Chương 83: True Echoes

The stone steps leading to the Windward Court weren't long. Rowan descended the final step. The view suddenly opened before him. The entire Windward Court formed a vast, sunken circle. The exits from the Galleries of the Returning Wind were distributed around its perimeter. Rows of stone doors lined the upper wall, and the stairways extending down from beneath them all converged toward the center. Wind patterns covered the plaza floor. Separate on the surface. Yet faintly connected somewhere deeper below.

At the very center stood eighteen circular array platforms that had yet to light up. More than a dozen people were already waiting there. Rowan swept his gaze across the crowd. He quickly spotted Julian. Julian stood near the center. A wind blade had torn a slit through his right sleeve, and a thin layer of frost that had yet to fully disperse still clung to its edges. Other than that, he showed no obvious injuries. The moment Rowan saw him— Julian also noticed his gaze and turned.

His eyes swept across the wounds on Rowan's arm and shoulder. Then he looked away. Julian also possessed the Mind-Splitting Art. There was nothing strange about him leaving the Gallery of the Returning Wind before Rowan. Severin stood not far away. His clothes were almost completely undamaged. Compared to the others who had just passed the First Trial, he looked conspicuously clean. Farther to the side— Was the tall candidate whose shoulder had been injured earlier. He had clearly treated the wound again.

A fresh securing band was wrapped around his shoulder, though blood was still visibly seeping through it. He stood alone beside one of the array platforms, looking down as he inspected the weapon in his hands. Stone doors continued opening around the Windward Court. Candidates who had passed the First Trial entered one after another. One person's weapon had already broken into two pieces. Another had only just descended the stone steps before sitting down against the wall.

Others had no visible injuries, yet their faces were frighteningly pale. Their Mental Power was clearly nearing its limit. Before long— Another stone door lit up. Evan emerged from behind it. His shoulder looked as though it had taken a heavy blow. The left side of his uniform had also been torn open by a wind blade. He wasn't in particularly good condition. But he was still among the earlier group to pass. He descended the stairs. His gaze swept across the Windward Court.

The moment he spotted Rowan, his pace didn't slow at all. He walked straight over. Once nearby, Evan rolled the shoulder that was still somewhat stiff.

"That was more troublesome than I expected." He glanced back at the Gallery of the Returning Wind behind him.

"No wonder the Alcyne Family suffered so many losses against Mirrorheart Academy back then." Severin had been studying the wind patterns at the center. At the mention of that name, he turned.

"Where did you hear about the Alcyne Family?" Evan's movement paused. He didn't seem to have expected anyone to pursue the subject.

"The library."

"It was buried in an old military history. I don't remember the title." Severin studied Evan closely. Evan didn't avoid his gaze. After several seconds, Severin turned back toward the center of the Windward Court. Rowan, however, committed the exchange to memory. Evan knew an extremely obscure piece of ancient history. Mirrorheart Academy had once fought the Alcyne Family. And Severin's reaction to the name had been far more pronounced than usual. There were more and more questions surrounding this man.

The stone doors around the Windward Court continued opening. Rowan soon spotted one of the twins among the crowd. Whether he was the older or younger brother, Rowan couldn't tell. He emerged from behind a wind curtain. Then remained at the foot of the stairs, repeatedly looking toward the surrounding exits. A moment later— Another stone door finally opened. The second twin came out while supporting his lower leg. The one who had arrived first immediately went to meet him.

After checking the injury, he took out some medicine and treated the wound on his brother's calf again. The two exchanged a few quiet words. Then headed toward the center of the Windward Court together. Time passed little by little. At first— A stone door opened only once every so often. During the final few minutes— Returning Wind patterns began lighting up in different directions one after another. The sounds of stone doors opening and closing echoed continuously.

More candidates dragged their injured bodies into the Windward Court. The center gradually became crowded. Rowan looked up toward the top of the circular wall. The tongueless wind bell was trembling softly. There wasn't much time left before the thirty-minute limit expired. During the final few breaths— A stone door suddenly flew open. A candidate stumbled through the wind curtain. The moment his foot crossed the threshold— The sound of wind throughout the entire Windward Court stopped for an instant.

