When going to the main house, Seo Ye-in would be coming along.
Honestly, I’m not thrilled about it.
Kim Ho had been looking forward to spending the winter break alone with her, sweetly and quietly. But with a third person tagging along, a lot of those plans would have to change.
Still, better to think long-term, right?
She and Seo Ye-in would be working together for a long time…. even after graduation, even after re-enrollment.
So there would likely be times when she’d need to ask for something, too. It made sense to start building a good relationship now.
And she’s not so bad anyway.
If Seo Ye-in had been truly unlikable, she would’ve flat-out refused, no matter what might happen down the line.
Considering how tense things often were with her own family, the break wasn’t likely to be all that relaxing. Bringing someone she couldn’t stand would just make it twice as uncomfortable.
Seo Ye-in might be quiet and a bit slow on the uptake, but she didn’t have a difficult personality.
Talk to her for a bit and she turned out to be kind of fun.
Even when they hung out in the downtown area, she’d blended in pretty well.
After paying the bill, Dang Gyu-young spoke.
“I’m fine with going together…. but on one condition.”
“……?”
“If you ever go somewhere with the Hye-seong Group or whatever, take me with you.”
It was a fair trade. Giving and receiving in kind. Nothing unreasonable.
As expected, Seo Ye-in nodded without hesitation.
“Okay.”
“Good. I’ll let your side know in advance, and I’ll tell Kim Ho too—”
Mid-sentence, Dang Gyu-young fell silent and exchanged a glance with Seo Ye-in.
A soft blue light began to emanate from both their bodies.
At the same time, they could feel a ring of mana forming around their cores.
“……?”
“……What is this?”
***
The match with Kim Gap-doo was growing more intense by the minute.
A punch, packed with tremendous power, came crashing in.
Just as I deflected it with Wind Force, he slipped in deeper and struck with his elbow.
The moment I felt it might cave in my solar plexus, my body blinked out and reappeared a short distance away.
I had used Blink to create space.
In response, Kim Gap-doo’s body spun wide, unleashing tensile force in every direction.
Boom-boom-boom—!
“……!”
Go Hyeon-woo and Song Cheon-hye, who had been about to join in, hesitated for a moment, then pushed through the gaps in the raging energy.
A flash of a blade and a bolt of lightning streaked in.
Fzzzzt!
Though some damage had accumulated on his shoulder and back, Kim Gap-doo all but ignored them and leapt straight past, coming down toward me.
Booooom—!
The arena floor shattered and stone fragments flew in all directions.
I stepped back with Feather Step, but Kim Gap-doo immediately closed the gap using his own footwork.
Just as he was about to throw another punch—
“That’s enough.”
Kim Gap-doo suddenly dropped both arms, as if he hadn’t been fighting at all.
I raised my hand to stop Go Hyeon-woo and Song Cheon-hye.
“Good work, everyone.”
[Time Remaining: 00:06]
With only a few seconds left, it made more sense to stop here than to keep exchanging blows.
All eyes turned to the scoreboard.
[Go Hyeon-woo: 86%]
[Kim Ho: 100%]
[Song Cheon-hye: 83%]
vs
[Kim Gap-doo: 71%]
We hadn’t taken him down, but with a higher average health, it was a win by decision.
When the word “Win” appeared on the screen, smiles spread across the team’s faces.
Meanwhile, Kim Gap-doo seemed to have something left to say. He gestured for me to come over.
As I approached, he opened his mouth.
“You really have gotten stronger. More than I expected.”
“You flatter me. It took three of us just to barely keep up with you.”
“From what I’ve seen, you could probably handle me one-on-one. And even if not, you’ll be able to soon enough.”
His tone was firm, as if it were an inevitable truth.
He continued.
“Now I can finally put my worries to rest. It’s laughable for someone like me to be worrying about someone as skilled as you. From here on out, it’s all up to you.”
“Thank you for everything.”
I bowed deeply, sincerely. Then Kim Gap-doo pulled something out from his inventory.
“Take it. It’s the last one.”
[Purple Restoration Pil (B+)]
An elixir with energy rivaling the legendary Great Restoration Pill.
