Memorize

'Foolish.' 

Hyun and Yun-Jung were completely disregarding the defensive formation centered around Sol. It was fortunate that I had taken up the role of keeper, just in case. After giving Yun-Jung a sharp glare, I struck the incoming tail, flying at a diagonal, with the flat of my sword.

What happened next left me momentarily stunned. While I had put some force into deflecting the tail, my intention was purely defensive—to alter its trajectory. Yet, the tail shattered into pieces with a sound of cracking as it met my sword. The mournful cry of the monster attacking us snapped me back to reality.

It seemed likely that either my mastery of swordsmanship or the rank effects of some special or latent ability had been triggered. Various thoughts crossed my mind in that instant, but I knew I needed to focus on the battle. Infusing my voice with mana, I addressed everyone.

"These creatures are Midnight Scorpions. Their stingers carry deadly venom, so be extremely cautious. Their weak points are their eyes or their undersides, but it's hard to expose those areas. Channel mana into your weapons and strike with force."

As I finished speaking and looked down, I saw Sol still frozen in shock, her lips silently trembling. She seemed deeply shaken, perhaps realizing she might have just died moments earlier. Feeling a mix of pity and frustration, I spoke sharply yet softly.

"An Sol. What are you thinking, stopping your incantation in the middle of a battle?"

"Ah…"

At my words, Sol seemed to shiver, and soon I heard her mumbling her spell again. I let out a sigh and turned my attention forward.

The battle had momentarily entered a lull. Midnight Scorpions often moved in pairs. Their strong emotional bonds were evident when the scorpion fighting Hyun appeared to flinch at the sound of its partner's shattered tail and pained cry.

But it was only for a brief moment. A furious screech erupted, and the creatures began exuding an even more ferocious aura. Growling viciously, the Midnight Scorpions emerged fully from the shadows. Their bodies, almost the size of tigers, caused the faces of everyone around me to drain of color.

We had been caught off guard by their ambush earlier, but we had managed to react well enough. However, now the Midnight Scorpions were advancing slowly. Both sides seemed to be assessing each other, making it difficult to predict who would strike first.

Judging from the earlier exchange, maintaining our defensive formation seemed pointless. After briefly gauging the battlefield, I decided to take the initiative and spoke up.

"Me and Yun-Jung take one pair. Hyun and Sol take the other. Sol, use your spells to bind the scorpion's tail. During that opening, Hyun will concentrate his mana at the tip of his spear and strike its torso in a single thrust. Its skin is too tough to cut through, so don't even try. Yun-Jung, stand behind me. I'll go in first and force it to expose its belly with a kick. Wait for its tail attack to pass, then move in for a counterstrike. Don't close in too quickly."

Though no one responded verbally, I could see them nod in agreement. Meanwhile, the scorpions continued inching closer. The moment they crossed into our detection range and I stepped forward, the battle resumed.

A piece of the scorpion's tail, pierced earlier, lay twitching on the ground. However, the remaining portion of its tail was still dangerously venomous. Watching the scorpion lift its tail again, I charged forward.

The air was once again split by the sharp sound of its attack, and its tail, oozing dark blue blood, came hurtling toward my face. The attack was straightforward, making it easy to dodge. I sidestepped, and the tail missed its mark, slicing uselessly through the empty air.

This movement allowed me to close the distance to the scorpion. Sensing Yun-Jung moving behind me, I lowered my sword slightly. At that moment, I saw something unusual—the Midnight Scorpion appeared to smirk.

"Oppa! Behind you!"

A chill ran down my spine. Midnight Scorpion tails were long and flexible. While the first attack had to be a direct thrust, the tail could bend mid-air to redirect its trajectory. It seemed the scorpion had curved its tail into a U-shape, aiming for the back of my head after I dodged the initial strike. Realizing this, I smiled back at the scorpion and dashed even closer, almost touching it.

Just as the tail was about to strike the back of my head, Yun-Jung let out a scream. In that fleeting moment, I twisted my head sharply to the right. The tail narrowly missed, grazing my cheek with the faintest of brushes. At the same time, I lifted my lowered sword, letting it graze the tail lightly as it passed my face. With a slight application of force, I redirected its path—straight toward the scorpion's eye.

