Hunter Academy Entrance Exam (5)

Pajijik!

The blue light source spreading in all directions made my eyes dizzy.

Turning my shoulder and loosening my body, I looked at it.

Tension in a fight is a crucial necessity.

But anything excessive could become poison.

You need to release some of it to stay sharp.

‘Good, stretching is done…’

Let’s see…
The back of my head kept feeling prickly.
I glanced sideways.

The female professor, who was pretending not to watch me, was now staring intently without even trying to hide it.

Hmm, why is she looking at me like that?

The only thing that comes to mind is…

‘No way, Yu Seha, that bastard…’

Did he cause trouble…?
Or did he break up with her…
Was she his ex-girlfriend or something?

It’s a ridiculous thought, but with my limited imagination, this was the best I could come up with.

And it’s hard to dismiss it as completely baseless nonsense, because, after all, I do look like this.

I didn’t really care much about it, but people often said that he lived up to his looks.

Even on ‘GAL’, there were quite a few community posts speculating, “Doesn’t he seem like the type to have dated a lot of women?”

‘…Though I don’t know if that’s actually true.’

Anyway, there was no guarantee that one of them wasn’t an academy professor.

If it were true, it’d be a total shock, but I decided to think about it later.

‘It’s coming.’

As the blue light from the summoning completely disappeared, what appeared was…

‘A turtle?’

A bipedal turtle.
Its limbs were filled with thick muscles.
It was also wearing gauntlets and iron boots like a knight.

Its left arm had a round buckler.
While its right hand held a metal weapon presumed to be a Western-style sword.

“Kulkulkul!”

Kulkulkul, what the hell?

Anyway, it’s a monster I remember.

[Turtle Knight].
An F-D grade boss type of the ‘Aquatic System’.

The reason for the grade difference was that the skills and equipment it had would randomly change.

Judging by its form, it seemed to be based on Western swordsmanship.

Anyway, why the hell did this guy appear?

‘I was sure it would be the Metal Rhino series here.’

As I pondered, I recalled the fishy guy I recently encountered.

‘Ah, could it be because of the Pearl Spitting Tortoise?!’

It was a bit absurd.
At this point, I stopped my random thoughts.

The creature swiftly approached and drew a sword from its bosom, delivering a straight thrust.

I also drew the [Turtle’s Longsword] to counter.

Kwakak!

Sparks flew everywhere as its thrust collided with the [Turtle’s Longsword].

The battle spread out.

Kakak! I tilted the longsword, deflecting its attack to the side.

Naturally, its opening was revealed, giving me an opportunity to strike.

I made a quick judgment.

‘Using swordsmanship to strike is unreasonable.’

My current skill was too poor to aim for an opening that would disappear soon.

‘If that’s the case.’

I’ll go with the most primitive method.

I clenched my hand.
Supporting my legs, I gave my waist a unique rotational force.
I recreated the punch I had thrown countless times in the original world.

A level 3 ‘Normal’ grade ability.
My fist, enhanced by [Combat], radiated a blue light as it struck.

Bang!

“…Oh.”
“Turtle!”

This guy. Not bad.

It was quite a good left hook, but it skillfully blocked it with its shield.

Does it have more real combat experience than I thought?

I didn’t stop attacking, though, and continued pounding its shield with my fists.

Then, good news echoed in my mind.

‘…Oh.’

It was faster growth than I expected.
Originally, it shouldn’t have increased this quickly.

‘Is it because the Turtle Knight is stronger than I thought?’

I guessed that this guy would be at least in the upper ranks of D-grade.

Immediately, its thrust came at me once again.
Bending my waist, I widened the distance.
Then, the Turtle Knight quickly chased after me.

The thought that it would be slow because it was a turtle did not apply to it.
The same went for its swordsmanship.
A stable thrust aimed for a vital spot, sliced through the wind.

I tilted my sword slightly and observed it while dodging.

‘The buckler is made entirely of iron. The shape of the sword is… Estoc. Looking closely, there’s also armor at every joint of its limbs? If I attack recklessly, it will bounce back at me.’

The Turtle Knight’s thrust was on a different level compared to the random stabs of street thugs.

Proper footwork and speed.
It was [Swordsmanship] based on a Western-style thrust that combined stable power.

In the midst of continuous fighting.
I sensed a ‘Red Signal’ around its hand.

The motion was not much different from the previous thrusts, but I instinctively sensed it.

It was a skill.

Sure enough.

The thrust split into two prongs, like a fork.
It split once more, targeting three points like a trident.

Fortunately, I had anticipated it and avoided any damage.

‘This isn’t easy.’

The opponent continued to use ‘Thrust.’

That [Skill].
I don’t know the exact details of it.
But it seemed to consume very little mana.

Instead of high power, it consumed as little as a regular attack.

With that advantage, the Turtle Knight kept pressing me with [Triple Thrust].

That wasn’t the end.

The Turtle Knight also focused on the shield.

From earlier, if I tried to attack, it gathered mana into the shield.
It was certain that it had a [Defense System] skill, like Meowi.

