“How about this place?”
Jeong Seyeon turned to Peter, asking if it was suitable as a training location. Peter gathered ice fragments at his fingertips, condensed them into a sphere, and threw it with a wide swing like a baseball. The ice ball, gaining rotational force, shot forward at tremendous speed. Moments later, a cloud of dust rose from the horizon, and the ground trembled slightly.
“Excellent. It’s the perfect location.”
Though his tone was light, the impact of the ball he threw was anything but. Still feeling the ground wobbling beneath me, I rubbed the toe of my shoe against the ground and asked Peter.
“Then since we have both requirements, we just need to increase the training intensity. What kind of training do I need to achieve awakening?”
“I’ve noticed this before, but Jeongjae-ssi seems to lack caution to an excessive degree.”
Peter’s demeanor suddenly changed. His previously friendly gaze turned ice cold.
“What are you suddenly trying to say?”
“Would it be clearer if I did this?”
Peter stomped one foot, and the ground beneath us made a cracking sound as it rapidly froze, spreading all the way to the gate behind us.
“What I meant was, this is the perfect place to kill someone.”
“Hyung, be careful!”
Neutralizing the ice fragment flying toward my face took priority over understanding his words. I couldn’t retreat because if I dodged, the guides behind me would be exposed to the attack. Steam rose as fire and ice met, and my vision became hazy. Simultaneously, Peter vanished. I shot fire toward the distorted space.
“Too bad, you missed.”
But Peter emerged from the opposite direction of where I had thrown my fire, and I gritted my teeth as I blocked the punch he threw. His combat-trained body put enough force behind the punch to potentially break my arm, and I held my ground against the pressure as I asked him.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I couldn’t understand Peter’s actions at all. While it’s true I was hasty in assuming we were on the same side, this kind of behavior didn’t benefit him at all.
“Can’t you put up a better fight? For an S-class, this is disappointingly weak.”
But his response was nonsense, completely unrelated to my question.
A biting cold emanated from Peter’s entire body. Reflexively, I began to draw up my energy before remembering the guides behind me.
A curse nearly escaped through my clenched teeth.
Whether Peter intended it or not, his ability was too wide-ranging. This meant his attack would affect not only me but the guides as well. In an instant, the surrounding temperature dropped below freezing. I pulled my ability to its limit to prevent his power from attacking the guides. The temperature difference created currents that stirred up strong winds.
“Stop this.”
I couldn’t dodge, nor could I attack him. As time passed, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for me. I created flames between Peter and myself to separate him from me. As if he had anticipated this, Peter leisurely dodged my attack and stepped back, then flicked his fingertips again. Thousands of his signature ice fragments spread through the air.
“Seems like you still don’t understand the situation.”
Tap, tap, tap.
He flicked his fingers rhythmically, as if conducting music. With each flick, the ice fragments multiplied exponentially, and soon the surroundings were so filled with ice that it was impossible to recognize this place as a wasteland. All the fragments were precisely aimed at me.
‘This is really shitty.’
I could counteract his ability with a similar one, but the shockwave would affect the surroundings. To ensure the guides’ safety, I needed to use greater power than Peter to minimize the impact, so I had been continuously straining to draw up my ability. But as Peter was increasingly attacking with his full strength, the situation was becoming more dire.
“Try to block this too.”
Blocking this attack wouldn’t reduce his attack range or weaken its intensity. Nor did it seem like he would deliberately show me an opening. That left only one option. I couldn’t keep stalling like this anymore. I needed to deliver a critical blow to him.
Just as I felt the need for a decisive action, thousands of ice fragments rushed at me. First, I created a curtain of fire behind me to prevent the attack from reaching the guides, then I radiated my ability throughout my body. Though flames didn’t directly rise from my body, the heat emitted was enough to melt the ice.
I charged toward Peter, and the ice that had barely melted before reaching me fell to the ground like raindrops. Water splashed everywhere, soaking my clothes, but my speed toward Peter increased.
Peter looked puzzled as he watched me charging at him barehanded, without anything else. It was an attitude born from the fact that my action didn’t seem threatening to him at all. He might have let his guard down, but Peter showed no opening and raised an ice wall to block me.
‘I expected this much.’
Of course, I didn’t think Peter would just take the hit. I spread my palm and struck the ice barrier with ultra-high temperature. As soon as my hand made contact, the ice barrier melted amidst misty steam. In that momentary blur of steam, I jumped into the air. Then, with my heel raised high, I aimed it down at Peter.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t see that?”
