The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

[Calyra’s POV]

High above the island, the sunlight was far dimmer than it should have been this close to afternoon. Though, by now, almost everyone on the island had already grown accustomed to the strange sight. It was the seventh day of the examination, after all.

The seventh day out of ten.

So, three days still remained.

And yet, despite that, Calyra couldn’t help but feel as though today was already the final day of the test.

Perhaps, in a way, it truly was. Because of the coming fight with Julian, or more precisely, the demon residing within him.

’Fighting... a demon, huh? Never did I expect to finally fight one myself. This still feels... unreal. At least, for me.’

That confrontation was supposed to happen tomorrow. That was how things should have gone. But somehow, the situation had changed.

At least, according to the man standing beside her.

Glancing toward him, Calyra noticed that Ruvian was calm, far calmer than someone in his position had any reason to be.

Was it because he had already faced demons before with Silvena? Or perhaps he had already seen a vision in which they emerged victorious?

’I wonder...’

Still, Calyra herself was hardly nervous. She felt calm and confident in her own strength, with little reason to doubt what she was capable of.

Furthermore, her task was relatively simple.

All Ruvian had told her to do was defeat Julian’s squad members and Loden as quickly as possible, then regroup with him.

Honestly, she doubted Julian’s four lackeys would pose much of a problem. Loden, however, was another matter.

He was from Class A, and any scholar who managed to earn a place in that class deserved some degree of caution. Calyra was confident in her own strength and skills, but she had learned well enough that confidence and carelessness were two entirely different things.

She had already suffered the consequences of that mistake herself during her fight with Rosalin. And more recently, she had seen firsthand what happened to those scholars who made the foolish mistake of underestimating Ruvian.

Because of that, if possible, she would have preferred to learn a little more about Loden before fighting him.

Unfortunately, that was no longer an option.

Loden had been an anomaly in their calculations from the beginning, and by now, it was already far too late to gather anything useful about him.

’I’ll simply learn as I fight him...’

But then, Ruvian suddenly spoke in a strangely relaxed tone.

”Ah, right. I forgot to tell you, Calyra... when you fight Loden, please be careful of his scythe.”

’Hmm? His scythe?’

Calyra’s eyes widened slightly.

’He uses a scythe?’

She had not known that. Her gaze lingered on Ruvian for a brief moment before understanding quietly settled in.

’I see... did he just receive a revelation?’

*****

[Ruvian’s POV]

Deeply focused, Ruvian analyzed Loden’s [Runeheart] through his [Bookmarks].

Since he had already scanned Loden with [Character Sheet] before the voyage, he had been able to add him as a bookmark before the test began.

===============

{}---『RUNEHEART』---{}

◇ Name: Loden Armand

◇ Age: 18

◇ Spellcore: Tier 4

◇ Rank: First-Class Magus

◇ Magic Affinity: [Darkness]

[Mana Resonance: (780/10,000)]

==[General Attributes]==

Strength: B-

Agility: C+

Endurance: C+

Vitality: C+

Perception: B-

==[Mage Attributes]==

Mana Control: B-

Casting Speed: B-

Magic Power: C+

Mental Strength: B-

Mana Sensitivity: C+

Mana Essence: [5,500/5,500]

==[Innate Blessings]==

- [Blessing of the Untainted]

==[Affinity Mastery]==

- [Darkness (Advanced)]

- [Pure Mana (Intermediate)]

===============

Ruvian had already learned about Loden’s blessing the first time he inspected his [Runeheart] — the bastard possessed an immunity to Dark Mana.

At first, since he was able to use [Character Sheet] on Loden, Ruvian assumed that Loden wasn’t a demon. Naturally, he took that as enough reason to pretty much exclude Loden from suspicion.

But after giving it some thought, Ruvian realized just how foolish that assumption was.

What if Loden really was human, but simply worked with the demon? Because there was also a possibility with that.

Even if it was difficult to believe.

Honestly, looking back, there had barely been anything suspicious about Loden when Ruvian was proofreading the novel, but then again, that hardly meant anything anymore.

He had already learned the hard way that blindly trusting what he remembered from the novel was a good way to get himself killed. So, Ruvian kept a backup plan aside, marking Loden as a potential anomaly in case his suspicions turned out to be right.

And now, although he still lacked any solid evidence, the scythe Loden possessed was starting to prove his suspicions.

==========

[Item]: Nightwither

[Type]: Weapon (Scythe)

[Grade]: A

[Hidden Enchantment]:

◇ [Dark Corrosion]

Gradually converts the mana fed into the scythe into Dark Mana. The more mana supplied, the greater the amount of Dark Mana produced. With each attack, the stored Dark Mana is violently unleashed, becoming increasingly difficult to control as more mana is fed into the weapon.

==========

’Seriously, how the hell did he get his hands on something like this?’

It was already suspicious enough that Loden had somehow bypassed the security inspection and brought a Grade A weapon into this test; however, there was little point questioning that now. The weapon was already here, and its hidden enchantment was a much more immediate concern.

More importantly, Loden just happened to possess a blessing that allowed him to wield such a troublesome weapon without being affected by its Dark Mana.

’How convenient.’

Perhaps it really was nothing more than a coincidence.

’Either way... I’ll have my answer soon enough.’

Ruvian sighed before looking at Calyra. ”Ah, right. I forgot to tell you, Calyra... when you fight Loden, please be careful of his scythe.”

Calyra’s eyes widened slightly.

Then, his voice turned solemn as he continued.

”It can release Dark Mana, so avoid making contact with him or his scythe if you can. As for his abilities... he’s fast and physically strong, though still below Rosalin in both.” (+500PP)

He paused for a bit before smiling calmly.

”So... keep him at a distance and don’t let him control the range of the fight. If you do so, you should be fine.”

Calyra blinked, then gave an impassive nod.

”Understood.”

*****

[Julian’s POV]

”Master, we have arrived.”

Julian’s brows suddenly furrowed as his steps came to a halt, his eyes losing focus for a brief moment before clarity swiftly returned.

After blinking several times and surveying his surroundings, he found himself standing in an open area surrounded by scattered trees and fractured rocks.

”What...?”

For some reason, his thoughts felt strangely muddled, as though he had just awakened from a slumber he had no recollection of falling into.

Pressing a hand against his temple, Julian tried to recall what had happened during the past few minutes... but his memories remained disturbingly vague.

’When did we get here?’

Julian’s expression gradually hardened, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings with growing suspicion.

Something about that brief lapse unsettled him, but before he could dwell any further on it, the voice beside him sounded once again.

”Master?”

Julian turned his head toward Loden, his eyes narrowing sharply at that peculiar form of address.

Loden was already looking at him, but the instant their gazes finally met, something subtle in the man’s expression seemed to shift.

”Ah, I mean, Julian... we have arrived.”

Casually, Loden turned his gaze toward the distance and raised one hand, pointing ahead with a faint smile curling across his lips.

Following his gesture, Julian spotted two figures standing some distance away, the very two they had been searching for.

Ruvian Castelor and Lady Calyra.

They were already there.

Disquietingly, Loden’s smile slowly turned wicked, almost depraved. Then, in a mordant, almost performative tone, he asked:

”So...

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 306: What Is Your Command?]

Plot Points= 53,000 PP