Episode 88 Week 5 Mentoring, In-person Battle (11)
I sat down with Hong Ye-hwa and came to some agreements.
First, Hong Ye-hwa’s request is that, for this week’s match, Hong Yeon-hwa be in charge of removing all the stickers.
If Hong Yeon-hwa’s growth continues at this rate, it will most likely end in failure, but it seems she sees meaning in taking on a difficult role.
Of course, the deal also includes a 50-point deduction from my personal battle score.
And my request is to melt the eternal iron alloy.
I hoped that Hong Ye-hwa, who was a section chief, or a pyromancer with ‘special characteristics’ would take action.
But after hearing the whole story, Hong Ye-hwa suddenly mentions her younger brother.
Hong Yeon-hwa has the ‘special trait’ I’m looking for.
– Take as much as you want and use it.
Although I haven’t asked for his/her opinion yet, I have at least received the consent of his/her guardian.
The important part is that the agreement was concluded like this.
As a little bonus, I was asked to help Hong Yeon-hwa learn as much as possible.
Handing over complete ownership of Ruby, who has a rather large ownership stake.
Since the conditions are vague and largely depend on my discretion, it is closer to a request than a transaction.
But the value of the item I received is high for that, so I plan to work for its worth.
For these complex reasons, I ended up participating in Hong Yeon-hwa and Dang Gyu-yeong’s one-on-one close combat training the next day.
It’s not like I did anything special, I just stood in a corner of the circular arena and watched the close combat between the two.
To be exact, it shows Dang Gyu-yeong using various shadow magic to beat people up, and Hong Yeon-hwa rolling around the arena in various ways.
“Ugh.”
“Ugh.”
“evil!”
I’m trying my best to avoid even one, but it doesn’t seem easy.
Soon, a large shadowy hand grabbed Hong Yeon-hwa and threw her with all its might.
Hong Yeon-hwa flew in a parabolic arc, rolled around on the ground, and fell to the ground.
Before Dang Gyu-yeong could wake up Hong Yeon-hwa again and resume the battle, he intervened and opened his mouth to speak.
“Senior.”
“Huh? Why?”
“How about changing the method a little?”
“How? How.”
“I think that combining attacks is more suitable for sticker battles.”
Dang Gyu-yeong’s beating training method is not entirely wrong.
The training method of drawing out potential by hitting indiscriminately has traditionally been effective, and I have secretly used it often.
In fact, Hong Yeon-hwa’s close combat skills have improved noticeably compared to a few days ago.
However, if I had to point out one thing that was disappointing, it would be that my skills quickly grew to only block and avoid.
Since the goal of this week’s match is to remove stickers, we need to practice attacks as well to properly balance offense and defense.
“… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face brightened as she listened from the side.
Is this the expression on the face of a traveler who has discovered an oasis while crossing the desert?
I thought I might be getting beaten up all week, or even during this mentoring session, but I think the pain will be less now that I’ve suggested a different practice.
Dang Gyu-young thought about it carefully and then threw me a sticker, as if he thought it made sense.
“Really? You try it. Just see.”
It means that I will watch how it goes and then decide whether to do it or not.
Without hesitation, I stuck the sticker on my forearm.
It would be difficult to say that Dang Gyu-yeong is good at teaching others, so it would be better for him to demonstrate as a skilled assistant at least once at first.
He pointed to the sticker and spoke to Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Come and see. I just avoid it.”
From Hong Yeon-hwa’s perspective, I am not an easy opponent, although I am not as good as Dang Gyu-yeong.
So the approaching steps were cautious.
When he got to a certain distance, he picked up speed and stretched out his hand with the sticker.
The moment my fingertips were about to touch, I cast a thief’s step and slid backwards.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been fumbling around, approached me again and extended her hand, but I had expected that and walked forward instead.
As a result, we ended up crossing each other and passing each other.
“… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa froze in place for a very brief moment, as if she was flustered.
He quickly turns his body around and quickly chants magic while snapping his fingers.
[Combustion]
– Boom!
There was a small explosion of flames for a split second, but I had already moved out of the blast radius.
In that brief moment, Hong Yeon-hwa swung her lava whip as if she had cast another spell.
I slowly leaned my body to dodge, and Hong Yeon-hwa continued swinging her whip.
‘My skills have improved.’
When I faced Dang Gyu-yeong on Monday, I aimed directly at the sticker with the lava whip.
If you’re a master of the whip, you might not know, but it was quite a risk to aim for a difficult target with a weapon of a style that you don’t normally use.
On the other hand, now I only use it as a deterrent to restrict my movements, and it looks like I’m trying to remove the stickers myself.
It is commendable that they have found a more efficient method.
‘But it’s still a long way to go.’
I feel like I’ve gained some experience in short and medium range, but I still need to practice a lot more to remove the stickers.
Hong Yeon-hwa continued to hold back, and when the distance became close, she reached out her hand again.
I gave him room to touch, but just before my fingertips could touch, I spun around and got out of range.
“Ugh… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa swings her lava whip even more violently as the medicine takes effect.
It also adds small flame magic here and there.
– Boom! Boom!
Hong Yeon-hwa approached me in various ways, targeting stickers, and I repeated the pattern of avoiding all attacks.
Dang Gyu-yeong, who was watching the scene, let out a short exclamation.
“oh…….”
“I learned a thing or two from that.”
“Avoiding that like that?”
At first, I was just watching the kids bicker and taking a break, so I was light-hearted, but seeing how much I was doing must have made me realize something, because now I was watching my every move with serious eyes.
Actually, I started off by telling Hong Yeon-hwa, ‘I just avoid things’, but a mentor doesn’t necessarily have to avoid everything.
If it were Dang Gyu-yeong, he would figure out a way to appropriately mix defense and evasion.
