Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Academy Summer Vacation (11)
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On the way to the training hall with Seo Yeon, she asked one more thing.
"Sian, why do you want to spar with Na-eun?"
"I want to see how well my power works against a person. I also want to gain some experience fighting humans."
"I see. Na-eun's pretty strong, so it might be a good experience."
"Come to think of it, how strong is she exactly?"
"She's in the top five among the girls? That includes the two outliers from Q Class."
That meant she was top three among the academy's female students, excluding the two from Q Class like me: Chris Roanna and Miyama Asui.
She was that strong, so it made sense she could cut down goblins like nothing.
Taking Q Class as the benchmark, everyone seemed too strong, but since I hadn't interacted much with regular academy students, I had no idea what the average was.
When we arrived at the training hall, Na-eun was already geared up and waiting for us.
As I put on the sparring equipment, Na-eun asked playfully.
"Yoo Sian, you gonna use your guns?"
"I want to fight purely with swordsmanship."
"I prefer that too."
Fighting someone with a sword and shield was a first for me.
I'd used one before, but it was too crude to call a proper shield.
I knew it'd be hard to win, but that's why we were sparring.
"Alright. I just start? Then let's both give it our all!"
Seo Yeon, who had been watching from outside, naturally pressed the start button, and protective barriers enveloped our bodies.
Taking that as the signal, I gripped my sword with both hands and charged.
Roina Na-eun didn't stray far from her spot, just stepping forward two paces and aiming her shield at me.
Should I go all out with a full-power overhead strike?
I didn't have the overwhelming physical advantage like against evolved zombies.
Kaang!
The moment I swung down with full force, Na-eun bashed my sword outward with her shield and slashed down with the sword in her other hand.
Of course, that was the obvious follow-up.
I didn't even need Composure or Insight.
It was either a slash or a thrust, and she'd chosen the slash.
Kagagak!
The barrier absorbed the impact instead, but the pain still transmitted through.
As I staggered back slightly, Roina Na-eun looked displeased and said to me,
"That last move was pretty disappointing."
"You lived up to my expectations."
"Do it properly."
This time, Na-eun swung first.
A diagonal slash from upper right to lower left—I used Insight to read the sword path.
It looked full of openings, but if I didn't deflect it or counter immediately, I'd eat a follow-up shield bash.
Sure enough, sword and shield were tough to break through with just one blade.
Using Insight to gauge the distance, I dodged the slash by stepping back, then sliced at her right leg—out of reach of the shield in her left arm.
Kagak!
A very shallow hit, but it landed.
Kang!
Na-eun spun immediately, using an upward slash with her sword, which I parried with my own.
I dodged the subsequent shield bash by retreating, but her sword came flying again.
'Tough.'
Just a brief exchange of blows, and I already needed to keep using Composure and Insight constantly—the sword-and-shield combo was that fluid.
Our physical abilities weren't that different, but fighting someone with far superior weapon mastery felt like this.
Against evolved zombies or hop goblins, I could compensate for the overwhelming physical gap by reading attacks and exploiting openings. Roina Na-eun was different.
Even reading her attacks with Composure and Insight left no gaps.
After that slight nick on her right foot, she started perfect offense and defense.
What I needed here was the power to break through her combos, but I wasn't proficient enough with weapons yet.
No skills to create variables either.
Tricky.
I swung my sword with all my strength to create some distance.
It hadn't been a long fight, but I'd burned through so much mental energy that my head throbbed.
"Haa... haa..."
I caught my breath slowly, then charged at Na-eun, who was waiting.
Almost no openings this time either.
Kang!
I swung lightly to bait a shield block, then pulled back my sword to deflect her thrust.
I wanted to exploit the gap I'd created, but her shield swung back to cover her body.
Kagak!
A shallow stab to the chest got through, but the returning shield blocked further pursuit, and since it had gone in deep, I couldn't pull out in time and got slashed again.
Kagagagak!
This time, a powerful slash to my side—I instinctively clutched my right flank.
No actual wound, but the pain felt real.
"Kuh... no good."
"I just had the weapon advantage."
With that, Na-eun tossed her shield aside.
"Let's try sword on sword."
I wasn't sure how many more Insights I had left, but no reason to pass up the chance.
Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
Pure swordsmanship versus swordsmanship was much more manageable.
Read the trajectory, block, attack—blocked.
Thrust, parry, slash—deflected.
Using Composure and Insight, I swung in a trance-like state.
Then, suddenly, my vision went black.
Kagagagagak!!!
When color returned to my darkened mind, Na-eun was slashing across my waist again.