‘And with a high probability, it must be a [Counter] type.’

I quickly grasped its tactics.

Utilizing low-mana-cost thrusts to seize the initiative, and countering the enraged opponent’s attacks with the shield.

It was a textbook example of a stable, low-risk, high-return sword style.

I intuitively realized.

If this were two months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome the difference and would have lost.

But I, too, had shown remarkable growth over the past two months with Meowi.

I had no intention of being intimidated by this level of crisis.

First, I gave up facing it head-on and stepped back.

The Turtle Knight, thinking it had gained the upper hand, pressed even harder.

But as time went by, a subtle crack began to appear on its face.

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!

Because not a single one of its thrusts managed to even graze me.

The reason for this was simple.

I was faster than that turtle.

As expected, a well-balanced type with stable attributes in strength, speed, and endurance.

All the stats were at 17.

‘…This is naturally a fortuitous encounter, and if I hadn’t obtained [Blunt Weapon] and [Stamina] from Pyo Dok-ju, I would’ve lost.’

Its abilities were not visible to me, but it probably had a [Quick Feet] trait like the Pearl Spitting Tortoise.

But I also had an attribute related to speed called [Agility].

The ability that influences movement was proving its worth.

With my hand on the hilt, I continued to keep my distance and observe the enemy.

Specifically, the thrust of the Turtle Knight.

‘Indeed, it has its own rhythm.’

A subtle beat.
Even someone like me, who doesn’t know much about swords, felt it after using them a few times.
Every [Swordsmanship] had its own unique flow.

Meowi also had her own rhythm when handling a dagger.

In other words, the moment you grasp this, it becomes somewhat easier to predict the opponent’s actions.

Of course, it’s not something that makes sense logically.

How could you grasp that without some kind of foresight ability?

‘What makes that possible is…’

[Unprecedented Sense].

As I predicted, its rhythm began to change soon.

The magic in its thrusts became even stronger.

I sensed that it was about to use a different skill from before.

[‘Turtle Knight’ uses ‘Piercing Thrust’.]

A much faster and sharper flash approached.
I did not take my eyes off its sword.
I evaded with perfect timing by bending my waist.

“…What?!”
“Wow, did you see that?”
“…No way! Did he predict it beforehand?”

I could hear the astonished voices of the spectators, but I didn’t care about them.

Because the one who was even more shocked was right in front of me.

“Keuk?!”

The eyes of the Turtle Knight widened in disbelief.

Its unwavering determination began to waver.

And as everyone knows, when you escape a crisis, an opportunity always follows.

I didn’t narrowly dodge its attack just to show off.

I captured the optimal situation, the optimal distance, and the optimal opportunity.

“…Hoo.”

I placed my hand on my waist.
The blue magic flared up like flames, flowing down my arm.

I then unleashed a straight-line sword strike towards it.

I was confident of victory.

Was that why?

I widened my eyes at the unexpected variable.

A shield.
Unfortunately, [Flowing Slash] struck its shield.
It didn’t block it intentionally.
In my fluster, the sword unfortunately hit the edge of its shield by chance.

‘…Damn it!’

The shield was cut down with one strike.
At the same time, [Flowing Slash] pierced the nape of its neck, but the power significantly diminished.

“…K-Keuk!”

With a phlegm-filled voice, I stepped back.

At this rate, I will be hit.

That thought swirled in my head.

‘I have no choice then.’

The power I haven’t used since the first time I unleashed [Flowing Slash] after being possessed.

I consciously and slightly drew out that power, which I considered a mere grappling technique.

Hwaaak!

My killing intent spread instantly.

The killing intent soon seeped into [Flowing Slash], further enhancing the technique’s power.

Shuk!

I finally succeeded in cutting off the neck of the Turtle Knight.

Yu Seha received cheers and applause from here and there.

With a bewildered expression, he greeted those around him, while two professors silently watched.

The old female professor was clapping softly,
Bong Mi-chun quietly opened her mouth.

“…Peng Jin-ah.”
“Yes, Professor Bong Mi-chun.”
“…At first, I thought it was a foolish suspicion, but indeed it is so. You have a reason to be suspicious.”

At Bong Mi-chun’s words, which were as solid as stone, Peng Jin-ah, who was next to her, nodded slightly.

“Yes, that’s right. That child… is dangerous. In all my life, I’ve never seen such power. Surely… the force that remained in the [Silverback]’s hide must be based on that.”

“…What do you plan to do?”

“I’m planning to step in.”

At those words, Bong Mi-chun looked at Peng Jin-ah with a startled expression.

Realizing that her former student was serious, she sighed softly.

“…I think you understand, but be gentle. Nothing is certain yet.”

“…Don’t worry. And if I may be so bold…”

“Leave the persuasion of the other professors to me. They will consider the meaning behind my words.”

“Thank you.”

Peng Jin-ah finished speaking.
She gripped the sword at her waist.

And then she walked confidently toward Yu Seha.