Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: 18. Hard Worker
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Ardelle was extremely confident about this particular training. And for good reason—up until now, she had survived on battlefields where it was kill or be killed. If you couldn't dodge an attack, you died. That was just how the world worked.
In truth, while Ardelle might be remarkably strong among kids her age, in the entire mage society, she barely ranked in the lower mid-tier. That was the limit of being a child. At best, low D-rank, but considering she was just a kid, that was undoubtedly astonishing.
But in the end, she was still a weak mage by the standards of mage society as a whole. Which meant she had to desperately dodge the attacks raining down on her. She had to think desperately just to survive. Desperately, pathetically, she had somehow managed to stay alive.
She was confident.
This time, for sure, Ardelle thought, glaring at Yoo Eunha. Eunha had quite the talent for magic, but Ardelle knew she was weak when it came to training that required physical prowess. Her stamina was surprisingly good, but this wasn't something stamina alone could handle. It demanded physical talent and consistent effort.
An attack came flying. What she thought was one, two, maybe three projectiles at first ballooned into dozens in an instant. No one would believe three people were firing them. They were definitely mixing in magic. Ardelle dodged the attacks leisurely or blocked the ones she couldn't with magic. This was manageable. She glanced at Yoo Eunha again.
"……."
It was unexpected again. Ardelle scowled.
Yoo Eunha was dodging the barrage of projectiles one by one without any big movements. In that moment, Eunha flinched and raised both hands, creating a barrier right in front of her. Boom!! A massive explosion rang out suddenly just ahead of it.
"W-What?!"
"Oh, I forgot to mention—these projectiles explode if they collide! They've got some serious destructive power, so be careful!"
"T-Teacher!"
"Please tell us stuff like that sooner!"
Ardelle stared at Yoo Eunha in surprise. It was weird. Eunha had put up the barrier right before the projectiles could collide and explode, as if she'd anticipated it. Thanks to that, they exploded, but her body took no damage. Ardelle shook her head.
'No, thinking about it, she's always been great at dodging magic and defending. I hear she's bad at attacking... Yeah, that must be it.'
Being unskilled in combat as a mage was fatal. But because of that, if you properly developed even one area—attack or defense—you could survive. Ardelle frowned subtly. And Yoo Eunha was a girl who could manage that much.
Ardelle dodged attacks while absentmindedly scanning her surroundings. Kids who lost focus halfway and fell into the lake water were a dime a dozen, and plenty more got hit while trying to get back up.
The transfer student friends she usually hung out with were kids whose skills she acknowledged. Yet even they were floundering now.
Ardelle looked at Yoo Eunha again. She really hadn't taken a single hit. Or at least, not one that Ardelle had seen. Even while dodging and defending, the water under her feet remained perfectly calm. Despite all that jumping around, the ripples beneath her showed no disturbance.
'Come to think of it, I've heard she's exceptional at mana control.'
Ardelle forced herself to accept it again. She didn't like the feeling.
The projectiles rained down, kicking up countless waves along the lakeshore. But around Yoo Eunha alone, everything stayed perfectly still. Ardelle ended up fixating only on her and took a few hits. None to vital spots, of course, but it still irritated her. Ardelle grumbled with a deeply furrowed brow.
After lunch, they got another free period. Ardelle, who had planned to dig into Yoo Eunha—the popular, beloved, talented girl—just in time for this training camp, searched for her even during the break. But Eunha wasn't in the cafeteria, her room, the sports field, or the snack bar.
For a moment, Ardelle considered asking Joo Minhee about her. But she shook her head.
'Joo Minhee has good instincts.'
Yoo Eunha didn't reappear until training resumed. The first afternoon session was magic martial arts training—no spells allowed, just mana and hand-to-hand combat. They could pick teams freely, so Eunha's opponent was Joo Minhee.
'Average...'
Quite a few kids stopped their own training to watch others. Ardelle watched Minhee and Eunha spar and came to that conclusion.
Joo Minhee was impressive. She pinned Yoo Eunha down several times with fluid movements. But Yoo Eunha was utterly average. She had decent strength, but her movements were stiff, and overall, while you couldn't call her unskilled, she was relentlessly ordinary. At least, she didn't match the label of 'genius.'
Then Ardelle flinched in surprise. The moment Joo Minhee threw a punch at Yoo Eunha, Eunha struck the area below her elbow from below upward, then swept her arm to the neck and leg to leg, knocking her down. Of course, Minhee escaped before fully falling, but that was pretty good.
'...Her basics and technique are decent?'
Then Ardelle realized she'd just praised her and shook her head vigorously again.
Next up was the survival race. Run a set course while dodging traps and incoming attacks or defending against them. The attackers were magic automatons.
