Muddled thoughts trickled through my mind like a leaky faucet.
In a daze, I twitched my fingers, caught in the meaningless flow of thoughts.
With a ‘thud’, a peculiar sensation spread from the knuckle of my finger. I felt good.
At the same time, my consciousness returned. My dazed reason jolted back to life, startled by the stimulation, and I sprung up.
My legs, which had been trudging toward the dormitory, came to a sudden halt.
‘Ah.’
Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. The cruel truths I had been trying to forget crept back in.
With a sigh at the dizzying sensation, I buried my face in my hands. A wave of self-loathing washed over me.
‘Why, why did I do that?’
I had visited Hong Yeon-hwa in the hospital around lunchtime today.
I thought it would be inconvenient to go in the morning or evening, so I waited until after lunch to drop by.
I only intended to greet her briefly and hand her a scarf before heading back. I believed it was rude to linger too long with a patient.
Yet, despite my supposed etiquette, I fell asleep snugly in the patient’s arms.
I sensed my surroundings through spatial perception. The sun was starting to set, casting shadows all around.
In other words, dinner time had already passed.
I had dozed off with her until dinner and, to make matters worse, I had even eaten before leaving.
‘Kyaaaaaah…’
The immeasurable mental damage struck like a hammer to my head. My mind spun.
After handing over the scarf, Hong Yeon-hwa had suddenly started gasping for breath, going into convulsions.
At that moment, I didn’t have the luxury to think. Instinctively, I grabbed her and hugged her tight.
Just like Hong Yeon-hwa had done to me in the infirmary during the freshmen welcome day.
Luckily, the outcome was good. She returned to normal. I remembered letting out a sigh of relief.
But there was still a tinge of regret. I wondered if it would have been better to alert Ariel somehow before hugging her.
If only the curse hadn’t been there, I could’ve shouted for her immediately.
The more I spent my days like this, the more I felt the inconvenience of being voiceless.
Thanks to holograms, my words were still comprehensible, but nothing beat speaking out loud.
I had more reasons to quickly grab the necklace for my confession.
Either way.
Hugging Hong Yeon-hwa to calm her down was understandable. Although I had grabbed her, I had an excuse of it being an emergency.
But what about hugging her after hearing the secret of our bloodline (presumably)? And then why did I fall asleep like that?
I just didn’t understand. Was I truly out of my mind?
That wasn’t like me. Something felt bizarre.
If I were to speculate the reason…
‘Gop-hwa.’
I cautiously caressed my right arm.
It was when I had unleashed Gop-hwa inside the Tower. Right afterward, I had felt a surge of emotion and acted recklessly toward Hong Yeon-hwa.
It was just like back then. Emotions were running high. My thoughts grew short, and I acted impulsively.
Being driven by emotions, I exhibited impulsive tendencies.
The characteristic of a typical Gop-hwa.
Was I truly in possession of Gop-hwa? I replayed Hong Yeon-hwa’s words in my mind.
The idea that I could be a member of the Gop-hwa clan… Honestly, I still don’t know.
The ‘me’ that I think of from the original world, Lee Ha-yul.
The Lee Ha-yul from this world, which clearly exists in records.
The records indicate I have the same burn on my right arm as in the original world, and I can use Gop-hwa…
‘What the heck is going on?’
As I walked deep in thought, I quickly arrived at the dormitory.
I opened the door and stepped inside. The dorm was just as I had left it… except for one noticeable difference.
An unfortunate mound of yarn that had never seen the light of creation sat piled high in the corner of the living room.
‘I guess I should clean that up too.’
I rubbed my fingers together uselessly. It wasn’t apparent on the surface, but on closer inspection, there were traces of recent healing on my hands.
I had learned knitting during the early days of my enrollment at Shio-ram.
The fastest way to train as a Jack of All Trades is to try various skills in different fields.
So, in short moments of free time, I had been dabbling in handy techniques.
Knit and woodworking were the prime examples.
Of course, my woodworking experience was limited to crafting simple wooden sculptures.
While minor, both knitting and woodworking qualified as crafting activities, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to learn.