Across all the stone doors that had yet to open— The wind patterns went dark together. The voice of the arcane custodian came from above the courtyard. [The First Trial has concluded.] [Those who rang the Bell of the Returning Wind—] [Two hundred and sixteen.] If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Cheers rose from several places around the plaza. After a brief pause— The voice of the arcane custodian sounded again. [New students.] The Windward Court gradually fell silent. Rowan raised his head. The form of address had changed. They were no longer candidates. [Congratulations on passing the Entrance Trial.] [From this moment onward, you are entered into the Outer Court of the Mirrorheart Academy of the Returning Wind.] [You may enter the Outer Court.] [You may study the arts of the academy.] The wind curtains around the Windward Court lit up simultaneously. Pale-cyan wind patterns flowed from beneath the stone doors.

They traveled down the stairways and entered the plaza. Finally, they illuminated the eighteen array platforms at the center. [Keep your hearts clear and your purpose righteous.] [Train diligently without neglect.] [Stand by your comrades and uphold the order of battle.] [Win honor for the academy.] The plaza remained silent for a while. The expressions of many candidates changed. Everyone knew that Mirrorheart Academy had vanished into history long ago.

But only now— When the arcane custodian, still operating according to the academy's ancient institutions, officially recognized them as students— Did that fact truly sink in. Rowan quickly looked toward the illuminated platforms at the center. Passing the First Trial only meant that they had entered the Outer Court. That wasn't what the military required. They needed tablets that could be carried out of the ruin. And the qualification to enter the next trial. The voice of the arcane custodian continued.

[The Entrance Trial—] [Observes the heart of one.] [The Battle-Order Trial—] [Observes the strength of six.] [One may defeat an enemy alone.] [Only many acting as one may form an army.] [Second Trial—True-Echo Battlefield.] The wind patterns across the eighteen circular platforms rapidly unfolded. Each platform divided into two opposing halves. [Six shall form a team.] [Two teams shall share one battlefield.] [Thirty-six teams shall enter eighteen battlefields.] [Assignments are based on what was observed during the First Trial.] [They may not be altered.] [The victorious team shall enter the battle order.] [And receive a Battle-Order Tablet.] [They shall proceed to the next trial.] [The defeated team shall remain in the Outer Court.] The atmosphere, which had only just begun to relax, immediately tightened again. Two hundred and sixteen candidates. Thirty-six teams of six. Eighteen battlefields. Only half of them would receive Battle-Order Tablets.

And this trial would no longer be decided by individual performance. If a team lost— All six members were finished. The wind patterns across the ground began moving. Pale-cyan bands of light passed through the crowd, connecting people in different directions. Rowan looked down. One wind pattern had already reached his feet. It then extended toward five other people. The first reached Evan. Evan followed the band of light toward Rowan, a smile already appearing on his face.

The second crossed the crowd and connected to a tall young woman. Her hair was cut level with her ears. She stood perfectly straight. The moment she noticed the change beneath her feet, she immediately followed the wind pattern and examined the other five members of the team. The third connected to a black-haired young man. He was strikingly handsome. The left sleeve of his combat uniform had been torn during the First Trial, revealing a black thorn pattern coiling upward around his forearm.

Of the two remaining wind patterns— One reached a short-haired girl. Below the knee, her left leg had been replaced by a dark-silver prosthetic. Each step of the artificial foot produced a light tap against the stone. The other connected to a young man with curly brown hair. He had a broad nose and carried a small round shield secured to his back. The wind patterns linking the six candidates gradually closed. Then contracted toward the center, forming a complete ring beneath their feet.

The six looked one another over. The tall woman spoke first.

"Isabelle Cade." Her tone was brisk.

"Let's learn each other's names first. Once we're inside, we shouldn't be unable to call out to our own teammates."

"Rowan." Rowan gave his name.

"Evan." Evan followed immediately. The remaining three introduced themselves in turn. The six had only just exchanged names. Before they could learn anything more about one another— A wind curtain rose across the opposite half of their array platform. Six other figures gradually appeared behind the pale-cyan barrier. The moment Isabelle saw the two people at the front, her expression darkened.

