The mont our eyes t, Yeon bolted.
’What does she want from ?’ Provoking , spying on , and now running away? I chased after her.
’She’s gone.’ When I reached the spot where she’d been, I found only an empty lot behind the gym.
’Ea! Track that red-haired girl for .’
-Departing in the ten o’clock direction. She is moving at incredible speed.
So she wants to play, does she? I summoned and activated Leaf Boots under my feet and soared into the sky.
’Whoosh!’
A cold wind rushed past. In an instant, I was high enough to see the gym’s roof, looking down on the people passing below.
-Shortest route secured. That way.
’On my way.’
I stepped on the mid-air shields Ea deployed, leaping over several buildings before landing back on the ground. I had covered several hundred ters in the blink of an eye.
-The target is around the corner.
’Okay.’
I stealthily peeked around the corner.
It was almost embarrassing that I’d gone to the trouble of tracking her. Yeon was sitting there with a peaceful expression, as if nothing had happened. At her gesture, a stray cat was wriggling out from a narrow gap.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
My appearance startled the cat, and it ran off. Yeon let out a disappointed, “Ah.”
“Can we talk for a mont, Ms. President?”
At my words, she stood and approached hesitantly, putting on an act like a nervous freshman summoned by a senior.
It was all an act.
“Why do you keep spying on ? If you have sothing to say, say it now.”
She lifted her head, her eyes eting mine. “...Curiosity.”
The atmosphere around her changed in an instant.
“I heard your Unique Ability changed recently. It’s not widely known, but it’s the first case in Korea.”
’Aha. So that’s what this is about.’
“Your new ability is a mana manipulation type. A power that uses mana to cause a wide range of supernatural phenona.”
“You’ve done your research.”
“But,” she said, turning her head to avoid my gaze, “seeing it today, it doesn’t seem all that impressive...”
’...Damn it.’ She was provoking again.
“If you were disappointed, you could have just moved on. Why keep spying?”
“Actually, there’s sothing I was personally curious about.” I flinched. Her deep, dark eyes, which seed to pull you in, stared straight at . Her gaze was unmistakably fixed on my right eye—the one with the contact lens. “About how you ca to possess that power.”
’...How should I take this? Does she know sothing?’
“If you’re that curious about another person’s hand,” I said, eting her gaze without flinching, “shouldn’t you show yours first? Right?”
After staring at my face in silence, she finally looked away. “My apologies.”
Despite having shown her fangs, she went back to playing the part of a polite first-year, bowed, and turned away. I thought she was leaving, but she didn’t go far. Instead, she sat on a nearby bench and watched .
“Is there sothing else?”
She pointed. “Weren’t you about to start practicing your Swing?” Her finger was aid at the ball bulging in my pocket.
“...Fine. You can watch .”
To be honest, I was a little inspired by her thod. If a move like that counted toward the record, I’d show her what I could do. I equipped Gauntlet on my right hand and tossed the ball into the air.
’Ready, Ea?’
-Ready!
I grinned and threw a punch. ’Pow!’ With a burst of blue sparks, the ball shot forward in a straight line. I raised my index finger.
A spear of frost erupted from the ground, knocking the ball high into the sky. And waiting in the sky where the ball ascended was a series of magic circles I had created with Ea’s precise calculations.
The spears of ice and shields appearing in the sky at my command continuously deflected and twisted the ball’s trajectory. From a distance, it looked like a ga of pinball, with the ball zipping and bouncing around endlessly. While Yeon stared blankly at the spectacle, I brought the ball down for the finish.
’Thwack!’
The ball slamd into the ground between us, creating a fierce gust of wind. I walked over and picked it up. “Well, it’s more accurate to asure this with the proper equipnt, but the reading on the ball itself is...”
The ball’s self-asured value was 389,452 PHH.
Seeing it, Yeon slowly broke into a smile. She stood up from the bench and strode toward .
“Yusin.”
“...What?”
“It seems this won’t settle things.” She grinned. “If, by any chance, I were to challenge you to a duel, would you accept?”
* * *
I returned to the Magic Tower.
A duel request? Of course I refused. I was busy enough as it is. She was an interesting person, but clearing the third-floor Trial was my priority.
“Welco back, Yusin!” Bora waved as I entered the Magic Tower.
“I’m challenging the boss tonight,” I announced.
She flinched. “Isn’t that too soon? Devastar is—!”
“It’s solved. I got an important hint.”
In the end, I was glad I went to the academy. I’d realized sothing from today’s class and my encounter with Yeon. During the swing test, my thinking had been too one-dinsional. I had to throw the ball, so I just threw it. But seeing what Yeon did allowed to break free from that linear mindset. As always, enlightennt doesn’t co from grand contemplation but pops up in a single mont of everyday life.
The point was that I didn’t have to do everything at once.
“I’m ready.” The hint I’d gotten was the division of the magic circle.
* * *
[Moving to the save point.]
