The Academy's Time Looper-Chapter 60: Journey
As his head was raised above the branch, Athen removed his left hand from around the tree and crawled onto the branch.
Sprawled out across the massive branch, he continued crawling until the point where the branch divided into two smaller ones.
Then, raising his hand, Athen smashed his rock down on the intersection point, feeling the entire branch shake and wobble with every hit.
Barely managing to stay atop the branch, he continued smashing the rock against the point until some cracks finally appeared.
Dropping the rock and allowing it to hit the ground below, Athen then placed one hand on the intersection point and another beyond it.
Then, like ripping a piece of paper, Athen pulled the two apart...until finally they split.
As the ripped smaller branch split off and descended, Athen also lost his balance and fell stomach-first onto the ground.
*THUD*
*THUD*
Groaning as he sat back up, Athen carefully grasped the small branch in front of him, testing out its flexibility.
While the inside of the branch seemed somewhat flexible, the bark on it was too rough, so Athen grabbed his sharp rock once again.
...
...
...
Beside Athen lay a pile of bark, each irregularly shaped and half-destroyed, and utterly dull rock.
Gazing at the completely shaven branch in front of him, Athen smiled upon seeing it bend without cracking.
The hardest part was out of the way.
Now...he just needed a base.
Picking up his dull rock, Athen sighed as he walked back to the tree, prepared to spend ages trying to carve out a piece of wood.
...
...
...
And...there it was.
In front of Athen lay...what could barely be called a crossbow.
The flexible shaved branch was at the front, connected to the base by two long vines, and in the middle, a makeshift flight groove that had been carved out stood.
Despite the cold night air rushing against him, Athen’s clothes were soaked, and sweat dripped down from his drenched hair.
Staring up at the only barely visible moon, Athen muttered.
"how much easier would this have been with mana..?"
If he could have augmented his hands with strength by using mana, the process of cutting off a branch and carving out wood would have been much faster.
Unlike a normal crossbow, Athen’s makeshift one didn’t have a trigger; instead, it had two vines that were pinned to the ends of the flight groove.
It was basically...a more complicated slingshot.
Like pulling back a string of the bow, Athen pulled back the vines and placed a small stick inside the flight groove.
Raising the makeshift crossbow to his eyes and aiming it at a nearby tree, Athen took a deep breath before releasing the vines, allowing them to snap back and fling the arrow forward.
As the arrow flew through the sky, though completely missing the tree, a small molecule dripped down Athen’s face.
Whether it was tears or sweat, Athen didn’t care.
He had done it!
Just as Athen was about to stand up and celebrate, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps nearing him.
Staring at the area around him, which could only be described as a mess, Athen immediately grabbed his crossbow and sprinted back onto the path.
Behind him, piles of bark, random pieces of wood, countless rocks, and tens of leaves could be seen.
However, the trees around the area were the most eye-catching of all.
Each of them was completely and utterly defaced, as they had bark torn off them, branches missing, and even holes in their trunk.
Arriving on the path, Athen didn’t even bother to cover the nametag on his collared shirt as the sweat made it barely legible.
However, just as Athen thought he was in the clear, a set of footsteps echoed from behind, approaching faster and faster.
And, just as he turned around, Athen spotted a familiar figure sprinting down the path and towards the dorm building.
However, the white-haired figure didn’t seem to notice him as she sprinted right past Athen and into the dorm building.
"..?"
Confused, Athen exhaustedly walked toward the building, clutching his makeshift crossbow to his chest.
Tomorrow, Kai would return from the artificial environment and give him details, so Athen wasn’t particularly worried about failing the exam.
Pushing open the doors of the building, Athen didn’t show any reaction as he looked around the packed lobby.
"same as usual...really?"
Not a single soul, even the receptionists, seemed to acknowledge his presence, so he walked towards the teleportation area with no problems.
...
...
...
Back in his room, Athen placed the crossbow on one of the tables before climbing up the ladder to his loft.
Changing out of his academy uniform and glancing around, Athen immediately walked towards the bathroom to shower.
Feeling the cold water splash against his hair and drip down to his skin, cleansing all the sweat from his body, Athen sat down.
With his back against the wall and the shower spraying water directly above him, Athen closed his eyes and looked down.
Very rarely was he able to take a shower in his hometown.
Only when he saved up about five silver coins and rented an inn, which was once every two weeks, would Athen have the privilege of showering.
And...if he couldn’t scavenge enough coins?
Athen would bring a bucket to the town’s well, fill it up, and continuously dump it on himself.
However, now, he had unlimited access to showers, a gigantic room, and...everything he could ever want.
As a smile appeared on Athen’s face, he reached his hand upwards, turning the water temperature up, and completely closed his eyes, allowing his exhaustion to finally overtake him.
...
...
...
*SPLURT*
Woken by the sudden loud sound, Athen jerked awake and immediately looked up, surprised to see a showerhead right above him.
However, no water was coming out.
Had he already run out of water?
Getting up and grabbing a towel, Athen muttered as he dried himself off.
"How long was I asleep for?"
The window outside the shower was still colored pitch-black, so it couldn’t have been that long.
As Athen began changing into the pajamas that had been supplied by the school, he suddenly paused.
Placing his ears to the bathroom door, Athen silently stared ahead and honed his ears.
"...ah, finally; some rest!"
