-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Practical Gate Training (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each time it took a step, the ground trembled, kicking up dust.
"Groooooaaaar─!"
The ogre, having spotted its prey, charged forward with a monstrous roar, its eyes gleaming with greed.
Despite its clumsy appearance, it charged relentlessly.
A look of panic spread across Im Gaeul's face, but she quickly adopted a resolute expression.
Whoosh!
Because the girl who had trusted her and entered was already gripping her shield and moving forward.
She immediately drew upon her magic.
'…Slow!'
A skill that always felt lacking due to insufficient output.
But she had to do something.
After all, she was in charge of this party.
She couldn't just stand there blankly.
"…Huh?"
Even in such a desperate situation, she couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.
The magic she drew from her body had always been a woefully weak and meager energy.
Today was different.
Whoooosh─!
It felt as if the currents of a vast river were gracefully swirling through her entire body.
"Haaah!"
That unfamiliar sensation sent shivers down her spine.
"Groooah─!?"
Thankfully, the skill shot from her fingertips hit the ogre, but she couldn't just stand there.
Im Gaeul immediately cast her next skill.
'Haste!'
And the skill that bloomed from her fingertips flew towards Yi Yuri, radiating a powerful light, and settled upon her.
* * *
Towards the ogre, Yi Yuri, the tank, charged forward first.
I, too, kicked off the ground, following close behind her.
A clear sign of tension flickered across Yi Yuri's face.
After all, a C-rank monster like an ogre was on par with the Blood Goblins they had faced before.
It gripped its massive axe with both hands and raised it above its head.
Swoooosh─!!
And the massive axe came crashing down violently, as if to split Yi Yuri's head.
But soon.
Yi Yuri made a strange expression.
"Huh?"
At first, she had raised her shield to block the powerful axe swing,
but she quickly retracted her shield and twisted her body as if to dodge.
CRASH─!!
The ogre's axe only smashed into the innocent ground.
And Yi Yuri's shield swiftly moved towards the ogre's body.
Wham─!!
The shield collided with the ogre's body, and for a moment, its massive frame swayed.
Thinking once wasn't enough, Yi Yuri leaped back, then threw herself at the ogre again.
CRUNCH─!!
"Groooh─!?"
At that, its massive body staggered and was pushed back.
"Eh?"
Yi Yuri made a surprised sound, even at her own actions.
I let out a chuckle watching her.
'This is what a proper support looks like.'
A support who slows down enemy actions and amplifies allies' speed by a percentage.
Especially for an evasion tank like Yi Yuri, that amplification amount was no joke.
She was probably feeling the synergy with me right about now.
And after waiting a bit.
The aura of the skill began to settle upon me as well.
'Hmm, since it's in its base state right now, is it about a 10% amplification?'
Once the aura settled on my body, I definitely felt noticeably lighter.
'…This is going to take some time to get used to.'
Rather than rushing in with an unfamiliar body, it would be better to slowly adapt to the opponent while increasing my speed.
If I messed up by acting too cocky just because I got faster, I'd be thoroughly embarrassed.
*
Jin Yuha kicked off the ground, and Yi Yuri lowered her body as if she had anticipated him coming from behind.
Swoosh─!
The sword swung without hesitation, drawing a clean arc over her head.
Thwuck─!
The ogre's bulging abdomen was ripped open, and blood gushed out along with its entrails.
"Grrrroooaaah━!!!!!"
The ogre opened its mouth wide and let out a painful scream.
It quickly turned its head towards Jin Yuha, its face contorted with rage, but.
CRACK─!
Yi Yuri leaped up and slammed her shield down onto the ogre's face.
"Guh!"
At that, the ogre's gaze turned back towards Yi Yuri.
Thwack─!
This time, a thick stream of blood spurted from the ogre's thigh.
Wham!
Thwack!
Wham!
Thunk!
Wham!
Thwack!
The shield and sword attacked the ogre alternately, distracting it as if playing a game of catch.
In the midst of this, the ogre wanted to deal with the one who was hurting it—Jin Yuha—first.
Whoosh─!!
Ignoring Yi Yuri, the massive axe blade swung towards Jin Yuha.
However,
Clang-clang-clang─!
Its axe swing was parried by Yi Yuri, who had somehow interposed herself and angled her shield.
And at the same time.
Schwing━!
A heavy slicing sound, different from before.
Thud.
One of the ogre's arms fell off.
Fwoosh─!
"Grrraaaah!!!!?"
At that, it clutched its severed arm, from which blood was gushing, and began to stumble backward, its body covered in wounds.
"Hey, Jin Yuha! Aren't you going to take this seriously!?"
"…You were goofing off too, and you're blaming me?"
"That's…!"
"I was just warming up, getting used to the skill for a bit."
"I was doing that too, you know?"
"Alright, enough fooling around, let's finish this."
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yi Yuri began tapping her shield.
At that, the ogre, which had turned to flee, froze abruptly as if bound in place.
And just as it was about to turn its head towards Yi Yuri.
Thwip!
Jin Yuha leaped into the air.
Swoooooosh─!
A sword, moving at a speed on a different dimension than before, cut horizontally.
Thud!
And
its head was cleanly severed.
