Chapter 776: Week 12–13 PvP: Lowerclassmen’s Revolt (2)

Kwon Uram, the Nature Club captain.

Right after midterms, I had gone to meet Park Nari and been introduced to him.

I didn’t expect to meet him in PvP.

There were not just one or two clubs, and there were plenty of captain-level students and Discipline Committee members too, so how had I ended up with Kwon Uram specifically?

I could not tell whether I was lucky or unlucky.

Either way, I have to fight him.

No matter who the opponent was, the fact that I had to win did not change.

So I stepped onto the teleportation magic circle and entered the battlefield.

Almost at the same time, Kwon Uram appeared on the opposite side.

Just like when we first met, he was wearing clothes torn to shreds.

Our school uniforms were items of D-rank or higher and had fairly outstanding durability, so what kind of rough things was he doing for them to end up like that?

Of course, that was not important right now, so I set the question aside and bowed politely.

“Hello, senior.”

“I’ve wanted to fight you at least once, sooner or later. To think the opportunity would come this quickly.”

Kwon Uram grinned, sounding pleased.

When he checked the match information, he looked even more pleased, probably because no handicap had been applied.

“Now that’s some spirit! You need to do at least this much for us third-years to step aside in good spirits.”

“It will only mean something if I win, though.”

“You seem confident of that too. Am I wrong?”

I could not exactly say to his face, “Yep, I win,” so I answered with a smile instead.

At that, Kwon Uram grinned again.

“If you defeat me, the matter you asked about recently will become easier too.”

I had asked him to let me meet the Mountain Dragon so I could have the S+-rank wood [Thousand-Year Evergreen] receive [Consecration].

He was probably still contacting people and trying hard to build the bridge even now, but if I proved my ability, Kwon Uram would become even more proactive.

With some exaggeration, he might even give up his own position to me.

So I took out my staff and said,

“I’ll do my best.”

“I look forward to it!”

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

[Kim Ho 100%]

vs

[Kwon Uram 100%]

The instant the match began, Kwon Uram drew up his mana.

A blue aura billowed up, then took the shape of a large beast.

A wild ox—more precisely, what was called a buffalo.

With that, Kwon Uram kicked off the ground and began charging.

Druid.

He only shared the same class as Park Nari. In terms of build, they were practically opposites.

Park Nari leaned toward wood-earth mage and Beast Tamer, sending Beomi, Chaemi, and the others forward while focusing on rear support herself.

Kwon Uram, on the other hand, housed animal spirits or auras in his own body and fought directly, making him closer to a kind of barbarian warrior.

What matters is which animals he uses.

The details of his combat style would change depending on that, and I would have to adjust how I dealt with him too.

First, a probing exchange.

I held out my staff and chanted a spell.

[Octopus Arms]

[Snow Wall]*3

Three thick walls of snow rose up.

Then they collided head-on with the charging Kwon Uram.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Three collapsing sounds, with snow scattering in every direction.

The [Snow Walls] had crumbled in an instant.

I didn’t expect much in the first place.

Even ice walls would not be able to stop him, and snow walls had far lower defensive power than those.

Of course, I had a separate aim.

The flurries of snow scattering to block his vision, and the fact that some of it must have stuck to Kwon Uram’s body.

In other words, it’ll be easier to inflict Frozen on him.

[Frost-White Shot]

[Chain Explosion]

A cold aura shot out from my index finger, then caused two consecutive explosions.

BOOM BOOM!

However, when Kwon Uram soon appeared, far from being [Frozen], there was not even a single speck of snow stuck to him.

Instead, he was wearing a protective barrier shaped like a turtle shell.

A debuff defense skill.

Just like what Grand General Earth Eater had, it was probably the type that blocked debuffs N number of times.

I even used [Mutual-Destruction Eye] to check, but the result was exactly the same.

[Cooldown:00:00:59]

It bounced off as-is, and only the cooldown applied.

The protective barrier did crack with a sharp sound, but—

That thing probably refills too.

Most likely whenever he summoned the turtle spirit.

If so, it would be hard to settle this by focusing on freezing him.

Next, Kwon Uram raised a huge bear shape behind his back.

Then he closed the distance with me, swinging his hand and thrusting out his fist as he attacked.

WHOOSH!

There was pressure like a bear’s paw was flying at me.

At the same time, it also had the precision of a martial artist’s punch.

In response, I narrowly leaned and bent back to dodge, then—

About time I hit him once.

BOOM!

I counterattacked with [Spiral Explosion].

Kwon Uram staggered for a moment, then resumed his attack.

However, just as he was about to leap in again, a blue circle formed around me and began expanding its range.

[Pulverize Zone]

Set the range to a moderate level, and the delay to two minutes.

With this level of power, it should be able to render the opponent unable to fight in one blow.

If it hit, that was.

Naturally, Kwon Uram was a third-year captain-level student, so he was not someone who could be tricked easily.

Even though he did not seem to know much about [Pulverize Zone], he showed caution and maintained his distance.

“That looks like an unusual skill.”

“It is a little unusual.”

“Is it a buff type?”

“Would you believe me if I told you?”

At my question, Kwon Uram closed his mouth.

There was a high chance I would lie, and even if I told the truth, I might deliberately leave out important information.

These things had to be figured out directly.

Let’s see how he comes at me.

From Kwon Uram’s perspective, the blue circle’s effect could be broadly guessed as one of two things.

One, it might be the type that strengthened the caster, meaning me.

Two, it might be the type that inflicted a debuff or damage on enemies who entered its range.

Either way, the conclusion is already set.

