Chapter 1073: Side Story – Sung Chae-eun of Extreme Heat (3)

It was late evening, but Sung Chae-eun and I headed to the training ground. This was due to her enraged stubbornness, as if she absolutely couldn’t stand losing.

I had deliberately induced a situation where we could spar, but I never expected she’d request a fight like this starting today. As much as she had a fetish for ‘strong men’, her personality was also fiery.

Or perhaps it was a trait of the Dragonblood race that Sung Chae-eun possessed. Since I’d never met any other Dragonbloods besides her, I didn’t know them well.

For the training ground, I rented the large sparring arena from Eun & Ok Co., Ltd. Both I and Sung Chae-eun had worked at the company once, so renting it wasn’t difficult at all.

“How should we set the sparring rules?”

“What rules are there in a fight? Just beat them until they surrender, that’s all there is to it?”

“You’re fiery, Sung Chae-eun-ssi.”

“Why. You weren’t planning to compete based on who catches more monsters or something, were you?”

“Of course not. That’s what I was hoping for too.”

I had sparred with Eunyoung Noona in swordsmanship several times, but this was the first time we were going all out like this.

I’m a little nervous. Right now, I basically have almost no information about my opponent.

Of course, my opponent probably doesn’t have much information about me either, so the situation might be similar. Thinking that, I drew the greatsword from my spatial pocket and gripped it forward.

“…Where did that come from?”

“If you frequent dungeons, you’re bound to get one or two interesting artifacts, right?”

“So there was a reason you followed so readily? Then again, you’re the only male hunter in the entire world, it wouldn’t make sense if you were too pathetic.”

-Crack, crack.

Sung Chae-eun sent a threatening glare my way while cracking her knuckles.

Her gaze seemed like it could pierce through a person; I casually ignored her rage and finished preparing to swing the greatsword at any moment.

“Come at me anytime. I’m always ready.”

-Fwoosh!

“…”

As soon as I said “anytime,” Sung Chae-eun lunged at me without hesitation, as if flying.

To me, who only knew she was a fire mage, her aggressive charge was a bit surprising, but it wasn’t an unexpected blow that I couldn’t respond to at all.

-Fwoosh, Clang!

“Oh?”

The moment she tried to slam her flaming fist down at my face, I swung the greatsword I was holding and blocked her attack.

Even though my fist and sword clearly collided, the reason my hand wasn’t cut or sliced must be because she’s Dragonblood. Feeling the sensation of my sword hitting and bouncing off the dragon’s thick scales rather than flesh, I blocked her consecutive punches and kicks one by one.

-Fwoosh, Clang! Claaang!

“Look at you, you seem to know how to handle a sword? You’re swinging that big thing around so quickly?!”

“Sung Chae-eun-ssi, you’re fast, but it’s not to the point where I can’t block it.”

“…Ha, really?”

-Fwoooooosh!

As soon as I said something deliberately provocative, Sung Chae-eun started swinging her flames with even more accelerated output. The flames burning from her entire body surged towards me from all directions.

“I was holding back too, you insolent bastard?!”

-Fwoooooosh!

Countless flames that couldn’t be blocked just by swinging a sword were rushing in, seemingly intent on burning my body all at once. Since the standard response to magic is magic, I also cooled her attacks with ice magic and defended in one go.

-Sizzle….

“Huh?”

“Sorry, but magic isn’t exclusively yours, Sung Chae-eun-ssi.”

The fire magic that had split into multiple streams and attacked vanished in an instant, causing Sung Chae-eun to show a slightly surprised expression. She, who had only been pouring out emotions close to rage until now, displayed a different emotion for the first time since the spar began.

“…”

The estimated acquisition points floating next to her face also showed a very slight increase.

Perhaps she was anticipating something. That I might truly be the ‘man stronger than her’ she had been waiting for.

-Zap!

“Ugh?!”

While she was off guard from my ice magic, I stimulated Sung Chae-eun once with electric magic and forced her back. I wanted to have some time to talk with her for a moment, and also, if I won too quickly, I wouldn’t be able to show Sung Chae-eun the ‘overwhelming difference in power’.

“What, is that an artifact too?”

“No. It’s just an awakened ability?”

“…Don’t lie. A guy who uses a greatsword also uses magic? What kind of bitch awakens like that in this world?”

