That Guy's a Total Madman?
Sparks exploded in every direction with a violent crackle. My whole body burned hot, and sweat started pouring down. It was all from the technique's side effects. This was exactly why I hadn't wanted to use it. I'd tested it once on an Iron Horned Bull, so I knew the drawbacks painfully well. Or rather, this was a skill I shouldn't even be capable of using at my current level, so I guess I had no choice.
If I hadn't possessed at least one of the three traits—Eye of the Transcendent, Heavenly Martial Body, or Blessing of Mana—I probably would've failed.
It was a technique I'd forced into existence by possessing three traits that should never have been possible. Honestly, the fact that I could control it at all felt like a miracle. If the dean's spiritual medicine hadn't strengthened my body, even this level of restraint would've been impossible.
The Iron Horned Bull worked because I didn't need to hold back.
Slicing through that massive frame wasn't particularly difficult. As long as I could land that one decisive strike, the hunt was over. The real challenge was eliminating every variable so that strike wouldn't miss.
“Hoo…”
I steadied my ragged breathing from that single blow. Sure enough, this technique could only be used once. Any more and my body would break. Even now, my arms and legs were trembling violently. It was a miracle I hadn't dropped my sword.
Of course, that didn't mean I planned to hide this strike.
Tana had shown me her dance. The one she'd originally meant to conceal—she'd performed it at my request. Since she'd already revealed her hand, it wouldn't make sense for me to hold back. Besides, it's not like I could hide it anyway. The eyes were already on me, so I might as well captivate them completely.
But my intentions were completely ignored as murmurs spread from every direction.
“Was that magic? That was definitely magic, right?”
“I thought his main weapon was a sword? He was clearly fighting with one just a moment ago.”
“Was he trying to hide it?”
They were interpreting it however they damn well pleased. Some claimed the swordsmanship I'd displayed was just a smokescreen for magic. Others insisted the magic was the distraction and I'd actually done everything with the sword. All sorts of wild theories flew back and forth.
And I hadn't intended any of it.
“I have… a lot of questions.”
As I faced those stares and kept quiet, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. It was Tana. She looked like hell after taking my strike. I'd done my best to avoid hitting her directly and poured everything into the sword, but there was no way she would've escaped unscathed.
I supported her before she could collapse. Damn, I feel like I'm dying too. But she looks like an actual walking corpse, so I'll cut her some slack.
“I have… questions.”
“Infirmary first.”
My firm tone finally made her relax. We headed to the infirmary where the medical staff burst out as if they'd been waiting. The professor in charge must have been teaching elsewhere—she was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the on-duty staff were skilled enough that treating Tana posed no problem.
Two of them immediately tended to her wounds while the third approached me and began carefully examining the injuries across my body.
“Wow… you really don't go easy on yourself, do you?”
“Couldn't be helped.”
“I don't know what the underlying issue is, but you should get it fixed as soon as possible. At this rate, there's no telling what might happen to your body.”
The medic channeled mana into me, treated the surface wounds, then gave my shoulder a light pat.
“All done.”
“That was faster than I expected.”
“That particular injury will heal better if left alone. If I interfered unnecessarily, it might become impossible to treat without external help.”
I pulled my half-removed clothes back on and stood up. Unlike me, whose treatment had taken roughly ten minutes, Tana was still being worked on. The staff didn't look particularly grim, so it probably wasn't anything too serious.
“It's not that bad.”
As if sensing my question, the medic who'd finished with me walked over.
“Her body is fundamentally quite sturdy, so she didn't sustain major injuries. Since it was a spar, I'm sure you used practice weapons, yet you still managed to inflict that much damage with those blunt edges. That's actually the more impressive part.”
“...Do you always talk this much?”
“I do get told that quite often.”
The woman covered her mouth and let out a short laugh, then stared at Tana and muttered under her breath.
“For an Erhen to have this little strength… something must be wrong…”
“Sorry?”
“Ah, it's nothing.”
