052. Live Gate Training (3)
052. Live Gate Training (3)
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every time the bastard took a step, the ground shook and dust flew.
"GOOOOOH—!"
The ogre, having spotted its prey, charged in with a roar, greed glinting in its eyes.
Despite its lumbering appearance, the thing rushed forward without hesitation.
Panic flickered across Im Ga-eul's face before her expression firmed with resolve.
Hah—!
Because the girl who had trusted her and joined this party was already surging forward, shield at the ready.
She immediately drew up her Mana.
'...Slow!'
A skill that always felt frustrating, its output perpetually lacking.
But she had to do something.
Wasn't she the one responsible for this party, after all?
She couldn't afford to just stand there in a daze.
"...Huh?"
Despite the urgency, she couldn't help but let out a baffled sound.
The Mana she drew from her body should have been a pitiful, pathetically feeble force, as always.
Today was different.
Whoooosh—!
A sensation like the broad current of a mighty river flowing serenely through her entire body.
"H-huhk—!"
The unfamiliar, alien sensation sent goosebumps rippling across her skin.
"GOOOH—!?"
Fortunately, the skill launched from her fingertips struck the ogre, but she still couldn't afford to zone out.
Im Ga-eul immediately began casting her next skill.
'Acceleration!'
And the skill blooming from her fingertips blazed with intense light as it flew to settle upon Lee Yu-ri.
* * *
Lee Yu-ri, the Tank, led the charge against the ogre first.
I kicked off the ground and followed right behind her.
A glimpse of Lee Yu-ri's face was clearly taut with tension.
A C-Rank Monster, the ogre was on the same level as the Blood Goblin we'd faced before.
The bastard gripped its massive axe with both hands and hoisted it above its head.
SWWWISH—!!
Then the giant axe came crashing down as if to split Lee Yu-ri's skull in two.
But, a moment later.
A curious expression appeared on Lee Yu-ri's face.
"Huh?"
At first, she'd raised her shield to block that mighty axe blow, but then she immediately withdrew the shield and twisted her body as if sidestepping away.
CRASHHHHH—!!
The ogre's axe smashed down, splitting nothing but the innocent ground.
And Lee Yu-ri's shield shot toward the ogre's body with speed.
BANG—!!
The shield slammed into the ogre's body, making the creature momentarily reel.
As if that single blow wasn't enough, Lee Yu-ri leaped back, then hurled herself at the ogre again.
CRASH—!!
"GOOH—!?"
Then, that massive body stumbled and staggered backward.
"Ehh?"
Lee Yu-ri let out a bewildered noise at what she herself had just done.
Watching that, I let out a short laugh.
'Now that's what a proper Support looks like.'
A Support who dulls the enemy's movements and amplifies an ally's speed by a percentage.
Especially for an evasion Tank like Lee Yu-ri, the amplification effect was no joke.
She was probably feeling that synergy for herself right about then.
And after a short wait,
the skill's energy began to settle over me as well.
'Hmm, it's a pure state right now, so maybe about 10% amplification?'
My body definitely felt noticeably lighter once the energy settled in.
'...This, it's gonna take some time to get used to.'
Better to slowly feel it out and build up speed rather than charging in with an unaccustomed body.
Getting cocky just because I got faster and making a mistake would just be embarrassing as hell.
*
Jin Yu-ha kicked off, and Lee Yu-ri ducked low as if she'd already predicted he'd be coming up behind her.
SWWWWISH—!
A sword swept over her head in a clean arc, swung without a shred of hesitation.
SPLURT—!
The ogre's bulging belly split open, and blood gushed out along with its innards.
"GROOOOAAAHHHH!!!!!"
The ogre threw its mouth wide open and let out an agonized scream.
Its face twisted with fury, it swung its head toward Jin Yu-ha.
CRUNCH—!
Lee Yu-ri sprang up and smashed the ogre in the face with her shield.
"GURGH!!"
Then the ogre's gaze snapped back toward Lee Yu-ri.
SPLURT—!
This time, a thick spray of blood erupted from the ogre's thigh.
CRASH!
SPLURT!
CRASH!
Thunk!
CRASH!
SPLURT!
Shield and sword traded off like a game of catch, attacking the ogre in turn and scattering its focus.
In the midst of it, the ogre tried to eliminate the one wounding it—Jin Yu-ha—first.
Whoosh—!!
Ignoring Lee Yu-ri, the massive axe blade swung toward Jin Yu-ha.
But,
SKRRRRRT—!
The bastard's axe strike was deflected by Lee Yu-ri, who had slipped in and set her shield at an angle.
Simultaneously.
Slicccce—!
A heavy cutting sound, unlike before.
Thud.
One of the ogre's arms fell off.
SPURT—!
"GROOOOAAAHHH!!!!?"
Then the bastard clutched its severed, spurting arm and began stumbling backward, its battered body reeling.
"Hey, Jin Yu-ha! Aren't you taking this seriously!?"
"...You were playing around too, and now you're blaming me?"
"That's...!"
"I was just loosening up, getting used to the skill."
"That's what I was doing too, y'know?"
"Alright, let's stop messing around and finish it."
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Lee Yu-ri began striking her shield.
At that, the ogre, which had turned to flee, stopped dead in its tracks as if rooted to the spot.
And just as the creature was turning its head back toward Lee Yu-ri—
Hah!
Jin Yu-ha leaped into the air.
SWWWWWWWWISH—!
A sword of a completely different speed than before traced a horizontal line.
Thoom—!
And
cleanly, the bastard's head dropped off.
"Those kids......."
Im Ga-eul couldn't even blink at the overwhelming battle unfolding before her eyes.
