The magic circle glowed red and sent up a vivid pillar of fire.
Whoosh—!
I sharply changed direction to avoid the pillar of fire.
However, as if anticipating this, another magic circle in that spot erupted with a pillar of fire.
Whoosh—!
I had no choice but to retreat, but Hong Yeon-hwa who had been watching me snapped her fingers again.
This time, a fire pillar activated behind me.
Looking around, I saw that the area was filled with magic circles. To the point where was no place to step on.
This was a sparring session with Hong Yeon-hwa.
Hong Hyeon-hwa must have been aware of the feedback I gave her, so she waited until I was fully within her area before activating the magic circles.
At first, things didn’t go as she wanted and she would panic and activate the fire pillars as soon as I approached, but with repeated sparring, she learned to maintain her composure.
The premise that “I take damage from fire magic” still applied in this session, so I had to busily step back and forth to avoid the fire pillars.
Other than the fire pillars activated from the magic circles on the ground, Hong Yeon-hwa was also directly casting spells.
A large fireball targeted me and flew towards me.
Whoosh!
I created a compressed whirlwind in my hand and sent it towards the fireball.
The whirlwind collided with the fireball and dispersed the flames in the opposite direction.
It was a move using the [Twister].
Both Hong Yeon-hwa and I were honing our skills in our own ways.
Whoosh—!
Fire pillars continued to rise here and there.
Sometimes two or three would activate at the same time and restrict my movements.
Although the number of pre-installed magic circles was limited and it might seem wasteful to activate multiple at once, new magic circles were being inscribed on the ground.
Setting up magic circles during battle.
This was one of the pieces of feedback I gave Hong Yeon-hwa.
Meanwhile, even as I busily moved my feet, I found and exploited weak points in her defense bit by bit.
The distance between Hong Yeon-hwa and me gradually decreased, and eventually, I approached close enough to lightly tap the crown of her head with Root.
Tap,
“…….”
Hong Yeon-hwa looked up at me and clutched the spot where she had been hit with her hands.
Her expression seemed to indicate that she felt it was somehow unfair.
I didn’t hit her that hard.
At that moment, Dang Gyu-young lifted her stealth and approached us.
The sparring had reached a lull, and she was taking the opportunity to do a mid-point check.
She glanced at Hong Yeon-hwa and quickly realized she looked exhausted.
“Let’s call it a day. Go rest.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Hong Yeon-hwa bowed her head to Dang Gyu-young and awkwardly waved me farewell.
“Th-thank you, for your hard work …”
“Yeah, you too.”
Before stepping onto the teleportation circle, Hong Yeon-hwa paused for a moment, gave me a look that I couldn’t quite understand, and then quickly disappeared.
Dang Gyu-young watched her go and asked me.
“Aren’t you going?”
“Where would I go? We still need to spar.”
“Seriously, how do you never get tired?”
If I left, Dang Gyu-young could go rest too but my stamina was far from being exhausted.
Though she was grumbling, Dang Gyu-young took her position in front of me.
Soon, the shadows at her feet took on various forms—fists, hammers, greatswords—and attacked.
Whooooooosh!
I wrapped Twister around Root and my hands and deflected the attacking shadows one by one.
Next, Dang Gyu-young leaped up from behind me and started stabbing with shadow daggers. I dodged by leaning my body left and right.
Though our hands and feet moved violently, we talked in a very casual tone.
“By the way, Kim Ho.”
“Yes, senior-nim.”
“You didn’t make plans for this weekend, did you?”
“I kept it free since you told me to.”
“Ha, you remember? I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t.”
Dang Gyu-young laughed pleasantly.
Using the mentoring event allowed for much faster growth than usual, but it required the cooperation of Dang Gyu-young who was my mentor.
Fortunately, Dang Gyu-young actively participated in my training and even kept the details confidential.
For example, only Dang Gyu-young knew that I constantly evaded her attacks while I was training to acquire [Distortion] or what the effects of [Distortion] were.
In return, I handed over the medium wish ticket to Dang Gyu-young, and that’s how this arrangement was made.
– What wish would you like me to grant?
– You don’t have plans for the week after next, right? Come with me somewhere.
– Where are we going? You’re even using a wish ticket for this.
– It wouldn’t be fun if I told you everything in advance. I’ll explain the details then.
I leaned back just in time to dodge the shadow blade.
Then I asked a question.
“Let me ask you one thing. Is this about the thieves club?”
Dang Gyu-young paused for a moment and seemed to think it over, then shrugged as if deciding it was okay to reveal this much.
“Yeah, it’s our thing.”
“Taking a first-year who isn’t even a member yet… it smells suspicious.”
“Suspicious? No way! It’s just a tour.”
By following Dang Gyu-young and observing what the thieves’ club actually did at Dragon Slayer Academy, she hoped that I might become interested and consider joining.
You’ve got it wrong again.
As I graduated many times, I also served as the president of a thieves club, so there’s no way I would become interested just by seeing something like this.
However, even if I didn’t join, I was still interested in the event the thieves club was planning this time.
If it was an event happening around this time…
The Black Market.