Whether that method works or not will be something Song Cheon-hye or Gwak Ji-cheol will have to experience firsthand.
* * *
When I came out of the arena after finishing today’s mentoring,
Hong Yeon-hwa looked like she had lost half her soul.
Even though the stickers were like that, I thought the fire magic that was used as a deterrent would hit me a few times, but it didn’t even touch me until the end.
I feel like I’m overcome with a sense of inferiority, wondering if my skills are really that good.
On the one hand, the gaze looking at me was full of fear.
If in the past the magic was blocked by ‘something’ and wouldn’t go in, I just realized one more thing through the one-on-one duel.
The fact that if I put my mind to it, it’s possible for things to not work out at all.
If we look at someone’s expression and guess what they’re thinking,
‘Such a monstrous human being… … .’
It seems like he doesn’t want to stay near me for one reason or another.
He rolled his eyes and looked at me,
“Then I’ll go and… … see?”
Trying to get out of the place quickly.
But I can’t just let them run away.
I still have work to do.
“Hong Yeon-hwa.”
When her name was called, Hong Yeon-hwa’s movements suddenly stopped as if someone had grabbed her by the back of the neck.
He slowly turns his head and asks.
“Why, why, me… … ?”
“Let’s go somewhere together.”
“Together? Where… … ?”
The color is already draining from my face.
As if my destination was a place I couldn’t go.
I feel like if you try to drag them along blindly, they’ll probably run away, so I feel like I need to give them a little explanation and motivation.
“I heard you have [Aqua Flame].”
“Did you hear from your sister?”
This was the very characteristic that Hong Ye-hwa had been asked to have in order to melt the eternal iron alloy.
Aquaflame.
This is a trait that only appears in a very small number of pyromancers.
Even in the Hong family, a prestigious family of Ruby Tower, it is rarely inherited.
A pyromancer with this trait will have an overwhelming advantage over all water and ice attributes.
It becomes possible to ignite flames from the depths of the ocean, and can even inflict damage while ignoring the opponent’s water attribute defenses.
It is a powerful trait in and of itself, as its rank rises above a certain level and it can have some influence on defensive measures other than water attributes.
It is said that this trait had a significant influence on Hong Yeon-hwa receiving the title of promising player at Mataphoe.
There’s just one problem,
“You said that growth stopped at E-rank.”
“… … I heard that too.”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s complexion darkened.
There was also a hint of irritation towards her older sister who taught her embarrassing facts.
It’s rare to find a trait as powerful as Aqua Flame.
However, even such a powerful trait is useless if the rank is low.
I heard that Hong Yeon-hwa’s Aqua Flame has been stagnant at E-rank for a long time.
He said that he tried every means possible to break through, but there was no way, so he gave up halfway.
It was a perfect situation for me.
“If there is a way to break through D-rank?”
“What? Really?”
“okay.”
Hong Yeon-hwa came close and started asking questions.
“Can you really break through it? Aquaflame? Not some other trait? How?”
I was so excited that I forgot that the other person was me.
It’s exciting to know that you’ll get the answers you’ve been longing for and searching for for so long.
Still, it seemed better to give an explanation after calming down a bit.
I closed my mouth for a moment and stared blankly, then Hong Yeon-hwa came to her senses and took a few steps back.
He seemed to have regained some sense of reason, so he opened his mouth again.
“Basically, the rank of skills and traits increases every time you pass the wall set by the system. You probably know this.”
“Yeah, it’s common sense.”
“And depending on the unique nature of the skill, the type of wall you have to overcome will vary. You know that too.”
“Yeah, I know that too.”
Take [Strength] as an example.
Since it is a trait that greatly increases strength, the wall that must be overcome is ‘moving a heavier target that is difficult to move even with the current rank.’
In the same context, to overcome the wall erected by [Aqua Flame], which has strong penetration power against water and ice attributes, it is necessary to
“You just have to burn the target with strong cold air using fire magic… … If you do that, you’ll get stuck at E-rank.”
“……that’s right.”
Wouldn’t Hong Yeon-hwa have tried that method?
I tried my best, but it didn’t work.
I tried in many ways because I thought I had to overcome another wall, but I failed every time and got to where I am now.
“There’s nothing wrong with that method. It’s not like you have to go over another wall.”
“okay?”
Hong Yeon-hwa is half-hearted.
My tone is full of confidence, so it sounds right, but isn’t that why I’ve been at E-rank up until now?
My explanation continued.
“If you have the right direction but are not getting results, there are two reasons: either you lack quality or you lack quantity.”
If we compare it to Aqua Flame, the level of the target being burned is too low, or you did not burn enough to raise the rank.
“… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa was silent for a while.
It seemed like he was comparing what I had said with his own memories.
I asked Hong Yeon-hwa like that.
“Tell me what you used when you made the ranked work.”
“Ice golems, ice crystals, and… … .”
Several ice attribute monsters and materials were mentioned.
Since he must have borrowed the power of his family to get it, his level was pretty good.
but,
“Even if you use that, you won’t have much training time.”
“that’s right.”
In front of Aqua Flame, everything melts and disappears in an instant.
If you try to take a long time to practice, you won’t be able to take it.
It is not possible to pour in ice attribute materials endlessly like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
At the time, I wasn’t even sure if it would work.
That is why the offer I was about to make was one that Hong Yeon-hwa could absolutely not refuse.
“What if there was an item that had strong cold resistance but didn’t melt easily?”
“… … !”
Because you will definitely be able to grow Aqua Flame.
“Is there really such a thing?”
Hong Yeon-hwa asked back, but instead of answering the question, I kept my mouth shut and started walking.
Hong Yeon-hwa followed me around as if possessed by something.