"What a team assignment." Rowan followed her gaze. At the front stood a young man with an old scar cutting through his right eyebrow. Slightly behind him to the right was a woman with a long copper-red braid. Their positions looked natural. But the two were clearly much more familiar with each other than with the other four.

"From the same Abyssal Hive?"

"Those two are." Isabelle kept her eyes on the scarred young man.

"They teamed up plenty of times during joint training in the past." Their own six-person team had only just exchanged names. The other side already had at least two members with genuine experience working together. The young man with the black thorn pattern was also studying their opponents. After a moment, his gaze stopped on a candidate wearing rimless glasses.

"I've seen the one with the glasses before." Isabelle looked toward him.

"How strong is he?"

"No idea. I only ran into him at a casino a few times."

"Then we treat him like the other three. Unknown." The young man with rimless glasses appeared to recognize the black-thorned candidate as well. His gaze lingered on their side for an instant. Then moved away. Their team recognized none of the remaining three. One had extremely short hair and a thick neck. Another was tall and thin, wearing an old-fashioned long coat. The last wore a silver listening piece over his left ear. Isabelle looked back toward the two people at the front. She didn't explain further.

The tension in her jaw already said enough. The scarred young man also saw her. Their gazes met briefly through the wind curtain. Neither spoke. The next instant— The wind curtains on both sides closed inward simultaneously. Pale cyan completely flooded Rowan's vision. The ground vanished beneath his feet. When he landed again— The Windward Court was gone. They stood on a stone platform suspended high above the ground. Beyond it— Was a battlefield frozen in time. Arrows hung motionless in midair.

Flames remained suspended in the instant before eruption. Stone and soil thrown upward by spells floated above the ground. A distant tower had broken in half. But had yet to finish falling. The two strongest mana fluctuations occupied the center of the battlefield. One person stood atop a shattered city wall. The other hovered in midair. Four distinctly different phase powers pressed against one another around them.

Even though the entire battlefield remained frozen— That invisible pressure still passed through the observation platform. Four-Phase. And there was more than one. Farther below— Multiple Three-Phase combatants were scattered across different regions of the battlefield. One held a staff while maintaining a composite spell. Another carried a broken spear and was surrounded by several Dual-Phase fighters, yet the flame array patterns beneath his feet continued expanding outward.

Several Three-Phase mana-beasts were mixed among the shattered formations, beast hordes, and alchemical golems. Large numbers of Dual-Phase and Single-Phase units covered the entire battlefield. Vanguards. Defensive positions. Guards. Support. Different fronts intersected with one another. Together, they formed the enormous war before them. The opposing team appeared on another observation platform. The entire frozen battlefield separated the two sides. The voice of the arcane custodian came from above.

[Candidates for the battle order.] [This is an academy battle-history projection.] [The battle history shall be shown only once.] [No Echo Preservation is permitted during the replay.] [After the replay—] [Use what you have seen, understood, and comprehended—] [To reconstruct True Echoes.] A faint light emerged from the Returning Wind Sigil on the back of Rowan's hand. It condensed into an almost transparent strand of wind. [Each person shall receive one portion of Echo Intent.] [It may be divided.] [It may be combined.] [Constructing a True Echo consumes Echo Intent.] [Maintaining one consumes Echo Intent as well.] [Echo Intent already burned cannot be restored.] [What is not understood cannot be preserved without loss.] [When the Echo Intent is exhausted—] [The True Echo dissipates.] [Destroy all enemy True Echoes—] [Or render the enemy unable to continue fighting—] [And you shall win.] Rowan looked at the Echo Intent floating above his palm.

He could clearly sense its connection to his Mental Power. It felt like a living strand of Mental Power. The countdown had yet to begin. But almost everyone on the platform had already turned their attention toward the center. The clash between the two Four-Phase fighters occupied the most conspicuous part of the entire battlefield. The power of the nearby Three-Phase combatants was also extremely eye-catching. The voice of the arcane custodian sounded from above once more.

[Battle-history replay duration: forty minutes.] [The replay will begin in five minutes.] The battlefield remained frozen.

