033. Sparring (3)
033. Sparring (3)
"Alright, let's begin the sparring match. Everyone, equip your gear."
The space where we were sparring was the same place where joint training was held.
Even if you got hurt in this space, you wouldn't receive any real wounds.
And the moment you sustained a fatal injury, you'd be summoned right out of the training ground.
The chairman of Velvet Academy was a world-renowned authority on magic.
Canonically, this space was designed by the Magic Emperor (魔帝).
'Seriously, the chairman's authority is just way too much of a cheat key.'
I'd probably only see her at the entrance ceremony. In Velvetsra, the game starts with her entrance ceremony speech.
I adjusted Moonlight at my waist and checked the condition of my party members.
'First, Kang Do-hee seems normal. Shin Se-hee should be sobered up by now since the Liquor Demon God thing was yesterday. And the quota students, well.'
Even after we'd all finished equipping our gear and stepped up onto the training ground, our opponents were still taking their sweet time getting ready, whispering among themselves.
I switched on Detection and eavesdropped on their conversation.
The opposing team was a mix of four women and one man.
A Tank, a melee Damage Dealer, a ranged Damage Dealer, and two Healers.
It was a fairly ideal composition.
"......Is it really true that those guys are worse than us? Still, that's the Fighting Dog and Cheonhwa, isn't it?"
When a timid-looking Damage Dealer spoke, the archer who seemed to be the party leader stiffened her expression.
"......They said this is the last chance. Said if we can't win this time, we'll never beat the Fighting Dog or Cheonhwa."
"Heh. They say it's not just a leash on them, but that their teeth have been pulled out entirely."
The Tank with the slit-like eyes scoffed.
"......Just like that bastard over there."
And the four women clicked their tongues, glancing sideways at the man standing awkwardly behind them.
The male cadet's face went pale.
Seemed like he'd been through quite a lot training with them.
"Uh, uhm─."
The male cadet called out to them in a trembling voice.
They turned their heads with thoroughly annoyed expressions.
"What."
"...Um."
"Ugh, would you just speak properly? It's so frustrating I could die."
"If only he at least had a decent face like that quota student, so we'd have a little eye candy or something. What's with this loser."
Slit-eyes snapped at him, clearly disgusted.
"Hey, you. Watch your mouth."
"Forget it. If he came here, he should've been prepared. It's not like he didn't know this place was like this."
"Yo-you need to wa-watch out for that guy."
The male cadet pointed at me in warning.
'......I don't remember him. Was he one of the bastards I beat up that night too?'
I tilted my head.
But the four women just laughed at him.
"Heh."
"We all know that pretty boy is a male quota student, you know?"
"What's there to watch out for. You just do your part. And don't go tripping us up like you did during training."
They were ragging on the male student.
The party leader didn't bother to stop the atmosphere and spoke up.
"Alright, leaving that quota student aside for now, there's no harm in being careful of Cheonhwa and the Fighting Dog. You draw the Fighting Dog's attention. I'll launch a surprise attack from behind."
She spoke to the slit-eyed woman as she nocked an arrow on her bowstring.
"Heh. Leave it to me."
The slit-eyed woman came up onto the training ground, her shield dangling loosely from her wrist. She raised both hands as if she had no intention of fighting right away.
She walked past me with an eye-smile on her face, her long, slitted eyes crinkling up.
And the person she headed toward was Kang Do-hee.
"Yoohoo~. Fighting Dog! I'm a fan! You know me, right? I'm B-Rank Hunter Yoon Se-ra. Last time, together─."
She groveled in front of Kang Do-hee and extended her hand.
"I don't."
Kang Do-hee cut her off with a cold voice.
The woman hesitated for a moment, then continued in a cheerful tone.
"Ahaha, well, that's possible! Anyway! Even though we've met as opponents for a sparring match like this today, we're fellow cadets from now on, so I'll be counting on you! Party Leader Kang Do-hee!"
At those words, Kang Do-hee let out an incredulous snort of laughter.
"Sorry, but I'm not the party leader."
"Huh......? What do you mean─"
Creak─
The opposing party leader pulled back her bowstring, aiming at Kang Do-hee.
[ Kang Do-hee, throw the first punch right now and let's get started. They're looking for an opening for a surprise attack. ]
At my command, Kang Do-hee immediately ducked her body low.
And Mana gathered in her tightly clenched fist.
Whoosh─!
While Slit-eyes was wearing a panicked expression.
Kang Do-hee's fist shot out toward her jaw.
Wham─!!!
Hit in the jaw, she was sent flying backward, crashing all the way to her own team's side.
Thud!
"You motherfucker! That's so cheap......!"
She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her hand and glared at Kang Do-hee.
"Bullshit. The match already started. Did we come out here to chit-chat? Right, Party Leader?"
Kang Do-hee sneered as she turned her head toward me.
"Yeah. Why are these guys so stupid."
Whoosh─!
"This counts as a surprise attack too, you know."
Slash─!
I lightly sliced through the arrow flying toward Kang Do-hee with my sword.
"......A quota student is the party leader!? Ha, fuck. Was Fighting Dog just a little bitch in heat?"
Slit-eyes picked herself up and spat on the ground in disgust.
Then she turned her head and shouted to her party members.
