Chapter 54: Episode 54

With the threat of mana draining from me eliminated, I began to attack. As if releasing a flood of pent-up power, my magic circles blazed with a blue light more vivid than ever before.

<Spin Guide Arrow>

<Ice Javelin>

<Fire Cannon>

<Wind Cutter>

<Earth Claymore>

Adding onto the guided arrows, a sequence of second-order spells from the four elements were released one after another. Yeon, who had just started to acclimate to the arrow attacks, was forced back on the defensive. Yet, even as the spectators marveled at my dazzling barrage, their eyes remained fixed on her.

“Hup!”

Her flame-red hair whipped through the air. Amidst the symphony of magic that saturated the arena, she swung her sword forward, undeterred. A few stray spells from the erratic directions found their mark, twisting her expression in pain, but she rapidly regained her footing. She was adapting, growing with every passing second. She glanced down at the system messages scrolling in her vision.

[Your swordsmanship has ascended to a new level for the purpose of breaking through attacks.]

[Anti-Magic Trait has reached Lv.3.]

[Heat Immunity Trait acquired.]

[Cold Immunity Trait acquired.]

[Special Stat ‘Anti-Magic’ has been unlocked.]

[Agility increased by 10.]

[Stamina increased by 5.]

[Willpower increased by 5.]

[Resistance increased by 3.]

She had never given those system notifications much thought. Every action became a trait; any power she desired was instantly granted. Growth had never held much meaning for her. But now, for the first time, she prayed with a desperate heart for more power and for faster growth.

“Raaaaaah!”

Unlike her, Yeon let out a fierce battle cry as she swung her sword. Crimson arcs of energy scattered in all directions, sweeping away the magic from every angle.

[Sword Curtain Trait acquired.]

“Hah… hah…”

She panted, and her eyes locked on me. I simply stood my ground.

Her life had been a series of effortless victories. In the beginning, she had tried to be grateful, tried to be humble, knowing that the traits she acquired so easily were a dream for others. But she had no direction, no motivation. ’Why do I need to be stronger? For what? For humanity’s mission to restore peace? For my own wealth, honor, and power? To meet the expectations of my sister and everyone around me? Then who am ‘I’?’ The questions left her confused and isolated, so she had moved forward on duty alone.

But now, one thing was crystal clear. Right now, with every fiber of her being, she wanted to defeat the man standing before her.

’Rumble!’

“Whoa.” I shrugged as I watched her. Mana pulsed around her body, and a red aura swirled so intensely that even a normal person could see it. As always, the world was bending to her will.

’This could get ugly if it drags on.’

Was this how Baphomet felt during our fight in the second-floor trial? For her, it seemed, her everyday life was a trial.

-However, the Tower Master’s growth in confronting her is also steep.

I nodded, glancing at my own notifications.

[Fire Cannon magic circle proficiency has reached 90%.]

[Mana increased by 10.]

[Stamina increased by 7.]

[Willpower increased by 3.]

[Earth Claymore magic circle proficiency has reached 60%.]

[Ice Javelin magic circle proficiency has reached 80%.]

…

-Regardless of the outcome, this battle is having a positive effect on you, Tower Master. It would be wise to challenge her to duels often.

’A player’s growth isn’t that simple,’ I thought, shaking my head. ’We’re not game characters who gain a set amount of experience for killing a specific monster. Growth has its own timing, and the differences between individuals are stark.’

-Individual differences, you say?

’A pro hunter wouldn’t feel a thing killing a rank-1 gurma. But what about a rookie on their very first hunt? To them, it’s a world-shattering, life-changing event. Can you really say their growth is the same, even if they killed the exact same monster?’

-Understood.

’And I guarantee you this,’ I thought, the corners of my mouth curling upward. ’I’ll only get to experience this feeling this one time.’

A haze of mana began to rise from my own body. I had no intention of dragging this out. Day by day, with all my heart and strength, I would build myself up, piece by piece.

’Thud-thud-thump!’

The fierce exchange continued. Yeon’s ability to adapt and grow was truly formidable. She was now deflecting my relentless bombardment, which was augmented by Ea, while simultaneously launching counterattacks in the openings. Faced with the crescent-shaped blades of energy she sent flying my way, I had to divide my focus between casting and dodging. One of them grazed my cheek, leaving a stinging cut that started to bleed.

