The Support Ate it All - Chapter 123: 7th Week Mentoring and Duel Battle (8)

Whoooooooosh!

I looked up.

Something resembling an artificial sun continuously rained down fireballs above me.

That’s quite expensive.

Cha Hyeon-joo had used a special catalyst item to enhance her skill, [Fire Rain]. It was a type of arrow rain ability.

Although the rare item yielded firepower comparable to that of a powerful mage when used as a catalyst, it was merely a waste of the item against me.

After all, it was completely blocked by my S-rank [Elemental Resistance].

Whoooooooosh!

The rain of fireballs poured down for quite some time.

Some landed near me and caused fiery explosions,

While others struck directly above my head.

But I just stood in the midst of the fiery chaos without being affected.

[Kim Ho 100%]

[Kim Ho 100%]

[Kim Ho 100%]

Naturally, my health hadn’t decreased by even 1%.

As I stood idly by, the barrage of fireballs began to slow and eventually ceased entirely.

[Kim Ho 100% vs Cha Hyeon-joo 97%]

[Crystal: 74%]

A moment of silence.

The continuous assault had paused which meant that Cha Hyeon-joo was taken aback as well.

The frustration of wasting a valuable item without any result likely contributed to her dismay.

Ssssssssss!

However, she quickly regained her composure and once again, arrows aimed at me surged forward.

I moved leisurely side to side before slightly lifting my wrist.

There, a bracelet looked like it was made of storm clouds strung together.

It was the storm cloud bracelet I had acquired in the downtown area.

Maybe I should give it a test run.

Pop!

A small, storm cloud appeared beside me.

The storm cloud bubbled as it moved forward and collided directly with the incoming arrow.

Thud!

The storm cloud was flung backward by the impact, and the arrow changed its trajectory before lodging in a nearby tree.

Once again bubbling, the storm cloud returned and hovered near me.

Fluffy clouds absorb and neutralize magical attacks,

While storm clouds mitigate and reflect physical attacks.

They essentially act as a cushion.

“And they can be used like this too.”

When the storm clouds were wrapped around Root, a long and fluffy stick was created.

I added Wind Force and Twister to it and swung at the incoming arrows.

Thud,

The trajectory of the arrows abruptly bent and they deeply embedded into the ground.

As expected of an A-rank.

The performance was unmistakable.

After deflecting the arrows several times in the same manner,

There she is.

I had roughly pinpointed Cha Hyeon-joo’s location.

I immediately kicked off the ground and dashed forward.

Thump! Thump!

[Crystal: 77%]

[Crystal: 72%]

[Crystal: 66%]

As I moved out of the sanctuary’s boundary, the connection was severed and the crystal’s charge rapidly decreased.

But I ignored the scoreboard and focused solely on running forward.

At that moment, my only priority was to give that spoiled archer a taste of a stagnant water’s power.

Thump! Thump!

After my view shifted several times, Cha Hyeon-joo came into sight.

She widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing me.

“…….!”

“Did you think I wouldn’t come out at all?”

One might cling to the sanctuary to conserve the crystal’s charge, but I was an exception.

Obsessing over the crystal’s charge was a novice’s concern.

The charge could always be replenished after neutralizing the opponent’s interference.

Of course, such tactics would be unfamiliar to Cha Hyeon-joo who was only in her third crystal duel battle.

And yet even in such an unexpected situation, she quickly regained her composure and fired her bow repeatedly.

Thump!

In the next instant, I appeared right behind Cha Hyeon-joo.

It was the same scenario as before, but the gap in our abilities was too great; knowing what was coming did not mean she could prevent it.

“Tch.”

Cha Hyeon-joo swung her arrows like daggers in retaliation, but her struggles quickly proved futile.

After a brief melee, I used Root like a restraining stick to execute a joint lock.

And while holding on to Cha Hyeon firmly, I pointed toward the distant sky.

“Let’s see how far you can go this time.”

[‘Amplification’ has been activated.]

[‘Wind Force’ rank increased. (C+ -> A+)]

Whoosh—

Sensing the ominous force of the gathering wind, Cha Hyeon-joo’s pupils shook even more violently than before.

She soon spoke in desperation.

“Wait. I concede. I’ll forfeit.”

“Really? Then I’ll accept your forfeit—”

Boom!

—I unleashed the tightly compressed mass of wind.

“—!!”

Cha Hyeon-joo was launched like a human cannonball.

She flew so fast that she couldn’t even utter the first syllable of her curse.

As Cha Hyeon-joo shrank to a mere speck in the distance,

I finally checked the scoreboard again,

[Crystal: 31%]

The charge had dropped to the 30s in just a moment.

But there was no need to return to the sanctuary.

[Kim Ho: 100%] vs [Cha Hyeon-joo: – %]

[Crystal: 27%]

Since Cha Hyeon-joo was now out of the fight,

[Kim Ho Win] vs [Cha Hyeon-joo Lose]

Let’s use the spoils.

I took out [Rank Up (E)] from my inventory.

