Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Academy (14)
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It hadn't been long since they started following the tracks when a single chimera appeared.
"It doesn't look like much."
"It'll still be dangerous if it grabs you."
They needed to gauge the monster's level. Knowing its strength would make it easier to respond. Outwardly, it resembled a zombie stitched together from piles of flesh scavenged from all over.
"Grraaah..."
The zombie limped toward them, entering within ten meters. Then it began to speed up bit by bit.
Its calves swelled, and in an instant, it charged.
Slash! Crack!
Not content with that, its face split vertically, revealing dozens of sharp teeth. At the same time, the brain hidden inside its head was exposed.
"Gross."
He pulled out a needle resembling a steel chopstick and flung it.
Whish—thunk!
The chimera's faint barrier shattered. Pierced through the brain, it reverted to a mere corpse. It was the type where the monster's weakness was revealed at its most aggressive moment.
'If you stay calm and respond properly, even a 1-star cadet could take it down.'
He now had a rough sense of what kind of rift this was. As long as the cadets weren't intimidated by the monsters' grotesque appearances, it was an easy clear.
Zombie packs appeared every few minutes.
Amelia's wind magic severed their heads, and Helena's mana bullets punched holes right between their eyes, as if they'd been shot with a gun.
'Clean work.'
Helena, in particular, stood out compared to the other cadets. Efficient kills using the minimal amount of mana.
She carried an air of experience unbecoming of a young cadet. Her proficiency was suspiciously polished.
The story she'd mentioned before about the clock tower. Connecting that to her mature demeanor sparked a vague realization.
'Hmm...'
He tested Jang Ye-hwa's ability. Lie detection, plus gauging favor and hostility.
Both Amelia and Helena brimmed only with goodwill toward Si-woo.
It was suspicious, but their gazes full of affection made him not want to pry.
'Maybe if we get closer, she'll tell me.'
Getting closer, of course, meant in the physical sense.
*
"Grrooaaar..."
Zombie chimeras that hopped along endlessly appeared. Their repulsive forms made him reluctant to touch them directly, so he killed them with needles.
Helena smiled with her eyes as she asked,
"Impressive. Where did you learn that technique?"
"Mm... A friend taught me."
"Oh? I'm dying to know who."
As Si-woo chatted with Helena, he noticed Amelia staring piercingly at her hand.
He offered his hand to Amelia.
"Want to hold hands?"
Helena cut in.
"Ah! No. Doing that inside a rift... The instructors are all watching."
"Mm... Too bad, huh?"
"Yeah..."
Here, they just needed to hunt as many zombies as possible or take down the boss monster somewhere to finish.
'Isn't this too easy...?'
The opposite thought crossed his mind simultaneously. For someone entering a rift for the first time, it was fairly tough.
They tracked traces for a while, taking turns hunting monsters.
The monsters were so weak compared to their skills that it felt like a stroll.
"Amelia. Still having trouble sleeping lately?"
"Yeah...? Ah... It's gotten a bit better recently."
"Good. Glad to hear it."
Thanks to Si-woo absorbing the nightmare energy, the intensity of her nightmares had lessened.
"And you... You're okay?"
"Huh?"
"Do you sleep well, Si-woo? Any dreams or anything...?"
"Not really? Once I fall asleep, I sleep like a rock."
"Really...? That's good."
A faint smile graced Amelia's face. Her usually blank, shadowed expression brightened for a moment.
It was a dazzling smile.
Like a lotus blooming in full. Seeing that smile made him want to seduce her properly—not just her body, but her heart too.
As they gazed into each other's eyes, Helena suddenly shouted.
"L-Look over there."
"Huh?"
Ruins of crumbling buildings. Amid the stone debris was a path leading underground. It was cleverly hidden, not easy to spot.
"Oh... Neat. How'd you find it?"
"Hehe. I've got good eyes."
The group headed underground. Pushing through the collapsed debris, they found a basement. A few warped, broken pieces of furniture lay scattered.
"Nothing much here?"
"Yeah... Oh?"
Helena, examining the surroundings closely, tapped the wall.
Thud.
A hollow echo rang out. Her face lit up as strength gathered in her hand.
Thump! Thump!
Infusing mana into her taps, the wall with faint cracks crumbled down.
Another path leading deeper underground appeared.
