Episode 556. Things Gone Wrong (2)

[Safety Mode Activated. Pain Tolerance: None.]

Lee Hoyeon slowly raised his hand upon hearing the training ground’s announcement.

The mana filling his body permeated the sparring arena, brushing against Im Sol’s mana.

Although the sparring match was sudden, his combat readiness was unaffected.

Lee Hoyeon looked at Im Sol with a pleasant sense of tension.

‘…She’ll go easy on me, right?’

She said her condition was good, but Lee Hoyeon could tell.

Im Sol’s recovery rate was lower than his.

She hadn’t yet shaken off the aftermath of her battle with Lucifer.

‘It’s unbelievable she was researching magic for 14 hours straight amidst all that.’

Still, her passion for magic was something to be acknowledged.

Lee Hoyeon, channeling his mana, spoke to Im Sol as she prepared for the spar.

“Honestly, I’d rather have a conversation before we spar.”

The sense of unease Im Sol had mentioned.

Lee Hoyeon had an inkling of what it might be.

The mana of the Underworld. The dungeon rampages and the black pillars.

The fact that the Demon King the evil group Pandemic was trying to summon was actually this world’s god.

The closer he got to the truth of this world, the more things became suspicious.

With a god’s involvement, anything could be suspected.

However, Im Sol shook her head.

“I want to focus on the spar right now. I think I’ll get a better grasp if I feel your mana.”

“So… sigh. Yes, yes.”

If she wanted to see the mana of the Underworld, he could show her plenty.

Why did she have to use this method?

‘But I don’t know how Im Sol figured it out.’

Unlike Lee Hoyeon, Im Sol lacked information.

He could sense the discrepancies because he knew various hidden circumstances, but Im Sol found something strange just by doubting herself.

It was certainly remarkable, wasn’t it? Her intuition regarding magic was incredible.

“I should probably refrain from using the Sky-Piercing Pagoda.”

This is just a light sparring match, after all.

My body seems fine now, but using the Sky-Piercing Pagoda might trigger unknown after-effects.

Im Sol would likely face the same, so it should be enough to just unleash some Underworld mana.

Swoosh-

The blue mana that had enveloped Lee Hoyeon’s body turned into pitch-black darkness.

Mana so dark it sent shivers down his spine.

This was the Underworld mana Im Sol had requested.

Honestly, he didn’t know what she’d feel from this, but since the Professor wanted it, he should comply.

“Alright, here I come. Sol-ah.”

He sent a faint smile and drew a simple magic circle.

Pitch-black arrows of Underworld mana surged towards Im Sol.

“Sky Piercer Sword.”

The moment Im Sol whispered the activation phrase. A colossal sword appeared in the sky.

The lightning-infused blade easily tore through the black arrows and plummeted towards Lee Hoyeon.

KWA-BOOM-!

The sword of lightning created immense smoke as it embedded itself into the ground in an instant.

When the smoke cleared, Lee Hoyeon’s eyes were glowing gold.

“Hey, wait! I said take it easy!”

Lee Hoyeon frowned, looking at the massive thunderous sword embedded where he had stood moments before.

If he hadn’t activated his awakened eye momentarily, he would have been crushed flat like a dried fish the instant the spar began.

Who summons such a deadly weapon in a light sparring match?

“Heavenly Flame Flower.”

Whether she couldn’t hear him or was ignoring him.

Ignoring Lee Hoyeon’s complaints, numerous fiery flowers bloomed around Im Sol.

The flowers, imbued with terrifying mana, began to orbit Im Sol.

“Ah, shit, really.”

The immense pressure could be felt directly on his skin.

Each flower made of flame possessed enough power to inflict a critical hit just by brushing against someone.

Lee Hoyeon shielded his face with his hand to avoid the intense heat and clicked his tongue.

‘This forces me to go all out too.’

He couldn’t possibly withstand Im Sol’s high-level magic without the Sky-Piercing Pagoda.

Although the magic held immense power, Im Sol didn’t seem to be at full condition either.

Yet, she was still pulling off such eccentric feats.

“I really don’t know if our Professor is uptight or just way too open-minded.”

