Monsters in the Making
"How is this possible!"
The first thing I saw upon stepping out of the gate was Yu Jina, staring at me with a face drained of all color.
"Looks like no one has to kneel over this one."
"Nnngh!"
Yu Jina wore an expression like she'd just chewed on a pile of shit, while Jin Pung-rim...
Why is he looking at me like that?
Jin Pung-rim's eyes were sparkling. Uncomfortably so.
"Alright, that settles this."
"Hahk!"
Yu Jina scowled at my words. From here, my response would depend entirely on how that rabid mad dog came at me next.
"Fine... I'll acknowledge that you're the one teaching us..."
"Whoa, hold on — how did we end up there?"
"Don't tell me you're refusing to teach us?! We're geniuses, you know! Are you really going to throw away the chance to be the teacher of people like us?!"
A statement brimming with equal parts conceit and magnanimity.
She was right about one thing, though — the two of them really were geniuses. You could scour the entire world and still struggle to find talent that could stand beside theirs.
"...Still, whether I teach it or not is my call to make."
If I were going to take disciples at all, it would have to be people I could pass my footwork down to. But those two were the heirs of major guilds. Teach them my footwork, and it would flow straight into the hands of the major guilds.
That could never happen.
If my footwork ended up in a major guild's grasp, I'd be the one stuck dealing with the headaches. And I wanted no part of that.
"I told you from the very beginning that I had no intention of teaching you. That hasn't changed."
At my words, both of them went slack-jawed. It didn't last long — Yu Jina's face flushed red with barely contained anger, while Jin Pung-rim's expression dimmed into disappointment.
Still, no meant no.
Just as I was thinking that, the Association President spoke up beside me.
"Don't shut it down so quickly — why not give teaching them a try?"
"Mr. President, I believe I already refused when you first asked."
"I'm not asking you to teach them your techniques. I'm simply asking whether you could help the two of them at least survive inside a gate."
"And the compensation?"
"Whatever lies within my authority, I shall provide."
At the President's words, my resolve — so unshakable a moment ago — bent, just a little. This wasn't teaching my techniques. Showing them how to survive, how to fight — that much, I could do.
Minds can change, after all.
Surviving inside a gate. A simple-sounding condition — but the standard for it shifts from person to person. Without a clearly defined line, it could turn into an absurd demand.
I hadn't planned on accepting at first, but...
The compensation was something I desperately needed right now. Anything within the President's authority, he would provide — which meant I might finally be able to get my hands on an entry permit for North Korea.
I'd been wondering how I'd ever obtain one... and here was the perfect opportunity.
My original plan had been to take an Association request and demand access rights to North Korea as the reward.
If the request is this easy, of course I'll take it...
Their status gave me slight pause, but as long as I was officially in charge of their training, no one would be able to interfere.
"Let me know once you've settled the terms and the duration."
"Ah — that's already been arranged. It's all right here."
With that, the President handed me a contract.
One month. Over that period, I would rotate through the gates held by the Association and the two guilds, teaching the pair how to fight. Training schedule: one gate per day.
You sly old snake.
I'd always known he was a slippery one, but I hadn't realized he was this good. The contract was written in exactly the shape I would have wanted — a fixed term, not a proficiency benchmark. Precisely what I wanted.
"The reward will be paid once the term ends."
"Understood."
I signed the contract right then and there. This was a deal with the man known as the Association President — where his credibility was concerned, there was no need for a lengthy review.
"Then shall we say training begins tomorrow?"
"That will do fine. Those two over there certainly seem eager enough."
Just as he said, Jin Pung-rim and Yu Jina were burning with determination. Two geniuses, about to be trained in earnest.
Am I about to manufacture monsters here?
Before my regression, the two of them had never received training at this stage — they'd thrown themselves into battle on raw talent alone. And now those two had a proper teacher.
This might turn out more entertaining than I expected.
Watching the fire in their eyes, I felt a strange surge of motivation rise in me as well.
If I'm teaching them anyway, why not make monsters out of them.
"First things first — starting today, I'll be running your lessons. Anyone have a problem with that?"
"Hmph!"
"...."
At my question, Yu Jina let out a derisive snort and turned her head away, while Jin Pung-rim said nothing at all.
Somehow, this makes me feel kind of worthless...
When your students react like this, self-loathing comes with the territory of being a teacher. For the first time, I felt like I understood a little of what schoolteachers put up with.
"We won't be entering a gate today. Instead, we'll hold class through sparring."
"Sparring, you say?"
"......"
The word sparring changed both their expressions at once. Yu Jina's and Jin Pung-rim's eyes lit up.
"We'll spar, and I'll point out everything you need to fix. Today we'll repeat that process until I've got a read on where the two of you stand."
Fortunately, both of them were visibly raring to go.
Jina and I entered the sparring hall I'd reserved in advance.
"Time limit is five minutes. Show me your full strength within it."
"Ha — just don't come regretting this later."
Jina and I took our positions, and the timer began.
"Ice Lance!"