Nothing my ass. She'd said it loud enough for me to hear on purpose. What was with this woman? Was there a character like this in the original story? I kept glancing at her from the corner of my eye, but no matter how hard I looked, nothing came to mind. She clearly had some connection to Tana Erhen… But there wasn't much publicly known about Tana, so I couldn't be sure.
“Lee Sungjin!”
A familiar voice rang out from the infirmary entrance. It belonged to Shiruen Arpelt, the Fighting Star. She'd apparently heard about the spar between me and Tana and come running. Normally she wouldn't bother with something as trivial as a simple duel, but this one had been particularly noisy. Whether through rumors or official reports, word must have reached her. Still, showing up in person wasn't exactly normal. A passionate instructor might do so, but… Shiruen, you're not that type!
Weren't you supposed to be completely indifferent? The person who lived for beating the crap out of students during spars, who hated counseling them more than having a knife held to their throat? Did some massive cataclysm patch happen before I arrived? One that specifically targeted Shiruen and turned her into a gentle soul or something? They say a person's heart changing suddenly leads to death. This isn't a death flag, is it?
Creak.
While I was busy calculating every possible variable, Shiruen threw the infirmary door open and stood before us. She quickly checked Tana's condition, received confirmation from the staff that there were no issues, then asked the medic beside me if she could take me away.
“As long as you don't handle him too roughly.”
“So don't handle him too roughly. Got it.”
Huh? Huhhh?
The moment Shiruen heard the request, she grabbed my wrist and hauled me to my feet. My resistance meant nothing against her overwhelming strength. I groaned and tried to dig my heels in, but my feet slid forward smoothly like I was standing on ice.
“Where—where exactly are we going?! At least tell me that much!”
“The cafe.”
“The cafe?”
A cafe for the Fighting Star? Did those words even belong in the same sentence? Someone whose title came from fighting nonstop actually went to cafes? And why had she never gone to one in the game? Was there seriously a cataclysm patch I didn't know about?? Or had someone hacked my computer and only changed Shiruen's character data???
While I was busy spouting every ridiculous theory imaginable, Shiruen dragged me all the way to the cafe. It wasn't a normal one, though. The interior was dimly lit, there was only a single employee, and not a single customer in sight. I knew exactly where we were. I'd never come with Shiruen, but I'd visited a few times with other professors.
Professors bring students here when they want to secretly recruit them into their faction.
Considering this cafe could only be accessed through methods known exclusively to faculty, that had to be it. No matter how strange my earlier thoughts had been, I wouldn't miss something as obvious as the background shifting. There was probably a hidden passage. Well, there was no point digging into it, so I'd let it slide.
The important question was why I was here. No way—
“This must be your first time here.”
Shiruen casually ordered two coffees and plopped down heavily into her seat. I followed suit without hesitation.
“The reason I brought you here is because I have something to tell you.”
“......”
No way. I'm still just a freshman.
Shiruen put on a serious expression, rested her chin on her hand, and tried to set the mood. As if that would work. A strange pressure began to build… Wait, shit. That was actual mana. Was she seriously releasing mana just to look intimidating? Was she actually insane?
“After you graduate, how about staying at the academy with me a while longer?”
Whether she knew I was actively pushing out the mana she'd released or not, Shiruen maintained her solemn expression and stated her business. This was exactly why she'd earned the title of Fighting Star. Who in their right mind would offer a graduate position to a freshman who'd just entered the academy? Even Satan wouldn't pull something like that. She'd phrased it indirectly, but the offer basically boiled down to “let's send you to grad school.”
“May I ask what led to this sudden judgment?”
I held back the urge to flip her off and asked for the reason instead. No matter how crazy Shiruen was, she hadn't been this bad in the original story. She was obsessed with combat, sure, but she still had some sense of propriety. I needed to understand why she was suddenly going full throttle like this…
“I saw your spar with Tana.”
“Kek—cough!”
I coughed a few times. Why did hearing that she'd watched my spar with Tana sound so mortifying?
“Especially that final strike. It was impressive. The name was… One Flash? Not bad.”
“......”
Suddenly I wanted to die. Quick suicide. Quick reset. New life, please. Now.