The Support Ate it All

Chapter 89: 5th Week Mentoring and Duel Battles (12)

I continued walking with Hong Yeon-hwa trailing behind me like a shadow.

Until we reached the blacksmiths workshop.

!

In that moment, it seemed as if an exclamation mark appeared above Hong Yeon-hwas head.

She was beginning to grasp what the special material I mentioned might be.

Since we came to a workshop, it was highly likely to be metal.

However, the idea of a metal imbued with coldness seemed to leave her somewhat uncertain.

I immediately sought out the president of the blacksmithing club.

He was, as always, busy with his work. Even though my request had been temporarily paused, he had to continue crafting other items.

Upon noticing us, he stopped his work and approached before asking me directly.

Have you come prepared?

The question was abrupt, but since we only have one common interest, the omitted context was obvious.

He was asking if I had found a way to melt the Millennium Iron.

Instead of responding, I turned my gaze towards Hong Yeon-hwa which caused the president of the blacksmithing club to do the same.

Hong Yeon-hwa.

Hello

Judging by their interaction, it seemed like they knew each other.

Given the inseparable relationship between blacksmiths and fire, and the active exchanges between the Ruby Magic Tower and them, it was likely they had crossed paths occasionally.

But for Hong Yeon-hwa, the president of the blacksmithing club didnt seem to be a particularly comfortable acquaintance as her demeanor was somewhat stiff.

The club president turned his gaze back to me and asked while pointing towards Hong Yeon-hwa with his eyes.

Is this the solution you had in mind?

Thats right.

He looked really disappointed at my answer.

What a wasted effort. Weve already sought the help of a fire mage.

He must have called upon some familiar fire mages to unleash their flames.

But unless it was a president-level fire mage or someone with the Aqua Flame trait, melting the Millennium Iron was nearly impossible.

They must have failed too then.

You knew that and yet you still brought Hong Yeon-hwa?

Yes, I was hoping youd give her a chance.

.

The club presidents eyes narrowed as he once again examined Hong Yeon-hwa.

What difference could Hong Yeon-hwa make?

Despite being a promising first-year student, the club president was doubtful whether she had any advantage over the second and third-year fire mages he had sought help from before.

Yet, it seemed the conclusion leaned towards giving it a try, as there was nothing to lose.

If it didnt work, so be it, but if by some chance it succeeded, that would be a welcome outcome.

He then took out an ingot casting a dark sheen and placed it on the table.

Alright, give it a try.

Hong Yeon-hwa also seemed to have a general understanding of the situation after she listened to our conversation.

Even if she didnt know the ingot was made of Millennium Iron Alloy, she could tell it was the special material I had mentioned.

It was clearly a high-grade metal and it was emitting a chill that was noticeable even in the warmth of the workshop.

She must have deduced from our conversation that we wanted to melt this ingot.

While she might feel like she was being used in some way, the prospect of advancing the rank of her Aqua Flame seemed to outweigh any concerns.

Hong Yeon-hwa looked to me for approval, and upon receiving a nod, she began.

Lets burn it.

Hong Yeon-hwa immediately started chanting her spell.

A round magic circle appeared beneath the Millennium Iron Alloy with geometric symbols etched on it.

It was the [Fire Pillar] spell, which she had used a few times before.

Since it was impossible to turn the workshop into a sea of fire, the size of the magic circle was intentionally made small, but as the range was limited to a small space, the power became more powerful.

As soon as Hong Yeon-hwa completed the spell,

Whoosh!

A small yet vivid pillar of fire erupted from the magic circle.

All eyes were fixed on the fiercely blazing pillar of flames.

In the midst of such intense flames, the Millennium Iron Alloy still maintained its shape.

It was as if the fire was deliberately avoiding that spot and parting around it.

Then Hong Yeon-hwa rapidly layered another spell with a serious expression on her face.

Another ring was drawn around the perimeter of the [Fire Pillar] magic circle and,

Whoosh!

