Chapter 228: Change of Seasons (4)
The boom mic approached them. The cameraman filming the room did not forget his role even in this surprising situation and filmed the faces of the dumbfounded guardians and cadets.
“It doesn’t make sense…”
One of the guardians who had grown up as a mage said that.
“Surely it’s a different spell and not blink?”
Only the footage and sound were sent over the display so they had to make a guess with just that.
“A different spell? You think there are tonnes of dimensional spells or something?”
“Sure there’s not that many, but there are some right?”
“Like what? There’s only things like zeta-blink, dimensional displacement and interdimensional gates. At a cadet level, even if they used those three spells in a row, they shouldn’t be able to cover 60 metres in a short period of time.”
“Well that’s true, but she’s from the Yu household, isn’t she?”
The listeners closed their mouths. The name Yu household was strangely enough to clear most of their doubts.
“A unique spell of the Yu household. Is that what you’re saying?”
“That is probably the case…”
The eyes turned back towards the display filled with intrigue, and with a different objective. If Yu Kaeul was a mage, they might be able to see a bit more of Yu household’s unique spells.
Inside the screen,
A crossroad appeared before Kaeul as she stopped sprinting.
Opening her watch, Kaeul looked at the given map. The left road led to a high mountain slope that had to be climbed and both monsters and traps were waiting there. Meanwhile, the right side connected to a very narrow side road on the side of a cliff.
Standing before the crossroad, Kaeul looked at the front and the bottom of the cliff. The side road was so narrow that Kaeul would fall if she were to stand straight on it and a bottomless pit was under the cliff. There was still a strong gust of wind surrounding the cliffs and there were also several bird-type monsters in the distance.
If she were to cross the dimensions with magic, it would give off a dense pulse of mana that makes her the target of the flying monsters.
The bigger issue here was that Kaeul was still carrying the large weapons under her left arm. She was short already so the greatswords and broken spears appeared all the more large.
“Aohh! What are you even thinking about? Just chuck all those things away and go down the narrow path!”
Yeorum furiously erupted. However, unlike what she wanted, Kaeul carefully hugged the weapons with her two hands and started walking down the narrow path with her back towards the cliff. Her blonde hair neatly tied up in a bun swept past the rocky cliff like a broomstick.
“Like, why the heck is she doing that?”
“I think she’s trying to walk until she’s outside the flying monsters’ territory and blink from there.”
Bom replied.
“Like I said, why? If she’s a mage, she can just kill them first.”
This time, Bom didn’t reply as she too couldn’t understand what Kaeul was doing. However, Yu Jitae had told her to leave her alone and there must be a reason he said that.
Soon, Kaeul was met with a precarious situation. From the other side of the narrow path – from behind the slight curve of the cliff-side, a zombie reared its head.
“Ah. That’s gonna be dangerous,” said a guardian who had worked for 30 years as an operator.
“Dangerous?”
“That’s an infected zombie. It’s the type that explodes when it’s killed.”
“Ah, you’re right.”
There were blue speckles all around the zombie’s body. It was a common enemy in the battlefield.
“Normally people would try to make the zombie drop but that thing happens to be a variant that lives on the cliff. The bones on its feet and ankles look like spikes.”
“Right. They do look like the spikes of crampons… they wouldn’t fall that easily then.”
“It’s going to be difficult to either kill or have enough force to drop the zombie from a long range without exploding it. She would have to either fight close-combat or explode the ground, but the variant gives off infectious liquid when it explodes and she won’t be able to move if she explodes the ground so…”
“Then the only way out would be to jump over it without touching it right? Since the zombie moves very slowly.”
The guardians nodded.
“So it’s just a moving obstacle in a narrow space that needs to be jumped over while keeping their balance.”
“When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound that hard though?”
However, the operator guardian shook his head.
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Sorry?”
“Why would there be an infected zombie on the side of a cliff?”
“Well, it’s a man-made dungeon so someone must have put it there right…? Wait, huh…?”
The guardian muttered in enlightenment.
“That’s the problem.”
Unlike other educational facilities, Lair’s virtual dungeons were known for imitating natural dungeons 100%.
“It wasn’t put there by humans.”
*
By the time Kaeul was half way through the narrow walkway on the side of the cliff, the camera distanced away and displayed the full picture.
Further down the walls of the cliff, a large chameleon-looking monster was stuck on the wall waiting for its prey after setting the zombie up as bait. Feeling the vibrations of the wall, its eyes rolled left and right as it waited on.
