Episode 71

Episode 071

Professor Thunderstep, who had asked questions like ‘Wasn’t there a bull? Why not?’ when he saw the students who had returned last time.

He couldn’t tell why that image flashed through his mind out of nowhere.

‘Let’s focus.’

Ihan turned his gaze.

The spirit bull in front of him was emitting quite a unique energy.

First, there were two types of magic power.

It was clear that there was the feel of reinforcement magic and that of a potion.

Although it was hard to explain theoretically, reinforcement magic cast from the outside and the magic of a potion that worked internally had different energies.

And then there was an energy similar to magic power, but with a different trace.

‘Is it the power of the spirit?’

Ihan didn’t know much about spirits, but he could tell at least that the bull in front of him was mingled with a spirit.

A normal bull wouldn’t have half its body made of wavering chunks of ice.

Every time it glared this way and clopped its hooves, thin ice formed on the floor.

“Ihan. It’s glaring at us, do you think it’ll charge? What do you think?”

“Maybe it got angry because I turned on the lights when it didn’t mean anything.”

“……”

Dergyu and Giselle turned their heads to look at Ihan.

Hey!

“What? It’s dark in here, you have to turn on the lights. If it gets mad just because you turned them on, that’s the weird one.”

“I don’t think arguing whether the spirit bull is weird or not is what matters now…”

“Ask Choi if there’s a way to damage it.”

‘Is it still not over?’

When Giselle relayed what Ihan wanted to say to Dergyu, Dergyu sighed deeply.

“Ordinary physical attacks probably won’t work on the spirit part. Casting magic on our weapons is too much for now…”

Among monsters, there were quite a few that couldn’t be harmed by normal attacks.

To deal with such creatures, adventurers would carry magically enchanted weapons or learn ways to imbue their weapons with magic power.

“Is there anyone here who knows even a little bit how to imbue their weapon with magical power?”

At Ihan’s question, Dergyu raised his hand. Giselle also raised her hand. The one who asked, Ihan, also raised his hand.

…Giselle stared at the two as if they were crazy.

It made sense for Dergyu, but how could a guy who wasn’t even from a knight family know how to imbue?

“I was talking to Dergyu, but you answered too. Anyway, if all three of us can attack, isn’t that good? Let’s split up and poke at it.”

Honestly, having these three in one group was a considerable stroke of luck.

Ihan and Dergyu were among the top swordsmen among the students taking swordsmanship class, and though Giselle was a bit weaker than them, she also had strong swordsmanship skills.

Of course, their relationship was terribly bad.

“Ask who will stand in the middle, Choi.”

In a situation like this, if they started to close in, the spirit bull was likely to dislike whoever was in front the most.

Ihan asked with respect toward the leader.

“Could you tell them, of course, the leader should stand in the middle, Dergyu?”

Giselle answered with his middle finger. Dergyu sighed.

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“Rock, paper, scissors.”

Ihan ended up in the middle. Giselle to the right, Dergyu to the left.

Dergyu thought it was the first time he had seen Giselle smile so brightly.

• * *

Luckily, the spirit bull didn’t charge despite the lights being turned on.

The three students’ strategy was simple.

Each split into three directions, approaching until the spirit bull reacted.

Once it began to react, the targeted student would focus solely on evasion, and the other two would deal damage.

‘The problem is dodging.’

In this kind of hunt, it was usually more important who kited and dodged rather than who stabbed.

Ihan regretted his own skills for not dodging the middle.

-■!

Just a moment ago, the spirit bull was only stamping its hooves, but now it hissed with icy breath and roared menacingly.

Anyone could see it was trying to warn them to ‘get lost quietly’.

Instead of advancing further, Ihan used magic.

“Rise, move!”

Water orbs sprang into the air and shot toward the spirit bull. Startled, the bull moved its body at the last second. The orbs exploded on the ground.

Thwack, thwack!

“Amazing… Wait.”

Dergyu, who was amazed once again by the magic, sensed something odd.

The direction Ihan was sending the water orbs seemed a bit strange.

He was thrusting as if firing from above downward, which made it look as if he was herding the bull to the right…?

‘That bastard, seriously.’

Giselle drew his twin swords.

If Dergyu noticed, Giselle certainly wouldn’t miss it either.

In the first place, Giselle had planned to push the bull toward Ihan if it came toward him.

Pop!

Giselle sprinted diagonally to the rear left.

This was to redirect the bull’s attention, focused on him, back to Ihan.

The threat was obvious despite being briefly focused on; ultimately, the bull could see who was more threatening.

Though it was a clever attempt, it was practically digging one’s own grave.

-■■!

Provoked, the spirit bull sharply turned and charged at Ihan and Giselle.

“I vanish in the night!”

“…?!”

Ihan’s figure disappeared. Giselle didn’t even have time to curse. He drew his twin swords and assumed a defensive stance for the bull.

Shaking the sword in his right hand to draw the bull’s gaze, he carefully aimed the left at the bull’s jaw. Like a seasoned matador, Giselle brushed past and struck the spirit bull with a swift motion.

‘Tch.’

