Razing the Forest
After successfully holding the first Famiglia meeting just like that,
once everyone had left, the three kids headed to the arena, their faces so tense it was obvious at a glance. They rummaged for their weapons and stepped inside the sparring room, while I—just wearing gloves—followed suit. And there was Ji Suhyun outside, grinning like she could barely contain her excitement.
[I never expected you to go all-out right from the start... If only the other kids worked half as hard as you three.]
Ji Suhyun's voice echoed from the speaker.
[The field you picked is a forest... so think of it as starting the moment the trees rise up. Get ready, everyone.]
Up ahead, I could see the kids' silhouettes in the distance.
'Even in a forest field, we might have a shot? We've got two mages and an assassin here. And the boss isn't even using his guns.'
Before the spar began, Jinwoo—recalling his own forest fight—spoke up like the kids actually had a chance.
'The field's in our favor. Might as well beat the boss once while we're at it, right?'
I was pretty excited too, honestly. The field was way more advantageous for the kids, after all. Two mages, an assassin—it'd be a real pain in the ass for a frontline fighter like me without my weapons.
But.
[Begin!]
For some reason, a smile wouldn't leave my face. The skill Youngje and Sea-a had shown in their spar, the grit Jinwoo displayed in his. How would they stack up against me?
A dense thicket of trees sprouted before my eyes, transforming the field. Birdsong and the chirping of insects filled the air around me. It was my first time in a forest field, so even knowing it was just the arena, the realism drew an involuntary gasp of admiration.
"The arena must be way bigger now too."
Most fields expanded in size when they shifted like this. According to the game lore, it was some space magic tech, but I couldn't gauge just how vast it'd become.
"First, secure high ground."
Given their personalities, they wouldn't be sticking together, so pinpointing their positions from above seemed like priority one. I kicked off the ground, using branches as footholds to climb the tallest tree nearby.
"Ha... this has to be one of the arena's features, right?"
The forest stretched out wide around me. No matter how I sliced it, this was way bigger than the arena's normal size. It screamed Ji Suhyun's overambitious meddling.
In a situation like this, the kids—with a space mage like Sea-a—would have the edge in scouting. Fine then...
I scrapped my initial plan, hopped down from the tree, and closed my eyes. The earthy scent rising from my landing, the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot. Even the grass-scented wind rushing over the leaves—I sensed it all.
Focusing so hard I could feel every hair on my body, I tried to pinpoint their locations. That's when—
──────!!!
"...As expected!"
A whoosh of air slicing from behind—I swung my fist, shattering the incoming musical note on impact. I immediately scanned behind me, but no presence lingered.
"I see."
The situation clicked into place. A top-tier mage like Youngje with his versatile spells, and Sea-a freely manipulating space. That attack was definitely their combo.
"Youngje casts the spell, Sea-a warps the trajectory. Smart way to hide the caster's position."
In a field cluttered with obstacles like this, it was a damn effective tactic. No weapons allowed, so they were getting creative.
"This is fun."
Right then, light arrows flew at me from the front, left and right. I smashed them with my fists.
Tat—
I dashed toward where they might be, but the spot was empty. At this rate, without magic, finding the kids would be near impossible for me.
...Or so one might think.
──!!
Far off, fake birds—perfectly matched to the field—took flight. A few seconds later, more magic barraged me from behind.
I tried to block this time, but one grazed my cheek.
"Tch!"
No wound, though.
──!!
Birds flushed from the same spot again, off to the side. More spells incoming. I threw a punch, but it bounced off instead of breaking.
"Well, now."
The spells were getting stronger. They were testing my limits, ramping up the power bit by bit. But the games were over.
"──Found you."
As another bird flushed, I bolted toward it with everything I had. At the same time, my [Smart Lens] pinged: [Trait: Baby Boss] activated.
Something nearby was afraid of me. In this forest with only four people total—including me—who else could that be but the kids, whose position I'd just sniffed out?
"No way—how'd you figure it out?!"
A massive ice shield erupted, blocking my path.
"Fire the spell, then Sea-a warps the path to conceal your spot. Solid plan. But—"
No matter what, some things couldn't be hidden.
