episode_0038

“Now, let’s start the midterm exam for Talent Development Studies.”

I looked at them nervously through the brim of the red cap that blocked my view and opened my mouth.

“Then, let me explain the rules again. All you have to do is spar with a designated opponent. There are additional and deducted points for knocking down your opponent or yourself, but since this is basically evaluating your posture, you do not need to focus on defeating your opponent. The use of weapons is prohibited, as are lethal attacks. If you violate these instructions, you will be disqualified and only receive the lowest score.”

Since he had turned into an instructor, he spoke in a way that was so different from usual that I almost chewed my tongue.

Rather, this is a normal way of speaking as a member of society, but as someone who was motivated by the concept of Elm Northmund, this way of speaking was painful, as if I was wearing a mask.

“I’ll say it again, it’s about your posture to deal with monsters. Don’t get caught up in sparring with your opponent. And never use fatal attacks.”

At my words, the instructors walked towards the center of the gym and began to stand in groups of three. Each person had a folder and a ballpoint pen in their hands.

“Three instructors will evaluate each sparring. Now, please do sparring steps 1 to 3. Peter Ferrami and Andy Newark… .”

As soon as I speak, students begin to come out in a set order. Good luck! Do good on the test! The same cheering sounds can also be heard.

As they stood facing each other among the instructors, they made solemn expressions and began sparring with a chime sound.

I thought it would be filled with the sound of wah-wah, but surprisingly, the testing room was quiet. Well, that’s right. This is not boxers in the ring.

Because it’s literally always a midterm exam. Who likes it if you make a lot of noise while someone else is taking a test?

Swish─swish─

The two men stably attempted to attack and evade, showing their proficiency in both offense and defense. Seeing this, the pens of the instructors in charge of them were busy.

Perhaps they were simply hoping for a stable test result, and there was no need to inflict any significant damage on the opponent.

Not only the guys I was watching, but also the rest of the guys sparring next to me did the same.

Just continue the offense and defense stably, like kicking a kick board in Taekwondo.

“Stop!”

After the allotted three minutes have passed and the sparring is declared over, they shake each other’s hands, greet the instructors, and return to their original positions.

I played with the pen and gave it a decent score. It wasn’t that impressive, but it wasn’t bad either. Just average. It was neither good nor bad.

“Next 4 to 6.”

He twirled his pen and called for his next turn.

*

“Are you okay?”

Han Sejun carefully asked Nakajima, who was burying his face between his legs, how he was doing.

ah… What should I do in times like this? Should I comfort him? Or, some say that you should just leave it alone until it calms down.

“The opponent was a bit bad. I don’t think there was anything you responded wrongly… .”

Nakajima’s psychic ability is a non-combat ability.

It is a clear fact that such an auxiliary ability is at a disadvantage to a close-type body enhancement ability in a one-on-one situation.

However, it was not necessary to mention that the test was in a sparring format and that her opponent also responded with common sense.

It was her fault that she was unable to dodge the opponent’s fist and was struck in the side and fell down.

“If I were in your case, I think it would be similar, so don’t be upset… .”

She raised her head for a moment at those words. I look at Han Sejun with eyes full of tears.

Seeing her slightly swollen cheeks and making a groaning sound as if she were in trouble, Han Se-jun suddenly felt that it was very itchy and scratched his cheek.

“… But the world is all about results.”

“Well, that’s right… Ah!”

As the words came out inadvertently, she made a sad expression, pursed her lips and looked at him pouting, then returned to her original state, burying her head between her legs.

A small voice seemed to be muttering something to itself.

“Jun. I am not good at comforting you. I’m about to sigh. Is this really serious enough to make me despair?”

“… No, that means… mi… Sorry.”

“… .”

Sejun Han was trying to make an excuse to Muriel, but gave up and kept his mouth shut. I felt a little dizzy. I’ve never liked places with a lot of people.

Even though some students had left for the infirmary, there were still many people in the gym. Maybe that’s why his mind is spinning right now.

While he was thinking like an outsider, Tania woke him up to reality with her unique low voice.

“Sejun. It’s your turn soon, so you’d better calm down. Because if my mind is busy, I can’t concentrate well.”

“Okay… Thank you.”

Jang Ah-hyun is now in the infirmary. Although he won brilliantly after sparring with Alexander, he seemed to have suffered minor burns from being struck several times by his lightning strikes.

Muriel and Tania showed moderate stability. In particular, Muriel seemed to have greatly improved her ability to manipulate shadows.

Although it wasn’t an effective hit, even Sejun was impressed by the scene where he secretly tied Tania’s feet and caused her trouble.

I also heard from one instructor that he had the sense to aim for the blind spot.

Now that I think about it, it’s my turn. I patted my chest to relieve tension and turned my attention to the sparring taking place in the center of the gym.

─Huh. Gray, that guy is a lot better than I thought, huh?

─Awesome, Gray!

─Knock Ramirez down! Gray!

The sparring currently taking place in the center was probably the sparring that was treated as the most dream match in Ellada. It is literally a battle between heads.

One side is cheering brilliantly, while the other side is dead-set and quiet.

‘Why on earth do you have to make a life-or-death decision like that in a battle that lasts only 3 minutes? .’

When Gideon swings his fist, Ramirez’s flame is blown out by the wind, sending embers flying.

“Damn it!”

Jimmy Ramirez counterattacks and tries to swing his flame-covered hand, but then jumps away.

Then it fires a small fireball.

At that time, Gideon moved quickly.

The instructors gasped at the sudden change in air. The eyes become sharp along with the exclamation.

He lowers his body and quickly approaches Ramirez, avoiding Ramirez’s fireballs.