“Uhh, fuc*…”
Yeorum’s expression also darkened. The chameleon was as big as an elephant and looked like shit. It by no means looked like a weak monster.
If Kaeul exploded the zombie, her path would be blocked by the infectious liquid. However, if she simply jumped over it, she would feel the pressure of being chased by the zombie behind her while the chameleon monster would attack her from the front.
Even if she survived the attack, it was highly likely that she would fall off of this narrow ledge. Since she was still within the territory of the flying monsters, she couldn’t blink forward and the best option for her would be to blink back to the crossroad.
All that while carrying all those weapons…
[6:01]
However, there wasn’t much time remaining on the clock. If she were to go back to the crossroad, it would be difficult for her to finish the test.
Stopping on the spot, Kaeul pondered and hesitated while the zombie walked up to her.
“What are you going to do…?”
The solution Kaeul came up with was the most rational and simple solution. However, it was a solution that a cadet other than Kaeul could never even dare try.
Click – Kaeul clicked her fingers.
“Nn?”
“Huh?”
“Uh. Huh…?”
Once again, the onlookers doubted their eyes.
The zombie was covered in light before appearing further down the narrow pathway.
It was blink – Kaeul had teleported the zombie.
“What is that!?”
“How in the world did she do that? Huh? Nn?”
“An object would be crazy enough already. A zombie…!”
Their mutters were closer to horror at this point.
Mana was the manifestation of will. Unlike other organisms, zombies had weaker wills. If one wanted to, it was possible to fold the dimension and move it somewhere else like other objects.
Well, that was only the case for world rankers in 4 digits at the very least.
They were shocked.
Meanwhile, the chameleon monster that was acutely sensing the situation with vibration mistook the thing that suddenly appeared before it as its prey. The light caused by blink served as a smokescreen. Quickly, the chameleon stuck its tongue out and pulled in the thing that was surrounded by light.
However, it realised that something was off the moment it placed it into its mouth.
Uwekk!
The monster hurriedly spit it out but its tongue was already covered with bluish liquid. The chameleon who was careful and cautious enough to use bait immediately ran away in fright. Thus, Kaeul easily walked down the narrow path and crossed the section.
“How much time left now?”
“5 minutes and 32 seconds. She’s fast.”
“The average time left for transcendent cadets last year after that section was 5 minutes and 37 seconds right? She’s almost the same.”
While the guardians and cadets were watching the sudden turn of events with intrigue, Mihailov turned towards Kitty Brzenk.
The man was wearing quite the look on his face, as if a set of dominos he had laboriously built up had come crumbling down. Looking at the man’s face, Mihailov still felt irritated but at the same time, he wanted to see that face crumpling to an even worse frown.
“I can’t see the little dog that was barking till now. Ahh, can you see it?”
“…”
Hoh? He glared back. It seemed that his stupid ego was quite hurt.
“Or did someone sew the mouth of that dog? It was so noisy; I’m sure it must have been hard.”
Mihailov laughed heartily. What was the thing he needed the most on such a happy occasion? The retired Russian soldier could dare say that it was vodka.
Taking out a pocket-sized bottle of vodka from his pocket, he dumped it inside his mouth. The burning feeling in his throat felt rather refreshing.
Meanwhile,
Kitty Brzenk found it hard to control her temper. Children born and raised in the Brzenk Family were always very bored. It was frustrating since they couldn’t show anything despite having a lot of things.
She had gotten hold of a fake identity with difficulty and because she had to care for Tyr Brzenk, she couldn’t stay in this form for long. This superhuman in her 40’s wanted to enjoy her pastime activities with more density.
That was when she came across something entertaining. It was rare so she had wanted to kindle the fire a bit but it was now her that was being insulted instead.
“Kik kik kik.”
And why the hell was that redhead giggling like a fool?
It wasn’t just the redhead. All the superhumans that had been annoying her were laughing in secret with their heads turned away from her.
Kitty Brzenk was ranked in the 100’s, and was a superhuman that would be treated like a VIP wherever she went. Mere insects that would not dare look into her eyes outside laughing at her like this was very difficult for her to bear with. Even if it was because of her own mistake, she did not feel ashamed for that misjudgment.
It was because she was a ‘Brzenk’.
“Hmm. Alcohol tends to taste better with the right scenery. What do you think; do you think today is a good day for some alcohol?”
Mihailov was churning her insides in real time with a smile.
“Look. It’s still not the end of the test yet. Mihailov. Stop your disrespectful words and watch the display.”
“Were you not doing the same? You were the one judging Cadet Kaeul before she even used her magic and yet you are calling me disrespectful now. You should reflect on your own attitude.”
