I Became the Only Healer in the Academy - Chapter 24.2
In response to Seonghyun’s farewell, Inhwan also replied casually.
“Yeah. I’ll call you.”
The next day, as agreed, the two gathered in front of the new gate during lunch.
“This is the gate where wolf-type beasts come out directly?”
“Yeah, that’s right. What about Koo Sang-yeon?”
“He’s almost here.”
Before Inhwan’s words could finish, Sang-yeon, with slightly hesitant movements, approached them.
“If you’re here, let’s go in right away.”
“Hey, Koo Sang-yeon.”
“What.”
“Just go and stand by. I’ll take care of the damage.”
“…Nonsense.”
Inhwan and Sang-yeon muttered to each other as they followed Seonghyun into the gate.
Now completely accustomed to the familiar sensation, a different landscape unfolded inside the gate.
“It’s my first time here… It does feel a bit different.”
“A different feeling? Really?”
Seonghyun felt an inexplicable sense of unease, but Inhwan and Sang-yeon didn’t seem to notice anything.
“Shh… it’s right ahead.”
Leading the way, Seonghyun extended his arm to signal, and Inhwan and Sang-yeon followed behind him, bowing their heads.
“There are quite a few of them?”
Just by the visible numbers, there were five monsters, and it was still uncertain how many more might be in the denser forest.
‘Let’s not use Stigmata this time.’
If the two of them had come alone, he might have had no choice but to use Stigmata. However, now that they had a reliable front-line fighter, even if it didn’t feel pleasant, there was no need to use it.
‘So I can see how well we coordinate.’
Although they had engaged in an interclass competition as class representatives, in reality, there hadn’t been any real coordination.
The upcoming battle would solely showcase Inhwan and Sang-yeon’s combat instincts.
“…I’ll draw their attention.”
“Of course, that’s how it should be.”
“…”
Koo Sang-yeon, with a more wrinkled brow than when he had been looking at Seonghyun, turned to Inhwan and then headed towards where the beasts were.
“As expected, dealing with someone like that.”
“…”
Inhwan also seemed not entirely normal. Seonghyun sighed quietly, glancing at where Sang-yeon was heading.
“Young magical beasts. Let’s take them all down.”
Seonghyun’s expression showed no signs of tension.
Instead, it seemed a bit excited.
‘It’s been a while since I was prepared.’
Dealing with one beast wasn’t difficult, but dealing with five was different.
He had never felt both the thrill of battle and a sense of calmness at the same time until now. Currently, these two conflicting emotions coexisted.
‘Is this… the value of a healer’s existence?’
Seonghyun hadn’t shown anything yet.
The relationship between the two was far from good, or rather, it was the worst possible situation, to the point where it was a concern whether he would show anything or not.
However, even in this situation, just being present on the battlefield allowed him to find emotional stability.
“Grr…”
The monsters, naturally confident in their appearance, briefly stared at the charging Sang-yeon. Then, with a grinding sound, they gathered in front of him.
“Hey! Are you ready?”
“Let’s get started. It’s over soon.”
Even Inhwan didn’t joke around in this situation.
With a serious expression, he observed where Sang-yeon was, contemplating where to use his ability most efficiently and whether it would harm Sang-yeon.
“Here we go.”
The five monsters, arranged in a shape in front, started charging towards Sang-yeon. Seonghyun closely observed Sang-yeon’s movements.
‘The habit of dodging attacks coming to the left…’
After dodging to the left as he expected, Inhwan’s attack came right on cue.
‘He prefers blocking attacks from the side rather than dodging…’
Although a bit later than just now, at an appropriate timing, Inhwan’s attack came again.
‘He takes quite a few hits, doesn’t he?’
Trying to synchronize their teamwork for the first time turned out to be quite good.
Thanks to Inhwan’s improved skills, Sang-yeon could attack the beasts without getting any harm.
Moreover, with his powerful ability, he could deal fatal damage with just one strike.
As Sang-yeon had already visited the gate several times with Inhwan, he was familiar with Inhwan’s combat senses.
‘The problem is with Sang-yeon…’
Simply dodging and blocking could be done by anyone from the academy, but Sang-yeon needed to show something unique to himself.
“These insignificant monsters…!”
Sang-yeon precisely swung his sword towards the beast that had been hit by Inhwan’s attack, aiming for the wounded area.
The sound of tearing flesh echoed, and the short scream of the beast reached even where Seonghyun was positioned.
However, Sang-yeon didn’t stop there.
He immediately swung his sword towards another monster, hitting the side where Inhwan’s attack had landed.
“Graghh!”
However, perhaps due to the sheer number of magical beasts, Sang-yeon, who had been slightly stabbed in the side by a claw, backed off for a moment.
It seemed like he was waiting for something.
“Now!”
Responding to Sang-yeon’s anticipation, Inhwan’s attack flew straight towards the monster.
Sang-yeon swiftly beheaded the magical beast, which was writhing in pain.
‘This should be okay, right?’
Seonghyun used his ability to inflict pain on the remaining two beasts.
“Kaak!”
“…? Huh, what happened?”
Sang-yeon was momentarily taken aback as he looked at the beast that suddenly collapsed on the ground. However, his decisive nature prevented any hesitation, and he promptly dealt with the other two magical beasts.
“Well, handling five without abilities was a bit challenging, right?”
“Why are you talking like that as if you did it alone?”
“Even without you, I could have handled three by myself.”
“Sure, just a light injury to the side.”
“…”
During their banter, Sang-yeon suddenly felt no pain from his side.
Checking the wound between the torn clothes, he found no scars or even a trace of blood. He looked at Seonghyun in surprise.
“Let’s move if we’re done here.”
“…Yeah.”
The three moved deeper into the gate, step by step.
