The Thief's Path
Today was finally the first day of classes in the Thief Department. A lot had happened along the way, but at its core, the setting of Legend Route was the Academy.
"Oh, today is finally my first day of class, oooot…! I was so nervous I couldn't sleep a wink last night, oooot…!"
Professor Reyna, who normally wore her heavy dark circles like makeup, appeared with even more pronounced bags under her eyes than usual. She was visibly more tense than ever — the kind of look you'd see on an elementary school kid who'd stayed up all night excited for a field trip.
"Wow~! I was worried we'd be stuck in that old department building, but thankfully we're using a proper training facility."
Elly said, looking around. The place we were standing in was the Spear Arts Department Training Ground.
"Our department building doesn't have a proper place for combat training, oooot…! I did submit a request to the upper levels, but I'm not sure if a new training facility will be installed, oooot…!"
"That's great~!"
Elly patted Professor Reyna's messy hair affectionately.
Looking at them like this, you couldn't tell who was the student and who was the teacher. Elly was remarkable for fearlessly putting her hands on the professor's head, and Professor Reyna was remarkable for accepting Elly's touch like an affectionate cat. Now that I thought about it, the two of them had had great chemistry in the original work too.
"Today's class is about gauging the actual skills you all possess, oooot…!"
Professor Reyna spread both arms wide open, as if to confirm she was unarmed.
"For the next ten minutes, attack me, oooot…! You can use any skill, any weapon, oooot…!"
Professor Reyna declared herself a punching bag for ten minutes.
Elly was startled by the professor's words.
"Are you really okay with that? You're not going to counterattack, right?!"
"Of course, oooot…! Don't worry and give me your best attack, oooot…! That's the only way I can make a more accurate judgment, oooot…!"
Izumi Reyna was a professor at the Academy. Despite her clumsy exterior, her actual combat ability ranked among the very top of all Academy professors — on par with Professor Flora herself.
"I'll go all out."
Sierra said, determination boiling in her eyes. I could see a glimpse of the mid-boss Sierra from the original work. The combative nature buried deep within her seemed to have ignited after a long time. Since that kind of trait would aid Sierra's growth, it was a very positive change.
"Then, come at me, oooot…!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Elly moved. Despite her cheerful smile, the momentum radiating from her was as sharp as a blade honed on a whetstone. Her movements were swift beyond measure.
The roughly three meters of distance between Professor Reyna and Elly vanished in an instant. Elly threw a punch loaded with one hundred percent sincerity, just as the professor had instructed.
"Fist Shot~!"
Fist Shot (D-Rank) [Level 2]
Rapidly thrusts a fist forward to strike the opponent. Attack speed scales with Agility. If Strength is 30 or above, gains a 10% armor penetration effect.
Damage: 6 + (Strength × 1)
Elly's attack was Fist Shot — a D-Rank skill and one of the most common in Legend Route. It was so ubiquitous that if a wealthy family's child learned a self-defense skill, this was almost always the one they picked up.
Being D-Rank and extremely common, it couldn't be called a good skill even in the loosest sense. A low rank meant the skill's base damage and potential were inherently poor, and being widely known meant it was easily countered.
No matter how high her stats were, an attack like that would never land on Professor Reyna.
Just as I expected, the professor deflected the attack with ease. A slight tilt of her head was all it took to make Elly's punch go wide.
"Elly! Be careful!"
Sierra's attack followed immediately after.
"Shuriken Burst!"
Shuriken Burst (B-Rank) [Level 2]
Hurls mana-forged throwing stars forward to attack the opponent. Projectile speed scales with Agility. Attacks launched from outside the target's field of vision deal 10% increased damage.
Damage: Equipped projectile's damage + (Luck × 2)
Shiiit—!
Five black throwing stars flew toward Professor Reyna — a follow-up combo right after Elly's attack ended. The sound of the stars scraping through the air was like the cry of a bird of prey. The fierce momentum and terrifying speed of the projectiles resembled a hawk eyeing its prey.
"Shadow Chain."
I wasn't just sitting around either. Sierra's throwing stars aimed at the professor from left to right, while my shadow chains targeted her from right to left — our attacks crossing in an X to engulf her. That's completely meta, right?
"Whoa…! Nice skills, oooot…!"
That was Professor Reyna, critiquing our techniques.
But her praise rang hollow as she deflected both my and Sierra's attacks with nothing more than a slight bend of her waist. My chains, having lost their target, ricocheted off Sierra's throwing stars.
"Amazing~! You really are a professor, huh!"
