Puberty? (3)

* * *

Monsters swarming.

Team members diligently weaving incantations.

This was the outer region of Astra. An uncharted territory bordering the eastern frontier. Aileen had come to the Namorian Forest for external training. The Namorian Forest was home to relatively safe monsters, but the abundance of trees and undergrowth made the visibility narrower than other forests.

It was, so to speak, the monsters’ home ground. The monsters inhabiting this place were Fang Wolves and Kobold packs. Occasionally, mutant monsters also appeared. Individually, they weren’t threatening, but the problem was that the trainees were mages. The monsters here were commonly skilled in surprise attacks and coordinated assaults.

A surprise attack was fatal to a mage. Therefore, defense and offense had to be divided. It would be easy if one could multi-cast, but that wasn’t easy, and to face multiple opponents alone required a certain level of martial skill.

“U-Um… Aileen?”

“Yeah?”

“We might just be a hindrance, but since it’s a collaborative exercise, should we at least draw attention?”

It was a story that didn’t matter to Aileen, who was perfect in everything.

“Or should we split up? After all, the activity is recorded on the brooch, and the professor will evaluate flexibly, so they’ll understand-“

“Hold on.”

Aileen’s eyes flashed.

Aileen, hearing a faint stench and subtle footsteps, tensed up.

“-Hiss.”

And in an instant, a spinning back kick followed.

– Kwajik!

“…Huh?”

“It’s a mutant Forest Bat. Be careful.”

She smiled, shaking off the blood on her heel. The team members shuddered at the scent of blood brushing their noses. It was too fast to even see. They could only barely see the final motion of shaking off the blood and lowering her leg.

“…O-Oh. Thanks.”

-That crazy bitch.

One of the team members muttered. Not just a simple curse, but admiration born from awe. Aileen turned away, avoiding the burdensome gazes of her team members. Being seen as a monster she hated made her feel strange.

There were no normal nicknames associated with Aileen. Psychopath, witch, crazy bitch, wrist breaker. And there was one nickname that was too foreign to be attached to a magic department student. Aileen’s true talent, noticed by students with keen eyes from the second aptitude test.

“So, where should we split up from? Looking at the map, if we go straight and turn right at the rotten old tree…”

“No need.”

A talent for martial arts bestowed by the gods.

Aileen was so skilled in martial arts that she was called ‘Sir’ among commoners.

“I’ll go ahead and kill them, so just help clear the path.”

“What? Considering the destination, it’ll take at least thirty minutes-“

“-Hiss!”

With a short, deep breath, she kicked off the ground. Her vision heightened in an instant. The cold wind relentlessly battered and shook Aileen’s body. Aileen felt a thrill in the forest’s unique, refreshing air and landed on a tree branch.

To Aileen, who was born from Kardrasil and learned about the world from Elves, the ‘forest’ was not an obstacle. Rather, it was a stage where she could run wild. Aileen skipped and jumped across the trees, traversing the forest.

Carefully, so that the branches wouldn’t break. Aileen, who knew how to respect nature, willingly endured the inconvenience. Thanks to that, even though she was moving at a fast speed, the forest was quiet. Not even the sound of leaves rustling could be heard.

The team members couldn’t open their mouths at Aileen’s appearance, as if she had become one with the forest.

“…She’s doing it all alone.”

“Still, we need to move to get points. Let’s go quickly.”

Nod.

The team members moved their feet with a hollow look. But the hollowness didn’t last long. Because they didn’t know when or where monsters would appear.

“Wait! I see something.”

But.

“…It’s a corpse?”

It seemed like there was no need for that either. The team members found a wolf with a large earthen spear stuck in its head.

Clear Mana flowing from the earthen spear. It was magic that hadn’t been cast long ago.

There was only one person who would pass through here and kill monsters.

“She cast an incantation while climbing a tree?”

“…We can get points, right?”

Aileen.

Slaughtered every monster in sight. There were monsters she missed because she moved quickly, but once she found a monster, she didn’t let it go.

