*
Perhaps because I mastered the basic Mana cultivation technique, the impure Mana that used to gather has become more refined and cleaner, gathering in my Dantian.
The output I can use at once hasn't increased, but having a space to store Mana could be an advantage.
Right now, my Dantian feels like a kind of auxiliary battery pack.
It's still not fully established, so having to run Mana through the Mana Heart is a drawback, but it's not bad.
It could be said that the total amount of Mana I can use has increased compared to before.
'Now, do I just need to raise Aura?'
I still have nearly 1000 Destiny Points left, so I don't anticipate any major difficulties in reaching Master level.
After a long time, I stopped repeating the process and headed to the Academy.
It might have only been a day for others, but I felt like I'd spent several days.
If you count the time, wouldn't it be about that much?
As usual, when I entered Class A, Min-ji, who had arrived earlier, was talking with her friends.
Min-ji was quite popular among the girls and was friendly with everyone, but recently, she seemed closer to Seo-ah and Da-eun.
"Min-ji-ya~ Seo-ah-ya~ Have you guys tried this?"
"Huh? Isn't that a new product that just came out?"
"I don't... wear makeup..."
"Really?"
Da-eun seemed to be trying to get closer to them, and thanks to Da-eun's personality, which had no sharp edges and took good care of the people around her, Min-ji and Seo-ah didn't seem to feel any particular rejection.
It seemed like Da-eun was trying harder because of me, and I felt happy seeing the three of them together.
"Si-woo-ya, hello?"
"Oh, hello?"
"That fight was really cool!"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Well, other girls also talked to me, and I smiled and answered appropriately. I wasn't particularly interested in the other girls, but it wouldn't hurt to maintain good relationships.
__That eye smile is insane....
__Wow....
As I was smiling and answering, I suddenly felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck.
When I turned my head, Seo-ah, Min-ji, and Da-eun were silently looking at me.
Da-eun was definitely smiling, but it felt different from her usual expression.
I felt a cold sweat running down my back for no reason, so I answered the girls appropriately and went to where our girls were gathered.
"Hi everyone...?"
"Hi..."
"Hello~!"
"You're here?"
Judging by their responses to my greetings, they don't seem that angry. Well, I just answered normally, and I didn't do anything wrong.
They're not angry because I smiled, are they?
"Did your training go well yesterday~?"
Da-eun, who had prepared dinner for me, opened her mouth first, curious about yesterday's results. Min-ji and Seo-ah also seemed interested, wondering about it.
"Yeah, I think I saw some results. I think training alone is enough now."
"Si-woo-ya, that's great~"
When they asked what I had been training, I vaguely said that I had been doing Mana control training.
Creating the Dantian is good, but if I brought it up, Min-ji would probably nag me again.
If she found out I had done something so dangerous, she would definitely get angry. Well, Seo-ah and Da-eun too.
"Then... are we going to train together... now...?"
Seo-ah, who had been listening to my story, looked at me with a cautious expression and asked a question.
It seemed like she was a little sad because it had been a long time since she had trained with Seo-ah.
When I nodded, Seo-ah showed a bright smile with her unique laughter. Min-ji was pretending not to be, but her lips were slightly raised, as if she was feeling better.
It seems like we're always together as partners at the Academy, but is that not enough?
'Even when she pretends not to be, Min-ji is cute.'
As I was chatting with the girls, class time was already approaching. Min-ah came in for the class on Mana flow and understanding, and Mana.
"Okay, then let's start the class."
Min-ah's eyes, which briefly met mine, wavered and then returned to normal.
She's a completely different person when she's not alone with me. Min-ah is full of aegyo in front of me, but she doesn't show any disheveled ëª¨ìµ in front of other students.
'While plugging in the back.'
Should I tease her a little after a long time?
*
There was a sparring training session with partners, so I was teasing Min-ji appropriately.
"Hey.... Where are you poking, you idiot!"
When I poked Min-ji's chest with the wooden sword, Min-ji looked around and started to get angry in a quiet voice.
"Why? Doesn't it remind you of the old days?"
I think we started doing this when we were sparring after defeating the Skeleton Knight.
"D-don't do it, Kim Si-woo...!"
"Sorry, it was a mistake. A mistake."
"You... you're dead!"
We mix bodies with me more than 3 days a week, and we do even worse things than this, so is she ashamed to show it to others?
Still, I was mindful of the people around me. It could cause problems if it caught the eyes of others.
Should I just think of it as a light joke? Still, this elastic feeling felt at the end of the wooden sword after a long time wasn't bad.
