Leon and the girl ran forward, trying to catch up with their teammates.
"Um, what's your name?" Leon asked.
"Oh, yeah. We should really know each other's names so that communication will be easy."
"My name is Leon. Jin Leon."
"Um, um, m-my name's Yoon-seo."
"Oh. That's a nice name."
Yoon-seo's face flushed pink.
"Why are you—"
"No one's ever asked me for my name before. But you even complimented me."
"Oh, it's nothing. My mom always told me to try and compliment people in any way I can."
Boom.
A sound erupted near Leon and Yoon-seo.
"Oh, I think there's a fight. We should probably make use of the commotion and try to steal their flags."
"O-okay."
The girl was a bit shaken at the thought that they would have to fight.
Immediately after Leon passed the small alleyway, he saw Base B's flag. He realized they had left both flags unprotected.
"Oh, no. Damn it, I can't believe I was this
stupid," Leon muttered to himself.
Thud.
The girl bumped into Leon's back while staggering.
"I can't believe I didn't pay much attention to ourb base. Oh, damn it, why didn't I even think we would have flags when we're going
to capture other people's' flags?" Leon kept muttering to himself when his voice came out and Yoon-seo heard him.
"Leon, please snap out of it. We need to
re-strategize."
All of a sudden, Leon thought to himself:
Can't she just go and guard the base while I try to capture some flags for us?
He turned toward Yoon-seo, calm yet frustrated.
"Can you go back to the base and guard it?"
"But I'm not a combat type. What if there are people there? I don't think I can fight."
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean my class is not a combat type."
"Class? What does that mean?"
"Wait. Don't tell me you don't know what that
means."
Yoon-seo sighed.
"All right, let me explain."
Damn it. This is all thanks to you teaching me only how to fight.
He visualized Igyu picking his nose and saying, "Fight, Leon. Fight."
Leon shook his head, trying to shake the thought from his mind.
"Classes are a certain way of knowing how one's eammates fight. Take mages, for example. They're mainly meant for assisting teammates in raids from a far proximity, of course. While martial artists are attackers who only use their bare hands to savage monsters. Swordsmen are—"
"Okay, I get it. I think I actually learned about this topic in school. But mages can still fight, right?"
"I don't really have enough attacking magic to do that."
"But you can still cast a barrier, right?"
"Um, yeah."
"Then go. I'll be there as soon as I can."
They both split up.
Leon tried sneaking a flag out of Base B after reaching there, when a sword wielder's eyes met his.
"Damn it, I have to get to base quick."
Baek Geom-Jin gripped his sword, ready to fight.
"Hey, guys, trust me on this one. We have to cheat.
Otherwise there's absolutely no way we're winning. I mean, we have three mages
and only one swordsman—me. How do we win with a team like this?"
Han-Kim hoped his teammates would comply.
"But can't the three of us just enhance you with enhancement magic?" Jin-hoo replied.
"Yeah," Jin-Soo joined him.
"And you?" Han-Kim turned his attention to the other mage.
"My name's Baek Si-woo. I think we should just enhance you."
"Oh, so you want to cheat, huh? Using what, if I may ask?"
"Who are you?" Han-Kim asked, looking at the top of the building.
"There's absolutely no need for a filthy coward like you to know my name. But I'm going to be a good swordsman and tell you anyway.
Get this into your thick skull, coward."
He revealed his face, resting his right hand on his right knee. Black hair. Matching iris. Unshaken. Unblinking. Just locked onto prey.
Wearing the school uniform: black fitted blazer with silver lining along the edges, academy emblem well-placed on his left chest, white dress shirt underneath. He normally wraps his dark blue tie—with a subtle glowing rune pattern—around the handle of his sword. Slim black trousers. Black combat-style shoes. But being a first-year student, he didn't have the long black cloak reserved for fourth-years and above.
He towered above them while smiling.
"My name is Baek Geom-Jin. Engrave it into your memory for the rest of your miserable life, you coward—because the name I bear stands far above your entire bloodline."
"What did you just sa—"
Before he could finish speaking, Baek Geom-Jin had already jumped from the building.
