“Yoon Si-woo! It’s a fight again today!!”
“Huh? Didn’t I lose last time?”
“If we fight again… I can win!”
As always, the bold voice of the red-haired kid rings out.
“This time, all your swordsmanship has already been analyzed! So let’s fight again!!”
“Haa… alright. Helisia.”
There were indeed many peculiar individuals in his class.
There was even a student whose body was several times larger than others, causing chairs to break multiple times.
There was a small-bodied child wizard who challenged him to a fight, and there were other students, including a descendant of a great hero who looked at him with cold, silent eyes.
All of them were strong, unique, and special.
It was hard to believe that he was among such people.
However, for some reason, he was particularly strong among them.
[The trait, Tree of Creation (EX), explores the path of the great.]
[He is one who looks to the past, stands in the present, and moves the future, one who rides a four-legged beast and awakens the stars, a woman adorned with silver shining in the moon, omnipotent yet not omnipotent.]
[Passive,
“This can’t be avoided!!”
[5th-tier bombardment magic, Raheb]
As soon as they arrived at the Duel Arena, the duel began immediately.
To be honest, it felt more like light exercise, but it seemed Helisia did not feel that way.
Numerous magic circles were drawn in the sky, where lights flickered and fireballs fell.
Kwahkwahkwah!!
“Sword.”
However, despite the overwhelming heat and fragments that could hurt him, a sword suddenly appeared in his hand, deflecting all those additional effects.
[Ideal (???) takes the form of a sword.]
Moreover, Hana deftly dodged all the attacks as if she had foreseen them.
“…What the heck is that sword from last time! It deflected every attack!”
“Well.”
Yoon Si-woo himself did not know exactly what this sword was.
When he could start summoning it or why that was.
However, since it allowed him to not just win but overpower his opponent when fighting, there was no reason not to wield it.
“Something stronger?”
“Don’t get cocky…!”
Helisia slammed her staff down onto the ground in anger.
[Warning]
[6th-tier thunder magic, Kernoah]
A beam of light falling from the sky was directly aimed at him with incredible speed.
The sky brightened.
And the vision was glaring.
Kwahhhhh!!!!
Amidst the rising smoke, Helisia shouted.
“Haa…! You were too careless…!”
“Too shallow.”
As the vision cleared from the smoke.
Tap!!
His foot lifted off the ground as he charged at Helisia.
“How…?! It was definitely a direct hit!”
“The sword acted as a lightning rod.”
“What nonsense disregarding the laws of physics…!! Is your body made of rubber or something!”
Swaaaa…!
The girl bit her lip at the absurdity of it.
And the moment the tip of the sword touched Helisia, a transparent shield met his sword.
Her previously deployed defense blocked his attack.
And he could see the girl’s smile.
“You fell for it!”
At the same time, something sparkling beneath her.
[6th-tier binding magic, Compact Bind]
Swoosh!!
Hundreds of layers of bandages with the strength of steel and more than the adhesive power of spider silk surged forth, trying to wrap around his body.
“……”
A clear crisis.
But he did not panic.
[Brilliant Mind (A) is activated.]
In battle, his concentration was unaffected by traps.
Swish!!
“Uh…!”
If the bandages had the strength of steel…
Creeech!
If it could cut through steel, it should be able to be sliced.
“What the heck…!”
“That’s enough.”
Swaaa!!
And just in front of the girl, the sword stopped.
“…Go practice more.”
“Ugh…! Be grateful I didn’t use large-scale magic! I only used magic fitting for person-to-person combat because the Duel Arena wouldn’t withstand it!”
“Alright, alright, I got it. For now, I won, so I’ll be leaving first.”
“Ahhhhh!!!”
Leaving the girl’s shout behind, he exited the Duel Arena while wiping the sweat off and preparing for the next class.
Even though he could not discern the source of this power, he was using it so naturally.
Moreover, all the classes were boring, and he could not even understand why he was here doing this.
A mundane life, a mundane existence.
‘What am I living for?’ was not even a struggle in his mind.
Yet if he had to name one person who floated in his thoughts.
“Aesha.”
“Huh? Who called me?”
“Never mind.”
“By the way, just once! Just once! I won’t hold back this time!”
“Let’s do it next time.”
“Ugh…!”
‘Aesha.’
