Episode 80 Week 5 Mentoring, In-person Battle (3)
I climbed into the teleportation magic circle with Hong Yeon-hwa.
The circular arena has also appeared in the layout test and is a terrain that will be seen quite often in the future.
However, considering that this circular arena is for three-person battles, the overall area is much larger.
Dang Gyu-yeong was standing far away across from me with his arms crossed.
Looking at the condition of Kwak Ji-cheol and Song Cheon-hye, it seems that they fought quite fiercely for a short period of time, but there was no trace of such a fierce battle in Dang Gyu-yeong.
Not only the stickers, but even the clothes are clean as if nothing happened.
That means there is a big difference in skill.
Dang Gyu-yeong opened his mouth as he looked at us.
“Get ready and come in whenever you want.”
“… … .”
Before starting, Hong Yeon-hwa carefully observed me.
Although no conversation took place, it was easy to guess what he meant because I had seen that expression before.
If possible, I wish we could fight together.
I feel burdened to ask for that,
If I fight alone without asking for favors, it seems too difficult since my opponent is a third-year student.
Since he was hesitating and unable to do either, I decided to hold the arrow keys.
“Just fight first.”
“… … Me alone?”
“… … .”
As we stared blankly in silence, Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression changed colorfully again.
– You want me to do this by myself? Really?
I became sad,
– Oh my, that guy is like that… … .
I gave up,
– But if it gets dangerous like last time, won’t you help me?
I have a glimmer of hope.
However, unfortunately for Hong Yeon-hwa, she plans to approach her first challenge passively.
‘He needs to learn something too.’
No matter how many quests there are, if I solve them all by myself, Hong Yeon-hwa will gain nothing.
It’s like applying for mentoring only to end up wasting time.
Of course, a true veteran must take into consideration the growth of a newbie.
Just like when she faced the twin trolls in the strategy battle, teamwork will be something that Hong Yeon-hwa will have to experience firsthand.
In that respect, Hong Yeon-hwa was a newbie who was ready to learn.
He started to show his fighting spirit as if he had decided to do his best regardless of whether I helped him or not.
– Flash!
The ruby embedded in the wand glowed red.
The flame magic burned brightly, and was absorbed and spread throughout Hong Yeon-hwa’s entire body, supplying energy.
[Overheat]
Although his physical abilities have been greatly enhanced, he doesn’t seem to have the confidence to engage in close combat right away.
The wand glowed red again, and a thin line of lava flowed down from its tip.
Instead of pooling on the floor, the lava lay coiled on the ground, connected to the wand, like a coiled snake.
As Hong Yeon-hwa waved the wand, it moved like a whip.
[Lava Whip]
“… … .”
Dang Gyu-yeong still didn’t move an inch with his arms crossed.
But then, two tiny shadow butterflies, which I had summoned at some point, were flying around my hand and shoulder.
As a signal, Dang Gyu-young nodded his head.
“Come and see.”
“!”
Hong Yeon-hwa immediately closed the distance.
As soon as you bring your opponent within striking range, swing your whip with all your might.
At first glance, it looks like it’s aiming for Dang Gyu-young’s torso, but its real target is probably one of the three stickers.
– Whiriliririk!
But at the last moment, when Dang Gyu-yeong raised his arm, the whip was wrapped around it.
It was like dipping your arm in lava, but Dang Gyu-yeong didn’t even blink an eye.
Hong Yeon-hwa tried to cast additional flame magic in that state, but a shadowy hand rose from under Dang Gyu-yeong’s feet and tore the lava whip apart as if clawing it.
“… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa naturally took back the whip, as if she had not expected it.
When I lightly swung the lava whip that had been shortened by half on the ground, its length returned to its original length.
– Whirlwind!
He attacks Dang Gyu-yeong again.
Dang Gyu-yeong slapped away the sword with his hand, gathering all his magical power as if it wouldn’t work the second time.
Before Hong Yeon-hwa could attack for the third time, the Shadow Butterfly counterattacked.
It’s easy to get confused by its feeble, fluttering appearance and curved path, but it’s surprisingly fast.
Just like now, in an instant, it flies right in front of your nose.
“Ugh… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa quickly stepped back and tried to swat the shadow butterfly with her whip.
But the butterfly flapped its wings and leisurely avoided the whip.
Hong Yeon-hwa quickly moved on to the next order, perhaps because she thought it would be difficult with a thin whip.
Towards covering a wider range.
The lava whip transformed into a large flame, burning the area in front, and at the same time, a handful of shadows shot out from the shadow butterfly and collided with it.
– Boom!
