CH 48

And just like that, the first Familia meeting was a success.

Only after everyone had left did the three of them step into the training room, their nervousness palpable.

The children, with their weapons drawn, and I, wearing only gloves, entered the training room.

And then there’s Ji-hyun, who is smiling like she’s dying of anticipation outside the training room.

[I didn’t think you guys would be preparing for an all-out war already……If only the other guys would work half as hard as you guys.]

Ji-hyun’s voice comes from the speaker.

[The field you guys will experience is a forest, so you can think of it as the beginning as soon as the trees start to rise……then everyone get ready]

In the distance, the children’s figures can be seen up ahead.

‘Still, if the field is a forest, isn’t it worth a shot? There are two mages and one assassin here, and boss doesn’t even have a gun.’

Perhaps recalling his own experience fighting in the forest before the duel began, Jin-woo spoke to the children with a sense of possibility.

“The field is in our favor, so why not beat the boss for once?

Of course, I was excited too even though the field is actually much more favorable for them.

With two mages and an assassin I thought it was going to be a very troublesome battle.

[Start!]

For some reason, I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

I wonder how they will use the skill that Young-jae and Se-ah showed when they dueled, and the mental strength that Jin-woo showed when he dueled against me.

The field begins to change as a dense forest forms in front of me.

It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a forest field, and even though I know it’s a competition arena, I’m amazed at how realistic it is.

“The field must have gotten a lot bigger.”

In most cases, when a field is transformed like this, its size changes as well.

The game’s setting states that the technology was created by utilizing spatial magic, but it’s unclear how much it has expanded.

“First, I have to get the high ground.”

Since they were unlikely to stay in one place, I decided to get to a high place and locate them first.

I scrambled off the ground and used the branches as a foothold to climb the tallest tree.

“Hah…… Is this also a function of the training grounds?”

The forest spread out all around us and no matter how I looked at it, it was far too large for the size of the training center.

This size could only be attributed to Ji-hyun’s greed.

In this situation, they would have the advantage thanks to Se-ah spatial magic when it came to navigation.

Okay, then…….

Abandoning my initial plan, I jumped down from the tree and closed my eyes.

I sense the smell of earth rising into the air from my landing and the crunch of leaves already on the ground.

I can feel every step as I sprint over the leaves, carrying the scent of grass with me as I concentrate and try to estimate their location.

“──────!!!

“…… too!”

The wind-cutting sound came from behind me, and I swung my fist, the musical notes shattering against my fist.

I immediately glanced behind him, wary but unfazed.

“I see.”

Immediately, the situation began to make sense.

Young-jae, an excellent mage who could use a variety of magic, and Kim Se-ah, who could freely utilize spatial magic used a joint attack.

“Young-jae used magic and Se-ah modified the trajectory. Surely, with this method, I’ll have trouble locating the mage.”

In a field with so many obstacles, this was a very useful attack.

“Interesting.”

At that moment, light arrows flew from the front and the left and right at the same time but I smashed them with my fist.

I race to where they might be, but the place is already deserted. At this rate, it will be impossible for me, a non-magic user, to locate them.

As I was thinking of them…….──!

The fake birds in the distance arranged to fit into the background of the field, took flight.

A few seconds later, another rush of magic came from my back.

This time I tried to block it, but it grazed my cheek.

“Ouch!”

But it didn’t hurt.

──!

From the side of the seat where the birds had flown, another bird flew and magic was shot again.

This time, I throw a punch, but it doesn’t break, only bounces off.

“Look at this.”

The magic has increased in strength from the first time.

Judging by the gradual increase in intensity, he’s trying to see what I can do to stop it. But this game was over.

“──I found you.”

The bird took flight once more and I ran as fast as I could towards the location.

At the same time, through the [Smart Lens], an indication that [Attribute: Baby Boss] was activated appeared in front of my eyes.

It meant that there was a being nearby who was afraid of me.

In this forest, where there are only four people, including me, I wonder who else would be afraid of me.

It had to be the children, who had just given away their location.

“No, how the hell did you know?!”

A huge shield of ice unfolds in front of me, blocking my path.

“I fire my magic, then use Kim Se-ah’s magic to deflect the path and hide our position. It was a good plan. But──”

Even if they did, there was one thing they couldn’t hide.

“After all, magic has to start somewhere.”

The waves created by magic must have been very alien to the birds around them. That’s why they took to the skies as soon as the magic was detected.

“Next time, you might want to include some creatures in the environment.”

Fist and shield clash, and in an instant, the ice shield is shattered.

