Chapter 227: Breaking Contact

‘It’s good that I have more room to move, but…!’

The problem was that Pret was no longer just throwing daggers or needles from a distance as he had been doing; he was now attempting close-quarters combat.

The reason this was a problem was simple.

Even though I was covered in buffs, the physical abilities of this possession body could not keep up with Pret’s stats.

‘I’ve been training hard, but it’s only been a little over half a year.’

In short, it was because the original owner of this body had been incredibly negligent in physical training.

Fjodra’s physical abilities were also superior to this body’s.

However, thanks to the effects of Mental Acceleration, I had been able to overwhelm her in terms of reaction speed and overcome the gap in Agility by pursuing efficient movements.

But that was impossible against Pret.

He was far more agile than Fjodra, his reaction speed was faster, and unlike her, there was no wasted movement in his actions.

Furthermore, Pret repeatedly engaged in hit-and-run tactics while scattering needles.

Since I had to hold and swing the whip with one hand to secure additional movement routes, the only thing I could actually use in close combat was my left hand, which held a dagger.

Despite that, the reason I was able to continue the duel with Pret without losing my ribbon was…

‘For some reason, it feels like he’s testing my skill level.’

Even though there were clearly several perfect timings, Pret did not reach for my ribbon.

Instead, with a curious expression that seemed to ask, ‘I wonder if you can handle this situation too?’ he merely threw out occasional, tricky attacks as if posing a problem.

Whenever I narrowly managed to avoid or block those attacks, his eyes would sparkle with admiration.

Among the ‘problems’ Pret posed, the most absurd one involved a trap.

He had just been feigning tears, saying it was hurtful that I didn’t believe him when he said there were no traps left.

Then, without a shred of conscience, he threw a dagger to intentionally trigger a trap.

Suddenly, a net spread out and fell from above.

I couldn’t escape the range just by kicking off the ground and throwing my body to the side; I even had to roll across the floor.

I had been certain there would be traps left, but his behavior was still utterly contemptible.

Thus, as soon as I stood up, I glared at Pret.

He stuck out his tongue and winked with a playful expression.

It was so unpleasant that a surge of anger welled up inside me.

‘I can’t fall for such shallow provocation. Stay calm…’

Instead of rushing at Pret, I took a deep breath and composed myself.

At this sight, Pret puckered his lips and let out an “Oh!” of exclamation before resuming his attack.

Not long after that, the whip I had struck the ground with got caught on something.

Upon shifting my gaze to check, I found that a heavy iron claw trap was the culprit.

‘Just how many traps did he set?!’

My head was already throbbing, so a surge of annoyance flared up.

However, I struggled to maintain my composure and blocked the weapon Pret swung with the dagger in my left hand.

Then, I let go of the whip in my right hand, stepped back, and pulled a new whip out of my [Inventory].

An expression of absurdity crossed the opponent’s face.

He looked as if he wanted to demand exactly how many whips I carried around.

No, he probably wasn’t just thinking it; he was likely in the middle of saying it.

Even though I saw Pret’s mouth moving, I simply ignored him and swung the whip again to sweep the surrounding ground.

My headache was gradually worsening…

I grew anxious that I might end up having a nosebleed again.

However, since Pret approached me again and swung his dagger, I couldn’t deactivate the [Character Analysis] skill.

He even snapped his fingers to fire off a needle in the middle of it all.

The only saving grace was that there was only one needle, and my eyes managed to capture its trajectory accurately.

Thanks to that, I was able to defend successfully by wrapping Aether around the spot where the needle would land.

But before I could even feel relieved, I saw Pret throw a dagger in an unexpected direction.

‘He’s trying to trigger another trap!’

As expected, my prediction was correct.

The moment Pret’s dagger severed a tree branch, a sandbag that had been hidden among the thick branches and leaves popped out and flew toward me as if charging.

The momentum was quite threatening, but it wasn’t a trap I couldn’t avoid.

That is, it wouldn’t have been a problem if Pret hadn’t lunged in low to block my path while simultaneously swinging his dagger toward my waist just as I stepped away to avoid the sandbag.

‘First, I need to crank Mental Acceleration to the maximum and think about how to deal with this…’

Just as I was about to release the Sky-Blue Aether I had been controlling, I noticed a hint of disappointment on the opponent’s face.

If that was all, I would have assumed he was regretful because he didn’t think I could solve the ‘problem’ he had posed.

But Pret’s center of gravity shifted backward.

No matter how I looked at it, he was hurriedly retreating to avoid something.

Furthermore, a flash of golden light flickered in the corner of my vision.

‘Ah, Reysir broke free from his mark…!’

I reached that conclusion and cleared my mind.

As the [Character Analysis] skill ended, the surrounding situation changed rapidly.

A bolt of lightning struck the spot where Pret had been standing, and a spear shaft wrapped in golden Aether knocked away the sandbag almost simultaneously.

***

In the next moment, I felt something brush past me, and Reysir’s back came into view.

Over his shoulder, I saw Pret shaking out his hands.

As Reysir spun his spear, a clink-clink-clink sound of something being deflected rang out.

I realized Reysir had noticed Pret’s hand movement was an act of scattering needles and had successfully defended against them.

“Wow, that was supposed to be my secret trump card! How can it be that not a single person falls for it?!”

“Karbaldr, are you all right?”

