The Reincarnated Transcendent Wants to Fill the Hole in Their Chest - Episode 3: Adept

Episode 3: Adept

“—Gah, ahhhh, ahhhh.”

Konoe vomits bl00d. Vomits the contents of his stomach. A scream escapes. His brain is dominated by pain.

His head sways dizzily. And the floor of the training ground where he now crouches feels like it has turned into an unstable seesaw.

“Stand up. Monsters won’t wait for you like I do, you know?”

The instructor’s voice falls from above.

It’s the same instructor who had invited Konoe. But there’s none of that kindness in her voice anymore.

“—Guh…!”

It hurts, but there’s a sound like something slicing through the wind. And Konoe instinctively rolls to the side. A training spear stabs into the spot where he had just been. Covered in his own vomited bl00d and bile, Konoe stands up.

“…Ugh, gah!”

He forces his leaden limbs to move and starts running.

Because he knows that if he doesn’t, something even worse will happen.

While running, Konoe thinks:

…Well, of course.

He knew it from the beginning. Things never go that conveniently.

That’s not the kind of life Konoe has lived. The world is a harsh place. To begin with, it was Konoe who ignored the instructor when she had said the training would be harsh and difficult.

Anyone would know if they thought about it a little. If things were that easy, why would they bother scouting people in the first place?

You get rich. Gain honor. Become strong. If all that was handed over just like that, people would flock in without needing to be invited. The very fact that they’re scouting means there’s obviously some massive hidden landmine.

“—Hah, hah.”

—And so now, Konoe is suffering as the typical consequence of getting carried away.

He moves his arms and legs desperately. He’s running, nearly dying from the excessive training. He was drenched in bl00d and bile.

“If you’re going to run, circulate your magic. Strengthen your body to the limit—if you can’t, then die. It’s okay, if it’s right after death, you can still be resurrected.”

“…!”

This is abnormal training. A Spartan-style unimaginable in Japan.

But does that mean Konoe was deceived? No, he wasn’t.

Everything the instructor said back then was the truth. You get money. You get achievements. Women are yours for the taking. Even using dangerous drugs is easy.

Adept — one who has mastered life magic.

Once you gain that title, there’s hardly anything you can’t have. Almost everything becomes attainable.

Why is that? Because—

“—An Adept is a guardian of humanity. The last fortress of the powerless. Defeat is not permitted. You must be stronger than anything.”

The first day of training, Konoe was shocked to learn that he had set his sights on something so insane.

Ever since then, Konoe has been running while vomiting. Forcing freshly learned magical power through his aching body as he runs. Let up for even a second, and fists rain down, making him vomit bl00d and bile.

When training ends, his stamina is forcibly restored with life magic, and he studies magic. Except for meals and brief rest, there’s no free time.

There’s only one day off every ten days. Everything else is dedicated to life magic.

—It’s said that for an ordinary person to master life magic, magic power alone isn’t enough.

If you’re a genius with inhuman talent, you can master it with normal training. But for an average person, overwhelming vitality is required. And to cultivate that vitality, you must first become strong. That’s what the instructor said.

You need an indomitable will, a body stronger than steel, and overwhelming martial power.

This hellish training exists so ordinary people can master extreme magic that should otherwise be unattainable.

“If you lose an arm, fight with your legs. If you lose your legs, crawl and bite. Even in death, keep fighting. Be a shield for the innocent. That is what it means to be an Adept.”

—Don’t say such ridiculous things.

There’s no way anyone can do that.

There’s no place on his body that doesn’t hurt. And his spirit is about to break.

An ordinary person like Konoe isn’t made to withstand this kind of brutal training.

Honestly, he wanted to say right now, “I quit,” and run away.

…But.

“…!!”

Even so, Konoe runs desperately because he does have a goal.

A slave harem. Love potions. No matter how wicked or wrong it may be, this time for sure—

“Konoe, why did you come here? Why are you aiming to become an Adept?”