***
The sparring with Hong Yeon-hwa continued throughout the week.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s management of the magic circles became increasingly smooth, and I also achieved some expected results.
[‘Twister’ rank has increased. (E+ -> D+)]
Although it was a high-difficulty skill and progress was quite slow, the mentoring bonus from last week and my relentless practice finally led to its rise to D rank.
It had reached a level where it could be effectively used in real combat, at least against first-years.
Thursday.
In the arena.
When I moved to a corner of the stands with the other team members and Dang Gyu-young, I noticed a team walking from the opposite side.
The student leading them was a third-year senior, and seeing the first-years following him, it seemed he was also a mentor like Dang Gyu-young.
His face immediately reminded me of a toad, and in this world filled with handsome men and beautiful women, resembling a toad basically meant he had quite a few ups and downs in life.
Three first-years followed behind him.
Two of them looked familiar.
One was Ilgong, who I had faced in the last double duel battle (2vs2).
At that time, I had thoroughly beaten Seo Ye-in with Wind Force, and Ilgong had fought Go Hyeon-woo until the final move but eventually lost.
Ilgong also seemed to recognize me. So he smiled and cupped his hands together in greeting.
Next was Bukgung Han-seol, who had appeared on Go Hyeon-woo’s team in the replay.
She was the one who tried to attack Park Na-ri’s tiger with Cold Ice martial arts but it failed due to a lack of attack power.
The third person was a complete stranger, but judging by the classes of the first two, it was not hard to deduce that they were a martial arts team.
As the two teams were about to pass each other,
The senior with the toad-like face blocked Dang Gyu-young’s path.
“Dang Gyu-young.”
“Kim Gap-doo.”
The third-year toad, or rather Kim Gap-doo, spoke in a confrontational manner.
“Why haven’t you been responding to my messages?”
“I blocked you.”
“…Why?”
“Why do you think? You kept contacting me for pointless reasons.”
“Pointless? I was serious.”
“Anyway, I have no intention of responding, so let’s stop this.”
From the flow of the conversation, it seemed that Kim Gap-doo had been so insistent with Dang Gyu-young that he had ended up being blocked on the phone.
Despite Dang Gyu-young’s firm rejection, Kim Gap-doo did not appear ready to back down.
“I heard you’re completely smitten with a first-year these days. Is that guy really that handsome?”
“Smitten—”
Dang Gyu-young was taken aback and she was about to argue but then suddenly pulled me to her side.
She casually draped her arm over my shoulder.
“Honestly, he’s decent-looking. His eyes look a bit mean, though.”
It was the classic “I have a boyfriend, so back off” tactic.
Dang Gyu-young desperately signaled with her eyes for me to play along, so I didn’t naively ask, “Senior-nim, since when were we like that?”
As I stood there silently, I noticed Kim Gap-doo glaring at me with a mix of anger, resentment, and jealousy.
“So, he’s that first-year. How long have you been together?”
“We’re not dating yet.”
Dang Gyu-young was apparently unable to lie about this, so she just answered honestly.
Kim Gap-doo’s eyes lit up.
“So you’re saying I still have a chance?”
“No, not at all.”
When Dang Gyu-young firmly cut him off again, Kim Gap-doo once more turned into a hurt toad.
And that sadness and anger were directed straight at me.
“…I’m curious about that first-year’s skills. I wonder if he deserves to be with you.”
“Whether he does or not, what does that have to do with you?”
“I’m just curious. Since there are four on your side and four on mine, how about we have a match?”
Dang Gyu-young seemed to ponder this suggestion instead of immediately rejecting it.
Kim Gap-doo’s group was from the martial arts class.
They were opponents who engaged in close-quarters combat, the kind that a mage aiming to be an all-rounder must be prepared for.
If that were the case, sparring with them would be a better experience than random matches.
When she reached this conclusion, Dang Gyu-young asked again.
“You said there are four of you. Where’s the fourth person?”
“He’s running a bit late due to some business but will be here soon.”
“Is that so? Then let’s have a match.”
When Dang Gyu-young nodded her head, Kim Gap-doo subtly added another suggestion.
“While we’re at it, wouldn’t it be more fun with a wager?”
“Oh, I knew you’d say that. Just stop being so persistent.”
“Call it persistence if you want. If we win, give me just one chance.”
Kim Gap-doo intended to use the victory of his mentees to satisfy his own selfish desires without any hesitation.
Dang Gyu-young asked anyway. As if she was now curious due to his persistence,
“Let’s hear it. What kind of chance are you asking for?”
“If we win…”
The third-year toad gradually became a red toad.
Kim Gap-doo then stared at a spot on the floor, stammered but still shouted loudly.
“If we win…. go on a date with me, on the weekend, in the downtown area!”
Everyone’s faces cringed at his excessive and pathetic plea.
Not only Dang Gyu-young, but also Song Cheon-hye, Hong Yeon-hwa, Kwak Ji-cheol, and even Bukgong Han-seol.
Only Ilgong managed to maintain a calm expression on his face as he quietly recited a prayer.
“Namo Amitabha…”
TN: Lol
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