Chapter 14 — Secret Magic Lesson (2)

“If you’re not here for something important, please scram. I’m a bit of a busy person.”

The lobby became silent in an instant.

No matter how much of a gangster-like ruffian that person was, wasn’t he still Guildmaster Yoo Sung-Eun’s little brother?

There was almost no one who could talk like this to that person.

The female employee sitting at the reception desk also looked at JaeHyun wide-eyed.

At JaeHyun’s confident attitude, Yoo SunJae frowned severely.

“What?! This damned little bastard!”

Yoo SunJae quickly grabbed JaeHyun by the collar and yelled loudly.

“You. Do you know who I am? I’m going to be the next leader of this Yeonhwa Guild! Alright?!”

“I apologize, but I don’t think that will happen.”

“What?!”

At JaeHyun’s words, Yoo SunJae paused for a moment. He didn’t lose the opportunity and continued.

“More than that, please let me go. If you don’t want to really get it.”

At those words, Yoo SunJae’s hand immediately went up.

And just before that hand touched JaeHyun’s face.

Yoo Sung-Eun’s voice could be heard coming from behind.

“Yoo SunJae! Stop!”

“Noona?”

Editor Note — Noona: A term used by males to address an older sister or female friend.

Yoo SunJae’s face contorted.

His gaze went back and forth between JaeHyun and Yoo Sung-Eun.

“This kid is my guest. See what I do to you if you touch him.”

“Ha… really. How can a kid like this be called a guest? If you have time to take care of such a brat, you should take more care of your little brother. You didn’t send me any money this month either.”

“There’s no reason I have to give you money every month. I think I told you before. That you aren’t my family anymore.”

“Tsk.”

At Yoo Sung-Eun’s words, Yoo SunJae clicked his tongue and spat on the floor.

“Even if you do that… if you die, this place is mine. Do you know that? This place is mine!”

“Guildmaster Yoo Sung-Eun won’t die.”

The reply came from an unexpected source.

Hearing the answer from beside him and not from Yoo Sung-Eun who was further away, Yoo SunJae burst out in annoyance.

He put more force into the hands holding on to JaeHyun’s collar and said.

“What kind of a place do you think this is for a little bastard like you to interrupt?! Do you know anything about our family’s situation?”

JaeHyun had a smile on his face.

After he grabbed Yoo SunJae’s left wrist, which was holding on to his collar, he added some force and twisted it back.

With a crack, the sound of a bone breaking rang in the lobby.

“Aaaarrrgh! Fuck! What kind of bastard are you? Are you one of those Awakened or something?!”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Throwing Yoo SunJae, who was yelling, far away, JaeHyun walked toward Yoo Sung-Eun.

Yoo Sung-Eun spoke while covering her face.

“I’m sorry. That brat’s my brother. I already broke ties with him before… But ever since the guild took a turn for the better, he’s kept finding me to ask for money. It’s not good for the guild’s image to chase him away, so it’s always……”

“It’s fine. I’m used to things like this.”

Of course, he had meant that before returning to the past, he’d encountered lots of different weirdos and that he knew exactly how to treat them.

But Yoo Sung-Eun, who didn’t know this fact, didn’t think of it that way.

‘JaeHyun… Does he have some kind of unfortunate family circumstance? And that’s why he grew up so mature?’

As Yoo Sung-Eun was guessing at JaeHyun’s family circumstances that weren’t even in his profile and looking at him with pity, JaeHyun was silently walking toward the training hall.

JaeHyun suddenly paused and looked back at Yoo Sung-Eun as he asked.

“Aren’t you coming? Or are you going to help your brother?”

Yoo Sung-Eun answered with a slight smile.

“Why would I?

The floor of the secret training hall was not split open like the day before.

He wasn’t able to look around yesterday thanks to the Mana Cube, but it was enormous as expected.

The floor was made with Ark Metal, a special material found in dungeons, so it didn’t break easily. Even if it broke, it quickly returned to its original form.

Because of its extremely high price, it wasn’t used in any normal gymnasium, but such a thing was nothing for the special training hall of the Yeonhwa Guild.