The flames surged with even greater ferocity.

Hong Yeon-hwa stirred the staff to control the flames and force them into the ingot.

Then, little by little, changes began to appear.

From the surface of the Millennium Iron Alloy, the heat began to gradually erode into it.

!

The president of the blacksmithing club had a strange look in his eyes.

He turned his gaze from Hong Yeon-hwa who was maintaining the spell and addressed me.

It seems to be working as you said. But its incredibly slow. I cant imagine how long it would take to process it fully.

I would appreciate it if you could keep observing a little longer. After all, this is just the beginning.

The slow progress was due to Hong Yeon-hwas Aqua Flame being only at E-rank.

As the rank increases, the speed at which the ingot melts will also accelerate.

The processing difficulty of the Millennium Iron Alloy is around A-rank, but considering the power of the Aqua Flame, reaching C-rank should suffice to melt it without much trouble.

Since the desired results were achieved, the blacksmithing club president did not doubt my words.

Very well.

With a brief reply, he returned to his work and left.

I found no reason to linger and waste time here either.

I informed Hong Yeon-hwa.

Ill be going too.

Ah? Youre leaving?

She was slightly bewildered.

Reading between the lines of Hong Yeon-hwas words, it was as if she was saying,

Are you going to leave me here by myself while you go off alone?

I responded casually.

If you prefer, I can stay.

Hong Yeon-hwa quickly waved her hands.

No, no! I can do this on my own. Its about developing my trait. Go and rest! Okay!

She probably thought it was a hundred times better to be left alone than to have me watching over her shoulder.

Without asking twice, I walked out of the workshop with light steps.

Hong Yeon-hwa was happy to have the chance to grow her trait with this rare material.

The blacksmithing club president was happy to resume the production of the item that was temporarily suspended.

And I was happy with the president not only crafting a weapon but also throwing in a small bonus for me.

It was a win-win strategy that left everyone happy.

***

Mentoring continued on both Friday and Saturday.

Since I taught Dang Gyu-young how to train both attack and defense at the same time, there was no need to participate in training.

Instead, as the week was nearly over, I took the opportunity at the end of each training session to have Hong Yeon-hwa go for a round of sticker duel battle.

Despite feeling it was a long shot, I couldnt bear the thought of squandering the three remaining chances.

Even if she was lacking, its better to give it a try as is.

I thought it would be useless to plan the strategy at this level, so I gave Hong Yeon-hwa just one instruction.

Go in.

I decided to let Hong Yeon-hwa move as freely as possible and support her actions as best I could.

[Wind Force]

Whoooosh!

In an instant, a strong gust of wind blew and separated Hong Yeon-hwa and Dang Gyu-young.

The shadow bat the size of a human body swung by Dang Gyu-yeong missed entirely.

Hong Yeon-hwa quickly retreated to regroup and her staff emitted a crimson glow.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

A series of fiery explosions enveloped Dang Gyu-youngs position.

Hong Yeon-hwa plunged without hesitation into the great flames that had risen.

Within the blaze, the shadows of the two danced and flickered.

On our first attempt at coordination on Friday, she hesitated every time I used Wind Force to help her, and because of that, she missed several good opportunities.

Now she had adapted quite well to my style. She reacted immediately when I came to her aid and took every opportunity.

Whoooosh!

The constant gusts of wind disrupted Dang Gyu-youngs movements, making her jerk and pause like a broken toy doll.

Though she glared at me with sheer annoyance, her immediate concern was Hong Yeon-hwa who was charging at her from the front.

With a casual wave of her hand, several shadow limbs sprang up and lunged towards her.

Hong Yeon-hwa didnt retreat; she remained calm and responded with poise.

She unleashed fire magic at close range or imbued her hands with mana to deliver powerful strikes.

After brushing aside the shadow limbs, she aggressively moved forward and attempted to peel off a sticker from Dang Gyu-young.

Dang Gyu-young skillfully counterattacked.

