Chapter 14

◈ Chapter 14: Breaking Through the Limit (Even Though I Hadn't Done Anything)

"Come to think of it, I hadn't seen a single drop of rain since getting the Lake..."

And now, the rain felt different.

I focused on the raindrops, sharpening my senses to catch every nuance. Each droplet struck the ground, sending ripples through the puddles that had gathered. The Lake was just a nickname Kinzo had given the skill.

"......What I'm actually sensing isn't the Lake at all. It's the waves."

The waves were stronger than when I used the Lake. There were far more of them, too. Countless raindrops—impossible to count them all.

I closed my eyes.

The Knight Order man's words naturally surfaced in my mind.

-"Just find a real environment that exists, feel it, and get used to it. That makes reading mana a lot easier. And the easier it is, the faster you grow."

The waves—they existed in a real environment.

For me, that environment was the rain.

He'd given me a hint.

He probably thought he hadn't told me anything useful. But I'd had no idea where to go to grow. He'd shown me the path.

Feel it. Get used to it.

Now that I knew the way, all that was left was to move forward.

Eyes shut, I felt the rain.

The countless streams of raindrops became my allies.

Nature was on my side.

The Lake had clear limits. Twice a day. Five minutes. Fifty meters.

The pouring rain was nothing like that.

The Lake was a contained sensation—trapped inside a circle.

But the rain?

"An endless wave."

Infinite.

Beneath the storm clouds, it filled every gap without pause. The ground grew darker, soaked deeper. Raindrops fell and splashed upward, and the waves spread.

I bolted straight to my room, bursting with excitement, and shook Kinzo awake.

"Kinzo, wake up!"

"Ugh... ugh......"

"I think I can use it more. If this feeling is right......"

"What are you even talking about? You're so loud..."

Kinzo rubbed his eyes.

"Just get out here and see."

"Ugh, no. I'm sleeping."

He pulled the blanket right over his head.

"Now."

"Give me five minutes."

"Quit messing around."

"You said you think you can use it more—what's that supposed to mean?"

"I think I can break through the limit."

"Break what? Be specific."

"The rain makes it feel different."

"You're imagining things."

"Tch. You're useless, as always."

"Yeah, I'm useless. I'm sleepy, so figure it out yourself."

"If you're gonna be like that..."

I drove my fist into his side.

"Guh...!"

I went back outside.

I stood in place and let the rain hit me.

Eyes closed, I used the Lake twice in a row.

I stood there like that for a full ten minutes.

Normally, it would have fizzled out by now.

But the black-and-white world kept going even after that.

"Guess I didn't need one."

The third use was already starting.

"A teacher or whatever."

*

"As scheduled, this is the Third Exam."

The Head Instructor's briefing began on the parade ground.

That meant we didn't need maps or notes this time.

We were already on the Third Exam. There was a Fourth Exam, sure, but this was practically the last one. The Fourth Exam.

I remembered that day.

- Bell, calm down!

- I'm going to kill that bastard...!

- Bell!

I pressed my forehead hard, trying to erase the stray thoughts.

Now's the time to focus on the Third Exam.

The Instructor raised his right hand.

"This exam will be three people per team. Basically, it'll be three against three."

He held up three fingers.

Three per team?

In my previous life, the Third Exam was a tournament duel with four per team.

The exam content had changed from my past life.

What else had I changed about the future?

"Thanks to some troublemaker who went wild during the First Exam. To make sure we don't see a repeat of that, you lot will be taking a test that's being introduced for the very first time in the 66th Class's history."

It was because of me.

I never thought my karma would come back like this.

Now I was facing an exam I knew nothing about.

"This test is going to feel unfamiliar. Thanks to that one trainee, the instructors put their heads together and created something completely new... If this ends up being a meaningful differentiator, we might keep this test for future classes."

The Instructor tapped his wooden rod as he spoke.

"The name is Mago Chess. For the record, I didn't come up with that name."

Even he looked embarrassed saying it out loud.

That was the first time I saw his expression crack.

"He's literally pointing fingers at someone......"

Amon muttered quietly beside me.

"They say it's like playing chess with your eyes closed, hence the name."

The Instructor shifted his gaze.

I followed his line of sight to the parade ground, which now had a grid of lines drawn across it. It was divided into square sections like a chessboard.

Except the dimensions were different from a normal chessboard.

More squares. And obviously, much larger.

"When the test begins, you'll be given a turn. You can only move during your turn."

That was how he started the explanation.

"Listen carefully, because I'm only going over the variations. Each team of three will designate one member as the King. The King cannot move from their spot, and they must keep their eyes closed."

The other trainees nodded.

"The King can, on each turn, move the other two members of their team—the chess pieces. How far they can move depends on the King's judgment and the chess piece's ability."

"Instructor, so if a chess piece is faster, they can move more squares..."

"Save your questions for later, Kinzo. But since you brought it up, yes, you're right. Just like there are different types of pieces in chess, different trainees assigned as pieces will have different movement capabilities. How to use your chess pieces is entirely up to the King's judgment."

The Instructor cleared his throat and continued.

"Another difference from standard chess? You can choose to skip your turn. You don't have to move your piece."

Then he held up one finger.

"One more thing. The King can open their eyes a total of two times. On the turn the King opens their eyes, the opposing team cannot move. Winning is simple: your chess piece tags the enemy King. If your hand touches them, it's over. Here's a hint: the King needs to be the brains."

