𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟔: 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
Shin Ji-soo gritted her teeth and swung her staff.
Her arms felt like they were going to fall off, and her legs were so wobbly she could barely stand upright.
The blisters on her hands had long since burst.
Siwoo stood in the distance, watching her every move.
The horde of monsters that had surrounded him had long since been dismembered and killed.
‘𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙙. 𝙄𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.’
A hundred days of training at the Academy couldn’t compare to a single real-life battle, which was what this was.
Siwoo didn’t know which hoodlum had set up the Academy, but he could tell that they only taught theory, not practical skills for real combat.
‘𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨.’
Shin Ji-soo threw off her outer garment, which was half sweat and half blood.
There were no deep wounds, but small cuts and scrapes bloomed on her body like red flowers.
“Bend your body lower. Look the goblin straight in the eye. Especially check its shoulders and feet in an instant. If you just look at that, you can avoid all its attacks. Slower. What are you, a sandbag? Slower still. Hey, did you eat a sloth? Don’t walk, run.”
‘𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙞𝙩!! 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙄’𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡!’
Shin Ji-soo cursed him inwardly at Siwoo’s nagging.
Just a few hours ago, she had been happy to call him her new teacher.
Her heart had even pounded with excitement when he caught her fall!
Now, in Shin Ji-soo’s eyes, Siwoo looked like nothing more than a venomous snake.
That snout! That forked tongue!
She wanted to punch him in the face!
“Hey. Stop glaring at me and start moving. Do you think I’ll die if you glare at me like that? Stab it with your staff.”
“W-When did I glare at you?!”
“Jeez. Your mouth is fast. But your feet show it. Run. Faster.”
“Eeeeeek!!”
The staff cut through the air, blocking the goblins’ approach.
A few goblins glared at her.
The look of predators eyeing their prey.
She waited a beat for them to attack.
━Crackle!
One of them suddenly leaped forward.
Shin Ji-soo thrust her staff forward like a spear.
Poof!
The goblin impaled on the spearhead screamed.
She pulled out the staff and wiped the blood on her palm.
“[𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥: 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞]”
Thud
A blue flash of light appeared, and a magic circle was etched into the air.
Once again, magic power flowed out of her dantian.
Shin Ji-soo gritted her teeth.
She tried to deliberately control the amount of magic power flowing out.
‘𝙐𝙜𝙝, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙣, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧!’
As if she was gradually turning off the water from a faucet. She tried to use the skill with the minimum amount of magic power.
She couldn’t even remember how many times she had tried this.
Her stamina was also running low.
She didn’t have the strength to squeeze anything out.
Her mana was being replenished little by little with the potions Siwoo had given her, but even that was no longer enough, since her stamina was running low.
A sense of finality.
Ke━ying
The magic circle glowed, emitting a bright flash of light.
The beam of light soon connected the blood on Shin Ji-soo’s hand to the goblin, creating a single string.
━Crackle. . . . Crackle. . . .
The goblin, which had been writhing in pain from being stabbed, gradually stopped moving.
Shin Ji-soo gulped as she watched the change.
Did it work?
Or did it just stop because it was bleeding?
What the hell, charge or do something. . . .
Smack!
“Ouch!”
Siwoo, who had approached from behind, suddenly slapped the back of her head.
Shin Ji-soo rubbed the back of her head with her hand and glared at Siwoo.
“What are you glaring at? I came over because you succeeded.”
“Huh? Did it really work? Somehow it’s not moving or anything. I was staring at it because it was so strange.”
Shin Ji-soo, who had been muttering and grumbling, suddenly realized the presence of the other goblins and hurriedly looked around twice.
There were definitely about four more besides the one that had been caught by the skill.
But there were no living goblins.
The moment she used the skill, her body was almost defenseless.
The other goblins wouldn’t have just stood there and watched.
So what had happened to them?
There was only one answer.
“Thank you, master. For taking care of the other bastards.”
“Shut up. You succeeded in using the skill for the first time, so show me how you do it.”
Shin Ji-soo smiled and nodded.
It seemed that this teacher would never change in his entire life.
All the people around him just had to figure it out and live with it.
The goblin caught in the skill had been staring blankly since earlier.
It was so believable that you could say it was a well-made goblin doll.
“Should I give it orders in my mind?”
“Wouldn’t that be better than shouting ‘Attack!’ out loud?”
Shin Ji-soo pressed her lips together and gave the order in her mind.
It was as earnest as if she were asking Santa Claus for a present.
‘𝙅𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚.’
The goblin immediately began jumping up and down in place.
Without any expression.
It was a somewhat bizarre sight, but the result was overwhelmingly satisfactory.
“Wow. . .! Is this really Mind Control?!”
“Of course it is, since you’re a tamer. Right now, it’s just one goblin, but later on, if you do well, you might even be able to control an orc army.”
“Really? How much magic power will I need?”
“Wouldn’t it be a hundred times more than you need now?”
“. . . . . . .”
Shin Ji-soo looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“Since you succeeded with one, let’s challenge five tomorrow.”
“No, w, why so many all of a sudden?!”
“Do you want to control five goblins, or do you want to control one troll?”
“. . .Goblins.”
Shin Ji-soo chose goblins over Siwoo’s unlikely offer, knowing that if she didn’t choose either, he would come up with an even more outrageous offer.
It was as clear as day.
In the meantime, the goblin stopped jumping up and down.
Soon, it started shaking all over and then collapsed to the ground.
“Ah, the connection is broken!”
