Chapter 107
Chapter 107. Training (2)
The training led by Instructor Lee Soo-ji of Hero Academy continued for over an hour.
Under his instruction, the heroes had to hit their targets without even a moment’s rest.
“Ugh, ugh….”
“Haah….”
“I can’t take it anymore…!”
An hour and ten minutes into the training, some participants declared they were giving up, having exhausted both stamina and mana.
“Alright. Go take a rest.”
Lee Soo-ji sent them to the back.
“I’ll stop here too.”
“Me too!”
The number of those declaring defeat gradually increased.
And before an hour and thirty minutes had passed, more than 25 out of 35 had declared their intent to quit and retreated.
‘What on earth is this?’
‘Aren’t we supposed to be training?’
‘Don’t those guys ever get tired…?’
Those who had backed away held grievances inside.
What was the point of this training without any detailed explanations?
And the same could be said for those who remained in their spots.
Eventually, someone unable to contain their curiosity spoke up.
“Instructor, how long are we supposed to shoot?”
“Until I instruct you to stop.”
“…….”
“The ones who backed away can rest as they like.”
At Lee Soo-ji’s words, the heroes sitting comfortably began fiddling with their mobile phones.
She cast a glance at them before turning her focus back to the heroes still training.
‘Maybe about ten of them are worth something?’
Heroes with not only basic stamina and mana but also tenacity that wouldn’t let them easily give up.
Lee Soo-ji assessed the remaining heroes in such a manner.
This evaluation and training were initiated from a desire to gauge the level of the heroes to be taught.
She had preemptively informed the Hero Academy side that they would be filtering out talents in this manner.
‘Not too bad.’
The individuals meeting Lee Soo-ji’s criteria numbered 10 out of the total 35.
If there were only five, she might have deemed it a success.
Yet, there were more resolute heroes than she had anticipated.
‘Especially that girl…’
Lee Soo-ji’s gaze slightly shifted to the right.
There was a hero standing unwaveringly at the far right corner, hitting targets without showing a hint of fatigue.
‘Something feels different.’
She was quite distinct from the others who were either twisting their bodies in exhaustion or sweating profusely.
Even while continuously hitting targets, she seemed unfazed by tiredness.
The arrows generated in her hands were consistent in shape from the start, and her overall accuracy was impressive.
Lee Soo-ji took out a document she had kept in her possession to check her details.
‘Min Yu-ri from the Sweet Fun Guild, Yoo Ji-han’s party.’
Unlike the other members belonging to large guilds, she was a hero affiliated with a very small guild.
Moreover, it was noted as a special characteristic that she carried around a massive pet as a Tamer.
‘So that’s what you’d call a rookie.’
Lee Soo-ji marked a star next to the names of the heroes still seated.
It signified that she was a noteworthy talent even among the third class of Hero Academy.
And after two hours and ten minutes had passed.
The last three remaining included Min Yu-ri.
“That’s it! Everyone did a great job.”
“Hah….”
“Ugh….”
Upon completion of the training, two of them bowed their heads to the ground, groaning.
In contrast, Min Yu-ri, who rose from her spot, wiped a single bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and immediately proceeded to stretch.
‘She still has that kind of composure left.’
Seeing her like that, Lee Soo-ji clicked her tongue inwardly.
The two heroes sprawled on the ground were quite capable as well.
However, she had the highest expectations for Min Yu-ri, whom she was seeing for the first time today.
‘There’s a formidable character in this year’s Hero Academy.’
Another star was added next to Min Yu-ri’s name in the documents.
*
The mages of the third class of Hero Academy were following their instructors, heading somewhere before training.
After a 15-minute car ride and a 5-minute walk from the Hero Academy Building, they arrived in front of a large square-shaped building.
In front of them stood a massive door wide enough for eight people to pass through at once, and the instructor opened his mouth.
“This is an auditorium made for special purposes. The inner walls and the filler materials are all made of magic-resistant materials, and the entire building is layered with hundreds of coatings of mana prepared by experts. It’s said to be almost identical to what’s used to reinforce the Blue House.”
Creak—
As the instructor finished his explanation, the huge door swung open wide.
The heroes slowly entered inside.
“Wow….”
“Awesome.”
As soon as they crossed the threshold, some heroes gasped in awe.
Jung Young-wook from the Dice Guild and Kim Si-hu from Sweet Fun were among them.
They understood in real time how much effort had gone into constructing this space.
‘This must cost a fortune.’
Kim Si-hu fretted about the rental fee for the auditorium.
Given that it was similar to what was used in the presidential office, the charges were expected to be astronomical.
In fact, Hero Academy had spent over 10 million won per hour renting this place today.
There was simply no better venue than this for using various magics.
“You can unleash powerful magic toward the building as much as you want here. But be careful; it could bounce off the walls and hit someone else.”
“The first training will progress as discussed earlier, pairing up into groups of two.”
The mages moved toward their pre-assigned partners.
Kim Si-hu stood next to his partner, Jung Young-wook.
“I’m glad it’s you.”
“Really?”
“Everyone else already has partners.”
Kim Si-hu felt grateful to Jung Young-wook for being the first to invited him to train together.
His other classmates displayed subtle signs of avoidance towards him.
He had already heard from Yoo Ji-han that strange rumors were circulating among the classmates, but he couldn’t say for sure that was the reason.
“I’ll show you a demonstration.”
