78 – 15 – Party Formation – 3

Ji-hye had no particular complaints about deciding to belong to Gi-jun’s party until the vampire kingdom raid incident was resolved.

After all, she was already prepared not to be able to return to her companions for a few months, and she was not the type of person who would callously leave him behind while knowing that Gi-jun was proceeding with a dangerous quest.

Moreover, Ji-hye felt a certain sense of victory in the fact that she had met Gi-jun first, whom Ye-min had been searching for so desperately, and was even active in the same party without her knowing.

If asked what meaning there was in meeting him first when she did not even like Gi-jun, there was no particular answer, but Ji-hye, who had lived her whole life feeling an inferiority complex toward Ye-min, had developed a perverted constitution where she felt a surge of satisfaction just by winning a competition that no one else cared about.

“Please wake up, Ji-hye.”

“Mmm—already?”

“It’s time for morning training. Jun-nim and Gin are already outside.”

“What time is it now… six in the morning?!”

She must have been satisfied—but the moment Lora appeared at the crack of dawn and shook her awake, she immediately began to regret it.

“I’m a magician, so I only need to raise my mana…”

“When your stage gets higher, *yawn*… even magicians, if their bodies aren’t strong in the end, they can’t support immense mana… *yawn*, that’s what Jun-nim said.”

Lora said, yawning as well with a face heavily smeared with sleep.

Ji-hye wanted to refute those words in some way, but since Gi-jun had a higher mana grade than her, she did not dare to argue.

Besides, didn’t this lovely girl yawning in front of her have a Unique grade in holy power and Rare grade in all other physical stats!

‘How unfair. Not only was she fine after being bitten by a vampire, but her stats even grew.’

Burning with jealousy, Ji-hye followed behind the girl and went out to the training ground prepared in the backyard of the villa.

And upon finding Gi-jun running in the morning wearing light clothing… she did not say a word, but as if by agreement, she stood silently with Lora and admired it.

At this moment, the two of them did not even make eye contact—but their minds were clearly connected as one.

‘It’s not bad. Yeah, it’s not bad.’

Gi-jun, who was running in a sleeveless T-shirt and shorts, naturally had his body lines clearly revealed.

Ji-hye recalled inwardly applauding Mok-su and Eun-shin, who had rolled their bodies fiercely without time to rest in order to somehow achieve a high physical grade during the second round, but she felt that even they could not dare to compare to Gi-jun’s perfected physique.

‘No, our Uncle Su wouldn’t fall behind if he transformed into battle mode. Yeah, of course. …Since Uncle also still has room for improvement! Someday!’

Gi-jun beckoned Ji-hye, who was holding a mysterious competition in her head that the people involved knew nothing about, and Lora as a bonus.

“Don’t just watch, you guys run too.”

“Yes? Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

Running was only the beginning.

Strength training, skill training suited to each of their characteristics, and of course, a duel with Gi-jun as a finish.

The four of them—Gi-jun, Gin, Lora, and Ji-hye—had to exercise like that, sweating for about two hours from the morning.

What Gi-jun had realized while being trained by Biche for ten years was that, above all else, it was important to properly grasp the opponent’s level and provide education suited to that level.

However, that training should never feel easy, and it was important to lead them to surpass their limits through grueling training.

Although it was a long explanation, the summary was simple.

In other words, he just had to push them right to the brink of death.

“Devil!”

Ji-hye cried out in a dying voice.

Her heart, which had been pounding at the unexpected change in the oppa she had met after a long time, was now pounding in a different sense.

“I’m a magician, you son of a bitch!”

“Do magicians not get stabbed by swords? Don’t talk nonsense. If you don’t want to get hurt, you just have to do better.”

Gi-jun said with a smirk and wiped away the blood on his cheek.

If she knew nothing, even such an action would have felt very attractive, but thinking that the blood was hers, it was simply terrifying.

“Aim for my openings, and block my attacks. Just do those two things. I’m matching my movement to your status level, so you shouldn’t fail even at this. If it were a real battle, you would have died.”

