Park Ha-yeon
Park Ha-yeon
Kaaang—
The clash of blades rang through the sparring hall, a sound that should never have come from wooden swords. It was only possible because sacred power had honed their edges into something razor-sharp.
And then—
Taaang—
"Kh."
One of the blades Terra had forged clattered to the floor.
"U-Unnie!"
"I'm fine."
The glowing wooden sword came down in a vertical arc, and Terra threw a fist upward to meet it.
Weapon Manifestation — Earth
Kwaadeuk!—
Kaaaang!—
Burning through his mana, he forged a new blade just in time to catch the strike.
"Donate, donate. One percent of all donations go to Terra."
Kaaang!—
Puhwaaak!—
Blades still locked, Terra suddenly spat out a breath. Mikhail swung his left hand to snuff the fire before it could reach him—and then froze.
"…?!"
Terra had vanished from his sight.
A heads-up: the floor of this sparring hall was packed earth, laid down for realism. Which meant the whole place was basically Terra's home ground.
Tuhwak!—
"What the—"
Tak—
A small hand burst up from the dirt; sacred power flicked it aside. Mikhail faltered at the bizarre sight—then the hand sank back underground with a kwaadeuk, and from the hole it left behind—
Taaaang!—
—a thin, compressed heat-line breath lanced out.
Hmm. That one's going to wreck the hall.
Tak—
Kwaaaaang!—
"No problem. Keep going."
I jumped in and detonated the breath before it could slam into the wall. Mikhail looked rattled, but he had to know he didn't have time to gawk.
Buoong—
He poured even more sacred power into his sword, reversed his grip, and drove the blade into the ground.
Puuk—
Sacred Explosion
Kwaaaaang!—
All that gathered holy power erupted underground. Half-flung by the blast, Terra scrambled out of the earth.
"Ah."
But… well, of course… he was covered head to toe in dirt.
"I'm the one who's gonna have to wash him again…."
Being an Earth Dragon, the kid hated water. Even looking like this, he wouldn't try to clean himself up alone….
Jjirit—
Mikhail swept the area with a glance the second Terra emerged, then lunged. Thought acceleration? Human brains usually couldn't keep up with that kind of enhancement—the cells burned out—so most people never touched it. Sacred power really was something else.
Pak!—
"Keuk—"
With thought accelerated to an absurd degree, he snatched Terra's throat out of the air.
"Unnie!"
"I said I'm fine."
By the time I was back at Ha-eun's side, she was already yelling at me. And the chat—
Things were getting a little rowdy.
"A dragon can take that much. Don't worry so hard—just watch. If it gets dangerous, I'll step in first."
"But…."
"I'm a dragon. I know dragons better than you do. Don't look at him through human eyes—that'll only poison Terra."
I shot Ha-eun a sideways look and kept going.
"You don't go diving in every time something looks a little risky, do you? When that goblin swung a sword at you, did I jump in to help?"
"Th-That's—"
"You get what I'm saying, right? No need to stick your nose in this early."
Ppak!—
The second the words left my mouth, Terra kicked Mikhail's wrist free, dropped to the floor, and spat a weak breath. The moment he landed he drew golden energy into his hands and feet and skittered backward—on all fours, just like I used to fight.
Whether it was from watching me battle or from the mana he'd received through the contract, he looked a lot like me. And strangely, that didn't feel bad. More like… growth that had come from me. Something like that.
Tak!—
Kaaang!— Kang!—
Kaaaang!—
Terra came flying back in, and Mikhail's eyes went wide as he deflected the blades—his face far more serious than before. Clearly having trouble keeping up.
Terrain Transformation
Kuuuuung—
Still on all fours, Terra bared his fangs like a snarling dog and hauled up his mana. The earthen mounds around him rose as if answering his will and leveled at Mikhail like a threat.
"This… I hadn't accounted for."
"Accounting for anything when you're fighting a dragon was your first mistake."
"Ha."
Mikhail drew up his sacred power. Energy flooded even his blue eyes until they blazed pure white; he swept the surroundings in a single look, then charged the flying masses of earth.
Tak—
Seugeong!—
One, two, three. He cut through the earthen tendrils and planted himself right in front of Terra—and in that instant a sly smile curved Terra's mouth, the look of someone whose bait had been taken. Terra clenched his left hand hard and yanked.
