Mihailov quietly joined the group that was having the conversation and listened.
Although Yu Jitae wasn’t interested in the conversation of worthless unknowns, he was a little bit intrigued in the movements of Mihailov, whom he had some connection with. It was like a dog he knew in town walking up to a group of bugs.
Turning his head, Yu Jitae looked at them.
“Should I make another prediction?”
“What is it now.”
“Cadet Kaeul will not be able to become one of the five transcendent cadets.”
He was a nameless male guardian of a nameless household. However, the Regressor looked at the face of the ‘woman’ hidden under the fake mask.
It was a familiar face. Reflecting on it, he remembered who she was. She was a member of the ‘Brzenk’ family, guardian of Tyr Brzenk the son of the world’s Rank 1, Oscar Brzenk.
At the same time, she was Oscar Brzenk’s younger sister.
Her name was Kitty Brzenk – also referred to as the Sorceress of Brzenk.
She was a powerhouse ranked 129th worldwide. From what he remembered, she was meeting people here and there with a virtual identity under the approval of the education department of Lair.
The Brzenk Family was the only household whose name value exceeded that of the Yu household. And unlike the Yu household which suddenly rose to fame, they were affiliated with the Association and their contact with the masses was severely restricted for the maintenance of a unique and mysterious face. Thus, Tyr Brzenk was also one of the cadets but had almost never stood in front of a large crowd.
It seemed that there were people from the Brzenk Family that were itching to move.
“I know the Yu household is great but Cadet Kaeul can’t be that strong, alright? Geez, none of you just have the eye for it.”
An example would be that woman pretending to be a man.
“Haigo, what a wacky person…”
“I don’t care so can you just go away?”
The guardians shook their hands off and expressed their disgust but the attention seeker wearing the mask of a man stimulated them further by laughing.
“I’m not saying this without any proof. It was my first time seeing a cadet whose mana splattered like that. You know, it’s to the point that the mana would erupt even before she could form a fireball in her hand.”
“Ah. How can you be so certain like that? Maybe she’s not a mage.”
“No. Cadet Kaeul’s manipulation over mana is so unnatural and it has exceeded the norms. What meaning would her position ever have when her control over mana is that low? Front guard, sharpshooter, healer – she won’t be able to do anything.”
‘His’ words weren’t wrong.
Kaeul’s control over mana was unnatural. It did exceed the norms. If compared to water, it was like a water bomb splattering to all sides.
But as for the reason behind all that, the person was clueless.
Power has an endogenous origin and before being released, it cannot be clearly discerned. Even Yu Jitae had just noticed it recently so how would a mere Rank 129 be able to see through it?
The water was splattering only because there was a broken dam.
The atmosphere wasn’t that positive. The guardians who had already turned their ears off decided to not give any more food for the madman.
“Are you silent because you cannot say anything back?”
Despite that, he continued.
“My words are true, are they not?”
“Can you please just stop.”
“Why?”
“The guardian from Yu household is also here, isn’t he.”
“Did I say anything bad or criticise someone? What’s wrong with a healthy discussion on power?”
The person’s thought process was probably like the following. As a member of the Brzenk Family, she had some rivalry mindset with the Yu household. Despite that, Tyr Brzenk wasn’t even allowed to participate in events while Yu Yeorum was increasingly spreading her fame. It was probably an eyesore for her.
And there appeared a secret which inferior, average guardians of this place cannot see through – a secret only the truly strong ones can discover. The fact that Kaeul was weak. She was the only one aware of it so there would be a conflict if someone happens to refute her and in the end when everything is revealed, she would feel joy from it.
Lack of attention was effective. Kitty Brzenk was about to lose interest and walk away but it was then.
“Oi. Young man over there.”
A man’s voice gathered the eyes of everyone in the room. The man with an especially large body, Mihailov, opened his mouth.
Someone finally took the bait. Intrigue appeared on the fake face of Kitty Brzenk.
“What is it?”
“Your mouth is quite the free one is it not?”
“I’m speaking with my own mouth. Any problems?”
“The problem is that my ears didn’t want to hear them.”
“Haha. So what?”
“What?”
“Who even are you? Do I have to humour you in some way?”
“Of course. Because if you don’t, something unpleasant will happen to you.”
Kuung–
The air fluctuated and vibrated as killing intent bounced from Mihailov’s eyes. But immediately afterwards, Mihailov realised that something was off. The killing intent he emitted was enough to oppress the dimension and squeeze it but the young man in front of him was receiving it with extreme ease.
“Did you do something just then?”
The man’s crooked sneer infuriated Mihailov even more.
“You. Come outside for a bit.”
When Mihailov suddenly started walking up to him, the guardians nearby stood up and blocked him.
“Oho. What’s gotten into you!”
“Calm down, Mihailov.”
“It doesn’t even concern you, does it.”
Suppressing the anger, Mihailov opened his mouth.