Yoo Sung-Eun started the conversation as JaeHyun looked around with an amazed face.

“Before we start our first lesson, I want to see how good your battle sense and reflexes are. In other words, we’ll have a sparring session.”

“A spar?”

JaeHyun asked while blinking his eyes in bewilderment.

“Isn’t this too much right from the start?”

“I don’t think that’s something a kid who broke a Mana Cube in 10 minutes should be saying?”

Yoo Sung-Eun added with a smile.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be attacking you.”

“That’s good, then.”

JaeHyun said calmly as he fell into his fighting pose.

Placing his left foot forward and folding his knees slightly, he then lowered his shoulders as much as possible. It was a posture that allowed him to move quickly in a basic fight.

It was the typical sight of a Warrior who was ready to dodge enemy attacks and make use of any openings.

Yoo Sung-Eun spoke with a bright smile.

“Okay, now try to attack.”

“Then—”

Thump!

Without hesitation, JaeHyun stomped on the ground and leaped toward Yoo Sung-Eun to lessen their distance before stretching out his hand. Using all the reflexes and senses he gained from working as an active raider, he threw a punch.

But Yoo Sung-Eun easily dodged JaeHyun’s attack with a slight tilt of the head. Cold sweat flowed down JaeHyun’s back.

‘Just as I thought, she’s fast. Even though she’s a healer, the movements of an S-rank raider are at a higher level than I imagined.’

“Heerk!”

Without stopping, JaeHyun immediately turned around and threw a punch at Yoo Sung-Eun’s torso.

However—

“I’ll call you JaeHyun informally now.”

The fist he put all of his strength into was easily grabbed by Yoo Sung-Eun.

Yoo Sung-Eun let out a small sigh.

“JaeHyun, you said that you were originally a Warrior, right?”

“Ah…… yes.”

“I think you still haven’t been able to throw out your habits from your time as a Warrior. How can a Magician just recklessly run in like this?”

The moment he heard that, JaeHyun felt like someone had hit him over the back of his head.

‘Way of fighting, huh. It is something I have been wondering about.’

Previously, JaeHyun had the experience of breaking a staff while in the Helheim dungeon. It was because he was unable to discard his movements as a Warrior and get used to being a Magician.

Truthfully, that was also the reason he had reached out to Yoo Sung-Eun and asked her to teach him.

‘To think she saw all that in an instant. Is it to be expected of an S-rank raider?’

JaeHyun once again realized what kind of person was standing before him.

Yoo Sung-Eun put her hand on his shoulder as she spoke.

“JaeHyun, what do you think is the biggest difference between combat and magic?”

“It should be whether you face your opponent from a close or long range.”

Yoo Sung-Eun nodded her head.

“That’s right. Magician-class raiders are normally the type to weaken their opponent from a long distance and then face them in a fight. But you are trying to close the distance with your opponent too much. If you fight like that, a Magician like you who already has a low defense will quickly fall.”

“Actually, this was something I’ve been thinking of too. But…… it’s become a habit and isn’t easy to change.”

“I was too idle. I think there’s a need to be a bit more serious. You need to properly experience being a Magician.”

Whhhiiiiirl……

Yoo Sung-Eun gathered the mana in her body and stretched out her hand toward JaeHyun.

“This time, I’ll also attack. Of course, it won’t be enough to hurt you seriously.

……And besides, I’m also a healer.”

Fixing her posture, Yoo Sung-Eun smiled meaningfully at JaeHyun.

“I know that this isn’t everything you’ve got.”

The mana Yoo Sung-Eun had gathered traveled up her body and gathered in her fingers in the shape of thin threads.

Yoo Sung-Eun spoke while smiling brightly.

“So… do it properly this time.”

Soon, a blue light flashed from her hand, and immediately after, an explosion rang out.

The threads gathered at a point and shot out like a laser.

JaeHyun quickly rolled his body and distanced himself from the blue effect.

No matter how great of a healer she was, was it alright to attack a student so mercilessly?

If it had hit him on the shoulder, it would have surely pierced a hole through him.

‘That was close.’

Without even wiping off his sweat, JaeHyun looked out for Yoo Sung-Eun’s next move.