“The ability you boast about is actually a penalty to you now.”

And quickly raise your fist from bottom to top.”

“What─”

Ramirez lets out a noise. It seemed as if he was taken aback by his sudden charge and unconsciously waved his arms for defense, as if he did not understand the current situation.

Anyway, Ramirez is Ramirez. Immediately, I try to block his fist by putting my arms together with both hands and covering them with flames.

But it was already too late.

At that moment, Gideon’s fist, which was raised in a split second that was less than half a second, broke through his defenses and hit Ramirez’s lower abdomen.

“─Keuak?!”

Ramirez was thrown back about 3 meters and fell down due to a heavy attack that seemed to hit him with a hammer.

He was clutching his beaten stomach and grimacing, but he quickly tried to get up when he saw that his opponent was not giving him time to catch his breath.

However, the blow from that fist must have been so severe that his legs were shaking and the arm holding his stomach was shaking uncontrollably.

The moment when Gideon’s foot hit the ground and a body slam like an iron mountain was about to hit him—

“3 minutes have passed. Sparring ends.”

The red hat instructor’s chime rang, signaling the end of the one-sided push.

“Chet. You’re lucky.”

“Bill… What the hell! Even if there were no sparring restrictions, you would!”

At Ramirez’s unfair words, Gideon chuckled as if it were absurd.

“Well, that could have happened if you had done your best. But what can I do? This is a sparring match. It’s a complete defeat for you who didn’t understand the difference and neglected your training.”

“You fucking bastard… .”

Gideon, who was mocking him with a sneer, greeted the instructors politely and started walking to the side of the gym.

Ramirez hit the floor with his fist at his attitude, saying, “What a stupid guy. I have nothing more to do with you.”

“It looks like there is internal damage. Please take this person to the infirmary.”

At the instructor’s words, red-clothed men who appear to be Ramirez members rush over, support him, and disappear. It seemed that Dalian’s excitement would not subside for a long time as the wheezing sound continued to be heard behind him.

‘hmm.’

It was an unexpected result. And Han Sejun clicked his tongue at the sparring that broke his expectations.

When I saw Ramirez’s special ability once during a special ability training class, I thought that it would be difficult for Gideon to win this match, no matter what anyone said.

‘But that wasn’t it.’

What he had forgotten was the rules of sparring.

‘You cannot inflict fatal attacks on your opponent.’

Ramirez boasted high firepower, enough to melt metal, but all of his organs were sealed in sparring.

If it weren’t for that, his specialty, flamethrower, would have already turned the inside of the gym into a sea of flames.

“Of course, those of us with special abilities tend to believe in our abilities and neglect physical training. It’s a good example to use as an example.”

Tania opened her mouth. It was a word that contained a lesson, but Han Se-jun suddenly became more curious about what kind of sentence was translated in response to the old idiom, rather than the content.

Is there a word similar to Tasanjiseok in English? No, it can’t be there.

─Woooo Ramirez, get out! What a sloppy bastard!

─What? Ramirez is really weak, right? Did you really gather under that guy? There’s no hope for you guys. Really giggle.

─Shut up you bastards! Kill it!

“It’s noisy! It’s during the exam, so don’t make a fuss. Don’t you know it’s a big rude thing to do?”

The moment when the verbal war between factions flared up. The red hat covers their mouths and cools the atmosphere.

However, one side was lively and the other side was droopy, which was a polar opposite sight.

“Then we will continue with the test. 37, 38, 39, forward.”

ah.

What is coming has come.

“Sejun. Cheer up, we’ll be here cheering you on.”

“Jun! Don’t be nervous. Just do what you do. Oh, can’t you just take the deal like last time?”

“… You weren’t even there at the time.”

Muriel giggled at Sejun’s bewildered reaction and patted him on the back.

Now that I think about it, Nakajima seems to have recovered to some extent, and he raises his head and offers words of encouragement in a low voice.

“… Cheer up.”

I don’t know why, but Han Se-jun burst into laughter and headed to the center of the gym when he heard words of encouragement at a low volume that made him feel like he was going into a rat hole with a red face.

On the other side, Li Jiyuan was walking out. dead pan. But even from this distance, I can feel the fighting spirit.

‘Yong Tide Water. ‘It’s an advantage to be able to attack and defend freely, right?’

His powers allow his hands to morph into dragon hands, his fingernails to elongate, and his cutting power to cut through paper that falls on his fingernails.

It is said that the Yongrin (龍鱗) covering the outer surface has excellent defensive power.

‘But I won’t be able to use it properly in sparring. Just like Ramirez.’

If you are hit properly by his supernatural ability, Dragon Tide, your body may be torn apart as if you were hit by a monster slasher. Perhaps Li Jiyuan knows that too.

Anyway, it’s a midterm exam that looks at things like evasion and correct attacks as ways to deal with monsters. Something like the previous turn is rather unusual.

For example, didn’t most students finish the sparring by making routine attacks and evasions as if they were doing a normal Taekwondo sparring?

He probably didn’t even notice me that much, so I thought I’d just kill it for 3 minutes rather than deal with him sincerely.

“Li Jiyuan. This is my first time talking like this. uh… Please take care of me. It’s just a sparring match, so I hope you take it easy─”

“Han Sejun. I’m sorry, but I won’t hit you.”

“… What?”

The words that came out of his mouth were words that crushed Sejun’s expectations.

Rather a declaration. Li Jiyuan is saying that he wants a complete victory over Han Sejun.

“Oh, this guy and that guy, it’s really happening these days!”

The voice of Sejun’s heart came out at that absurd declaration.