Chapter 122: End of Semester (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: End of Semester (3)
And so, the training continued.
Witnessing Cheon Yeo-wool's growth firsthand, I felt strangely motivated myself.
I immediately sat up, straightened my posture, and began to slowly regulate my breathing.
'I can't let myself fall behind.'
Her growing stronger is a good thing, but it would be a problem if she surpassed me.
No, actually, it wasn't a problem. It was just my pride.
It's good for Cheon Yeo-wool to become stronger. There's no risk involved.
I went back to basics, reviewing my fundamental mana control.
With a deep breath, I slowly drew up my mana, conscious of every minute fiber of its flow.
This space was filled with divine power, making the flow of mana feel clearer than ever.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly and deliberately, I reinforced the pathways again.
After reinforcing the channels about five times, I felt as if all the strength had drained from my body.
Manipulating mana is an inherently taxing act, and since I had done it throughout my entire body, this exhaustion was, in a way, to be expected.
I flopped back down again.
And when I looked over...
"Hah... hah..."
Cheon Yeo-wool was also lying down, panting for breath.
In front of me, Cheon Yeo-wool turned her head slightly.
Her face was etched with fatigue, but the corners of her eyes were slightly raised in a smile.
Our eyes met.
"The break is starting soon, huh?"
Her voice was tinged with a strange excitement.
Wiping away her sweat, Cheon Yeo-wool grinned playfully.
I nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
The semester had passed in a blur.
So much had happened, both inside and out.
I replied with a smile of my own.
A short silence.
A brief moment passed as we both caught our breath.
Cheon Yeo-wool spoke up cautiously.
"So... got any plans for the break? I'm totally free."
I shook my head.
"Not really. I had something, but it got canceled."
It was true that I had no plans now.
"Ooooh, really?"
Cheon Yeo-wool asked, drawing out the word strangely.
I considered asking her if she was free to go now, but...
I still needed to check on Kang A-rin, and I also had to confirm the location where Cheon Yeo-wool's Fragment was buried.
It was a little too early to make plans.
"Reeeaaally?"
"...What is it?"
The end of her word stretched out even longer, and a mischievous smile spread across her face.
"Tsk. Never mind."
Then, her expression changed, and she lay back down.
'Good.'
At least I'd unintentionally confirmed that Cheon Yeo-wool's schedule was open for the break.
That was enough.
*
The next evening.
Enjoying the night air for the first time in a while, I quietly opened my laptop in a cafe.
It was a laptop I'd barely used since enrolling, but today, I was using it to seriously organize some necessary information.
My objective was clear.
The current locations of the remaining Fragments—excluding the ones already acquired—and the feasibility of obtaining them.
My own Fragment, buried in Baekdusan, would be easy to acquire, but I needed to be certain about the others.
First, Yu Hana's Fragment of Order.
To put it simply, it was buried somewhere in China.
It was in a rather ambiguous, neutral zone—not owned by the state. In fact, anyone could get their hands on it, as long as they held the rights to the area.
There were no complex political interests involved; as long as I secured the rights properly, access itself wouldn't be difficult.
In other words, it wasn't the private property of the Chinese state.
Therefore, if I went and put in the effort, I could obtain it.
However, Kang A-rin and Cheon Yeo-wool were different cases.
Kang A-rin's Fragment of Emptiness was in the Pentagon, in the USA.
Nothing more needed to be said.
It was not something that could be easily obtained.
At my current stage, there was no route available to me. The only possibility was if it wasn't during a research period.
As long as it wasn't a research period, it was... somewhat approachable.
Cheon Yeo-wool's Fragment of Desire.
This one was currently in the Vatican.
The problem wasn't just its location.
If the Fragment hadn't been discovered yet, the situation would be a little better.
'If.'
But if it had already been discovered by the Church, access would become significantly more troublesome.
My own value and reputation weren't high enough yet to get a seat at the negotiating table with the Church in the Vatican.
After all, I was still a rookie.
Of course, if Cheon Yeo-wool of Arcadia could make a move herself, things would be a little easier.
After all, the Vatican worshipped a god who was the sister of the deity Arcadia served.
But even that would require a lot of time, explanations, and complicated procedures.
Therefore, I had to check the situation for both of them.
First, the Vatican.
The Holy Grail.
If they hadn't discovered its true nature, the Holy Grail would definitely be mentioned in tourist reviews.
The Holy Grail was the very form of the Fragment of Desire. If they had realized that, there's no way they would leave it out on display.
I searched for articles.
"It's there."
It was there.
There were tons of tourist accounts.
The angles of the photos varied from tourist to tourist, but the image of the Holy Grail within them was clear.
Inside a glass case, a cup gleamed with a golden light.
This would work.
It meant they didn't know yet.
The problem was that touching the inside of that glass case without the Church's permission could still be considered theft, but...