What in the world was she even watching?
If it had been Cheonhwa or Fighting Dog that had been assigned to her group, she could've understood it.
But such impressive figures were never placed in her group.
Even in her first year, no one ever wanted her, so she'd always been stuck with the leftover members and spent nearly all her time going back and forth between F-Rank Gates, mostly with men.
Honestly, just managing that much had been overwhelming.
So she'd thought this year, now that she was a second-year, would be the same.
The first Live Gate Training of the new semester.
The male freshman and female freshman who'd been assigned to her group this time.
Their shiny appearances aside, she hadn't expected much at first.
She'd even been fiddling with the chairwoman's summon bell the moment they entered the gate.
But,
contrary to those expectations, they were hunters who possessed combat power from a completely different dimension than hers.
A Tank who dodged and deflected the attacks of a massive ogre head-on.
A male Damage Dealer who swung his sword at an incomprehensible level.
They lived in a different world from her.
'The Chairwoman was right.'
"......."
Choi A-ram too had been struck speechless, spectating the fight with glazed-over eyes.
"Whoa, Boss, is it way faster than before? Before, I could at least make out a blur, but at the end there, I couldn't even see him swing his sword at all?"
At those words, both Im Ga-eul's and Choi A-ram's gazes turned toward Kim So-hun—the Support and Porter.
Flustered by the attention suddenly directed at him, he whipped his head around nervously, then opened his mouth in an awkward voice.
"Uh, uh! R-right! I'm the Porter! I gotta go collect the byproducts, right!?"
Scamper—!
Kim So-hun immediately took off running toward the fallen ogre.
"Hey, Im Ga-eul. Just what are those guys—."
It was just as Choi A-ram, her face still full of disbelief, was about to open her mouth toward Im Ga-eul.
"Unni!"
Lee Yu-ri came running over, calling for Im Ga-eul.
"...Uh, huh?"
Eyes sparkling, she eagerly grabbed Im Ga-eul's hands.
"Just now, what was that!?"
It was definitely a good thing that the girl, who'd initially been so clearly wary of her, was now acting this friendly.
But it was so sudden that Im Ga-eul couldn't help but be bewildered.
"Wh- what was what?"
"That skill!"
"S-skill? It was just a nothing-special skill......?"
Here, Im Ga-eul was hit with her second wave of confusion.
'I did cast Acceleration on her, but.......'
She knew her place.
Her Support skills were so pathetically trivial that even among Supports, she was dead last.
As Choi A-ram had said, she'd only barely managed to avoid being held back.
So why was this impressive kid, who'd just moments ago stood her ground against an ogre without taking a single step back and tanked its attacks, why was she asking about my skill......?
Surely it wasn't thanks to her skill, but because she was a natural-born genius of a Tank.
But Lee Yu-ri shook her head, as if denying that thought.
"No, for real, I got fast enough to actually feel it. My eyes got sharper."
"R-really?"
"So that kind of thing was nothing special for you, sunbae. So this is a Velvet Academy upperclassman Support......."
Lee Yu-ri looked at her with newfound eyes full of respect.
Im Ga-eul, completely unable to grasp the situation, broke out in a cold sweat.
"Pfft!"
Just then, a short laugh popped out from behind her.
When she turned her head that way,
a good-looking boy.
But the guy who'd been hiding his freakishly inhuman swordsmanship skill was smiling at her.
"Take a look at that thing I gave you."
He pointed a finger at her hand.
"The thing you gave me......?"
Im Ga-eul's gaze dropped to her own palm.
A highest-grade Magic Stone.
He'd suddenly shoved it into her hand, startling her so much she'd let out a noise,
and in the commotion the ogre had charged, making her forget all about it.
"Uhh......!?"
Im Ga-eul's eyes, now focused downward, went wide as saucers.
"Uh, wh-what the!? J-just a second!"
A highest-grade Magic Stone shining with a brilliant blue light.
The light at its edges was fading—was it really starting to turn into an ordinary rock!?
Jin Yu-ha, who'd been watching this, suddenly hardened his face and put on a grave expression.
"Looks like Ga-eul sunbae consumes one highest-grade Magic Stone every time she fights a battle."
Thump—!
Her heart sank.
"D-don't tell me!? Then, I can't turn this back?"
She asked in the desperate manner of someone grasping at straws.
At that, Jin Yu-ha firmly shook his head, like a doctor pronouncing a terminal diagnosis.
"Ahh, hopeless. Tsk. The cost-effectiveness on this is terrible. One highest-grade Magic Stone per fight......."
Ba-dump—
Im Ga-eul's heart started pounding violently.
'Then what on earth am I supposed to do....... A h-highest-grade Magic Stone is insanely expensive.......'
She shut her eyes tight.
Then, in a trembling voice, she spoke.
"I'm really, really sorry about ruining your precious Magic Stone, but c-could you at least put this on my tab as a debt? I do have some money saved up. I can pay you back part of it once we get out......."
"Pffft—!"
Jin Yu-ha, who had been keeping a straight face, suddenly burst into laughter.
"?"
After laughing for a good while, he let out a languid sigh.
"Hah, you seriously need to watch out for scammers, sunbae."
"Huh...?"
"Earlier, Gukbap asked if you'd co-signed a loan. That might actually end up being true."
Jin Yu-ha's voice still carried traces of his laughter as he spoke.
"I'm joking."
"...What?"
"Hmm, I'm guessing here, but...... with one highest-grade Magic Stone, even if you cast skills non-stop, it should easily last you a month. You're still pure. No, hmm....... You don't have much experience yet, right?"
"E-experience?"
Im Ga-eul could only stare at Jin Yu-ha with confused eyes.