Following the teacher's instructions, Ardelle moved along the course, staring at Yoo Eunha's back and grinding her teeth. In Ardelle's and her friends' minds, Yoo Eunha was just an ordinary girl who acted superior thanks to her talent and luck. Well, not acting superior, maybe. Eunha was too timid to show off like that; she'd be too embarrassed.
So, the type who secretly enjoyed being praised and adored. Annoyingly enviable from an outsider's view—the classic type.
Ardelle wasn't the only one eyeing Eunha's openings; other kids were too. But Eunha handled surprisingly much better than expected. Her stamina was good for someone strong purely on talent, and while she was bad at attacking, her defense was rock-solid. It was odd. Ardelle and the others all sensed it. This wasn't normal for someone who'd reached high skill just through talent—or luck, rather.
After reaching the course, the survival teams were divided by lottery. Groups of three, and by coincidence, Ardelle ended up paired with Yoo Eunha. The third was a typical Eunha fan. Ardelle smiled and spoke to them.
"Let's do our best."
"Yeah, you too. Hey, Eunha! Let's do our best."
"Yeah. You two as well."
Ardelle watched Eunha smile and greet them, then turned away. But the boy kept talking to her, almost overwhelmingly.
"With you on our team, we're golden. We might even set a record."
"Huh? Well... I've never really done team battles..."
"Who cares? As long as we've got one strong person."
Ardelle inwardly clicked her tongue at the boy.
'Team battles and solo are totally different. Doesn't he know that?'
Plus, the boy didn't seem strong at all. Mid-to-lower in their grade...? She had no intention of going for first, but he felt like a liability. Ardelle fumed inwardly but smiled outwardly.
'This guy's gonna drag us down.'
The course ran from the base of the mountain behind the dorms, through a cave, to the bell at the summit. Walk, run, fly—whatever, just overcome the obstacles along the route and reach the goal. The boy kept talking to Eunha.
"Should we run? Faster is better! Gotta go for first."
"Well... There are attacks and traps. Running from the start might be... bad, don't you think?"
"Psh, what's that? Speed wins!"
"But some magic traps track movement. And if we run right away, we're not adapted yet, so we'd probably take more hits dodging... If we get hit a lot, we'd end up last anyway. We don't need to arrive first, so normal pace is fine, right?"
Listening, Ardelle realized Yoo Eunha was cautious. It seemed ordinary but mature judgment. Ardelle was unconsciously impressed when the boy pouted.
"You can handle it!"
'Argh, annoying. This guy's more obnoxious than Eunha.'
Ardelle scowled inwardly and said,
"Hey. Think about it. Whose idea sounds better, yours or Lady Eunha's? Plus, I hate running. Twisting an ankle on a mountain sounds worse. As long as we avoid penalties, let's walk."
"......Tch."
The boy finally relented at Ardelle's words. She clicked her tongue inwardly.
Ardelle really despised kids like him. No initiative, just leaning on others while pushing his own opinion—what kind of guy was that?
Then she noticed Yoo Eunha looking at her and flinched. Their eyes met, and Eunha flinched too, turning away. She glanced back, then ducked her head with a small smile. It looked so innocent that Ardelle's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Just then, the start signal sounded.
"Wah!"
"Get ready."
At Ardelle's words, Yoo Eunha nodded silently. Ardelle grabbed the collar of the boy, who was itching to sprint.
"Don't run."
"Okay, okay."
And as soon as the signal blared...
They advanced at a brisk walk.
Nothing happened for a while after starting. Then the boy grumbled.
"See, we could've run..."
"Stop!"
Yoo Eunha suddenly shouted. The two whipped their heads toward her in surprise.
"I sense mana ahead. Hmm, jumping might trigger it too... Five steps to the side."
"Uh... like this?"
Ardelle followed uncertainly. Eunha nodded.
"Yeah."
"What, a trap?"
"Probably."
Ardelle looked at her with complicated feelings. She'd sensed a hidden trap... before stepping on it?
Feeling it with senses alone was tough. Was she a detection-type mage? Ardelle glanced at her with a frown.
'What's with her? Peel one layer, another appears. Onion?'
The course was brutal. Traps, magic knight attacks—you had to dodge or stop them all. Some traps couldn't be avoided without touching, forcing desperate sprints. Shells flew from the sides too, nearly knocking them out. But Eunha blocked them all with barriers. Watching, Ardelle felt uneasy.
The barriers felt incredibly stable. No shaking, no cracks—it hinted at the spell's level. That made her anxious.
'And I didn't sense it? That she's strong?'
Magic wasn't just about attack power. She knew that. But this felt off. Ardelle had an instinct for gauging others' strength, honed by experience. So even without strong attacks, she could roughly sense high skill.