’This is insane…!’

I was a mage, fighting a swordswoman with my specialty of long-range combat—a battle of magic versus steel. But I was the one being pushed back. She was fighting with ease, while every one of her attacks was a critical threat that could end the match. I was failing to pressure her.

’Right. This must be her specialty.’

Yeon pursued a pragmatic, stable combat style because she never had to take risks. When faced with an unknown enemy, she would analyze and adapt to their attacks until she could pull them into her rhythm and crush them. She controlled the pace of every fight, and every fight unfolded exactly as she intended.

’That’s what makes her so terrifying. If this keeps up, I’m just helping her get stronger.’

I paused my barrage and gathered mana in my arms and legs. She was a monster, but she wasn’t unbeatable.

’Time to trigger her.’

I bent my arms and legs, crouching low. The moment Yeon saw the stance, her eyes widened.

’Fwoosh!’

She charged at me furiously.

’This is definitely not her style.’

Her style was to methodically secure victory, leaving no room for even a one percent chance of failure. This reckless charge carried a significant risk. Several of my spells slammed into her armor, chipping away at the energy gauge of the mana suit underneath. At that moment, I used Accelerated Casting.

’Now!’

<Earth Claymore>

I timed it perfectly, raising the earthen blade from the ground just as she lunged in to swing her sword. She skidded to a halt, her body low, preparing to charge again, but the ground beneath her suddenly gave way.

<Mud Sail>

Her legs sank up to her knees. The mud was thick and viscous, making it difficult to escape. Just then, the new spell I had been preparing finally unleashed its power. A new, third-order fire magic.

<Fire Gate>

’Fwoooooooooooosh!’

It wasn’t a sphere of fire, but a searing, all-consuming breath of flame radiated forward. Yeon plunged the tip of her sword into the mud and once again released a massive amount of mana.

’Fssh!’

A crimson slash erupted from the ground, colliding with the flames and mud. The opposing forces canceled each other out in a hiss of steam. She gasped for breath as she finally pulled herself free.

In that brief interval…

’Click.’

I finished my chant, a sly smile playing on my lips. Black smoke was rising from my right foot.

<Devastar>

She was too stunned to speak.

Unable to hide the tension on her face, Yeon raised her sword, her body coiled and ready. I ceased all magic and simply stood there, watching her.

“WOOOOAH!”

“There it is!”

Fervent cheers erupted from the stands. The Academy students, having watched my match replays countless times, now recognized my signature move.

“…Shouldn’t you know by now?” Red mana pulsed violently from her sword. “The same technique won’t work on me twice.”

The energy enveloping her blade swirled into a vortex several meters in diameter. Holding her stance, she turned her sword horizontally, creating a defensive wall of pure force. Charging into that would be suicide.

“We’ll see.”

While she had been preparing her new technique, I had activated Devastar on my other foot as well. “It’s not very convincing when you say that with such a terrified look on your face.”

“What?!”

She bit her lip as I lowered my stance. While Devastar generated incredible physical force, its true value was in the way it achieved a near-perfect ’spatial leap,’ ignoring the laws of physics. By planting my foot on the air or the ground and activating it, I could launch myself forward by a precisely calculated ’output.’ My momentum would instantly halt upon arrival, allowing for any follow-up action.

’Activate.’ My body began to blur.

Yeon’s eyes widened, desperately trying to track my movement.

’I can do this. I’ve visualized this thousands of times. Tens of thousands of times. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.’

Her brown eyes bled scarlet as time seemed to slow down. Her Prophetic Eye had manifested. My blurring form vanished with a ’whoosh!’

She was too stunned to speak.

She felt a jolt of terror. The Prophetic Eye was useless. It was as if the world had simply skipped to the next frame. I was suddenly beside her, close enough to touch, my body twisting as I extended my leg for a kick. With no time for thought or judgment, she threw her head back on pure instinct.

’Whoooosh!’

My foot grazed her hair and sliced through the empty air.

’…I did it!’

Triumph surged through her. She had overcome it—not with the help of a trait, but through pure effort and obsession. Having narrowly dodged the attack, Yeon swung her sword. It was a motion meant to wash away all her pent-up frustration. In that instant of perceived victory, she saw my eyes through her swaying hair, and her heart stopped.

