Clearing the Sewers of Residue (2)
In the darkness, the thing that slowly revealed itself was far too massive and grotesque to simply call it a remnant of mana.
It looked like thousands of residues had clumped together into one enormous mass of flesh. Dozens of limbs sprouted haphazardly from its body, scraping against the walls of the sewer, while a gaping hole-like eye in its center stared directly at us.
“Ugh, it looks even uglier up close,” Jinny said, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering.
“This residue might actually be a bit much,” Chaeyeon added, her voice trembling slightly.
The confidence she’d gained from wiping out the smaller residues moments ago had completely vanished. I swallowed dryly, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my butt.
The oppressive pressure this thing emitted was on a completely different level from the scraps we’d faced before.
A-class mana waves, at the very least.
Jinny had been right.
“This one’s no joke,” she said, sticking close to my side as she watched the residue slowly close the distance through the shadows. “That thing is sucking in the surrounding mana like a black hole.”
Right after her warning, one of its massive tentacles whipped toward us like a lash.
Whoosh!
“Step back for a second.”
The one who stepped in front of us was Seungwoo sunbae.
With his usual indifferent expression, he snapped a pair of enormous scissors shut in the air with a clean snip.
“The mana pattern on that residue is incredibly tangled and complex.”
The scissors spun gracefully in the air before locking onto the residue with their blades.
“To collect its mana core, we’ll need to tidy things up a bit first.”
At his words, countless silver mana threads poured out into the air.
They instantly crisscrossed throughout the entire sewer, forming a massive net in a perfect grid pattern.
The moment the creature’s tentacle touched the net, it was sliced clean off without a sound and fell into the water with a soft plop.
“Listen up, freshmen.”
Seungwoo sunbae continued speaking coldly, not even glancing at the severed tentacle.
“While I pin down that monster’s body and keep it from moving, you three focus on its core.”
He gave a small nod toward the residue, as if pointing out its center.
“Its mana core is located below the third shoulder on the left side, where the mana is most densely concentrated.”
Following Seungwoo sunbae’s gaze, I spotted something radiating a sinister aura on the residue’s body.
The mana core.
Every mana-based lifeform possessed one. It was essentially their heart.
“You have to finish it with a single strike.”
Seungwoo sunbae’s scissors began moving with dazzling speed.
“I’ll create the opening.”
The silver threads coiled around the creature’s limbs and locked down the space. The massive monster thrashed wildly, letting out a hideous roar.
Clang—
Everything was going exactly according to Seungwoo sunbae’s calculations.
The enormous residue was trapped inside his domain without the slightest margin for error.
But the creature wasn’t going to make things easy.
Black mucus bubbled up from the severed tentacle’s cross-section, and in an instant, a new tentacle sprouted and tore apart Seungwoo sunbae’s mana threads.
Crack! Snap!
The sound of silver threads snapping echoed throughout the sewer like a grim chorus.
“Tsk.”
For the first time, Seungwoo sunbae’s brow furrowed.
“Its regeneration speed… is faster than I expected. It’s breaking down my bindings with raw mana.”
The monster absorbed even its own severed fragments, growing even larger. Its massive body filled the sewer, pressing down on us with overwhelming force.
“Haa!”
Chaeyeon spun into a roundhouse kick, sending a bolt of lightning shooting from her toes.
Crackle!
The lightning scorched the creature’s outer shell, but the damage regenerated almost instantly.
“No way… not even a scratch?” Chaeyeon exclaimed, clearly rattled.
“Gangjin, focus!”
Jinny shot forward and slammed her condensed fist forward with all her might.
The wide-area mana attack struck the residue, triggering a massive explosion.
Boom—!
From within the thick cloud of smoke, one of the creature’s tentacles flew straight toward Chaeyeon.
Jinny prepared to knock it away with her fist, but the attack was simply too fast.
“Chaeyeon, watch out!”
I reflexively threw myself forward and shoved her out of the way.
Smack—
The tip of the tentacle grazed my shoulder.
My clothes tore open. The searing pain of flesh being ripped away forced a scream from my throat.
“Ugh…!”
“Gangjin! Are you okay?!”
Chaeyeon scrambled to her feet, still unsteady.
“I thought we could take it easy, but things have gotten pretty bad,” Seungwoo sunbae muttered after quickly assessing our condition. “Guess I’ll have to get serious.”
I clutched my bleeding shoulder, breathing hard.
I could feel my strength draining away.
Then, in my fading consciousness, a scene from the training hall flashed vividly in my mind.
‘With fangs like that, you couldn’t even scratch the Black Tortoise’s shell, Taeyang.’
The man who had completely blocked an A-class werewolf’s fangs using only B-class mana with those rock-solid shoulders.
It wasn’t some trick that relied on raw mana quantity.
That’s it.
“Jinny… do you remember what that uncle showed us?”
Jinny glared at me in disbelief.
“Hey, is this really the time? You’re bleeding!”
I was bleeding, sure, but it didn’t seem like a deep wound.
There was something far more important right now.
“No, that’s the answer. That uncle hardened his mana until it was rock solid.”
