The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

Unlike the tired look in her eyes and the slack tone she usually displays, Professor Abel Grossman is surprisingly quite passionate and belligerent.

It was not difficult for me to notice that this was probably the reason why she had dared to suggest the idea of a revenge match.

Young age, outstanding skills, solid career, and my-pace personality and actions.

Because of these things, she was treated as an eyesore among several professors in many ways.

And I clearly remembered the fact that she was the kind of person who would smash you head-on if you played tricks on her, so professors who didn't like her often played shallow tricks on her to give her a hard time.

Looking at it, someone must have provoked her with the fact that I was defeated by Ahn Do-Hoon.

Professor Grossman hadn't said a word to me so far, but perhaps seeing some possibilities from earlier, she aggressively talked to me about the fight with Ahn Do-Hoon.

"You probably can't get permission right away. So I'll talk to your professor and make time. By the way, you are really okay with this, right?"

"Yes."

"All right... if there are no spectators, it'll be uncomfortable, so let's just gather a few people... We can also rent a sparring room easily in this season.”

She nodded and said to me.

“Even if I don'ts tell you, you know, but there is nothing like sparring and training that can give you your own style. Well… To be honest, Yu-Na's understanding of weapons is a bit deeper than Ye-Seul's, so why don't you have a fight with her once as well and ask for advice?”

With that, she slowly got up from her seat and began to move her chair away.

“The more masters, the better. That girl sees things differently than I do, and she's smart, so she'll help you find what you need."

"Yes."

“Good, lastly, can you tell Ye-Seul to come in?”

When I bowed to her and came out, Jin Ye-Seul was waiting as if she already knew.

She looked at me, smiled once, then went inside.

Lee Yu-Na was polishing her weapons a little away, as usual.

With every step I took closer to her, the smell of oil and steel grew thicker.

“Can you spare me a moment?”

"Huh?"

As if she didn't know I was approaching, she, who was absorbed in her work, lifted her head and looked at me.

She nodded right away as if she was okay.

"What?"

"Um. Can you do a light spar with me for a while?”

You're the only person around me who can handle a variety of weapons at the same time.

She readily accepted my words and got up from her seat.

"All right. Just a light spar, right?”

"Yes. And I've never actually handled two at the same time. I'd appreciate it if you could point out the parts that are a little awkward or something like that.”

“Umm… I'll try.”

Lee Yu-Na nodded.

I pulled out a false sword and spear from the rack.

Seeing that, Lee Yu-Na's eyes lit up, and she condensed her mana to create the same weapons.

The only difference was the overall size of what she was holding was slightly smaller.

“…… .”

Like I said to her, I'd never fought with two at the same time.

To be precise, I used two separately, but never used them in harmony.

It was almost impossible to become any more proficient with a sword, spear, or bow, so I looked for other methods, and this is exactly the one I took.

Fight with two different weapons at the same time.

“Huu.”

Lee Yu-Na held a spear in her right and a sword in her left hand.

She pushed her spear forward to keep me in check, and her eyes had a fierce momentum unlike usual.

Contrary to her, I looked at her with a little more force in my hand holding the sword, recalling my memory as a swordsman.

“…… .”

In fact, the problem with this method could be found right away without thinking deeply.

That is to say, the so-called swap, that is, the process of overlaying memory or the problem of slow response.

As Professor Grossman said, this was the only problem I had to solve.

‘Well, if I can't really do that, I can just focus on one thing and change it depending on the situation… .'

As I was thinking this, Lee Yu-Na gave a small cough.

“Then shall we start now?”

"Yes."

Before I could finish my words, Lee Yu-Na slid closer and thrust her spear forward.

“Heup!”

I effortlessly launched myself with my sword and thrust the blade of my sword at the spearhead as if to push it straight up.

As if reading my intentions, she immediately changed direction.

As the spear and the sword intertwined, a momentary stagnation occurred, and the sword in her hand spun around and struck the space between them.

If I wasn't careful, the sword would have been just deflected.

I swung the spear as if to cut off the connection between them.