She’s so frustratingly rigid when it comes to magic, but then again, telling me to take off my pants because she needed a sugar rush makes her seem way too open.

Thump. Thump.

His heart began to beat faster.

His combat senses activated.

It meant Im Sol was posing a significant threat to Lee Hoyeon.

‘I just came here to talk.’

Couldn’t we just talk first? Huh?

She wouldn’t even answer my smartwatch calls. What kind of person comes all this way only to refuse a conversation?

What’s the difference between humans, the pinnacle of creation, and beasts if they can’t even use tools or communicate?

“…Deploying Sky-Piercing Pagoda.”

Lee Hoyeon muttered his complaints inwardly before deploying the Sky-Piercing Pagoda with a bitter heart.

Right. Once she lets it all out and feels relieved, he can voice his complaints then.

She does listen to valid complaints, even if she looks like that. Listening and accepting are different matters, though.

Chwaaaak-

Mana rapidly circulated throughout his body.

Still, deploying the Sky-Piercing Pagoda put him somewhat at ease.

The thousand flowers were circling Im Sol, but if they didn’t hit, that was that.

“Storm Quaker.”

Wind began to swirl violently around Lee Hoyeon’s body.

He didn’t want to waste time shooting down those flowers one by one; he intended to deal with them all at once.

“Seeing my disciple is serious too, you actually wanted to fight, didn’t you?”

“That last line is infuriating.”

“It’s definitely similar, yet so different. This kind of mana… I guess you really have to clash with it to understand?”

“Now you’re ignoring me.”

Im Sol muttered to herself before changing the trajectory of the scattered Heavenly Flame Flowers.

The Heavenly Flame Flowers, filling the sky like the first snowfall, rained down towards Lee Hoyeon.

It was a beautiful sight, but Lee Hoyeon channeled even more mana.

KUUUUUNG-!

A mana storm, centered around Lee Hoyeon’s body, had already engulfed half the sparring arena and began to swallow the Heavenly Flame Flowers.

The storm, consuming the endlessly falling Heavenly Flame Flowers, grew larger and larger.

“This isn’t a characteristic of the mana itself. But… I certainly grasp more things every time we clash directly.”

Im Sol focused all her senses on the Heavenly Flame Flowers.

She could feel her understanding of the Underworld mana Lee Hoyeon was emitting increasing.

“Lightning Strike Formation.”

Even as the Heavenly Flame Flowers were swallowed by the storm, Im Sol’s eyes didn’t waver.

While buying time, she scattered dozens of magic circles across the sky. These circles, imbued with the energy of lightning, unleashed dozens of lightning bolts.

“This is less of a spar… and more like she wants to feel the Underworld mana.”

Lee Hoyeon shook his head, watching Im Sol’s eyes shift into those of a researcher.

If she wanted to do something like that, she could have just asked him.

Everything else was fine, but her method was wrong.

‘I guess I’ll have to give her a lecture on communication methods.’

Considering Im Sol’s background, he could understand why she’d become such a lone wolf.

It was especially worse because it involved magic she was obsessed with, so he just needed to teach her from now on.

“For now, I’ll just match her pace until the spar ends… Kkuh?!”

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

His chest pounded rapidly.

This felt slightly different from the prelude to his combat senses.

What he felt was a tearing pain.

“Kuh, Keuhh….”

The pain, like his organs were being minced by knives, caused the mana controlling his surroundings to waver.

Lee Hoyeon’s signature Sky-Piercing Pagoda began to slowly crumble.

“Ah, Aah…. Wait. Just a moment. Sol-ah. No, Professor Im Sol.”

Lee Hoyeon examined his own body internally.

He was fine just moments ago. What went wrong?

He rapidly circulated his mana.

The mana circuits were normal. However, the mana near his heart wasn’t moving properly.

‘I didn’t even realize my own physical condition.’

He seemed perfectly fine this morning; perhaps he was too careless because it was his own body.

If he had known, he should have actively moved his mana around to check every nook and cranny of his body.

‘No, fundamentally, none of this would have happened if we hadn’t sparred in the first place.’

Come to think of it, if not for this spar, he wouldn’t have needed to deploy the Sky-Piercing Pagoda.

