As the day dawned, Haru acted as usual, as if nothing had happened the day before, so Sihyun couldn't ask him about yesterday's events. Although the doubts hadn't subsided overnight, it was inevitable for Sihyun to leave Haru alone, as if he was avoiding his questions about the incident.
Whenever Sihyun tried to bring it up, Haru seemed to sense it like a ghost and would avoid the topic, so Sihyun, even if he didn't feel like it, decided to bury yesterday's conversation in his memory and covered himself with a blanket after getting out of bed. Since it was the weekend, he adjusted his posture to laze around a bit, but Hamin, who rarely woke up early, came down from his bed and nudged Sihyun. Despite Sihyun's warning not to touch him, when he pulled the blanket up again, it was the same. Sihyun stubbornly turned his body away.
"Get lost."
"Are you going to keep sleeping?"
"Why did you wake up earlier than usual?"
"I have to train. Training."
"What kind of training?"
"What do you mean? Aren't you going to spar with Ruth?"
Oh, right.
Every Monday after the weekend, there was a spar with Ruth. Sihyun realized that there wouldn't be time to train in the morning on the day of the spar, so he checked the time on his phone. It was still 9 AM. Despite the spar, sleep was more important to him than immediate training after staying up late.
"I'll do it later."
Hamin took away the blanket and urged Sihyun to get up again as he grumbled. It was surprising how diligent he was only at times like this when he was busy wandering in dreamland even when the sun was high.
Moreover, the spar on Monday wasn't even his. It was just someone else's spar, but Hamin resorted to his last resort when Sihyun frowned.
"Pow pow pow!"
He woke Pia, who was sleeping, and slapped Sihyun's face with her. Pia, who was awakened from her sleep and hit unexpectedly, clung to Sihyun and cried as if she felt unjust. It was such a pitiful cry that, if someone heard it, they might think she had lost her country.
Thanks to being awakened, Sihyun calmed down Pia, offering her one of his fingers. Feeling his mana draining away, he felt his drowsiness dissipating. Not only was he being shaken awake, but now he had to wake up Pia too. When he glanced at Hamin, who looked triumphant, as if to say, "Is this necessary?" he smiled victoriously and headed to the bathroom. It meant that he would go to the training room, so he should wash up and come out.
"I'll do it, just let it be."
Unable to resist Hamin's persistence, Sihyun reluctantly headed to the bathroom. Thanks to giving mana to Pia every morning, he was now proficient enough to wash his face with one hand.
When the cold water touched his face, it felt like his mind cleared. After finishing washing up and brushing his teeth, he came out to see three boys waiting for him, ready to go.
"What's going on? Are we all going together?"
"Yeah. The other guys are helping too."
"Who are the other guys?"
"What do you mean? Just everyone in our class."
No. It's my spar, why.
Whether they were bored after their own spar or determined to settle their grudges with Ruth, it was unclear, but it felt odd that seven of them gathered to assist in Sihyun's preparation for the spar.
As Sihyun felt suspicious, Seowoo casually mentioned, shrugging his shoulders, receiving Sihyun's gaze. Recognizing them as students of Class A, who were prideful and competitive, Sihyun concluded that they were probably driven by the latter motive.
"Oh, Sihyun's here!"
"What if the room owner comes in later than us?"
"We've been waiting. Did you sleep well?"
Upon arriving at the training room, despite it clearly being his training session, four boys and girls were sitting on the bench. Sihyun sighed as he looked at them, not understanding what the problem was. Even if he had taught them bad habits, it seemed like he had taught them too well.
"Why are you in here before me, if it's my training session?"
"It's pitiful to wait outside."
Haewoon replied shamelessly, and the other kids nodded in agreement. Having lost words at the mention of him, Sihyun stretched his body and listened to Down's explanation. Upon hearing that they would take turns sparring with the entire Class A over the weekend, Sihyun looked at Haewoon inadvertently.
"Oh, I'm not doing it! I'm just a cheerleader on the sidelines."
"I'm not doing it either."
"What about you, Jihye?"
As a buffer, Haewoon had an excuse, but there was no reason for Jihye not to participate. Scratching her cheeks as she stared at him as if interrogating him, the girl smiled ambiguously.
"I might get hurt if I spar with you."
"Isn't that the same for the others?"
"But I'm not confident."
Something was off.
If we were to analyze, the spar where he was most likely to get hurt was the spar with Haru, so when Jihye's gaze briefly shifted to the right, Sihyun followed suit and turned his head. He met Seowoo's gaze, who was faintly smiling.
"Why?"
The boy's face, tilting his head to one side, looked innocent. Sihyun, who had looked at him with a skeptical gaze for a moment, soon shook his head as if it was nothing. Although there was a sense of unease, there was no definite evidence, so he had to let it go.
Well, it was good if he didn't spar with Jihye, who was a fire-class.
