Week 10 PvP (3)

Hong Yeon-hwa trembled faintly as she watched Kim Ho blazing away.

I-I knew he'd be like this...

This was exactly why she'd wanted to avoid being matched against him. Her empowered Fire Pillar hadn't left so much as a scorch mark on the man, so there was no way mere fireballs or lava were going to do the job. Was there truly any method in existence that could deal damage to him?

Wang Chunsam was thinking along very similar lines.

Incredible durability...

From the moment he'd first met Kim Ho until now, not one of his attacks had ever landed. And yet, seeing the man hold steady at 100% HP even while engulfed in raging flames, his toughness had to be just as monstrous. Even if a strike somehow got through, it wouldn't so much as break the skin — and in all likelihood, Wang Chunsam would go flying into the lava long before that happened.

And so Hong Yeon-hwa and Wang Chunsam arrived at the same conclusion. With no hope of beating Kim Ho whatsoever—

This is, in the end, a fight for second place.

Truth be told, this setup was exactly what Wang Chunsam had been hoping for. Chances to cross blades with someone of rising-star caliber didn't come around often, and if he could take a win off Hong Yeon-hwa, he might earn himself a measure of recognition in the Swordsmanship Club. Besides, hadn't Kim Ho even set the replay to private so he could show his true skill?

The sword at his hip slid smoothly free and settled into Wang Chunsam's grip. A chilling edge gathered in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his eyes.

"..."

Meeting that gaze, Hong Yeon-hwa tensed up a little more. She knew instinctively that this opponent was nothing to trifle with — and she suspected there was a reason Kim Ho had told her to test him in the first place. If a single fireball could reduce the man to ash, there would have been no need to suggest it at all.

Just as Hong Yeon-hwa and Wang Chunsam stood silently locking eyes—

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The volcano erupted yet again, shaking the earth to its core. In the instant Hong Yeon-hwa stepped sideways to keep her balance, Wang Chunsam's body came shooting in at a terrifying speed, closing the distance in a single breath and driving his sword home. She tilted herself out of the thrust's path in a hurry.

An assassin!

A martial-type — or to be precise, a Slayer class. The complete counter to her own.

Hong Yeon-hwa fell back to open up distance, but Wang Chunsam only pressed in tighter, chaining slash after slash. Unable to evade them all cleanly, she accumulated small cuts across her arm, her waist, her thighs.

Then Wang Chunsam, who had been hounding her relentlessly, abruptly gave back some ground —

FWOOM!

A fireball had dropped between the two of them. Had he given in to greed and kept up the chase, he would have been the one to pay dearly for it. Thanks to that, Hong Yeon-hwa gained a moment to catch her breath, and she unleashed the spells she'd been holding in reserve, one after another.

Fwoooosh—

A large sphere of flame bloomed at the tip of her staff and was instantly absorbed into Hong Yeon-hwa's body. If she wanted to keep pace with a Slayer's speed, raising her physical abilities came first.

Wang Chunsam was on her again in an instant, darting in to stab three times in rapid succession at three vital points on the human body. Hong Yeon-hwa twisted herself every which way — and dodged them.

Then she surprised herself.

I-I'm... dodging them?

So this was what evading felt like. Every beating she'd taken from Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho throughout the mentoring period had been worth something after all — she was instinctively slipping past sword strikes she could only dimly, barely see.

Even so, the situation hadn't improved all that much. The class matchup was as lopsided as ever, and she was still very much on the back foot. Overheat had made evasion far easier, but the damage was still ticking up bit by bit.

If this keeps up, I lose.

Her own health was draining away with every passing second, while she hadn't dealt her opponent so much as a scratch. She needed a breakthrough. Hong Yeon-hwa clenched the hand that wasn't holding her staff; flame roared to life around her balled fist, and she thrust it straight out in front of her.

Her plan was to read his dodge and craft her next move from it — but Wang Chunsam's reaction was the last thing she expected. He led with his sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and thrust straight in, head-on.

Shwaaak!

Wha — no, that's not—

Flustered as she was, Hong Yeon-hwa still ran a lightning-fast simulation in her head. If her Fire Punch connected, it would deal some serious damage — but at the same time, that thrust would skewer her through the heart. Big damage dealt, in exchange for being knocked out of the fight...

What a terrible trade!

The instant the math was done, Hong Yeon-hwa canceled the Fire Punch and flung herself sideways. The very next instant, Wang Chunsam's blade raked a long gash across her shoulder as it passed.

Ughhh...

That single graze had cost her five percent — a direct hit would have ended the match on the spot, exactly as she'd guessed. A willingness to eat damage if it meant putting his opponent down: the mindset of a Slayer, through and through. Wang Chunsam kept up his assault without pause, as if to deny her any time to regroup, and for a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment Hong Yeon-hwa felt her mind go completely blank.

Okay, what do I do here.

A half-hearted counter wouldn't cut it. Well, technically it would land — but he'd just ignore defense and thrust straight in like he had a moment ago, and she'd come out far the worse for it. Which meant she had to settle things with one powerful blow...

If I had something like that, I'd have used it already!

Hong Yeon-hwa stole a glance toward Kim Ho. Somehow, looking at him felt like it might shake something loose.

"..."

Kim Ho was watching them in flawless spectator mode. Knee-deep in lava.

That's not a person...

Shaking her head, Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly recalled a piece of advice he'd once given her.

"Play the big picture."

