Chapter 82: For growth [5]

Splash—!

I felt my body sink deeply into the cold water. At first, the cold took me aback, hitting me like a truck and taking my breath away.

However, I slowly started to get accustomed to it.

"Huaaa!"

Emerging from the water, I took a deep breath.

"Huuu... Huu.."

It was extremely dark outside, and I could hardly see my surroundings. I felt an eerie sense of dread floating in the pond.

The water was inky black, and as I circled my hands and legs to keep me afloat, I felt a nagging feeling at the back of my mind.

What if I'm not the only living being on this basin?

The thought sent chills down my spine.

Taking another deep breath, I threw those thoughts away. In hindsight, I was indeed a little hasty with my decision to jump down.

How much could I truly trust Delilah?

....But at the same time, I understood something. If she really wanted to get rid of me, she wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

It was the only reason why I felt like she wasn't lying to me.

'Go near the waterfall. Beyond it, you'll find a cave. Go there.'

Delilah's soft voice reached my ear from where I was. I looked around me to determine where her voice came from but realized it was coming from nowhere.

It was...

In my head?

"....."

There were so many things that I wanted to ask, but chose to remain silent and just followed her instructions.

'Waterfall, cave...'

I repeated the same two words in my mind.

While I had never played that many games before, the waterfall cave scenario was still something that I knew about.

It was a cliche scenario.

Typically, however, one would find treasures beyond the cave.

Wasn't sure I'd find a treasure.

Roar—

The roar of the waterfall became more pronounced the closer I got to it, drumming loudly inside of my mind as I tried my best to ignore the sound and move forward.

It was loud and I struggled to move forward the current continued to drag me back.

"Shit..."

I found myself expending considerable energy attempting to navigate past the waterfall. My attempt to dive beneath it was short-lived, lasting only a few seconds in the dark and chilling depths below.

"Huaa...!"

Coming out of the water, I took a deep breath.

".....This."

How was I supposed to get past this?

'Go on. What are you waiting for?'

Delilah's voice once again echoed in my head. I wanted to grumble, but decided against it and just pushed forward with all my might.

There was no roundabout way of going about this. I had to get past it through sheer power and stamina.

"Ukh...!"

I eventually did manage to cross the waterfall, but it came at a cost...

"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa...!"

I collapsed onto a small rocky platform, gasping for breath. Movement was difficult, and my body felt utterly drained, limp with exhaustion.

My lungs were on fire and my entire body was cold. My soaking wet clothes made the situation even worse as it added to the cold.

'Probably should've stripped beforehand.'

"Shit..."

The worst part of the situation was that I knew this was merely the start.

As expected, Delilah's words reached me shortly after.

'You don't have much time. Once you've recovered, head into the cave.'

"Uhhh."

Blankly staring up, and hearing the roar of the waterfall not so far from me, I forced myself up and staggered into the cave.

I was tired and almost out of breath.

However, this meant nothing if it meant that I could get stronger.

"I wonder what type of training this i-"

I stopped the moment that I set foot in the cave.

"Ah..."

I didn't know how to react. Looking ahead, my body shuddered. More than a dozen pairs of eyes glared at me with unmistakable hostility.

I felt my skin crawl.

And then...

***

Num. Num.

Two slender, childlike legs wobbled precariously at the edge of a small cliff, while two, deep, inky eyes were fixated on the distant cascade of the waterfall.

Num. Num.

The small child-like figure was none other than Delilah who savored the taste of the bar in her hands.

It was sweet, crunchy, and...

"Slurp."

She wiped the corner of her lips.

Just the thought was making her salivate.

There was a reason why she liked to turn into a child. It was so that she could savor the bar better. With a smaller body, she could take more time eating it and enjoying it.

"I'm smart like that."

There was a strict restriction on her that prevented her from purchasing any chocolate bars. It was something imposed on her because of an incident in the past. It was for this reason that the bars were extremely precious to her.

More than any money in the world.

Num. Num.

Her legs continued to wobble.

Beyond the waterfall, she could see a figure.

He was currently struggling by himself fighting against a dozen or so monsters. The cave he was in was a famous training ground for cadets. With monsters belonging to the Mirror Dimension, it served to provide the cadets with real-life experience.

Strictly speaking, the cadets were only allowed to enter the cave after the first half of the first year.

However, considering how much he wanted to improve, she decided to let him be.