I had received it under the condition of accepting a private rematch with Cha Hyeon-joo, but now that I had overwhelmingly won, using it up completely wouldn’t leave room for any complaints.

When I used the Rank Up, a bright light burst forth and was absorbed into my body.

[‘Rank Up (E)’ used.]

[‘Monarch’ rank has been increased. (E->D)]

It was one of the three special traits I had received upon accepting the reincarnation quest.

Its true value hadn’t yet been revealed, but it was a powerful trait that held its own even when compared with [Copy] and [Amplification].

The first effect of the “Monarch” trait was strong resistance against mental magic such as illusions and enchantments.

Secondly, the people with “Monarch” had a “special authority” unique to them.

Like when I copied the [Priest] trait and passed through the barrier of the Feathered Serpent Temple without any hindrance, there were things only the “Monarch” could do.

These two alone were quite useful, and as my rank rose further, additional effects would be unlocked.

Long-term investment, well done.

After finishing this, I stepped into a teleportation circle and exited the arena.

“Did you fight Cha Hyeon-joo again?”

Dang Gyu-young asked me in surprise.

“That’s what happened.”

“When? How did that come about?”

“Just now. She came looking for me. Said she’d start a fight if I didn’t accept a rematch.”

Dang Gyu-young frowned and quickly turned her head before glaring somewhere toward the arena.

“She really can’t be controlled. Doesn’t think about the trouble she causes others.”

It seemed he was glaring at where Cha Hyeon-joo’s mentor might be.

Then, he quickly turned back to me and asked,

“Did you give her a good thrashing? Cha Hyeon-joo.”

“I really gave her a piece of my mind.”

“Haha, exactly. Our junior who graduated 200 times wouldn’t lose.”

Dang Gyu-young slapped my shoulder enthusiastically.

Then when her excitement subsided, she gave me some advice in a somewhat serious manner.

“But be careful. Cha Hyeon-joo is quite persistent. She’ll probably keep picking fights in the future.”

“It seems so.”

Cha Hyeon-joo’s eyes, even when declaring surrender, were filled with a deep-seated killing intent.

That’s why I dismissed her surrender.

Like Dang Gyu-young said, she seemed stubborn and persistent, so it was inevitable that we would clash again at some point.

***

Grind, grind, grind.

With teeth gritted so tightly they might shatter,

And fists clenched until they trembled,

Cha Hyeon-joo sat in a corner of the arena and replayed her second duel battle with Kim Ho.

Grind, grind, grind.

The more she thought about it, the more each detail infuriated her and she could only grind her teeth in frustration.

Kim Ho’s teasing words echoed in her head.

– Show some sincerity. A duel fee.

– Off we go~

– Let’s see how far you can go this time!

“……!!”

Unable to contain her anger, Cha Hyeon-joo attempted to punch the spectator seats,

But her mentor quickly intervened with a worried look.

“H-Hyeon-joo-ah, just hold on a bit. Just a bit.”

“…….”

Cha Hyeon-joo lowered her fist and took a deep breath before she began to review the match again.

Grind, grind, grind.

And once more, her teeth ground naturally.

Meanwhile, aside from her emotional reactions, she maintained an objective perspective and pointed out every single element of the match.

In the randomly selected first duel battle, the match had ended shortly after she had drawn her main weapon, the bow.

The decisive reason she had requested a rematch with Kim Ho was because she felt uncomfortable about that fact.

She was confident that if she showed all her skills from the beginning in the private duel, there was no way she could lose.

However, once she entered the revenge match, she realized she wasn’t the only one who had been concealing her true abilities.

When he fully revealed his full skills, Kim Ho was a completely different person from the previous match.

His speed was so fast that even she, an archer, could hardly keep up.

If she couldn’t even catch him in her sights, landing an arrow was out of the question.

As a result, Cha Hyeon-joo couldn’t do anything until he was right upon her, and once he closed in, he subdued her before she could even attempt a proper resistance.

And that happened twice.

It was a perfect demonstration of the difference in their skills. A perfect defeat that left no room for excuses.

But that wasn’t all.

That infuriating man didn’t even flinch when she used her ultimate skill, [Fire Rain], as if to show that such a move was ineffective against him.

Later, he summoned a dark cloud that effortlessly deflected her attacks as if they were child’s play.

Finally, his determination and boldness to gamble the match by giving up on charging his crystal.

Haah…. I have to admit it.

It was a complete defeat for her in every aspect.

However, Cha Hyeon-joo was far from the type to fall into despair or become disheartened after a few defeats.

Instead, her eyes blazed with an even stronger fighting spirit.

I need to become stronger.

Much stronger.

She would improve until there was a significant gap in skill between herself and Kim Ho, and then she would challenge him again.

And she would utterly crush him.

To do this, she needed to invest everything in her archery.

Pretending to hide her skills while wasting time with daggers would only slow her progress.

I need to give it up.

She had her reasons for concealing her abilities and operating under the radar at this academy, but none of that mattered now.

Cha Hyeon-joo declared to her mentor,

“From today, I’m just going to use the bow.”