Preparation (1)
Preparation (1)
Half-formed thoughts drifted lazily through my head.
As the meaningless musings trickled by, I idly flexed my fingers.
Pop— A subtle, pleasant sensation rippled from the knuckle. It felt satisfying.
That snapped my mind back into focus. My reason, which had been sinking into a daze, jolted awake at the stimulus.
My legs, which had been trudging toward the dormitory, stopped dead.
'Ah.'
A sense of reality washed over me. The harsh, lingering chill I had been trying so hard to ignore crept back in.
Dizzy with shame, I sighed and buried my face in my hands. A wave of self-loathing crashed over me.
'Why did I... why did I do that?'
I had gone to visit Hong Yeon-hwa around lunchtime today.
Thinking that dropping by in the morning or evening would be a bother, I had visited a bit after the lunch hour.
The plan was simple: ask how she was feeling, hand over the scarf, and leave. I'd figured lingering around a patient and making her uncomfortable would be rude.
Despite all that talk about good manners, I ended up fast asleep in a patient's arms.
I scanned my surroundings with Spatial Perception. Even the sunset was fading now, the world beginning to darken.
Meaning, dinner time was long past.
I had fallen sound asleep holding a patient until dinner, and as if that weren't enough, I'd even eaten dinner there before leaving.
'Gyaaahk...'
An unquantifiable amount of psychic damage hammered my skull. My head swam.
After I had handed her the scarf, Hong Yeon-hwa had suddenly started gasping for air, seizing up.
Back then, there had been no room for thought. I'd reflexively grabbed hold of her and pulled her into a hug.
Just like she had done for me in the infirmary on the day of the freshman welcome party.
Thankfully, the outcome was positive. She had stabilized. I remember sighing with relief.
But there was a lingering regret. Maybe I should've made some sort of signal before hugging her and called for Ms. Ellia instead.
If it weren't for this curse, I would've shouted for her immediately.
The more I lived through these daily moments, the more acutely I felt the inconvenience of having no voice.
I know it's a rich person's complaint thanks to the hologram, but speaking directly was still the most comfortable way.
My reasons to hurry up and get the Curse-Lifting Jewel were piling up.
Anyway.
Pulling Hong Yeon-hwa into a hug to calm her down was within an understandable range. Even though I'd grabbed her abruptly, the emergency of the situation served as an excuse.
But what about after I'd heard the (alleged) secret of her bloodline, when I had thrown myself into her embrace? And why had I fallen asleep like that?
I couldn't make sense of it. I seriously wondered if I'd lost my mind.
This wasn't like me. Something felt off.
If I had to guess the reason...
'The Calamity Flame.'
I carefully stroked my right arm.
When I had unleashed the Calamity Flame inside the Tower, I had felt a surge of heightened emotion right after, and there was precedent for me acting disgracefully in front of Hong Yeon-hwa.
This time had been the same. My emotions had been running high. My thinking had become shortsighted, and I'd acted impulsively.
Having my emotions spurred on and showing impulsive tendencies because of it.
Those were classic traits of the Calamity Flame.
Did I really possess the Calamity Flame? I recalled Hong Yeon-hwa's words with an odd mix of feelings.
That I might be a member of the Calamity Flame Family... Honestly, I still wasn't sure.
Lee Ha-yul, from the world I considered my original one.
Lee Ha-yul, of this world, who definitively existed in the records here.
The records in this world showing a burn scar on the right arm, exactly like in my original world, and the use of the Calamity Flame...
'What in the world is it?'
As I walked along mulling it over, I arrived at the dormitory before I knew it.
I opened the door and stepped inside. The interior of the dorm was unchanged... No, to be precise, there was one difference from before.
A tragic heap of yarn scraps, doomed never to become a finished project, was piled up like a mountain in the corner of the common room.
'I need to clean all of that up, too.'
I rubbed my fingertips together for no real reason. It wasn't visible on the surface, but a closer inspection revealed tiny, recently healed nicks and cuts.
I'd learned to knit early on, right after enrolling at Siyoram.
The fastest way to train All-Rounder was to try your hand at a variety of fields.
So, I had been picking up simple handcraft skills in my spare moments.
The prime examples were knitting or woodworking.
Of course, the woodworking had pretty much stayed at the level of carving simple wooden figurines.
It might seem trivial, but since both knitting and woodworking counted as creation activities, I figured there was no harm in learning them.
Even when I first learned, I'd picked it up easily thanks to All-Rounder. I'd made a passable pair of socks on my first try, and later I could even make a scarf myself.