'Doesn't matter.'
The corners of my mouth slowly lifted.
All Cheon Yeo-wool had to do was touch the Holy Grail.
Then everything would be resolved in a flash.
So, the Fragment of Desire was a go.
'Next...'
I immediately shifted my focus to the Pentagon, to the US.
I scoured every possible source: web portals, news sites, academic papers, and conference schedules.
Kang A-rin's Fragment had become a research asset the moment it was discovered, and the US had been conducting its own research and demonstrations based on it ever since.
The problem, however, was that the Pentagon occasionally went into a complete lockdown period, ceasing all contact.
It was a period when only key government and military researchers were allowed in or out.
During that time, internal personnel could only stay within their designated research wings.
Outside access was out of the question, and it was customary for even the researchers to be mostly out of contact.
If the break overlapped with that period... it would be absolutely impossible.
So, I combed through the social media accounts of famous researchers.
But.
[Won't be reachable for a while!]
[Going dark. No inquiries, no DMs.]
[I'll be back soon!]
The tweets and blogs of key researchers were all plastered with notices that they'd be going offline for a while.
"Ah..."
I let out a helpless sigh.
This was hopeless.
Access itself was impossible.
'In the end...'
It has to be Cheon Yeo-wool this time.
I silently repeated her name in my mind.
*
The final guild experience before the end of the semester.
We'd had about five opportunities for this experience so far, but there hadn't been a single dispatch.
Not that the time was wasted. I'd gained a lot.
There was much to learn, from the guild system to the systematic training facilities.
These were things that would be good to introduce to Vanquisher to some extent.
Today was the last day of the experience.
As it was the final day, it was customary to have sparring matches with the members of the Maengju Guild.
Thanks to that, everyone had gathered in the gym with less-than-enthusiastic expressions.
All personnel were wearing tight-fitting tactical suits.
These tactical suits would measure the intensity of hits to determine the winner of the match.
I was no exception, also clad in the skintight suit.
For reference, I sparred with Jung Tae-gon, the leader of Team 2, Maengho.
"Hahaha! I thought students these days were all scrawny, but you're different!"
Even after the match, Team Leader Jung Tae-gon didn't seem to want to leave my side.
My shoulder, where he'd struck me, was still throbbing.
"Ah, yes."
I gave a polite smile and answered noncommittally.
But my eyes were already on the next matchup.
The next person up was Kang A-rin.
This time, her opponent was the youngest member of Team 6, Serpent.
"Watch closely."
Kang A-rin said to me as she walked onto the stage for her match.
She wore a confident smile.
"Yeah, I will."
And I fully intended to watch very closely.
Her opponent was a pro hero, so he'd naturally be strong, but this was also an excellent opportunity to see Kang A-rin's recent growth.
Kang A-rin also had a clear benchmark for her progress.
Her most distinct benchmark was...
'Aura/Qi Reinforcement.'
The ultimate form of mana manipulation.
It required not only delicate mana control as a baseline but also an immense mana capacity.
The act of shrouding one's body in a refined aura that one emits.
And in the future, she would master this Aura/Qi Reinforcement to its absolute limit, wielding it as a weapon.
Of course, for now, it didn't have to cover her whole body.
Even just her fist would do.
Because that was the beginning.
I quietly held my breath and watched the two fighters on the stage.
It would be difficult, of course. In terms of sheer difficulty, it was higher than Cheon Yeo-wool's Dual Casting.
I tried not to get my hopes up.
And the moment the fight began, Kang A-rin closed her eyes.
"Huh...?"
I soon had no choice but to retract my assessment.
– Shwwwwww.
The next moment, a deep, crimson aura erupted around Kang A-rin.
Refined mana condensed, enveloping her fist.
Gasps and murmurs broke out across the spectator seats.
Even her opponent, a pro hero, seemed flustered and took a step back.
Kang A-rin was now boldly knocking on the door to a higher realm.
And in an instant.
– Pow!
Kang A-rin gathered her aura and charged her opponent in a single burst.
Her opponent flinched, instinctively moving to counter, but Kang A-rin was faster.
– CRACK!
With a clear crack, Kang A-rin's fist struck her opponent squarely in the abdomen.
– BEEEEEEP.
An alarm blared through the arena.
The skintight suit had detected the blow, and the outcome was clearly declared.
Leaving her opponent behind her, Kang A-rin slowly walked toward the spectator seats.
And then, she looked directly into my eyes and gave a playful smile.
Anyone could see that her smile was born from the confidence of an achievement earned through immense effort.
But as I watched her smile, I was left with a sense of regret.
'What a shame.'
No matter how much Kang A-rin grew.
A trip to the US was impossible.
Faced with the reality that I could only watch her growth from here.
I raised the corners of my mouth in a bittersweet smile and waved.
It was the only way I could respond to her smile.