"Every spell has an origin point."
The mana fluctuations from spellcasting would've felt alien to the surrounding birds, flushing them skyward the instant it happened.
"Next time, factor in the local wildlife too."
My fist collided with the shield, shattering the ice in an instant. No way some hasty spell could stop my punch.
"Jinwoo Bivalt!"
Youngje shouted, and Jinwoo lunged from behind, aiming for my neck. Good attempt. If he hadn't hesitated from fear, anyway.
I caught his slight stutter and whipped a kick backward.
-Paang!
A sound no human body should make exploded out.
"Guhk!"
Jinwoo barely crossed his daggers in recovery, flying back. A few cracked ribs if it'd landed clean, but his sharp reflexes—ones I'd seen before—saved him.
Right now, Jinwoo was both assassin and frontline warrior for the team. I tried to ignore him and go for Youngje, but Jinwoo shook off the pain, reset his stance, and charged again.
"Without your guns, even the boss is doable!"
"You sure about that?"
I read the path of his swinging dagger. Luckily, I'd faced plenty of armed foes in the Blunti family showdown, so handling Jinwoo's attacks wasn't tough.
I timed my dodges accounting for his weapon's reach. Jinwoo wasn't dumb—he mixed in irregular strikes—but I blocked those with an upraised hand every time.
"What the hell, those gloves are insane!"
They looked like plain leather—Midas's gloves—but Jinwoo had no clue they couldn't be torn or destroyed.
"Should've taken better care of your weapons, then."
I grabbed his thrusting dagger—aimed at my gut—and yanked it toward me.
"Huh?!"
He never expected his blade to be caught, so he got pulled right in. I slammed a full-power fist into his solar plexus.
"One down."
"Why me again—arghhh!!"
"Fine!"
'Fine'—the musical cue for 'end.'
Youngje's voice rang out from behind as the ice shield from before blocked for Jinwoo. So that's what stopped my first hit too.
Jinwoo ducked low and rolled toward Youngje without missing a beat. I spun to pursue, but then—
"Forte! (Loudly!)"
Bam!
An invisible shockwave slammed into me. I palm-blocked it, but the recoil shoved me back anyway.
Still, one leap from this distance and I'd catch up. As I coiled to spring—
"Sea-a!"
Kim Sea-a finally showed herself, the one who'd been hiding till now.
"Ready! Mixing it up!"
Mixing...? What the—
Her words finished, and the weirdness hit. The terrain started shifting like a jigsaw puzzle slamming together.
"Ha! Hahaha!"
So that's what she'd been doing while hiding? Beyond imagination.
Sea-a had been hacking the arena field's control to seize command. Normally impossible—the academy's systems were no joke.
But not now. With Ji Suhyun—a space mage herself—pumping extra juice into an oversized field, cracks formed in the system. Sea-a exploited them.
The space around me warped rapidly. I'd been teleported far from my starting point, losing the kids' position again.
They knew I'd spilled how I found them via birds, so they'd switch tactics. They'd watched my fights up close and planned among themselves, huh.
Even trapped, I couldn't help but admire their pluck.
But.
"That's that, and this is this."
No birds for scouting now, and soon Sea-a would pin my coordinates for a free shot.
"Check this out."
I stomped the heaving ground, unleashing a beam of pure white light skyward.
"Already starting, huh."
Spells erupted from the earth, lunging at me relentlessly. I had breathing room for now, but endless dodging would wear me down eventually.
What to do? Break the spells and hunt them? Nah, not my style.
Then...
A great idea hit.
"If the forest's the problem, just wipe it out."
I punched the tree in front of me.
────!!
The tree crumpled helplessly under my fist.
-Thud!
-Thud!
-Thud!
-Creak, thud!
Dozens more toppled like dominoes, carving a straight path in my punch's direction. And—
-Shrrk
Fake field trees, after all—they faded on hitting the ground. Perfect for my purposes.
"This might actually be doable."
Another punch, another tree down. Softer than expected. Confirming the wood's low durability, I grinned and readied the next swing.
"Time to get busy."
What came next was simple. I was going to turn this forest-choked field into a wasteland.