‘As expected. Going against this person while hiding my cards is impossible.’

JaeHyun looked at her with a very strained expression.

With a hand on her waist and a carefree expression, Yoo Sung-Eun waited for JaeHyun to stand up.

“Your turn this time. Try to attack first.”

Even before she finished her words, JaeHyun filled his body with mana as well.

Fzzzzzt! pszzzzz!

一 Active Skill 《Lightning Chain》 has been activated.
Swwwiiiiiish!

A lightning attack immediately gathered in his hand.

JaeHyun controlled 4 chains at once and shot them toward Yoo Sung-Eun.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

Easily dodging the attack, Yoo Sung-Eun’s face was filled with wonder.

She looked at JaeHyun with an expression of interest and spoke.

“An A-rank skill. And 《 Lightning Chain 》 at that… It seems you’re hiding a lot of things like I thought? However—”

His breath was stuck in his throat.

Right as JaeHyun was about to attack again, he found himself in a state of tension totally different from the one in the Mana Cube.

A white arrow suddenly floating in the air rapidly shot toward JaeHyun’s torso.

Woosh!

Looking at the light arrow headed toward him, JaeHyun lightly bit his lips.

‘Damn. Too… Fast!’

Baaaannng!

The 《 Holy Arrow 》 directly hit JaeHyun’s torso.

He looked to dodge the attack but had leaped back and merely hit a wall in the end.

The training hall was filled with dust and smoke.

Yoo Sung-Eun started to walk toward JaeHyun while stretching.

“No matter how good of a skill, it’s useless if you can’t aim it. Isn’t that right?”

She had pinpointed JaeHyun’s problems.

JaeHyun had a great skill.

《 Lightning Chain 》 was a high-tiered skill even among A-rank skills.

You could tie up your opponent with several chains, pierce through them with it or use it in several other ways. Plus, there was an additional paralysis effect.

But even with such a great skill, if he couldn’t hit the target, it meant nothing.

JaeHyun was currently weak as a magician.

A blank sheet with nothing on it.

Without proper magic control, aiming an attack at an opponent or dodging theirs was difficult.

‘Was I too harsh?’

Yoo Sung-Eun thought as she crossed her arms.

Of course, the spell she had just used, 《 Holy Arrow 》, wasn’t that strong.

However, it was different if one considered whether a middle schooler like JaeHyun could handle it.

‘Well, I’ll know if I look.’

<A moment later>

After the dust settled, Yoo Sung-Eun looked slightly surprised.

Different from what she expected, JaeHyun was still standing.

A smile spread across her lips.

“This is unexpected. Of course, I did lower the strength of the spell… But to think you would still be standing.”

As a desire to win filled Yoo Sung-Eun’s face, the atmosphere in the room heated up. The moment she finished talking, 4 arrows made of light appeared simultaneously.

“Then will you be able to survive this?”

Slicing through the air, the arrows shot toward JaeHyun.

‘Damn!’

With his eyes wide open, JaeHyun calmly observed the arrows flying toward him.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

It sounded as if they were slicing through the air.

Even so, JaeHyun didn’t dodge and kept his eyes on the arrows.

Yoo Sung-Eun narrowed her eyes at his strange action.

‘Is he not planning to dodge? What is he thinking? No matter how weakened the skill is, he’d be pretty hurt if he got hit. No way…’

As Yoo Sung-Eun looked on quizzically, a smile spread on JaeHyun’s face.

Yoo Sung-Eun bit her lower lip with a covetous expression.

‘It doesn’t look like he’s quitting.’

The four simultaneous attacks started to rush toward JaeHyun. JaeHyun quickly stretched out his arm and gathered his mana. His left eye was tinged gold as if it was burnt.

一 Active Skill 《Universal Derivation》 has been activated.

一 Active Skill 《Holy Arrow》 has been successfully destroyed.

With the spell 《 Universal Derivation 》 which had shown its use during the fight against Jeong WooMin, JaeHyun eradicated all four arrows flying toward him.

Yoo Sung-Eun looked at JaeHyun with a shocked expression.

‘Did he…… destroy my spell?!’