I kept a certain distance from where the skirmish was taking place and watched, and when I thought it was dangerous, I cast Wind Force.

Bang!

Compressed air exploded between Dang Gyu-young and Hong Yeon-hwa.

It acted as a cushion to soften the impact while simultaneously pushing them in opposite directions.

I then pulled Hong Yeon-hwa, who was momentarily airborne closer to me.

She landed gently on the ground without any apparent injuries but, unlike before, she didnt rush back into action.

Her breathing was uneven and her movements noticeably slowed down. She seemed to have run out of stamina.

It ends here.

By this point, it was clear that continuing the melee would yield no further results.

Yet, seeing Hong Yeon-hwas fingertips barely graze a sticker in the final moments gave me a glimmer of hope for tomorrow.

Dang Gyu-young quickly assessed Hong Yeon-hwas condition and decided it was time to wrap up the days mentoring.

Thats enough for today. Well done.

But unfortunately for her, there was still a long way to go before Hong Yeon-hwa could get some proper rest.

Since the Aquatic Flame trait training awaited her.

Our next destination was the blacksmith workshop.

Im counting on you again today.

.

With a weak nod in response to my words, Hong Yeon-hwa disappeared outside the round arena using the teleportation magic circle.

Once it was just the two of us, Dang Gyu-young immediately dropped her stern senior mentor mode and reverted to her usual grumbling self.

Hey, I really dont like that skill of yours.

Senior-nim, nobody really likes it.

Wind Force was inherently a skill bound to draw anger from others.

It was the destiny of all forced movement skills, one might say.

Being pushed and pulled against ones will is bound to frustrate anyone.

If that moment happened to fall during a crucial point in battle, the frustration would be doubled.

Why not use a different skill, then?

I would if I could, but Wind Force is really all Ive got thats any good.

Currently, Wind Force was truly the only viable skill I had at my disposal.

I could copy other skills, but I was too fond of using Thiefs Step and Overheat to give them up.

Come on, youve got other skills. For real.

Honestly, I dont. Really.

Of course, Dang Gyu-young looked at me with disbelief. She wasnt buying my words in the slightest.

She must have thought I was deliberately hiding my other skills.

After pouting for a moment and giving me a look, she seemed to find it pointless and shook her head before changing the subject.

Right, Ive been curious since yesterday but didnt get a chance to ask. Why did Hong Yeon-hwa suddenly start helping you?

I had a bit of give-and-take with them.

By them, you mean the Ruby Magic Tower? Hong Ye-hwa?

Yes.

Ahan.

Dang Gyu-young chuckled as if it all made sense to her.

So shes the one removing the stickers? I thought youd help her and remove them, but its the other way around. That threw me off.

Thats how it turned out.

But without you, it looks like not even one, let alone three, would be doable. Is it okay for you to lose points like this?

Yes, I dont really care.

Really? What are you getting from Hong Ye-hwa in return?

I cant tell you that.

Tch.

Dang Gyu-young briefly clicked her tongue.

It seemed she was trying to smoothly pry the information out, but some things arent so easily revealed.

Still, with the information-gathering skills of the president of the Thieves Club, wouldnt she find out without much trouble?

How about Song Cheon-hye and Kwak Ji-cheol?

Theyre not really any better than Hong Yeon-hwa. Apart from you, everyones pretty much on the same level.

It seems those two are struggling as well.

Passing the sticker-removing task to Hong Yeon-hwa had slightly increased the chance of me losing the bet with Song Cheon-hye, but according to Dang Gyu-young, the odds still seemed to be more in my favor.

Let them worry about themselves, and lets focus on our task. I want to finish this quickly and take a rest.

Dang Gyu-young stretched out as if her body was stiff.

And after she tossed aside her C-rank restriction bracelet, the shadows at her feet began to violently undulate.

Aside from the duel battles, the one-on-one sparring sessions between Dang Gyu-young and me continued.

Until I mastered [Distortion].