"We ignore the Four-Phase fighters." Isabelle spoke. Her tone was direct.

"We only have six portions of Echo Intent." The wide-nosed young man froze.

"Why ignore the Four-Phase fighters?" He looked toward the center of the battlefield.

"Aren't they the strongest?" The platform suddenly fell silent. The girl with the dark-silver prosthetic turned and looked at him. The black-thorned young man had still been studying the center. At the question, one of his eyebrows rose slightly. For a moment, he seemed unable to decide whether the other man was challenging Isabelle's decision— Or had genuinely failed to understand. Rowan quickly determined the answer. The latter.

"The arcane custodian already warned us," Evan said from beside him.

"What is not understood cannot be preserved without loss." He gestured toward the two Four-Phase fighters at the center.

"Four-Phase fighters really are the strongest."

"But we may not even understand how they're fighting."

"How are we supposed to preserve them?" The wide-nosed young man opened his mouth.

"Not even if all six of us watch together?" The girl with the dark-silver prosthetic immediately looked away. The corner of the black-thorned young man's mouth twitched, as though he had almost laughed. Isabelle's frown deepened.

"Six people watching would still be six people who don't understand what they're seeing." Evan remained remarkably patient.

"Having more Echo Intent doesn't mean you can simply pile it together and preserve anything you want."

"If we don't understand the target, pouring in all six portions will only make us lose them together." Only then did the wide-nosed young man seem to realize it. He looked at Isabelle. Then at the others, none of whom appeared surprised by the explanation. He had clearly noticed that he was the only one who hadn't understood immediately.

"I was just asking." After speaking, he raised a hand and rubbed his broad nose. His voice was noticeably quieter than before. Isabelle didn't waste any more time on the subject. The black-thorned young man continued watching the center for a moment. Then finally moved his gaze toward the fronts beyond the Four-Phase clash. Isabelle raised a hand and swept it across the battlefield below.

"We divide it into zones first." She roughly separated the battlefield into six sections. The front and rear of the center. The front and rear of the left wing. The front and rear of the right wing.

"For the first five minutes, each person watches one section."

"Choose the target most worth continuing to observe." The girl with the dark-silver prosthetic asked:"What if a target leaves its original section?"

"Follow the target." Rowan looked at the interwoven battlefronts below.

"After five minutes, the zones won't matter anymore." Isabelle turned and looked at him. Then nodded.

"That's what we'll do."

"First, we screen the targets."

"After five minutes, each person focuses on only one." The plan was settled quickly. Isabelle chose the rear of the central battlefield first. It was close to the range of the two Four-Phase combatants— But not completely inside the core of their clash. The black-thorned young man turned toward the central front. That section contained the greatest number of Three-Phase fighters. It was also one of the most chaotic parts of the battlefield. The girl with the dark-silver prosthetic chose the rear of the left wing.

The wide-nosed young man took the left-wing front. Evan looked toward the right-wing front. That left the rear of the right wing for Rowan. It was the section farthest from the two Four-Phase fighters. Large sections of its buildings had already collapsed. Human formations, mana-beasts, and alchemical golems were mixed throughout the ruins. It was almost impossible to make out a complete battle line. The six had only just learned one another's names. Their current arrangement could hardly be called meticulous.

But at the very least— They weren't all wasting their attention on the same place. The five minutes of preparation quickly ended. The voice of the arcane custodian sounded again. [The battle-history replay is about to begin.] [Three.] All six focused simultaneously. [Two.] Rowan rapidly concentrated his Mental Power. [One.] [Replay begins.] Sound returned first. War drums. The roars of beasts. Spells exploding. And the clash of countless weapons.

The next instant— The arrows suspended in midair resumed their flight. The frozen flames erupted with a roar. At the center, the powers of the two Four-Phase fighters collided head-on. Mana light vast enough to drown the entire battlefield swept across the sky. Rowan's section also descended into complete chaos. An alchemical golem was cut in half at the waist. Its heavy upper body crashed into the ruins. More than a dozen human warriors charged past it. And collided with the oncoming mana-beasts.