"Why had you become so weak?"
When Shura Path saw Reilo again, a year had already passed. He had come for the express purpose of returning the Particle Realm Eye Wand that Reilo had once entrusted to him.
Reilo was even weaker now than when he had returned from the Void Expedition to Storm Continent.
After taking the Particle Realm Eye Wand, Reilo said helplessly, "Just making it back alive was enough."
"I refuse to believe you took such a huge risk this time and came back with nothing."
Shura Path had wanted to spar with Reilo again, but seeing how weak he was, he couldn't bring himself to ask. He looked rather crestfallen.
"I did gain a few things, actually."
Seeing how confident Reilo was, and how little his weakness seemed to discourage him, Shura Path didn't press the matter.
He said quietly, "Lately, I keep dreaming about Orora World. You know that at our level, the laws bring us closer to certain deeper things. Signs like these don't appear for no reason. So... I feel that, win or lose, this war may be a calamity for me personally. Perhaps I should have gone with them and met my end back then."
Reilo frowned slightly.
"Orora World? Look on the bright side. Maybe you're going back there."
Shura Path scoffed, shook his head, and left.
After the Void Expedition battle on Storm Continent, the Academic World's strength had fallen to rock bottom.
But unlike the Central Civilization and the Ancient Civilization, the Academic World had retained its foundations. After migrating to Frost Continent, its overall strength began to recover, and it made one breakthrough after another in several fundamental technologies, securing its place as a Lighthouse Civilization.
This was inseparable from the Academic World's compulsory education system.
After