He had to either remove the blue circle itself or drive me out of its range.

Kwon Uram seemed to reach the same conclusion, because he raised his mana again.

This time, the shape that rose behind him was an eagle spreading its wings wide.

Then he kicked off the ground and soared high into the air.

WHOOOOOSH—!

At Kwon Uram’s gesture, the wind in the area swept violently like blades.

Then it focused on me all at once.

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH!

It wouldn’t matter if I backed away right now.

But then I would lose the psychological battle.

It would be the same as admitting that I had some other aim.

I needed to show that I could endure a little.

[Wind Barrier]

[Mystic Nether Armor]

[Sylphid]

[Sylphid Armor]

SCRAAAAAPE!

The blades of wind scraped mercilessly across the armor wrapped around my body.

Naturally, they did not pierce it, nor did they even scratch it.

A strange light flickered through Kwon Uram’s eyes.

“……Tougher than I expected.”

“It’s a combination skill.”

And I had raised it to A+-rank recently too.

At that, Kwon Uram gave a small nod and waved his hand again.

As if to see whether I could block this too.

WHOOOOOO—!

Soon after, the wind swept even more fiercely and generated whirlwinds large and small.

Then they pressed toward me from every direction.

SCRAAAAAPE!

One small whirlwind collided continuously with [Sylphid Armor] before vanishing.

However, it was unknown whether it could block a large whirlwind, let alone several whirlwinds at once.

I think I’ve held out quite a bit by now.

So I dodged the whirlwinds this way and that, leaving the blue circle.

In a tone that sounded extremely unavoidable, as though I was dying of regret.

The Witch of Decay sponsored the expression.

“Ugh……! If only I’d had just a little longer……!”

“So it finally came out.”

With those words, Kwon Uram flew down from the sky.

He had the momentum of a kite snatching its prey.

But at the last moment, the animal behind his back switched to a buffalo.

BOOOOOOM—!

Then he slammed into the ground with tremendous weight.

It was like a meteor had fallen.

So that’s why all his clothes end up ruined.

No matter how tough the uniform was, if a buffalo wore it while bouncing around like a rubber ball, it was bound to turn into a rag.

Of course, I had already dodged with [Blink].

Kwon Uram turned to look at me and asked,

“Have you done enough probing?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then let’s fight properly now.”

Then he kicked off the ground again and charged.

[Kwon Uram 95%]

[Kwon Uram 97%]

[Kwon Uram 99%]

The buffalo form increases movement speed and restores health.

The turtle was probably for N-count debuff defense and increased defense.

The bear, needless to say, was for close combat.

Lastly, the eagle was probably for flight and ranged attacks using wind.

It probably ends with those four.

He could increase the number of types as much as he wanted, but time and resources were limited.

To grind ranks and raise proficiency, selection and concentration were always necessary.

Just the combination of buffalo, turtle, bear, and eagle already had excellent balance, so there was a high chance he had refined those as they were rather than increasing their number.

Meaning he’s revealed almost all his cards.

He likely still had a few trump cards left, but even taking those into account, his actions from now on were within the range I could predict.

In that case, it was time to fight him properly, just as Kwon Uram wanted.

Though I’m not going to fight for long.

I faced Kwon Uram as he narrowed the distance with every passing moment.

Then, just like when the match had first started, I held out my staff and cast magic.

[Diamond Freeze]

[Snow Wall]

BOOOOOOM—!

A thunderous collision rang out from the wall made of snow.

[Kwon Uram 99%]

[Kwon Uram 92%]

He had borrowed the buffalo’s strength and rammed into it with as much speed as he could pull out.

Yet far from breaking, it had not even been scratched.

Cannot be dispelled means cannot be destroyed.

Even a soft [Snow Wall] transformed into a wall tougher than anything else when linked with [Diamond].

Next, I jumped lightly and looked over the wall.

Then I saw Kwon Uram staggering, apparently because the aftermath of the collision still lingered.

The unexpected situation probably had him flustered too.

On top of that, I cast another spell.

[Octopus Arms]

[Snow Wall]*3

RUMBLE!

Snow walls surrounded Kwon Uram on all four sides like a prison.

[Diamond] had not been applied to these, so they would break if he tapped them once, but I had no intention of letting him confirm that.

The instant our gazes met—

[Octopus Arms]

[Mutual-Destruction Eye]*10

[Cooldown:01:39:58]

CRAAAACK.

The turtle-shell barrier was worn down and vanished in an instant, and ice formed all over Kwon Uram’s body.

You can block debuffs N number of times?

Then I just need to apply them more than N times.

It was just that I could not link it with [Diamond Freeze]; breaking through itself was perfectly possible.

But my offensive was still not over.

The next moment, Kwon Uram’s face hardened.

“This is……!”

Because space centered around him had begun to ripple ominously.

Since he did not know what would happen if he stayed still, Kwon Uram tried to spread eagle wings and fly up.

But by then, the compressed air was already crashing down like a hammer.

BOOM!

“Senior, to tell the truth, I’m better with wind.”

It was one of my main fields, after all.

And even if you stay there, I’ll pull you out.

Sure enough, the next moment, Kwon Uram vanished with a whoosh.

The spatial ripple from a moment ago had been the precursor to [Shift Blink].

And the place where he appeared was the center of the blue circle.

The [Pulverize Zone] I had cast two minutes ago.

As if he had realized something, Kwon Uram’s eyes widened again.

“Was all of it planned? From beginning to end, even this skill.”

“That’s right. When two minutes pass—”

BOOOOOOOOM—!

A massive, invisible force came crashing down.