“If we do this every day, I’ll die, seriously—!”

“So, did your stats go up?”

Gi-jun asked with a sharp expression to Ji-hye, who was shouting as if she were about to breathe her last.

Ji-hye could not bring herself to lie, so she turned her head slightly and replied in a small voice.

“…Endurance 2, Strength 1.”

“Wow, as expected of the Common grade, the growth speed is completely different. How long has it been since you raised your stats in such a short time without even leveling up?”

“It’s the first… time…”

Gi-jun smirked as if there was no need to say more, and summoned Lucy to heal Ji-hye.

That damn Spirit of Light tracked, attacked, defended, and even strengthened him, and now it even healed; Ji-hye was simply dumbfounded even as she felt all her wounds recover in an instant.

When she, who had recovered completely fine before she knew it, looked around, the wolf-eared boy Gin and the doll-like girl Lora were also rolling on the ground in a similar state to hers.

Against Gi-jun, it did not matter whether their physical stats were Common or Rare.

After all, Gi-jun adjusted his strength to match their level and pushed them just enough so that they wouldn’t actually die.

“Your movements are getting better and better, Gin. You’ll be able to shoot well too, right?”

“Of course, Jun-nim!”

“You worked hard too, Lora. It seems your habit of closing your eyes first whenever something flies at you has been fixed a bit, hasn’t it?”

“Thanks to you, Jun-nim… ehe.”

Therefore, although the pain they received must have been similar to or even greater than Ji-hye’s, far from resenting Gi-jun, they were expressing gratitude and resolving to do better next time.

Watching them, Ji-hye felt pathetic for having whined to Gi-jun, but when she thought about the terrible pain she had experienced with her whole body earlier, she thought that it was indeed them who were strange, not her.

‘The problem is that Gi-jun oppa’s words don’t seem to be wrong either.’

Checking her status, Ji-hye let out a sigh and muttered to herself.

Her status was entirely Common, except for her Unique grade Mana and Uncommon grade Dexterity.

After crossing over to the Leta continent and starting to level up, her Mana rose rapidly at first, but from around the time her Mana exceeded 60, other stats including Dexterity were rising.

At first, she simply thought that reaching the Legendary grade was no easy task, but she had vaguely thought that if she kept raising her level steadily, she would eventually reach the Legendary grade someday.

But after listening to Gi-jun and thinking about it carefully, she wondered if the stats obtained from leveling up being dispersed was also a natural phenomenon that occurred to resolve the body’s imbalance.

‘Sure, I had guessed it too, but I had neglected it because I wondered if it was right to train my body at this point, and I thought it would be too hard…’

She had glossed over it with a complacent mindset, only to have Gi-jun hit the nail on the head.

Thinking of it that way, it was rather fortunate that she had met Gi-jun at this time.

“Hmm, anyway, if the training efficiency is this good, should I plan Ji-hye’s schedule focused on dueling for the time being? At least until her Strength and Endurance become Uncommon.”

“…What did you say, oppa?”

“What you heard is correct, Ji-hye.”

“Kieeeeek!”

“Is that a Pterodactylization skill?”

“Kkieeeek!”

No, maybe it would have been better not to meet after all.

* * *

After the dawn training ended.

For breakfast that day, Gi-jun really made chicken soup.

It was a simple dish that was finished by stir-frying chicken and various vegetables, pouring chicken stock over it to boil, and since it would be bland to eat as it was, adding short pasta like penne or fusilli boiled separately, and finally seasoning it with salt and pepper.

Of course, the effect was not simple at all.

“Huaaaa…”

“It feels like my soul is being healed…”

Ji-hye, who had been grumbling that she had ended up suffering for no reason by coming to Turis, blew away all the stress accumulated during the training while eating the soup.

When she thought that if there was such a delicious meal, it might be fine to have her body torn apart for one more day, it felt almost like brainwashing magic.

“You’re trying to tame me like this, aren’t you? To think that that kind oppa would turn so vicious…!”