That’s right. If he puts in the effort, he can surely obtain it. If he works hard, he won’t be alone anymore.

If he tries, if he perseveres, then surely—

It wasn’t like that in Japan. No matter how much he tried, it didn’t work.

What was needed was communication skills. And Konoe, who could never acquire them, had no rights. He could only live alone. Always alone. So in the end, he writhed alone and died alone.

No one was there. No one called out to him in his final moments. Of course, no one held his hand.

—But in this world, if he tries, he can get it.

He didn’t hate effort or studying.

Because that’s all he had ever done. That’s all he could do.

His family was broken. He never made friends. He didn’t have money to play, nor the courage to turn delinquent. All he had was free time. So he studied all the time.

He wasn’t exceptionally smart. But he could do things at an average level, and made up the rest with effort.

At least his parents gave him money. So he went to a decent university, memorized lines for interviews desperately, and managed to slip into a decent company.

…But the result was—

(I don’t want to die alone again)

That was what scared him. He didn’t need someone to stay by his side. Just… he wanted someone to grieve for him, even a little. If he had just had that—

‘…Someone like me, should never have been born.’

—He wouldn’t have had to think something like that at the moment of death, right?

“…Hah, hah, hah!”

So, Konoe runs.

Swallowing down the bile, ignoring the pain, desperately moving his feet forward, forward—

◆

—And one year later.

Konoe’s spirit was simply broken.

“…This is impossible.”

Becoming an Adept was too much for an ordinary person.

◆

Yeah, that was impossible, Konoe thought.

Endless training and study from morning to night.

Clear one milestone, and another is immediately set.

Just when you think you’re used to the training, it’s made even harder.

In that kind of daily life, it was only natural that Konoe’s spirit broke.

In fact, you could say it was impressive he lasted a year.

Konoe had once overheard something — that dozens of other Earthlings had attempted to become Adepts in the past. And every single one of them ran away in less than ten days.

Actually, Konoe had been setting a new record from almost the very beginning.

The excessively brutal training chooses its candidates.

Konoe knew it was said, “Those who carry nothing on their backs cannot endure Adept training.”

(…I’ll give up.)

I did enough, Konoe thought.

He had grown strong enough. Even if he left here, he could probably get by.

Recently, Konoe had defeated monsters that were classified as intermediate by the Adventurers’ Guild. He had also learned intermediate healing magic.

As for how valuable that was—Konoe had heard that if someone reached even a lower rank in any field, they could at least earn enough to live.

Not luxurious, but enough for a modest family life.

In that society, Konoe had reached intermediate rank in two fields.

That was more than enough to live.

—By the way, with normal training, it takes an ordinary person twenty years to learn intermediate healing magic.

Konoe was shocked rather than pleased to hear that. Just how harsh had his training been?

(…Well, in the end, a love potion slave harem was impossible for someone like me.)

Konoe thought so with a broken heart.

People have to live within their means.

For an average person like Konoe, that was just too much of a dream.

“……..”

—So, that midnight.

After training ended, Konoe walked down the dormitory hallway to tell the instructor he was quitting.

Continuing Adept training was difficult. But quitting was simple.

Just one word to the instructor: “I quit.”

Konoe had seen many people do that already. He had watched them leave many times. So just like that—

“—?”

—It was then. Konoe suddenly noticed.

Something was in the hallway leading to the instructor’s room. No, not something.

Konoe knew what it was. He had seen it before.

White wings. White hair.

And an impossibly beautiful face. Crimson eyes.

That radiance stared quietly at him from the corner of the hallway.

—A god was standing there.

Standards for Healing Magic Acquisition

•  Lowest Rank: Hobby-level effort
•  Lower Rank: Occupational-level effort
•  Intermediate: The limit of an ordinary person
•  Advanced: The limit of a gifted person
•  Highest: The limit of a genius
•  Adept: The limit of life itself