“Mihailov… I see you are a very talkative person.”
“What. I’m speaking with my own mouth. Are there any problems?”
This time, Mihailov copied the same words that Kitty Brzenk had used. But that was when something interesting entered the sight of Kitty Brzenk.
“Right. Now I get it… You better put that bottle away right now.”
“You’re trying to say something strange again. Vrrroong vvrrroong. Your noisy mouth might need some repairs.”
“Shut it. I am probably correct. Cadet Yu Kaeul is only a blink mage. She must be unable to use other spells.”
“What?”
“Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. A cadet outputting that much mana? And using dimensional movement spells in a row like that?”
As if she had found an escape route, Kitty Brzenk’s voice turned brighter.
“Then she won’t be able to finish the test. Because there is an opponent that must be fought.”
Hearing that, the smiles vanished from the faces of the listeners. In fact, the mages that had been watching the test so far had been carrying similar doubts. Going through several sections, Yu Kaeul had only been using blink.
Even now was the same.
After passing the cliff, when she met 3 monsters blocking the road, Kaeul avoided them with blink and also when she was inside the underground cave that was full of traps, Kaeul jumped past it with blink.
At this point, people were made to have the same doubt as Kitty Brzenk.
Perhaps,
Perhaps there was just an extremely efficient blink spell unique to the Yu household? If the ability Cadet Yu Kaeul was enlightened to was a blessing related to dimensional movement on top of that, even this incomprehensible situation can be understood.
Of course, that alone would be amazing.
It was amazing, but their hearts that had been expecting something even greater were starting to be cut down. Inside the waiting room that had strangely turned quiet, Kitty Brzenk’s voice represented their doubts.
“Look. Even here, she won’t try to use combat magic.”
Standing at the front of the only entrance to the ruined village was a large monster. With a height reaching 3.7 metres and a hairy and muscular humanoid body, it had the head of a bull.
A+ ranked humanoid monster, Minotaur.
A mid-boss level monster that physically exceeded an ogre with its crazy reflexes. It was not an opponent that could be defeated by a cadet. They needed at least a 4-digit superhuman to defeat it.
However, the minotaur inside the virtual dungeon had a suppressor shaped like a nose ring going through its nostrils. This Level 2 artifact was one that greatly weakened the beast.
Therefore, if the cadet could drive one accurate blow to its nose ring, the monster would be dazed for a short period of time.
“It cannot be dodged with blink. Because it’s fast.”
As soon as Kitty Brzenk finished her words, the minotaur found Kaeul.
Kaeul was by no means moving stealthily and that was what gave her away. To monsters, humans were their enemies. The moment it discovered an enemy off in the distance, the minotaur bent its body in an upside-down ‘L’ shape. Its thighs as thick as building pillars built up power and each one of its muscles contracted as it lowered its shoulders. Soon, the thighs with unprecedented force behind it kicked off the ground as the monster dashed towards Kaeul.
Kung, kung, kung, kung, kung–!
The minotaur sprinted through the dimension with a vigour like that of a tank. Even castle walls would not be enough to hold back its march.
“She has to fight it. What is she going to do now? Drop a piece of stone from above or something?”
The maximum distance of 60 metres that had been previously shown with the blink would serve as nothing more than a 2-second time frame against that monster.
The minotaur that had been as tiny as a fingernail in the distance was now as big as a house. It would be an instant death the moment it drove into her.
Kaeul’s body and her height of 158 centimetres that was already smaller than others appeared even smaller.
That was when a crack appeared in the excitedly chattering face of Kitty Brzenk.
At a frighteningly rapid speed, mana was [condensed].
Kaeul reached her right hand out as mana gathered into a golden dot. It was ever so tiny but everyone could see beyond the screen the unnaturally dense ball of mana.
Soon, when the formulae of [penetration] and [speed] were added to the [condensed] and [focused] mana.
The dimension with a 3 metre radius away from her right hand started being crushed and pushed back.
The minotaur’s head closed in.
And,
Tuung—
As if the world itself had been suppressing it, like the crumbling of a dam and like a volcanic eruption, an indescribably immense flood of mana was shot as a ray of light.
It penetrated through the head of the minotaur and exterminated its upper body. The ray of light did not lose its force even after that and drew a clean cylinder as it flew off and cut a portion of the distant mountain.
Even though their eyes had seen it, they could not believe it. It was the same for all of them.
When Kaeul’s magic talent was finally proven,
The waiting room was filled with screams and yells of shock and fear.