As I opened the front door to head to the training grounds, Yeoreum grabbed my tail.

“What’s up?”

I asked, flicking just the tip of my tail, my eyes questioning.

“Gyeoul, can you help me out today? I’ll pay you for your time,” she proposed.

“Yes, but you don’t need to pay me,” I responded, having declined the offer because I had already received much assistance from her.

“No, it’s difficult work, and you should be properly compensated.”

Yeoreum insisted, shaking her head firmly.

“Is it really that difficult?”

I wondered.

If it was tough by her standards, it would be nearly impossible for me.

What exactly was she asking that made me so anxious?

“I could use some help with my training,” she explained.

“Training…?”

“Yes. You’re used to fighting without mana, Gyeoul. I’d like you to teach that to me.”

“Oh…”

It dawned on me then.

Perhaps she began developing various strategies after the horned rabbit dungeon.

I could see why she sought my help.

“Okay. Let’s train together.”

“Thanks for helping,” she smiled.

“I’m glad to help too,” I replied, a wave of joy making my tail wag, albeit awkwardly since Yeoreum was still holding it.

Yet, this wasn’t so bad.

“I’ll get ready and come back. Can you wait a bit?”

“Yes.”

While waiting, I considered the training content.

Sitting on the sofa, I pondered the methods, waiting for Yeoreum to return.

‘Maybe changing the weapon first would be good?’

Yeoreum was a swordsman, but a sword without mana was useless.

A long-range weapon like a bow would be better.

‘Maybe a gun would be better,’ I mused, aware that a gun was a weapon that anyone could learn easily, and several were available at the training ground.

As I planned a curriculum tailored for Yeoreum, she finished preparing and approached me.

“Gyeoul, I’m all set. What should we start with?”

“Let’s go to the training ground first.”

“Okay.”

Together, we took the elevator directly down to the underground training grounds—a private space not shared with others.

“Here,” I said, handing her a gun that was prepared at the training ground.

She accepted the gun with a skeptical look.

“It’s a gun?”

“Yes. When you’re out of mana, a gun is best,” I explained.

In a world where guns were considered weak weapons, I fully understood her hesitation.

“It might be hard to believe, but consistent practice with shooting will be beneficial.”

I assured her.

“Okay. I’ll trust you since it’s Gyeoul saying this.”

Her trust was both joyful and embarrassing to me.

Yeoreum examined the gun closely and then approached me.

“Gyeoul, could you spar with me?”

“Spar…? Me…?” I hesitated.

“Yes. Of course, I’ll be fighting without mana,” she added.

“Um… okay.”

I agreed, intrigued by the idea of honing her sensation of fighting without mana.

Though sparring was scary, I had no reason to refuse.

I decided to fight alongside her.

—

—

Gyeoul stepped onto the sparring ground, facing Yeoreum across it, with Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk serving as referees.

“A protective barrier is up, so you won’t get hurt.”

“Okay.”

Gyeoul, feeling alert, observed Yeoreum’s readiness.

Her gaze lingered on the gun and sword— Yeoreum was equipped for both close and long-range combat.

‘She has two types of weapons.’

She noted, finding it curious that she was evaluating her armament given her lack of strength.

Ding-!

The bell signaled the start of the spar.

Gyeoul immediately began dashing erratically around the training ground, switching directions frequently to prevent accurate targeting.

“What the…?”

Yeoreum was shocked as she watched Gyeoul dash around unpredictably.

Gyeoul’s speed was astonishingly fast, having left only the minimum amount of mana necessary to protect her life, making it impossible for Yeoreum to aim.

‘Is this what it feels like to have no mana?’

No, it must be even more miserable than this since she was still retaining a minimal amount of mana.

How has Gyeoul managed to live like this up to now?

Biting her lip, Yeoreum aimed her gun at Gyeoul’s anticipated path.

Bang! Bang!

Her accuracy was dismal, possibly because she had never used a gun before.

The bullets didn’t come anywhere close to Gyeoul, who seemed to have anticipated every movement of the gun’s barrel.

‘I can’t win this.’

Maybe Saebyeok, who focused on physical strength, could have hit her.

Gyeoul, with all her agility, was simply too hard to hit.

“Go Gyeoul! Give her a good one.”

Yeoreum’s friends cheered her on, though their enthusiasm seemed deliberate.

‘Just one hit’

Yeoreum thought, exhaling like a sniper about to pull the trigger.

At that moment, Gyeoul, who had been moving chaotically, shot an arrow.

“……!”

As Yeoreum realized what had happened, the arrow had already struck her squarely in the stomach.

