Episode 4
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Park Chan-woo extended his hands, the mana in his body flowed to his arms, then down to his legs.
His eyes opened, and he breathed calmly as he spoke.
"This... I think I've completely mastered it."
Encrid remained silent for a moment before replying.
"That's true. Very well, now let's test how you fare in combat against someone. In this case, it will be the guardians, but only one."
"Why not all of them?"
"Do you really think you can fight a hundred of them? Are you stupid, or just pretending to be?"
"....."
Park Chan-woo stood up from the ground, looked at his body, and felt the mana. It wasn't much, and he was still a Semi-Circle for now. However, no matter how much mana entered his body, reaching the First Circle seemed truly impossible.
He had wondered why this was the case. From what he knew, the more circles one attained, the more mana was required. But the First Circle was the beginning—there shouldn't be such a big difference between the Semi-Circle and the First Circle.
Park Chan-woo looked in a direction. He could now sense Encrid's presence, but he still couldn't see him physically.
"Now that I think about it, you told me you died ten thousand years ago. So how are you here?"
"Hmm, to put it simply, I have a limited time to remain here, as this is all the mana I currently have left. However, once you reach the First Circle, I will be by your side, and your mana will sustain me so I can remain in this form."
"You're just a soul with some mana and a time limit, aren't you?"
"....."
"Well, I figured as much."
"Let's begin."
Thud!
Beyond, at the end of the hallway, a silhouette suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was made purely of mana in a humanoid shape, without a face or any distinct features. It emitted a faint yellow glow as it walked toward Park Chan-woo.
"This is a guardian. Now then, get ready."
The mana guardian stood before Park Chan-woo.
Park Chan-woo looked at it. Even though it had no face or eyes, he instinctively knew it was looking at him with disdain. Park Chan-woo smiled with satisfaction.
"We don't want anyone dying, so the first one unable to move due to exhaustion or lack of mana will end the fight immediately. Understood?"
"No problem."
Kwasik!
The mana guardian fought hand-to-hand and didn't use magic. Park Chan-woo knew this, which was why he got close enough to the mana guardian to deliver the first strike.
His mana-covered fist landed on the guardian's head, twisting it backward in an unnatural way.
For a human, this would have been fatal, but—
Kwasik!
The guardian kicked Park Chan-woo's right side, causing him to lose his balance slightly, but he didn't stop. The guardian used both fists to strike Park Chan-woo's entire body so rapidly that it was difficult to see the blows.
Park Chan-woo squinted and used both arms as a shield, but he was still taking significant damage to his body.
He crouched, placing one hand on the ground, and leapt upward, spinning slightly in the air. His right leg came down on the guardian's shoulder, making its body tremble and forcing it to its knees for a few seconds before it stood back up.
Park Chan-woo scratched his chin as he analyzed the situation.
'Hitting the vital points of a human doesn't work on this thing, so I just need to keep hitting it over and over until it falls.'
Park Chan-woo spun quickly, swinging his leg as he struck the guardian's head, sending it flying several meters and crashing into one of the many pillars in the area.
The mana guardian got up as quickly as it fell. It didn't feel pain, so it didn't matter if it was hit in areas that would easily kill a human.
Park Chan-woo ran toward the guardian. The guardian did the same, and they grabbed each other by the hands and clashed their heads together.
Kwasik!
Both their heads jerked back a few centimeters. Park Chan-woo tightened his grip on the guardian's hands, pulled them toward himself, and raised his leg upward, striking the guardian's chin. The blow lifted its head as the mana that formed it tore away like flesh.
'The mana acts like flesh in this type of being.'
It had been that way from the beginning. He could harm the guardian if he infused mana into every attack.
Park Chan-woo pushed the guardian with his leg, knocking it down to a seated position. He then ran toward it.
The guardian stood up and swung its fist just as Park Chan-woo did. Both fists collided.
"Ugh..."