When I first learned, thanks to being a Jack of All Trades, I easily grasped the basics. I even made decent socks on my first try and went on to create my own scarf later.
So, I thought I should make a gift for Hong Yeon-hwa’s hospital visit…
– ‘This isn’t right.’
– ‘I messed it up too badly…’
– ‘It looks awful.’
Once I actually made it, I found it unsatisfactory. If it were for myself, I might wear it, but thinking of giving it as a gift, there were too many flaws.
Failed products piled up one by one… time melted away like ice cream.
– ‘Oh.’
After a few hours passed, I finally managed to produce a somewhat presentable scarf, and after extensively refining it, the gift was complete.
During the refinement process, I had been pricked and cut by thin lace needles and scissors.
Simple sharp tools could be withstood by toughened skin, but in my attempt to be delicate, I brought upon myself a minor calamity.
Additionally, while I was at it, I had also crammed in temperature control magic, which led to some mistakes.
What resulted was a scarf embedded with temperature control and durability enhancement magic (magic tool).
It was a legitimate crafting activity. There was absolutely no waste of time. It would come in handy when I eventually delved into alchemy and metallurgy.
I rationalized it while clearing away the strands of yarn.
That’s how the weekend ended.
…
Through the Tower of Growth, I confirmed my growth.
I had survived alone for two whole days amid the collective prowess of the talented students within Shio-ram. And I did so while my spatial perception was on strike.
Of course, it was somewhat fortuitous that I hadn’t encountered any major characters, but it stood as proof my skills had vastly improved.
A result I never dared to anticipate.
To be honest, I felt like jumping for joy. In this world, where strength was everything, becoming stronger quickly was a tremendous blessing, raising my chances of breaking the curse.
– Whoooooosh!
The number one contributor to this achievement launched a fist at me.
The sound sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter.
Even before that, spatial perception read the trajectory of the fist.
The gust of wind arrived late, brushing against my skin, reminding me of the impending attack.
Golden mana surged forth in a straight line.
Normally, linear attacks are straightforward and easy to counter.
It’s simple to read the trajectory, making it easy to devise a countermeasure.
Yet, I had been sparring with Professor Atra for nearly a month now.
I knew how unpredictable that seemingly simple punch could be.
Attempting to dodge clumsily would allow her to curve it and smash it into my jaw, while countering with mana could lead to a flurry of retaliatory punches.
I’d faced it countless times. I always pondered over it, but there were never any solid countermeasures.
It was basic simplicity. Yet, because of that simplicity, it could incorporate various changes, as taught by Professor Atra.
The only thing to do was to fight well. That was the only answer.
What I chose was to meet force with force. Mana erupted from my core, swirling around both arms. The mana activated quickly, encircling my fist.
I extended one fist. Our fists collided.
– Boom!
Right after impact, I gripped my fist tightly, feeling it tremble. The vibration traveled through my bones and up to my head.
Mana wrapped around my fist. The solid body activated by mana. The physical abilities rising by the day.
Even though I dealt with it decently, the shock was immense. Gritting my teeth, I swung my fist.
But it wasn’t only my fist that swung. My legs moved relentlessly, switching stances. Occasionally, I’d throw in a kick when a gap appeared.
Our physical levels were similar. Professor Atra was using her body as if mindful of my level.
Our skills were comparable. In the beginning, she avoided using techniques far beyond my reach.
Yet I still found myself on the ropes.
Even when I discerned her trajectory, I couldn’t react in time. Prior attacks stacked upon one another produced openings I couldn’t block.
A knee strike came flying toward my side. I quickly lowered my hands to defend.
– Crunch!
‘Ugh.’
A jolt from her knee slammed into my arms, sending a shockwave through my body.
Getting knocked back, I didn’t resist. Instead, I leapt backward, using it as momentum to create distance.
My body soared through the air. Feeling the unfamiliar weightlessness, I summoned my mana.
I let my mana radiate out, constructing spells with it.
An incredibly swift process. Shaking my arms, I released a flurry of spells simultaneously.
