Episode 122: End of semester (3)
The training continued like that.
After directly witnessing Cheon Yeoul’s growth, I strangely felt a bit motivated myself.
I quickly stood up, fixed my posture, and sat down on the floor, slowly regulating my breathing.
‘Can’t afford to fall behind.’
Growth is good, but letting someone surpass me? That’s a problem.
No, actually, it’s not a problem—it’s just my pride.
It’s good that Cheon Yeoul is getting stronger. There’s no downside to that.
I began by rechecking the fundamentals of mana control.
With a deep breath, I slowly summoned mana, carefully guiding it with awareness down to the most subtle flows.
In this space, filled with divine energy, the flow of mana felt clearer than ever.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly, and steadily, I rebuilt the pathways.
After about five rounds of refining the channels, my whole body felt drained, like all strength had left me.
Handling mana is always a taxing process, and spreading it through the entire body only increases the burden—it was inevitable.
I flopped down on my back again.
And when I looked forward…
“Haa… haa…”
Cheon Yeoul was also lying down, gasping for breath.
She turned her head slightly in my direction.
Her face looked exhausted, but her eyes still had a slight upward curve at the corners.
We made eye contact like that.
“It’s almost vacation, huh?”
There was a subtle excitement mixed into her voice.
She wiped off her sweat and smiled playfully.
I slowly nodded.
“Yeah, it is.”
One semester had flown by in a blur.
A lot had happened, both inside and outside.
I smiled as I replied.
A short silence.
We both caught our breath as a brief moment passed.
Then Cheon Yeoul cautiously opened her mouth.
“Are you… going anywhere over the break? I’m totally free~”
I shook my head.
“Not really. I had plans, but they got canceled.”
At the moment, I didn’t have anything scheduled.
“Reeeally~?”
Cheon Yeoul stretched out the word playfully as she asked again.
I considered just asking her if she wanted to go somewhere now, but…
I still needed to check on Kang Arin, and also visit the place where Cheon Yeoul’s fragment was buried.
It was too early to make any promises.
“Reeaaally~?”
“…What?”
The ends of her words stretched out longer, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Tch. Never mind.”
Then she changed her expression and flopped back down again.
‘Good.’
At least I’d unintentionally confirmed that Cheon Yeoul’s vacation schedule was free.
That was enough for now.
***
Later that evening.
I took in the night air for the first time in a while and quietly opened my laptop at a café.
Ever since I enrolled, I hadn’t had much reason to use it,
But today I was organizing some serious information.
My purpose was clear.
I needed to track the remaining Fragments—excluding the ones I had already obtained—and determine their current locations and whether they could be acquired.
The Fragment buried in Baekdu Mountain had been relatively easy to retrieve,
But the rest needed more precise investigation.
First was Yu Hana’s Fragment of Order.
To put it simply—it was buried somewhere in China.
A rather ambiguous neutral zone, not owned by any nation,
A place where anyone could stake a claim if they held the rights to do so.
There were no complicated political entanglements,
And if the rights were properly secured, access wouldn’t be difficult.
In short, it wasn’t under Chinese national ownership.
That meant if I went there and tried hard enough, I could obtain it.
But Kang Arin and Cheon Yeoul were different.
Kang Arin’s Fragment of Nihility was in the Pentagon, USA.
No words were needed.
It wasn’t something that could be obtained easily.
At this stage, I had no available route to reach it. If there’s any chance at all, it’s only when it’s not during the research period.
If it’s not during a research period… then it might be somewhat accessible.
Cheon Yeoul’s Fragment of Desire.
That one is currently in the Vatican.
But the issue wasn’t just its location.
If the Fragment hadn’t yet been discovered, then the situation would be a bit more manageable.
“If…”
But if the Vatican’s clergy had already found it, then from that moment, approaching it would become significantly more complicated.
I didn’t yet have the fame or worth to sit at the negotiation table with the Vatican’s clergy.
After all, I was still a rookie.
Of course, if Cheon Yeoul from Arcadia were to act directly, things might become easier.
The Vatican serves a god who is in a sister deity relationship with the god Arcadia worships.
But even then, it would require a lot of time, explanations, and a complicated process.
So I needed to check on the situation for both.
First, the Vatican.
The Holy Grail.
If they hadn’t realized what they had found, then there had to be tourist reviews mentioning the Grail.
The Holy Grail is the very embodiment of the Fragment of Desire.
If they had realized this, there’s no way it would be left out in public view.
I searched for articles.
“There it is.”
It was there.
Tons of posts from tourists.
Every tourist had taken pictures from different angles, but the appearance of the golden Grail inside the glass case was clearly visible.
That was all I needed.
It meant they didn’t know yet.