I shouted desperately at her.
“Everything we’ve been doing until now was just compressing mana and exploding it. That’s not enough. We need to condense it like he did, turn it into something as hard as stone, and pierce straight through its core!”
Staggering to my feet, I steadied my stance and focused power into my butt.
“Not an explosion. A penetration!”
Jinny’s eyes widened as she finally understood.
“Oh? So that’s what you want.”
She watched me as I gathered mana into my butt and spoke.
“I’ll keep feeding you mana. Let’s try it your way this time.”
Her expression was serious, but the smile on her face was downright aggressive.
“You’re my owner, after all. If you say do it, I’ll do it.”
The same Jinny who loved teasing me usually became my strongest supporter in critical moments.
“I really like that attitude of yours.”
After finishing my discussion with Jinny, I shouted toward Seungwoo sunbae, who was preparing to face the residue directly.
“Seungwoo sunbae! Give us one more chance! This time we’ll really finish it!”
He glanced back at my shout.
“What? You guys still have more to show?”
“Yes! Just buy us one more opening so we can end this!”
He raised his mana-forged scissors and prepared to attack.
“Ten seconds! I can’t give you more than that!”
As soon as he brought the scissors down, the broken silver threads once again bound the creature’s main body.
“Chaeyeon! Scratch up its outer shell at least! We’ll go in through the gap!”
“What are you planning?!”
“I just thought of a surefire way to take it down!”
Seeing my determined attitude, Chaeyeon nodded and gathered every last drop of her remaining mana into her toes.
Crackle—
Her legs began glowing past blue and into pure white.
“Here I go—!”
Moving at speeds that blurred from sight, Chaeyeon’s kick slammed into the area where the core was located.
Boooom!
A thunderous roar filled the entire sewer.
Kiiiieeeeeeek!!
The residue’s scream shook the space alongside the powerful impact.
Its thick outer shell burned away, leaving a tiny crack.
“Now, Jinny!”
“Yeah, got it.”
Forgetting the pain in my torn shoulder, I poured every ounce of my remaining strength into my butt.
Jinny took the mana I generated and compressed her own body to its absolute limit.
“As expected of an S-class awakener, I suppose.”
The more the mana condensed, the whiter Jinny’s body became as she fully awakened.
“This much is the bare minimum if you want to match my power.”
With her fist tightly clenched, Jinny walked toward the residue step by step.
As if in a final desperate resistance while still groggy, several tentacles shot toward her.
But Jinny blinked across the short distance in an instant, dodging every single attack.
“Well, my owner is still clumsy at handling mana, so I can’t bring out my full power yet.”
With a scoff, she maintained her pace and soon stood right in front of the residue’s face.
Jinny's Condensed Mana Strike
“Hey. Scrap.”
“Just disappear already.”
Her tightly clenched fist struck the residue’s outer shell.
Tap.
It wasn’t even a proper hit.
Just a light punch.
But the mana condensed within it poured out all at once, piercing straight through the residue.
Completely unlike her usual playful demeanor, Jinny in battle was truly serious and majestic.
There wasn’t a single unnecessary or frivolous movement.
“That light punch… carried that much power?” Chaeyeon, standing beside me, muttered in awe.
The flow of mana penetrated the residue, filling the entire sewer with blinding light.
It was so bright I had to cover my face with my hands, yet there was no explosion.
Instead, a sharp crunch echoed through the sewer as something hard shattered.
Kiiiieeeeeeek—!
The monster, which had been regenerating nonstop, suddenly froze.
Its core—its very heart—had been smashed to pieces by Jinny’s punch.
The massive body dissolved into black smoke and collapsed pathetically.
Shhhhh—
A brief silence followed.
In the now-quiet atmosphere, I slowly pulled my hand away from my butt, which I had been rubbing furiously until just moments ago.
“Haa…”
My legs gave out and I sprawled flat on the ground.
“My butt hurts so much.”
I didn’t even have the strength to lift a single finger.
Chaeyeon collapsed beside me, breathing heavily.
Seungwoo sunbae gathered the traces of mana left behind by the residue’s death and sliced them apart with his giant scissors.
A small orb dropped into his hand with a soft plop.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted,” Jinny muttered as she staggered back toward me. Her body was already starting to fade.
“Did you see that? I got him with one hit…”
She mumbled before collapsing against me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.
“You were pretty cool just now.”
I awkwardly praised her and patted her back.
“You need to get stronger faster…”
Jinny said, lightly bumping her forehead against my chest.
“So I can use my full power…”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll work hard.”
After hearing my answer, Jinny scattered into beautiful particles of mana and seeped back into my butt.
“Honestly, I was about to step in because I didn’t think you three could handle it,” Seungwoo sunbae said as he approached, wiping his sweat-covered glasses.
“Changing the very nature of your mana mid-battle…”
There was genuine admiration in his voice.
“That’s incredible growth for a first-year.”
He extended a hand toward both the seated Chaeyeon and me, who was lying flat on the ground.
“Good work.”
Blood was still seeping from my wound,
but that single phrase from sunbae filled my chest with overwhelming pride and accomplishment.