Elly said something that would have stabbed anyone's heart, completely unfazed.
She wasn't being naturally blunt. As a merchant's daughter, Elly was a thorough realist. She probably figured this much teasing was acceptable with Professor Reyna.
And just as Elly expected, the professor spread her shoulders proudly as if she'd received a compliment.
"Of course, oooot!"
Our attacks were far from over. Professor Reyna had deflected our finishing moves with the leisurely grace of someone sipping coffee, but Elly showed no disappointment — only excitement. Sierra, too, felt no wall or sense of inferiority at her opponent's skill; instead, she burned with fighting spirit.
"Battle Spirit!"
Battle Spirit (C-Rank) [Level 3]
Steeles the will to fight, raising Strength and Agility for a set duration. Also increases the damage of all skills that scale with Strength or Agility by 10%. When the buff ends, all stats drop by the amount of the Strength and Agility increase. The debuff duration equals the buff duration.
Buff value: +3 | Duration: 5 minutes | Cooldown: 24 hours
The skill Elly used next was Battle Spirit — one of the best cost-to-performance ratio skills available. It raised key close-combat stats like Strength and Agility for a short window, and was an essential skill for any class tree in the warrior family — swordsmen, fist fighters, spear artists, and the like.
"Here I go again! Fist Shot~!"
Elly's combat style was a close-quarters brawl reminiscent of a fighting dog. Judging by her performance, her Strength and Agility were at least 10 or higher — top-tier for the Academy.
"There's no need to announce it, oooot…! It's an unnecessary habit in real combat, oooot…!"
Elly pressed forward with the tenacious, combative movements of a fighting hound, but her fists never once connected with the professor's body. My shadow chains and Sierra's throwing stars joined in from time to time, but the result remained the same.
"Yohan. Professor… hasn't moved a single step, right?"
Sierra asked me, her face frozen stiff like a glass mask. I nodded.
"Yeah. She's been in that same spot since the start."
"Ugh…! I wasn't expecting to land a hit, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Am I weak…?"
That wasn't the case. Objectively speaking, Sierra's stats placed her in the upper-middle range of the Academy. Not quite top-tier, but certainly well above average.
Empress of Dusk (A-Rank)
◈ Growth rate for dagger, throwing star, and shuriken skills increased by 100%
◈ Skill cost reduced by 10%
◈ Dark attribute attack power increased by 5%
◈ Dark attribute resistance increased by 10%
Sierra's Trait was Empress of Dusk — a full A-Rank growth trait. Sierra had grown stronger beyond comparison to her former self. When I first met her, she'd been in trouble just from street thugs. Now, she could probably take down those alleyway ruffians with one hand.
"Haa…! Haa…! I surrender!!!"
Elly collapsed from exhaustion before the ten minutes the professor had specified were even up. The Battle Spirit buff had worn off.
"I've confirmed your abilities, oooot…! Now, let me give a brief critique, oooot…!"
The professor gathered us together.
"First, Elly. Your fundamentals aren't bad, oooot…! And your fighting spirit is high enough to praise, oooot…! I'd say you haven't neglected your training, oooot…!"
"Haha~! That's embarrassing, but yes~! My father always emphasized that diligence was the virtue of the Janette Merchant Guild's mascot~!"
"However, you're overly fixated, oooot…! For instance, you're too slow to recognize a failed attack and pull back, oooot…! It's a common blind spot for people with strong fighting spirit, oooot…! If this had been a real fight, Elly, you would have died forty-seven times, oooot…!"
"F-forty-seven times?! How much insurance payout would that be, dying that many times?!"
"Next, Sierra. Sierra, on the other hand, your attacks are too cautious, oooot…! When you throw skills, you're overly conscious of attacking from my blind spot, oooot…! Probably because your skill has an additional effect, right…?"
"Yes. Attacks from blind spots deal ten percent more damage."
"Aiming for blind spots is good, but fixating on them and missing better opportunities is putting the cart before the horse, oooot…! I deliberately exposed openings to you thirteen times, oooot…! But Sierra, you didn't go for any of them, oooot…!"
"Thirteen times…"
"Don't be too discouraged, oooot…! It's a habit that's easy to fix, oooot…! And finally, Yohan…!"
Professor Reyna turned her gaze toward me. Her confident face was as cute as ever.
"Yohan, you…"
"Oh my. What do we have here? Isn't this the Thief Department?"
A domineering voice cut off Professor Reyna's words.
"What business does the Thief Department have in our Spear Arts Department's training ground?"