Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

A massive wave engulfs the indoor training ground.

It began with a small amount of water from a water bottle…

But now, the quantity has grown to the extent that it can be described as immense.

At this point, is this not the arrival of a young Swirl Leviathan?

However, the accuracy of the wave wasn’t particularly high.

“…Difficult.”

[Swirling Tidal Wave] is an Epic Rune of level 4, but it’s not a rune I can handle skillfully.

Though the level is quite high, it’s a rune I’ve never used before.

That’s why utilizing the rune to control water and even maneuvering the derivative skill [New Wave] were both not as easy as I had thought.

Moreover, Park Jin-woo is a warrior focused on speed.

Rather than being heavily armored, he emphasizes agility and excels in evasion.

True to his nickname of Quick Frog that he’d earned, he adeptly avoids even unfamiliar magical skills without panic.

And intermittently, he shouts in anger.

“You cowardly brat! Using magical attacks in a warriors’ battle!”

“But I’m an assassin-type?”

“Damn it! What’s an assassin doing conjuring waves? This lineage is just damn ridiculous.”

His outburst seems to carry a significant sense of injustice.

Even as Park Jin-woo delivers these lines, he evades my attacks.

Without a doubt, if the attack were to hit, considering his lack of water resistance, it would deal substantial damage. However, since he possesses exceptional speed and wields many agile runes, capturing him wasn’t an easy task.

‘I’ll save this for later.’

I made up my mind to stop using [Swirling Tidal Wave].

Currently, using this rune was not yielding significant efficiency, despite my efforts.

In terms of magical attack runes, [Fiery Flame] is still more familiar to me.

It seemed more practical to improve proficiency with water element runes in dungeons and utilize them in duels.

Adjusting my mindset, I draw the dagger from my waist.

Then, I swiftly threw four daggers directly at Park Jin-woo.

[Quarter Knives].

Even amidst his seemingly casual demeanor, Park Jin-woo manages to evade all the daggers.

“You’re sending daggers again from over there?”

“It’s impressive that you dodged them.”

Thanks to the Art of Weapon Exchange, I now hold a dual-handed sword in my hands once again.

I dive into Park Jin-woo’s guard and utilize the intricacies of [Wave Sword Technique] to pierce his body with the sword.

Clang! Clang!

Another clash.

Our swords collide once more.

At this point, I sense it.

Practically, it’s the end.

Though Park Jin-woo used [Rotating Combo Attack] as his final strike from the start, it was blocked by my [Iron Wall Defense], leaving him unable to land an effective blow.

Even though [Unstoppable Swift Swordplay] boasts an astonishing speed, without [Rotating Combo Attack], he can’t deal any significant damage to me in my current state.

With solid defenses and skills in place, and numerous counterattacks to unleash.

Furthermore, since Park Jin-woo, who pursues speed, blocked my sword with his sword, the disadvantageous situation I’m in becomes all the more apparent.

‘A burning flame’.

In order to conclude the duel, I gather my magical energy.

Flames rise along the sword.

This is the manifestation of [Fiery Flame].

In this close proximity, a fire-element magical attack is truly a trump card against a warrior-type.

Even Shin Yuna, who was quite self-assured, couldn’t withstand it.

Flames traverse both swords.

Just as the fiery flame is about to engulf Park Jin-woo.

Unbelievable words escape his lips.

“Chase it.”

“What?”

No way, seriously?

Oration?

Curses almost involuntarily come to mind.

I know about this oration.

‘Chase it’ is the oration of [Rainbow Clash], the ultimate skill of [Moonlit Thrust].

And that realization makes me feel like a fool.

Seriously, is this for real?

How long has it been since he acquired [Rotating Combo Attack]? And he’s already using an ultimate skill?

I couldn’t even find a moment to be surprised.

Park Jin-woo’s sword instantly vanishes from my field of vision and, in the blink of an eye, it’s right in front of my thigh.

‘Crazy… Hardening!’

Beyond the limit of speed.

I had no answer in my mind for how to handle this situation.

I could only resort to [Lizard’s Scale], a derivative skill of [Hardening], to increase my toughness and rely on [Physical Barrier] to withstand as much as I could.

But is the ultimate skill really the ultimate skill for no reason?

[Moonlit Thrust] utilizes extreme speed to slash the target a total of 17 times.

The highly concentrated speed surpasses even my toughness, piercing through my skin.

“Ouch…!!”

Damn it…

It hurts like hell.

Fortunately, thanks to [Hardening] being used as quickly as possible, I managed to prevent a catastrophic amount of damage. However, I couldn’t avoid a deep cut on my thigh.

At this rate, further dueling is impossible.

Understanding this, Park Jin-woo utters words with a bewildered expression.

“Hey… are you okay…? I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… Quickly, let’s get you to the healing station…”

“It’s alright, kid.”

I reassured Park Jin-woo with words that sounded harsher than I intended.

Although Park Jin-woo ended up launching an attack beyond the level of a duel due to his momentary immersion, my abilities were sufficient to compensate for that kind of mistake.

Swoosh-

A touch imbued with emerald green energy reaches my thigh.