When Gunwoo helped him up and he stood up straight, Hamin threw a sword at him.
"If you're going to fight, use it. Are you going to do it without a weapon?"
"I probably will."
He wasn't skilled with swords like Gunwoo or Haru. As his class didn't necessarily depend on weapons, he declined, and Hamin, who said do as he pleased, stood up right away. Haewoon blew a whistle. Dodging his charge, Sihyun immediately used a water attribute skill to push Hamin away.
Two days until the spar.
Sihyun spent the rest of the weekend enduring Class A's urging to do their share of the work, grateful for the lenient weekend without falling ill.
...
"...Condition's at its worst."
As they stepped out of the room for class, Hamin clicked his tongue and wagged his tongue in response to the remarks.
"If you were supposed to rest at night, why did you sneak into the training room?"
"I had something to do."
Under the coercion, he loosened his tense body.
Saturday morning, afternoon, and Sunday morning, despite the classmates' advice to spar and rest in the afternoon, the aftermath only hit on Monday morning. Ignoring the incessant nagging, he walked into the classroom, and familiar faces waved at him. Accepting their greetings, Sihyun headed to the field after the morning assembly with a puzzled expression.
"Does it make sense to cancel the first period of the 1st year just for this?"
"It's postponed because it's the end-of-month assessment. We all have to go the same."
"But still..."
It was absurd, but he couldn't find words to refute. Deep down, he felt a slight annoyance that everyone would feel pressured to watch his spar at the field. Even if there was only one person for the assessment, why were others allowed to watch in the auditorium, but when it was his turn, it had to be direct?
Arriving at the field with a sigh, he saw Ruth standing in the sparring ground. Dressed in a white shirt and dress pants, he seemed to have learned something from the last spar, as he didn't wear a jacket this time.
As Ruth noticed him, he grinned. Entering the sparring ground with a staff, Sihyun, wearing a white circle, met Ruth's gaze.
"Kang Sihyun, fighting!"
From the back, Haewoon's voice, sounding like he had no shame, rang out, resembling the sound of a boiling kettle. Feeling a surrogate embarrassment, Sihyun touched his ear.
"Long time no see, little one."
"We saw each other on Friday, didn't we?"
"Just saying."
Loosening the cuff buttons and rolling up his sleeves, Ruth stretched his body. Sihyun was about to ask him if he had a good night's sleep, but realizing the subtlety, he swallowed his words. Instead, it was Ruth who broke the silence.
"Feeling alright?"
"Yes. And you?"
"Any discomfort?"
"Ah..."
Now accustomed to his demeanor, she let out a short sigh. She didn't feel the need to respond. Without paying any attention to her sigh, he stretched his body, flexing his wrist and lifting the corners of his mouth.
"I'm glad to hear that your condition is alright."
He didn't intend to entertain her sigh.
Unfortunately, though...
Hearing a voice that didn't sound like a joke, Sihyun tightened his grip on the staff. Today, he had no opponent to spar with after her. That meant Ruth didn't need to conserve mana for the next match. Because of that, Sihyun postponed his usual task of feeding Pia until lunchtime.
"Get ready!"
The voice of the referee teacher echoed through the sparring ground. After a few seconds...
Beep!
The whistle blew, and Ruth charged forward.
"!"
Even if he ignored her, Sihyun still expected him to invite her to go first like he did with the others. Disrupting her expectations, Ruth charged like a wild beast, prompting Sihyun to preemptively use the flight skill he copied to evade Ruth's charge. Seeing Sihyun fleeing into the sky, Ruth chuckled.
"Little one, seems like you've got something wrong."
I'm a buffer too.
Murmuring, Ruth kicked the ground and flew into the air. He immediately pursued Sihyun.
One skill.
Counting silently, Sihyun erected a shield and dodged Ruth's attacks. With no obstacles in the vast sky, two people fought each other. The circular mark drawn on the ground lost its meaning.
In terms of proficiency in flight skills, Sihyun was inevitably behind, so whenever Ruth got close, he used tricks like turning his shield into a curtain to avoid him. Suddenly! When his vision brightened, Sihyun hastily changed direction to avoid the lightning.
Two skills.
Now, Ruth could only use one skill. Either teleportation or that damn skill of throwing lightning bolts. Given the situation, he didn't seem likely to use additional buffs or debuffs.
Thinking that teleportation would be less troublesome, Sihyun increased his flight speed, trying to escape. Lightning struck from above, while Ruth chased from behind. The sky roared, and a fierce force spewed out from behind, piercing his skin mercilessly. If it were someone else, the sensation would have been terrifying enough to foam at the mouth and faint.
Feeling every nerve in his body trembling, Sihyun felt the lightning, which had been falling relentlessly, finally hit him. Crack! With the sound, the shield shattered. Since it was disposable, Sihyun quickly cast a new shield and turned around, wielding the staff.
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