She made a large spear while climbing trees. The sharp earthen spear, made by gathering surrounding soil, rushed towards the monster with a tearing sonic boom as soon as it left her hand.

– Kwajik!

‘Seven.’

She had no ill feelings towards the monsters. They were also creatures born within the order of nature. They simply grouped less threatening animals as ‘wildlife’ and threatening animals as ‘monsters.’ Therefore, killing them was purely for the sake of the team.

But malice. The magical energy felt deep within the forest made Aileen feel very dirty.

The ferocious forest keeper, the Gray Mane Wolf.

A mutant monster that had grown larger by absorbing magical energy. It was a troublesome creature that had been indiscriminately slaughtering animals in the Namorian Forest recently. It was a monster that ordinary students couldn’t even dream of, but it was a perfect monster for the top class’s test. It was just that Aileen was outside the norm; the other students were also hailed as geniuses of the century.

‘Found it.’

She jumped once more from the branch to secure her vision. Aileen shone her eyes red and flew towards where the forest keeper was.

Aileen wrapped Mana around her body and lifted her leg. Her skirt fluttered. Her underwear was clearly visible, but she didn’t care.

Her leg, stretched straight from the high sky, passed her head and formed a straight line, and her heel, which flexibly pierced the sky, soon came down at the speed of light.

“Kyaeng-?!”

– Jjeojeok!

The sound of a skull cracking.

“Keureu, reu…”

An attack that came down out of nowhere. The wolf staggered back with its head spinning. If it got hit one more time, it would surely die. So it had to run away. The forest keeper’s instinct determined Aileen to be its ‘natural enemy.’

Aileen was slightly surprised to see the wolf not die in one blow. So slightly that she vowed to kill it with the next attack.

– Kung.

With one push off, roots sprouted.

‘Tie it up.’

The surrounding trees kindly stretched out their roots at Aileen’s request, and the rough, thick roots wrapped around the wolf’s legs, preventing it from moving.

Keureureung! It struggled with its claws falling out, but it was useless. In the meantime, even spirits clung to it, hindering its movements.

Aileen apologized to the trees and prepared the next incantation.

‘Sorry. I’ll cut them.’

Dark attribute magic.

Shadow Pull.

Aileen pulled the wolf’s shadow, dragging it towards herself. Tuduk, tuk! The roots, unable to withstand the force, snapped. The wolf tried to escape from the shadow’s bondage, but the more it did, the more its skin tore and scraped, adding to its pain.

“Keureuaaaa-!!”

The wolf, dragged helplessly, let out a scream filled with terror.

‘It’s no use.’

She pulled the shadow with a cold face. Aileen grabbed the snout of the wolf, which had been dragged right in front of her, and delivered a knee kick as it was.

“Die.”

– Kwajijik!.

Thorn Gauntlet deployed.

Sharp thorns that rose from her knee.

Piercing through its jaw and snout, penetrating even the skull. The thorns that came out of its head had pieces of pink brain and a severed tongue hanging on them in graphic detail. A sight that was more ‘smashing’ than ‘penetrating.’

“Hoo….”

Kwajik. She pulled her knee back, removing the thorns embedded in its head. From the crushed skull and jawbone, brain fluid and blood dripped.

Thanks to that, Aileen’s body became a mess. Scattered pieces of brain clung to her hair like Christmas ornaments, and her student uniform was soaked in blood, revealing her underwear.

The sight was less sexy and more like something out of a B-grade horror movie.

Still, she didn’t seem particularly unpleasant. Rather, she felt refreshed by the thought of punishing evil. That’s why she kept giggling.

“Hehe….”

She was even more excited because she could receive additional points for killing the forest keeper. She would probably be in first place again this time. Her parents would be happy. The thought of being praised made the corners of her lips rise uncontrollably.

There were a total of three teams assigned to the Gray Mane Wolf.

As it was the most difficult monster to face, students leading the top class were assigned.

Team 1 representative. Aileen and 3 others.

