The Prisoner Corps' Ability Test, And...
The Center's training facility boasted quality that didn't lose out to any private center I'd seen. The place was built like a fortress.
"Manager, why are there so many doors? What are they all for?"
"Personal training rooms for individual hunters. If you want to try one, I'll schedule it for you soon."
"Ugh, no thanks. Training isn't fun."
The long gray corridor was lined on both sides with private training rooms. Each one had perfect soundproofing that could swallow gunfire without a whisper escaping, and walls reinforced enough to laugh off most impacts. Of course, if someone decided to cut loose with a full-powered strike against those walls, they'd be escorted out immediately and billed for damages.
At the end of the corridor stood our destination.
"...Is that the one?"
"Yeah. That's where we'll be practicing."
It was a group training room large enough to accommodate an entire raid party. The interior opened up into a wide space. On one side stood rows of person-sized blue training dummies used as targets. On the other, a dedicated zone for practicing formation tactics against large monsters.
"Hmm... It feels kind of empty in here, doesn't it?"
"It's meant for a dozen people running around and syncing their movements. We're not doing anything that elaborate today. We'll just focus on dusting off abilities that haven't seen use in a while."
"In other words, rehabilitation training."
"Today's just a preliminary test, so take it easy."
"Hey, Manager?"
Suddenly Calathea slid up beside me, pressing close enough that her breath tickled my ear as she whispered.
"If I score some points with you here, does that mean I'll get better treatment later? ♡"
"Let's hear it first. What kind of treatment are you hoping for?"
"Free access to Seong Yohan, the manager."
"That doesn't exist in this world."
The way she delivered that with a bright smile and complete seriousness made me certain that even if the Earth flipped upside down tomorrow, I could never give her what she wanted.
"Enough of that. Let's start with Audrey's test."
"Me first?"
"Yeah. Give me a second."
I dragged one of the blue dummies over, grunting with the effort. It might look like a simple training dummy, but it was heavily weighted inside to withstand hunter strikes without flying away like a leaf.
When this kind manager positioned the target right in front of her, Audrey met my eyes, seeking permission. Once I had stepped safely out of the line of fire and nodded, she drew that familiar black pistol from within her clothes.
"Please keep in mind that it's been a while since I've used this ability."
Left foot back, right foot forward, body twisted at an angle, Audrey extended her right arm holding the pistol straight toward the target. The pose was elegant and decisive, like something out of a classic noir film.
"All style, no substance," Calathea muttered beside me.
"Shh. Quiet."
Whether Calathea grumbled or not, a blue light soon gathered inside the gun barrel. The moment that flow slowed to a deliberate crawl—
BANG!
The gunshot roared as a mana bullet glowing blue slammed into the dummy's chest with a heavy thud.
"...Huh. Is that it?"
"It's not over."
A moment later, the dummy began freezing rapidly from the point of impact. Cracks of ice spread with sharp snapping sounds until the entire body was encased in a thick shell of cold. When I approached for a closer look, an intense chill radiated from it, strong enough to discourage any casual touch.
So it's a formula focused on suppression rather than raw destructive power. Must be from the training her father gave her when she was young.
A hunter's abilities operated on the foundation of mana—that mysterious all-purpose energy—and the process of Imaging. You strongly visualized the phenomenon you wanted to create, then poured in the appropriate amount of mana based on how drastically you needed to distort reality. That was the basic principle.
But despite how convenient it sounded, the actual process of Imaging was anything but simple.
The ability Audrey just demonstrated is actually quite complex.
How much mana to convert into what level of cold. The shape and hardness of the resulting bullet. Its velocity and trajectory when fired. The destructive force upon impact, and the precise details of how it froze the target afterward. All of these elements had to be learned as templates, allowing for instantaneous, detailed Imaging. A hunter needed to be able to deploy these formulas as naturally as breathing, even in the middle of combat.
You could strengthen the Imaging with preset chants or trigger words, or bypass some of the mental steps using a tool with a clear image, like Audrey's pistol. But the fundamentals still had to be executed on instinct. It wasn't something just anyone could master.
"It would feel great in the summer... Is that really all you've got, Madness?"
"...If you wish, I can demonstrate the rest directly on your body."