However, there were two shadow butterflies summoned by Dang Gyu-yeong.
The second butterfly is still following closely.
In addition, one of them is following me as I summoned it, so the number of butterflies flying around is still two.
I thought as I watched Hong Yeon-hwa taking repeated steps back.
‘This is completely messed up.’
A fact that Hong Yeon-hwa forgets because she is busy avoiding the butterfly in front of her.
What is the easiest target for a shadow sorcerer to influence?
It’s a shadow.
So, where should you be most careful when dealing with a shadow wizard?
‘Underfoot.’
“… … !”
Hong Yeon-hwa paused and lowered her gaze.
A shadowy hand rose from below and grabbed his leg tightly.
I try hard to shake it off, but it doesn’t budge.
Meanwhile, two butterflies approached me every moment.
Hong Yeon-hwa hurriedly shot a fireball.
– Boom!
One of them was somehow burned, but the other one transformed into a large shadow fist and struck Hong Yeon-hwa.
– Phew!
Contrary to the dull sound, Hong Yeon-hwa’s body flew back gently and landed softly.
He turns his head towards me and gives me a look full of complicated emotions.
If I had to be picky, it was more on the thankful side, because the moment I got hit, [Windforce] reduced the shock.
I nodded my chin to indicate that I should continue.
“… … .”
Hong Yeon-hwa sat up again and began to recite the spell, her face not knowing whether to be grateful or annoyed.
But halfway through memorizing it, he kicks the ground and leaves the place.
The next moment, the shadowy grip grabs the empty space.
After being hit once, you never let your guard down.
The key is to keep moving your feet and not stay in one place.
‘So far so good.’
Hong Yeon-hwa continued to maintain her mobility and pulled out the next card.
[Flame Arrow]
– Hururuk!
A flame rose from the wand, forming a bow shape.
He ran away from the butterflies chasing him and the hands trying to grab his ankles, took aim at Dang Gyu-yeong and fired.
-Phewing!
Dang Gyu-yeong continues to sit there with his arms crossed.
Instead, a shadowy butterfly that had been flying nearby fluttered vigorously and flew in front of the fire arrow.
– Boom!
There was a fairly large explosion of fire.
Before the explosion could even die down, a second arrow struck.
This one too was blocked by the shadow butterfly’s body, but a third one flew in.
‘When I see this, I think he is a promising prospect.’
Most magicians have to concentrate for a long time to create a single arrow, but Hong Yeon-hwa completes the next fire arrow almost as soon as she releases the bowstring.
The speed at which the arrows were fired was faster than the speed at which the shadow butterflies were replenished.
Eventually, several of them managed to break through the defenses and shoot straight at Dang Gyu-yeong, who finally uncrossed his arms and waved them away as if he was annoyed.
Hong Yeon-hwa kept shooting fire arrows in a circle at a certain distance.
‘I think I know what you mean… … .’
They probably intend to keep a close watch from a distance and then move in when they see an opening.
The only regret is that the gap in the two people’s abilities is so large that there is no room for improvement.
Dang Gyu-yeong kicked away another fire arrow and asked Hong Yeon-hwa if she was starting to get bored.
“When are you coming in?”
I gave him several handicaps, but he didn’t take off the stickers and just kept shooting magic from afar.
However, when Hong Yeon-hwa showed no intention of coming closer, Dang Gyu-yeong was the first to take a step forward.
“If you don’t come, I’ll go.”
And it shot out at a terrifying speed.
It shows a fast yet smooth gliding movement, which is the result of adding the shadow sorcerer’s unique technique to the thief’s walk.
Both are C-class, even though their ranks are limited by the bracelet.
Hong Yeon-hwa also strengthened her physical abilities through Overheat, but it was inferior to the two C-class movement techniques, and the distance between the two was shortened in an instant.
One more characteristic of the shadow magician.
The closer the shadow, the faster and stronger the influence can be.
When Hong Yeon-hwa was running away from afar, he was a beat slower in catching her with his hand, but now he was only a few steps away.
As Dang Gyu-yeong stretched his fist into the air, the shadow at his feet suddenly formed a large fist and struck Hong Yeon-hwa.
Hong Yeon-hwa hurriedly created a wall of fire to block it, but then a large foot kicked the wall away again.
The barrier shattered and Hong Yeon-hwa staggered in shock.
This time, straight shadow palms rose from both sides of Hong Yeon-hwa, and they came closer together as if clapping.
– Ouch!
“evil!”
Hong Yeon-hwa rolled backwards with a single scream.
It was because I pulled him with Windforce right before he was about to get caught in the shadow clap.
