Chapter 375: I Hate Fire (2)

「B-Rank Dungeon. Granite Cave.」

Cha Yuri, an A-Rank Wind Mage belonging to Eun & Ok Co., Ltd. and the Sky Blue Shield.

She had entered the Union Dungeon, Granite Cave, with Kim Sungchul for an intimate dungeon date, marking their reunion after nearly a month. However, unlike all their previous dungeon dates, Cha Yuri seemed unusually displeased that day.

“…….”

A dungeon date.

For Cha Yuri, dates with Kim Sungchul were the most important and satisfying times.

But contrary to how she should have felt, completely happy as always, she trailed behind Kim Sungchul with a sullen expression.

She could only watch his magic, wielding a fire whip, with vacant eyes.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t looked forward to today’s date. For Cha Yuri, a date with Kim Sungchul was always a top priority, even over other important matters.

In fact, just two days prior, she had considered the upcoming date a delightful occasion, especially since he was finally back.

Even though it was under the guise of testing his fire magic, considering their not-so-short past together.

Cha Yuri was certain that Kim Sungchul, whom she knew well, wouldn’t simply part ways after just ‘testing his fire magic.’

While half a year might not seem like a long time, it was sufficient for her to learn about Kim Sungchul as a person.

Cha Yuri predicted that he would undoubtedly consider their time together a date.

And given his suspiciously strong libido, sex was an indispensable element of any date for him.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cha Yuri herself had come here with that very aspect in mind.

After all, sex with Kim Sungchul always provided something that filled the void in her heart.

Not only did it send her mind reeling with pleasure every time they met, culminating in a blissful climax, but his passionate exploration of her body, continuing long after the first climax, was evident in every date.

For the affection-starved Cha Yuri, the time spent with Kim Sungchul was always like sweet honey, quenching the thirst of her barren heart.

…Though, admittedly, it was sometimes unavoidable that she’d get annoyed when he acted presumptuously and got too bold.

Regardless, setting that aside, dates with Kim Sungchul were always enjoyable for Cha Yuri.

Therefore, she should have naturally welcomed today’s sudden date with open arms.

“…….”

Yet, despite everything, Cha Yuri felt a significant dissatisfaction with this date.

And the reason for her displeasure was so absurdly embarrassing that she couldn’t bring herself to voice it.

Kim Sungchul was hunting Obsidian Golems beside her, swinging a whip made of fire.

In a voice so low that he couldn’t possibly hear, Cha Yuri quietly muttered her complaint.

“Why specifically a fire-element dungeon…. If only it were a different dungeon….”

Magic has elemental affinities.

Earth magic is weak against Plant magic, Plant magic is weak against Fire magic, and Fire magic is weak against Water magic.

Especially for mages, fighting elemental monsters was quite common, making this basic knowledge essential for any mage hunter.

This was crucial to avoid the misfortune of using magic against an opponent it couldn’t affect, only to be counter-attacked.

What would happen if you attacked a plant monster with water magic?

The plant monster, drenched in water magic brimming with mana, would experience accelerated growth and become stronger-an incident that occasionally occurred among novice mage hunters.

Similarly, using plant magic on a fire monster could inadvertently fuel the flames, or using water magic on an electric monster could end up electrocuting the caster.

For most elemental monsters, there were specific types of magic that absolutely should not be used.

Cha Yuri’s specialty, wind magic, was also among the types of magic that shouldn’t be used against certain monsters.

The most prominent examples were the fire monsters swarming this very dungeon.

Wind magic, created by the movement of air, only served to intensify the flames of fire monsters, making it a prime example of a poor elemental match.

Therefore, Granite Cave, or any fire-element dungeon like it, was one Cha Yuri would never enter alone.

Of course, if there was an overwhelming skill gap, like two or more rank differences, one could still land effective attacks despite unfavorable elemental matchups.

However, for Cha Yuri, an A-Rank Wind Mage, defeating several B-Rank fire monsters using only wind magic was a considerably difficult task.

-Puh-boom!

‘Grrrroooaaar…….’

“…….”

