Chapter 472: Assignment Check (4)

A monster spirit made of giant lava chunks, the Magmarello.

And watching Sungchul Hubae fight a Magmarello, an A-rank monster, Choi Hwayoung quietly waited for her turn to step in.

‘Sungchul Hubae’s growth is fast, but… still, this assignment will definitely be tough.’

It wasn’t an assignment I gave him thinking he could definitely succeed.

Rather, he was bound to struggle immensely. Telling him, who was still just a B-rank Hunter, to catch 20 A-rank monsters was an absurd demand in itself.

Of course, I did place a restriction so he could only face up to two at a time, but even facing two simultaneously was impossible for an ordinary B-rank Hunter.

Of course, the Sungchul Hubae standing before me was, naturally, far from an ordinary B-rank Hunter.

‘His growth is too fast. He needs at least this much stimulation.’

Bringing him deep into the dungeon and making him utilize his flame magic to the fullest under extreme restrictions.

Choi Hwayoung firmly believed that the more extreme the environment, the better his application of his awakened ability would become.

Because she herself had climbed to the rank of S-rank Hunter through several such extreme experiences.

‘Back in my day, I didn’t even have a teacher. Compared to that, this kid is way luckier.’

Comparing his situation to her own past growth, Choi Hwayoung harbored a peculiar sense of anticipation for the current Sungchul Hubae.

Given his skills and growth rate assessed so far, she had a certain faith that he could endure this level of difficulty.

If he successfully completed this task, he would likely achieve explosive growth, comparable to her own past self.

In fact, although she told him to catch twenty, her internal standard was that catching about ten would be enough to pass.

Anything after that was simply to gauge the limits of Sungchul Hubae.

‘If he can’t even catch ten and struggles… then it’s because he didn’t try hard enough.’

Of course, it was already known information that Sungchul Hubae would use other skills besides flame magic in actual combat.

In fact, he probably fought using his main weapon, the sword, more than flame magic.

Flame magic was likely closer to a supplementary skill used in emergencies, separate from his swordsmanship.

However, that couldn’t be an excuse for neglecting the practice of the assignment she gave him.

If he asked for lessons, taking up the busy schedule of an S-rank Hunter, he naturally had to show corresponding growth.

Of course, if he felt his limits at this task and his spirit broke… she might adjust the lesson content a bit then.

“……”

Actually, Choi Hwayoung secretly hoped Sungchul Hubae would experience frustration at least once.

It wasn’t for a constructive reason like wanting him to overcome a slump by rising again after a setback.

It was more about wanting to show herself off as the cool older female senior who clears the path for a frustrated Sungchul Hubae in crisis.

Even though he sometimes got cocky, she wanted to occasionally show off her cool side to Sungchul Hubae, who followed her instructions well during lessons.

As a bonus, showing off like that might help her somehow make up for the embarrassing thing she did earlier today.

Of course, as his flame magic teacher, her primary desire was for Sungchul Hubae to grow, but their relationship held something deeper than just teacher and student.

With all sorts of complex emotions swirling in her heart, Choi Hwayoung watched Sungchul Hubae’s battle.

Of the two monsters approaching from both sides, he first moved towards the Magmarello on the right.

“Haaap!”

As soon as he approached with a battle cry, Sungchul Hubae struck the Magmarello’s body with a whip of flame created from his right hand.

The magic extending from his hand exploded upon contact with the monster’s body.

The Magmarello also shed a part of its body from the explosion, suffering considerable damage.

‘The power is around 5th Circle, maybe… Not bad for something he made himself.’

First, the improved version of the whip of flame passes. And it was excellent that he maintained the original concept while just increasing the power.

Seeing him use his physical abilities to wield magic to compensate for the lack of conceptual depth was a very Sungchul Hubae-like approach.

It’s probably safe to say that very few ordinary mages could wield flames of that length at that speed.

Even she herself could probably imitate the magic, but she couldn’t imagine producing the same level of power.

‘Grrrrooo….’

-Rumble….

Meanwhile, one Magmarello collapsed after taking several hits from the whip of flame.

Seeing that, Choi Hwayoung didn’t hesitate and immediately roused the third monster.

-Grrrrooo….

‘Guaaa…!’

“……”!

Sungchul Hubae’s eyes hardened for a moment as he saw the next monster awaken right after he defeated one.

