Yuzuha Serdik (1)
The teaching assistant fought desperately to keep her expression under control.
“Even if you’ve made a direct contract with the goddess, combining qi, luck, and technique still requires you to have mastered the operation of qi first.”
Hmm. So there’s more to it after all.
This world really doesn’t make power-leveling easy.
“Tracking techniques that reveal hidden traces this quickly are impossible without the refined qi control of an upperclassman.”
The assistant went on to explain in detail how to combine Land Navigation with the operation of qi and luck.
“If you want to learn more, you can visit the eastern archive and look up the technical manuals. Land Navigation isn’t my specialty.”
A crisp clap signaled the end of class.
“That’s all for today. Good work, everyone.”
We filed out of the hall. The other cadets had fled in terror earlier, so only the usual group remained.
“Yaaawn… Ethan, where are you headed now?”
“I’m going back to the annex.”
“They only have cold water there. Aren’t you moving your stuff?”
“Endurance wins in the end. I’m planning to invent ondol heating.”
“…I have no idea what that is, but good luck. I’m off.”
Sera left first. The rest of the group gradually dispersed as well.
“Ethan, are you an Outer God?”
“I told you I’m not, you orc.”
“Then why are you sweating bullets while giving me that ‘compliment’?”
Dormut seemed a little afraid of me after all.
“Let’s head back, Carson.”
“Yeah!”
Ethan returned to the annex with Carson.
*
Qi operation plus the power of luck.
To activate map-hack, you still had to layer Land Navigation’s spellwork on top of that qi-plus-luck combination.
Damn it.
Why did everything have to be so complicated?
Just learning astrology to use luck power wasn’t enough. You also needed to master qi operation and actually be able to wield techniques with it.
“Can I learn qi operation right now, Carson?”
“Probably not on your own.”
Carson was bouncing a ball off the wall.
“Even when learning swordsmanship you have to fill your dantian with mana and train for ages. Qi won’t be any different. It doesn’t pile up overnight.”
He tapped his own lower abdomen.
“Look. I’m already struggling because I have to empty the mana I built up for sword training and start gathering qi from scratch.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“I talked it over with the professor. We’re doing it little by little. As long as I don’t take any elixirs, it should be fine. It’s not like I’m aiming to become a Thief Master.”
He was right. Mastering qi operation clearly wasn’t something that could be rushed in a day or two.
That was why martial artists in wuxia stories obsessed over internal energy their whole lives. Even if you ate every rare elixir and practiced the most profound breathing techniques, building it up was still brutally difficult.
“Hold on.”
Then the obvious solution was to learn from the professor who was currently the best at it.
“Professor Mibir is away on dispatch, remember?”
Carson had apparently snuck a look at the school bulletin board when the Sapphire dorm kids got sloppy with security.
“Are those guys still blocking the board?”
“They’re charging one silver coin just to look.”
“Completely lost their minds.”
Ethan wondered what the professors were doing while things had gotten this bad, but then he remembered Director Donovan’s personality.
‘You can’t even break through a little internal school politics? We don’t need cadets like you at Thief School. Get out! You’re expelled!’
Yeah, that sounded exactly like something the director would say. He accepted it instantly.
“Hmm.”
If Professor Mibir wasn’t available, there was one other option.
“I really don’t want to, but I guess I’ll have to ask.”
“Who?”
“Professor Yuzuha.”
Carson shot upright.
“…I’ve also taken a profound interest in the combination of qi operation, astrology, and Land Navigation, Ethan. Please, let me—”
“No.”
“Aww, whyyy?! I want to go see Professor Yuzuha too!”
You’d just ask her for carrier-pigeon coordinates again.
“Ugh! If you go alone I’ll tell the other annex kids to raid your personal storage chest!”
“Even a professor of lockpicking couldn’t open that. Do whatever you want. There’s nothing important in there anyway.”
“Aargh, if it weren’t for that subspace pouch!”
Ethan finally peeled the clinging Carson off his pant leg and headed for Professor Yuzuha’s office.
*
Professor Yuzuha tilted her head.
“You want to learn the advanced qi operation course?”
“Yes.”
She folded her arms.
“Then you should go to Professor Mibir. Why come to me?”
“She’s not in her office.”
Professor Mibir was high-value personnel and frequently dispatched, so she often left her office empty like Director Donovan.
“Besides, aside from the head professor, you’re the one most skilled at qi operation in the entire Thief School, Professor Yuzuha.”
Ethan added, “There were also a lot of things I wanted to discuss with you privately.”
Professor Yuzuha let out a bright giggle.
“Eek! Are you asking me out on a date right now?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re blushing!”
She twirled a lock of hair around her finger, then suddenly grabbed Ethan by the shoulders.
“I don’t dislike assertive men.”
“…”
“I get assertive right back, you know.”
Yuzuha leaned in and whispered against his ear, lightly biting her lip.
Ethan leaned back slightly.