Seeing him hand it over without hesitation, Song Cheon-hye who had been watching from a short distance looked shocked.
Go Hyeon-woo’s respect for him deepened even further.
Refusing it wasn’t an option, not when the path to world peace was still so far away. So I accepted the pill without hesitation.
“Thank you. I have something for you too.”
I handed over a neatly folded slip of paper.
Something flickered in Kim Gap-doo’s eyes.
“……What’s this?”
“A guide.”
“It’s not for the lower levels, is it?”
There’d be no point giving that to someone about to graduate.
I nodded slightly.
“You guessed right. It’s for outside the Dungeon Island.”
It was a guide listing the locations and acquisition methods of hidden martial arts pieces related to the Fist Arts School. They were scattered near the area where Kim Gap-doo would likely be active after graduation.
There’s no time to collect it all myself anyway.
In that case, better to entrust it to someone reliable than keep it hidden forever.
The more allies there are who share your vision, the easier it is to achieve world peace.
After a moment of silence, Kim Gap-doo spoke.
“……An unexpected gift. And something that can’t even be given a price.”
“I’ve received so much from you, senior. I wanted to help, even if just a little.”
“I’ll accept it gratefully.”
Before long, he turned around, leaving behind a brief wish for good fortune.
Once Kim Gap-doo’s figure had faded into the distance, disappearing from view, I turned my gaze and pulled up the quest window.
[Side Quest: 16th Week Duel Battle] (Completed)
▷ Objective 1: Win with at least 80% health remaining (2/2 times)
▷ Objective 2: Deal a total of 60% or more damage(67/60%)
▷ Reward: +1 Shared Trait Slot
Good, I got a slot as the reward.
I would’ve been slightly disappointed if it had been something else.
In any case, the sooner I shared it, the better it would be for everyone.
[Registering “Great Sage’s Ring” in the slot.]
▷ Shared Traits [3/3]
1. Distortion
2. Poison Immunity
3. Great Sage’s Ring
Since it was a trait I already had, nothing changed for me personally.
But the three who were linked by the bond seemed quite surprised. They all rushed to send me messages.
[Hong Yeon-hwa: (startled puppy emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: (question mark? cat emoji)]
[Seo Ye-in: What is this?]
[Dang Gyu-young: Young monarch…]
[Dang Gyu-young: Would it kill you to give a little warning?]
[Dang Gyu-young: You scared us.]
[Dang Gyu-young: (fox with a bat emoji)]
[Kim Ho: I apologize]
[Dang Gyu-young: What does it do?]
[Kim Ho: Simply put, it makes mana build up faster.]
[Hong Yeon-hwa: !]
[Hong Yeon-hwa: (tail-wagging puppy emoji)]
[Hong Yeon-hwa: (bouncing puppy emoji)]
Even just reading the messages, I could picture how delighted they were.
Since A-rank wasn’t far off, it made sense that a mana-boosting trait would be welcome.
I’d explain the details later when we met in person.
I turned my head toward Song Cheon-hye, who was standing beside me.
Then, putting on a serious expression, I spoke.
“Watching your melee combat earlier…”
“Watching… what?”
Song Cheon-hye waited nervously for what came next.
She seemed worried I might say something like, “You’re still not there yet. Back to the hammer training.”
I stayed silent for a moment, then grinned playfully.
“We can move on…to control training.”
“……!”
While Mok Jong-hwa was a third-year student, he was technically a battey-type mage, so his close-combat skills were likely lacking.
On the other hand, Kim Gap-doo was a martial artist. About as close-ranged as it gets.
Considering she managed a solid win against him, it was safe to say she’d proven at least a basic level of skill.
Filled with determination, Song Cheon-hye spoke up.
“So I’m finally free from the hammer! Shall we go right away?”
“If we’ve got time.”
“I do today. I’m off duty.”
“Perfect.”
We made our way to the training center, and before reserving a room, we borrowed a few items.
Cones, hurdles to jump over, rings…various kinds of obstacles.
These were typically used for agility training by Beast Tamer-type classes.
Maybe that’s why Song Cheon-hye gave me a puzzled look, but she still set up the obstacles as I instructed.
