"Honestly, I hadn't even considered sparring..."
"It's fine. The mana shield artifact is sturdy, after all."
That wasn't the issue, though. I hadn't even properly tested my abilities yet, and now suddenly a spar? The instructor standing there, and the students who had already pulled out their phones to start filming—they were all looking at me with such expectant eyes that backing out now felt a bit awkward. For now, I needed to lay the groundwork.
"Sorry, but I can't go all out. I'm dressed like this, and I have other things to do anyway."
"Of course."
"And could you give me about ten minutes? I wasn't planning on sparring today, so I just need to do a quick status check."
Only then did Instructor Kim Joo-hyun step aside from the center of the training grounds. As I started warming up, I realized that this suit must be Hunter-world quality or something—it was more comfortable than the ones from my old world, but it was still awkward. And with dress shoes on top of that. At this point, they had to understand if my movements looked a bit off. I had considered borrowing training clothes, but since no one mentioned it, they probably didn't have spares or personal gym wear like that. From my perspective, that worked out perfectly.
And over these two days, I'd realized this body was something else. She was the type who soloed dungeons, so naturally her stamina was top-notch, but beyond that, her movements felt incredibly smooth. I'd done consistent PT training myself for about a year, but active Hunters were clearly on another level.
On top of that, with my senses expanding into this new realm of mana control, the world itself felt different. I could feel it just from lightly warming up—my movements were changing in real time.
I stopped stretching and conjured a flame, extinguishing it repeatedly, growing more certain by the second. Mana was invincible. Lee Seo-woo was a god. Before I knew it, one of the students had brought over a training sandbag, and as I struck it, I felt it for sure.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Flame Aura (Lv. ?)
Sandbag engulfed in flames!
-Boom!
Watching the sandbag burst into flames from a simple roundhouse kick, a confidence I didn't even know I had started surging up.
"Whoa, fire shooting from the leg? That's fucking badass."
"But isn't the Solo Legend a mage? Isn't that a strength mage thing?"
"I heard pros sometimes have to go pantsless in certain situations, so even mages do stamina training."
"It's insane. That sandbag? The B-rank swordsman who came last time couldn't even break it."
"Even if he's A-rank, a mage doing a one-shot roundhouse? You gotta be that strong to solo."
I'd wrapped my leg thickly in mana to cushion the direct impact on my body, but somehow it ended up not just powerful—it looked cool as hell too. As I stared at the exploded sandbag, the student who'd brought it over asked me again.
"Um... should I get you another one?"
"I'd appreciate it."
I still had experiments to run, so I didn't refuse. I'd compensate for the destroyed one later. I burned away the remaining debris with mana, and soon a fresh sandbag arrived. I'd tested physical strikes already. Now for the classic mage style.
Poking it with Fireballs seemed lame. Time to go big.
No rush, so first, visualization. Flames meant explosion, but too wide and it'd damage the surroundings, so I shifted gears. Next best: Pillar of Fire. A small circle about palm-sized, shooting straight up. Not bad. As I focused, I felt the mana flow around my skin. Infuse my mana at the sandbag's position, twist it spiraling upward just a bit...
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Pillar of Fire (Lv. ?)
Massive eruption! Ceiling shield cracked!
-KABOOM!
"Holy shit..."
A sudden blast of heat scorched my face, forcing me to shield it with my arm, so I missed the exact moment—but even that compact Pillar of Fire roared with a deafening boom, incinerating the sandbag completely before shooting up and cracking the ceiling shield. We all stood there dumbfounded, the only sound that one muttered curse.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Seo Ji-hyun wondered how long it had been since she'd last relaxed like this, lounging idly at Lee Seo-woo's place.
After seeing him off to work at 7 a.m., she'd eat breakfast, scroll her phone while rolling around, nap if sleepy, wake for lunch. Turning on the TV to see what incidents happened today was a good time-killer, and unlike before regression, browsing communities was fun. Sure, the nice weather made her regret not strolling outside, but compared to the 7-8 years poured into revenge, then regressing to her awakening days and another 6 years cowering in the guild, this was pure bliss.
And since Lee Seo-woo said he'd handle it somehow without specifics, she'd wait for now. He was a weird guy. Pre-regression, he'd been Yoo Soo-jung's dog, ruining his own life—but now he was helping her.
Honestly, he felt like a completely different person. She was almost certain, but every direct probe failed.
She called it simple Hypnosis, but it was really curse-derived mental domination, which she'd self-regulated—but it shattering like this was a first. Not due to mana disparity like past tests; it was purely like keyword-locked, reacting only to specific topics.
Over two days toying with him, Hypnosis worked fine—until she asked about his identity, then mana backlash broke it. At first, she thought it was his defenses, but no. Even drunk yesterday, asking under Hypnosis shattered it. Half-given up now. He'd help anyway, no harm intended.
Sometimes pity in his eyes sparked rage—he was the cause, after all—but his actions contradicted, making anger fade like it was someone else. He knew her situation but not the regression.
Mystery man, but fun to toy with. His attitude shifting per finger snap, oblivious? Peak satisfaction. Especially day one's "greeting"—still arousing thinking back. The man who'd raped her now kneeling, kissing there devotedly? Different thrill from dismembering revenge. She'd use it more.
Wondering what to order today while surfing the net, a fun post caught her eye.
📰 Hunter Community[Solo Legend Updates Today's Legend]— Anonymous PosterSolo Legend showed up at my school today. Came to watch us train, instructor asked for a spar. He said he'd warm up quick, so I brought a training sandbag lololol. Same type B-rank swordsman failed to break before. One roundhouse? Boom, gone. Mana-wrapped leg trails fire, explodes like in the vid. Fucking sick. Dusts off leg casually, shakes embers. "Big bro" vibes automatic. Everyone's like "Solo Legend's actually a strength mage?" Then he just Pillar of Fire the ceiling shield lololol. Gotta be that strong to solo. Vids have deets.
The comments below overflowed with praise, so she curiously played the videos. They started with Lee Seo-woo warming up by the sandbag and ended with spectacular explosions. Seeing that confirmed it further. Pre-regression, he was fast but pure firepower style.
Textbook mage: blanket area in flames from max range. Possible to move like that, but he'd prioritize distance, not close in. No spar footage, so inconclusive alone—but matched what she'd seen. Even without this post, she was convinced he was different.
Did he even realize he acted like someone else? Guild projected solid mid-tier image externally, so outsiders clueless—but insiders would wonder why he changed. Yoo Soo-jung, guild master, was too obsessed to care. She'd wailed for him even after Seo Ji-hyun cut limbs, yanked teeth, gouged eyes, tossed to hobos.
Maybe drill his old personality back in tonight. She felt like a mom leaving a kid by the water.