No Place to Hide
Just moments ago, the kids had been locked in combat with Eugene, but now they lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.
"No way, is that guy really a freshman like us?"
Youngje was the first to speak up.
"He smashes every spell we throw with his bare hands, and he dodges ambushes like it's nothing. How does that even make sense?"
What they'd just witnessed—Eugene in action—was the mark of an Awakener utterly at home in battle.
"That's why he's the boss, I guess. He's always been a monster..."
Jinwoo, who had clashed with Eugene up close, shuddered as he replayed the fight in his mind. Eugene's movements had anticipated every attack as if he'd mapped them out in advance. Even when they'd mixed in feints with paint, Eugene had snatched the dagger barehanded like it was no big deal and yanked Jinwoo right toward him.
If Youngje's magic hadn't saved me then, I'd have been knocked out cold, looking like a total idiot, Jinwoo thought, shaking his head.
"I am never doing that again. Even when I try to mess with the field, interference comes from outside. Looks like Instructor Ji Suhyun's blocking any more meddling with it."
Sea-a, catching her breath bit by bit amid her ragged gasps, spoke up. Youngje nodded.
"Yeah, it never made sense that we could keep interfering with the field like that. Still, it bought us one turn."
It stung that their trump card hadn't landed cleanly, but there was no helping it. It had been a cheat enabled only because the field was made of mana to begin with.
As he said this, Youngje thought back to how Eugene had tracked them down. They'd gone all out—using Sea-a's help to hide their positions, twisting spell trajectories—but he'd still found them through the birds.
Need to switch up our tactics, Youngje thought, pushing himself up from the ground.
"Sea-a, can you scan for the boss's position one more time?"
"Huh? Right now? Well, I sent him flying, so if I prioritize that spot, I should find him quick."
"Do it now."
Sea-a, too drained to even touch the ground anymore, flopped forward like a frog and splayed out flat. She scanned the spot where she'd flung Eugene.
It didn't take long to spot him.
"Uh... Eugene's just standing there where I sent him?"
"Good. I'll fire off a spell—guide it right to him."
"B-but won't he just come find us again?"
"Don't worry. I'll send it underground."
"...Underground? Okay, I'll give it a shot."
Youngje nodded at Sea-a's response and raised his fountain pen toward the ground.
"Tranquollo. (Quietly.)"
A faint ripple of mana pulsed as Youngje's spell shot into the earth. Sea-a seized control, steering it toward Eugene's position. She made it erupt right under him—but at that instant...
────!!
Sea-a slumped her shoulders, realizing some impact had shattered their control.
"Missed this time. But he definitely doesn't know exactly where we are."
"Yeah?"
That meant the method worked.
"Then you're on guidance duty."
"Got it!"
Youngje unleashed spell after spell into the ground at Sea-a's go-ahead. His original magic, Conduttore (Conductor), manifested spells infused with intent through words. Tranquollo—meaning "quietly"—slipped silently toward Eugene, one after another.
"Grazed him this time. He's shifting from blocking to dodging more. Wait—no, is he moving now? Super slowly, somehow..."
Moving slowly?
Youngje frowned at Sea-a's words and glanced at Jinwoo, who was resting on a nearby tree stump.
"Jinwoo, climb that tree and check the boss's direction."
"Huh? Now?"
"Hurry!"
"O-okay, yeah."
Jinwoo scrambled up the tree at Youngje's urging. That's when he noticed something bizarre in the distance.
"...Huh? Why's that spot bald like a monk's tonsure?"
Thud.
Another tree crashed down, birds scattering in its wake as dust billowed up.
Rumble...!!!
More trees toppled in sequence. The birds were long gone, but the dust hung thick in the air.
"What the hell...?"
Another tree fell. Staring at the scene, Jinwoo flashed back to a documentary from his childhood—poachers bulldozing a forest with heavy machinery. Even that equipment hadn't felled trees this relentlessly.
"No friggin' way. He's not seriously planning to clear the whole damn forest, is he?"
Then it hit him. That bald patch was where Eugene was. And he was smashing every tree in sight to flush them out.