“Maybe it’s possible because I’m a guy, not a bitch. At first, you seemed like a pushover, but now that I’m using magic with my sword, have you suddenly lost confidence in winning?”

“…Haa, what bullshit. I was just a little surprised.”

Although it seemed like she was hiding her emotions with curses, I clearly saw in Sung Chae-eun’s expression a slight feeling of ‘heart-pounding’. It was the pounding heart that came from finding a man who might truly defeat her. Given that I already handled both swordsmanship and magic, I was the strongest among all the men she had met so far, so it was natural for Sung Chae-eun to anticipate ‘what’s next’. Completely subduing her and taking her would be the easiest way to recruit Sung Chae-eun into our guild.

-Fwoosh, crackle, crackle….

“Yeah, I initially saw you as just food. I just wanted to beat you up a few times and vent, but you definitely don’t seem like a man I can underestimate.”

“Really?”

“But even so, you’re only strong ‘for a guy’. If you’re so confident, try blocking this too?!”

-Fwooooooooosh!!

The moment Sung Chae-eun spoke her last words, huge flames suddenly erupted from all directions. A wall of fire, seemingly built from flames, threatened to engulf the entire training ground. The instantaneous output alone was almost on par with Hwayoung Sunbae’s power. Whether the duration would last was something I’d have to see.

“Block it yourself if you can! I’m really not holding back anymore!”

With those words, the massive flames tightened around me and Sung Chae-eun, It was a thick wall of flames, impossible to even estimate its thickness in centimeters. Even with ice magic enveloping my body, it was uncertain if I could endure it safely. Before the wall of fire could crush me, I had to either defeat her, or redirect this flame itself elsewhere. A magic spell of this scale probably consumes considerable mana, so she likely couldn’t use it twice. If I could block it properly just once, I could definitely gain the upper hand.

-Swish.

“…”?

With that thought, this time I took out a ‘bow’ from my spatial pocket and created a ‘wind arrow’ at my fingertips, loading it.

-Fweeeeeee!

The wall of fire approaching my back and I fired the arrow in a perpendicular direction.

-Whoosh, whoooosh!

“W-what?!”

As the arrow, imbued with the energy of wind, flew into the air, the wall of fire was also sucked towards the arrow’s center. More precisely, a massive fire tornado was forming around the wind arrow. The wind arrow, whose power increased with speed, sucked in all the surrounding flames, creating a safe zone. Rising into the air like that, the wind arrow, which had formed a sharp arc, along with the fire vortex, plummeted to the ground.

-Fwoooooosh!!

“Nngh!”

As it struck Sung Chae-eun, who was right in front of me, simultaneously it scattered in all directions as dozens of fiery gusts.

-Sizzle….

“Haa, ha, haaa….”

Sung Chae-eun, who had only attacked me while I was in a defensive stance until now, was now gasping for breath after experiencing her first counterattack. Simple flames couldn’t wound her, but it seemed she couldn’t avoid the sharp wind gusts spreading out, as her entire body was covered in numerous shallow cuts. …As for her clothes, they had already burned away long ago when she wrapped herself in flames earlier.

“Ha, haa…. You’re pretty good?”

“Really? Isn’t it about time for Sung Chae-eun-ssi herself to show her true skills? At this rate, I’m still a bit doubtful if Sung Chae-eun-ssi is truly an S-class hunter.”

“You talk so arrogantly, but I guess you had something to back it up? Certainly, with this level of skill, you have grounds to claim it confidently.”

-Fwoosh!

With those words, Sung Chae-eun once again wrapped her body in flames, preparing for her next attack. I almost prepared a wind arrow, wondering if she would create the same wall of fire as before, but her next attack followed a slightly different pattern than I expected.

“Ugh, crack… Hoo…”

“…”

Although obscured by the flames, sharp claws were slowly emerging from her hands and feet. Two horns sprouted from her head. And a thick, large tail protruding from above her hips. And blooming from above her shoulder blades, a pair of large red wings.

“…I don’t really show this to just anyone. But you’re too insolent, so I can’t help it.”

“…”

“This time, I’ll really destroy you, so go ahead and try to defeat me again.”

-Fwoosh!

After transforming into the half-human, half-dragon form, a specialty of the Dragonblood race, Sung Chae-eun flew at me. To have a final, serious showdown with her, I once again drew my greatsword and faced her.