The instant the timer started, a storm of ice spears came pouring toward me. I slipped past them with nothing more than simple movements.
"Ngh!"
"Hurry up, or the clock's going to run out on you."
"I-I know! Ice Arrow!"
This time, arrows. But they were hardly any different from the spears.
So this is the current strength of Yu Jina — the woman who'd one day be called the Ice Witch?
The gap was honestly overwhelming. She wasn't casting the right spell for the right moment; she was just spamming magic raw, trusting the sheer size of her mana pool to carry her.
Is this just what she looked like before she grew into herself?
Bam! Bam! Bam!
I wove through the relentless bombardment.
"Ngh!"
Every spell I evaded made Yu Jina's face burn redder. Judging by temperament alone, she looked far better suited to fire magic than ice.
"Stop running circles like a coward! Ice Chain!"
Finally — something new. Ice Chain, a fine technique that bound its target in fetters of ice. But that was only true if it landed.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The chains that came screaming at me to bind me hammered nothing but the floor.
Honestly, if you assumed a short, sharp fight, even a veteran F-Rank Awakener would have trouble beating her as she was now.
Now I see why the President asked.
She was an S-Rank, after all. Letting talent like that rot away without proper instruction must have seemed like far too much of a waste.
Beep!
Then the timer signaled — one minute remaining. I started moving at once. This was a test, after all; I needed to read her defense, too.
"Ice Shield!"
When I lunged to attack, she froze up for a heartbeat — then immediately threw up a defensive spell. Not that it did anything against me.
KRA-BOOM!
The ice shield burst apart, powder and shards scattering through the air. Her magic had been demolished by a single punch carrying no mana at all.
Her grasp of mana is far too shallow.
She seemed to understand mana less than I did — and I don't even use the stuff. For a mage, that was the single most fatal flaw.
Your training menu is decided.
And then my fist slammed into her solar plexus.
WHAM!
With a dull crack of impact, she was knocked sprawling to the far end of the hall. And at the same moment, the timer ran out.
Beep!
I dragged the fallen Jina out of the arena, and Jin Pung-rim stepped in.
Jin Pung-rim — the Scorching Fist.
He took everything seriously, but he was never a cold man. Not the type to merely nod and keep his silence.
"I look forward to your instruction."
With a brief bow, Jin Pung-rim dropped straight into his stance — left foot forward, right foot back, and matching it, his left arm thrust out ahead and his right arm coiled behind.
"Then — begin!"
"Phoenix Dance!"
The moment the words left my mouth, flames wrapped around Jin Pung-rim's arms and legs. And with that, he came charging at me.
All-out from the very first second, huh.
A far better call than Jina's. Reading your opponent's strength is one of the most important skills a fighter can have, after all.
"Hraaah!"
Bam!
Roaring a battle cry, Jin Pung-rim chained his strikes together without a pause. And of course, I slipped through his attacks with minimal movement.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Miles better than Jina.
No carelessness, no wasted strikes — none of Jina's flaws. He was simply wringing the maximum out of the minimum. But his problems, too, came into focus with brutal clarity.
His menu's decided as well.
With both training menus settled, the alarm sounded a short while later: one minute remaining. I shifted from evasion to offense without a beat's hesitation.
Wham! Wham! Wham!
He scrambled to react to my fists somehow, but with his current skill, he never stood a chance. In the end, Jin Pung-rim ate a punch and went flying into the corner of the arena — and with that, the spar was over.
"First — Yu Jina."
"Ugh!"
"Your mana consumption is absurd."
"W-what does it matter?! Even burning that much, I've still got mana to spare!"
At a glance, Jina's excuse sounded plausible enough. But her words were missing one thing: experience.
"Wasting mana is as good as announcing to your opponent that a spell is coming."
"B-but—!"
"And are you planning to spam beginner-tier spells forever? What about intermediate? Advanced? Are you just never going to use them?"
At that, she shut her mouth.
"For now, you'll fight in the gates with your mana restricted — until I say you're done."
Feedback delivered, I turned to Jin Pung-rim.
"You were impressive next to Jina, but you've got your own problems."
"...Please tell me."
"First — that technique of yours, Phoenix Dance. Stop using it."
Jin Pung-rim seemed to have a faint suspicion already, but Phoenix Dance was a technique that set your own body alight — which made it brutally demanding on stamina.
"Compared to your stamina, everything else about you is starved."
"......"
An all-in dump into stamina. That was surely what Jin Pung-rim's stats looked like right now. The problem was that sustaining Phoenix Dance demanded other stats every bit as much as stamina — I'd used it myself before my regression, so I knew that for a fact.
"For now, Phoenix Dance is sealed. Focus on growing your other stats."
"Understood."
Right now, Jin Pung-rim leaned on Phoenix Dance far too much. That was never a good sign.
Phoenix Dance was, in the end, a support skill.
A support skill must never become the main act. That was exactly why he needed to seal it away and pile up real combat experience.
"Alright — dismissed for today. From tomorrow, we go into the gates."
Tomorrow, the Spartan training would begin.