The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: The Threat We Cannot See

The next morning, I returned to the academy.

The break had ended sooner than I expected, and with classes about to resume, there was little reason for me to remain at home any longer.

Everything that had happened over the past few days had gone by almost too quickly.

Seven people had crossed into the Transcendent realm.

Just like that.

Even now, I was still trying to understand how my Eclipse had managed to push them across a boundary that most people in this world could only dream of reaching.

The more I learn about this power, the less I understand it.

Until now, I had assumed that Eclipse was simply an unusual ability that allowed me to strengthen myself and others.

But that explanation was becoming increasingly inadequate.

It wasn’t merely a power that could eventually allow me to reach the level of a god.

It could also grant power to other people and fundamentally change their existence.

That was what made it so difficult to understand.

Where did this thing actually come from?

I still had no answer.

And the more powerful Eclipse became, the more convinced I was that its origin wasn’t something I could explain through ordinary magic.

There was also Astra.

The little creature’s growth over the past few days had been absurd.

Even though Astra had only recently been born, I could already feel its strength increasing at an incredible rate.

Fortunately, I had placed a layer of magical interference around Astra’s body.

To everyone else, Astra appeared to be nothing more than an unusually cute and slightly strange pet.

They couldn’t sense its true presence, nor could they accurately determine what kind of creature it was.

That was probably for the best.

If people realized what Astra actually possessed, keeping a low profile would become considerably more difficult.

I really don’t need another problem right now.

I leaned back against the bench and looked across the academy grounds.

Students were already moving between the buildings, talking among themselves and preparing for the day’s activities.

It was almost peaceful.

Almost.

I remembered the celebration from the previous night.

A grand feast had been prepared after the gathering at headquarters, with enough food to feed hundreds of people.

I still wasn’t entirely sure who had organized everything, but considering the timing, I suspected it had been prepared specifically for the occasion.

They really went through all that trouble.

I couldn’t help smiling.

I appreciated it.

All of them had worked hard for Eclipse, and seeing everyone enjoying themselves after receiving their new strength had been strangely satisfying.

I was still thinking about it when I noticed someone approaching.

Rhal.

He was walking across the courtyard while talking with several classmates, looking considerably more relaxed than usual.

Then he noticed me.

His expression immediately brightened.

"Ares!"

He separated from the others and hurried over.

"Oi, Ares. What are you doing here?"

I glanced at the bench beneath me.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

Rhal stopped.

"...You’re sitting."

"Exactly."

He stared at me for a moment before sighing.

"You really haven’t changed at all."

"Why would I?"

"Forget it."

Rhal shook his head before taking a seat beside me.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you something."

"Hmm?"

"You remember the money you gave me before?"

"Of course."

Rhal smiled.

"My father and I used it to expand the fishing business."

I looked toward him.

"And?"

"It worked."

His smile became wider.

"We started buying better equipment, increased the amount of fish we could bring in, and eventually began selling to merchants instead of relying only on the local market."

"So you’re doing well now?"

"Better than well."

Rhal laughed.

"We’re earning more than enough to support ourselves. We can finally afford proper equipment, and my father doesn’t have to worry about whether we’ll have enough money at the end of every month."

He looked at me seriously.

"That’s because of you."

I waved my hand.

"You did the work. I only gave you the starting point."

"Even so, without that money, none of it would have happened."

Rhal smiled.

"So thank you."

I nodded.

"I’m glad it worked out."

For a moment, neither of us said anything.

Then Rhal suddenly stood.

"Anyway, we should probably head inside."

"Why?"

"There aren’t any regular classes this afternoon."

I looked at him.

"What?"

"The instructors have a meeting later, so they’re changing the schedule."

He began walking.

"We’re still doing something, though."

"What kind of something?"

Rhal looked back.

"A special activity."

"That’s vague."

"Because I don’t know all the details."

He laughed.

"But apparently it’s supposed to be some kind of physical competition."

"Physical competition?"

"Yeah. Sports, basically."

I stared at him.

"Because apparently they want everyone to spend some time outside instead of sitting in classrooms all day."

I sighed.

"I suppose it could be worse."

"That’s exactly what I thought."

We began walking toward the main building.

After a short while, Rhal glanced at me.

"By the way, I heard you went home during the break."

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

"Pretty peaceful."

Rhal smiled.

"Did you run into any corrupted beings on the way?"

"Fortunately, no."

"You’re lucky."

His expression became more serious.

"The roads outside the cities have been getting worse lately."

I looked toward him.

"Worse?"

"You haven’t heard?"

"No."

Rhal slowed slightly.

"Apparently, there have been several sightings of high-ranking corrupted beings recently."

"How high-ranking?"

"High enough that ordinary knights couldn’t handle them."

He frowned.

"I heard that one of them appeared near a major settlement a few days ago. It took three high-ranking knights working together to bring it down."

"Three?"

"Yeah."

Rhal nodded.

"And there were casualties."

I remained silent.

"Several people died during the fight," he continued. "The knights managed to stop it before it reached the settlement, but the damage was still pretty serious."

I thought about it for a moment.

"Something similar happened in my father’s territory."

Rhal looked at me.

"Really?"

"Yes. Fortunately, the knights managed to defeat the corrupted being before things became worse, but five people were killed."

Rhal’s expression fell.

"Five..."

He sighed.

"That’s terrible."

"It is."

We continued walking.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The sounds of students talking around us seemed strangely distant.

Rhal eventually broke the silence.

"That’s the part I don’t understand."

"What?"

"Where are these creatures coming from?"

I looked toward him.

"No one knows?"

"Not really."

Rhal shook his head.

"They’ve been appearing in places where there shouldn’t be any corrupted beings at all. And it’s not only the number that’s increasing."

He lowered his voice slightly.

"They’re getting stronger."

I frowned.

"Stronger?"

"That’s what people are saying."

Rhal looked ahead.

"At first, most of the corrupted were weak enough for ordinary knights or adventurers to handle. Now we’re hearing about creatures that require high-ranking knights just to survive an encounter."

"And no one has found the source?"

"Not yet."

I remained silent.

There was something deeply wrong with that.

Creatures appearing without an obvious origin was already strange enough.

But if their strength was increasing over time...

Then something is causing it.

"Wasn’t the Heroes’ Party ordered to investigate?"

Rhal nodded.

"Yes. The royal family gave them the order."

"The Heroes’ Party..."

I thought about the group for a moment.

They weren’t simply a collection of talented people.

The royal family had assembled five exceptional individuals specifically for threats of this scale.

"The party consists of five people," I explained.

"At the center is the Hero, who possesses exceptional combat ability and is considered the party’s main offensive force."

"Then there’s the Saint, who specializes in healing and holy magic."

"An Archmage, whose magical abilities are among the highest known in the kingdom."

"The Swordmaster is responsible for close-range combat alongside the Hero."

"And finally, the Shieldbearer."

Rhal nodded.

I looked ahead as we walked.

"Each of them is powerful to stand among the kingdom’s strongest individuals. A group like that should be capable of handling even high-ranking corrupted beings."

"That’s what everyone thought."

Rhal gave a helpless smile.

"But even they haven’t found where the creatures are coming from."

"Have they defeated any of the stronger ones?"

"Several."

He nodded.

"But defeating them isn’t the same as finding the source."

I stopped for a moment.

Rhal looked back.

I resumed walking.

So even the Heroes’ Party hasn’t found anything.

That was more troublesome than I had expected.

If the strongest people in the kingdom had already begun investigating the corrupted beings and still couldn’t determine where they were coming from, then the answer probably wasn’t something obvious.

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