Team 2 representative. Harvest and 3 others.

Team 3 representative. Amelda Cecilia and 3 others.

No matter how excellent they were, it would take time to bring the other team members. Aileen fell into thought, looking at the wolf’s corpse with its skull smashed.

‘Should I take the proof of subjugation?’

It didn’t seem particularly necessary, but if she left the corpse here, it seemed like there would be several problems. It would be a little annoying if someone took the corpse and insisted it was proof of subjugation. It couldn’t be confirmed that there was only one forest keeper either.

Aileen decided to take the head as solid evidence. It was so horribly smashed that she couldn’t tell where the face was, but if she tore off the tattered flesh, she could glimpse the vestiges of the past, that this was a wolf.

– Tuduk. Tuk.

That’s when she was separating the wolf’s skull.

– Rustle.

Feeling the flow of Mana.

A presence estimated to be at least three or more.

Aileen stopped the dismantling work and raised her head.

“….”

The protagonist of that presence.

“…Hiccup.”

It was Amelda Cecilia.

Amelda ignored all the other small fries and set out to search for the forest keeper. Her intention was to defeat it before the other students could get additional points.

Yes, for the sake of being the best.

So she forced her way through this rough path, and despite her team members’ complaints, she led the forced march.

There was no wolf at the destination, only a creepy girl covered in blood.

“Aile, en?”

Cecilia thought her heart would stop. Until Aileen raised her head, she didn’t even know what ‘that’ was.

Pieces of entrails were caught in her hair, which was covered in blood, and her pure white student uniform was dyed red, making it hard to recognize its original form.

The other students were the same. Cecilia wasn’t the only one who was frightened by Aileen’s bizarre appearance.

‘It’s Cecilia?’

Aileen perked up at the familiar face. Judging by the beads of sweat on her head, it seemed like she had run here.

‘Hmm…’

For some reason.

Seeing Cecilia made her feel mischievous.

It was also because she had been harassed by her underlings, and Amelda’s attitude of still disliking her was annoying. Well, it was just a cute level, but she wasn’t a pushover who just smiled after being taken advantage of.

‘Should I play a little prank?’

The decision was quick.

-Kwaduk.

She tore off the wolf’s head, which hadn’t been completely dismantled. Then, without saying a word, she approached with a cold, expressionless face. Blood droplets dripped every time she walked, trudging along. The forest, where the wolf had disappeared and only silence remained, was replaced by the sound of water droplets and a sharp wind.

Jeobeok, jeobeok. The soil, wet with blood and brain fluid, stuck to her insoles and felt sticky. Aileen added a red glint to her eyes-it was acting-and very slowly approached Cecilia.

‘I’m going to die.’

The terrified students slowly ran away. A clear current felt over their skin. They mistook the explosive Mana flowing through Aileen’s body for murderous intent.

Cecilia’s face turned pale.

In the end, she was a novice who couldn’t even distinguish murderous intent. No matter how much she was praised as a genius, it was because her experience fighting for her life was meager.

‘I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.’

Tensed muscles.

Small droplets forming on her face, which was as hard as a stone.

All the other team members had run away, but Cecilia was too scared to move a step. She couldn’t say anything and trembled.

And in that moment.

“Bbuu-!”

Bbanggeut.

Aileen wiped the blood off her face and smiled brightly.

“Hi, Cecilia! You came really quickly?”

“….”

“Did you come to catch the forest keeper? Hmm… Sorry. I caught it first, um?”

– Thud.

Before Aileen could say anything.

Cecilia sat down as she was and took the breath she had been holding back.

“Haa… Haa… Ugh.”

“Cecilia? Are you okay?”

Aileen, who didn’t know she would be this scared, was very flustered and reached out her hand. If she had run away like the other students, she would have apologized and been done with it, but if she was this scared, it would be embarrassing in reverse.

“Hic. U-Uh. Th-That.”

“Sorry. Were you scared?”

In the end, it was goodness.

Bad deeds didn’t suit Aileen.