The ground beneath Professor Atra trembled as blades of earth shot upward.
Winds gathering around me shaped into spears and flew out in unison.
This was my first step. I once more invoked my mana, piling up spells. As my feet touched the ground, I regained my stance.
– Bang!
That was my initial plan.
Before I executed my actions, Professor Atra’s foot slammed into the ground.
The earth shook. The rising spikes faltered.
Mana surged through the ground beneath her foot. Crunch! The earthen spikes shattered like cookies scattering everywhere.
Dodging the flying debris, Professor Atra advanced with a single step.
In a heartbeat, the distance closed, and the wind spears rushed toward me. Unbothered, Professor Atra moved deftly.
The launched wind spears numbered fourteen.
I dodged nine. I deflected two with my mana-infused hand. The deflected wind spears scattered, twisting the trajectories of the three remaining ones.
As the wind spears exploded, a gust whipped through the air. Professor Atra’s hair danced wildly. Even in that commotion, her cool eyes were fixed on me.
Suddenly, those eyes were mere inches away from me. Professor Atra extended her fist with an indifferent gaze.
Caught in a clumsy stance mid-spell, I hurriedly unraveled my magic.
The ricochet of mana sent a dizzying wave through my head.
But I refused to back down; I threw my fist.
– Thunk!
That hurt.
…
“Mixing magic in close combat is good, but you need to prepare for the potential failures. Keep that in mind.”
– Nodding…
I gloomily nodded my head.
After rolling around the training hall, I was catching my breath while listening to feedback time.
During this brief break, I was cramming in what I lacked from our previous sparring session.
I lay flat on the ground, panting heavily.
‘…This is the same.’
I felt that I was rapidly growing compared to other students, but somehow, the pattern of the sparring was similar.
Initially, my peers would play fight with me at levels similar to mine.
Professor Atra would analyze my abilities with her emotionless eyes, and once she seemed done, she’d raise her skill level.
Slowly getting pushed back, by the end, I would end up utterly suppressed.
In that moment, while I nodded along to the feedback, I felt a tingle in my nose.
Then, it came rushing down.
An itch and a red line formed.
‘Ah, a nosebleed.’
It wasn’t an injury from being hit. Though Professor Atra struck hard enough to bruise, she was delicate enough not to inflict a bleeding injury.
Of course, it happened occasionally, but that wasn’t her fault; it was a result of my own mistakes.
This nosebleed was caused by me.
More precisely, it wasn’t from a punch but the backlash from my mana.
It happened because I had forcefully interrupted the spell I was casting.
Normally, if a spell’s casting is interrupted midway, the mana used can backfire and injure the caster.
Most internal injuries a magician suffers stem from such mana backlash.
Though I might sound full of myself, I handled mana well, so all I had was a minor nosebleed.
‘It tickles.’
The nosebleed trickled down my philtrum.
Just as I was about to move to wipe it away, a handkerchief appeared unexpectedly.
‘?’
The handkerchief’s owner was Professor Atra. She pulled one out from her pocket, wiping my nosebleed away.
“Lean down.”
Professor Atra pressed my head down with her other hand. As my head lowered, the blood flowed out once more.
The handkerchief tightly encircled my nose, applying pressure. It didn’t hurt. Rather, it felt oddly snug.
The perfect amount of pressure continued. Before long, the nosebleed halted.
Professor Atra released the handkerchief.
“Always be wary of mana backlash. Even if you’re not casting magic, it can occur even during simple processes of embodying mana and wielding it.”
– …Nodding
I nodded in agreement, while internally contemplating about Professor Atra.
The sparring resumed just as it had before. She provided me with various weapons and we sparred. Occasionally, we practiced bare-handed.
Intermittently, she taught me methods for handling mana and embodying it.
It followed the same routine.
Yet…
“Catch!”
[Thank you]
‘Something feels…’
Professor Atra handed me a water bottle. Accepting it, I felt a refreshing coolness in my grip.
As I watched her shake the handkerchief before returning it to her pocket, I tilted my head in confusion.
Had her demeanor softened somehow?
Just my imagination, right?
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