“From the days past, fists have been great teachers. Whether it concerns me or not, an impudent bastard has to be bashed otherwise they won’t listen.”
Kitty Brzenk asked back with a smile.
“If you want to, well, how about a bet?”
“A bet?”
“No more no less. How about one flick on the forehead. On whether Cadet Kaeul can finish the test or not.”
Seemingly dumbfounded, Mihailov raised his hand and scratched his forehead.
“It’s not even whether she can become one of the five transcendent cadets. Are you scared?”
He placed his middle finger behind his thumb and repeatedly flicked it.
“I’ve seen many superhumans till now but I’ve yet to see someone with a loose mouth like you live long enough.”
“Good on you I guess? A retired bear old and sick still has a mouth as heavy as an active Soviet.”
“You damn scum…”
Kitty Brzenk insulted Russian soldiers by calling them Soviets, and also touched his pride as a retired soldier. Mihailov had to hold in the urge to run up and crush his neck.
“What. You wanna hit someone? Then how about changing the bet. A slap for the winner.”
Once his rage exceeded its ceiling, it instead cooled rapidly. Mihailov replied with a low voice.
“I’ll need a finger at the very least.”
“Then what about a wrist.”
“Wrist is good. More importantly the loser quits being a guardian. How is that.”
Right now, Mihailov was being very irrational.
Quitting the guardian position referred to leaving Lair. Mihailov was planning to chase after the young man as soon as he left Lair and kill him.
“What a crazy old bear…”
“What. Are you scared? Vow before everyone here.”
“Good. Let’s do it. Do not regret it.”
The onlooking guardians blinked their eyes in puzzlement but that was the end of the fuss.
[No.5-2, Cadet [Yu Kaeul]]
[Starting in 5 minutes]
A sentence marking the start of the exam appeared on the hologram screen.
*
The hunting dog of the Soviet Union, who would have charged in no matter the opponent and location in the past, gained patience with age.
However, it seemed that 5 years wasn’t enough for him to control his rage. Once he settled down his mood while smoking outside the building, Mihailov realised that he had been angry for no reason.
“Hello?”
“What.”
He was calming himself down with a cigarette when Yu Yeorum walked towards him.
“Ahjussi. You looked like an actual madman there.”
“Young cadets should go back inside.”
“Fu*k. What.”
Yeorum placed a cigarette in her mouth and lit it on fire.
“Good job. I felt a lot better myself.”
“…”
“It should be fine. Our guardian will take care of it.”
“…”
Mihailov opened his mouth after a long contemplation.
“Cadet Kaeul. Is she strong?”
His question was short.
Did he butt in without even knowing that? Yeorum was dumbfounded.
The sigh of the retired soldier was visibly long and deep.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“What? I’m not joking around right now. Cadet Yeorum.”
“I actually don’t know. I’m serious. She learned magic at a place I couldn’t see. I’ve never seen it before and I’m also curious.”
Mihailov blinked his eyes.
“A, are you serious?”
“Nn. But she is definitely strong.”
“Based on what?”
“Because she’s…”
A dragon. No matter what, Yeorum couldn’t say that so she looked for the right word to reply with.
“… my sister? Haha.”
Those were credible words indeed.
It was so trustworthy that he could stand guarantee for her. It was a little bit more credible than how his uncle had asked for business funds 40 years ago.
“…”
His two nostrils gave off a gush of smoke like the chimneys of a factory.
***
“She’s on.”
The camera focused on Yu Kaeul as the eyes of the guardians all gathered on the hologram display. The camera and mic picked up the situation.
“Sir?”
He wouldn’t be this anxious even if it was Sophia taking the test. Like a restless person who had held their piss in for 7 hours, Mihailov glared at the display before shooting out of his seat.
“Good luck Yu Kaeul–!”
When he powerfully shouted out loud, the cadets of RIL also shouted out, “Uahh–!” and “Good luck!”. The people that were unaware of what was happening were startled but naturally, all these sounds would not be heard by Kaeul who was on the other side of the screen.
Yu Jitae was silently staring at Yeorum who had returned to his side.
Something might have happened but she was in a good mood for some reason.
“You know, is she a lot stronger now?”
“Like I said, she is.”
“I hope she does well.”
Her vigilance had disappeared although a little. With an excited look on her face, she stared at the display.
[Exam start]
Light entered the necklace that Kaeul was wearing.
It was a valley-shaped dungeon – a simple man-made dungeon that consisted of a straight line path through the narrow and risky mountain slopes.
The background of the situation was like this.
There was a village at the end of this dungeon that had been attacked by monsters. In order to save the survivors, a raid group had been formed but they failed after a clash with the boss and a few of the members were already lost.
There was only one survivor in the wild but if they weren’t saved in 10 minutes, they would die. That was why there was an image of an electric timer above Kaeul’s head.
[10:00]
Soon, her watch rang.
– ATT headquarters. Rescue op superhumans on standby, copy.
“Copy that. On standby.”
Kaeul calmly replied.