The Obsidian Golem began to crumble piece by piece with an explosion the moment Kim Sungchul’s fire whip touched it.

Seeing how effectively it dealt damage even with the same fire-elemental attack, it was undoubtedly a well-crafted spell.

He had mentioned it was a 4th Circle magic, created by abandoning the stability of the originally less lethal 3rd Circle magic and exploiting its instability instead.

Even from Yuri’s perspective as a non-fire mage, it was an impressive spell. Truly unbelievable for someone who had only started practicing magic less than half a year ago.

Occasionally, there were individuals with such absurd, innate talent.

Geniuses who learned and grew at an incomprehensible rate, defying common sense.

Cha Yuri, who had never been told her own growth was slow and possessed considerable skill in magic, inevitably felt insignificant compared to such innate talent.

How much time would it take for him to catch up to her level?

He had already surpassed her as a hunter long ago, and perhaps this year, he might even surpass her in magical aptitude.

It was surely innate talent. Or perhaps, the explosive synergy of efforts made before his awakening was finally showing its effects.

Cha Yuri had secretly acknowledged that he was stronger than her.

…But she knew he would become unbearably arrogant if she ever expressed it, so she kept it to herself.

Even with rose-tinted glasses, she couldn’t stand him acting cocky in front of her.

Anyway, the training method of using fire magic against fire monsters was certainly effective.

Since fire magic dealt effective damage to most monsters, there was no better training method than fighting fire monsters to gauge the objective damage output of the magic.

She recalled hearing he had a magic mentor who taught him about fire magic; it must have been knowledge passed down from them.

“…I could have taught him well too if he had asked me.”

Feeling like knowledge she knew had been stolen, Cha Yuri mumbled regretfully to herself.

Of course, she understood that since his two spells and her wind magic belonged to different elemental families, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to ask her for magic lessons.

If only the first magic he had learned had been wind magic instead of fire magic.

Cha Yuri, secretly harboring jealousy towards Kim Sungchul’s unknown magic mentor, might seem displeased for that reason alone.

However, her anger regarding today’s date was far from that.

Regardless of who his mentor was, diligently honing one’s talent was an attitude that fellow hunters should respect.

Moreover, since they belonged to the same guild and party, his growth was essentially beneficial to her as well.

Most importantly, she had initially felt quite pleased that he had invited her for his personal training, showing he valued her.

But upon arriving at the Union and hearing they were entering a fire-element dungeon, it was only natural for her mood to sour.

And the reason for her displeasure was so embarrassing that she couldn’t possibly state it openly.

-Kwah-gwah-gwahng!

‘Gueu….’

‘Gooo….’

This time, Kim Sungchul began fighting two monsters at once using just one fire whip.

Whenever she saw him act like that, Cha Yuri felt inexplicably displeased.

Simultaneously, she felt a distinct sense of envy towards Kim Sungchul.

This was because it was clear her wind magic would struggle against the B-Rank fire monsters in this dungeon.

If she spent a long casting time to increase single-target firepower, she might be able to defeat one or two monsters in a single blow.

But already, by Cha Yuri’s standards, defeating just one or two monsters was far from sufficient.

‘He didn’t ask me out on my day off because he dislikes me, did he?’

‘Is he perhaps unhappy that I’m here to watch his magic practice?’

“…How can I possibly say I’m sulking over this kind of reason…”

The pleasure of reaching the climax while defeating monsters with area-of-effect magic inside the dungeon.

The unbearable orgasm felt when releasing surging mana while his penis was inside her.

This was precisely the element Cha Yuri anticipated most from her dates with Kim Sungchul.

Starting their dungeon date in a fire-element dungeon meant she wouldn’t be able to experience that mind-blowing climax.

It was only natural for Cha Yuri, who derived the greatest pleasure from dungeon sex, to feel disappointed with today’s date.

“Haaaaa….”

As if oblivious to her inner turmoil, Kim Sungchul diligently hunted the Obsidian Golems with his fire whip, testing his magic.

Watching his back, Cha Yuri could only let out a sigh of disappointment.

Trapped with a petty emotion in her heart, too shameful to ever speak of.