The problem was, touching that glass case without the clergy’s permission could still be considered theft…
‘Doesn’t matter.’
The corners of my lips lifted slightly.
For Cheon Yeoul, all she needed to do was touch the Grail.
That alone would resolve everything instantly.
So, Fragment of Desire: cleared.
‘Next…’
I turned my focus to the Pentagon, in the United States.
I scoured portals, news articles, academic papers, and conference schedules—every possible route for information.
Kang Arin’s Fragment had immediately become a research asset upon discovery, and the U.S. had continued independent research and demonstrations based on it.
But the issue was that sometimes, the Pentagon enters a full lockdown period, during which all contact is suspended.
During that time, only core government and military researchers are allowed inside.
Even internal personnel must stay within designated research zones.
Needless to say, no one goes in or out, and it’s standard practice for researchers to completely cut off communication.
If the vacation overlaps with that period… then access is utterly impossible.
So I thoroughly searched through the SNS accounts of prominent researchers.
But—
> [Won’t be reachable for a while!]
> [Going dark. No inquiries, no DMs.]
> [Will return soon!]
All the tweets and blog posts of key researchers were filled with notifications about going silent.
“Ah…”
I let out a helpless sigh.
This wasn’t going to work.
Access was completely impossible.
“So in the end…”
It’ll have to be Cheon Yeoul this time.
I quietly whispered her name in my heart.
***
The last guild experience before the end of term.
There had been about five opportunities for hands-on experience so far, but I’d never actually been deployed.
That doesn’t mean the time was wasted. I’d gained a lot.
From the guild system, structured training rooms—there were plenty of things to learn.
Some of it might even be useful to implement in Vanquisher.
Today was the final day of the program.
As per tradition, the final day involved a sparring match with actual guild members.
Thanks to that, everyone had gathered in the gymnasium with rather reluctant expressions.
All participants were wearing skin-tight suits.
These tactical suits measured the intensity of hits to determine the winner of the sparring match.
I was no exception—I was wearing one too.
For reference, I sparred against Team 2’s leader, Jung Tae-gon, of Team Maengho (Tiger).
“Hahaha! I thought today’s students would be weaklings, but you’re different!”
Even after the match ended, Jung Tae-gon wouldn’t leave my side.
The shoulder he struck still ached.
“Ah, yes.”
I gave a half-hearted smile and responded casually.
But my eyes were already fixed on the next matchup.
Up next was Kang Arin.
Her opponent was the youngest member of Team 6, Serpent.
“Watch closely.”
As Kang Arin walked to the stage for the sparring match, she spoke to me with a confident smile.
“Yeah, I’ll watch closely.”
I planned to watch very closely.
Her opponent was a professional hero, so they’d naturally be strong, but this was also a great opportunity to see how much Kang Arin had grown recently.
Kang Arin had clear indicators of her progress.
Her most distinct marker was:
‘Body Reinforcement Qi.’
The pinnacle of mana control.
It required not just delicate mana manipulation, but also an enormous mana capacity.
She would refine that energy and cloak her body with it.
And eventually, she would wield Body Reinforcement Qi as a weapon with extreme mastery.
Of course, she didn’t need to cover her whole body just yet.
Even her fist was enough.
That’s where it all began.
I took a quiet breath and fixed my eyes on the two standing in the ring.
It would be tough. In terms of difficulty, it surpassed even Cheon Yeoul’s dual casting.
So I tried not to expect too much.
Then, just as the match began, Kang Arin closed her eyes.
“Huh…?”
I immediately had to scrap my earlier evaluation.
—Sssssssshhhk.
In the next moment, a dark crimson aura erupted around Kang Arin.
Refined mana condensed tightly around her fist.
Gasps and murmurs of awe rippled through the audience.
Even the professional hero looked startled, instinctively taking a step back.
Kang Arin was boldly knocking on the door of a high-level realm.
And then—suddenly.
—Boom!
Kang Arin pulled her energy inward, then instantly charged forward toward her opponent.
The opponent flinched, trying to counter, but Kang Arin was faster.
—Crash!
With a crisp sound, her fist struck cleanly into the opponent’s abdomen.
—BEEEEEEEEP.
A piercing alarm echoed across the arena.
The tactical suit had registered the hit, and the result of the match was clearly declared.
Kang Arin turned away from her opponent and walked slowly toward the spectator stands.
Then, she looked straight at me and flashed a playful smile.
Anyone could tell just how much effort and confidence was behind that smile.
And yet, even as I looked at her smile, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret.
‘It’s a shame.’
No matter how much Kang Arin grew...
A trip to America was still impossible.
All I could do was watch her growth from here.
With a bitter curve at the edge of my lips, I waved my hand.
That was the only response I could offer to Kang Arin’s smile.
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