She lined up the cones and set up the hurdles and rings.
“Obviously, you’re not the one jumping over these. Summon a Hummingbird.”
“Okay.”
By now, it seemed she had a rough idea of what I was planning.
She gathered current and summoned the Lightning Hummingbird.
Fzzzzzzzzt.
On my end, I summoned Sylphid.
As the wind gathered, a translucent bun-shaped form appeared and I placed it at the starting line. It was Sylphid.
Beside it, Song Cheon-hye lined up her Hummingbird.
“Like this, right?”
“Good. Let’s start right away. Follow me.”
Sylphid immediately began flying toward the obstacles, weaving in a zigzag through the lined-up cones.
The Hummingbird followed a similar path, but due to a slight control error, it crashed into the fourth cone.
Bzzzt!
“…I’ll try again.”
Soon, Hummingbird No. 2 took its place at the starting line and started flying after Sylphid.
Fzzzzzt!
Of course, it didn’t get far before hitting another obstacle.
I spoke casually.
“Next.”
Fzzzzzt—
Among the various lightning-based spells, the Hummingbird is particularly sensitive to control.
In other words, mastering this would naturally raise her proficiency with other spells too.
For now, the goal is just to finish the course.
***
After several days of focused obstacle training with Song Cheon-hye…
Her control over the Hummingbird had improved a bit.
She’d gotten fairly used to weaving through the cones in a zigzag and was now working on clearing hurdles of varying sizes.
I also made some progress while assisting her training.
[The rank of ‘Sylphid’ has increased. (C+ → B+)]
Since Sylphid already had the skill to finish the course with ease, its rank shot up quickly.
Meanwhile, Song Cheon-hye’s Hummingbird cleared the hurdle but got caught on the edge of a ring it tried to pass through.
Bzzzt!
She let out a sigh, as if all her tension had suddenly drained away.
“…Let’s take a short break.”
I gave her a nod in response.
She’d been in a state of intense focus the whole time, so the mental strain had to be considerable.
Silence settled over the training room for a while.
“……”
“……”
What broke the silence was the sound of knocking.
Knock knock.
Wondering who it might be, I opened the door only to find Hong Yeon-hwa standing there.
She spoke in a somewhat cautious tone.
“They said you were here… so I came.”
“Yeah. But what’s up?”
“Well… I wanted to say thank you. I broke through.”
Hearing the word “broke through”, I had a pretty good guess.
“Your [Core]?”
“Mhmm, it’s A-rank now.”
Originally, she had expected it to happen around finals or during the break, but thanks to sharing the [Great Sage’s Ring], the timeline had moved up.
I nodded, pleased.
“You worked hard. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. And… I also learned Blink.”
Of course. She must’ve dropped everything else to learn Blink first.
All mages think the same way.
Hong Yeon-hwa continued.
“I practiced a bit and… I was hoping you could take a look.”
“Yeah? Go ahead.”
Hong Yeon-hwa moved to one side of the training room.
She focused her mind and began assembling a complex formula.
Whoosh—
She vanished in a flash and reappeared one step ahead.
“How was it…?”
“You’re doing well.”
It’s nowhere near ready for actual combat yet, but what mattered was that she managed to control even a single step perfectly.
At my praise, Hong Yeon-hwa looked half proud, half bashful.
“I’m planning to increase the distance little by little…”
“It’s better than overreaching from the start. You’ll do fine.”
“Yeah, thanks…!”
After exchanging a few more words, Hong Yeon-hwa left the training room.
“……!”
Meanwhile, Song Cheon-hye looked visibly shaken.
Her Core rank had been caught up with and now she’d even been overtaken in Blink.
She moved to the spot where Hong Yeon-hwa had just demonstrated her spell.
“I-I’ll try it too.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to save it for later?”
“Just once. Just one try.”
“Suit yourself.”
She seemed fired up, and no matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen.
Better to let her realize it herself.
Song Cheon-hye gathered her mana, fully focused.
She assembled a complex formula, and in an instant, her form vanished.
And then—
Bang!
With a loud crash, she slammed into the ceiling and flopped back down.
“……”
“That was just pathetic.”
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