Kaaang!

A sharp clang of metal rang across the outdoor training ground.

Seo Yui’s spearhead had met the edge of Im Seongyeon’s axe.

The next instant, Seo Yui’s body lurched.

Im Seongyeon was bearing down with raw strength, forcing the spear aside.

“!”

Seo Yui tried to pull back and create distance, but the principal kicked off the ground and gave her no time to retreat.

In that moment, all Seo Yui could do was trust the 100% block chance on her gear.

Thud!!

The axe smashed into her shield with a heavy boom.

The principal’s Level 35, Magic-grade weapon couldn’t punch through the Rare-grade shield I’d crafted.

Even at Level 72, her weapon’s baseline attack was simply too low.

If she’d brought something just a bit higher in level or grade, though… who knew how that would’ve ended.

Meiling raised her wand and began to chant.

A crimson sphere swelled above her back—Flame Charge.

Im Seongyeon’s gaze flicked to Meiling for the briefest moment—and then her foot snapped up.

“Urgh!”

Seo Yui took a brutal kick to the center of her shield and staggered backward.

At once, the principal lunged at Meiling.

I whipped a Shock Grenade from my sling and hurled it at Im Seongyeon.

She skipped lightly to the side, slipping cleanly out of the blast radius.

‘Damn it. I figured as much, but it still didn’t land.’

If I’d thrown Spike Bombs, I could’ve forced her back—but Meiling and Seo Yui would’ve been caught in it too.

Sensing the principal’s approach, Meiling cut her casting short and fired off the three Flame Charges she’d already gathered.

They had homing—unless Im Seongyeon opened distance, she shouldn’t be able to dodge.

That was my assumption. It was wrong.

Instead of retreating, the principal batted the orbs away with her axe.

She moved so fast that to my eyes it looked like a single motion.

The struck fireballs soared skyward like balls off a batter’s bat, then burst in midair.

“What even is that!?”

Meiling cried out.

“Awakeners’ weapons hold mana. Your fireballs are made of mana as well. If the mana holds, this kind of defense is possible—remember that.”

With that, Im Seongyeon swung her axe back.

Thud!

“Ghh—!”

Seo Yui, rushing to strike the principal from behind, barely managed to catch the sudden back-swing on her shield.

‘It’s like she has eyes in the back of her head.’

A high-level Hunter—cool-headed, controlled.

In strength, speed, and experience, she overwhelmed us completely.

Realistically, with nearly thirty levels between us, we had no chance to win a straight fight.

But this wasn’t a duel to the death; it was a spar.

Our win condition was to land a single valid hit and strip the shield-belt protecting her.

One clean strike that couldn’t miss—that was all we needed.

And we had someone born to create that opening.

I glanced around.

Lumina had vanished the moment the spar began.

She was following my instructions.

I tracked the principal.

She’d been trading blows with Seo Yui a heartbeat ago, and now she was already closing on Meiling mid-cast.

I loaded a Flame Orb into the sling and sent it arcing overhead.

When it exploded in the sky, the principal’s eyes lifted for a fraction of a second.

I licked my dry lips and looked past her—behind her.

“You’re far too obvious.”

Im Seongyeon’s mouth curled as she gripped the axe with both hands.

Instead of pressing Meiling, she suddenly spun like a windmill.

A whirlwind of dust kicked up across the training ground.

“Ugh!”

Seo Yui raised her shield to cover her face.

“Kyaa!”

Meiling, closest to the principal, was physically blown back a full meter.

‘Unbelievable. She’s using “skills” without a skill slot.’

Strictly speaking, it was just movement at skill level.

A few seconds later, she stopped.

Her eyes swept the field—and a flicker of puzzlement crossed her face.

‘Now.’

I slipped a Spike Bomb into the sling and snapped it toward the principal while she stood still.

She sprang backward in a big leap.

Even for her, swatting down hundreds of spikes one by one was out of the question.

And in that exact moment—

Pop!

A sound like a bursting balloon.

“…”

The principal turned, briefly stunned.

Several meters behind her stood Lumina—no dagger in hand this time, but a wand.

“With that, we win, right, Principal?”

I raised my voice, looking at the now-unshielded Im Seongyeon.

“…Impressive,” she said at last, planting the butt of her axe on the ground. “You already knew what I meant to teach—and then you turned it against me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Meiling stared at me, and Seo Yui looked equally confused.

“The principal knows our abilities,” I said, facing Im Seongyeon. “We can’t match her head-on. That leaves only one plan: Lumina, who can completely vanish, aims for a surprise strike. The principal would predict that much too. So I told Lumina to hide, but not to approach you—to keep some distance and wait for my signal.”

Lumina’s ambush works partly because her Invisibility is excellent—and partly because the enemy usually doesn’t know about her.

If they do, there are plenty of counters: lay mines, wall yourself off with obstacles, traps, bodyguards…

or do what the principal just did—predict the timing and unleash a broad sweep.

Lumina’s Invisibility breaks when she attacks or when she’s hit.

After that, she needs a cooldown to vanish again and has to fight with her raw, visible strength.

Against the principal, that’s no threat at all.

That’s why I’d told Lumina from the start: don’t get close.

