Seo Ye-in and Chattering Sloth looked at each other and tilted their heads.
“……?”
– ……?
“Quite the reaction.”
– All I said was that the manju was good.
“An honest impression.”
Song Cheon-hye’s expression turned awkward.
Apparently, she had realized that they hadn’t meant anything by it and that she had overreacted.
She let out a small sigh, then turned to me to confirm.
“We’ll be doing this while I maintain the [Lightning Rods], of course, right?”
“Right.”
“How many should I start with?”
“How about two? You can keep two going even if they’re a little unstable.”
Three required practically all of her concentration just to maintain, and the slightest disturbance was enough to make them disperse.
Song Cheon-hye readily nodded.
“I think that would be best too.”
“Then get ready.”
Next, I walked over to the two Seo Ye-ins.
I had invited them as special guests, but if I simply had them spar with her, they would probably get bored in no time.
So I needed to give them a little extra motivation.
“Starting today, I’m putting her through Challenge Hardship too.”
“……Number four.”
– Womanizer.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s not what I’m trying to say.”
“……?”
“What is Miss Song trying to learn?”
“…….”
Sloth and Chattering Sloth seemed to search their memories for a moment.
They had eaten manju downtown while discussing plans for tutoring.
And the keyword that had come up then was-
“……Blink.”
– Blink.
“That’s right. Don’t you think it’s unfair? Some people have to work hard and walk everywhere.”
“You have Blink too.”
– You’re the worst one.
Their criticism turned toward me, but I casually let it roll off and asked,
“But Miss Song deserves a little punishment too, doesn’t she?”
“……That is also true.”
– The only good mage is a mage without Blink.
That seemed like plenty of motivation, so I quietly stepped aside.
The two Seo Ye-ins walked toward the center of the training room.
Then they rummaged through their inventories and pulled out their pots.
A curious gleam appeared in Song Cheon-hye’s eyes.
“What about your weapons?”
“? Right here.”
“No, I mean your magic guns.”
“Close-combat training.”
Seo Ye-in answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Song Cheon-hye seemed to accept the explanation to some extent.
Just as she was working to improve her Lightning Rods, her opponents could be working to improve their close combat with pots.
Even so, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she was being underestimated, and her brow furrowed slightly.
It would be one thing to switch to a backup weapon in the middle of a spar, but to use one from the very beginning?
“……Let’s just get started.”
“Okay.”
Once both sides were ready for battle, they stared at each other for a brief moment.
Then the two Seo Ye-ins kicked off the ground, signaling the start of the spar.
They rapidly closed the distance.
Fzzzzzt—
Song Cheon-hye likewise unleashed crackling currents of electricity all around her.
She summoned a Lightning Rod on either side of herself while simultaneously gripping a thick bolt of lightning in each hand like a pair of swords.
Then she swung them and clashed head-on with the Seo Ye-ins.
Booooom!
“……!”
Song Cheon-hye’s eyes widened.
She had assumed that, if nothing else, she would have the advantage in close combat, yet her opponents weren’t giving an inch.
On top of that, Chattering Sloth hopped into the air and swung her holographic pot at her.
Whoosh!
Song Cheon-hye ducked, narrowly avoiding it, then hurled a lightning bolt at Chattering Sloth.
At the same time, she swung the lightning in her other hand at Sloth’s pot.
Boooooom!
But the two Seo Ye-ins effortlessly deflected her attacks and kept swinging their pots. Instead, it was Song Cheon-hye who found herself on the defensive, forced to retreat step by step.
It was the exact opposite of what she had expected when the spar began.
“How are you this good at close combat……?!”
“Super-duper genius.”
– Total all-rounder.
Song Cheon-hye then seemed to realize something and shot me a questioning look. I gave a slight lift of my chin, confirming her suspicion.
Of course I taught her too.
If anything, Seo Ye-in had probably taken even more hits from my toy hammer.
And if you counted the Challenge Hardship quests, which involved Ahn Jeong-mi and Dang Gyu-yeong as well, the number was far higher.
