Ch.13Episode 4. Shadows Moving in the Night (1)

“Have you ever heard of the research that says abilities are like muscles?”

I asked, looking around at the four female students sitting on the bench in the training area.

“Ah, yes.”

But only Jeong I-yeon answered.

Gu Yeon-hwa was staring into space with a silly grin, lost in some fantasy, while Yu A-ri was dozing off with her head down.

I glanced at Yeon Mu-hee sitting in the corner seat next to those two pitiful ones.

She was silently watching me.

The girl who usually only looked at her sword was now paying attention to me whenever I talked about theoretical concepts.

I wasn’t sure if she was actually listening properly, but the change in attitude was a good thing. The only flaw was that this attitude only applied to me.

In the classroom, she was still a problem child who constantly fiddled with her sword.

It was enough for me if she at least listened to what I had to say.

“Well… I guess you wouldn’t have seen it.”

“Ha! Did you think I wasn’t listening?! How dare an instructor make such disparaging remarks to a student! This is a serious crime! If you remove this damn restraint suit right now, I might specially forgive you!”

No, that’s not a restraint suit, it’s the academy’s official training uniform, you damn idiot.

How much do you hate wearing it?

“Shut up. Close your mouth and listen.”

“You’re seriously such a jerk!”

I pressed both of Gu Yeon-hwa’s cheeks with one hand. Her lips puckered out.

“Uuuuwup! What are you doing?!”

“I told you not to use that word.”

“I-Instructor!”

She grabbed my arm with both hands as if clinging to it. I released her as she frantically tapped my arm.

With a face full of resentment, she rubbed her cheeks and let out a short whine, “Sheesh…!”

Just sleep like Yu A-ri, you fool.

“Anyway, to explain what it means that abilities are like muscles… the way you develop abilities isn’t much different from how you build muscles.”

I never thought the day would come when I’d seriously explain the settings of a novel.

At this point, who’s the real chuunibyou here?

“The methods for developing abilities are divided into two categories: building ‘ability stamina,’ which allows you to use skills derived from your ability for longer and more frequently, and improving the efficiency of those skills.”

Since they’ve entered Aegis Hero Academy, they probably already know these basics, but it was worth going over once.

“The first thing you need to develop is ability stamina.”

Just like people say you need basic physical strength before weight training, the same applied to abilities.

Without ability stamina, problems could arise in prolonged battles or when you needed to deliver a decisive blow.

“Jeong I-yeon.”

“Yes.”

“How many skills can you use in a day?”

“It depends on what kind, but if it’s just creating weapons, maybe about 30 times?”

As this showed, their potential abilities were rated S-class as evaluated, but that was merely potential.

They were called potential abilities because their ability stamina hadn’t yet reached S-class level.

This was one of South Korea’s chronic problems—when minors awakened their abilities, they were completely prohibited from using them due to concerns about control.

High schools were relatively flexible by assigning instructors, but elementary and middle schools completely suppressed abilities.

Because of this, to fully develop ability stamina matching one’s potential, a person needed to be at least 22 years old.

For reference, in other countries, people typically reached their ability stamina limits by the age of 18.

Looking at this, I think South Korea still has a long way to go. Even if it’s just South Korea in a novel.

“You probably already know how to increase ability stamina from the internet, but you need to use your skills to the limit until you feel like you’re pulling the ability from inside your body.”

It’s even better if it’s a skill you’re currently trying to master. Using unfamiliar skills doubles the drain on physical and mental energy.

“First, build up your stamina. Once you feel your stamina has developed enough, then we’ll work on improving skill efficiency.”

Skills were techniques derived from abilities, and obtaining even a single skill was quite challenging.

This was because gaining skills belonged to the ‘realm of enlightenment,’ formed through sudden insights that might come during training, from advice given by instructors or teachers, or just in everyday life.

Many students never experienced this enlightenment and thus never got to use even a single skill.

I thought it was a really lazy explanation and didn’t like this setting, but now I don’t think it’s so bad.

Since I knew how far and in what ways they would grow, I could be confident that my advice would lead to 100% enlightenment.

“So for this month, focus on building your ability stamina.”

* * *

“Alright, that’s it for today’s guidance. Good work.”

I handed sports drinks to Jeong I-yeon, Yeon Mu-hee, and Gu Yeon-hwa who had been training. They immediately opened the caps and gulped down the contents.

The exhausted girls were sweating so much that stains were showing through their training uniforms.

“Ugh…! If it weren’t for this restraint suit, it wouldn’t have been this hard!”

That’s just a regular training uniform…

Despite her complaints, Gu Yeon-hwa had followed along quite well.

She consumed her ability in various ways as instructed, controlling the size of her flames and adjusting the temperature while maintaining the flame size.

“Haa, haa. Do we… have to do this… every day for a month?”