“If it’s delicious, just say it’s delicious.”

“It’s delicious!”

When Ji-hye confessed honestly, Lora and Gin also shouted, refusing to be outdone.

“Really delicious, Jun-nim!”

“It’s the best! In that sense, please give me one more bowl!”

“Me too, Jun-nim!”

Everyone’s gaze flew to Viv, who had naturally joined the breakfast table and emptied her soup bowl, but she did not mind in the least and demanded a refill.

Sitting next to her, Scintilla glanced at her and silently emptied her bowl.

“…”

Incidentally, Scintilla had not joined the morning training either.

After watching Gi-jun and his party from afar while they were training, she had brazenly taken a seat as soon as breakfast was finished.

However, as long as they knew she was a powerhouse comparable to Gi-jun, the others could not bring themselves to complain about it.

Reading the subtle atmosphere, Gi-jun smirked and took the initiative to speak to her.

“Scintilla, do you want to train together starting tomorrow? I was actually in need of a sparring partner.”

“If Jun asks, I guess I will.”

Scintilla nodded and smiled brightly as if she had been waiting for his words.

Just as he was about to say something more to her reaction, which seemed as if she had indeed been waiting, a visitor arrived.

Of course, it was Unica.

“Good morning, Jun-nim.”

“There’s a portion for you too, so don’t make such a wistful face and come eat.”

“Thank you!”

After heartily finishing the soup, Unica put on a serious expression as she looked at Gi-jun.

“Jun-nim.”

“Do you want more soup?”

“Yes, I will gladly accept. …No, that’s not it. I will accept the soup, of course.”

Unica, who received a refill of the soup, emptied it immediately and spoke.

“The opportunity came sooner than expected, Jun-nim.”

“Are you saying you already found those vampires?”

“No, I mean the opportunity to make your name widely known has come.”

“Hmm?”

Come to think of it, the reason Gi-jun originally wanted to move with the support of the Lord was largely to raise his public profile and form a group to tackle the vampire raid quest with.

Although he had somehow obtained the sub-master of the Ars Mercenary Guild as an ally since vampire incidents had broken out in other cities as well, in the end, it was only to that extent.

“It seems the rumor that you defeated a divine beast has spread faster than expected. A love call has arrived from Cor, a major city of Gratia.”

“Cor… where have I heard that before?”

“It is the place where that twin-tailed vampire was active.”

“Right, that’s it.”

“What on earth is that crazy wording, a twin-tailed vampire…?”

For now, he ignored what Ji-hye said from the side.

To Gi-jun, who showed interest, Unica began to detail the story about the ‘love call’.

The other party was ‘Demander’, an alliance of summoner guilds active in Cor.

It was said to be an alliance formed by racial guilds representing the opinions of the major races active in Cor, and its role, of course, was to resolve conflicts arising between the races.

Of course, the conflicts here referred to those between different races belonging to the same faction of light.

It was a story that felt somewhat unfamiliar to Gi-jun, who had only repeated battles against the faction of darkness, such as vampires and werewolves, until now.

“Racial guilds, I see there were such things as well.”

One important point here was that ‘race’ and ‘civilization’ were by no means identical terms.

For example, Gi-jun belonged to the human race and the Earth civilization, but there were also many human summoners from civilizations other than Earth who existed in Leta.

However, that meant the ‘representative racial guilds’ were not a gathering of humanity from the same civilization, but rather a gathering of the same race regardless of civilization…

“It is true that if they are of the same race, it is easier to join forces compared to other races. If we have to fight anyway, wouldn’t it be more comfortable to fight other races first rather than the same race?”

Gi-jun had no choice but to agree with Unica, who spoke with a somewhat bitter expression.

Although Gi-jun had met several other races belonging to the faction of light and had even formed quite close relationships with them, it was true that if he wanted to achieve final victory in the civilization war, he would eventually have to antagonize all of them.

Assuming they were equally enemies, if asked whether to kill humans first or Orcs first… it was true that Gi-jun’s heart would also lean toward one side.