Giselle clicked his tongue at the feel at his fingertips. He must have attacked the spirit part, as the bull seemed unharmed.

The sword was rimed with thin ice, and the spot the bull had been hit recovered instantly.

Screeeech-!

With an unpleasant sound, the bull changed direction. It was unbelievably agile and flexible for its massive size.

Giselle tilted his head and gestured with his sword as if to say ‘Come again.’

Crash!!!!

At that moment, the spirit bull was knocked sideways as if struck by something.

Ihan dispelled the invisibility spell and revealed himself. The sturdy wooden sword in his hand had turned entirely to powder.

“……”

“……”

• * *

It might sound like an excuse, but there had been a reason Ihan distracted the bull toward Giselle.

For Ihan to attack properly, someone had to draw the bull’s attention.

There was no way Giselle would believe him even if he explained…

It hurt, but he had no choice but to prove it with results.

“Is this really okay, Ihan?!”

“It’s fine! We won’t be in the same group after this class anyway!”

Ihan answered heartily and, while still invisible, chased after the bull.

“Feet, stride over the land!”

Ihan’s mutter turned into a spell and wrapped around his whole body.

His vision, already sharpened by focus, became even clearer, and he could almost see the spirit bull’s movements.

Wooooong!

Though it hadn’t been long since he had broken his sword last time, Ihan didn’t hesitate to pour in magic.

Thanks to the bull being distracted by Giselle, he had earned the perfect timing.

Ihan swung before the sword could shatter. Of course, the sword broke on impact.

Crash!!!!

Still, the effect was certain. The spirit bull went flying. Ihan shook his numb hand from the impact and shouted before the bull could get up.

“Now! Let’s get out!”

“Y-yeah.”

Dergyu couldn’t even look at Giselle’s expression. It was too scary.

• * *

The goat beastman, Angrago, looked at the exit with worry.

Having gone in as group 3 and come out, Angrago was very worried about group 4.

“What if that Wodanaz guy uses Dergyu again?”

“Don’t worry. Moradi’s there. Moradi will take care of things.”

“Yeah? Moradi’s there after all.”

Although everyone said that, they all had worried expressions.

It felt like putting a wolf and a sheep in the same pen!

So, when the three finally walked out from inside, the students couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

‘Thank goodness!’

“You’re out, Dergyu!”

“Moradi, good job!”

“……”

“……”

“???”

But as soon as their friends came out, they realized something was off with group 4.

Wodanaz was always cold and expressionless, but even Dergyu looked so awkward, not knowing where to put himself.

And as for Moradi…

For some reason, it seemed like she might kill anyone who tried to talk to her.

Angrago was too scared to talk.

“Ah. Angrago.”

“Dergyu! Did you dodge well?”

“Yeah. I managed to dodge well. How did you guys do it?”

Dergyu asked curiously.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine the other groups dealt with it the same way Ihan had.

“We grabbed a torch hanging in a corner and threw it. While the bull hated it, we ran out.”

“We summoned fire and threw it at the bull, then ran out for dear life.”

“Hey. You guys are smart. We couldn’t do any of that, so we took turns baiting the bull and barely found the exit.”

Students from each group shared their tales.

Some groups had solved it cleverly, others had just powered through it.

The more he listened, Dergyu’s expression hardened.

‘Come to think of it, he only told us to face it and exit, not to subdue it?’

Professor Ingerdel never said to beat it, but since Ihan and Giselle kept talking about how to catch it, Dergyu had just gotten swept up.

Groups who went in after them came out one after another. Some students came out with their cloaks or clothes covered in frost, almost in tears.

“You all did excellently. I said to face it and exit, but some groups even subdued it. That wasn’t the assignment, but since you did so well, I can only praise you.”

At Professor Ingerdel’s words, the students buzzed.

Some tried to ask Giselle, ‘Did you do it?’ but backed off when her mood looked outright foul.

“How did it feel to face a monster?”

“It was stronger than I thought. And faster, too.”

“I didn’t expect attacks wouldn’t even land.”

Students from the White Tiger Tower freely shared their impressions. The elf professor nodded.

“I’m sure you all felt that way.”

“……”

Dergyu listened to the professor, wondering where exactly his group had gone wrong.

“I’m sure everyone felt something different. But having escaped from a monster, you all probably realized one thing. That it isn’t as frightening as you thought.”

“That’s right!”

White Tiger Tower students agreed.

Even if it was just running away, meeting a monster face-to-face made the fear lessen.

To overcome fear, you have to confront it directly.

“Fighting monsters is fundamentally the same as swordsmanship. Stay calm, figure out what kind of opponent it is, and if you can’t win, think of how to escape. I’m glad you all learned something I can’t teach with words today.”

Dergyu agreed with the professor.

Of course, their group just beat it up and ran…

“By the way, classes for this semester will proceed with the groups formed today. The balance is excellent.”

“……”

Dergyu nodded as he listened, but then froze. Then he looked at Ihan and Giselle.

Their faces were just as stiff as Dergyu’s. Ihan asked Dergyu in a small voice.

“Um. Do you think I should apologize for before?”

“…I think it’d be better if you just talk to each other with me in between…”