Out of Reach

"I-I'll count it down."

The moment Shin Na-yul finished speaking, mana surged through Cha Hyun-woo's entire body. It spread in every direction almost at once, and before long a dome-shaped mana barrier had fully formed around them.

He'd done it to cut down the risk of injury, no doubt — but that left me with a problem.

I don't have the slightest intention of attacking him.

"Three… two…"

The countdown ticked on. With only a single second left, the flow of the air itself reversed.

—Sssrrk—

A brilliant light settled into the mana blade in his grip. Cha Hyun-woo's mana attribute was Light — and true ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to that nature, the glow was radiant and beautiful.

This is going to be a pain.

Of the five attributes, Light was regarded as the finest of them all. Appearing in roughly one person out of a thousand, its rarity was matched only by its power.

Cold sweat ran down my back. I steeled myself once more and tightened my grip on the wooden sword.

—Wheeeet!

A whistle cut through the air, and Cha Hyun-woo's distant figure grew larger by the second. He was closing on me at a blistering pace.

Then a small whirlwind of wind coiled around my body. I blinked once, and paths of wind bloomed into existence all around me.

Sylph's Blessing.

That broken skill had activated.

Yeah. I can feel that.

Vitality flooded my limbs, light as if I were floating on a cloud. A brief moment later, he was standing right in front of my nose.

Cha Hyun-woo swung without a second's hesitation.

—Whoosh!

The first strike was the most obvious frontal slash imaginable. I twisted my body just slightly and slipped past it with ease.

—Tsk—

I'd managed the dodge, barely. The trajectory of his blade etched itself clearly into my vision, and a chill ran through me.

Tch. He's faster than I expected.

So this was what it meant to be the protagonist. Even with a ridiculous skill like Sylph's Blessing on my side, he was no pushover. One wrong move and he'd catch me and cut me open.

Honestly, I was only human. I couldn't dodge every single attack forever…

—Fwoooooom!

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Cha Hyun-woo's vicious blade came for my shoulder again. I moved late — and I knew, instinctively, that this one I would not get clear of.

—Tsk.

And yet his strike carved nothing but empty air once more. Cha Hyun-woo's blank, stunned face filled my view.

Yeah. He had every right to be shocked. That should have been a clean hit — and it hadn't landed.

Oh. So this is what it feels like.

A skill I'd kept hidden had just saved my life.

A skill that worked on roughly the same principle as a magnet. Low-ranked as it was, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for pure evasion it was second to none.

That didn't make it all-powerful, of course. It needed a baseline of agility to function, and if an enemy had enough mana and raw strength to push through the repulsion, the caster was the one who got flung instead.

Which was exactly what had just happened — his blade hadn't bounced away. My body had.

"Wh-what…"

Cha Hyun-woo stared at me, speechless. I let a faint smirk curl my lips and threw out a taunt.

"That look on your face is priceless."

"…How the hell did you dodge that?"

"Figure it out yourself. Do you ask your opponent for lessons in the middle of a spar?"

"What are you—"

"The kind of guy who gets himself killed by a villain, that's what. Act like that in a real fight and you might as well already be a corpse."

—Grit.

Cha Hyun-woo clenched his teeth hard. Then he snapped back into focus and swung again.

—Whoosh!

It didn't connect, of course. Without breaking the previous motion, he chained into another cut.

—Whoosh!

Even that clever follow-up never touched me.

Whoa. Look at that face. Murderous.

Watching me slip away like an eel, Cha Hyun-woo bit down hard on his lip. He was so thoroughly pissed that his movements had gotten simpler than before.

"Damn it!"

Those crude attacks had no chance of landing on me, and he had to know it. Figuring his own strikes would never succeed anyway, he started thrusting his blade in a wild free-for-all.

—Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—

Each slash moved like a living snake. Those vicious serpents had decided I was prey, and they came after me with everything they had. Every time, my body moved of its own accord and barely scraped clear of the blow.

"H-holy shit… Did he just dodge all of that?"

"How is he even dodging…?"

"Whoa…. What the fuck."

The students were buzzing. My focus nearly scattered toward them, but I wrenched it back and locked onto Cha Hyun-woo's assault again.

