Chapter 183 – End of 2nd Semester (1)
The long vacation period has ended.
The two weeks went by faster than I thought.
There was the unfortunate incident where the academy was attacked and there were casualties, but in any case, the academy handled the aftermath well, responded appropriately, and was able to welcome a vibrant new semester again.
Especially the recent collaboration with the California Holder Academy. Thanks to the large-scale exchange project that even changed Park Jin-woo, who was a training maniac, foreigners overflowed in the academy.
Wherever I went down the street, whichever building I passed by… I always saw a pair of blue eyes with blonde hair.
“Oh! You’re Holder Do Jae-hyun, right? Wow, wow! I’m your fan.”
…And at least once…
Like this, there were also American Holders who recognized me.
Some even claimed to have become my fan through this operation, asked me for an autograph with a pen and paper.
‘No, there’s no way they’ve seen me fight.’
Can you become a fan of someone you’ve never seen before?
Suddenly I wondered, but for some reason, my hand was naturally reaching for the pen and paper they handed me.
I can’t be rude to someone claiming to be my fan anyway.
They might have become a fan just by seeing my face in the news articles.
“Thank you. What was your name again?”
Also, when I say this.
Most of the people who asked for autographs were surprised and asked back.
“You can speak English?”
“A little. Not very fluent though.”
“But your accent is really good considering….”
It was thanks to [Language], the common rune I obtained from the last mission.
The [Language] rune is a pretty unique one.
At first I thought it was just a rune necessary for communicating with extraterrestrial beings like monsters or spirits, but its scope also applies to human languages.
Any language I’ve heard at least once is naturally inputted into my system through application.
Since then, not only have my listening ears opened up, but speaking comes out as fluent as my native language as well.
Of course common languages like English were easy, and even traditional tribal languages, I could fluently pronounce them as long as I heard them once.
That fluency and applicability varies depending on the level of the rune.
My current [Language] level is 8.
It’s a whole level higher than even [Cooking], so needless to say, the proficiency was unmatched.
“Thank you! I’ll definitely take your class together later!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
So after the new semester began.
It became more common for me to give autographs to my fans that I didn’t even know about.
It happened occasionally even before the mission, but never this much… Moreover, foreigners from overseas welcomed me so enthusiastically, it made me flustered yet grateful at the same time.
Anyway, with the fresh faces blowing in new wind, liveliness filled the academy day by day.
“Hyaah!”
“You’re fast! But California Holders are even faster!”
“Stop talking!”
Especially the academy training ground.
A place where practical training and drills are conducted, and students can spar with each other.
It was always crowded with Korean and American Holders having matches and sparring sessions.
The common desire to gauge each other’s skills and compete to see who’s better, any combat-class Holder would have it no matter which country they’re from.
It was an interest that worked anywhere in the world.
Kang!!
Ggggg–
“Keuk….”
The direction’s a bit different, but…
I was no exception in these training ground battles.
Tuesday evening.
In the ‘Private Battle Room’, located in the academy training ground that only professor-level Holders can request for use, I was taking Yoo Eun-seol’s relentless sword strikes.
‘…She’s really mercilessly beating me.’
I’ve taken her sword a few times during the temporary vacation too, but today she seems to be especially stronger.
…Did she intentionally increase her power to match the new semester?
Yoo Eun-seol, who was barely catching her breath, soon fired another cold declaration at me.
“Again.”
“Yes!”
Despite the record-breaking changes I go through day by day due to my exceptional growth rate, the growth I achieved through this mission and vacation felt quite valuable.
It wasn’t just because of the large number of runes I acquired.
Through this opportunity, I was able to gain a significant amount of common runes that I always thought were my weaknesses, and these runes have synergy with each other.
They were runes that might one day even become ‘Superior Runes’ under [Rune Hunter].
Plus the 3 legendary runes I got from Japan, which could now become my main runes.
And finally, now that there was a way to peel off unnecessary runes separately, I was able to engage in much more efficient combat than before.
‘But still….’
If I had to pick the most encouraging thing.
It was definitely the growth of the assassin-class abilities.
Starting with [Stealth] which has already reached level 10, core common runes like [Weakness Detection], [Critical Hit], etc have been equipped, and [Agile Agility] which supports them is already level 8.
Especially [Plum Blossom Sword Technique], which I learned directly from Yoo Eun-seol, and [Art of Hidden Throwing Knives] which I obtained after defeating Ji Yoon-jae.
In the two branches of the assassin class category, the respective martial art runes have firmly established themselves.
‘Now I’m really looking like an assassin-class.’
Up until now, despite being called an assassin-class Holder, I was more like a Multi-Holder of the warrior class. But now, the scent of a proper assassin-class Holder emanates from me.
