Stress Relief
Stress Relief
[Match Over]
[Winner, Ipchun Class Lee Ha-yul]
[Good work.]
At the announcement echoing from the ceiling, I stopped the staff I'd been swinging without a trace of regret.
The pounding, bursting noise that had been ringing for a while ceased.
"Ughh..."
A pained groan rang through the silence.
It came from the cadet who'd been smacked by my staff throughout the spar. Bruises were visibly forming on his face, too. Especially his arms—they hung limp, unable to lift properly. That was only natural, considering the state of the shoulders supporting them.
The cadet's body swayed.
During the spar, the repeated strikes of my staff had kept him on his feet, but now that help was gone. His staggering body tilted.
Thud! He eventually toppled forward, planting his face into the floor.
[Hmm.]
That made three wins out of three fights. The practical exam ended without any special issues.
Shrugging, I leaned the heavily-damaged staff against the wall and left the sparring hall.
[Ex?hilarating.]
The moment the door closed, the Confession Necklace clicked on its own. I touched the necklace with a peculiar expression.
'Exhilarating... hmm... well, it is.'
I considered it for a moment, but there was no reason to deny the emotion. My chest felt rather refreshed. It felt just like chugging soda.
'What was his name... Lee-something... Lee Whatshisname. No need to specially remember it, so I'll just bury it.'
Lee Whatshisname. Our bad blood only consisted of that shoulder bump at the Freshman Welcome Party. I hadn't really run into him since.
'I never particularly planned on getting revenge... but since we happened to meet, I just let off some steam.'
I honestly hadn't intended to avenge that incident. I'd been dumbfounded and a bit angry at the time, but not enough to harbor a grudge that'd make me chase him down and beat him up.
But we'd run into each other as sparring opponents in the Struggle Hall, almost like a joke.
With circumstances pushing me forward, what could I do? Since it turned out this way, I just paid him back a little.
Thanks to that, my chest felt a bit lighter. I now understood why people punched mats to relieve stress.
'Still, I should refrain from relieving stress this way.'
There were plenty of other wholesome methods; solving it by beating people up was a bit much.
Also, rather than venting like this, being held by someone nearby and receiving gentle pats was far happier.
There was no real need to use violent means.
My thoughts sorted, I quickened my pace.
The midterm practical was over. Thanks to that, the Struggle Hall was full of cadets finishing up their exams and heading outside.
I walked in the opposite direction from them, going deeper inside instead.
The practical had just ended, but since I had a little time left, I figured I'd practice for a moment before going back.
[Cadet Lee Ha-yul, verified.]
[Struggle Hall Room 2-32 rented.]
- Whirr...
The door opened with a mechanical sound. Once I stepped inside, it automatically closed.
Standing in the center of the room, I checked my right arm.
My pale white arm was smooth, without a single wound.
The outer skin torn by mistakes in circuit manipulation and the bloody swelling had all healed by the time I left the sparring hall.
I pointed my twitching hand forward.
- Crrreak...
Pain rose from my twisting circuits. I put strength into my arm—which was trying to twist itself like a pretzel—and manipulated the circuit.
The shape of the manipulated circuit was the spell formula for Mana Strike. Once I firmly secured the shape, I let the mana I'd been holding back flow.
The mana that followed the shape of the circuit (formula) transformed into magic.
- Slice! Whoosh!
'Ah.'
The magic manifested. A pure white slash cut through the void and scattered.
The pain in my arm nearly brought tears to my eyes.
I lightly scanned the floor—my right arm, severed below the elbow, was lying there.
'Failed... It hurts.'
I changed the method slightly, and this is what happened. At least it was just an amputation.
This was the very reason I insisted on using Mana Strike. If I had experimented with a Mana Bullet and my arm had exploded into dozens of pieces, regenerating it would've been a massive headache.
Heaving a deep sigh, I used my prosthetic left arm to pick up the fallen right arm and pressed the cut surfaces together.
'Homogenization, Taesan.'
I activated the Expansion Ability. Part of my mana's nature shifted to something close to Earth Energy, and a tremendous strength began to circulate through my body.
- Sizzle...
The natural healing power boosted by manifesting Taesan began sealing the severed arm. The cut surfaces adhering to each other emitted gentle plumes of steam.
'Homogenization, Recovery Melody.'
It would reattach quickly enough if I left it alone, but I was also concerned that the curse might eat my life force and forcibly heal it.
So I also manifested Ellia's unique ability and practiced together. A light cluster focused on rapid regeneration settled onto the cut surface, and the healing accelerated.
'Done.'
I adjusted the arm this way and that so it wouldn't mend incorrectly, and it wasn't long before the arm reattached cleanly, without a single scar.
I flexed the reattached arm briefly, confirmed there were no problems, then let out another deep sigh.