"Hey, I just took a hit and she's really nothing special right now! We can just gang up and crush her!"
Slit-eyes raised her shield, and her party members formed up behind her.
My eyes turned cold and subdued.
I knew this was a world where men were pathetically weak.
I also knew the Hunter profession was especially harsh on men, even by those standards.
It was a profession where you had to risk your life fighting monsters and Demonized Humans, so men who were born frail had no real place. I knew all of that.
I understood.
But even so...
The way they were only wary of Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee from the very start, and didn't even register someone like me in their sights.
'......Yeah, this is kind of.'
I coated Moonlight with Mana.
'Pissing me off.'
Then I spoke in a low voice.
[ We're going according to plan. Shin Se-hee, I don't need power. Make it the widest area attack possible. ]
[ ......Ah, I got it! ]
Her reply came a beat late.
But maybe she had already prepared it, because a sphere of fire immediately began forming above her head.
Whoooosh─
A gigantic sphere of fire blazed in the air.
"Haht!"
When Shin Se-hee stretched out both hands, the sphere of fire scattered, and a rain of fire began pouring down over the heads of our enemies.
Pitter-patter─!!
Right now, Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee had their Mana restricted, putting them in a state similar to ordinary cadets.
In the end, I was the key to winning this sparring match.
[ Kang Do-hee. Now, draw their attention and circle around to the back. ]
At that, Kang Do-hee swiftly leaped and began circling widely to the rear.
"Wha, what! You said she was weakened!"
The sight of our opponents panicking and flustered by the wide-area rain of fire that had started pouring down over their heads.
"Hey! This is nothing! It's fine even if you get hit!"
Slit-eyes quickly realized that Shin Se-hee's magic only looked powerful on the surface and wasn't causing any actual damage, and shouted it out.
"Oh!? It's true! It's not hot!"
"Hey, hey! Fighting Dog!"
They belatedly spotted Kang Do-hee, who had started circling to the rear, and whipped their heads in that direction.
Taking advantage of the moment their attention was diverted.
Hah!
I kicked off the ground and threw my body forward.
'As expected, someone at party leader level isn't bad.'
Only those who had scored high marks among the provisional students could become party leaders.
Even while everyone else was panicking, the archer hadn't lost track of me.
She quickly nocked three arrows at once and aimed them at me.
SWISH─!
Three Mana-infused arrows were shot toward me.
─ Clang─! Cling! Clang!
I deflected the incoming arrows with the tip of my sword.
Thunk-thunk─! Thunk!
The arrows changed direction without losing power and embedded themselves in the ground.
Her eyes widened in shock, as if she hadn't anticipated even this.
Even in her alarm, she seemed to be trying to use a skill next.
But.
"One Slash, Two Halves."
I had already been drawing up Mana and preparing a skill from the moment I'd kicked off the ground toward her.
A single horizontal slash.
Whoosh—!
"When a Damage Dealer who uses a bow gets her feet tied up..."
A Mana-infused sword strike shot toward the opponent.
"Ghk!"
With a flustered look, she raised her bow to try and block my attack.
Slice─!
"Think that'll work?"
The bow of the woman trying to block was sliced clean in half.
Hummm─
"......Thi-this is ridiculous."
With a dazed look, she was immediately transported outside the training ground.
"Pa-Party Leader!!!!"
"Party Leader!?"
When the party leader was taken out while they were distracted by Kang Do-hee, the party members' eyes flew wide open as if they'd tear apart.
I immediately pivoted my body and targeted their backs.
Whirl─!
With expressions that screamed they'd messed up, they each raised their shields and daggers.
But it was already too late.
Because the tip of my sword had already grazed past their throats.
Hummm─
Hummm─
Following their party leader, the Damage Dealer and Tank were summoned out of the training ground in an instant.
All they could do was stare at the training ground, their mouths hanging open with a sense of futility.
Kang Do-hee, who had circled to the rear, had also subdued the two Healers before anyone knew it.
The sparring match was over just like that, in the blink of an eye.
* * *
"Th-this is ri-ridiculous!!! S-Sunbae! What in the world is that guy!?"
The opposing instructor pointed at Jin Yu-ha, her jaw hanging wide open.
"A male quota student."
Baek Seol-hee let out a snort of laughter, her arms crossed.
"Isn't this just cheating!!!"
It was cheating.
It really was.
Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog hadn't been the problem.
Putting a leash on them hadn't mattered at all.
Rather, the guy who should have had a leash on him hadn't even been muzzled, let alone leashed.
"......Ha, insane. You're telling me that's a man? No, a male quota student?"
She let out an exclamation, as if she herself found it absurd even after saying it.
Those kids probably hadn't properly grasped the strength of that boy.
They'd likely think they lost because they let their guard down, too focused on Cheonhwa and Fighting Dog.
But as an instructor, she could see it clearly.
"......Isn't that guy just a monster!?"
"I'd advise you to refrain from such careless remarks about my cadet."
Baek Seol-hee spoke in a cold, subdued voice.
"......Ex-excuse me!? My, my cadet?"
Baek Seol-hee nodded, a faint smile on her lips.
"He's a student I'll be teaching personally. Don't get any ideas."
"......Insane."
She stared at Baek Seol-hee, her jaw agape.
She had absolutely no clue how many more times she was supposed to be shocked today.