Training
In the depths of the mountains, two girls lay sprawled on separate beds, emitting soft moans.
"Uhn... uueh..."
"Huuu... huuek!"
One had long pink hair and red eyes, a pure and innocent beauty with a voluptuous figure. The other possessed long blonde hair and pink eyes, equally pure yet carrying an elegant grace, also with a curvaceous body.
Although they were only fifteen years old, their stunning looks were so captivating that anyone who saw them would find their heart shaken.
However, the man with blue hair and ruby-red eyes, who had his hands resting on their backs, observed them with a cold gaze while focusing intently on the task.
This work was to transform their bodies into ones more compatible with mana, the exact same method he had used on Seomun Ye-jin.
Through this process, they could grow faster in the future.
Perhaps by the time the main story of the original began, they might all reach the SSS-class hunter level.
'That is entirely up to their own efforts.'
They needed to put in at least two to three hours of effort every day.
Although mana awakener bodies recovered and absorbed mana quickly, they wouldn't experience rapid growth even after eight or nine hours of training a day.
Rather, the optimal training time was two to three hours a day, and anything beyond that was inefficient.
If they had to train more, it would be better to acquire new techniques or practice existing ones.
'Or perhaps accumulate experience through sparring with strong opponents or actual combat.'
Lee Ha-yeon was in an excellent position in this regard as the successor of the Angel Guild.
She could spar with various strong individuals from the Angel Guild without needing to spar directly with me.
She could spar with S-class hunters of equal level, SS-class hunters stronger than her current self, and even her father, the SSS-class hunter Lee Jeong-cheon.
However, only I could help her grow rapidly.
Even after two hours of training a day, the only one who could make her grow quickly was me.
"Becoming a body more compatible with mana is good, but don't be satisfied with just that. You need to get used to this newly mana-compatible body."
"Yes."
"I understand."
Han Se-hee and Lee Ha-yeon sat up, feeling a bit dazed yet refreshed.
It was like the feeling of a person who had received a luxurious massage, but amplified several times over.
Moreover, the sensation of handling mana or feeling it was completely different from before.
It was as if they felt omnipotent, as if they could do anything right now.
"Feeling like you can do anything is an illusion. If you get carried away by this feeling, it might have negative effects. So, try to recognize your body as a normal state rather than a special one."
"Ah, yes!"
"Ah... yes!"
Han Se-hee looked slightly flustered, while Lee Ha-yeon seemed to snap out of it.
Since they had woken from the illusion and entered the next stage, I looked at Seomun Ye-jin.
"Miss, please spar with Ha-yeon for me."
"Yes! Please leave it to me!"
Seomun Ye-jin smiled brightly as she approached Lee Ha-yeon.
"Ready?"
"Yes... I'm ready."
Lee Ha-yeon looked slightly tense. After all, she had seen with her own eyes that Seomun Ye-jin's power was not at the early stage of SSS-class hunters.
As someone who had witnessed her strength when she fought equally against the SSS-class villain Gye Un-jik, Lee Ha-yeon couldn't help but feel tense.
"Since this is an uninhabited area in the mountains, attack with all your might."
Although it was deep in the mountains, this place was uninhabited.
In fact, it wasn't even Korean territory.
It was one of the mountains in Somalia, and descending below it would lead to a world of monsters.
"Yes... thank you for your guidance."
Lee Ha-yeon bowed her head politely, but the way she bowed to Seomun Ye-jin felt uncomfortable, and Seomun Ye-jin felt the same.
She was smiling, but it wasn't kind.
"Haaap!"
Despite the anxiety, a brilliant light gathered in Lee Ha-yeon's hands, and she fired it forward with a shout.
The brilliant flash shot towards Seomun Ye-jin at a speed that even S-class hunters would find difficult to avoid in a direct confrontation.
But Seomun Ye-jin didn't draw her sword; she simply spread her mana in a shield form in front of her lightly, easily blocking the attack.
She precisely formed and concentrated the mana into a shield shape at the exact point where the attack would land.
Although her delicate manipulation was admirable, it was also dangerous.
Since she concentrated on one point, the other parts were exposed, so if an attack came from another direction, she could suffer serious injury.
'But if I can use it like that...'
Lee Ha-yeon realized not only the disadvantages but also the advantages of such manipulation.
'She can create openings by blocking the enemy's attacks in close combat.'
Lee Ha-yeon primarily specialized in firepower-type attacks using light attribute power. In contrast, Seomun Ye-jin basically used a sword as her main weapon.
The combat styles were opposites: Lee Ha-yeon keeping distance and using firepower, Seomun Ye-jin approaching and attacking.
However, Lee Ha-yeon also had attack methods for when the distance was close. As a mana awakener, she couldn't just leave her weaknesses as they were, so she had filled in her most lacking parts during that time.
With Seomun Ye-jin's method, if the opponent used a sword in close combat, she could block the attack with that technique and then, at the moment the attack was blocked, strike the opponent with her sword at the opening.
Although Lee Ha-yeon quickly analyzed this, she didn't have time to analyze it.
"Then I'll go. As I mentioned earlier, I'll use it at S-class level."
Seomun Ye-jin was SSS-class, Lee Ha-yeon was S-class. If it was just a spar, Seomun Ye-jin would win overwhelmingly.
Since it wouldn't be a proper lesson, Seomun Ye-jin had promised to only use mana and physical abilities at S-class level.
But even so, Seomun Ye-jin's combat sense was too much for Lee Ha-yeon, even if she lowered her power and body to S-class.
"Uuek! Ah!"
Lee Ha-yeon allowed herself to be approached in an instant and fired an attack, but despite the flashes shooting at Seomun Ye-jin from cunning angles, Seomun Ye-jin quickly spread defensive barriers and blocked all the attacks in a pinpoint manner.
And in an instant, she approached and pointed her sword at Lee Ha-yeon's neck.
It was a complete defeat.
Even her light-formed spear attack, which she had trained specifically for close combat, was completely blocked by Seomun Ye-jin's pinpoint mana shield, rendering its penetration power meaningless.
'There is much to learn.'
Lee Ha-yeon was now focusing on Seomun Ye-jin's lesson. Since her body had become more mana-compatible, she could easily recall and interpret how Seomun Ye-jin had used mana in the previous spar.
While she set aside the doubts that had been troubling her heart for a while and focused on the lesson, Han Se-hee was learning various manipulation methods directly from me.
After the first day's lesson, Seomun Ye-jin and I continued to train Han Se-hee and Lee Ha-yeon.
When I asked Lee Ha-yeon after repeating the training about four times a week,
"Seo-jun-nim, next year you will turn 20, are you planning to go to Kangin Academy?"
Upon hearing her question, I nodded.
"Yes, probably."
"Ah..."
Lee Ha-yeon looked disappointed. Han Se-hee also had a disappointed expression.
In contrast, Seomun Ye-jin, who was entering the academy with me, looked energetic as she gazed at the two of them.
It was as if she was full of the victor's complacency.
"It's a shame. We enter the academy this year, so you'll graduate before us... I won't get to see you at the academy."
With a dejected expression, Han Se-hee lamented, and I denied her words.
"It won't necessarily be like that."
"Really?"
"The academy isn't just for students."
It wasn't just for instructors or professors either.
'Neither me nor the miss will learn anything at the academy.'
What was necessary was nothing but a diploma.
With that diploma, it would be easier to drop Baek Seo-jin into hell the following year after I graduated.
Rather, the year I live at the academy will be the year Lee Ha-yeon and Han Se-hee, and... Baek Seo-jin enter.