So, I had decided I should make Hong Yeon-hwa's get-well gift with my own hands, but...
- 'This isn't right.'
- 'I did such a bad job...'
- 'It's ugly.'
Once I'd actually made it, I wasn't happy with it. If I were going to use it myself, I would have, but thinking of it as a gift, I could find too many faults.
The failures piled up one by one... and time melted away like ice cream.
- 'Oh.'
After several hours flew by, I finally produced a scarf that was at least passable, and after somehow refining it, the gift was complete.
During the refining process, I occasionally pricked or cut myself with the thin lace needles or scissors.
If they had been simple blades, my toughened skin would've held up, but I'd been wrapping a faint Aura around them for the sake of precision.
I also made a few mistakes trying to cram a temperature-control spell formula into it during that process.
The end result was the scarf (Magic Tool) imbued with temperature-control and durability-enhancing spell formulas.
It had been a legitimate creation activity. It definitely hadn't been a waste of time. It'll probably help when I start learning Alchemy or Metalsmithing later.
I rationalized it to myself as I cleaned up the pile of yarn.
The weekend ended just like that.
.
.
.
My growth had been acknowledged through the Tower of Growth.
Against the combined attack of Siyoram cadets—an assembly of world-class talents—I had survived all alone for a full two days. And that was with my Spatial Perception on strike.
Of course, it was partly thanks to the good fortune of not encountering any major figures, but it still served as proof that my skills had advanced by leaps and bounds.
It was a result I hadn't dared to hope for.
Honestly, if I had my way, I'd feel like jumping for joy. In this world where power was everything, growing strong quickly was an immense blessing, and it increased my chances of breaking the curses.
- Whooosh!
The person who had contributed the most to my recent achievements threw a fist at me.
The sound of wind parting filled my ears.
My Spatial Perception read the fist's trajectory first.
The belated rush of wind brushed my skin, serving as a second alert to the attack.
A golden Aura surged forward in a straight line.
Usually, linear attacks are simple and easy to counter.
Their trajectory is easy to read, making it easy to prepare a response.
But I've been sparring with Professor Atra for nearly a month now.
I know just how deceptively varied that simple-looking fist can be.
If you try to dodge half-heartedly, its path bends immediately and slams into your jaw. If you coat yourself in Aura and try to match it, you're met with a flurry of counter-strikes, and a fist ends up planted in you anyway.
I'd experienced it countless times. I'd always racked my brain over it, but there was no true countermeasure.
It was simplicity approaching fundamentals. But precisely because of that, it could contain a multitude of variations—that was Professor Atra's teaching.
My only option was to just fight well on my side. There was no other answer.
What I chose was to meet it head-on. Mana welled up from my Core and coiled around both arms. Swiftly manifested Aura sheathed my fist.
I thrust one fist forward. Fist met fist.
- Kaboom!
The moment of impact, I clenched my trembling fist tight. The vibration seemed to travel up through my bones and rattle my head.
The Aura wrapped around my fist. The Body Reinforcement strengthening my body. My physical abilities were soaring day by day.
And yet, even with this level of response, the shock was this intense. I grit my teeth and swung my fist again.
I didn't just swing my fists. My legs moved ceaselessly, shifting my stance. Whenever I spotted an opening, I'd force a kick in there, too.
Our physical parameters were similar. Professor Atra was using her body in accordance with my level.
Our skills were roughly matched, too. In the beginning stages, she didn't use any advanced techniques I couldn't respond to at all.
Even so, I was still getting hit.
I could clearly perceive her attack trajectories, but I simply couldn't react in time. Her previous strikes piled up, creating windows where I knew the blow was coming yet couldn't block it.
A knee strike flew toward my side. I quickly brought my hand down to block.
- Thud!
'Ugh.'
A dizzying jolt ran through my forearm where the knee had planted itself.
The impact pushed my body back. I didn't resist it. Instead, I kicked off the ground as if to go along with it, widening the distance.
My body floated in the air. Feeling the never-quite-familiar sense of weightlessness, I drew out the mana inside my body.
I released the mana into my surroundings. I manipulated the drawn-out mana to construct spell formulas.
The process was carried out in an instant. I shook my arm out, and all at once, the formulas were activated.
The ground beneath Professor Atra's feet writhed, then blade-like shoots of earth erupted upward.
The wind that had gathered around me on all sides formed into lances and shot out in unison.
That was the first step. I manipulated mana once more, building up another layer of formulas. My floating body touched the ground again as I righted my stance.
- Craaash!
Or so I'd intended.
Before I could put my plan into action, Professor Atra's leg slammed down onto the ground.
