The Support Ate it All
Chapter 80: 5th Week Mentoring and Duel Battles (3)

I stepped onto the teleportation magic circle alongside Hong Yeon-hwa.

The round arena had appeared in the placement test and it was a terrain we would see quite often in the future.

But this time, the arena was significantly larger when taking into consideration that it was designed for a three-person melee.

From a distance, I could see Dang Gyu-young standing with her arms crossed.

Judging by the state of Kwak Ji-cheol and Song Cheon-hye, they had engaged in a fierce battle, albeit brief. Yet, there was no sign of such an intense fight on Dang Gyu-young’s appearance.

Not only the stickers but also her clothes were clean as if nothing had happened.

This only went to show the considerable gap in skill between them.

Dang Gyu-young opened her mouth as she noticed us.

“Get ready and come in whenever.”

“……”

Before we began, Hong Yeon-hwa cautiously gauged my reaction.

Although no words were exchanged, it was easy to guess what she wanted to say because her expressions were something I had seen before.

She hoped we could fight together.

But she couldn’t force herself to ask for that.

Yet the idea of facing the battle alone against a third-year seemed extremely difficult for her.

Since she didn’t know what to do and hesitated, I took the initiative.

“Just fight first.”

“…. Alone?”

“……”

When I looked at her silently, Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression shifted vividly in response.

– Is he really asking me to do this on my own?

Her face fell,

– Ah, I should have known he’d do this…

She resigned herself,

– But maybe, like last time, he’ll come to my aid if things get too dangerous?

A glimmer of hope flickered within her eyes.

Regrettably for Hong Yeon-hwa, I planned to approach this first challenge with caution.

She needs to learn something from this too.

After all, if I were to resolve everything on my own, Hong Yeon-hwa would gain nothing from the experience.

After going through the trouble of signing up for mentoring, it would be nothing but a waste of time.

True stagnant waters (veterans), after all, should consider the growth of newcomers as their responsibility.

Just like when she faced the twin trolls in the strategy battle, teamwork will be the next thing Hong Yeon-hwa will do after she’s been bumped and bruised.

In that regard, Hong Yeon-hwa was a newcomer ready to learn.

She ignited her fighting spirit as if she decided to do her best regardless of whether I helped her or not.

Flash!

The ruby embedded in her staff glowed a deep red.

Flames of fire magic blazed then got absorbed into and spread throughout Hong Yeon-hwa’s body before fueling her with energy.

[Overheat]

Her physical abilities were significantly enhanced, though it seemed she was not yet confident enough to engage in close combat.

The staff glowed red once more, and a thin stream of lava trickled down from its tip.

Instead of pooling on the floor, the lava stretched out and connected to the staff like a snake coiling on the ground.

With a slight flick of her staff, it whipped through the air following her command.

[Lava Whip]

“…….”

Dang Gyu-young remained motionless with her arms still crossed.

But two small shadow butterflies that she summoned who knows when flitted around her wrist and shoulder.

Following a slight nod from Dang Gyu-young,

“Come.”

“!”

Hong Yeon-hwa immediately closed the distance.

As soon as she brought her opponent within striking range, she lashed out with her whip with all her might.

It seemed like she was aiming for Dang Gyu-young’s torso but her real target was likely one of the three stickers.

Swish!

However, at the last moment, Dang Gyu-young swiftly raised her arm and the whip coiled around it.

It was as if she had plunged her arm into lava yet Dang Gyu-young didn’t even blink.

Hong Yeon-hwa attempted to send additional fire magic her way, but shadow hands emerged from beneath Dang Gyu-young’s feet, tearing through the lava whip as if clawing it apart.

“……”

Hong Yeon-hwa smoothly retracted her whip with an air of not having expected much.

And after flicking the halved lava whip on the ground, its length was miraculously restored.

Swish!

She launched another attack on Dang Gyu-young.

As if to say it wouldn’t work a second time, Dang Gyu-young easily swatted the incoming whip away with a hand enhanced with magical power.

Before Hong Yeon-hwa could strike a third time, a counterattack from the shadow butterflies ensued.

Despite their seemingly feeble fluttering and curving trajectories, they moved with astonishing speed.

In moments of oversight like now, they could swiftly close in.

“Ugh…!”

Hong Yeon-hwa hastily retreated and tried to strike the shadow butterflies with her whip.

But the butterflies were nimble. They fluttered back and forth and easily avoided the whip’s reach.

Realizing the slender whip was insufficient, Hong Yeon-hwa quickly shifted to her next spell.

She went for something with a wider range.

The lava whip turned into a massive flame that scorched everything in front of it, while a burst of shadows erupted from one shadow butterfly and the two collided violently.

Boom!