If that kept up, they'd end up fighting in a barren wasteland of a field.
"...We're screwed."
Jinwoo dropped from the tree and faced the others. Youngje and Sea-a were still firing spells toward Eugene's location, but their faces had darkened since he'd left.
"Something's moving around Eugene nonstop. And... the ground nearby is shaking."
They'd noticed the anomaly too. Youngje turned, eyeing Jinwoo as he panted.
"What's going on out there?"
Jinwoo caught his breath and pointed toward Eugene's direction, where trees were still crashing down.
"The boss is knocking over trees left and right."
The others' expressions shifted in a rainbow of reactions. Sea-a looked baffled; Youngje's face grew grim with realization.
"...Insane."
Youngje flared his mana and shouted.
"Forget hiding—blast everything at the boss's spot now!"
"What?! Right now?"
"He won't dodge in this mess anyway! Sea-a, guide the spells to his last known position!"
Youngje's fountain pen aimed skyward, unleashing a barrage of spells. Sea-a frantically redirected them toward Eugene's coordinates. Jinwoo climbed back up to scout, but trees kept falling in the direction of the incoming magic.
"He's closing in!"
"Sea-a! What's the boss doing?"
"No clue! Trees crashing everywhere, spells flying wild—I can't get a read!"
Eugene seemed to be tracking the spells' origin, heading straight for them from atop his perch.
"Magic's drawing him right to us! This working?!"
"No other way to win! You don't get what kinda crazy shit the boss is pulling?!"
"What?"
"Can't see us through the trees, so he's flattening the whole forest!"
"Then what do we do?! We can't stop him!"
"What choice we got? If I stop the barrage, you dive right—"
"—Found you."
A cold voice cut through the trees.
"Holy shit... he broke through the spells and got here?"
Youngje halted his casting, aiming his fountain pen at the voice—Eugene's.
"Once I pinpoint a location, why walk? Especially since... even this close, you're still mixing the field. Can't do it again, can you?"
Sea-a flinched at Eugene's more resolute expression than before—likely scarred from their earlier fling.
"W-well, you see..."
"Not criticizing. That was impressive. Hacking and hijacking the spatial runes in the field to yeet me away? Never saw it coming."
Eugene meant it. Manipulating the field like that was unheard of.
Youngje and Jinwoo's skills impressed him too. Youngje's leadership fit his Conduttore perfectly; Jinwoo's instincts that had pinned him earlier were razor-sharp.
So Eugene decided to give them a nudge.
"Sea-a, you're supporting Youngje's spells, sure—but you could back Jinwoo too."
"Huh? Jinwoo? B-but I don't know buffs or enhancements..."
"Space magic isn't just scouting."
Eugene had played countless games in CS, including ones with space mages.
"Space magic's edge is setting coordinates and manifesting spells there. Unlike caster-centered magic, you can form obstacles or terrain with it."
Sea-a's face lit up in shock.
"Let's start, then."
As Eugene charged, Youngje invoked his spell.
"Adagissimo. (Very slowly.)"
A blue shimmer rippled around Eugene, slowing him. Sea-a and Jinwoo sprang into motion.
"Kim Sea-a! Can you sync breaths?"
"That's a tough spell! How am I supposed to platform where you'll jump?!"
The duo's link hinged on Jinwoo predicting Sea-a's platforms. Matching her to his speed was near impossible.
"Guess wrong, learn the hard way."
Eugene closed in, swinging his left leg.
"Wait—!"
Jinwoo raised his right arm to block. Bracing for a break, he saw Sea-a conjure a purple shield beside him per Eugene's tip—but...
"Amateur!"
Eugene shattered the panel like glass and clipped Jinwoo's arm. Sea-a's mana absorbed most of the blow, sending him staggering sideways instead of shattering bone—but the damage piled up.
"Why hold back? Use your wind, and you'd have way more options."
"Fine, I will!"
Wind swirled around Jinwoo, shoving Eugene's leg back.
"About time."
Jinwoo grinned, something clicking as he eyed Eugene.
"—I get it now. Why the boss wants me using my power."
Eugene smiled back. He'd been waiting for that.