‘Hoh? She’s calm,’ said someone in the room who knew how she usually acted. However, in Yu Jitae’s eyes, Kaeul inside the display looked somewhat absentminded.
– Begin the rescue operation.
“Copy that.”
[09:59] The time immediately started ticking as Kaeul ran forth.
The first section – 50 metres till the ridge. She simply had to run up the rocky slope with nothing else.
“Run!”, “Let’s goo!” People cheered for her inside the room. However, when Kaeul during her sprint bumped into a rock and fell on the ground, the cheers immediately turned into “Aht!”, “Oh no…” and the atmosphere quickly died.
Yeorum giggled and laughed while Mihailov’s expression turned dark.
“Aigo. An unfortunate start~”
Kitty Brzenk said as if it was a shame but no-one replied.
Standing back on her two feet, Kaeul took a deep breath in and out before running again. This time, it was stable. Her feet traversed across the increasing height of the rocky slope with light and long strides.
By the time she reached the end of the 50 metre section, there was a large wall stopping her at the end of the ridge. It was a man-made structure roughly 10 metres in height, created to stop the hordes of monsters from attacking them.
In just one stride, Kaeul jumped over the rocky wall.
“Ohhh!”
“Her feet are very light!”
Any superhuman physically trained could easily jump over 10 metres but not that easily as if they were simply walking. They had to contract and relax the muscles and accurately add mana to them.
So what Kaeul did just then required a lot of physical talent and understanding. Is she a front guard or a fighter then? Some of the onlookers thought that.
“It’s possible…”
Mihailov closed his fists.
The next section was a vast land with swords and broken spears stabbed on the ground. They were the weapons of the dead ones, placed to mourn for those who had been sacrificed during the raid.
She simply had to bow her head a little and walk past it. However, Kaeul stopped in front of each and every weapon and bowed to show respect.
“Ah…”
“Why would she…”
“Like, what is she…!”
People gasped and lamented at the sight with the biggest one coming from Mihailov’s mouth.
Actually, that was the basic etiquette of superhumans but this was a test was it not? Is she doing that despite knowing the fact that it is a time attack?
“Ah.”
That was when Bom let out a faint gasp.
“What,” Yu Jitae asked.
“I think I made a mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told her to just follow what she learned…”
Saying that, she tucked her hair behind her ear. It seemed that Kaeul was doing it the OG way following what she actually learned during the lessons in the past.
“Might be late but should I at least tell her now? To do it more efficiently?”
“No. It’s fine. Leave her.”
“Why?”
Yu Jitae looked at Kaeul over the display. Although he was physically distanced from her, he could still talk to her as long as he wanted to but he didn’t.
Ever since she began learning combat magic, she had never done anything on her own accord.
Kaeul wasn’t a fool. The moment she heard it was a test, she should know better than anyone what would give her good grades for the test.
The reason Kaeul was doing what she was doing despite knowing that was because that was what she wanted to do. This might be the first step into her gaining her independence and identity.
Thus, he decided to quietly watch over it even when Kaeul continued doing bizarre things. Kaeul, after bowing her head and showing her respect, suddenly began taking the weapons out and carrying them.
Others would have dashed miles ahead already but despite that, she ran only after carrying all the weapons under her left arm. The onlookers gasped once again.
“Ahh, aigo.”
“That’s… why exactly is she doing that?”
“I cannot understand. It’s a little bit hard to watch even…”
When the heavy weapons shook, her body did too. What was waiting for her next was a 60 metre gap between two cliffs. Not only that, there was a strong gale surrounding the cliffs.
From the list of items given to the members was an artifact that allowed people to create floating bridges. Only 5 were given so every 12 metres, they had to throw one and create a floating bridge, while carefully crossing it and avoiding the wind.
“…”
At this point, Mihailov clicked on the RIL group saved on his contacts and went through the list.
Who would be a good successor? He wondered.
“Mihailov.”
That was when a voice he did not want to hear put an end to his thoughts. It was Kitty Brzenk with the mask of a man.
When Mihailov silently turned towards her, Kitty Brzenk smirked.
“Kneel and apologise right now. Then I will let you keep your wrist.”
She then giggled. Seeing that face, Mihailov couldn’t withstand the desire to kill and couldn’t care any less about the bet.
It was when he brought his hand to the dagger on his waist.
“Huh?”
Someone doubtfully raised their voice.
Naturally, the eyes of both Kitty Brzenk and Mihailov headed to the large hologram display.
Kaeul was on the other side of the 60-metre gap already.
She continued running.
Afterimages of her mana, shockingly clean and sharp, scattered behind her feet. More importantly, it was such a long-distance dimensional movement that it did not make any sense.
For cadets, no matter how great they were at it, ‘that spell’ had a 15 metre distance limit so the onlookers couldn’t immediately tell what it was and were dazed.
“Huh? What was that just then? Blink…?”
“Blink? That was blink? That was more than 60 metres?!”
The atmosphere flipped immediately.