Chapter 61

EP.61 New Effect (1)

A lodging in Nampon-dong, Busan.

Inside a spacious room.

Kim Chae-eun was sweating profusely as she manipulated her mana.

Jeong Seon-young watched her arduous training with a sharp gaze.

It had already been four days.

Although Jeong Seon-young had been personally guiding Kim Chae-eun's training for this long, there were still no significant results.

The growth of a mage was slow and abstract.

After observing quietly, Jeong Seon-young finally spoke.

"More precisely. Don't use your mana with the idea of just freezing something. Even though ice magic is easier to control than other types of magic, controlling the intensity is not easy. Whether you use it to subdue an opponent or to deliver a powerful blow, you set that value, Chae-eun."

"Yes!!"

Even in her highly focused state, Kim Chae-eun did not miss Jeong Seon-young's words and responded.

Jeong Seon-young looked at her with a sense of pride.

'She definitely has talent.'

In Jeong Seon-young's view,

Kim Chae-eun was a talented holder.

It had been four days since she took her on as a temporary disciple and came to Busan.

From the outside, it might seem like there were no visible results, but to the eyes of the A-rank holder Jeong Seon-young, there were clear subtle changes.

Her mana value was higher than other C-rank holders, and her mana control as an ice mage was outstanding.

Moreover, she quickly absorbed the lessons Jeong Seon-young taught and sometimes even attempted to apply them creatively.

At first, she had taken her on as a disciple without much thought, just because it seemed interesting, but now, Kim Chae-eun proved to be a disciple without any shortcomings.

'It's also surprising that her rune is normal.'

While [Freezing] is a relatively rare rune among magic runes, it is still classified as a 'normal' grade rune.

For a holder as talented as Kim Chae-eun, having a normal-grade main rune was quite unusual.

Jeong Seon-young's [Frozen Battlefield], for instance, was an epic-grade rune.

Still, it wasn't a big problem.

While the runes obtained at the time of awakening are the most crucial, many are also acquired during training or growth, and sometimes even during dungeon raids if one is lucky.

On the contrary, the fact that she was handling a normal-grade rune as her main one,

and showing such noticeable talent, was more important.

"Stop. Take a short break."

Jeong Seon-young raised her hand to signal.

At her words, Kim Chae-eun stopped manipulating her mana and took deep breaths.

"Ha... ha..."

"You've worked hard. You're getting better."

"Ha... Thank you. Ha... Teacher, you've worked hard too..."

Since they had formed a temporary master-disciple relationship,

Kim Chae-eun started calling Jeong Seon-young 'teacher.'

She couldn't call her 'professor' because she wasn't a professor, and they weren't in a formal master-disciple relationship, so she couldn't call her 'master.'

So, the only option left was 'teacher'!

...That was the logic behind the decision.

Jeong Seon-young had suggested she call her 'senior' as before, but she couldn't change Kim Chae-eun's stubbornness.

She was always this way in such matters.

"Are you consistently practicing mana breathing?"

"Yes. Since coming to Busan, I haven't missed a single day."

"Good. I've said it many times, but it's not just warriors who need to practice breathing. Any holder who uses mana should make mana breathing a habit. Sometimes, if the natural mana concentration is high and of good quality during breathing, your mana value can increase."

The common rune for holders who use mana is [Mana Control].

The typical uses of this rune include sensing, manipulating, arranging, and manifesting.

Unlike [Mana Shield] or [Mana Barrier], these are not recognized as skills but are innate rune abilities.

Sensing and manipulating apply to most holders, while arranging and manifesting are mainly used by mages.

There are also special uses like 'breathing,' which is a method warriors use to increase their affinity with mana, though it is known to have little significant effect.

'But it's important for mages too.'

However, Jeong Seon-young thought differently.

She felt that mages also needed to practice breathing.

Mages have limits to how much they can improve through repetitive training, and they tend to rely more on enlightenment or talent, often becoming lazy.

Mana breathing had the effect of curbing this laziness.

While it didn't help much for mages who already had high mana affinity, it was quite important for holders like Kim Chae-eun, who needed to set a training pattern to improve.