It could never have imagined that I would dodge so close to it or that I'd use my sword to alter the trajectory of its tail. What I executed wasn't traditional swordsmanship but more akin to acrobatics. While the principles of Taegeuk swordsmanship are grounded in orthodoxy, it can be adapted with incredible versatility depending on the practitioner. What I did was the kind of technique that exists only in theory, something most wouldn't dare attempt in practice.

The result was immediate. The Midnight Scorpion's right eye was skewered by its own tail in a grotesque but satisfying display.

"Graaaaaaaah!"

Hearing the creature's anguished wail, I smirked in satisfaction. I drew my right foot back, then swung it upward, striking the scorpion square in the face. The heavy impact reverberated through my instep as the scorpion's body was sent flying into the air. Its pincers stretched wide open, it appeared almost comical, as if raising its claws in a mocking cheer toward the sky. Seeing its exposed underbelly, I shouted immediately.

"Now!"

It wasn't the perfect counter-timing, but we had prepared for this moment to some extent. A beat later, I saw Yun-Jung darting beneath the airborne scorpion. Planting her foot firmly, she sprang upward, her twin daggers slashing in a cross-shaped arc, cutting into the creature's abdomen with a flash of light. It wasn't perfect, but the coordinated attack was a success.

The Midnight Scorpion screeched in pain, and I used Yun-Jung's shoulder as a springboard to launch myself into the air. Raising my sword high, I brought it down with all my might on the scorpion's still-hovering body. While I hadn't imbued my strike with mana, relying solely on brute force, the sword sliced through the scorpion's hard shell as effortlessly as cutting tofu. It took less than 10 seconds to eliminate one of them completely.

But one more remained.

As I turned around, I saw Sol finishing her incantation. Her staff, glowing brilliantly white, was now aimed at the scorpion's tail. Sol followed my earlier instructions and began to chant.

"Shackles!"

In that instant, a blinding flash of light filled the forest, like a camera flash magnified a hundredfold. The sheer magnitude of her magic was staggering, especially for a novice. Hyun reflexively closed his eyes and, upon opening them, noticed that the scorpion's tail, which had been lunging toward him, was now frozen in place. His eyes gleamed with determination.

"Hyaaah!"

With a spirited cry, Hyun thrust his spear directly into the Midnight Scorpion's body. The frozen tail left the creature unable to counter, and it raised its large pincers defensively, but the spear's longer reach won out. Hyun's strike shattered the scorpion's tough exoskeleton, driving the spearhead into its body.

However, the scorpion merely growled low, seemingly unfazed. While Hyun had broken through the outer shell, his attack hadn't penetrated deep enough to cause significant damage. Confused, he withdrew his spear and delivered a flurry of strikes. But just then, the magical binding wore off, and the scorpion's tail lashed out, forcing Hyun to retreat a step.

The creature's tail whipped menacingly, undulating unpredictably as it pressed Hyun further into defense. His hands grew increasingly unsteady, and soon he was entirely preoccupied with blocking its attacks, unable to launch a counter.

"What the heck? Why's he struggling so much?"

Yun-Jung muttered in bewilderment, staring blankly at the scene. Sol, too, stood frozen, unsure of what to do, merely watching. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. What were they doing? Here to spectate? I clicked my tongue in irritation and shouted as I sprinted toward the fight.

"Did you come here to watch? Stop standing around and help!"

That seemed to snap them out of their daze. Yun-Jung and Sol quickly lifted their heads, realizing the urgency. Hyun, despite being outmatched, was holding his own for now. He deftly dodged the scorpion's tail swipes and occasionally deflected its pincers, but that was all he could manage. He was entirely on the defensive, unable to mount an effective attack.

At that moment, I had to admit my mistake—I had assumed the team would perform well solely based on their stats. In life-and-death situations, raw ability only comes into play if the individual knows how to harness it. Judging them purely on their stats had led to this situation, something I hadn't anticipated.

The team wasn't utilizing their full potential. While it was true that my expectations for them were high, it became clear they still had a long way to go. If not for their practiced detection skills, something disastrous might have already happened.