As if he couldn’t care less about how unfair the other person felt, Reysir lightly ignored Pret’s shout and checked my well-being by placing a hand on my forehead.

It seemed I looked unwell even though I had deactivated the [Character Analysis] skill before the nosebleed started.

“Anyway, Senior Reysir, don’t you need to go help over there?”

Reflexively, I looked in the direction Pret was pointing.

I saw Vigdis struggling inside a net while Yor tried to clear it away.

I also saw Fjodra collecting a ribbon from the neck of the fallen Svein.

“Over there… hm… they look fine.”

The Protagonist of Another Novel said this, but by my standards, they were not fine at all.

Fjodra had used [Space Leap] to move in front of Vigdis and swiftly snatched her ribbon before Yor could even stop her.

I felt like ‘it’s already too late’ was a more appropriate description than ‘fine.’

I was so flabbergasted that words wouldn’t come out.

As I exhaled a hollow breath and looked at the Protagonist of Another Novel, he suddenly spoke.

“Let’s run for now.”

That was the best option at the moment.

Reysir had broken free from his mark, but he hadn’t completely neutralized Liolikin and Lausa.

Fjodra looked slightly tired, but she had no problems fighting immediately.

And Pret was as energetic as could be.

‘Plus, Hailga and Risi seem to be hiding somewhere nearby…’

Risi was out of the question since she didn’t know how to fight yet, but Hailga, who was capable of long-range attacks, was someone to be wary of.

On the other hand, since Vigdis and Svein on our team had their ribbons stolen, they had to go all the way back to our team’s Starting Point.

Furthermore, I wasn’t in a state to use the [Character Analysis] skill.

If we continued the battle like this, Reysir and Yor would have to fight while protecting me.

So, I also agreed with the idea of running away.

However, I didn’t know why he was picking me up and running without even giving me a chance to answer.

“I can run on my own feet, so put me down!”

“Where’s the time for that while we’re escaping?”

I turned my head at those words to check behind us, but only Yor was following us.

The members of the opposing team were just standing there blankly.

They didn’t seem to have any intention of chasing us at all.

‘I suppose since they gained five more points by getting Vigdis’s and Svein’s ribbons, they’re ahead!’

They must have judged it better to repair their traps and wait for us to return rather than recklessly pursuing us.

It was a situation that naturally drew a sigh.

“They’re not chasing us anymore.”

The Protagonist of Another Novel only stopped after running for about three minutes.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I corrected his words.

“It’s not ‘anymore’; they weren’t chasing from the start.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know because I didn’t look back.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Yeah, it’s a lie. Honestly, your condition looked so bad that I wanted you to rest even just a little bit.”

If he was going to be shameless, he should have kept it up.

Since Reysir immediately changed his tune, admitted he lied, and showed his worry, I couldn’t really bring myself to get annoyed and argue.

“…I don’t think I was in a state where I couldn’t run.”

“Even though you were staggering with a completely exhausted face?”

“Did I… stagger?”

“Yeah, you did. Besides, you still look very pale right now.”

Reysir’s face looked incredibly serious as he said that, reaching out to feel my forehead again.

Whether it was because of his attitude or because I really did look unwell, My Baby Dragon also made a serious face and poured out unintelligible meows.

“See, Yor says so too.”

“Meow, meow!”

“I know you’re worried about the practical exam, but I hope you don’t push yourself to your limit.”

“Meow…”

“Pret, he’s really too much. He should have just taken the ribbon quickly so you could rest…”

“Myan, myan!”

“Yor, did you see it too?

The way he was practically playing with Karbaldr.”

“Kyaong?!”

Reysir and Yor continued their conversation while picking off the leaves stuck in my hair.

They were so perfectly in sync that I couldn’t even find a gap to intervene.

Thus, I was unconsciously stroking Yor’s back while glancing at the two of them when someone spoke.

“So this is where you were.”

Vigdis appeared along with Svein.

It seemed they had spotted us on their way back to the Starting Point to get their ribbons and decided to speak to us.

The Protagonist of Another Novel threw an out-of-the-blue question at the two of them.

“Are you two okay?”

“…?”

“What do you mean…”

The two of them hadn’t been able to handle Fjodra alone.

Since I had seen flames rising a few times, it seemed Hailga had supported Fjodra.

But if you looked at it that way, they had received support from Yor, so it was basically even.

Therefore, it was only natural that their moods weren’t ‘okay.’

When they received Reysir’s question, it was inevitable that they showed confusion and bit of bitterness.

Only after seeing Vigdis’s and Svein’s reactions did Reysir realize his mistake and belatedly add the word he had left out.

“I mean your physical condition. As you can see, Karbaldr looks… very exhausted. I asked because I wondered if you two were all right.”

“Ah! I am fine.”

“Yes, me too…”

The comment Reysir had given Pret earlier, “They look fine,” must have been about their physical condition rather than the overall situation.

“That’s a relief. We’ll wait here, so you two hurry to the Starting Point and back.”

“Yes, we’ll be back soon.”

“Me too…”

With that, Vigdis and Svein ran past us.

When they were hidden by the trees and no longer visible, Reysir looked as if he had something to say, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly before he finally spoke.

“Karbaldr. Would it be okay if I visited your room after dinner?”

Since I had already let him into my room once, it was too late to reject him by saying we weren’t on those terms.

And though I didn’t know what he wanted to say, I could tell it was something that required security.

I nodded to show my consent.