There was no way he could have stopped my fist with a hastily created magic.

“Jin-woo Bevalt!”

Young-jae shouts, and at the same time, Jin-woo, who was hiding behind me, lunges for my throat.

The attempt was good. If only he didn’t feel so afraid of me.

I took advantage of his slight pause and kicked him right in the back.

-Boom!

A sound I couldn’t believe was coming from a human body.

“Agh!”

The dagger that Jin-woo had narrowly recovered is sent flying backwards.

If it had hit, it would have broken a couple of ribs, but it seems like he barely managed to block it with his usual excellent reflexes.

Jin-woo was an assassin now, but he was also a warrior who was in charge of the team’s positioning.

Naturally, I was going to ignore him and go after Young-jae, the mage, first, but Jin-woo quickly straightened up and charged at me, apparently forgetting the pain he’d just suffered.

“If boss doesn’t have his gun, I can take you on!”

“Is that so?”

I ask, reading the path of the dagger he’s swinging.

Luckily, I’ve dealt with a lot of guys with weapons in the Blunt Family battle, so it’s not too difficult to deal with Jin-woo’s attacks.

I check the reach of the weapon and calculate that into my dodge.

Of course, Jin-woo wasn’t stupid and would occasionally throw in an unusual attack, but every time he did, I would raise my hand to block it.

“No, what kind of gloves are those!”

What Jin-woo didn’t know was that Midas’s gloves looked like ordinary leather gloves, but they had the effect of being indestructible.

“That’s right, you should have worked harder on maintaining your weapons.”

As I said that, I grabbed Jin-woo’s dagger, which was stabbing toward my abdomen, and yanked it toward me.

“What?!”

Jinwoo, who hadn’t expected his blade to be caught, was drawn to me and I thrust my fist as hard as I could at his head.

“First one.”

“Why are you doing this again?!”

“fine!”

‘Fine’. In music, is a term signaling the end.

I heard Young-jae’s voice from behind me, and the ice shield I saw at the beginning blocked Jin-woo’s body.

Taking advantage of the gap, Jin-woo ducked and dodged toward Young-jae.

I spun around to make sure I didn’t lose him, but at that moment, I heard Young-jae’s voice once again.

“Forte!”

With a loud bang, an intangible wave crashed in front of me.

I quickly opened my palm to block the attack, but the recoil knocked me backwards.

However, I was about to kick the ground when I realized that I could catch up to him with a single leap.

“Kim Se-ah!”

Kim Se-ah, who had been hiding until now, appeared.

“I’m ready, I’ll mix it up!”

What? Mixing, what the hell…….?

And as soon as she finished, something strange started to happen.

The terrain around me began to move, as if it was a jigsaw puzzle.

“Ha! Hahahahaha!”

No way! Is this what they were preparing for?

It was beyond my wildest dreams.

The reason why Kim Se-ah had been hiding and watching all this time was to prepare to take control of the field.

Normally, she wouldn’t have had a chance since the Academy’s arena system wasn’t exactly the most favorable.

But now the field had been overgrown by Ji-hyun, a spatial mage of the same class as Kim Se-ah, who had injected more of her own power into it.

With Ji-hyun’s power, there must have been a gap in the system of the arena and Kim Se-ah was aiming for that.

The space around me began to change rapidly.

I must have been transported to a place very far away from where I first stood and I had lost track of the children again.

Since I had already told them that I had found them thanks to the birds, they would attack me in a different way than the first time.

They were so happy to see me caught in their trap.

I couldn’t use the birds to find them again but I stomped my foot as I found the uneven ground as a beam of pure white light shot into the sky in front of me.

“It’s already starting.”

The magic rising from the ground continued at a furious pace, seemingly intent on piercing me somehow.

I still have some time to spare, but if I continue to dodge the magic, my health will slowly dwindle.

Now, what to do.

Should I try to find them by tearing through the magic? No, that wasn’t really my cup of tea.

Then…….

I had an idea.

“If the forest is in the way, I can cut it down.”

I pointed my fist at the tree in front of me.

────!!!

The tree is knocked over by my punch.

-Thud! -Thud! -Thud!

And dozens of trees followed, falling like dominoes, leaving a small path in the direction of my outstretched fist.

-Thud.

The fake trees formed by the field slowly disappear as soon as they hit the ground.

“Might be worth a try.”

I throw my fist once more and the tree falls straight down but it’s harder than I thought.

Confirming that the trees weren’t as strong as I thought, I smiled and prepared for the next punch.

“Let’s be diligent.”

My next move was simple, I was going to turn this forest field into an open field.