"I lost. Can't fight anymore."
I raised both hands in surrender.
I'd burned a lot of stamina, but that blackout just now was really dangerous.
Maybe the first time I'd pushed my mental energy to the limit—turns out it hits like that.
Seo Yeon deactivated the barriers and came in.
"Sian, you okay? Headache?"
She cast a healing skill on me, and my head cleared a bit.
Was Seo Yeon more of an all-purpose healer than I'd thought?
"Na-eun, how was it? Does Sian have potential?"
"Hm. Not sure if I can judge him as a fellow student, but his power's still too lacking. Sword-on-sword was tough to handle, but if I'd aimed to disrupt his balance, I could've broken him with a skill."
"You deliberately didn't use any skills either."
Hearing their conversation like this, it felt like I'd spammed skills and still lost.
Survival Rules wasn't that obvious a skill, but it was still one.
"Yeah. Still, he shows promise. And being Q Class, who knows when he'll pick up a new skill."
"Well, thanks to you, he actually has potential now."
【Achieve Combat Power 250】
🎁 Completion: +1 Possession Slot
I didn't level up, but sparring with Roina Na-eun let me experience my mental limits, so my combat power rose nicely.
Most importantly, the new possession slot meant I could use Lower World Possession to acquire other skills.
"It was the quest, right? Looks like you cleared it?"
"Yeah. Combat power goal, and fighting you got me there."
"Good thing you grew in the meantime. In return, I'm borrowing Seo Yeon once."
"Don't handle her too roughly. She's still my girlfriend."
"Eek? What? Still my girlfriend? And Sian, you're getting too close to Na-eun—no way! I won't allow it!"
It had only been a day since we got back together, but Seo Yeon acted like she'd completely forgotten those weeks apart.
Seeing her like this showed just how much courage it took for her to suggest "breaking up for a bit."
"Na-eun, is Sian really promising?"
On the way back to the girls' dorm after parting with Yoo Sian, Kim Seo-yeon asked Roina Na-eun beside her.
Roina Na-eun nodded, recalling the spar.
"If we fought now, I'd win for sure. That's the gap between us. But if he picks up even one skill that works with his weapon, I couldn't guarantee it. Plus, he cleared a quest earlier—who knows what happens next time."
In Roina Na-eun's eyes, Yoo Sian excelled at reading attack paths.
Thinking back to how he dismantled goblin attacks in the dungeon and stabbed their hearts—it screamed top-tier assassin potential.
'A frontal assassin is kinda weird, though? Maybe because the sword's so efficient.'
"Got it. Thanks anyway. You had no reason to accept the spar."
Kim Seo-yeon thanked her with a bright smile.
Na-eun thought even as a fellow girl that it was a beautiful smile she hadn't seen lately.
"I said it earlier, right? I'm borrowing you. We're gathering people for a high-rank dungeon—come for healing support."
"That's it? Sure. For sparring with Sian."
"Now that's the Kim Seo-yeon I know... You were such a weirdo for those three weeks."
"Well. I abandoned half of myself on purpose..."
As Kim Seo-yeon's face quickly lost its glow talking about it, Roina Na-eun hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway, Yoo Sian's not as weak as you worry. He'll stand out soon."
"Really? I can't wait to see a stronger Sian!"
Seeing Kim Seo-yeon's mood flip instantly at Yoo Sian's name, Roina Na-eun sighed inwardly.
How did someone who loved him that much muster the courage to break up even temporarily? Na-eun couldn't fathom it.
'Hard to find.'
Back at the dorm, I used Lower World Possession.
Piercing through countless layers, I searched for high compatibility, but after the 97% Lee Sian last time—which felt like pure luck—I couldn't find anyone over 70%.
After endless searching, I finally found one.
A man walking through the forest at 95% compatibility.
"Possession."
*
"Kuhk..."
Before I could even grasp who 'this man' was, excruciating pain hit like I was dying.
It hurt. My limbs wouldn't move right, just trembling. My whole body felt paralyzed.
My brain screamed to move, but my body refused—I collapsed while trying to walk.
'What the?'
I wanted to know what this body was that nearly died the moment I possessed it, but no memories surfaced.
The status window showed nothing but the name.
Given this dying body, it didn't seem wrong, but how could this freakish shell have 95% compatibility?
Way different from possessing Lee Sian.
Ding!
【Achieve Assimilation Rate 10%】
🎁 Completion: Acquire 【Skill: Shadow Mastery】
'I'll die before hitting assimilation rate...'
I felt my body heat draining away on the cold ground.