The Instructor tapped his temple.

"But you won't win with just your head. The King can't move to another square, and they have their eyes closed. So the other two members acting as chess pieces have to constantly feed information to the King. This Third Exam is meant to test your command and communication skills. As you learned from the First Exam, anything I didn't explain falls outside the rules. Find the loopholes yourselves and figure out how to win."

That was the end of his explanation.

"That's all. Any questions?"

I raised my hand first.

"Mago."

"How are the points distributed?"

"The winning team gets 50 points. The losing team gets zero. It's all or nothing."

Murmurs rippled through the trainees.

"So how the teams are put together really matters......"

"All or nothing, huh."

"Today's exam is going to shake up the rankings, huh?"

"Quiet. Any other questions?"

I was the one raising my hand again.

"Mago."

"How are the teams being divided?"

"Good question. We held a meeting and grouped trainees of similar skill levels together. Since you brought it up, I'll call out the names right now."

The team formation began.

I waited until my name came up.

"Team 5: Mago."

As soon as my name was called, I answered loudly.

"We're applying a special rule to you. Mago, you're fixed as the King."

"May I ask why...?"

"I don't like saying this, but we judged it necessary for balance."

I had no choice but to accept the King role.

Then my partners were called.

"Oscar Sitta. Louise Murphy."

Oscar and Louise—the girl with the two ponytails—walked over to stand beside me.

That made the three of us: Team 5.

"Next, Team 6."

That would be my opposing team.

"Kinzo Shua. Amon Coster. Bell Red."

They talk about balance, and then they pull this?

Team 6 was ridiculously stacked.

"Are we really going up against them like this?"

Oscar opened his mouth, looking deflated.

"Mago, can we actually win this? And you're stuck as King, so you can't even use your body properly. If you were a piece, you'd be the Queen..."

"Well... we'll see when we try."

"I know you handled the First Exam on your own, but this time, you've got me."

Oscar jabbed his thumb at his own chest.

"You're the plus. I'm the minus."

"You sure say that with a lot of confidence, Oscar."

Louise shot back, dead serious.

"Anyway, Mago. If we're being honest, that team—Team 6—is all plus."

Oscar said.

Kinzo, Amon, Bell.

Yeah, they were a tough match.

Kinzo would naturally take the King role.

Kinzo could use clairvoyance magic.

If he was the King, closing his eyes wasn't a penalty at all. He could probably see right through his own eyelids, so the King's biggest weakness just vanished. If he picked the right turn to open his eyes and freeze Oscar and Louise, victory would practically be in the bag.

And on top of that, Kinzo's escorts were Amon and Bell. The composition was airtight, with no gaps I could exploit. Team 6's pieces fit together like a golden ratio.

While I was thinking, my eyes met Kinzo's.

We both knew it.

This was a contest to see whose eyes would roll better: the Lake or clairvoyance.

"Mago, let me apologize in advance."

Oscar bowed his head.

"Having someone as ordinary as me on your team just makes things harder. Even if we win, it'll be entirely thanks to you."

"Ordinary?"

"Yeah. Compared to you or Team 6, I'm just average."

"Is a man who sacrificed his life for his country ordinary? There's no one ordinary here. Stop talking nonsense and think about how you're going to protect me."

"Still, my lack of presence is pretty clear..."

Oscar had a brilliant talent for crafting, but his combat ability was almost nonexistent. And Louise, who held a wooden sword, a close‑range weapon, was far less effective than with her bow.

"But Kinzo knows all my weaknesses..."

The one advantage I had was that Kinzo had no idea what happened last night when the rain came.

A critical information gap had opened up.

And based on that gap, I could build a strategy. There was one way to beat Team 6.

"Oscar, from the tenth turn onward, only move forward. Even if I tell you to go sideways, or don't give any orders at all, you go forward no matter what."

"Why...?"

"I'll let you see for yourself how valuable a lack of presence can be in chess."

As the Head Instructor said, how you use your chess pieces depends entirely on the King's judgment and ability.

*

'Mago, I'm sorry, but...'

I watched Kinzo place his fingertips on his chin, deep in thought.

'Something about me being the only one who stepped down from the Top Student rank... it just doesn't sit right.'

He was probably replaying the time we spent in the capital, waiting for the training camp to start.

The experiments with the Lake. Taking down the thieves together.

He thought he knew me better than anyone.

'Duration. Range. I know all his weaknesses. Only I do. The Lake's limit is two uses. If I can hold out for ten minutes, that's it.'

"Kinzo, doesn't this feel suspiciously easy?"

Amon spoke up.

"I don't like to judge before I see the result. But honestly?"

Kinzo turned to look at Amon.

"You're right. It's laughably easy."

"Well, it would be, with a mage who has clairvoyance as the seeker."

"Oh, Mago can see with his eyes closed too."

"What? I thought that was all just luck?"

"If it were luck, it would have worked once and stopped."

"How does a former slave manage something like that..."

"Some people just have a talent for magic. He reads the flow of mana and uses it instead of sight. It's... complicated to explain. And not important right now."

Kinzo clapped his hands to refocus.

"Anyway, let me explain Mago's weaknesses now. Bell, come over here."

Bell was busy building a toad house out of the rain‑soaked sand.

She crushed the toad house and listened.

"That magic he calls the Lake? Twice a day. Five minutes each."

'I think Mago said something last night... but it probably doesn't matter.'