For some reason, that name lingered in his memory.
Last time, he had slightly misunderstood Hana, but this time was different.
The hideous presence that had been howling and clinging to the girl’s back had looked so dangerous that it even momentarily shook him.
He couldn’t tell if she was unaware of that being’s presence or if she was calm despite knowing; he didn’t know which it was.
All he could conclude was that the girl was not an ordinary individual.
‘It would have been nice if we were in the same class.’
It was also impossible to run into her under the pretense of overlapping schedules since she was in a much farther class than he was.
“Huu…”
Yoon Si-woo sighed, feeling something in his cramped head begin to loosen, yet it remained stuck.
[The trait, Ideal (???) is limiting your actions.]
However, with class about to start, he shook off the distractions and began to immerse himself in the professor’s words.
.
.
.
.
After a while, when all the classes were over.
“Yoon Si-woo, are you planning to go train again?”
Someone catches his footsteps heading to the training room.
“Ah, yeah.”
Turning around, he confirmed that it was someone he knew.
What he saw was someone with the same black hair as him, but she was not just an ordinary black-haired student.
A great beast, Behemoth, that almost shook the world in the past.
The descendant of the great hero who defeated it single-handedly.
She was someone anyone would want to befriend but had an expression that barely showed any emotions, making it difficult for people to approach her.
‘Hyun Seol-ah.’
“But why all of a sudden?”
“I’m curious about your swordsmanship. I want to analyze it.”
“There’s nothing particularly special to see.”
“That alone is fine.”
“Okay, it doesn’t really matter…”
Just as he was about to convey his acquiescence, a girl who was stumbling and walking far away caught Yoon Si-woo’s eye.
‘That’s…!’
And still, something was clinging behind her.
“Sorry! Something urgent just came up!”
“Uh…”
The priority had changed.
He felt a bit guilty leaving Hyun Seol-ah with her blank expression, but there was nothing he could do.
Thus, leaving her standing there, he started stealthily following behind Aesha.
‘Where is she going?’
The first place the girl arrived at was the library.
She entered a supply room with another brown-haired girl, where no one could see.
After handing something over, the brown-haired girl looked extremely pleased and placed it carefully in her pocket.
‘Drugs? No, is she trading something suspicious?’
He might have been overthinking, but seeing that hideous thing that was clinging to her made him lose his composure without realizing.
And the supply room they entered.
He thought about opening the door once, but if everything he thought turned out to be wrong… he was sure he would be questioned why he came here.
Because a defense of accidentally entering wouldn’t hold.
He tried to press his ear against the door to hear something, but the door was thicker than he thought, so he couldn’t hear well.
‘Should I open it? No… but what if something is happening inside? That’s a problem… No, more than that, this is complete psychopathy…’
While so many of him was fighting, someone came out from inside the door.
Judging by the silhouette, it must have been Aesha.
He was curious about who was inside, but for now, she was his priority.
Aesha’s walking speed didn’t seem fast, so if he followed right now, he could find out where she was going.
Yoon Si-woo himself did not even know why he was so obsessed with her.
He was just running, repeating it was merely his conviction to prepare against that grotesque something.
.
.
.
.
After finally catching up, he arrived at a building.
The door was closed, preventing him from entering, but he stood in front for several minutes, contemplating.
“Should I at least ring the doorbell…?”
However, he felt that if it became known he was following, it would be regarded even more horrifying, so he decided to memorize the house and return.
Beep! Click.
“?”
“Oh.”
He happened to run into her coming out.
Breaking the momentary silence between them, Aesha opened her mouth.
“Stalker?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it…!”
He was so flustered that he tried to salvage the situation somehow, but… to her, it really looked like the perfect situation, so he couldn’t say anything.
“You crazy person!”
Hearing the insults ringing in his ears, Yoon Si-woo couldn’t catch the fleeing girl again.
“…Haa.”
Was this what they meant when they said they craved alcohol and cigarettes they had never tried before?
A day where nothing was going right.
Yoon Si-woo’s head momentarily went blank after being scolded twice.
Moreover, he was acutely aware that he was in a situation not different from stalking, further gnawing away at his sanity.
How had it ended up like this?
[Brilliant Mind (A) will be temporarily deactivated.]
“Ugh…”
Thus, Yoon Si-woo’s mind finally crumbled.