He immediately shot a slightly resentful gaze back at her, but it couldn’t be helped.

Magic training naturally leads to greater growth in an environment that constantly pushes oneself to the limit and requires relentless use of magic.

“I said up to two at a time! Don’t lose focus in the middle, keep fighting!”

“……Yes!!”

Ultimately, the harsh environment she created was for Sungchul Hubae’s growth.

Besides, considering Sungchul Hubae’s skills, it wasn’t actually that dangerous a situation.

Most importantly, she was fully prepared to intervene at any moment if a truly dangerous situation arose.

‘He’ll face a crisis sooner or later. If possible, I hope it happens while I’m watching….’

Choi Hwayoung, who had inadvertently become excited about showing off her cool side rather than her disciple’s growth.

Kim Sungchul, completely unaware of her inner thoughts, swung his whip of flame at the monster approaching him again.

He kept his trump card, saved for emergencies, still tucked away in his spatial pouch.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

About an hour had passed since I entered the dungeon with Hwayoung Sunbae to start magic training.

‘Gaaah….’

-Rumble….

Another Magmarello, I don’t even know which number it is anymore, collapsed before my eyes, turning back into a lump of lava.

How many have I caught…? I think I’ve caught at least double digits by now.

Since they were A-rank monsters, catching each one was such an arduous process that I didn’t even have the leisure to count how many I’d defeated.

In the midst of non-stop combat with no breaks allowed, my body was already considerably exhausted.

-Grrrrooo….

‘Gooo….’

…Is it not over yet?

I let out a small sigh inwardly as I looked at the next Magmarello, awakened by Hwayoung Sunbae’s fireball.

Awakened abilities in the magic department consume more mental energy than you’d think.

Especially calculating magic in the heat of battle requires immense concentration.

Besides, I wasn’t just creating flame magic and fighting.

“Uaaaaah!”

-Swish!

The whip of flame I swung with all my might struck the Magmarello’s body, causing a significant impact and explosion.

The fact that I could generate this much power with the whip of flame, a rather intermediate magic, was partly due to my physical abilities backing it up.

The concept of holding magic and swinging it was quite tricky for typical mages to conceive, let alone use.

It was only possible because my physical abilities as a close-combat fighter accompanied it.

If a typical A-rank flame mage had faced these Magmarellos with just this whip of flame, they probably would have collapsed from exhaustion after about five or six.

I’ve taken down at least twice that many, so the perfection of the whip of flame should at least be sufficiently recognized.

The problem is… I’m reaching my limit just relying on the whip of flame.

Even though I still need to take down about five or six more, my stamina and mana are already precariously low.

First, the magic itself, the whip of flame, couldn’t exert great power against the Magmarello, so I had to swing it at least three or four times per monster.

It’s natural for mana to deplete quickly when swinging a 5th Circle magic spell so recklessly.

And the swinging motion itself was also a grueling repetitive exercise. Unfortunately, I don’t possess an awakened ability related to ‘whips’.

When wielding a sword, I have the ‘Swordsmanship’ skill, making it much easier to wield than other weapons.

More importantly, the various techniques I can use each time I swing my sword consume stamina, so it’s less taxing physically.

Conversely, the whip of flame has no related techniques, hence the strain on my stamina and strength.

In the end, it was time to use the improved version of Explosive Fist, the Flame Sword.

‘I tried not to use it if possible, fearing I’d get scolded.’

The efficiency against these guys will be much better than the whip of flame.

Even if I wrapped the blade of my Mithril Greatsword in flame magic, it’s fundamentally closer to swordsmanship than pure flame magic.

Swordsmanship is my main skill, and in many ways, it allows for much more efficient combat than the whip of flame.

…The problem was whether Hwayoung Sunbae would recognize this Flame Sword as an improvement on Explosive Fist.

Well, if I get scolded, I’ll deal with it later. For now, I need to focus on solving the Magmarello subjugation task right before me.

Taking my Mithril Greatsword out of my spatial pouch, I swung the flame-engulfed blade towards the newly awakened Magmarello.

After all, I went through the trouble of making it with Cha Yuri’s help, it would be a shame not to show it to Hwayoung Sunbae at least once before finishing.

“Hayaaaap!”

Phase 2 begins, you bastards.