Birds of a Feather
Kim Jin-seo strode quickly toward the priest department's camp. The kid trailing behind her panted heavily, struggling to keep up, but she paid it no mind. If you didn't have the stamina to follow, you shouldn't have in the first place, she thought.
Plip. Plop.
Rain began to fall. It didn't stop at a few drops; soon, it poured down in sheets. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed.
"Huff... huff... Hey, slow down just a bit... Eek!"
Every time thunder cracked, the kid flinched and trembled in fear. Kim Jin-seo had planned to keep walking straight to the priest camp regardless of the rain, but this was making it impossible.
"Get in that building."
"Ha... haa... Huh? Where?"
"Over there. You blind?"
Kim Jin-seo pointed to a nearby building and headed that way. She had no intention of staying until the rain stopped—just long enough for the kid to catch their breath. It wasn't out of concern for the kid. The rain was coming down so hard it stung her eyes.
The building they entered without a second thought already had an occupant.
"Nice to see you again. You're that friend from before, right?"
Mun Yo-seop greeted her with a smile. Though he was smiling, the pressure emanating from him—standing there motionless with his hands behind his back—was palpable.
Kim Jin-seo stared at him wordlessly. Mun Yo-seop nodded as if understanding, then spoke.
"Fair enough. From your perspective, chit-chat's a waste of time... So, shall we get to the test I've prepared?"
"...I want to hear what the test is first."
Kim Jin-seo asked with a resolute expression. Mun Yo-seop nodded and pulled something from his pocket, placing it on the table behind him.
"Simple. Break through my interference and snatch this flag."
He pointed to the flag. It stood about a meter tall, with a blade around fifty centimeters wide—a fairly large one. In this cramped room, grabbing something that size should have been easy. If her opponent weren't Mun Yo-seop.
The moment she heard the rules, Kim Jin-seo felt a wave of doubt. She'd seen him spar with Do Seon-woo at the Holy Training Ground before. Their movements were beyond anything she could match or even follow right now.
"Decide quick—do it or don't. Your rivals are snagging tokens while we stand here."
Mun Yo-seop urged her on. Kim Jin-seo scanned the building's interior, weighing her options. The room was narrow with a high ceiling. Wooden floor. Plenty of usable furniture: bookshelves, wardrobes, chairs. And crucially, curtain rods mounted on the walls.
If I use those right, I can create some variables. The trick was pulling it off.
"How many tokens do I get if I snatch the flag?"
"Up to five. I've got the most in this area."
"Five..."
Kim Jin-seo recalled the proctor's explanation before the exam started. One token for completing a standard task from a cleric. Two for something a bit tougher. Three for a near-impossible challenge. Four if it was hard and time-consuming. Five meant the highest difficulty, no question.
"..."
But Mun Yo-seop's task was exactly as he said: simple and straightforward. Success or failure, it wouldn't take long. Nothing to lose.
"So, what's it gonna b—"
Crack!
Without answering, Kim Jin-seo bolted for the flag. She'd seen his movements before and knew a head-on approach wouldn't work. So, ambush it was. No time for him to react, no chance to brace or prepare. Hit him in that split-second panic.
She planned to exploit that tiny opening to grab the flag. Her path: straight line, no zigzags—just the fastest route. She kicked off the ground and flew toward it. It was less running, more launching herself.
"Whoa there."
Thud!
She didn't even graze the flag before slamming into the floor. For a moment, she had no idea what hit her. It was like being swept away by a wave—zero resistance, just face-planting.
"Ow...!"
Pain hit late, a sharp jolt racing from her waist up her back to her head. Clutching her side, she struggled to her feet. Mun Yo-seop was already in stance, staring her down intently.
"Not hard enough to break anything, but it'll hurt. Roll properly next time."
"..."
"Good ambush. But you could've used your head more. And your ally."
He even offered advice, cool as ever. Veins bulged on Kim Jin-seo's forehead. Her glare sharpened to a razor's edge as she gritted her teeth.
The kid, who'd been watching cluelessly from behind, edged closer hesitantly.
"Um, should I help too?"
"You said you were tired. Just rest."
"But sitting out feels..."
Kim Jin-seo turned, locking eyes. The kid startled and stepped back. Her gaze churned with unreadable fury—anger? Stubbornness? Burning will to win?