'The 5th Iteration's techniques... are really hard to learn by just bashing my head against the wall.'
A subtle expression on my face, I wiggled my fingers.
The 5th Iteration was a playthrough with a nutcase wizard concept who artificially altered his internal circuits to fight.
I tried imitating it with Mana Affinity, but since I'd never directly observed the successful original technique, it was hard to replicate.
The magic I'd just used in the spar against Katsuki Yusei was the most effective manifestation with the least injury so far.
My training—despite Ariel's harsh treatment—had been slowly paying off. I was gradually getting the hang of it. I kept seeing improvements, so it was too valuable a method to just throw away.
But I still failed often, so using it in actual combat was tough.
Of course, just managing to imitate it somewhat through pure mana manipulation without any artifact was already a staggering feat that defied common sense, but...
'...It would be great if I could observe the original technique.'
In the end, I kept arriving at this conclusion.
Among my strengths were the overwhelming information-gathering ability through observation and detection, and the imitation through my Expansion Ability.
If only I had the original to serve as a benchmark, I could raise my proficiency far faster than I could now.
Normally I wouldn't entertain such wishful thoughts, but having experienced an incredible growth spurt in the Tower of Growth last time, I couldn't help feeling this regret.
The 2nd Iteration I met in the Tower of Growth.
Even though it supposedly had no soul, perhaps because the body was still 'me', imitating its techniques was especially easy.
Of course, in the process, I was brutally murdered well over dozens of times and suffered terribly, but according to Ariel, that wasn't intentional either.
She said I was supposed to feel extremely minimized pain, but since my senses were so sharp, I ended up feeling normal pain no matter how much it was reduced.
In the end, it was my own fault.
Ariel blamed herself and said it was their fault too, but honestly, how could anyone possibly predict and account for everything like that?
...Honestly, I still harbor a bit of ill will toward the Tower Master of Growth, but since I still haven't heard the full story from her, I'm just holding it in for now.
Anyway, if that kind of logic also applied to other iterations... and if we could summon a different iteration inside the Tower of Growth—not just the 2nd Iteration—then fighting those iterations would let me grow by leaps and bounds.
'The Tower Master of Growth probably summoned the 2nd Iteration for that reason too. So the chances of meeting another iteration later seem high.'
In that case, I'd welcome it.
I'd suffer painfully in many ways, but I'm not dumb enough to whine about the pain and kick away a chance to get stronger.
'...Though if I meet some of the later iterations, I'll probably get sliced up without much resistance...'
Because how much I hurt or struggle doesn't really matter.
.
.
.
Afterward, I worked my body a little more before coming out.
Thanks to that, I was able to greatly raise my proficiency in Taesan and Recovery Melody.
[Senior Lee Ji-yeon, hello.]
"Junior! Nice to see you. You did well on your practical exam, ri—ght."
While I was rubbing my sore right arm and leaving the Struggle Hall, I ran right into Lee Ji-yeon.
I had already observed her location, but our paths just happened to overlap.
Lee Ji-yeon, who had been chatting with friends, brightened at my greeting and turned her head—but upon looking at me, her expression stiffened slightly.
[?]
I flinched at that change in expression. I quickly checked to see if she had sensed Taesan's presence, but it was completely erased, as expected.
Ever since Baek A-rin discovered my Azure Sea, I'd been devoting my heart and soul to erasing my presence.
...Then what was it?
"Junior Lee Ha-yul."
[Y-yes.]
At her stiff, resolute voice, my body went rigid. At the sound of her long strides approaching, I pulled my leg backward—
Thud— but my back immediately met the wall right behind me. The path of escape was gone.
Soon a dark shadow fell over me. Standing before me, Lee Ji-yeon reached out with a hardened expression.
"Excuse me for a moment."
[P-Pardon?]
- Squish?
She gently lifted my chin with one hand. The touch was considerate enough not to hurt, but it was also a coercive one that denied any refusal, and my body stiffened.
Forcing my head back, Lee Ji-yeon's green eyes meticulously examined my complexion.
"Did you get hurt a lot just now?"
Then she asked me this.
How did she know I'd been working myself? I controlled the corners of my lips, which wanted to twitch on their own, and shook my head.
[N-no?]
"...Really?"
[Yes, any injuries from the practical exam are all healed in the end anyway, right...?]
"No, I don't mean the midterm. I meant from training alone just now."
[...N-no...]
Lee Ji-yeon's eyes became half-lidded and skeptical. Her gaze was far too piercing.
...I subtly moved my tongue inside my cheek and tapped against the finger Lee Ji-yeon was using to press my cheek from the outside, but her hand didn't release.
Instead, as if to tell me to stay still, she kneaded my cheek and pressed closer to me. Her warm breath and the thumping of her heartbeat drew near.
