“...!”
Go Hyeonwoo’s face twitched nonstop.
Now that he had drawn so close to Wind God, the force bearing down on him had to be enormous.
Even so, he did not give up. He kept reaching forward, and just as his fingertips barely seemed about to touch the hilt—
...
The raging storm and sword energy vanished as if washed away, and silence fell over the training room.
Then, the next instant, a compressed wave of force centered on Wind God exploded outward.
KWAAANG—!
Go Hyeonwoo flew clear across the training room and slammed into the far end with a thunderous crash.
Han Somi went pale and kicked off the floor.
“Go Hyeonwoo!!”
“Khng...”
Go Hyeonwoo staggered back to his feet.
Judging by how pale he looked, he had taken a pretty serious hit.
I should heal him first.
[You use ‘Grant.’]
[You grant ‘Retrocovery’ to the target.]
Go Hyeonwoo cleaned up in an instant, let out a breath, and looked at me.
“My thanks, Kim hyung.”
“Don’t mention it. You really have improved, though. If you got that close, you were practically there.”
“Even I did not expect it. I just kept advancing in something like a half-trance, and before I knew it, I had reached that point.”
Han Somi looked back and forth between us and jumped into the conversation.
“That’s so frustrating! You were almost there!”
“Haha, perhaps it went even better thanks to Lady Han’s cheering.”
“Reaaally? It wasn’t bad luck, right?”
“How could it be? I did not take on the challenge with absolute confidence that I would succeed in the first place. I only wished to measure my own growth.”
It was by no means easy to push through that onrushing sword energy barehanded.
Still, considering Wind God was no ordinary divine sword, we had expected there would be something more after that.
And there had been.
Even after repeated failure, Go Hyeonwoo radiated a positive aura as he said,
“At least I cleared one major obstacle, so the summit no longer feels that far away.”
“You’re probably right. There should only be one or two patterns left at most.”
I nodded in agreement.
Since the minimum condition had been [Core] A-rank, it was unlikely the challenge had been designed to be so difficult it was basically impossible.
Which meant if he could endure that wave of force from just now, and maybe the attack after that, the inheritance challenge would be over.
It was not as easy as saying it out loud, obviously, but if he kept at it, then someday—
Go Hyeonwoo turned his gaze toward the other end of the training room.
Then, as if making a promise to Wind God, and also a vow to himself, he said,
“Next time, I will face it not as a measure, but with certainty.”
*****
While Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi were running toward Wind God’s inheritance, Song Cheonhye was also pushing through her Challenge Austerity without rest.
KANG—!
Every time she took a pot shot to the head, another sizable lump swelled up, but instead of discouraging her, it seemed to act as a stimulant, because she was growing faster than expected.
In just a few days, she had successfully increased [Lightning Rod] to four and was maintaining them stably.
As expected, humans are creatures that grow the more you beat on them.
Another victory for the Kim Ho Squeaky Hammer Theory.
At this pace, seven—the condition of the quest—would not take long.
Seo Ye-in, for her part, did not stubbornly stick to the pot alone. Sometimes she switched to the mana gun and fought with that instead.
To raise her overall rank and proficiency.
And while everyone was growing by leaps and bounds, I was running around taking care of other business.
I stopped by the magic engineering workshop and taught Bong Jaeyeong how to assemble the 10x10x10 three-dimensional blueprint.
I also briefly met once each with Zhuge Yeongyeong from the Swordsmanship Club and Gwak Seungjae from the Discipline Committee.
And now, taking a short breather, I was having coffee time with Dang Gyu-ri on the second floor of the campus store.
“...”
For some reason, their lips had been stuck out in a pout ever since we met.
They narrowed their eyes at me, then opened their mouth.
“You tiny baby sovereign.”
“Yes, noona.”
“These days, my dissatisfaction keeps growing more and more.”
“Then it would benefit both of us if you got it out of your system before you leave. Please, speak freely.”
When I answered in grand-hero mode, Dang Gyu-ri pouted again and shot me a sidelong glare.
Still, maybe they had decided they could not keep sulking forever, because they brought up the [Bond - Shared Traits] window.
Then they pointed to [Elemental Resistance] at the very bottom.
“You said you’d register that later.”
“I did.”
There had been chances the whole time, but I had postponed it at Dang Gyu-young’s request.
So they could fight Song Cheongi by skill against skill, without my help.
“Then tell me why you went ahead and did it already.”
“First, I was wrong to do it without discussing it with you first. Sorry.”
“It’s nice to see you admit fault so quickly. Now let’s hear the reason.”
“As you know, hasn’t the chance of seeing Senior Song again become extremely slim?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Dang Gyu-ri slowly nodded.
Because of Song Cheonhye’s tutoring issue, they still exchanged updates with Song Cheongi now and then, and apparently Song Cheongi had taken on important responsibilities in both the Mage Tower Association and the Topaz Mage Tower.
They said Song Cheongi had been terribly busy, constantly running back and forth.
“But it’s awkward to suddenly say, ‘Let’s fight one round.’ And I don’t really have any reason to go over to the Topaz side either.”
“That’s true too.”
“And now I can beat Song Cheongi even without [Elemental Resistance].”
My ability had not grown by an ordinary amount.
But Dang Gyu-ri still kept their brows knit.
“I get it, but it still feels like a letdown. It also kind of feels like I’m just winning in my head. I haven’t even gotten a proper feel for it yet.”
“You’ve still got chances to get that feel. There’s Senior Oh, for one. And Namgung sunbae is still at school right now too.”