Peter dodged my attack, having located my position too easily. But even this was a reaction I had anticipated.
BOOM!
I didn’t withdraw my attack and stamped my foot hard onto the ground. The earth caved in, and cracks formed in the ground where Peter was standing. I was disappointed that despite putting in maximum force, the ground didn’t split more.
‘But this should be enough’
Before Peter could continue his attack, I immediately rushed at him for a second assault.
“Yes, I thought you wouldn’t see it.”
“Unfortunately, that was an attack I could dodge with my eyes closed.”
Peter sighed openly as if bored with my predictable pattern, and raised his hand. Despite having already used considerable power, he was preparing yet another attack.
“I wonder if you can dodge this with your eyes closed too.”
I exploded the energy I had been pouring into the ground all along. Peter instinctively coated himself with ice and quickly dodged the lava that burst through the cracked ground. But it was clear he felt threatened by the sudden attack. He looked horrified at his toes peeking through his burned shoes, then immediately raised both hands.
“I surrender!”
He started the fight on his own terms, and ended it on his own terms as well. There were many things I wanted to confront him about, but truthfully, I was at my limit too. As the tension eased, I could feel the wavelengths I had been suppressing with my willpower thrashing about in all directions.
This was a sensation I had carried daily before my regression, but after enjoying the luxury of excessive guiding, it now felt unbearably painful.
“Haah.”
Heat rose throughout my body, and my skin began to tingle. As I wiped away cold sweat and raised my head, I saw Peter looking as tired as I was, smiling benevolently. A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
“Ah, I fell for it.”
“I figured if I just talked, you wouldn’t use your ability to this extent, so I deliberately put on a bit of an act. How does your body feel right now?”
“Like I’m going to die.”
“When we begin training, it will be even worse than this.”
“Worse than this?”
When I asked with an expression that questioned his sincerity, Peter returned a look that confirmed he was serious.
“If we push harder, I’ll really go berserk.”
Honestly, even continuing the conversation was challenging as my vision began to spin from the heat.
“So you do know. There’s no guarantee of success, and we don’t know when you might go berserk. Do you still need to awaken within two weeks?”
I could guess what answer Peter wanted from me. He was warning me not to risk danger by forcing an awakening. But even in this situation, with my whole body suffering from the side effects of using my ability, there was one thing I could answer with certainty.
“It’s problematic if I don’t achieve awakening in time, but I don’t think you need to worry about me going berserk. My guides won’t let me go berserk.”
At my words filled with infinite trust, Peter raised both hands as if giving up.
“Yes, yes, I’ve lost. The guides over there are probably burning holes in my face with their stares. I’ve done what I could, so guide him or imprint him as you wish.”
Hearing Peter’s words, something felt off. Normally, the guides should have rushed to provide guiding as soon as the battle ended, but despite how much I was struggling, not one of them had stepped forward.
“Wait. Did you all conspire behind my back?”
Like being hit on the foot with a trusted axe, my already rising temperature spiked further as emotions surged, making my face even hotter.
“Shh, don’t get excited.”
Do Wonjin embraced me from behind and began guiding. He was right, but his words were like pouring oil on a fire.
‘Seriously, what did I use all that energy for?’
I wanted to hit him just once out of annoyance, but he was behind me so it wasn’t possible, and I couldn’t just pull away since guiding was urgent in my condition. Besides, my body, already accustomed to guiding, was clinging to him and accepting his help.
“Hyung, I think you should take off those wet clothes.”
In the midst of all this, Yang Garam stood in front of me and started unbuttoning my shirt, apparently concerned about my clothes being soaked during the battle. Due to our imprint, I could feel the effects of guiding just from being near Yang Garam, even without skin contact.
“If I take it off, what am I supposed to wear?”
Yang Garam, who had stripped off my clothes in an instant, peeled Do Wonjin off me like a leech and put his own shirt on me.
“I don’t think we can continue guiding here. Let’s go back to the room.”
As soon as I put on Yang Garam’s shirt, Jeong Seyeon took my hand and pulled me along. I nodded, exhaling hot breath at the heavy guiding transmitted through his hand.
In truth, even with Do Wonjin, Yang Garam, and Jeong Seyeon all providing guiding, it was woefully insufficient for me right now. I needed more proper guiding.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
