Academy's Savior

Once I learned what the practical portion of the final exams would be, I headed straight for the training room with Lee Si-eun.

Her academy admission rank had been thirty-fourth. If she sat around doing nothing, there was no chance she would crack the top ten of her year—and that would mean she couldn't come to Japan with me.

She's still mid-training as my assistant. She can't fail. Besides, I'll need someone to wait on me in Japan.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I looked Lee Si-eun up and down in her training clothes.

"W-what is it?"

She flustered—but she made no move to cover herself. Long blue hair, eyes the color of open sky. Skin white as snow, a full chest, a narrow waist, and a well-developed pelvis.

"Si-eun… looking at you now, I think your chest got bigger."

"That's so you, Yujin. You notice right away. Honestly, my bras have been feeling tight lately."

"Growing into a G-cup, huh? Nice."

"I'm glad you like it."

"No reason not to. Chest and ass—the bigger, the better."

Part of me wanted to strip her right there and check the growth for myself. But that could wait. For now, we stuck to the original purpose: training.

"One-on-one sparring. Your opponent will be… at minimum, someone ranked in the top fifty."

"I'm honestly not very confident about sparring. What if I lose?"

"Losing is fine. Just don't lose in some pathetic way. The content of the match matters more than the win-loss record. Don't forget—this sparring exists to grade you. The instructors will be evaluating how you fight."

That was what I said, but winning was still far better. Combat was, in the end, an act aimed at victory. A win would mean bonus points.

"You'll have three one-on-one matches. To break into the top ten… you'll need at least two wins."

"Can I really do it?"

"If you don't make the top ten… we won't see each other for the entire summer break. Are you okay with that?"

"Th-that's not okay. I'll work hard. Yujin, help me. I want to go to Japan with you too."

Lee Si-eun's resolve flared. Her eyes burned. She had steeled herself.

I was glad she was showing that kind of drive. Whether motivation was present or not made a considerable difference.

I'll have to reward her later by spanking that ass.

Si-eun and I put distance between us and faced off. I casually took a spear in hand; she gripped a dagger in each fist. She used four daggers in total—the other two were sheathed against her thighs.

The weapons barely mattered. Lee Si-eun's fighting style didn't rely primarily on daggers anyway.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠checked Lee Si-eun's information.

Going by stats alone, aside from her B-rank mana, she wasn't particularly impressive. Students in the upper ranks of the year typically had physical abilities at least at C-class.

But Si-eun has an S-rank skill. A trait that lets her handle energy directly. If she uses that well, settling into the top ten won't even be hard.

Lee Si-eun spoke, tension written across her face.

"Shall I start?"

"Start."

An energy explosion went off right in front of my face. Having already read the flow of mana with my senses, I backstepped and slipped the blast with ease.

A low, rising hum filled the air. Energy balls formed around Lee Si-eun—literal masses of energy. Mana, in other words.

She stretched out a finger and pointed at me. Six energy balls streaked toward me.

Her control and speed with the energy balls are solid. She even knows how to use them to box someone in…

But it still wasn't enough to keep up with my movement. This alone would never get her into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠top ten.

I poured mana into the spear and swung. The blade split an energy ball cleanly. The ruptured sphere detonated, but I was already outside the blast radius, cutting down the next one.

I carved through every last energy ball and arrived in front of her. The spear tip leveled at her throat.

"…I lost."

"Why do you think you lost?"

"You were too fast, Yujin. I couldn't keep up with your speed. I lost track of your movements several times in the middle."

"So you know the problem. What do you need to do to win?"

"I… need to get faster too, right?"

She answered without much confidence. She had physical abilities better than an ordinary person's, but she didn't know how to use that body. She simply had little talent for moving it herself. Having people like me and Seong Ha-ri around her only made her feel her own shortcomings more keenly.

"Correct. If you're slow, you get faster. How are you going to get faster?"

"Uh… by moving my body?"

"Si-eun. You don't have talent for physical movement. What you do have is an outstanding talent for handling mana. Think about mages. They can't use their bodies well ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠either—but they still fight physical specialists just fine."

"Isn't that because of magic?"