However, Dang Gyu-young had summoned not one but two shadow butterflies.

The second butterfly was still following closely behind.

Moreover, a third had appeared at some point, maintaining the count of fluttering butterflies at two.

I thought as I looked at Hong Yeon-hwa who kept retreating.

She’s completely overwhelmed.

In her frantic efforts to dodge the butterflies before her, Hong Yeon-hwa overlooked a crucial fact.

What is the easiest thing for a shadow caster to influence?

Shadows, of course.

So what should be the utmost concern when facing a shadow caster?

The ground beneath your feet.

“……!”

Hong Yeon-hwa paused, then quickly looked down.

A shadowy hand had emerged from below before gripping her leg tightly. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

She tried to shake it off with force, but it wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, the two butterflies were closing in by the second.

In her desperation, Hong Yeon-hwa fired off a fireball.

Boom!

One butterfly was burnt, but the other transformed into a massive shadow fist and struck Hong Yeon-hwa with force.

Thud!

Contrary to the dull sound, Hong Yeon-hwa’s body gracefully flew backwards and lightly touched down.

She turned her head towards me and her eyes were conveying a mix of complex emotions.

If anything, her look was more one of gratitude since the impact had been lessened by [Wind Force] at the moment of the impact.

I gestured with a nod as if to encourage her to continue.

“……”

Hong Yeon-hwa, with a face torn between gratitude and annoyance, steadied herself and began to chant another spell.

However, halfway through, she kicked the ground and moved out of her spot.

The next moment, the shadowy grasp clenched at empty air.

Having been caught once, she no longer let her guard down regarding the ground beneath her.

The key was to keep moving and never lingering in one place for too long.

This is good so far.

Hong Yeon-hwa readied her next move while maintaining her speed.

[Flame Arrow]

Whoosh!

Flames emerged from her staff before shaping themselves into the form of an arrow.

As she dodged the pursuing butterflies and the grasping hands, she aimed at Dang Gyu-young and released the bowstring.

Whiz!

Danggyu-young continued to remain in the same position with her arms crossed.

Instead, a shadow butterfly that had been fluttering nearby instantly darted in front of the flame arrow.

Boom!

A fairly large explosion of flames erupted.

Before the smoke from the explosion could clear, a second arrow was already hurtling through the air.

This too was intercepted by a shadow butterfly but then a third arrow was launched.

Seeing this, it’s clear she’s a promising talent.

Most mages need to concentrate for a good while to conjure even a single arrow, but for Hong Yeon-hwa, the next flame arrow was ready almost as soon as she released the bowstring.

She was firing arrows faster than the shadow butterflies could replenish their numbers.

Eventually, a few arrows broke through the defenses and shot directly at Dang Gyu-young, who then, with a gesture of annoyance, unfolded her arms and swept away the flame arrows.

Hong Yeon-hwa spun around in a circle at a certain distance and continued to shoot flame arrows.

I think I understand her intention, but…

She likely aimed to keep her distance and wait for an opening to make her move.

The unfortunate part was the vast gap in their abilities, which meant that an opportunity would hardly present itself.

Dang Gyu-young swatted away another flame arrow and asked Hong Yeon-hwa if she was starting to get bored.

“When are you going to make your move?”

She had given her several handicaps, yet she kept her distance and persistently cast spells instead of engaging more directly to take the stickers.

Yet, when Hong Yeon-hwa showed no sign of approaching, Dang Gyu-young took the initiative and stepped forward for the first time.

“If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

She then surged forward at a terrifying speed.

Her movement was swift yet smooth which was the result of a shadow caster’s unique walking technique added to the thief’s step skill.

Even though her skills rank was limited by the bracelet, they were both C rank right now.

And although Hong Yeon-hwa had enhanced her physical abilities with Overheat, she couldn’t match the mobility of two C-rank movement skills, and the distance between the two narrowed in an instant.

Another trait of a shadow caster came into play.

The closer the shadow is to the caster, the quicker and stronger its influence.

When Hong Yeon-hwa was running at a distance, her shadows were always a beat slower in catching her, but now they were only a few steps apart.

As Dang Gyu-young thrust her fist into the air, the shadow at her feet suddenly expanded into a large fist and struck Hong Yeon-hwa with force.

Hong Yeon-hwa hastily erected a wall of fire to block it, but a massive foot kicked through the barrier again before shattering it.

The barrier shattered and Hong Yanhua staggered from the impact.

This time, straight palm shadows rose from either side of Hong Yeon-hwa and they started drawing closer as if to clap together.

Clap!

“Agh!”

Hong Yeon-hwa was sent tumbling backward with a loud cry.

She was nearly caught in the shadow clap when I swiftly pulled her away with Wind Force.