"Huff. I want to get stronger quickly."

Kim Chae-eun wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel and said.

Jeong Seon-young looked at her disciple with a pleased smile.

Even though she had a goal, she was a young friend with a strong desire to improve.

It was impossible not to find her adorable.

"Don't be too hasty. Your current abilities are already better than most of your peers."

"Still... I want to get a B-rank quickly."

"Ha. Is it because of that classmate? The daughter of Holder Kang Woo-hyun?"

"...Yes."

A student holder who had already advanced to B-rank despite being a classmate.

Kang Juyeon.

Kim Chae-eun was pushing herself through such arduous training to catch up with her.

And that was...

the reason why the free-spirited Jeong Seon-young took on her first disciple.

The day before the Daegu auction.

Kim Chae-eun had come to her, saying, "I want to become a holder who can help Jae-hyun."

Moved by her sincerity, she accepted her as a disciple.

Jeong Seon-young, with a playful look on her face, asked again.

"So? Is Jae-hyun, that kid, now an intern at the Fire Judge?"

"Yes."

"Oh my. What if she gets taken by Kang Woo-hyun's daughter? Like a thief cat."

"...That won't happen. No, no! It's not about taking or being taken... It's not like that at all...."

"Hehe. Our disciple is so cute."

Although Jeong Seon-young had spent a lot of energy guiding Kim Chae-eun for a long time,

she didn't feel tired at all.

The fresh love story of a twenty-year-old student holder

was a refreshing source of energy that helped her get through the day, tired from her holder life.

* * *

The sparring session was over.

The result was my victory.

At first, I was caught off guard by her feints and surprised by the fact that she was a multi-holder with a holy attribute.

But in the end, it was a fight I had to win.

First, there was a huge difference in stats.

Even though we were both C-rank warriors, my stats were much higher due to the special effect of [Sweat of the Seeker] and the various runes I had obtained.

Strength, speed, durability—these core stats for melee combat.

While Shin Yuna's speed seemed quite high, most of her other stats were significantly lower than mine.

'When there's a stat difference, Overwhelming Presence kicks in.'

[Overwhelming Presence] boosts a certain percentage of your stats when fighting an opponent with lower stats.

This means that the already significant stat difference was further widened by the rune's special effect.

In addition, the versatile use of runes.

I closed the distance with [Relentless Charge] and didn't give her a moment's rest, while [Blazing Flame] added magical attacks.

Physical attacks were already hard to block, and magical attacks were even more so.

Especially for Shin Yuna, who had no fire resistance, fire-based magical attacks were like poison.

She must still be feeling the heat all over her body now.

'I still have many runes I didn't use...'

From [Wave that Swallowed the Vortex] to [Simple Curse] and [Deadly Poison].

I won without using any of my other runes.

I didn't even use [Overwhelming Presence]'s [Declaration of War], which starts with a guaranteed fear status effect...

It was a sparring session that allowed me to experience firsthand how much stronger I had become.

"Um..."

"Hmm?"

I was standing still, reflecting on the battle, when I felt someone calling me.

It was Shin Yuna, who had just been enthusiastically fighting me.

She hesitated and spoke to me with difficulty.

"I... I'm sorry..."

"...What?"

What's this, all of a sudden.

Is it going to rain because the weather changed?

Why is she acting like this?

Shin Yuna continued without meeting my eyes.

"I've been ignoring you... because I thought you were a parachutist with no skills... I'm sorry..."

"Ah, that? Don't worry about it. I didn't really care anyway."

I really didn't care.

I consider provocation a part of battle.

If I were a rookie unfamiliar with this kind of fighting, Shin Yuna's provocation would have been a viable strategy.

Moreover, from the perspective of a new holder who had just joined, I could understand why I might seem annoying.

I wasn't completely unskilled, but I was a parachutist.

So, I accepted her apology lightly.

It was just surprising to see her, who had been so confident and sure of herself, looking like this.

"Everyone, good job! It was a great sparring session."

This time, Kwon Oh-jun came down from one side of the training ground.

Kang Juyeon was also walking beside him.