Of course...

She had a goal in mind with this.

Observe his skills.

"....Oh?"

Her hands halted as she observed several slender threads extending from his arm. They wrapped around his arm, and scattered around the cave limiting the space available for the monsters to approach him.

Not only that...

"He's merged the skill with a spell. How intriguing..."

It wasn't a unique concept or anything like that. However, it was certainly not something that all cadets knew how to do.

In this case, it also provided him with breathing space as the monsters didn't directly pounce him from all sides.

"Not bad."

Such was her current evaluation.

Not bad.

"....."

Another change unfolded as a chain materialized on his opposite hand.

With one hand ensnaring the monsters with threads to impede their movements, he wielded the chains on his other hand adeptly, simultaneously defending and launching attacks.

Shifting between attack and offense.

What grabbed Delilah's attention was his footwork.

It was... Raw. However, there was something to them. In a way, it appeared to be the key to his transition between his offense and defense.

The more Delilah watched, the more surprised she became.

She fell silent, silently observing Julien in the distance.

It was obvious that he had just learned this method given how rigid some of his movements were, but...

What would happen were he to master everything?

Just how much stronger would he become?

Lost in her own thoughts, Delilah didn't realize that her grip over the bar had faltered.

"Uh...?"

By the time she realized, the bar had dropped from her grasp.

"Ah, no...!"

Delilah reached out for it, but given her small stature, she was unable to grab it. Her little hands were simply useless.

While there were advantages to her polymorph skill, there were also disadvantages.

One such disadvantage was that her powers were reduced and it would take several seconds for her to change back.

"....."

In the silence that unfolded around her, Delilah could only watch in despair as the bar dropped to the ground.

Plop—!

"..."

The bar sank deeply into the water, blending with the darkness surrounding it.

With her ability, Delilah could still see the bar.

It was sinking.

Deeper, and deeper into the basin.

The sweet and savory bar. The rich, smooth texture that melted in her tongue. The satisfying snap that came with each bite...

"Ah."

Delilah leaned back and blankly stared at the sky.

Gaze : Sadness. I've mastered it.

***

In a dark room belonging to the 'Curtain Call Collective', a lone figure sat before a wooden desk that was dimly lit by a small lamp.

The sound of her pen scratching against paper reverberated throughout the room, punctuating the intense seriousness etched onto her face.

".....Almost."

A dozen different papers were scattered across the room.

Olga found herself in a very dangerous situation. The script was ready. She had already handed it to the board of admission.

However...

"No, I have to."

It was supposed to have already been perfect.

However, as she recalled the performance of the cadet, she found herself unable to sleep.

His performance...

It was just that impactful. It perfectly captured the essence of Azarias. In fact, his performance added a depth that she herself hadn't seen.

"He's only got three scenes..."

It wasn't enough.

She craved to see more of his performance.

"It might ruin everything, but I can't help myself."

The script was perfect in every way. She was confident she'd be able to receive her first five-star grade, but...

"I need more."

Of Azarias.

Of the cadet who played Azarias.

All writers wanted to create masterpieces. Even if they were confident that what they had was already a masterpiece, if a chance to improve the script further presented itself, they'd jump at the opportunity.

Olga was one such writer.

*

Olga who was obsessed with her script spent the entire night making adjustments to the script. Adding and removing scenes continuously.

She was a perfectionist. Unless all scenes seamlessly flowed together, she wasn't going to accept the scenes.

Thus, ever since the practice, she spent the entire week holed up in her room trying to improve the script.

*

Exactly one week after holing herself up in her room, Olga stood up from her seat.

"Done..."

A full script appeared in front of her.

It was at least a few pages thicker compared to the normal script. This meant that the play was going to run for longer than intended. That in itself was going to cause a little bit of trouble.

"It's worth it."

The adjustments were perfect.

Azarias who was supposed to be just a minor character suddenly had a bigger role to play. He was still a minor villain. However, he now had incredible depth.

Not only that, but she hadn't just changed his scenes.

Olga had made minor changes to make the character more consistent with Julien.

"Haha, this is..."

Massaging her eyes, Olga pressed on the small orb beside her.

"Rodney, I need a favor. I want you to call the committee over. I'd like to present a new script, and..."

She paused for a short moment, tracing the new script over with her eyes.

"...I'd like for the committee to grade the play during the festival."