Come to think of it, it was big-picture play that had made her win against Bukgung Han-seol look so easy. What if she tried the same here?

Busy dodging Wang Chunsam's slashes, Hong Yeon-hwa began taking in her surroundings one element at a time.

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The volcano kept raining down fireballs, and the river of lava kept spilling wider, shrinking the arena bit by bit. Lava was beyond her, but fireballs — those she could put to use. Plans began snapping neatly into place inside her once-scrambled head.

Hong Yeon-hwa kept backpedaling exactly as she had been. The only difference now was that her staff was pointed at the ground. Every time the ruby flared red, another magic circle etched itself into the floor.

Wang Chunsam had no idea what spells those circles contained, but he knew perfectly well that stepping on them was a bad idea.

So she's using her head.

She meant to seize the battlefield piece by piece — which meant the longer the fight dragged on, the greater the odds the tide would turn. And so Wang Chunsam pressed his offensive all the harder.

And in step with it, Hong Yeon-hwa's health gauge shrank faster and faster. Yet she carried on as if Wang Chunsam didn't even exist, devoted entirely to multiplying her magic circles. One by one, two by two they spread — until, before anyone noticed, they had blanketed the entire area. Her eyes gleamed, and Wang Chunsam knew at once that she was about to make her gambit.

And then—

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

The volcano exploded. In the same instant, every magic circle etched into the ground flared red at once.

Now.

Wang Chunsam's gaze darted rapidly across the field. First: he was positioned to break out of the circles' zone at a moment's notice. Next cause for concern: the falling fireballs. Several of them were streaking right at him, and he moved to a safe spot — calculating not only how to evade them, but the area the flames would blanket as well.

But that was precisely what Hong Yeon-hwa had been angling for.

A spell that imbues flames with tremendous explosive force. And its target didn't necessarily have to be fire from a spell she herself had cast. The moment Hong Yeon-hwa pointed her staff at one of the falling fireballs—

FWOOM!

A colossal explosion of flame swallowed the whole area. The blast radius blew clean past anything Wang Chunsam had calculated, and his entire body was engulfed in fire.

What the—!

Two thoughts flashed through Wang Chunsam's mind in that instant: he'd been played — and—

It's do or die now.

Win or lose, the match had to be settled here. Wang Chunsam's body shot forward, still wreathed in flame.

Of course, Hong Yeon-hwa had factored this in as well. From the magic circles blanketing the ground, pillars of fire erupted all at once — and with a single wave of her wand, they linked together into one enormous wall of flame.

KWAAAAAAAH—!

Wang Chunsam, for his part, was every bit as ruthless. The wall of flame should have stopped him cold; instead, he plunged straight through it.

He couldn't have cared less that his health was chunking down with every step. But the moment he cleared the wall, what he saw was Hong Yeon-hwa, fist wreathed in burning flame, driving it straight at him.

FWOOM!

"Oof."

The flaming fist slammed dead center into his abdomen, and Wang Chunsam's body went sailing off into the fire, vanishing from sight.

I-It's over...!

Glancing at the scoreboard, Hong Yeon-hwa let out a silent cheer. And then Kim Ho, who had spent the entire match in spectator mode, offered a single remark.

"Good work."

"...!"

Hong Yeon-hwa's face lit up — only to drain of color again at his very next words.

"Shall we decide first place now?"

"..."

Hong Yeon-hwa shivered. Fire pillars were billowing up right beside her and lava was churning away at her feet, yet for some reason she felt a chill run through her.

Sinking deeper and deeper into the river of lava, Kim Ho said:

"Come on in."

"N-no? I-I-I-I'm good."

Hong Yeon-hwa backpedaled, her face gone whiter still. Even for a fire mage, scuba diving in a river of lava was a bridge too far. Before Kim Ho could get another word out, she hastily declared her forfeit.

Out beyond the arena, Hong Yeon-hwa let out a long, long breath.

Still, at least I held my ground...

Second place in the three-way battle. She hadn't earned a pile of points, but at least she hadn't lost any. Against a monster and a Slayer, this much counted as fighting to a respectable draw. The trouble was that she'd burned through so much stamina that chaining straight into a second match seemed unwise.

I'll just take it easy today...

She had exactly one match left on her quota, and a whole week to do it in — finishing up once her condition recovered was clearly the better call. And so, as Hong Yeon-hwa was making her way out of the Arena—

"..."

"..."

—she ran into Kim Ho all over again. Unlike her, he appeared to have finished both of his matches. Hong Yeon-hwa shot him a quick nod of acknowledgment and moved to pass him by—

"Hong Yeon-hwa."

"Y-yes? Me?"

Kim Ho's voice caught her by the nape of the neck. And to Hong Yeon-hwa, who turned her head with a stiff little jerk, he tossed out, casual as anything:

"Coffee?"

"Co...ffee? You're asking me to... get coffee?"

"If you're free."

During mentoring week, Hong Yeon-hwa had bought Kim Ho a cup of coffee as a token of thanks — and this time, apparently, he intended to be the one buying. For him to make the offer first was a little unexpected. Hong Yeon-hwa still harbored a strange fear of Kim Ho, yet at the same time, part of her wanted to get a little closer to him. Seen in that light, swapping light conversation over coffee wasn't a bad opportunity at all. There were a few things she'd been curious about, too ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— this might be her chance to ask.

Hong Yeon-hwa nodded slowly.

"...Let's."

[197] The Support Ate It All