Park Chan-woo felt his fist slightly crack, but the guardian's fist was shattered up to its wrist. Without hesitation, Park Chan-woo spun around, swung his leg, and struck the guardian's ribs, causing it to lose balance and fall to the ground.
The guardian glared at Park Chan-woo from the floor, gripping the ground tightly before launching itself forward with its left leg. It charged at Park Chan-woo like a raging bull, using its body weight to crash into him.
Park Chan-woo grabbed the guardian's head.
Kwasik!
He slammed it into the ground, clenching his teeth tightly.
The guardian's head began to deform, yet it kept moving.
"You can't kill a guardian unless you disintegrate it with a magical skill," Encrid said as the fight raged on.
"Even if you tear its head apart, you won't kill it. However, it is possible to leave it stunned for a minute. If you manage that, you can win—or wait for it to completely tire out. Though I doubt that will happen, as its stamina is extraordinarily high."
Kwasik!
Park Chan-woo hurled the guardian into a nearby pillar. He pounded its abdomen repeatedly, and the mana forming its body began to rip apart and fall away like flesh from a real body.
Even so, the guardian didn't produce any sound of pain or anything resembling that of a living being.
"The guardian isn't alive, so don't expect it to scream in pain,"
Encrid, who kept talking from a distance about the fight.
Park Chan-woo heard everything but ignored it at the same time, focusing on the guardian.
The guardian pushed Park Chan-woo against the pillar. Park Chan-woo gritted his teeth, grabbed the guardian by the back, and with his other hand, seized the guardian's head, smashing it into the thick pillar. The pillar shattered in half and fell to the ground with a loud crash, echoing through the silent area.
Park Chan-woo then struck the back of the guardian's neck with his left elbow, grabbed its head again, and slammed it into the pillar fragments, further deforming the guardian's head until it began losing its shape entirely.
The guardian turned and headbutted Park Chan-woo, leaving him dazed for a few seconds. Blood poured from his nose and mouth due to internal injuries. The guardian then punched Park Chan-woo in the stomach and kicked him in the head.
"Ugh…"
Park Chan-woo spat blood. The blood was so thick that it began blocking his airways. Yet, he glared at the guardian and clenched his teeth.
Kwasik!
He propelled himself forward and charged at the guardian. Using his last bit of strength, he opened his hand, concentrated his mana into the tips of his five fingers, and struck the guardian, piercing through it.
The guardian's chest was impaled, and it went still.
"You did it. Congratulations, idiot."
Park Chan-woo collapsed onto his back, his vision blurry, and his breathing ragged. The blood that had been pouring from his body stopped when another guardian placed a hand on his head.
A faint glow emanated from the guardian's hand.
In an instant, his internal injuries healed. Park Chan-woo opened his eyes in surprise, looking at his body and then at the guardian.
"How…?"
"Guardians can heal anyone. They're designed to protect, fight, or heal anyone regardless of how injured or dismembered they are, as long as they're not dead. Guardians can heal them."
"Then why did you tell me to avoid injuries that could lead to death?"
"You didn't understand. Are you pretending to be an idiot, or are you actually one? Like I said, as long as you don't die, they can heal you easily."
"....."
I suppose I shouldn't have asked that question in the first place.
Even so, Park Chan-woo lay on the ground. Although his body was healed as if nothing had happened, his mana was almost depleted, leaving him utterly exhausted.
"Regain whatever little mana you can use. You'll continue fighting against the guardians for the next 24 hours."
"....."
"You're joking, right?"
"No. If you're my heir, this should be nothing for you."
It wasn't that he couldn't endure it, but Park Chan-woo couldn't say aloud that this body wasn't his until just a few hours ago. This body, which had never trained, and the mana he was now using, would inevitably lead to fatigue, no matter how much the guardians' magic healed him.
Park Chan-woo was tired from fighting so many times, but it wasn't impossible to fight for 24 hours straight. After all, there were moments of rest, like this one.
"Thirty minutes have passed. Begin again."