"You're angry."
Min-ji's movements became sharper and more powerful.
It was clear that Min-ji had also grown, and I could see that the movements in her wildly swinging fists had been minimized.
It's only been a few days since we trained together, but I could feel her growing at a scary pace.
'Or is it because I do it a lot with Min-ji...?'
I don't know if it's because of other reasons, but I definitely noticed the difference.
I was more concerned about Min-ji, who is A-Rank, in case she was falling behind, but I didn't know it would be to this extent.
It felt like her stats had increased overall. Is it possible to grow this much?
"Min-ji-ya, did you drink the Potion I gave you?"
"..."
Min-ji didn't answer and focused on swinging her fist. I could see that she was getting more and more anxious as the sparring progressed.
Maybe it's because she can't win even though she doped.
Min-ji aimed for an opening, but it was an opening I had intended.
Min-ji stretched out her arm, but the attack failed.
I lightly deflected the attack and moved my sword to stab into Min-ji's opening. The sword stopped right in front of Min-ji's neck.
"Why isn't it working...."
Min-ji's face began to change drastically. It must be because the result wasn't good even though she doped.
I felt that Min-ji, who was depressed because she was frustrated by her defeat to me, was cute, but I couldn't keep watching her look so gloomy, so I comforted her appropriately.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
Her voice tone was lowered, and I could definitely feel that she had lost her strength. Did she think she could win?
Is it a problem that I'm stronger when she wants to protect me?
Since I became stronger than Min-ji, Min-ji has sometimes shown signs of being anxious.
I don't know how she feels, but maybe she's worried that she's the only one falling behind.
'I was like that.'
When I was in last place, I lived every day feeling that way.
Min-ji's skills aren't bad, but she's the weakest compared to the other heroines.
I don't care about that.
"I'll always be by your side. Don't worry."
"I-it's not like that, you idiot..."
Min-ji, who blushed slightly, muttered sulkily. I silently reached out my hand to Min-ji, who was sitting down, and Min-ji, who turned her head, took my hand and stood up.
*
I received the letter I received last time again.
This time, the letter was filled with a lot of anger. It's okay to be a little close to Min-ji.
I'm on my way to meet the guys who are doing this kind of thing because I'm curious about their identities. I'm going to the old building according to the contents of the letter that told me to come to the old Academy building alone.
The old training room that was abandoned while building new buildings with the latest technologies.
Unlike now, it's just a personal room with a barrier on the wall. There's no training mode or anything like that, just a room, so it was one of the abandoned buildings now.
There were traces of someone passing by in the building that hadn't been used for a long time.
'It must be them?'
It was clear that it was the trace of the guys who called me here. I came here thinking of seeing what kind of guys they were that told me to stay away from Min-ji.
When I went up to the 3rd floor, a man wearing a suspicious mask walked towards me.
A tall height and broad shoulders, and a considerable amount of Mana that could be felt from afar. He looked quite strong on the outside. He was wearing the Academy uniform, so he seemed to be one of the students.
Several more male students wearing the same masks appeared behind him.
'Could it be the Dark Kangsa-mo...?'
I had only heard rumors about them in the community, but I didn't know they actually existed.
"You ignored our warning. Why did you do that?"
"Do I have a reason to listen to you guys?"
"Min-ji-nim... is not someone you can treat carelessly."
"Min-ji-nim? Who are you to Min-ji..."
"Gah!!! How dare you utter Min-ji-nim's name with that lowly mouth!!"
"These guys are crazy...."
Is this real madness? I don't know what they're doing with someone else's woman, but I thought I should deal with these guys for Min-ji's sake.
"I'll beat you so badly that you can never approach Min-ji-nim again...."
The guys behind him started taking out their weapons.
'They're training weapons...?'
I feel like I'm losing strength for no reason. Well, fighting with real weapons inside the Academy is crazy.
The weapons are for training, but they didn't seem to be thinking of taking it lightly. The guys came forward with their training weapons.
Are they planning to gank someone who doesn't have a weapon?
I can fight in close combat, but my combat power decreases without a sword.
'But I have an inventory.'
Fortunately, I had a training weapon in my inventory, so I quickly summoned it.
"Master, that bastard has a weapon?"
I could see the guys hesitating when I grabbed the weapon.
"He's alone. Charge!!!"
"Defeat Kim Si-woo!!"
"Get away from Min-ji-nim!!!"
"Protect Min-ji-nim!!"
The guys who noticed the numerical advantage started rushing at me with their swords.
"I'll just think of it as training..."