The earth heaved. The rising spikes faltered.
Mana surged through her leg into the ground. Crunch! The earthen spikes crumbled and scattered like cookies.
Dodging the scattering debris, Professor Atra extended a foot forward.
The distance closed in a single step, and the wind lances were now right at the tip of her nose. Professor Atra moved her body without a hint of emotion.
There were fourteen fired wind lances in total.
She dodged nine. With a hand imbued with Aura, she deflected two. The deflected wind lances dispersed, twisting the trajectories of the remaining three nearby.
The wind lances burst, creating a violent gust. Professor Atra's hair whipped about. Even amidst this, her cool, composed eyes remained fixed on me.
Those eyes were suddenly right in front of my face. Professor Atra threw a fist with a dispassionate gaze.
I was caught in an unsteady stance, mid-spellcast. I hurriedly unraveled the spell formulas.
The backflow of mana made my head spin.
But I didn't give up; I threw a punch.
- Smack!
Ow.
.
.
.
"Weaving magic into close-quarters combat is good, but you lack contingencies for when the spell fails. Keep this aspect in mind."
- Nod...
I gave a dejected nod.
After tumbling head over heels around the training ground, this was the feedback session we had while catching our breath.
A brief rest period spent cramming the deficiencies from our previous sparring session into my head.
I lay sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily.
'...It always ends up the same.'
While I definitely felt that I was growing at a breakneck pace compared to other cadets, the pattern of the sparring matches was more or less unchanged.
In the beginning, she'd engage in a brawl with her physical parameters and skills set close to mine.
Professor Atra would analyze my level with those emotionless eyes, and once she decided her analysis was done, she'd raise her skill level.
And like that, I'd gradually be pushed back, until I was ultimately suppressed in the end.
Then it happened. As I was nodding along to her feedback, a dizzying sensation hit the tip of my nose.
Shortly after, a trickle.
Along with an itchy sensation, a red line traced its way down.
'Ah. A nosebleed.'
It wasn't a wound from getting hit. Professor Atra did hit me hard enough to leave bruises, but she was uncannily precise, never leaving cuts that drew blood.
Of course, they did happen occasionally, but those were caused by my own mistakes rather than Professor Atra's actions.
This nosebleed, too, was my fault.
More precisely, it wasn't from the impact but from the mana backflow.
It was caused by forcibly canceling a spell mid-cast.
Normally, when a spell's casting is interrupted partway through, the mana being used flows backward, damaging the caster.
Most internal injuries that mages suffer are from this kind of mana backflow.
It might sound like I'm flattering myself, but I'm quite skilled at handling mana, so even when backflow happens, it's usually just a bit of a nosebleed.
'It tickles.'
My nose twitched at the blood trickling down my philtrum.
Just as I was about to move to wipe it away, a handkerchief suddenly appeared.
'?'
The owner of the handkerchief was Professor Atra. She had taken the handkerchief out of her pocket and was wiping my nosebleed.
"Tilt your head down."
Professor Atra pressed firmly on the top of my head with her other hand. As my head dipped forward, the blood flowed again.
She wrapped the handkerchief around my nose and pressed down firmly. It didn't hurt. The subtle pressure was almost cozy, strangely enough.
The steady pressure continued. The nosebleed stopped before long.
Professor Atra removed the handkerchief and spoke.
"Always be wary of mana backflow. Even if you aren't using magic, it's a phenomenon that can occur simply during the process of using Body Reinforcement and Aura."
- ...Nod
I nodded, but inwardly I was thinking about Professor Atra.
The sparring matches continued just as they had before. She'd hand me a variety of weapons, and we'd spar. Some days, like today, we'd proceed with bare hands.
Between the sparring, she'd teach me the methods of mana, Body Reinforcement, and Aura control.
It was the same routine.
But still...
"Here."
[Thank you]
'Something's...'
Professor Atra held out a water bottle. When I took it, the cool sensation that touched my hand was chilled water.
I tilted my head as I watched her hand the water bottle to me and then flick the handkerchief with a snap.
Hadn't her demeanor subtly softened?
Was I just imagining it?
* * *
[Player Correction System: Blueprints]
Would you like to craft the Scarf (Magic Tool)?
...
Would you like to craft the Scarf (Magic Tool)?
...
Would you like to craft the Scarf (Magic Tool)?
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●○○○○(65/100)
「Affection」「Fear」「Expectation」「Concern」
[The conditions to lift the 「Curse of Silence」 have not been met]
[The conditions to lift the 「Curse of Solitude」 have not been met]