The situation was so urgent that I had to pull it roughly, rolling on the floor several times before it finally stopped.
Hong Yeon-hwa got up in a fit of anger and shouted at me,
“Slowly!!! … … Slowly… … .”
When our eyes met, his head suddenly cooled down again and he suddenly turned the volume down.
I kept rolling my eyes, wondering if he was going to take issue with my attitude just now, but I just let it go.
Because that’s not important.
‘I think it’s over like this.’
In this challenge, it seems virtually impossible for Hong Yeon-hwa to remove the stickers.
Well then, since it’s impossible,
“Try close combat.”
“… … ?”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s face turned mysteriously pale.
You want melee combat when I haven’t even gotten close until now?
On the other hand, Dang Gyu-yeong seemed pleased with my suggestion.
“Good idea. Even if you lose, you should at least try.”
Now Hong Yeon-hwa looked a little resentful.
If we interpret the expression, it is roughly like this.
– I’m the one who’s been fighting so hard so far, so why is he getting praised?
But soon, as if wondering what to do, he lets out a deep sigh, pulls himself together, and his eyes sparkle with determination.
This time, Hong Yeon-hwa took a long time to cast her magic.
If Hong Yeon-hwa, who is the fastest magician I’ve seen so far in terms of casting speed, can take that much time, then it must be a fairly high-level magic.
The physical ability increased by [Overheat] is proportional to the power of the fire magic absorbed.
So the intention is to absorb as much power as possible to increase one’s physical abilities.
Within moments, a bright flame burst out from Hong Yeon-hwa’s entire body.
“Whew,” he said, taking a deep breath and kicking the ground.
Dang Gyu-yeong waited for Hong Yeon-hwa to approach with both hands hanging down.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had come close to him, pretended to swing her fist, then reached out to Dang Gyu-yeong’s waist.
In this battle, don’t forget that your job is not to subdue your opponent, but to remove the stickers.
However, there is a prerequisite of ‘blocking or deflecting Dang Gyu-yeong’s close-range attack’.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s attacks have been strengthened by overheat, making them clearly incredibly fast.
However, it is still unfortunate that the route is simple and easy to predict.
How could a third-year student who has been through all sorts of hardships not predict that?
When Dang Gyu-yeong grabbed Hong Yeon-hwa’s wrist and pulled hard, her balance was disrupted.
Quickly correct your posture and extend your hand again.
Just as it seemed as if he was barely touching the sticker, Dang Gyu-yeong’s body spun around and moved behind Hong Yeon-hwa’s back.
Hong Yeon-hwa falls to the floor with a loud thud.
“omg.”
There was no time to get annoyed.
Hong Yeon-hwa flinched and quickly rolled her body to the side.
As if that wasn’t enough, he rolls a few more laps.
A large shadowy fist struck the spot without mercy.
– Boom! Boom! Boom!
I barely managed to get up when Dang Gyu-yeong rushed in front of me.
And from this point on, it was more like a one-sided beating.
‘He still has a long way to go.’
I clicked my tongue as I watched Dang Gyu-yeong kicking the ball around excitedly and Hong Yeon-hwa rolling around like a ball.
I think I should stop here.
If you just get beaten up without being able to put up any real resistance, you won’t learn anything and your trauma will only deepen.
He approached the two people, placed himself between them, and held out his hand.
The moment Dang Gyu-yeong was about to slap it away, his hand suddenly flipped over and grabbed Dang Gyu-yeong’s wrist.
Dang Gyu-yeong didn’t even try to pull away, but instead came closer and swung his fist.
I responded by gathering Windforce in my other hand.
The fist and palm collide,
– Bang!
We moved away from each other with a gust of wind.
In the meantime, Hong Yeon-hwa was staggering and barely able to pull herself together.
I told Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Let’s stop here.”
Then he lightly winked with the teleportation magic circle.
It means to go out.
Hong Yeon-hwa tried to rebel timidly,
“I can still do more… … .”
“… … .”
I shook my head slowly.
In fact, Hong Yeon-hwa herself must be feeling it too.
I tried every means possible against Dang Gyu-yeong, but I was no match for him. And I was able to get to this point because I helped him three times when he was in dire straits.
It was the same even considering that there were two people.
Even if the number of Hong Yeon-hwa had increased to two, the result would not have been different.
It might have been possible if we had joined forces, but he knew that in the end, he would have only become a burden.
“okay…….”
Eventually, Hong Yeon-hwa stumbled out of the stadium, and only Dang Gyu-yeong and I were left.
Dang Gyu-yeong smiled brightly at me.
“Then, shall we take a look at our junior’s skills?”
