Reverse Flow? (3)
As Lee Do-hyun and Ham Tae-shik went at it with gleeful abandon during their mock battle, Rin and Yu-chan kept their noses buried in their textbooks and grimoires without a single break.
Rin was working through the brand-new Reverse Flow and Instant Movement tonight, while Yu-chan was only on Instant Movement, and yet Rin was somehow pulling ahead.
“Hah… Instant Movement’s finished.”
“……Already?”
“Yeah, it was easier than I thought.”
“……”
Rin spoke with a bright, self-satisfied grin, then glanced at the nightstand beside Do-hyun’s bed and turned toward Yu-chan, who was still hunched over his own books.
Yu-chan, sensing the shift, tore his eyes away and scrambled to keep reading while his mana circulated frantically through the mana-copying text.
Of course Rin had to be faster. After all, grimoire study was basically magic itself, and Rin had always been the quickest learner of it.
If she’d been trying to copy Yu-chan’s other techniques instead, she probably would’ve been crawling. The gap between them was simply that stark.
Yu-chan, unable to swallow even that much difference, burned with competitive fire and dove back into his studies.
Rin, feeling a little too smug, then pulled out the next, truly brutal problem.
She bit her lip as she read Reverse Flow.
‘This is actually impossible…’
She knew from Do-hyun’s lesson that a special talent might be required, but she still wanted to try. She wasn’t a monster like Do-hyun who could learn every technique, but she wanted to master everything related to magic.
So she kept studying the mana-copying text while trying to grasp Reverse Flow. Suddenly the book’s explanation jumped out at her.
“It’s not just reversal. You have to reverse or freeze the opponent’s mana flow entirely, so you need exceptional insight into mana flow and the control to reverse it at the precise moment.”
‘It’s not just reversal.’
That was the key. And right after it, the requirement for mana-control talent and insight.
Rin’s eyes widened. She understood. That was the hint she needed.
‘I have to reverse the flow itself.’
And do it at the exact second, forcing the opponent’s own power against them in one frozen instant.
She got the principle, but could she actually do it?
Insight and control—these were Rin’s greatest strengths.
She was only about half as good as Do-hyun, but no one she’d ever seen—not even Yu-chan or Hwang Ha-na—matched her mana sight and control.
That was enough. She trusted herself.
To test whether her own mana would work, she created a test mana orb like Do-hyun had been playing with and hurled it into the air.
If she could reverse it perfectly, she’d succeed.
Her blue mana aura flared around her eyes as her Aether Heart kicked in to help her control the flow.
And then.
THUD!
The sinking orb froze in place. Rin jolted upright in her chair, letting out a shriek.
“KYAAAAA!!!”
The cry was far too loud for her usual composure, but it was pure joy.
Yu-chan nearly fell out of his seat. Do-hyun, who had just walked in, startled so hard he almost tripped.
“What’s wrong? What happened?!”
“Why are you two freaking out?!”
The two of them stared at the newcomers with genuine shock.
Rin, beaming with happiness, created another orb and tossed it upward, then used Reverse Flow to freeze it for a moment.
THUD!
It lasted only a fraction of a second—0.05 seconds—but the fact that it had stopped at all was everything.
“Whoa, insane! You learned it in a single day?!”
“Hah… I thought it was impossible, but you actually did it.”
Do-hyun was speechless with awe, and Yu-chan, who had only been reading the textbook, clapped with a grin.
Then Yu-chan froze. Rin had mastered the textbook and grimoires in half a day, while he still hadn’t even finished one. He almost choked on his own saliva.
“……Hah?!”
He couldn’t just sit there. Yu-chan forced his focus and kept reading. Do-hyun, sincere as always, praised Rin without hesitation.
“Nice work. You really did it.”
“I knew you’d get it the second you saw it, Do-hyun Oppa.”
“Mmm… yeah, you did.”
Rin answered a little gruffly, but her face was split with a radiant smile. Do-hyun, who had never seen such a beautiful cold beauty without her disguise, couldn’t help but smirk.
He kept complimenting her, thinking she looked even brighter and prettier than before.