"...Uh, Ji-yeon? Isn't this a bit much out in the open?"
Fortunately, rescue came from the side. It was one of the female cadets Lee Ji-yeon had been talking to.
With a gaze half-filled with bewilderment and half with sparkling interest, she looked back and forth between Ji-yeon and me.
"...Ah, right..."
Lee Ji-yeon, who'd been staring down at me intently, nodded her head and released my cheek, stepping back.
The shadow draped over me lifted a little. As she pulled away, the oppressive sensation that enveloped me finally vanished, and I let out a huge sigh of relief—but then Lee Ji-yeon suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Junior, could you spare me a moment?"
[Huh? Uh... yes.]
Hearing my answer, Lee Ji-yeon turned her body away. She caught her friends' bewildered expressions and flinched slightly.
But it was only for a moment. Soon, she spoke with a determined expression.
"...Something just came up, so I'll have to miss out this time. You guys go on ahead."
"Oh, yeah, sure... take care of it...?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Nodding, Lee Ji-yeon left her friends blinking blankly behind and strode off with long steps. Being held by the hand, I followed behind her.
...The subtly moving Sky Wing Feather coiled around Lee Ji-yeon's waist.
.
.
.
The place Lee Ji-yeon took me to was the Grand Mansion.
Inside, we headed toward a park where all sorts of vital flowers were blooming in profusion.
On the way, she handed me a cup of warm milk at a cafe, and I'd thought we'd just chat for a bit, but then she quickly brought me here.
Since I knew this was the destination from the start, I just quietly followed her.
And so we arrived at the park.
After surveying the surroundings for a moment, Lee Ji-yeon seated herself on a bench, then lifted me and sat me down on her lap.
I blinked at the soft feeling supporting my bottom.
[Senior?]
"Just a moment."
Not knowing what was happening, I tilted my head obediently when Lee Ji-yeon suddenly slipped her hand under my top and placed her palm on my stomach.
- Hhaah...
Soon, I trembled at the vitality infused from the palm that was softly rubbing my stomach.
It was something different from what you'd call mere warmth—an energy I'd have to describe as abundant being pressed firmly into me.
- Uuh, uughh...
I shivered from the sensation, still difficult to adjust to, but it wasn't long before the feeling of my stomach filling up plumply made my body languid.
Strength naturally drained from me. It felt like all my energy had been sapped, as if I'd eaten my fill and was placed in a warm bed.
Lee Ji-yeon wasn't flustered by my limp state; she gathered me into her arms with a practiced attitude.
I was just as used to it. Since this had happened before, and she'd infused me with vitality like this in the dungeons we entered together.
'If she was going to inject vitality, she could've just told me...'
I had a small complaint, but I didn't voice it.
Honestly, by now, I didn't even know why she insisted on injecting vitality.
But unlike absorbing vitality on my own, whenever I received vitality infusion from Lee Ji-yeon, a strange fullness and satiation would well up, and I'd simply accept it quietly.
The vitality infusion that continued for a while soon stopped. The hand rubbing my stomach fell away. My stomach felt oddly plump.
Maybe because I'd used so much energy working myself up earlier, that fullness felt even more tangible.
"Hoo..."
Lee Ji-yeon let out a sigh. She adjusted my slumped form in her arms and began patting my back softly.
Pat, pat. The patting came at a steady rhythm. As if matching my heartbeat, under her touch, something bloated rose from inside me.
- Urp...
Eventually, a tiny burp escaped my lips. As embarrassment flushed my face, the strange satisfaction melted my already sluggish reason away smoothly.
"Do you have any appointments scheduled?"
[No... I don't...]
"Then sleep for a bit."
Had she noticed my state? Lee Ji-yeon pulled my head to her chest and spoke.
"I told you before, drowsiness comes naturally after you get hurt and then receive vitality, right? So no need to feel weird about it. You can sleep."
[I'm, not hurt...]
"...Good grief, let's just go with that for now. Still, you can sleep, so don't fight the drowsiness. I'll watch over you. Rest easy."
Her hand moved down from my back.
After briefly stroking my bottom as if confirming something, her hand began patting it rhythmically, just like she had in the dungeon.
My reason sank further under her affectionate touch.
Every sound except the heartbeat echoing from within her body grew distant.
'Nice...'
[Happy.]
The pain and stress I'd built up from training melted away, thick as honey.
As I thought, being held in someone's embrace like this was far happier than hitting and breaking things...
"...Where did you go to get hurt this time... Honestly, I can't take my eyes off you for a single second..."
My consciousness sank away with those vaguely heard words.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Lee Ji-yeon
●●●●●●●○○○(74▷76/100)
｢Affection｣ ｢Rock｣ ｢Reliability｣ ｢Security｣