I’ve come to possess the ability to easily catch up with the performance of even a top-tier B-grade assassin-class Holder, or possibly an A-grade.
If I could come this far despite all the twists and turns.
It was naturally thanks to the great efforts of my mentor, Yoo Eun-seol, who took over my exclusive lessons.
While runes give tremendous power as a teacher, interestingly, there were more times when I couldn’t keep up with my mentor in reality.
Kang!!
Ggggg–
Tap- tap-
“Training over. That’s it for today.”
“Haa haa- haa… Good… haa haa- work today… haa….”
Hearing Yoo Eun-seol’s conclusion, I threw away the two short swords I was tenaciously holding onto.
And I lay down, panting heavily.
My training with Yoo Eun-seol is almost always like this.
She pushes me to the very limits, to the limits of my limits, and helps me gain enlightenment at that point.
The reason why my assassin abilities have continued to grow rapidly so far is because of her limit breakthrough-style lectures like this.
“I don’t think there’s anything more I can teach you about the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”
While I was lying down and catching my breath for a while.
Yoo Eun-seol suddenly said something unexpected.
I raised my upper body again and looked up at her.
“Really?”
“Yes. Holder Do Jae-hyun’s Plum Blossom Sword Technique is nearing completion now. You should know that well yourself, no?”
“Ah..?”
Can’t I check the rune levels directly?
Yoo Eun-seol was saying that.
As she said, the [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] rune was already level 8.
Excluding application, I’ve basically learned most of the foundation and skilled stages.
But there was one question.
“Umm… Master?”
“Yes.”
“Does the Plum Blossom Sword Technique not have an Ultimate Skill?”
So far whenever I obtained runes containing martial arts or technical elements, they all had Ultimate Skills.
[Wave Sword Technique] had [Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword].
[Water Sword Technique] had [Water Sword Dance].
Even when I obtained Ji Yoon-jae’s [Art of Hidden Throwing Knives], I got the Ultimate Skill [Knife Rain].
[Plum Blossom Sword Technique] was also a similar form of martial art rune.
I naturally thought that upon reaching level 10, I’d be able to acquire the Ultimate Skill.
But Yoo Eun-seol slowly shook her head.
“No. The Plum Blossom Sword Technique is the Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword Technique of China’s Hua Mountain Sect simply reorganized and optimized for the assassin class. I heard many assassin claxx Holders in Korea are researching this rune, but no Ultimate Skill has been developed yet.”
Sometimes, the power of reality is implemented into the system as runes.
[Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword Technique], the actual martial arts skill of the Hua Mountain Sect, being registered as a rune was a prime example.
So theoretically, if one researches the technical aspects within the power given by runes, Ultimate Skills can certainly be developed.
The only problem is that the probability is almost as astronomical as plucking stars from the sky.
“Anyway… The temporary focused lessons I planned for this semester with Holder Do Jae-hyun ends here.”
“I see….”
A sigh slipped out unconsciously at Yoo Eun-seol’s quiet words.
I knew it already.
After all, Yoo Eunseol and I met based on mutual interests.
We teamed up to clear my double dungeon <The River Touched by the Dragon’s Breath>, and she took over my focused lessons to power me up in preparation for it.
Perhaps some affection grew while receiving her teachings?
Now that she’s declared an end…
I just felt oddly regretful.
‘Still, I should give her a proper farewell.’
For whatever reason, thanks to her I was able to grow into a proper assassin-class Holder.
I wanted to surely express my gratitude for that.
Setting aside my regret.
I lowered my head courteously to Yoo Eun-seol to pay my respects.
“Master, thank you for everything so—”
“Also from now on, I’m planning to officially accept Holder Do Jae-hyun as my exclusive disciple. What do you think, Do Jae-hyun?”
“…Huh?”
At that moment.
Words I never expected came out of her mouth.
Exclusive disciple.
Removing the ‘temporary’ title that’s been attached to her teachings of me so far, she’s offered me a formal discipleship proposal.
This was no light matter.
‘…Isn’t every current S-grade Holder in Korea without one?’
Among the S-grade Holders in Korea now, there are some who have mentors that nurtured S-grade Holders, but none who actually have disciples that are S-grade Holders.
In other words, Yoo Eun-seol just now.
Broke that implicit balance of relationships and declared that she, the youngest S-grade Holder, will formally accept a disciple.
…And I was to be the one filling that disciple seat.
After making such a shocking declaration, Yoo Eun-seol looked at me with a strange expression and asked.
“But, Holder Do Jae-hyun, my using banmal doesn’t make you uncomfortable, right? If it’s uncomfortable, let me know. I’d like to fix it. I have no experience having a disciple either, so I don’t know much about the master-disciple relationship…”
Even saying she’ll fix her own habit for a disciple’s sake?
If this was revealed to the public, the media would go nuts again.