With no mana, it was impossible to read the movements.

The arrow, though blunt, did not penetrate, but the energy it carried was directly converted into pain.

“Ouch…”

It hurt considerably. There should have been a protective spell, so why the pain?

Unprepared for the shock, Yeoreum collapsed, casting a resentful look towards Jung Yu-na.

“Is the protective spell only meant to prevent death?”

“That, that’s…”

“You should have told me sooner.”

Yeoreum groaned as she rubbed her stomach.

“Getting hit without mana is not something I’m used to.”

The pain felt strangely different, like the difference between the spiciness of wasabi and gochujang—a completely unique kind of pain.

This unfamiliar pain was the reason Yeoreum had collapsed, clutching her stomach.

“Are you okay…?”

Gyeoul approached timidly, her white ears and tail drooping.

“Yeah…”

Yeoreum exhaled deeply to overcome the pain, realizing this was the pain Gyeoul had endured—a pain unknown to anyone else.

How had she endured it when she was gutted last time?

“Gyeoul! You won!”

Jung Yu-na, who had come up to the sparring platform, hugged Gyeoul, lifting her like an airplane, raising and lowering her repeatedly.

Gyeoul’s tail swished back and forth.

It wasn’t particularly fun, but reflexively, she stretched her limbs out like a flying squirrel.

“Yu-na, could you use some healing magic on me…?”

“Now that the sparring is over, you can use mana, right?”

“Oh.”

Right, that was an option.

Yeoreum immediately summoned her mana.

The unfamiliar pain transformed into a familiar one, something she could endure.

“Gyeoul really fights well. I stood no chance against her.”

Yeoreum said as she stood up and stroked Gyeoul’s head.

Choi Jinhyuk, who had come over, nodded.

“Really, how do you fight like that? Are you a genius?”

“Didn’t you know Gyeoul is a genius?”

“Um…”

Blushing from the praise of the three adventurers, Gyeoul just wished for this embarrassing moment to end.

—

—

Thump-thump—

Even long after the sparring had ended, my excited heart hadn’t settled.

‘I can’t fight against people.’

It was just a sparring match, but I was so tense.

If it were a real fight, my heart might just burst.

“I need a break.”

I settled on a bench near the pond to relax.

Levinas and Saebyeok came running over to me.

“King!”

“Levinas.”

Levinas approached, holding an ice cream.

She took a bite from her cone and then offered a bite to Saebyeok, who was next to her.

“Did you buy ice cream?”

“Yeah!”

Saebyeok took a bite and then handed it to me.

I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I didn’t want to dismiss her thoughtfulness.

Yum.

When I bit into the ice cream, long fang marks appeared on its white surface.

Levinas looked down at the ice cream with her eyes wide, like those of a horned rabbit.

“The King’s teeth are sharp!”

“Must be because I’m carnivorous.”

“Whoa…! Should Levinas become a carnivorous horned rabbit too?!”

“If you go carnivorous, you’d have to eat meat instead of carrots, right?”

“Then, I guess I’ll just stay herbivorous…!”

Startled, Levinas sat down next to me.

Saebyeok laid a small cushion on the bench, sprawled on it, and began to doze off, her head resting on my thigh.

Purr-purr-purr-purr—

Saebyeok made a purring sound, sounding just like a real cat, which was somewhat cute.

“Saebyeok is purring.”

“Yeah! Just like King!”

“Me, me…?”

“I make purring sounds like a cat?”

I don’t remember doing that. I looked at Levinas with bewildered eyes.

“Whenever someone pets you while you’re asleep, you purr! Levinas rocked you to sleep yesterday and you purred!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! But why do you purr?!”

“Um… I’m not sure.”

I actually knew that cats purr when they’re happy.

Maybe my body just relaxes and purrs on its own when I’m asleep.

“Really?!”

“Uh, yeah…”

I felt unusually embarrassed and absentmindedly scratched my cheek.

“Should Levinas learn to purr too?!”

Saying that, Levinas tried to take another bite of her ice cream.

Screech!

If only a certain ‘bird’ hadn’t swooped down and snatched the ice cream.

“……?”

Only the bottom of the broken ice cream cone was left.

Levinas blinked, not understanding what had happened.

“What happened…?”

“A bird stole it.”

“What…!”

Startled, Levinas looked up at the sky.

Right above us, a bird I had never seen before was circling, holding the stolen ice cream in its beak.

Its mocking movements seemed to taunt us.

—

This is a bonus! Thank you Clone Trooper!

With this, I only 5 more bonus chaps…

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