But not this time. No 'aura of power' at all. Ardelle swallowed her growing impatience and kept going.
Flying, walking, running like that, the three reached the summit. A few kids sat on rocks up there, apparently waiting for friends.
"Eunha! You finally made it."
One of them, Joo Minhee, waved at her with a smile. Eunha beamed and ran over.
"Minhee. Were you waiting?"
"Yeah. They said we get a short break on the way down. Something like a quiz game—with prizes if you get it right. Let's go."
"Okay."
"And a treasure hunt too. Do they think we're kids?"
"Hmm. I kinda like that stuff..."
"Aww, see? Our Eunha's such a kid sometimes."
"You're one to talk..."
Ardelle watched the two chat as they headed down, then followed.
It wasn't until after 5 p.m. that the first day's training finally ended. Ardelle ate dinner and returned to her room. Joo Minhee and the other roommates were already there. She scanned the room and asked,
"Eunha?"
She'd spoken without thinking and flinched. At some point, she'd habitually started looking for Yoo Eunha.
After all, to Ardelle, Eunha was an irritating girl. Called a saint by the kids. Yet she felt no strength from her. But up close, Eunha was a skilled mage. Top-tier talent, great evasion and defense, mana sensing. Calm, mature, cautious.
But she hated it. Infuriating. Loved just for her talent. Strong because of talent. Annoying.
...Yet her eyes kept drifting to her.
At Ardelle's words, Joo Minhee looked up and sighed.
"Dunno. She left after dinner."
"Hmm..."
"You a Eunha fan now?"
Minhee grinned and asked. Ardelle felt inwardly annoyed but nodded with a smile.
"Yeah... a little...?"
Minhee laughed.
"Liar."
"......"
Ardelle spun on her heel and left the room. Joo Minhee annoyed her plenty too. Talented and skilled. But like Eunha, she'd risen through talent. At least her effort showed, so Ardelle acknowledged it. That fluid martial arts couldn't come without work. Unlike magic, martial arts especially showed it.
'Where the heck is she?'
Ardelle wandered searching for Eunha. Dorm, sports field, forest edge, every corner of the buildings. No sign in the PC room, lounge, or snack bar. Same as lunchtime.
As she grumbled inwardly, familiar faces approached—kids she chatted with usually, or those who disliked Eunha. The three looked puzzled at her.
"What're you doing here?"
They looked exhausted. Ardelle figured they would be. Just one day in, but the school's camp was intense.
"Looking for Yoo Eunha."
At that, all three scowled.
"Oh, her? Right, you're roommates? So, how is she?"
"Honestly, her personality's not bad, right?"
"Nah, she seems fine..."
"What about training? She doesn't collapse from exhaustion? Oh, right—she led the first session."
"Well... she's good. Stamina, magic, keeps up with training..."
The more Ardelle spoke, the more conflicted she felt. Yoo Eunha really had few rough edges as a mage. Ha—the three snorted.
"With talent, you excel at everything."
Ardelle nearly shook her head on reflex.
Magic aside, could talent alone give that stamina through training at her age? And her martial arts weren't great. If innately athletic, she'd show talent there too. But it was so average. So then...
'Effort...'
She'd thought none was visible, but traces of effort peeked through alongside Eunha's talent.
Ardelle felt pointlessly irritated.
"For real. At that level, maybe we could earn respect too if we tried."
"Only if we're as lucky. What kinda luck does she have?"
She hated hearing that, hated saying more about Eunha. Hated them, hated her, hated everything. Not knowing why she felt this way, Ardelle claimed fatigue and left. She searched a while longer but found no trace.
Ardelle returned to the room. Eunha stayed gone until 10 p.m., lights-out exactly.
"Eunha, you're late!"
Joo Minhee nagged her. Eunha was drenched in sweat, like she'd been running.
"You're really addicted to that stuff, huh?"
"Yeah. I know."
Eunha grinned happily at Minhee's words. What had she been doing? Ardelle wondered but didn't ask. She just said the usual—worried since she was late. Minhee nagged some more, then they dove into their own world, chatting happily.
"You know tomorrow's with the sixth-graders?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Seems like sparring class."
"Sparring with seniors... kinda worrying."
"It's fine. They respect free will."
"Okay then..."
Ardelle drifted to sleep, leaving their voices behind.
========== Author's Note ==========
Pre-orders for the physical book volume 3 are now available.
*
Sorry for being late ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Just to clarify, the notes aren't nagging you to buy the book—some folks only check them occasionally, so I'm keeping you updated. I thought I'd announced it enough before, but some said they just found out...
Oh, and I saw my novel's on Namuwiki now? Whoa... cool....
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+Contents same as PC.
++Search "Prologue Story" on Naver for the publisher site.
+++PoDae is intentional.