We were only facing two scorpions. Yun-Jung and I had taken down one, allowing Hyun to focus entirely on the other. That was the only reason the battle hadn't spiraled out of control. If we'd faced twice as many scorpions or if they'd surrounded us, the situation would have been hopeless. The team was barely managing, even without proper armor, as we'd invested everything into acquiring decent weapons. If a single scorpion had them on the ropes like this, imagining a larger-scale battle was laughable.

I quickly deflected the tail that had been aiming for Hyun's back, giving him enough breathing room to focus entirely on the front.

"Sol, bind it again!"

"Yes! Shackles!"

The moment my words ended, Sol chanted the incantation as if she had been waiting for it. Another blinding flash lit up the forest, freezing the scorpion's tail in place once more. Hyun's face was flushed red, clearly frustrated by his defensive stance. The instant Sol's spell took effect, Hyun surged forward with a powerful leap.

"You bastard!"

With a furious curse, Hyun thrust his spear forward, then began a relentless barrage of attacks. His strikes were rapid and forceful, the spear whistling through the air with a cutting sound, clearly imbued with a concentrated burst of mana. The relentless stabs punctured the scorpion's tough shell repeatedly, creating cracks and holes in its armor.

Finally, the Midnight Scorpion seemed unable to withstand the onslaught, emitting a sorrowful wail as it raised its pincers defensively in front of its body.

"Hah… Hah…"

Despite his desperate efforts, Hyun had only managed to force the scorpion to retreat a few steps. Its shell was in tatters, but Hyun himself was visibly fatigued. Seeing this, I sighed, prepared to step in and deliver a decisive kick to expose its belly again. But just as I took a step forward, Yun-Jung suddenly sprang into action.

"Hyun! Move aside!"

Without waiting for a response, Yun-Jung, who had been idly observing, burst into a sprint. Her twin daggers buzzed faintly with energy, indicating that she, too, had infused them with mana.

This could either end brilliantly—or disastrously.

As Yun-Jung charged forward, the Midnight Scorpion raised its pincers high into the air, its tail writhing as though it was on the verge of breaking free from the binding spell. However, Sol wasn't idle this time, her voice ringing out as she cast another spell.

"Unni! Protect!"

With the completion of her chant, a translucent barrier formed around Yun-Jung, shielding her from potential harm. Hyun, too, wasn't content to simply stand by—he resumed his attack, using his spear to provide covering support for Yun-Jung's assault.

At last, their coordination showed signs of improvement. Though still rough around the edges, the team's efforts were beginning to align. Together, Yun-Jung and Hyun launched a relentless offensive, overwhelming the Midnight Scorpion. Under the pressure, the scorpion finally collapsed, unable to withstand their attacks any longer.

The sight of its lifeless body was grotesque. Its carapace was shattered, leaving its soft insides fully exposed, and black ichor oozed out, staining the ground around it. I couldn't help but pause in silence, momentarily speechless at the sheer brutality of the method they had employed to kill it.

Meanwhile, Hyun and Sol stood over the other scorpion's corpse. Compared to the wreckage caused by Yun-Jung and Hyun, this one was almost "tidy," though its broken shell still told a story of a fierce battle.

Panting heavily, Hyun and Yun-Jung stood staring at the remains of their foe, disbelief etched across their faces. It was clear that the challenge had been far beyond what they had anticipated—it had completely drained their initial confidence. They exchanged glances before their eyes flicked toward me, as if awaiting judgment.

"...You two…"

I started to speak, but then closed my mouth. Was I expecting too much from them? Or was this level of chaos normal for beginners? I couldn't tell. What on earth had they even learned at the Academy? Their performance felt light-years away from what I'd experienced in my own early days. Truthfully, I felt tempted to drag them back to the city and start their training all over again from scratch.

"Hyung," Hyun stammered.

"O-Oppa…" Yun-Jung muttered nervously.

Seeing the disappointment plainly written on my face, both of them began to fidget, their unease palpable. But instead of responding, I turned my back on them, choosing to ignore their glances. A long sigh escaped me as the reality of their inexperience weighed heavily on my mind. There was still an incredibly long road ahead for all of us.

With a sharp motion, I drove my sword into the ground. The blood coating the sword scattered in an arc, splattering across the forest floor like a half-blood moon.

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