ceremony. The choice of words. Everything had a correct answer. I didn't have friends my age either. I was always expected to be exemplary." "This is your first real combat mission in Blaze?" "...Yes." Her voice was small. It took some courage to admit it. Philen put the remaining bandages back on the shelf. As he stood, he asked Elnaad one thing. "So—could you fight tonight?" Elnaad looked up. Her golden odd-eyes flickered in the candlelight. "...Yes." Her voice was clear. "Then that's enough." Philen walked toward the door. Elnaad called out to his back. For the first time, on her own. "...Could I ask for your protection?" Philen stopped at the door. He didn't turn around. There was a pause. "After the report is done." An answer that could be taken as acceptance or postponement. With just those words, he pushed open the door. Elnaad nodded slightly. Something had moved before words could come. Not something as grand as trust. But something—like roots quietly beginning to spread. Outside the door, Philen breathed in the night air for a while. He glanced down at his right hand. The dark blade was long go

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Episode 2

Name: The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes
Author: Novelia

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