“It was really hard. Good job.”
“Thank you. It’s all because of Oppa.”
Rin laughed brightly, then turned to the still-studying Yu-chan.
“We’re heading down to the second basement floor tomorrow. You’ll be done by then, right?”
“……Of course. Trust me.”
Yu-chan’s confident tone made Do-hyun chuckle.
Before dinner was even over, Yu-chan suddenly roared.
“I DID IT!!!”
Just like Rin, his shout was completely uncharacteristic.
Now the entire party could use Instant Movement.
───* * *───
The third basement floor of the D-class dungeon was nothing like the first and second floors. No flickering torches or glowing amber stones lit the way. Only the light of whatever mana orb each hunter carried illuminated the path ahead. In the pitch-black darkness that felt like oil, it was almost impossible to see.
Normally, even an S-class hunter would hesitate to descend this far. But those who were simply too confident in their abilities always found their way down, and Solak was one of them.
As Leonid Beastkin, they looked like lion humanoids. The males boasted luxurious manes, golden fur, and rippling muscle. Around Solak, four—or perhaps six—lioness beastkin circled him, purring and chattering happily even in the gloom.
Solak grinned arrogantly at the D-class monster that had just appeared before him and swung his enormous paw without drawing a weapon, sending the dungeon spider’s head flying into his palm with a wet crunch.
“Amazing! It’s Solak-nim!”
“One-shot a dungeon spider!”
“How dashing you are today!”
“The true hero of this era!”
“KRAHAHAHAHA!!!”
The lionesses howled their approval, and the males roared back.
D-class was no place for the merely confident. Only the top of the top could survive here.
Leonid beastkin were naturally a mid-tier species. Even without awakening, they started at E-rank and could reach D-rank just by growing up. The species as a whole had talent so absurd that anyone could become D-class. Solak was among the elite of the elite.
‘Khhkh. The throne is mine.’
Born with royal Leonid blood, he already believed he could reach A-rank, maybe even S-rank, without much effort.
His only flaw was that he loved partying too much, so he usually gathered only the bottom-tier lionesses. It didn’t matter. Solak was that strong.
He was showing off his latest kill to his girls when a sound like dry wood rubbing together echoed from the corridor ahead. Solak’s grinning face instantly twisted. The amber eyes of the beastkin pierced the darkness, locking onto the figure moving toward them.
CRACK… CRACK.
The lionesses instinctively retreated. Solak stepped forward, claws extended. “What business do you have with me?”
The stranger didn’t answer and kept coming.
CRACK… CRUNCH.
The friction grew louder as the figure drew nearer. In the lionesses’ night vision, the creature finally came into view. A scarecrow-like wooden body, limbs jerking stiffly, holding a massive scythe.
Solak sneered. “If you come any closer, I’ll kill you.”
He unleashed the high-level technique Flare, a mana-pressure blast that could melt steel. The shockwave hit the scarecrow like a hurricane; dry leaves and twigs exploded outward.
Then.
THUD———
The strange sound stopped. The scarecrow’s body froze mid-step. Solak grinned, thinking he’d finally won. But the creature was already standing right in front of him. The massive scythe came down in one clean arc.
Solak swung his own powerful paw to block, but the scarecrow’s scythe cleaved through the paw, the claws, and then the neck in one motion.
CLANG!
The luxurious mane that Solak had so proudly shown off turned red and tangled on the floor like trash. The lionesses felt the danger in their bones and tried to flee, but it was too late.
In their path, the scarecrow had already appeared without a sound, scythe raised.
CLANG!
Five heads rolled across the floor like pumpkins. The scarecrow gathered them, smiling wildly, and muttered, “Three… heads… left…”
It stuffed the heads into its wooden body, stood up, and resumed walking.
CRACK… CRUNCH.
CRUNCH… CREEEAK.
The same eerie sound echoed through the corridor as it wandered deeper. After a while it paused and whispered, “Two… floors… to… go?”
The scarecrow tilted its head 90 degrees, as if confused, then realized there were no more heads nearby and climbed the stairs.
CRACK… CRUNCH.
CRUNCH… CREEEAK.