The Support Ate it All

The summoning gate in the training ground could summon monsters indefinitely, as long as crystals were continuously supplied.

Still, there were quite a few limitations.

Just like with the harpy, summoned monsters couldn’t leave the vicinity of the training ground, and only “normal” monsters would appear.

For example, monsters like the Gap-doo Fish of Rainbow Lake, the Midterm Alpha Ogre, or the Ice Witch of Winterhalt were considered named or boss-class and thus didn’t show up here.

Of course, even normal monsters could be on another level if they were around B-rank.

After all, in this game, rank is everything.

Take the Beheader Goblin, for instance….it might be considered an F-rank named monster, but what would happen if it went up against a D-rank ogre?

It would probably get crushed in a single blow. No question.

Similarly, a B-rank normal monster was often regarded as equivalent to a D- or C-rank named monster.

The constantly trembling gate gave one last, powerful ripple before something humanoid slowly stepped out.

Its entire body was sky-blue, as if made of pure mana. It was faint and semi-transparent.

It also wore a robe and held a long staff, which pointed at its identity as a magic-user type.

“Phantasmancer.”

It was a monster that summoned illusionary beings called “phantasms”.

Dang Gyu-young stared at it closely and asked,

“This is my first time seeing one. What do you think?”

“It’s on the trickier side for B-rank monsters.”

“Figures… tch, my luck with summons is really bad today.”

She had pulled another high-difficulty opponent.

Of course, just like when she summoned the harpy, there was no choice but to fight. It was the only option.

“You know you have to land the finishing blow, right?”

“Of course I do.”

To clear the Hardship Quest, the monster had to be defeated using shadow magic.

In a flash, Dang Gyu-young closed the distance and drove both of her shadow daggers into it.

Kwaak!

But the very next moment, an identical clone appeared right next to the creature and took its place.

Then, the clone that had been stabbed lit up brightly—

Clang!

—and scattered into dozens, hundreds of fragments. Dang Gyu-young had no choice but to retreat momentarily to avoid the flying shards.

Watching the scene unfold, I made a quick remark.

“One survival skill down.”

“Good, let’s keep going.”

Since the ability would be on cooldown for a while, pressing the attack was the best strategy.

Dang Gyu-young charged at the Phantasmancer once again, furiously swinging her shadow daggers.

Meanwhile, I grabbed Hong Yeon-hwa’s arm and gave her instructions.

“Get into position behind it.”

“Okay.”

Whooosh—

I lightly tossed her forward with a boost of Wind Force.

She flew in an arc and landed softly. She then immediately began her casting.

It looked like she was focusing on securing her defenses first, layering protective spells on herself.

Backflow Guard, Scorching Armor, Blaze Shield…

Slice!

In that short span, Dang Gyu-young had already racked up a fair amount of damage on the Phantasmancer.

Its body was covered in large and small wounds.

But just as she was about to slash again, the creature’s body split into dozens of afterimages.

Those afterimages materialized all at once and rushed forward in a chaotic swarm. These were the phantasms.

Each one had a different form depending on its class.

Knights, mages, archers, rogues….an assortment of them all mixed together.

Dang Gyu-young’s reaction to that was simple:

“In situations like this, it’s best to just beat the real one.”

She ignored all the illusions and targeted only the main body.

Dodging the attacks directed at her with agile movements, she used shadow butterflies for support while slashing at the Phantasmancer’s neck with her dagger.

Slice,

Then she tilted her head in puzzlement.

“…That didn’t feel like much?”

“That’s because of the damage reduction.”

The more phantasms it summoned, the less damage the main body would take.

And right now, the creature was continuously generating more and more phantasms.

Dang Gyu-young called out while evading their attacks,

“Seriously, how is that even fair?”

“Well, it is a B-rank, after all.”

“That’s so cheap. So I have to clear all of these out first?”

“We’ll take care of them. Just keep drawing their aggro.”

“Okay.”

A couple of Inferno Fists would clean them up quickly, but this time, I planned to focus on support as much as possible.

Since Dang Gyu-young was in the middle of a Hardship quest, and it was her first time encountering this monster, it would be good for building real combat experience.

Also, if I recklessly used skills with cooldowns like [Amplification] or [Retrocovery], it would be burdensome to summon a B-rank again until the cooldowns reset.

Saving them as much as possible was the wisest choice.

At that moment, pillars of flame shot up among the phantasms.

Whooosh!

Hong Yeon-hwa had started unleashing her offensive magic in earnest.

When two or three were instantly burned to ashes, the rest of them all turned their attention to her at once.

Knights and rogues charged in, while mages and archers focused their ranged attacks.

I took position in front of Hong Yeon-hwa and layered defensive spells over her.

[Wind Armor]

[Wind Barrier]

With an average C-rank defense, plus the ones I cast myself, there were five layers in total.

As a result, the arrows and mana blasts fired by the phantasms didn’t even scratch the shield.

The melee types charging in were pushed back with Wind Force.

Boooom!

“Keep using it.”

“Mhmm…!”

There wasn’t a hint of fear or hesitation on Hong Yeon-hwa’s face.

She was simply focused on her spell casting.