In other words, Seo Ye-in was never someone Song Cheon-hye could confidently expect to beat in close combat to begin with.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The pots kept swinging without pause.
Song Cheon-hye looked completely overwhelmed trying to dodge them, fend them off with lightning, and maintain her [Lightning Rods] all at once.
I watched for a while before offering a piece of advice.
“Why don’t we try using those Lightning Rods too? You went to the trouble of making two.”
“H-How?”
“That’s for you to figure out.”
“Isn’t that a little irresponsible?”
“I’m being serious.”
There were countless ways to combo with the skill, so there was no single correct answer.
If I gave her the answer myself, it would limit her imagination, which would only hurt her in the long run.
Song Cheon-hye seemed to understand my reasoning, but—
“Why are you telling me that now?”
Would it kill him to let me think about it at my leisure when I actually had some breathing room?
The next instant, she recoiled and leaned sharply to the side.
Whoosh!
A dented pot had come flying at her with a sharp whistle through the air.
It barely grazed her light-brown hair before the holographic pot came right behind it.
Whoosh!
The relentless barrage of pot attacks continued without giving her a moment’s rest.
However, the two Seo Ye-ins exchanged a few remarks, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.
“……Can’t hit her.”
– Dodging expert.
“Butler taught me.”
– Same teacher.
“But only a matter of time.”
– Let’s corner her.
“A trap?”
– Good idea.
Seo Ye-in brought the Immortal Pot crashing down while simultaneously forming a ball of light over her other hand.
Then she flicked it toward her opponent.
[Fickle Trap]
[Trap Toss]
“……!”
Song Cheon-hye had witnessed the terrifying power of that trap several times before.
During the final exam alone, it had split a massive golem in half.
If that thing hit her, getting smacked with a pot would feel like child’s play by comparison.
To make matters worse, the ball of light arcing toward her suddenly flashed and disappeared midway through its trajectory, instantly closing the remaining distance.
[Spatial Fold] had been chained into the attack as well.
“……!”
In that split second, Song Cheon-hye twisted her body with superhuman reflexes and concentration.
By a hair’s breadth, she managed to evade both the pot and the trap at the same time.
But just then, Chattering Sloth approached from the side.
– I’m invincible.
She tossed a Fickle Trap onto the floor and stomped down on it.
The previous combo had merely been a distraction to draw Song Cheon-hye’s attention.
The real attack had been something else entirely.
The next instant, woody vines erupted explosively from the ground.
Rumble—!
They wrapped tightly around both Song Cheon-hye’s and Chattering Sloth’s legs.
There was nowhere left for Song Cheon-hye to retreat.
And Seo Ye-in swung her pot at her with a full-force swing.
“……Time for punishment.”
For the bad Blink mage.
Song Cheon-hye hurriedly gathered electrical currents, summoned a bolt of lightning, and swung it straight at the incoming pot.
Boooooom!
She had managed to block it once, but her feet were still bound, and her opponent’s assault showed no signs of letting up.
The immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot was already coming down on her again.
At that moment, as if something had occurred to her, Song Cheon-hye stretched both hands out to either side.
More precisely, toward the lightning rods on either side of her.
– Crackle—
The rods that had stood in place throughout the entire battle suddenly flew through the air, taking the shape of lightning bolts as they landed in Song Cheon-hye’s hands.
With one, she struck the pot away again,
Boooom!
and slammed the other into the ground.
A wave of electricity surged outward from Song Cheon-hye.
[Lightning Nova]
Crackle—
It was a technique that cleared away the woody vines binding her while simultaneously striking her opponent.
Since it was an area-of-effect attack, dodging it would be impossible, so it should at least restrict her opponent’s movements somewhat.
And if she took advantage of that opening, she could even launch a counterattack.
—Or so she must have thought.
But the next thing Song Cheon-hye saw was Seo Ye-in casually advancing through the wave of electricity as if it were nothing.