“Save that assertiveness for when you’re teaching stealth techniques, Professor.”
“Ang! But I have nothing left to teach you.”
“Still, I need to learn stealth—”
“Shh!”
A finger shot out and stopped just short of his nose.
“I’ll teach you, but there’s a condition!”
“What is it?”
What is she planning now?
“Eat a meal with me later!”
“A meal?”
“Yeah! Just the two of us!”
Ethan blinked.
“That’s all?”
“Yep!”
“Not difficult at all. Understood.”
Is this the buildup to kidnapping a graduate student or something?
Ethan was the kind of cadet Professor Yuzuha adored, so it wasn’t strange for her to make such a request.
“The monorail takes too long to wait for, so let’s move using this!”
“…A flat-ground sled?”
Professor Yuzuha flipped a lever beside a wooden board. Two seats on rails that stretched like a roller-coaster track appeared.
“You sit in front! I have to steer from behind.”
“Understood.”
Ethan climbed obediently onto the wooden seat.
“Hold on tight!”
Professor Yuzuha’s cushion pressed firmly against his back.
Squeeze.
“…Professor?”
“Eek?”
Her slender hands wrapped around his chest.
“…Do we really have to ride like this?”
“No choice! The tunnel is too narrow for two people otherwise.”
Sera was pretty dense for a girl, but this was on another level.
“If the other cadets see you clinging to me like this, won’t they think we have something private to discuss and start sending heart-decorated letters?”
Tighter.
“I’m not clinging.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve never been this close to a man before.”
Professor Yuzuha’s warm breath tickled Ethan’s ear.
“You’re the first man who’s ever made me this assertive, Ethan.”
“…”
What is this? Some new technique?
A variation on seducing Thief School graduate students, now with a honey-trap twist. Ethan couldn’t help but wonder.
“No matter how hard you try, Professor, I’m never going to grad—”
“Departure!”
“Ubeurk.”
The lever dropped. The wooden sled shot forward and was sucked into the tunnel.
*
Northwestern Thief School.
The forest near the Five-Pointed Star Hall.
Ethan and Professor Yuzuha stood on a wide circular platform finished in smooth wood.
“You tried releasing qi once during the qi operation class, right?”
She planted both fists on her hips.
“No…?”
“You know, the ‘Hnnngh… Pshaa!’ thing.”
“Pardon?”
Ethan tilted his head, clearly lost.
“…”
“You really don’t know?”
“I’ve never done it.”
“There was class time for it, though?”
“Yes.”
For a moment Professor Yuzuha’s expression grew complicated.
“You’ve never released qi before?”
She couldn’t understand it. Releasing even a little of the qi inside your body was the very foundation of being a thief—the alpha and omega of the rogue class.
Ethan Cass was supposed to be the top-ranked cadet. Yet he hadn’t been able to release any qi from the very first class?
“I need an explanation, Ethan.”
The heart-eyes from earlier were gone. Professor Yuzuha’s gaze turned serious.
“It’s a bit complicated to explain.”
Ethan told her that he couldn’t feel any qi inside his own body.
“Instead, I can draw in external qi and use it…”
Thud!
Yuzuha clapped both hands over her mouth and sank to the floor.
“Ethan! Did you just say ‘external qi’!?”
“…Yes.”
“Can you show me right now?”
Ethan swept the back of his hand once. The upper-left circle of the tattoo was empty.
“Haaah…”
He closed his eyes and focused. Mist began to gather around him little by little. A faint green light started filling the circular tattoo.
Good.
When Ethan extended his hand forward, the mist thickened and gathered near his right hand. The second concentric circle on the upper-left of the tattoo sparkled. The slightly greenish mist shot forward and struck the edge of the platform.
Crack!
A wooden plank tore loose and stuck to Ethan’s hand.
“Ah.”
He’d accidentally broken school property.
Silence fell. Professor Yuzuha’s sharp gaze fixed on him.
What do I do? I should apologize to the professor first…
A high-pitched, fangirl-like shriek pierced his ears.
“Kyaa!”
Professor Yuzuha sprang to her feet.
“Ethan! You really are a genius!?”
She leaped and wrapped both legs around his waist, hugging him tightly.
“Eek! We got an incredible one this year!”
She clung to Ethan, vigorously ruffling his hair.
“Ugh. Professor, I can’t breathe…”
“Eek!”
Ethan finally escaped the Yuzuha cushion that had completely blocked his vision.
Why is a professor this clingy with her student?
He couldn’t understand it.
Why am I so popular with thieves?
While he was at it, Ethan decided to ask Professor Yuzuha the questions he’d been wondering about.
“Professor… ugh.”
Leap!
Squeeze.
“Ugh! Stop clinging already!”
“Eek!”
Ethan ended up getting thoroughly nuzzled by the Yuzuha cushion on top of the Sera cushion.
If any female cadet from another dorm or Sera herself had witnessed the scene, they would have immediately hurled explosive throwing knives at the Ruby dorm annex.