"Huh?"
But this wasn't an artificial space.
Perhaps due to dimensional erosion connecting to the original location by chance, the path was a mess.
It was a natural cave with stalactites everywhere. Narrow and treacherous, they'd have to crawl through.
"Looks like a naturally formed space?"
"Shall we check it out?"
Si-woo glanced at Amelia, but as always, she deferred all decisions to him.
The one intriguing thing in this boring rift training, he nodded.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Unable to widen the path for fear of collapse, they had to crawl.
"I'll go first."
Helena confidently took the lead. As they crawled, her dress rode up. Her dark red panties came into view right in front of him—quite the sight.
'Artifact or not... Wearing that in a rift. Perfect.'
Soon, a spacious cavern opened up. Helena, arriving first, illuminated it with light magic.
"Oh..."
Regret flickered as Helena's panties vanished from view. Then he saw the cavern.
Like the cave where he'd obtained the Mixed Origin Qi Art, an underground stream flowed on one side.
Si-woo scanned the surroundings and spotted a particularly eye-catching pool of water. A mysterious pit filled with milky liquid.
The closer he got, drawn by the novelty, the stronger the intense energy felt.
"Whoa..."
Clearly a spiritual medicine. And the highest-grade one he'd seen personally.
Far purer than 100-Year Hwasu Root or Blue Bee Honey. It felt like stumbling upon a lottery ticket.
'Getting this so easily?'
"Whoa... Looks like spiritual medicine?"
"Yeah!"
Amelia approached, intrigued. She squatted to inspect it, then stood, curiosity sated.
Si-woo said,
"What do we do? Split it three ways?"
Both women shook their heads.
"Mm... I'm good."
"...Increasing my mana too much would be a hassle."
"Neither of you want it?"
"I've... had plenty since I was little."
"Yeah. You take it, Si-woo."
"Whoa..."
The already pretty girls looked like absolute angels.
'They're just giving it all to me?'
Pretending to pull it from his bag, he took a glass vial from his inventory.
Using the Mixed Origin Qi Art's absorption technique, he collected every last drop from the floor.
The women watched with expectant eyes, so he couldn't resist taking a sip.
'This body needs strengthening anyway.'
For testing, he swallowed just one drop. Pure energy itself—no side effects apparent.
"Gulp... Gulp... Ahh... It's sweet?"
Sweeter than expected. Not quite honey or sugar, but a subtle sweetness that hit just right. After downing about a third, his whole body heated up.
He immediately sat in lotus position.
Intense heat coursed through his blood, like using Flesh Fire.
He began controlling the spiritual medicine's energy flowing through his meridians. It scraped away bodily impurities blocking inner energy circulation, clearing his clogged channels.
After circulating it a few times around his body until the energy faded, only the impurities remained.
He gathered the turbid energy into one spot and condensed it at his fingertip. Making a small cut, he expelled it—it looked like black blood droplets.
'Mind Flame.'
Fwoosh.
The impurities turned to black smoke in the flame blooming on his finger and vanished.
"Hoo..."
His whole body felt refreshed. The low mana sensitivity of this reincarnated body had been suffocating, like walking blindfolded. Now he could finally breathe.
'This should settle this modern body.'
His abysmal mana sensitivity was fixed. Now it matched or even surpassed his other world bodies.
For just a sip to improve the body this much—the spiritual medicine was better than he'd thought.
'Felt like I got it too easily... What the hell is this stuff?'
Spiritual Medicine. You have consumed Void Azure Oil.
All stats increase by 10.
Mana additionally increases by 13.
Mana impairment has been improved.
"Oh...!"
"How do you feel?"
Helena watched with sparkling eyes. Amelia seemed subtly very interested too.
"My mana's surged a ton. Feels like... around 4-star now?"
"Wow! Congratulations!"
Amelia slowly approached and poked him. When Si-woo looked at her curiously, she let out a sigh of relief.
His increased mana hadn't triggered any rejection from her.
*
After fully digesting the spiritual medicine, Si-woo emerged from the cave and ran into Kang Su-ho, who was just about to enter.
'What... If I'd been a bit later, this guy would've gotten the medicine?'
The guy scowled and turned away.
Watching the oblivious Kang Su-ho leave, Si-woo happened to glance at Helena.
She wore a subtle smile.