“The real signal wasn’t the Flame Orb in the sky—it was the Spike Bomb,” Im Seongyeon said.

“Correct,” I replied.

The Flame Orb and my fixed stare past her shoulder—those were feints to convince the principal Lumina was closing in.

The ruse worked. Im Seongyeon spun and lashed out in all directions.

But at the distance Lumina kept, none of it could touch her.

For a heartbeat, the principal lost track.

That was when I threw the Spike Bomb.

She dodged at once—but she didn’t expect what came next.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have either, in her place.

Lumina—who usually fought with a dagger—had switched to a wand and fired a Mana Bolt.

“A splendid strategy. You fooled me completely.”

“Luck was on our side,” I said with a small smile.

That wasn’t false modesty; we truly were lucky.

If the principal had anticipated Lumina switching to ranged fire— or if she’d kept absolute composure and noticed the final bolt in time to evade—That would have been the end of it.

There are limits to a plan you cobble together in the spur of the moment.

Im Seongyeon looked over at the four of us gathered in one spot.

“I intended to point out your squad’s weaknesses today. First, if you fail to protect Meiling, your overall fighting strength drops drastically. Second, Lumina’s Invisibility, while powerful, does indeed have weaknesses. But it seems my attempt was unnecessary.”

Her eyes shifted and landed squarely on me.

“One thing I am curious about. Why did you, Nam Yein, rely on items instead of using your ability?”

I felt Lumina and Meiling tense on either side of me.

“…Honestly, my items are stronger and more versatile than my ability.”

“I see. Understood.”

She gave a nod, as though satisfied.

“Today’s spar was the final special assignment. With your current strength, I don’t doubt you can place within the top three at HAUT. But do not grow complacent. My hope is that you continue to sharpen your skills during the rest of the break.”

With that, the principal turned and strode back toward the main building.

We stood in silence for a moment, exchanging glances.

“Well done, everyone. You too, senior. We managed to land a hit on the principal, somehow.”

I smiled as I said it.

“Why didn’t you tell us the plan beforehand?” Meiling asked, her tone annoyed.

“There wasn’t time to explain—and to fool the principal completely, it was better that way.”

“Deceive the enemy by deceiving your allies first?” Seo Yui said.

I nodded. If the two of them had known, they might have betrayed our intentions through some tiny slip the principal would surely notice.

“Tch.”

Meiling clicked her tongue, clearly irritated but with nothing more to say.

“Still, you’re amazing, Yein,” Lumina said, her eyes shining. “You even understood why the principal wanted to spar with us.”

“Yes. You really are a reliable leader,” Seo Yui added with a nod.

I only gave them a wordless smile.

The truth was, I hadn’t known until I heard the principal’s own words.

But silence was the safer choice now.

After our victory against the principal and a quick lunch from a delivery app, I sat in my room and began drafting a plan to raise Seo Yui’s ability level.

‘Twin Mask requires mastery in both attack and defense to level up.’

For the defensive Blue Mask, the condition was to fully block an attack from a sub-boss monster at least 10 levels lower than Seo Yui.

For the offensive Red Mask, the condition was to defeat 30 monsters, again at least 10 levels lower, while wearing it.

The problem was that Red Mask only lasted ten seconds—meaning she had to kill 30 within that time.

But neither condition was particularly difficult.

With the Rare-grade shield I’d crafted, blocking a sub-boss’s attack was no problem.

And for the kills, we could just pick weak, low-HP monsters—quantity over quality.

‘Now, which dungeon had monsters vulnerable to physical damage…’

I scratched the back of my head, trying to recall what I’d learned from the game.

Then—

My smartwatch buzzed.

I put in my wireless earphones.

“Hello? Senior?”

[Yeah. Yein, do you have plans this afternoon?]

“No, nothing special.”

[Then… want to come with me somewhere?]

“Where to?”

The destination she gave made me almost let out a sound of surprise.

“…Alright. When should we meet?”

[Ten minutes. At the front gate.]

“Yes. Ah—what about the others?”

[Just the two of us.]

“Eh?”

[Is that a problem?]

“N-no, not at all…”

[Then see you soon.]

The call ended.

I stared at my watch for a moment, then pulled out the earphones.

Ten minutes later—

At the school gate, I found Seo Yui waiting.

She was dressed in a bright-colored T-shirt and blue hot pants—the summer clothes she’d bought yesterday. Her long pink hair, usually loose, was tied back in a ponytail.

She looked… fresh.

“Sorry. I felt uneasy about going alone.”

I nodded. Until recently, she hadn’t been allowed to leave Gwangcheon at all.

‘Even though some time has passed since she left Valhall, she’s always had us with her. It’s no wonder she feels nervous going far by herself.’

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

We headed for the bus stop.

The place she wanted to visit required two transfers.

We boarded the first bus and sat side by side.

“Does… the person you’re visiting know you’re coming?” I asked, glancing at her by the window.

“No. I didn’t contact them. I just want to see how they’re doing.”

I nodded.

About fifty minutes later, we arrived in Gangdong District.

“That’s the building,” she said.

I glanced from my smartwatch’s map to the large structure ahead.

On the entrance sign were the words: Crystal Awakeners’ Shelter.

(End of Chapter)

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