"Since the sparring results have already proven it, there's no need to see more. Doo Jae-hyun, I'm sorry for ignoring you earlier. I was shortsighted."

And he even gave such an awkward greeting.

These people... Why are they acting like this?

It's so different from before.

Beside him, Kang Juyeon was smiling faintly.

I scratched my head and replied.

"It's fine. I also think it was a necessary sparring session."

"Haha, that's right. You fought so well. I failed to recognize your talent."

"You flatter me."

Indeed, he seemed to be a bright person, and he quickly smoothed over the awkward situation.

Kwon Oh-jun laughed heartily and extended his hand to me.

"Anyway, let's introduce ourselves properly. I'm Kwon Oh-jun, the team leader of the Fire Judge clan's Hunting Team 5. You know me from the entrance, right?"

"Yes, I'm Doo Jae-hyun."

"Welcome to our Hunting Team 5, even if it's late. Let's do our best together."

I shook hands with Kwon Oh-jun and looked at him and Shin Yuna.

They had doubted and mistrusted me just a moment ago.

Now, they were going to be my comrades, fighting together.

* * *

After the sparring session, which had many words and troubles,

we decided to end our first day of work and dispersed.

I hadn't finished the tour of the clan tower with Kang Juyeon, but since it was late, we agreed to do it later and parted ways for today.

"I still have some work to do."

But after parting with everyone,

I was in the men's restroom of the clan tower.

I wasn't there to eat alone.

I was there to handle the information I hadn't checked after winning the sparring session.

Focusing my mind, the golden information windows that I had temporarily put aside reappeared.

[You have won the duel! With the mysterious power of the Rune Hunter, you can duplicate one of the opponent's runes. Please select the rune to duplicate.]

[1. Combat (Not Selectable) 2. Battle Healing 3. Mana Control (Not Selectable) 4. Wing Chun 5. Stamina 6. Physical Defense (Not Selectable) 7. Nimble Movement (Not Selectable)]

Shin Yuna's rune setup was as expected.

She had most of the common runes for warriors and also possessed [Nimble Movement], which boosts speed.

Her main combat rune was [Combat], and among the martial arts, she had [Wing Chun].

Lastly, she had the holy attribute rune [Battle Healing].

I already had [Combat], and [Wing Chun] was the most basic martial arts rune.

If I had to choose one, the rare [Battle Healing] seemed the most suitable.

Without much hesitation, I chose [Battle Healing].

Finally, I was getting a holy attribute rune,

specifically one related to healing.

[You have chosen Battle Healing. As it is a level 9 rare rune, its level will decrease and be registered as level 5.]

[You have obtained a new rune.]

[You gain 4 points in the holy attribute due to the rune's nature.]

Indeed.

Unlike the common holy attribute rune [Healing], [Battle Healing] was a rare rune.

It was fitting for Shin Yuna, who had completed the academy curriculum, to have a high level.

I instantly obtained it at level 5 and gained 4 points in the holy attribute.

It was a rapid growth in the holy attribute, which had been lagging behind.

"Then, let's check the rune information..."

This was quite satisfying for a light sparring session.

Just as I was smiling and about to check the new rune information,

Zap-

Zap Zap Zap-!

At that moment,

a light so intense it was hard to look at began to pour out of my body.

To be precise, it was the runes (Rune).

The 'runes' that usually blended into the skin and didn't show their appearance suddenly emitted light and burst out of my entire body.

One, two, five, ten...

How many were there?

There were so many that I couldn't count.

The light of the runes filled my entire body.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all my runes were glowing.

And then,

a golden information window appeared in front of my eyes.

"This is..."

A familiar color.

A familiar shape.

After falling into this world,

it was similar to the information window that appeared when I first obtained [Rune Hunter].

[All parts of your body where runes can be inscribed are full. The number of runes a single entity can possess has reached its limit.]

[Amazing achievement! You have obtained the maximum number (30) of 'runes,' which are exclusive to the chosen ones. Due to this incredible first achievement, you will be granted a special power.]

[The mysterious power of the Rune Hunter has been imbued. A new special effect has been added, and the rune information has been updated.]

...Once again, the unexpected appearance of information.