"Rest."
"O-okay..."
The kid finally backed off. Kim Jin-seo refocused on Mun Yo-seop. His stance was ambiguous—offense? Defense? Yet it held both seamlessly. Instinct and experience told her that much.
Ambush failed. Frontal assault out. She scanned the room again: terrain, objects, gear, blessings. She'd need every element perfectly placed.
"Forgot to mention: three-minute limit. I'll time it."
"..."
She didn't budge, just stared. Even with terrain and gear, her sluggish moves couldn't shake him. She remembered So Do-jin's words after Mun Yo-seop and Do Seon-woo left the Holy Training Ground.
"Your blessings are too straightforward."
"...Huh?"
"Too honest. No creativity."
So Do-jin continued.
"How long do your blessings usually last?"
"Ab... about twenty minutes."
"Compress it to ten, twenty seconds. Burst it out in a flash. That spikes efficiency short-term."
Sometimes, targeting specific body parts beat full-body buffs. Compressing blessings for burst use amplified that. But he hadn't explained how.
Perplexed, she'd asked.
"How do you even do that?"
"Beats me. I picked it up by feel."
Irresponsible as hell. She hadn't practiced since. No clue if it'd work—probably not. But chickening out without trying? Cowardice.
This is the moment.
She drew a blessing circle. One she'd traced hundreds of times. Done in seconds.
The moment blessing light wrapped her legs—
Crunch!
The floor splintered. Propulsion from the boosted run-up. She charged Mun Yo-seop head-on again.
"Oh...?"
Mun Yo-seop admired it. Nowhere near Do Seon-woo's speed, but impressive. Still, too predictable—no feints, just brute frontal rush.
As he shifted to toss her aside—
Bang!
A gunshot-like crack, and she vanished.
He scanned with his eyes. Right? No. Left? No. No way she'd expose her back from that angle.
Then... the ceiling.
Kim Jin-seo clung to a wall-mounted rod, crouched as if the wall were the floor. Another blessing circle formed. Simple muscle enhancement—but mid-tier.
In that instant, she'd drawn a mid blessing.
Snap!
The rod shattered. She rocketed toward the flag. No one would've guessed her wiry frame hid such explosive muscle elasticity and flexibility.
Smart strategy too: feign a dumb frontal charge to lower guards, then skyrocket from his blind spot. A split-second slower judgment, and she'd have had it.
"Not bad."
Her speed and tactics surprised him. Excellent all around. But...
"Still too slow."
Thud!
She hit the deck again. Even tumbling, her eyes chased the flag. Mun Yo-seop admired her grit, but inwardly regretted: What if she were in the paladin class? Pointless thought—Do Seon-woo already filled that slot. She was fast, but not that fast.
He shook off the distraction, leaning to help her up—
Whoosh!
Her whip lashed out.
"Got it—!"
It whipped past him, coiling the flag. Her plan all along: shake his focus with hyper-speed chaos, then snag it on a lapse.
Gritting her teeth, she yanked with all her might.
"Wha...?"
No flag on the whip.
"That was really close!"
Mun Yo-seop held it. She'd hooked it perfectly, but he'd snatched it back mid-air. Insane reflexes.
Kim Jin-seo stared blankly, alternating between him and the flag. Despair sank in: even this wasn't enough?
"Here."
So why...?
Mun Yo-seop casually handed her three tokens.
"I said up to five, remember?"
"..."
"Snatch the flag: five. Just move it: three. Yours. Take 'em and go—time's wasting, right?"
He jiggled the tokens. Kim Jin-seo took them with a bewildered frown.
Mun Yo-seop stared, then murmured.
"Birds of a feather."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Scram."
He waved her off. His presence here was dual: testing students, but mainly guarding against Satanist ambushes. Battle-ready personnel dotted the exam grounds for quick suppression. It irked him—felt like Florence's meat shield.
Worse, the students were underwhelming. He’d hoped for half of Do Seon-woo's prowess, at least.
Bored out of his mind, then Kim Jin-seo showed up. He'd pegged her as just Do Seon-woo's buddy before. What a pleasant surprise.
"Birds of a feather..."
Leaving the building with the kid, Kim Jin-seo repeated his words softly, gazing skyward. The downpour had thinned; weather clearing. Slender sunlight peeked shyly through the clouds.
(To be continued)