"Audrey...!"
"It was a joke, Manager. I haven't forgotten our promise."
Audrey had raised her pistol toward Calathea with an expression that didn't look like a joke at all. Then she shrugged and obediently stepped back. Immediately, Calathea's eyes widened as she clung to me.
"What? What kind of secret promise did you two make? Tell me too!"
"I refuse."
"Hey! Are you really going to be this boring? Hmm?"
If I told her, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Besides, there wasn't any real reason to hide it. It seemed Audrey was deliberately teasing Calathea by acting mysterious.
"More importantly, how does it feel to use your ability after so long?"
"Hmm... It seems I couldn't control it properly because it's been so long since I last used the formula. I'll need more rehabilitation training."
"It didn't go as planned?"
"Yes. Originally it should have already—"
The moment Audrey tried to explain, cracks began spreading across the ice covering the dummy with sharp snapping sounds. The entire thing, dummy included, shattered into pieces and collapsed with a crash.
"...It should have ended like that."
The sound of heavy ice chunks clattering against the floor echoed through the quiet training room.
Suppression-focused formula my ass.
I grabbed a broom from the corner and quickly swept the remains of what had once been a training dummy into the disposal bin. For some reason, I kept picturing a person in there instead, and it made my stomach turn.
"We've seen what Audrey can do. Now it's your turn, Calathea."
"Alright! Fourth batter Calathea has been waiting for this exact moment!"
"...Where did you even get that from?"
When I dragged over the second dummy, I found Calathea holding a baseball bat in one hand, swinging her arms in wide, excited circles.
"It was just standing over there. It looked like a bigger version of the manager's bat, so I noticed it right away. ♡"
"Calathea, what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Aha, curious? Well too bad... I'm not telling you either! ♪"
"...I don't really get it either."
Audrey glared at Calathea, who stuck her tongue out in response, then whipped her head around to look at me. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her the truth either. She already suspected I'd been kissing the prisoner I was supposed to manage. If she found out we'd slept naked together in the same bed...
I had a feeling I'd end up in the dummy's place.
"Manager, can I start now?"
"Yeah. Just use physical reinforcement for this test."
Calathea gave me a signal and approached the dummy. She patted its head a couple times, as if saying 'please take care of me,' then—
"Yah! Cha!"
She swung the bat in a perfect arc and smashed it directly into the dummy's head. The loud crack echoed as the surprisingly durable dummy's head tilted dangerously to the side from a single blow.
"Ahaha, Manager! ♪ This is actually pretty fun after so long. Ahaha, ehee— kyahahaha! ♡"
With genuine delighted laughter, Calathea swung the bat relentlessly, reducing the test dummy to a broken mess. Unlike Audrey, who projected her mana outward, Calathea reinforced her own body with it. Physical reinforcement formulas were generally simpler than those that manifested external phenomena, but they had a lower ceiling of potential.
That was why most A-class hunters and above treated physical reinforcement as basic. And among them, Calathea—who specialized in it—didn't rely on reinforcement alone.
"Manager, hey... ♡ Can I blow this one up? I need to test it properly, right? Please? Please?"
Her other ability was explosive power. Or more accurately, demolition. Combining physical reinforcement for close combat with explosions that could easily catch her in the blast radius was a style only someone like her could handle.
I was curious how she controlled that power, but...
"That's too dangerous. No."
"You told me to test my abilities! And you were bragging about how incredibly sturdy this training room is!"
"No matter how sturdy it is, it can't withstand an S-class happily detonating explosions everywhere."
"Ugh, what? The building's so weak... This is boring..."
Calathea, who had been riding high on violent excitement, visibly deflated with disappointment. Still, there was no helping it. Even if the building held, the shrapnel from an explosion could easily reach Audrey and me.
"So, Manager. What's your assessment after watching our tests?"
"Yeah, what do you think? We're totally strong, right? We could go clear an S-class gate like this, couldn't we?"
"Looking at your current condition..."
"Looking at?"
With both of them watching me—Audrey unable to hide her curiosity—I declared in a low voice.
"Even being generous, you're only upper A-class at best. That's it."
As things stood now, conquering an S-class gate was absolutely impossible.