Jeong I-yeon’s hands trembled as she wiped away sweat while breathing heavily.

She had said her limit was creating weapons 30 times, but she managed to do it 48 times without rest.

As a result, her stamina was completely depleted, and she couldn’t move at all.

“Yes.”

“Ah… I’m dying…”

“Phew…”

I turned my head at the calm sigh from beside me. I looked at Yeon Mu-hee, the only one of the three still standing.

She looked tired too, but she was in better shape compared to the others.

As expected, her stamina was good since she used her ability to the limit every day without rest. But even she seemed to have pushed herself a bit too hard today, as the hand holding her drink was trembling.

“C-can’t we take potions?”

“No. Recovering with potions defeats the purpose.”

“I see…”

I don’t know the reason either. The author set it up that way, so if you want to complain, blame that guy.

Thinking about the author again makes me irritated. That hiatus-loving bastard.

“From now on, train like this even when I’m not watching.”

As I was speaking, I suddenly hesitated.

Considering what happens when I fail to prevent them from joining Akcheon, their becoming stronger isn’t entirely a good thing.

If they get too strong, it would be difficult to kill them if necessary.

I looked at them glumly and then shook my head.

I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

For now, I’ll focus on making them stronger while also making them depend on me. So that when those Akcheon bastards show up and reveal their malice, I can beat them senseless and send them to prison.

After looking at the three with satisfaction, I turned around.

Yu A-ri was still sitting on the bench, dozing off.

Bin Yoon-i was probably holed up in the special class research lab studying potions by now. It was free time after school hours.

“Yu A-ri.”

I approached the bench and naturally sat down next to her.

“Y-yes?”

She answered with a startled voice.

“When are you free? I’ve been letting you skip because you don’t want to use your ability in front of the others.”

“I-I’m fine… I’ll do it on my own.”

Yu A-ri shook her head and hands simultaneously, refusing.

“Really? Well, let me know if you need my help.”

“Y-yes…”

“And cheer up a bit.”

“There’s… n-nothing really to cheer up about…”

“Then at least smile sometimes. You always look so gloomy.”

“I guess I’m… a b-burden after all… S-sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. Here, have this.”

I handed her a chocolate bar.

She looked down at it bewilderedly, then slightly raised her head. Our eyes met. She immediately lowered her head again.

“Why… are you g-giving me this?”

“Sweet things usually make people feel better.”

“Did you put poison in it? Are you trying to assassinate me?”

“Do you have the same delusions as Gu Yeon-hwa?”

“D-delusions? I guess I do have some…”

She’s honestly admitting it.

Usually, people would deny it even if it were a lie.

“…But if you’re going to a-abandon me eventually, I’d rather you not be n-nice to me like this.”

What a negative person in every way!

I need to make her more positive!

“Weren’t you listening when I introduced myself?”

“What?”

“I clearly said I have no intention of giving up on you all.”

“Everyone s-says that at first.”

“I’m different from those people.”

When I spoke confidently, Yu A-ri glanced at me several times. Her hair was covering her eyes, so I couldn’t see well.

“W-well… you do look like a j-jerk.”

“…What do you mean I look like a jerk?”

“You have so m-many women around you… like you’d s-sleep with them and toss them aside.”

Her blunt way of speaking left me speechless. I knew about this, but does this girl have no filter?

“Is that a compliment?”

“…It’s a compliment.”

Since she said it was a compliment, it became harder to deny. I shouldn’t have asked.

“Fine. I’ll take it as a compliment… But what I wanted to say was that I have the power to take responsibility for my words.”

As I spoke to clear up the misunderstanding, the chocolate bar wrapper in Yu A-ri’s hands let out a scream. The rustling sound intensified.

“Oh, I… I see…”

“And let me be clear right now. I don’t know any women. I don’t meet anyone except you all.”

No men either.

It seemed like some female teachers and instructors had been showing interest in me lately, but perhaps because it was still early in the semester, they were being cautious.

Even if they weren’t, I planned to ignore them all.

“So you really do j-just sleep with them once and throw them away. That’s why there are no women around—”

“That’s not it!”

My voice rose without me realizing it.

The girls who were resting turned their heads toward us and stood up.

It seemed my conversation with Yu A-ri was over. I got up from the chair.

“Sigh. Think what you want. I don’t particularly care to argue about your delusions. But as long as I’m your instructor, I intend to treat you sincerely.”

“…”

“I won’t abandon you.”

I’d rather kill them than neglect them half-heartedly.

For me, the special class students were products of love and hate.

These characters made me enjoy reading the novel throughout, and these characters made me angry throughout the novel.

But my fondness for them was slightly, just slightly, greater than my dislike.

That’s why, even though I knew the story would turn tragic, I couldn’t give up on these kids.