Even if I just use the centrifugal force to cut it out as if I were scratching it with my spear, I can inflict a great blow on the opponent.

Most importantly, in another world, instead of pushing through with an overwhelming force like Ahn Do-Hoon, the core of my spear technique, which gnaws at the opponent as if eating them little by little, is rotation and recoil.

Then she spun around, crossing her spear and sword, and blocked the spear by inserting it between the two.

I tried to put a little force into it, but her tiny body didn't show any signs of moving.

Then I should apply as much force as I could.

I raised the sword as if I was going to rake it up, and her body floated in the air.

There is no opponent more defenseless than an opponent suspended in mid-air.

I quickly fixed the spear, but Lee Yu-Na's eyes twinkled first.

“Haap!”

With a short shout, her sword swung and struck the spear.

Just when I thought it was only a little bit of a grace period, the sword strike approached once more as if to chase it.

Three times, four times, five times... .

The more her attacks continued, the more she couldn't help but stare at me with surprised eyes.

She continued to float in the air with only the recoil of the exchange of attacks between me and her.

She stretched out as if doing a handstand, as if doing yoga, and her hands were faithful to their respective duties without interfering with each other.

On the other hand, the longer my offense and defense continued with her, the more I could feel my hands getting numb.

She continued, buzzing like a wasp, swinging her sword and spear.

There was no difficulty in blocking it, but there was no time to switch to the offensive.

Eventually, I half forcibly swung my sword, and sent her flying far away.

She flew in circles and landed gently on the ground like a cat.

“…… .”

By sparring roughly, I was able to grasp my current state and problems to some extent.

I thought it would be better to stop at this point, so I gently raised both of my hands.

"I surrender. I can't even find a chance to attack."

“That’s what I should say… .”

Lee Yu-Na looked at me with a surprised look and muttered.

After a brief clean-up, she sat down in a chair in the corner.

When she saw that I was sitting next to her, she quietly caught her breath.

“… What the hell are you?”

She looked at me as if she didn't understand and muttered quietly.

"What."

“What the hell, how can you in such a short time… No."

Lee Yu-Na shook her head.

Then she looked down at the ground for a moment and began to mutter something in a small voice.

After a while, she lifted her head and looked at me.

“I think I know what your problem is.”

I looked at her as if asking her to tell me, and she gave a small sigh.

"I'll be honest with you. I think you're better at handling swords and spears than me. But I can't tell if it's because you use them separately, or because you're not as good as you said in the mixed use part that I can see the creaky parts. I often see unnecessary movements and overlapping lines of movement... .”

“Is that so.”

"Yes. But I think you'll soon become proficient if you practice. It's just that you're not used to using both at the same time, not that you lack skills. Honestly, the ability to use both hands at will is a big advantage, so it would be a shame to give up so soon, wouldn't it?"

I nodded and she hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“Or one to attack, one to defend. I think it would be good to decide and practice like this. Well, if you look at the schools that use double-handed weapons, most of them divide the purpose of the weapons in that way. And in that case, they usually use the longer weapon to attack, the shorter one to defend.”

“Like a rapier with a dagger?”

"Yes. Like that.”

She glanced at me and muttered.

“And this is my way, but… I have my own training method that is very effective for using both hands freely.”

… Do you want me to tell you?

At her words, I immediately nodded.

There was no reason to refuse.

“How do you do that?”

As if relieved by my positive reaction for a moment, Lee Yu-Na caught her breath, raised her fingers, and began to wiggle them in the air.

When I looked at her wondering what on earth she was doing, she looked strangely proud.

“Drawing a pentagon with one hand and a triangle with the other like this. If you keep changing the shapes, you will get used to using both hands separately, and it's also good for preventing dementia... .”

“…… .”

“…I really li, like it?”

She blushed slightly, perhaps taking my silence in a different way.

I had to immediately wave my hand and explain that I didn't keep my mouth shut in that sense.

She immediately continued her explanation with a relaxed expression.

“Anyway, starting by drawing shapes in the air like this, then writing letters, then going further and doing simple drawings… .”