‘That must be why Scintilla came to find me right away too…’

Gi-jun, who felt burdened by Scintilla’s eyes constantly fixed on him and turned his head slightly, suddenly had a question.

“But what happens when multiple races belong to a single civilization? They wouldn’t fight each other prioritizing race even then, right?”

“That’s a sharp observation. However, most civilizations have a race that rules them, and the representative of the civilization also comes from that ruling race. To them, the minority races that make up their civilization are of no concern.”

Gi-jun frowned deeply.

He did not know if he should be glad that humans were the only race on Earth.

“I roughly understand now. It is easy for the same race to have aligned interests, and since disputes arise between the racial guilds created because of that, they were bound into an alliance. So… why would such a place be interested in me?”

“Because you possess great power while not belonging to any race in the clan alliance. Wouldn’t you be perfect as a mediator?”

“So the reason they contacted me is to resolve a racial dispute?”

“That’s right. Jun-nim, do you know about ‘summoner peerage’?”

Gratia was a country ruled by NPCs, the Letans.

However, on rare occasions, a peerage was bestowed upon a summoner who had achieved great accomplishments, and what was given along with the peerage was none other than a fief.

The problem was that while the fiefs that could be granted to summoners were limited, the number of summoners qualified to receive a fief by being bestowed a peerage was greater than that limit.

“Then isn’t it fine to just not grant the peerage?”

“From the perspective of the Gratia royal family, they cannot make use of the summoners unless they bestow appropriate rewards. Therefore, instead of creating non-existent fiefs, the royal family allowed the summoners who received peerages to regularly apply for fief wars to seize these fiefs.”

“Is it a siege war?!”

“Precisely.”

Indeed, he wondered why this setup felt so familiar, and it was similar to middle-aged men getting all fired up in games just to hear themselves called a castle lord once…!

“The problem is not the fief wars.”

“What do you mean? The fief wars seem like the biggest problem.”

“The problem is the summoners fighting over the qualification to apply for the fief wars.”

“Seriously, give it a rest…!”

Because the number of fiefs summoners could occupy was small, summoners who obtained peerages fought fief wars over those fiefs, and since even the right to apply for a fief war was restricted, they fought over that application right too?

Gi-jun really felt like he did not want to set foot in this, but seeing Unica’s eyes sparkling, it seemed like it was not something that could be passed over so lightly.

“The guild alliance Demander is a very large organization. They wage a faction war within the alliance every time over the right to apply for fief wars, and it has long established itself as an event in its own right.”

“Ah, I see…”

“If you can participate as a mercenary in this faction war and perform well, you will be able to expand Jun-nim’s recognition in one fell swoop. Furthermore, Cor is the heart of the country, so you will also have many opportunities to interact with the nobility!”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I’m convinced it’s a good opportunity too… only.”

Gi-jun looked back at his party members with a regretful expression.

Even just during the morning, the growth of his party members was visible, yet he was told to move and leave them behind.

And it was also annoying how that brat Ji-hye was visibly delighted when she saw a chance to avoid sparring with him.

“Let’s all go together.”

“What…?!”

Ji-hye cried out in shock at Unica’s words, which had read Gi-jun’s mind, but Gin and Lora sighed in relief at her words.

“There is no need to leave behind members of the same party. Let’s move together. Surely they will at least cover the lodging expenses.”

“Of course, I was planning to follow you from the beginning, Jun.”

At Scintilla’s words, Gi-jun also shrugged and nodded.

“Alright, then. Let’s all go to Cor together.”

“Yes, then we must prepare for the trip.”

Unica nodded with a rare, pleased smile.

Only then did Gi-jun realize the true meaning of the ‘together’ she had spoken of.

“…You’re coming too?”

“Of course. If I do not assist Jun-nim, who will?”

At that moment, for some reason, sparks crackled all around.

Gi-jun glanced at Ur as if asking if he did it, but the fellow only shook his head with an expression that said he found him pathetic.