Isn’t it abnormal for Im Sol to initiate such a spar so soon after the battle with Lucifer?

Why does everyone seem to have so much stamina left?

Lee Hoyeon glared at Im Sol with resentful eyes.

However, whether she couldn’t hear him or not, Im Sol’s lightning continued unabated.

“Stop it… Aagh.”

The storm Lee Hoyeon had conjured began to weaken.

Blue lightning bolts started striking around Lee Hoyeon, one by one.

Lee Hoyeon frowned, clutching his chest, and yelled as if squeezing the words out.

“Sigh. Just… stop it! I surrender! I surrender!”

Pang-

Mana rapidly drained from within Lee Hoyeon’s body.

Simultaneously.

The storm and lightning filling the sparring arena vanished as if evaporated.

“…Hm?”

Im Sol’s eyes widened.

It was because the magic she had unleashed disappeared without any warning.

Chiiik-

[Lee Hoyeon student’s intent to stop sparring confirmed. Sparring session terminated.]

An alert announced the end of the spar, but Im Sol’s thoughts didn’t stop.

“What was that just now? It wasn’t Underworld mana.”

Since the spar was meant to observe the Underworld mana, Lee Hoyeon’s recent action didn’t align with the spar’s purpose.

But even more than that, the magic Lee Hoyeon unleashed moments ago was stranger.

The word ‘fast’ wasn’t enough. Im Sol couldn’t even perceive the movement of the mana.

“Disciple. What was that just now….”

Im Sol, her magic research mode deactivated, finally noticed Lee Hoyeon collapsed on the floor, trembling.

For a brief moment, a chill ran down her spine.

“My disciple. No, Hoyeon-ah. What’s wrong? …Are you alright?”

Im Sol quickly approached Lee Hoyeon, lifting his head to check his condition.

Externally, the injuries didn’t seem severe. Checking his mana circuits revealed no abnormalities either.

“…Internal injuries? Perhaps you weren’t feeling well?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking? Why didn’t you stop when I told you to?”

“Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

“What if you’d gotten hit by lightning? Sigh….”

Lee Hoyeon, his hands trembling, grasped the hand Im Sol offered.

At first, his heart felt like it was tearing apart, but the pain significantly subsided after the Sky-Piercing Pagoda dissipated.

“You won’t die here in the sparring arena anyway. What’s the big deal?”

“Does that matter? How much that hurts!”

Does this person have no emotions?

To say that, coming from someone who always insists spars should be like real combat and doesn’t even adjust the pain settings.

Besides, even without getting hit by lightning, it still hurts like hell.

Seeing Lee Hoyeon’s expression, Im Sol belatedly put on a remorseful face.

“Hmm… Was I too excited? Sorry. I thought I was about to grasp something, so I failed to check on my disciple’s condition. Unacceptable as a teacher.”

Im Sol lowered her head with an apologetic expression.

Seeing her dejected look softened his heart.

‘It’s a problem that I’m getting used to the pain because it happens so often.’

It felt unfair that he had adapted to the pain.

Experiencing such pain frequently meant that seeing that face alone was enough to quickly diffuse his anger.

“Help me up first. I think I need to rest a bit.”

It seemed there was indeed an issue near his heart.

To find the exact cause, he needed to focus on resting, perhaps through meditation.

He could get angry or do whatever afterwards.

Since there were no issues moving or casting magic, he figured he’d be fine as long as he didn’t overexert himself, like by deploying the Sky-Piercing Pagoda.

“Okay. There’s a cot in the lab. I’ll help you up.”

“I can walk on my own.”

Supported by Im Sol, Lee Hoyeon slowly got to his feet and started walking.

‘What was that thing at the end?’

Although he always complained about Im Sol’s magic, Lee Hoyeon was a mage himself.

The ‘something’ he unleashed at the end occupied his mind completely.

This is definitely worth researching.

“….”

Walking while watching Lee Hoyeon’s retreating back, Im Sol felt a strange emotion.

Seeing her weakened disciple stirred something within her chest.

A strange feeling, like she needed to take care of him and treat him better.

Im Sol quietly tapped her smartwatch and sent a message to her assistant.

[You can head home for the day. Lock the door so no one can enter.]