Given the urgency of the moment, the pull was rough, causing her to roll several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

Hong Yeon-hwa’s temper flared up for a moment and she stood up and yelled in my direction.

“You! …be gentle please…”

But then, when she made eye contact with me, she suddenly lowered her voice dramatically as if her head had cooled down.

Her eyes kept darting around as if she was worried I might take issue with her earlier outburst but I simply let it slide.

That wasn’t important.

It seems like this might be the end.

It seemed to be virtually impossible for Hong Yeon-hwa to remove one of the stickers in this challenge.

Since it was impossible,

“Try close combat.”

“……?”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression turned perplexed, as if the suggestion itself was bewildering. After all, she hadn’t even managed to get close and now close combat?

On the other hand, Dang Gyu-young seemed quite pleased with the idea as if she liked my proposal.

“It’s a good idea. Even if you lose, it’s worth giving it a try.”

Now, Hong Yeon-hwa looked somewhat wronged. If one were to interpret her expression, it would roughly translate to:

– I’ve been fighting hard this whole time, so why is he getting praised?

However, she soon seemed to resign herself to the situation with a deep sigh before steeling her resolve as her eyes gleamed with determination.

This time, Hong Yeon-hwa took a notably long time to cast her spell.

She was one of the fastest mages I’ve ever seen in terms of casting speed, so if she was taking that much time, it must be a very high-level spell.

The physical enhancements provided by [Overheat] were proportional to the power of the flame magic absorbed.

Thus, the intent was to absorb as potent a flame as possible to double the physical abilities.

Soon, vivid flames engulfed Hong Yeon-hwa’s entire body.

After taking a deep breath, she forcefully kicked off the ground.

Dang Gyu-young, with her hands hanging loosely, waited for Hong Yeon-hwa to approach.

As she closed in, she feigned a punch but then swiftly reached for Dang Gyu-young’s waist.

She hadn’t forgotten that the objective of this duel wasn’t to overpower the opponent but to remove the stickers.

Though there was a prerequisite of “blocking or avoiding Dang Gyu-young’s melee attacks”.

Hong Yeon-hwa’s attack was strengthened by Overheat and it obviously became incredibly fast.

However, its straightforward trajectory made it somewhat predictable.

Would a third-year student who went through countless battles not foresee such a move?

When Dang Gyu-young caught Hong Yeon-hwa’s wrist and yanked it, her balance was disrupted.

But she quickly regained her posture and reached out again.

Just when she thought she was about to touch one of the stickers, Dang Gyu-young spun around and moved right behind Hong Yeon-hwa.

With a shove, Hong Yeon-hwa fell awkwardly to the ground.

“Huh.”

There was no time to be annoyed.

Hong Yeon-hwa let out a cry of surprise and hurriedly rolled to the side.

And as if that wasn’t enough for her, she rolled several more times.

A massive shadowy fist then mercilessly slammed down where she had been moments before.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

She had barely gotten up when Dang Gyu-young was already bearing down on her up close.

And from this point on, it was akin to a one-sided beating.

She’s got a long way to go.

I clicked my tongue as I watched Dang Gyu-young kick away merrily and Hong Yeon-hwa rolling around like a ball.

It seemed about time to call it quits.

If she kept getting pummeled without being able to put up any real fight, she’d learn nothing and only deepen her trauma.

I approached the two, slipped in between them, and extended my hand.

Just as Dang Gyu-young was about to swat it away, my hand swiftly flipped and I grasped her wrist firmly.

Instead of trying to pull away, Dang Gyu-young moved in closer and swung her fist.

I gathered Wind Force in my opposite hand to meet her attack.

When the fist met the palm,

Bang!

With the sound of bursting wind, we were both pushed back a certain distance from each other.

In the meantime, Hong Yeon-hwa had managed to steady her staggering body.

I said to Hong Yeon-hwa,

“Let’s stop here.”

At the same time, I pointed to the teleportation magic circle with a light gesture.

It was a signal for her to leave.

Hong Yeon-hwa tried a timid resistance,

“I can still go on…”

I slowly shook my head.

Deep down, Hong Yeon-hwa must have felt it too.

Despite employing every tactic against Dang Gyu-Young, she was no match for her, and she only made it this far thanks to my help during three critical moments.

Even if she was fighting alongside someone else, the outcome would have been the same.

Even if Hong Yeon-hwa’s numbers had doubled, the result wouldn’t have changed.

Though we could have combined our strengths, she must have known that she would only end up being a burden.

“I understand…”

Eventually, Hong Yeon-hwa trudged out of the arena before leaving just Dang Gyu-Young and me.

Dang Gyu-Young looked at me with a slight smile.

“Shall we see what our junior-nim can do then?”

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