"Shit, get him! Damn it!"
The other mages blasted fire, water, and lightning at him, but he didn't want to use his sword. He felt them unworthy. He used aura instead.
He deflected all their attacks and kicked Han-Kim mid-landing, sending him crashing into the building.
Baek Geom-Jin pummeled Han-Kim into the building, then launched him with a heavy right uppercut.
Han-Kim flew upward, crashing through the roof.
Three monster cores fell from Han-Kim's pockets. Not cores for crafting—for enhancement.
Jin-hoo and Jin-Soo caught two of the crystals, having a vague idea of what they were. Baek Si-woo tried catching the third one but failed. It slipped through his fingers as if trying to escape. He tried again, but the same scenario occurred. The white crystal broke on his head. His eyes lit white, enhanced by the monster core.
Uncertainty faded away as clarity clanged into Jin-Soo's and Jin-hoo's minds.
These are enhancement monster cores.
They broke theirs. Eyes lit white. Ready to fight.
The three mages cast flame magic. Baek Geom-Jin ran while leaping into the building. The wall shattered.
Boom.
The blasts exploded on the ground, the impact pushing Baek Geom-Jin.
He fell, surprised that a single monster enhancement crystal could be so strong.
Without time to think, the three mages were already on him.
He gathered aura in his legs.
"I can't keep using my aura."
He leaped upward, crashing into the ceiling of the building.
"Ugh." Han-Kim struggled to get back on his feet.
After realizing they had Baek Geom-Jin backed into a corner, he yelled, "Good, now keep at it!"
The mages were already flying above them both.
They prepared to attack despite Han-Kim being there. They were totally out of control.
Baek Geom-Jin leaped from that building, crashing straight through another building's glass.
Glass met flesh. He was injured but didn't care. He kept running, trying to locate Team C's flag while still trying to lose them.
They hurled blasts at him, but he used his environment, blocking with chairs and tables while still running.
He tossed things around and jumped from building to building, making good use of his athleticism. But with every wasted second, the blasts grew stronger.
Chairs and tables couldn't block the blasts anymore.
Baek Geom-Jin tried using a chair to block, but the blast melted straight through it. As it was about to make contact with his face, he
slid past the blast.
He was tired, taking deep breaths to relax his nerves from the overuse of aura. But there was no time. Blasts kept coming. He came out of that building standing on a roof.
"Huff... huff... huff... I'm tired of all this running.
But at last, I found the flags."
He grabbed them and put them into his flag carrier bag, meant to cling to the carrier's back. The flag glued into the bag like some kind of nanotechnology.
He drew his blade, stopping his use of aura as he reached his limit.
He leaped from that building, trying to reach the mages, but the martial artist teammate immediately showed up.
"Iya, I guess we meet again!"
He spun and kicked Baek Geom-Jin from mid-air. He flew all the way to Han-Kim's location.
The martial artist lost momentum and landed on a nearby roof.
He dropped his bag.
"I wonder if I can tank their attacks," he muttered.
He leaped. They countered, launching multiple bolts of lightning, fire, and sharp, piercing water magic at him.
He wanted to block. Arms raised, stance set.
Then he stopped.
His guard dropped.
Lightning met his shoulder. Fire swallowed his chest. Water shards found his ribs.
He fell.
When the dust settled, he was on his back. The white cloth wraps—his embritters—were ash on his wrists. Bare knuckles. No restraint left.
He laughed. Once. Short. Surprised.
"You guys are in bi—" Smoke. He coughed. "Big trouble now. You burned my embritters."
He rose. The grin was gone. His face was flat, almost bored.
"I was holding back. Did you know that?"
He looked at his own hands, opening and closing them.
"Don't need to anymore.
"My name is Kang Mu-seong… and the three of you are about to learn exactly why people fear Martialists."
He leaped up once more, trying to confront them.
His left hand was partially away from grabbing Jin-Soo's face.
"I'll show you I'm the better swordsman by destroying you right here, right now, in this duel." Baek Geom-Jin gritted his teeth.
Crack.
Han-Kim cracked and broke his blue crystal with his teeth while charging at Baek Geom-Jin.