I stepped onto the portal to the third floor again and entered the trial. When I opened my eyes, everything was exactly as I had left it: the shattered black golem, the massive skull shape still etched on the wall. I looked back and saw that the blue save point portal was gone, leaving only the green exit portal. It seed I only got one save.
“Then there’s even less reason to back down.”
-Are you certain you will be all right, Tower Master?
“I’m fine. I’m confident.”
In the end, the problem was Devastar. If I could perfect this skill, I was sure I could defeat whatever monster appeared as the boss. I walked toward the black portal leading to the boss room.
[Moving to the Trial’s final boss room.]
[Once you enter the boss room, you cannot leave.]
[Do you wish to enter the boss room?]
’Haah.’ Taking a deep breath, I steeled my resolve. “Enter.”
Once again, my body was sucked into the darkness. This was the most nerve-wracking mont of the trial. I calmly waited for my vision to return.
’VROOOOOM!’
After a loud noise reminiscent of an engine, my surroundings slowly began to light up, starting from my position.
The mont the light filled the dark temple, I gasped. A giant eye was embedded in the far wall. The trembling eyelid, the wrinkles, even the blood vessels were so realistic that it was horrifying. Disgusting optic nerves clung to the eye, branching out in all directions. And above all else...
’Slither, slither.’
’Slither, slither.’
Hundreds of tentacles of indeterminable length were undulating through the air.
“Good thing I didn’t eat before coming here.”
-How horrifying.
Ea and I shared our impressions as I gathered my mana. I had to defeat that thing to escape.
“Any information on the monster?”
-Search complete. Na: Elder Tentacle. Rank: Unknown. Records indicate it was discovered in the ancient ruins of the Great Desert, where it preyed on adventurers and rchants. It attacks by whipping its hundreds of tentacles or stabbing with them like spears.
“Alright. First, let’s test if magic works on it.”
I imdiately created and fired five Spin Guided Arrows. The irregularly rotating mana arrows all struck the Elder Tentacle’s pupil. But the mont they touched its soft eye, they simply bounced off like toys hitting a cushion and clattered to the floor.
-As expected, it’s ineffective.
“Hmm.”
It seed the immunity to magic attacks was a the throughout this Trial. If so, then Devastar was the only answer.
The boss monster, having now detected an intruder, began its attack.
’ROOOAR!’
The sight of hundreds of tentacles surging toward was chilling. Despite the considerable distance, they stretched to reach . I had no choice but to stop chanting Devastar and throw myself aside.
’CRASH!’
A tentacle from above slamd into the floor, leaving a deep crater. Its power was no joke. I tried putting up a shield, but as expected, it shattered without buying any ti. I narrowly dodged attacks from both sides by bending backward, then used a Leaf Boot that Ea had just completed to leap away.
“Ugh!”
The mont I landed to catch my breath, tentacles rained down from above.
’Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!’
I moved frantically to avoid the storm of attacks. At this rate, I couldn’t possibly cast a high-order magic circle like Devastar.
-Tower Master! Are you alright?
“Yeah.” I pushed myself back, scraping the floor, and looked up. The Elder Tentacle fought like , overwhelming its opponent with sheer numbers. But still...
“This is more manageable than I thought.”
-...Pardon?
It ca at from the front, then aid at my head. I tilted my head, and a tentacle flying like lightning grazed my cheek. Again, from the front and side. I kicked off the ground to dodge one, then planted my foot on a mid-air shield and tumbled in the opposite direction. Two tentacles sliced through the space where I had been.
’Whoosh!’
As soon as I landed, I bent my back to an extre degree. A tentacle cut through the empty air. As I straightened up, panting, countless status windows popped up.
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
-Tower Master! How...!
“It’s manageable once you see the pattern.”
The hundreds of tentacles were certainly a threat. They weren’t slow, nor were they weak. But their patterns were fixed: they either whipped or stabbed. In other words, it was hundreds of the sa attacks repeated very quickly. If I could predict them, I could dodge them by actively using the space around .
’Slither, slither, slither.’
’Slither, slither, slither, slither.’
The boss increased its attacks. Over thirty tentacles were now rushing . I activated the Sage’s Eye, read their trajectories, and placed four shields in the air. Then I threw myself forward.
’Thwack! Crash! Crash!’
I jumped frantically, stepping on the shields in mid-air. Tentacles waited in the air too, but by using Leaf Boots to escape, I could shake off dozens at once.
From the front, it’d whip.
From the right, it’d try to stab.
From above, a stab would co down.
My body began to dodge the attacks in a trance-like state. This was a truly special experience. The more the tentacles threatened , the more my agility rose and my experience grew. Each subsequent attack beca easier to dodge. As these crises and experiences piled up, the unnecessary movents in my own actions began to disappear.
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[You have acquired the trait: Predictive Evasion.]
’Finally!’
I finally got my first physical trait. Since I was already in this Trial, I was going to squeeze every last drop of potential out of this boss fight.
* * *
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