Sand Grain Control
Tadadadadadak—
Countless grains of sand latched onto Mikhail's back. Terra's right hand clenched into a fist and pulled energy tight.
Energy Condensation
My mana and an Earth Dragon's native power fused into a dense, crushing fist. That was when I moved—not to protect Terra.
Kaaaaang!—
"Hey, hey—are you actually trying to kill him?"
I moved because I didn't want a murder in my sparring hall.
"…Ah. I-I'm sorry. I got a little carried away—"
Ttaak!—
I flicked Terra on the forehead, then looked at Mikhail, who was grinding his teeth.
"Can't move, can you?"
"…."
He looked ready to swing, but his body had already lost control—frozen where he stood. The sand clinging to him was chained together with mana, locking him down.
Terra's combat sense was sharper than I'd expected. Sacred power could stop dangerous attacks, sure—but sand like this? It barely registered as a threat. When it first hit him it was just ordinary grit with no mana, no force behind it. And ordinary-looking sand could turn into offense or defense at any moment. Piercing through grains already stuck to your body would take sacred power beyond what a man of Mikhail's level could manage.
"Tsk…."
"So? How was it?"
"…A coward's trick."
"What a garbage way to put it. You know you would've died to that attack, right?"
"I'll grant you that. But I won't take back that the move was underhanded."
Give me a break. In a fight for your life, what's underhanded even supposed to mean?
"And if you lost, you pay the proper compensation."
"…?"
"Isn't that obvious? You insulted us first, picked a fight, went all-out against a little girl—and now that you've lost, you're not even going to pay up?"
"Mind if I take that as you asking for round two with me?"
I grabbed the collar of a man taller than me and yanked him down.
"You can't even draw the Holy Sword. Don't tell me you actually think you can fight m—"
Teolkeok!—
"Mikhail!"
A sudden new voice pulled my eyes to the doorway—and what walked in looked nothing like I'd expected.
"Ha-eun…?"
Features strikingly like Ha-eun's, and red hair. But—
"U-Unnie?!"
—the voice beside me made it clear they weren't the same person. Looking again, the hair was absurdly longer than Ha-eun's. Bigger chest, longer hair—longer even than mine, and I wore mine long. Tall, too.
"Unnie?"
"Y-Yes… that's… Park Ha-yeon unnie…."
"I thought you only had an older brother?"
"…We're a big family. There's that unnie and more little sisters. Of course, other than one of them, the younger ones aren't hunters."
Hmm. So only one male in the family. Why hadn't she mentioned the rest before? Or maybe she just hadn't needed to dig into the deep end of the family tree.
Teobeok—
"Hmm, Ha-eun? So this is where you were."
"Well…."
"Something you needed?"
I stepped between the thoroughly shrunk Ha-eun and this Park Ha-yeon woman. She clearly wasn't up to facing her sister alone—and I made sure not to let go of Mikhail, just in case.
"Hm? And you are?"
"B-class hunter. Her teammate."
"I see. But grabbing Mikhail by the throat and calling yourself B-class? That's quite the joke."
"I didn't grab him. My disciple over there did."
I tipped my chin toward Terra. Park Ha-yeon clicked her tongue like that wasn't what she'd expected, raised both hands, and sighed.
"I have no intention of fighting, child. And I didn't come here to harm Ha-eun."
…Excuse me? How old did she think she was, calling me child? Just because she was a little taller—was that something to brag about?
"…And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"If I had to explain, let's say I don't want to make a big scene."
In the middle of that dead-end conversation I glanced at Ha-eun. She only shook her head—like she was asking me not to push it.
"Then what's your hunter rank? If you're this guy's ally, I'd at least like to know that much."
"I'm not a hunter, child."
Huh?
"Not a hunter?"
"That's right. What reason would I have to l—"
"Sorry, but you can't fool my eyes. Even if you're not a hunter, your combat power has to be considerable. Are you with something else?"
Park Ha-yeon looked at me and answered.
"Good instincts. But shall we agree not to dig too deep into each other?"
"Pass. If that bothers you, hand over the Holy Sword and walk away. That, I'd actually be interested in."
"This is—!…."
"That would be difficult. Then this child would cease to be useful. But since you seem to be my little sister's friend, how about I trade you a story instead?"
"What kind of story."
Park Ha-yeon gave a small smile.
"Things you might be curious about. The assembly order… in other words, the March? And…."
She went on.
"Things like gods."