"Those kids are…"
Im Gaeul couldn't even blink, overwhelmed by the battle unfolding before her eyes.
What in the world was she witnessing right now?
If Cheonhwa or Tugyeon had been in her group, she might have understood.
But there was no way such incredible individuals would be in her group.
In her first year, she had always been relegated to the leftover groups because no one would accept her, constantly clearing only F-rank gates mostly with male students.
That alone had been overwhelming, to be honest.
So, even now, in her second year, she had expected things to be the same.
The first practical gate training since the new semester began.
The male and female freshmen who had joined her group this time.
Aside from their dazzling looks, she hadn't expected much from them at first.
After all, they had been fiddling with the Director's pager from the moment they entered the gate.
But,
Contrary to her expectations, they were hunters with a level of power completely different from her own.
A tank who dodged and parried the attacks of a massive ogre head-on.
A male dealer who wielded a sword with incomprehensible skill.
The world they lived in was different from hers.
'The Director was right.'
"…"
Choi Aram, too, watched the battle with a dazed look, speechless.
"Whoa, Captain, are you even faster than before? I could at least see a blur before, but at the end, I couldn't even see the sword swinging at all?"
At those words, Im Gaeul and Choi Aram's gazes turned towards Kim Sohoon, the support and porter.
Flustered by the gazes directed at him, he quickly turned his head.
And opened his mouth in an awkward voice.
"Uh, uh! R-right! I'm the porter! I need to go collect the byproducts, don't I!?"
Scamper─!
Kim Sohoon immediately ran off towards the fallen ogre.
"Hey, Im Gaeul. What in the world are those guys—"
It was just as Choi Aram was about to speak to Im Gaeul, her face completely bewildered.
"Senior!"
Yi Yuri called out to Im Gaeul and ran over.
"…Uh, uh?"
She grabbed Im Gaeul's hand with sparkling eyes.
"Just now, what was that!"
It was certainly a good thing that the child, who had initially been so wary of her, was now acting so friendly.
But it was so sudden that Im Gaeul couldn't help but be flustered.
"W-what?"
"That skill!"
"S-skill? It's just a skill, nothing special…?"
Here, Im Gaeul was flustered for the second time.
'I did use Haste on her, but…'
She knew her place.
Her support skills were undeniably so trivial that she was at the very bottom among supporters.
Just as Choi Aram had said, she had barely avoided repeating a year.
But why would that amazing child, who had just faced the ogre without backing down an inch and withstood its attacks, be asking about *her* skill…?
It was probably not thanks to her skill, but because Yi Yuri was originally a genius-level tank.
But Yi Yuri shook her head, as if denying her thoughts.
"No, really, I felt so much faster, and my vision became clearer."
"R-really?"
"So this is nothing special for a senior like you. This is a Velvet Academy senior support…"
Yi Yuri looked at her with renewed admiration.
Im Gaeul broke out in a cold sweat, unable to understand what was happening.
"Pfft!"
At that moment, a short laugh burst out from behind them.
When she turned her head that way.
The handsome boy.
But the man who had been hiding his ghostly sword skills was smiling at her.
"That thing I gave you. Take a look."
He pointed at her hand with his finger.
"Something you gave me…?"
At that, Im Gaeul's gaze fell to her palm.
A supreme-grade magic stone.
He had suddenly pressed it into her hand, making her gasp in surprise,
and in the commotion, with the ogre charging, she had momentarily forgotten about it.
"Uh-oh!?"
Im Gaeul's eyes widened, looking down.
"Wh-wh-why is this!? W-wait a minute!"
The supreme-grade magic stone, glowing with an ethereal blue light.
The light at its tip was disappearing, and it was starting to turn into an ordinary stone!
Watching that, Jin Yuha suddenly hardened his expression and looked serious.
"It seems Senior Gaeul uses one supreme-grade magic stone every time she fights a battle."
Thump─!
Her heart sank.
"N-no way!? Then, I can't turn this back?"
She asked, clutching at straws.
At that, Jin Yuha firmly shook his head, like a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis.
"Ah, there's no hope. *Tsk*. This is really bad for cost-effectiveness. One supreme-grade magic stone per battle…"
Thump-thump─
Im Gaeul's heart pounded fiercely.
'What in the world am I supposed to do then…? A su-supreme-grade magic stone is incredibly expensive…'
She squeezed her eyes shut.
And then spoke in a trembling voice.
"I'm so sorry for ruining your precious magic stone. But for now, c-can we put this down as a debt? I have some money saved up. I can pay you back some when we get out…"
"Pfft─!"
Jin Yuha, who had a serious expression, suddenly burst out laughing.
"?"
After laughing for a while, he let out a languid sigh.
"Hah, Senior, you really need to be careful not to get scammed."
"Huh…?"
"Earlier, Gukbap said something about vouching for you, but it looks like that might actually become true."
Jin Yuha said, his voice still tinged with laughter.
"I'm just kidding."
"…What?"
"Hmm, it's just a guess, but… if you use a supreme-grade magic stone, you could probably use skills non-stop for a month. Senior, you're still new to this. No, um… you probably don't have much experience yet?"
"Ex-experience?"
Im Gaeul could only stare at Jin Yuha with a bewildered expression.