Gruuuh. (Stomach rumbling)

“…… .”

“…… .”

At the moment the sound was heard, Lee Yu-Na stopped what she was saying and doing.

I also didn't say anything this time.

She immediately began to move her fingers again as if nothing had happened.

“It looks really funny, but it really works. Thanks to this training... .”

Gruuuuuh.

It was louder than before.

It was hard to say that I couldn't hear it now.

Lee Yu-Na gently lowered her hands, her face red.

Seeing her struck with embarrassment and shame, I asked quietly.

“… When Ye-Seul comes out, would you like to go eat together?”

She nodded without a word.

* * *

After the meal, I broke up with the two and started walking around the academy.

It was to collect things that had been forgotten in a corner of my memory and that I only now remembered.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if gathering them up would be of much help, but it was still better than nothing, so that was enough of a reason to sell my feet.

“Huu… .”

[The skill ‘Mirror of Counterattack’ has been newly acquired!]

[The skill ‘Rage’ has been newly acquired!]

[The skill ‘Counter’ has been newly acquired!]

[Successful skill combination!]

[Consuming the skills ‘Rage’ and ‘Counter’, the skill ‘Pain Sharing’ has been newly acquired!]

I sat alone in the common learning room, which I had never been to since my first visit, and looked at the notification windows as if savoring them.

Pain Sharing and Mirror of Counterattack.

Both were frequently used skills.

Mirror of Counterattack was a defensive skill that consumes mana to create a kind of mana shield.

The more mana you use, the harder and longer lasting your shield will be.

In addition, it was a very useful skill that not only could be used for defense, but also had the ability to return the opponent's attack in a small amount.

… The problem is that for me now, the lack of mana is a deep-rooted problem, so how much mana can be allocated in order to maintain this skill is key.

This was because the Mirror of Counterattack is a skill that consumed a fairly large amount of mana.

Still, I thought it would be okay, since I had acquired 'Serene Mind', a skill that solved the problem of mana shortage to some extent in the library before, and also could use the World Tree.

“And… .”

Pain Sharing.

As the name suggests, this was a pretty tough technique.

In return for being defenseless for a certain period of time, half of the shock received during that time is passed to the other party, and the other half is borne by me.

It was a skill that I normally would not have touched, but I thought it would be quite useful if I used it in combination with the King of Thorns, which was taken from Svengali, and Fortitude.

I always think about it, but the more hands I can use, the better.

“Hiya… .”

I stood up from my seat and checked the time as I stretched silently.

There was still quite a bit of free time left, so I thought it would be okay to do more chores.

‘Should I stop by the club?’

When I thought so, my steps were already facing that way.

In the case of the archery club, there was no need to stop by.

As she said to me, Lee Ye-Eun was so busy dealing with the aftermath that she even took a break from the academy.

… And I didn't want to go there for a while, when the story that I was actually a member of the World Tree clan and a relative of Lee Ye-Eun was spreading far and wide.

After all, there were quite a few followers of Lee Ye-Eun in the archery club, both male and female.

In the case of the Reading Club, it was a bit awkward because there was a case where we were kicked out for making a fuss, so what was left naturally was the alchemy club.

“…… .”

Come to think of it, there was still no news about Alice Blesbuck.

Even in the class, rumors slowly began to flow that something had happened to her and that she was in big trouble.

As she was a very important role in the original story, it was necessary to know her activities.

Given that Lydia has yet to find out, it was clear that she was involved in something troublesome.

‘Urea… So the Big Watch, or the Seven Evils. One of these two... .'

Both were suspicious enough that I couldn't draw definitive conclusions.

As the Red Case and the Thorns Cross were almost destroyed, the influence of Big Watch should naturally have become stronger.

Also, in the case of the Seven Evils, they would have been silent in the first place, but considering the actions of Ariman that have been confirmed so far, the possibility that he may have performed some kind of trick cannot be completely ruled out.

In the end, it was clear why I should stop by the alchemy club.

In any case, the person who could find out information about Alice Blesbuck the fastest and most certainly was Cass Lyle.

I hastened my steps a little more.