And even faster than her came the immortal pot.
Clang—!
“…….”
“…….”
The sparring match came to a brief pause.
A huge lump was now bulging from Song Cheon-hye’s head.
It must have hurt badly enough that tears were even welling up in the corners of her eyes.
And the mental blow seemed just as severe.
She had used the lightning rods for the first time to launch what she thought would be a decisive counterattack, only for it to be shut down completely.
With a bewildered look on her face, she asked Seo Ye-in,
“You had one? Lightning-resistant equipment? A trait?”
“Mhmm.”
– Very sturdy.
“Then why did you wait until the end……?”
“Mind games.”
– Keep it hidden until the decisive moment.
“Ah……!”
Song Cheon-hye let out a quiet exclamation of realization.
Pretend she had no means of defending against it, then charge straight in at the very end and… clang.
Without even realizing it, she had fallen right into her opponent’s trap.
Though she probably would’ve lost even without the mind games.
That resistance trait was none other than the S-rank [Elemental Resistance], after all.
One way or another, taking Seo Ye-in down had become extremely difficult.
Song Cheon-hye probably knew that better than anyone, yet rather than getting discouraged, her fighting spirit only burned brighter.
“This actually works out better. The harder it is, the better the practice will be.”
She also seemed to be gradually getting the hang of how to use [Lightning Rod].
I could probably just leave the two of them to duke it out for a while.
***
Seo Ye-in and Song Cheon-hye were doing just fine on their own, so there was no longer any need for me to stick around and watch them the whole time.
In that case, it made more sense to turn my attention to the others for the time being.
So after sending a quick message, I headed to Go Hyeon-woo’s training room.
Whoooosh—!
A tremendous blast of sword wind tore through the training dummies, shredding them to pieces.
They were immediately replaced with intact ones, and Go Hyeon-woo took his stance again, seemingly ready to unleash another wave of sword energy.
But then, sensing my presence, he sheathed his sword and greeted me with a gentle smile.
“Welcome.”
“Am I interrupting? You looked pretty focused on your training.”
“Not at all. If Kim hyung has business with me, it is only right that I place it above all else.”
“It is pretty important.”
“……!”
As though he had already guessed what I was about to say, Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes lit up.
“I am all ears.”
“[Invitation]. The cooldown’s up.”
“……The time has finally come. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time.”
A rare look of intense anticipation shone in Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes.
He was a born martial artist who got fired up at the mere prospect of sparring with a strong opponent, and this wasn’t just some ordinary master. It was a chance to receive instruction from an S-rank.
And the more insight he gained, the closer he would get to inheriting the divine artifact as well.
I nodded as I spoke.
“I know. I wanted to do it for you sooner too.”
“There is always an order of priority, after all.”
“Couldn’t be helped with the cooldown.”
I had first brought it up on the train to Dragon Slayer Academy after winter break, so more than a month had already passed.
The main reason was that I had needed to use it on the members of the Bond first.
Reducing the base cooldown from ten days to seven made a significant difference.
It would have been even better if I could have reduced it with [Time Share], but [Hardship] was far more important, so I had no choice but to wait.
Go Hyeon-woo smiled as though it were no big deal.
“What matters is that my turn has come in the end, does it not?”
“That’s true too. Shall we get started?”
“I shall prepare at once.”
Go Hyeon-woo soon sat cross-legged in the middle of the training room.
With [Wind God] and [Martial Soul] resting on his knees.
Since opportunities like this didn’t come around often, I planned to run a few experiments while I was at it.
After exchanging one last glance with him, I activated the skill.
[Activated ‘Invitation’.]
[Cooldown: 9 days 23:59:58]
A moment later, Go Hyeon-woo stared into empty space, a curious gleam appearing in his eyes.
He had probably received a message along these lines.
[An invitation from the Monarch has arrived.]
[Will you accept the invitation?]
[Accept/Decline]
Apparently having selected “Accept”, his eyes slowly drifted shut.
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