The instructor extended his staff forward.
Slowly, mana began to flow out from the tip of the staff.
He was extracting mana that looked like the thin threads emitted by a spider.
It moved slowly toward the front.
Swoosh—
A different instructor, standing at a distance across from him, showcased a similar form of mana.
It was a scene where two Rank 2 mages were pulling threads of mana together.
The two threads advanced to meet at a midpoint.
“Next.”
The two threads that had been moving wriggled together.
It formed the shape of a knot.
Soon, a simple ribbon-shaped knot was born at the midpoint.
“This next part is important.”
The instructors each increased the intensity of the flowing mana with their staffs.
As a result, the thickness of the threads grew, and the size of the knot expanded.
The thickness of the threads stopped growing only when they reached about the size of a human head.
“This is the process by which the mana produced by two mages intertwines. At this time, the balance of power must be maintained evenly. If one side becomes too strong, the thread will break.”
“Don’t worry about the shape of the knot; just try to maintain it in its tied state for as long as possible. This will greatly aid in handling mana.”
Making mana as thin, long threads.
Using that thread to tie a knot with another’s thread.
And gradually increasing the thickness of the tied thread.
Every action the instructors demonstrated was training that could help the mages.
“Everyone, prepare.”
Following the instructions, the mages pulled out their weapons.
Some pulled out small staffs that were less than 15cm.
Others pulled out staffs that were as tall as they were.
Kim Si-hu also took out his staff and faced Jung Young-wook standing opposite him.
“The prepared pairs can start.”
As soon as the instructor gave them permission,
Mana began to flow from the staffs of some mages.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“It’s not working….”
“Huff!”
Most of the mages hit a wall right from the start.
Creating the threads of mana was no simple task.
Pulling out a thread that was thin yet long, smooth, and without lumps required quite a bit of effort and care.
As they overcame each step of the process, they would surely feel growth.
However…
“Young-wook, I’m starting!”
“I’m going too!”
Kim Si-hu and Jung Young-wook were a bit different.
They succeeded in pulling out the threads of mana faster than anyone else in the room.
The threads emerging from Jung Young-wook and Kim Si-hu drew closer together.
Naturally, the instructors’ gazes turned that way.
‘Next is the knot.’
Kim Si-hu made subtle movements with the joints of his fingers gripping the staff.
The threads of mana began to wriggle and became entangled with Jung Young-wook’s threads.
‘This is a bit difficult…’
Kim Si-hu could create a neat ribbon knot by himself.
But working together with someone was quite the challenge.
In the end, he abandoned the ribbon knot and managed to form a simple eight-shaped knot instead.
‘Hmm?’
‘They’re pretty quick over there.’
The instructors watched the process with interest.
They had not expected anyone to be tying knots in less than 10 minutes.
“I’m increasing the thickness!”
For the final step of increasing the thickness.
Kim Si-hu channeled the mana flowing to his staff further.
Swoosh—
The threads of mana gradually grew thicker.
What had been just about 1mm now reached 1cm.
Then 3cm, and 5cm.
“Whoa….”
“Huh!”
They hadn’t expected to reach the final step!
The instructors did not hide their astonishment.
Moreover, the speed at which the thickness of the threads created by Kim Si-hu and Jung Young-wook increased was faster than they had anticipated.
‘I think we can do more!’
Kim Si-hu exchanged glances with Jung Young-wook.
Both were still in a position of comfort.
Jung Young-wook was the first to thicken the thread.
In response, Kim Si-hu also increased the thickness of the thread.
“What, what?!”
“That’s fast!”
The thickness grew from 5cm to 8cm, and then surpassed 15cm.
The instructors, along with the heroes undergoing training, gathered their attention.
It was a sight that demanded their focus.
The thread now resembled a giant pipe flowing with translucent water rather than a simple thread.
It had grown to a size comparable to what the instructors had initially shown.
‘That guy…’
Jung Young-wook was internally quite surprised facing Kim Si-hu.
Despite Kim Si-hu always surpassing him in mana control during their time at the hero academy, Jung Young-wook had always been ahead in the overall amount of mana or magic strength.
But looking at the situation now, it felt as if neither was lagging behind.
‘He has grown this much without my notice?’
Jung Young-wook gritted his teeth and increased the thread’s thickness.
Doing so to ensure Kim Si-hu couldn’t keep pace.
He thought it wouldn’t matter if the balance they were maintaining collapsed.
‘I’m pushing it further!’
Encouraged by the training’s excitement, Kim Si-hu closely followed Jung Young-wook.
Furthermore, they stabilized the fragile balance between their two threads.
Despite the rather rough mana, the balance they had maintained was all thanks to Kim Si-hu.
Swoosh—!
Before long, the thickness of the threads grew so large it could engulf the two of them.
It was becoming a form no longer fit to be called a thread.
The flow of mana caused the surrounding air to tremble.
It was a phenomenon reminiscent of the prelude to a significant magic.
Feeling the threat, the surrounding heroes began to retreat.
“Stop!”
“That’s enough!”
Ultimately, the two halted only after the instructors intervened.
It was a decision for safety.
“I could have done more.”
Kim Si-hu expressed a feeling of regret as he extinguished his mana.
Like a child who had his toy taken away.
“Hah….”
In contrast, Jung Young-wook glared at Kim Si-hu, panting.
As if he was displeased with the situation…