—Shhk—

Another whistle of air splitting, another rush of wind grazing past my body. Every one of those sensations meant another successful dodge.

—Sak—

Cha Hyun-woo forced his hands through the motions, changing his form. No matter how many times he swung, his attacks never so much as brushed a single hair on my head.

"You son of a bitch!"

He spat the curse, furious at the fact. Honestly, I wanted to swear just as freely myself.

This is exhausting as hell. Fuck.

I was getting winded. Close combat really did chew through stamina. I needed to open up some distance.

I let the paths of wind carry me and twisted my body even faster. Sure enough, he came after me in a relentless barrage. I sprinted right, then abruptly cut my line the other way — and Cha Hyun-woo, unable to rein in his speed, stumbled for a beat.

"What the hell are you doing?! Why do you keep running away?!"

Time kept flowing regardless. Cha Hyun-woo thundered after me, sticking to my back, and he didn't look the least bit tired.

"Hoo."

A sigh slipped out between my teeth. I was dying over here, and he was still fresh as a daisy — it felt like I was the only one digging my own grave.

"Hup!"

With a sharp shout, Cha Hyun-woo thrust his blade. He'd put real power into it this time; the rush was faster than anything before. If he thought I was going to stand there and take it, though, he was badly mistaken.

"I said what are you doing?!"

He bellowed it. Emotion was outrunning reason — and that was a serious liability in a fight. The more irritated he got, the messier his attack lines became, and his footwork turned sloppy. Right foot and left foot were working against each other. He even stumbled mid-kick.

"Pff—"

"Dude, don't laugh. Hyun-woo'll hit you."

"How am I supposed to not laugh, pffhaha…"

A laugh nearly burst out of me too, but I forced it down.

"Your footwork is pathetic. An amateur boxer would look better."

I tossed out feedback like a running critique.

"If emotion eats your mind, you're finished. You only become a better hero by mastering that heat."

Truth be told, I didn't really know either. I was just picking the most impressive-sounding lines and throwing them at him.

Hearing my so-called feedback, Cha Hyun-woo poured out a string of blind attacks — face, gut, forearm, calf. Each time I slipped clear with the smallest possible motion, and bit by bit I widened the gap.

"And you still call yourself a superhuman? It's like handing a holy sword to an elementary schooler."

I caught the twitch at the corner of his eye. He kept working his feet and thrusting his blade, but the movements only grew more ragged. Even accounting for agility being lower than his other stats, nothing about the way he moved was efficient.

"Your footwork is clumsy. Already forgotten what I just told you?"

I was still running my mouth, thinking I had the upper hand — when it happened.

BOOM!

A sudden roar, and the ground heaved. Cha Hyun-woo's kick, packed full of mana, had slammed into the earth, and the ground couldn't take the impact. It shattered.

What kind of monster is this guy?

How much mana had he poured into that to get a shockwave this big? I didn't have the luxury of figuring it out. Vibration erupted under my feet, my body lurched, and I lost my center of balance.

He came straight for that opening.

There's no way I dodge this one.

Primitive instinct took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over. As if possessed, I raised the wooden sword and poured every ounce of strength I had into it.

For all that effort—

—CRACK.

My sword exploded into splinters. The wooden blade simply couldn't withstand Cha Hyun-woo's strike.

"……"

I stared at him with a frozen face. He still looked furious.

It broke in one hit?

Was that what happened when high strength and high mana stacked together — a monster like this? Even so, this wasn't some ordinary practice stick, and it had shattered like a cookie.

Now what?

By the rules, a spar was supposed to stop the moment either fighter's weapon was disabled. But looking at Cha Hyun-woo right now—

He's completely lost it.

There wasn't a hint of that intention on him. Regardless of the state of my sword, he kept swinging.

—Shhk!

No ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time to dwell on the sudden turn. I kept moving.

—Shhk!

The whistle of splitting air and the scrape of the floor against my feet battered my ears without mercy. Attack and evasion chained together again and again.

"Th-the spar is over! Done! It's done, it's over!"

Right on cue, the match was called. I sent a silent thank-you to Shin Na-yul and finally let out the breath I'd been holding.

And then—

"Hyaaah!"

Cha Hyun-woo didn't seem to have heard her at all. He swung his blade straight at me.