"Not magic—mana. They use mana to accelerate their consciousness and fight. Physical fighters ultimately fight using mana too, so… in the end, it's not that different."

"…How, specifically? Should I reinforce my body with mana?"

"Hard to say. The method differs for everyone. You'll have to find the optimal approach that fits you."

She had the talent, so it wouldn't be difficult. All I needed to do was keep the training going and teach her the knack of combat.

"All right. Round two."

Training resumed.

We pushed past the second and third rounds and eventually reached a fourteenth.

Lee Si-eun was the first to drop, collapsing where she stood. I, on the other hand, was fine. While she had been pouring mana out in torrents, I had been moving lightly, as if out for a stroll.

"…Can I really do this?"

"You'll be fine. You're getting stronger bit by bit."

It wasn't empty encouragement. She truly was growing at a visible rate.

"The problem is that the way you use energy is too monotonous. You just keep spamming Energy Ball. Why only Energy Ball?"

"Because Energy Ball is the most comfortable."

"You can't just look for the easy path."

I taught her how to use energy properly.

Lee Si-eun's Energy Force (S) was a trait that demanded creativity. Gravity, heat, telekinesis—everything fell under Energy Force.

"Let's start with practicing gravity control. Against physical fighters, there's no force better than gravity."

"Ah—okay. Got it."

And what I focused on most was the Energy Drain (B+) she already possessed. If my thinking was right, that skill was the truly terrifying one.

"Si-eun. How do you normally use Energy Drain?"

"Hm? I don't use Energy Drain."

"…You don't? Why not?"

"Well, there's no need to steal other people's energy, is there?"

"……"

I had no counterargument.

Energy Drain was fundamentally a skill that stole energy from an opponent. It was hard to put into practice. Si-eun didn't train all that often to begin with. She had never even wanted to become a hero when she entered the academy. There had been only one reason: to be with me.

"Si-eun. Watch closely."

I opened my palm.

Crackling arcs of lightning danced above it. The branching, luminous bolts never once escaped the bounds of my hand.

"Your lightning, Yujin… it's beautiful every time I see it."

"You can do it too."

"I can…?"

"Lightning is energy. Doing it the ordinary way would be hard. But if you get a feel for it, it's possible."

"…How do I do it?"

"Absorb my lightning with Energy Drain."

"Won't I get electrocuted?"

"I told you—lightning is energy. Electricity. It's an energy people use all the time in this era."

"That's true… I'll try."

Lee Si-eun spoke with a tense face. She fixed her gaze on the lightning above my palm and drew her focus tight.

The reaction came immediately.

The lightning began to waver under my control.

I didn't expect her to shake my control this fast.

If I wanted, I could have reinforced my hold on the lightning. I didn't. This was practice for her.

With a sharp crackle, the lightning left my palm. It was drawn into Lee Si-eun's hand and absorbed. Her mouth fell open. Her eyes went hazy.

"…Si-eun?"

I was only briefly startled by her strange reaction.

She had an epiphany.

A sudden flash of insight. It was distant from anything I experienced myself, but for academy students, even a minor epiphany was something most of them went through at least once.

As she consolidated the insight, her skills changed. Energy Drain and Energy Ball had both risen in rank. But her epiphany wasn't finished yet.

Energy Drain climbed another step, and a new skill appeared.

Reflux (C).

The moment I saw the name, I let out a short, incredulous laugh.

In the original work, Reflux was a top-tier, first-class skill. A mage who obtained it was getting the cherry on top; even warriors and archers didn't do badly with it.

For Si-eun, who handles energy directly, it couldn't be more perfect.

I watched her quietly. I could tell the flow of mana around her had changed.

Ten minutes later, Lee Si-eun came back to herself.

"Yujin. Just now, I…"

"Congratulations on the epiphany. How does it feel?"

"…How do I put it. Like my mind is full. And like I can do something new."

"Try it. You can, right?"

I opened my palm again.

Lightning crackled to life once more.

Lee Si-eun focused and used Reflux.

The lightning above my hand flashed—then reverted into raw mana and vanished.

One of Reflux's abilities. It returned processed mana to its unprocessed state. In other words, Lee Si-eun had just become a mage's natural enemy.