After all this time working together, she had gained complete confidence that my defense wouldn’t be broken.

Whooosh—!

Soon, the rising flames began to split into two streams and transformed into a two-headed snake.

A twin-headed hydra spewed fireballs relentlessly at the enemies.

Boom! Boom-Boom!

Several phantasms scattered into flames with the fiery explosions.

Then the enemies switched targets again, now focusing on bringing down the hydras.

After getting slashed several times by mana blades and pierced with arrows, the flames began to die down.

Whooooosh—!

Of course, the spell could just be recast.

And when it came to casting speed, no one could keep up with Hong Yeon-hwa.

Whenever the phantasms managed to barely take down a couple of hydras, four or five pillars of flame would immediately rise up and create new hydras.

I nodded in satisfaction.

“Well done, Hong Yeon-hwa. Very fast. Let’s keep it up like this.”

“…….!”

Whether it was because she was simply happy to be praised, Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t hide the smile tugging at her lips.

If she had a tail, it probably would’ve been spinning like a propeller.

The twin-headed hydras continued to multiply, and before long, they completely covered the battlefield.

In contrast, the number of phantasms rapidly decreased.

At that, Dang Gyu-young who had been sneaking glances in our direction grinned.

“That’s enough now, right? Shall I take it?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

And the moment I gave the okay signal, she charged toward the Phantasmancer.

In her hand, she held a long shadow greatsword.

Shhk.

First, a long diagonal scar was carved into the enemy’s body.

As Dang Gyu-young got even closer, she switched the shadow greatsword into a bat and swung it.

Wham!

Struck hard by the shadow bat, the Phantasmancer’s head snapped sideways and hit its own shoulder.

Then it vanished along with the remaining Phantasms.

“Bat Gyu-young” dusted off her hands and turned back toward us.

“Good job, guys. Would’ve been tough if I had to take it alone.”

“We got a tricky one. Good work.”

“Now let’s see~ I cleared the quest too~? Oh, nice~”

With that, Dang Gyu-young shifted her gaze toward the air.

She looked half relieved and half pleased.

“I was worried they’d make us take down an A-rank too or something, but I guess not.”

“They wouldn’t ask us to do the impossible.”

The Hardship Quest required immense effort to complete, but it never presented goals that exceeded the capabilities of the person undertaking it.

And as for how she knew that “we didn’t have to take down an A-rank”—

“You must’ve gotten your reward.”

“Mhmm, mhmm. I learned a new trait.”

—it was because the second part had been completed.

As if she wanted to test out the performance of her new trait, Dang Gyu-young cast [Butterfly Flight].

Then, gesturing toward a butterfly fluttering lightly through the air, she spoke to Hong Yeon-hwa.

“Want to burn this?”

“Huh…? Uh, okay…”

Hong Yeon-hwa looked a little confused, but followed along anyway.

She created a fireball about the size of a fist and tossed it at the shadow butterfly.

Boom!

A small burst of flame erupted, but the shadow butterfly fluttered through the air as if nothing had happened.

I said,

“Definitely sturdier now.”

“Right?”

Before, even when she attacked using shadows, they would scatter if the opponent countered with a powerful skill.

The spirit summons often got caught in area attacks.

But now, with significantly increased endurance and durability, they would likely maintain their form even when struck by fireballs or slashed by sword energy.

“Feels like the hard work paid off, huh?”

“Honestly, it was super annoying, but I’ll admit it. Worth it. I can feel the power boost.”

“Excellent. Let’s keep up the momentum and move on to the next stage.”

“When’s this thing gonna end, though?”

“That, I don’t know.”

It could be twenty stages, thirty stages, or even more than that.

Originally, once someone achieved S-rank and completed their development, there was no longer any need to use Hardship. But now, hadn’t the rank above that been unlocked?

It wasn’t welcome news for Dang Gyu-young and Hong Yeon-hwa, and both of their expressions darkened at the same time.

Dang Gyu-young lamented,

“How did my life get so twisted?”

“The more you struggle now, the better it’ll be later.”

“You really never let me win. Not even once.”

After bickering with Dang Gyu-young for a while, I activated a skill.

[Activated ‘Hardship.’]

[‘Stage 7 Hardship’ has been granted to the target.]

***

An open field near the Topaz Magic Tower.

Thunder roared incessantly in the area.

Rummmmble! Rummblee!

Song Cheon-hye whose entire body was wrapped in lightning charged at her opponent with a thick bolt of lightning in each hand.

And the moment the distance closed, she brought the lightning crashing down.

Fzzzzzzzzzzt!

It was powerful enough to knock out an average opponent in a single blow.

In fact, she had taken down countless opponents and monsters during the semester using that very move.

Of course, her current opponent was far from average.

He calmly deflected the lightning magic Song Cheon-hye had cast with all her strength and even absorbed some of it, turning it into his own.

The difference in skill was clear. But it also meant that the two of them shared the same origin.

Indeed, the older man’s hair was the same light brown as Song Cheon-hye’s.

The only difference was the occasional strands of white that peeked through.

He was none other than Song Cheon-hye’s grandfather.

The S-rank Thunder Lord, Song Kyung-wook.

“……”

He gazed at his granddaughter with an emotionless expression.