Her mind went blank.

That was not the look of a man who used his ultimate move.

My center of gravity shifted smoothly. The leg that had been aimed at her head transitioned seamlessly into a new motion. My knee bent, and my body drove into hers. Faster than her sword could complete its swing, the sole of my shoe erupted with a black shockwave.

<Devastar>

’BOOM!’

In a state of hyper-acceleration, I shot forward, dragging her with me. We flew off the stage and slammed into the protective fence. A deafening roar followed as the barrier shattered, sending fragments flying high into the air. The spectators leaped from their seats.

’Crash!’

My body bounced off the ruined fence. I tumbled across the ground for several dozen meters before scrambling to regain my footing. An instant later, Yeon was next to me with her sword in hand. Our eyes met. Just as she was about to swing at me…

“Stop.”

An academy official appeared like the wind, extending an arm to block her path. Yeon froze, struggling to halt her blade.

“The match is over.”

“…What?” she shot back in disbelief.

“Damn, you really don’t pull your punches.” I rubbed the back of my neck, acting as if my whole body ached. “We’ve both received some strange powers, but the difference between us is simple.”

“What are you talking about—!”

“You’ve never hit rock bottom.”

Yeon’s pupils trembled as she turned to look at the massive screen overhead.

“And I have countless times.”

Yeon wasn’t tenacious, devious, or cunning. She never had to be. She lacked the perspective of someone who has clawed their way up from the bottom. And she probably never would. As the Association President had said, some lessons can only be learned by rolling around in the mud.

“When… When did you—?!” she choked out, but reality was cold.

– Kim Yusin <274/1,000>

– Hong Yeon <0/1,000>

The faculty member raised his arm. “The winner of the quarter-final match is the second-year, Kim Yusin!”

“WOOOOOAH!”

A deafening roar poured in from all sides. Yeon stared blankly at the sky, then her knees gave out and she slumped to the ground.

’…Did I really lose? In a straight fight?’

Her body trembled. Her gaze drifted to me, standing there slightly off-kilter. It was the second loss of her entire life. She had accepted the first, knowing the fault was her own. But this time, she had no idea how she had lost. She couldn’t even guess when the decisive blow had landed. We were both unlicensed players and students of the Academy. What caused this colossal gap between them?

’…So there is someone… ahead of me.’

The guy before her suddenly seemed like a towering mountain. She lowered her head, overcome with an exhaustion she had never known. But as she accepted that defeat was the outcome of her absolute best effort, a strange thing happened. It didn’t feel bad.

Meanwhile, I was thinking…

’I’m alive!’ I sighed internally with relief. ’Somehow, I managed to pull it off.’

Hidden behind my back, my right hand still pulsed with black and blue mana, drawing in the surrounding air. It was a third-order spell I had mastered just for this fight: Mana Drain.

The strategy had been simple. Devastar was just a feint. I used the very move that had defeated her once before to draw all of her attention. As I grabbed her and launched us with the second Devastar, I placed my hand on her waist and used Mana Drain to draw the energy directly from the mana suit beneath her armor.

If she had been sensitive enough to feel the minuscule drain, she might have countered it. But she was a player who operated with an immense, innate well of mana, and she was wearing her custom armor over the suit. There was no way she could have detected such a tiny amount being drawn out.

In the end, the rules of an official match were simple: the winner is the one who gets their opponent’s suit gauge to zero. It had nothing to do with a real fight.

’Basically, it was a cheap shot.’

I looked at Yeon, who was still staring at me with a dazed expression. I decided against explaining. The Association President had ordered me to be a wall for her to overcome. The shock was clearly immense, but this kind of defeat was necessary for her.

Honestly, I was a little scared. The sole weakness of a prodigy had been shattered today. The Yeon of tomorrow would be a completely different person, one with a proper direction for her growth. How much stronger would she become? This might be my last victory against her, but for today, I had won. I decided not to dwell on it. I raised a clenched fist high toward the crowd, chanting my name.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOAH!”

The central gymnasium shook once more. A new, larger-than-life rookie had just arrived on the Korean hunter scene.

* * *

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