Neither of them were elemental-type fighters, so Dang Gyu-ri could face them regardless of Bond.
And Namgung Changcheon had already openly shown competitive spirit when they met and had even handed over a sparring ticket.
Meaning if they wanted, they could go pick a fight anytime.
Seeing Dang Gyu-ri looking at least a little tempted, I kept explaining.
“And we can’t wait forever either. Bond isn’t just between the two of us.”
“Can’t it just be the two of us? Kick everyone else out.”
“You know better than that. Why are you acting like this?”
“I’m just saying.”
Dang Gyu-ri lightly nudged me for no reason.
At the very least, it meant they had calmed down enough to tease me, so I naturally played along and said,
“We can’t just let it sit there and rot forever. Then everyone loses. Please understand.”
“Well, that’s true. We don’t know what might happen going forward.”
Dragons were already appearing all over the place and spraying breath attacks around.
Someday, one of them might invade Dungeon Island, or fly into a site where we were handling an outside request later on.
If that happened, whether or not you had [Elemental Resistance] could decide whether you lived or died.
And when clearing related dungeons, it would dramatically increase stability.
Normally, A-rank was something you were supposed to challenge only after building up more skill, but if it was an elemental type, it was enough to make it feel realistically possible.
Once I had explained that far, Dang Gyu-ri’s dissatisfaction about Bond seemed more or less resolved.
But judging by the way their eyes were still narrowed, it looked like they had other complaints left.
They sipped their coffee, then kept flicking the disposable straw with their fingers and spoke as if in passing.
“According to a trustworthy source, you went to the entertainment district over the weekend without me.”
“There are still sources left?”
After re-enrolling, they should have basically become strangers to the Thief Club too.
Dang Gyu-ri slapped the table.
“I have my ways. And I’m the one asking the questions! Isn’t it hurtful that you all went out and had fun without me?”
“Seo Ye-in said they wanted to hang out with just me. If they used a wish coupon for it, I had to grant it.”
“If that were true, then why did Song Cheonhye join you?”
I paused for a second, then asked casually,
“Was that trustworthy source maybe Ms. Seo?”
“Yeah. I asked directly.”
“You people are close.”
So apparently they talked among themselves too.
Dang Gyu-ri slapped the table again.
“I said I’m the one asking the questions! Why are you all the ones going out together?”
“Song What’s-Her-Name joining us wasn’t in our plans either. We just had to drag her along. She took the wrong medicine.”
“...Medicine? That?”
“Yes. That.”
At this point, rumors about [T.E.B - 001] had already spread throughout all of Dragonslayer Academy.
And since Dang Gyu-ri had once been the head of the Thief Club, they were bound to be well informed.
They immediately leaned in with curiosity.
“What happened after she drank it?”
“She got nice. Very nice.”
“Got nice? Explain in detail.”
“Not too much detail.”
No matter how much I liked teasing people, for Song Cheonhye it was still firmly a black-mark memory.
It would not be polite to spread it all over the place.
So when I gave a rough account of what had happened that day, interest rose on Dang Gyu-ri’s face.
“...Those side effects really are all fascinating.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“What would happen if I drank it?”
“No clue. I can’t picture it.”
Dang Gyu-ri seemed to think for a moment, then leaned toward me with a mischievous smile.
“Next time, if I come over and say I want to ‘continue,’ just assume it’s a side effect.”
“That’s just completely normal Gyu-Gyu behavior.”
“You’re supposed to read the room and pretend you don’t know!”
With that, they lifted my arm and bit down on it.
I stared at them in disbelief and asked,
“And why this time?”
“Just because I felt like biting you.”
“Could you at least bring a reason? Show the bare minimum of sincerity.”
“I’m telling you, wanting to bite you is the reason.”
“Then this really can’t continue. I can’t take it anymore either.”
“...?”
I lifted Dang Gyu-ri’s arm in the same way and lightly bit it.
They flinched and raised their eyes wide.
“No, what is this?”
“I just felt like biting you too. Give me your arm.”
I answered while baring my teeth a little like a vampire.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a bite for a bite.
I intended to try a little mirror therapy.
Dang Gyu-ri blinked blankly for a while, then slowly lifted the corners of their mouth.
They undid two or three of the top buttons of their shirt, exposing the nape of their neck and one shoulder.
“Well, nothing to be done, then. Go ahead and bite here too.”
“You’re pressing the accelerator harder?”
“Everywhere. Leave bite marks.”
It seemed my mirror therapy had backfired instead.
But backing down or giving up now would be amateur hour.
If I had committed to biting, then obviously I had to see how far it could go.
So I said in an understated tone,
“If you skip straight to this from the start, it loses half the fun.”
“...Really?”
“Yeah. You’ve got to go step by step.”
“...!”
Then I lifted Dang Gyu-ri’s hand and slowly brought it to my mouth.
First I bit the fingertips just enough for my teeth to barely touch them.
Then the back of the hand.
Then the wrist.
Bit by bit, I worked my way upward.
“...!”
Every time I did, Dang Gyu-ri gave a tiny jerk, like a current had run through them.
At this point they should have been giggling, but instead of laughing, they did not say a word.
Their face just kept getting redder, and there was a distinct look of excitement in it.
Meanwhile, I left a bite mark around the elbow, then bit their forearm and kept moving upward.
Unfortunately, though, I did not make it to the final destination—the shoulder.
Because an extremely urgent message came in.
[Shin Byeongcheol: heyayㅇyayaya]
[Shin Byeongcheol: Help! Help! Hurry!]
