WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 114: Ruler of Water (3)
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The water droplets floated up again, slowly filling the spaces left by their frozen, shattered companions. They drifted lazily as though nothing had happened.
Seong Hyeonje raised one hand. A small spark flickered from his fingertips, followed by a thin beam of light spreading out.
Crackle.
Golden particles wrapped around a droplet, then connected to the one beside it. They rapidly and endlessly swallowed droplets large and small, until,
Boom, boom!
They burst all at once. The spray of mingled light and water droplets was dazzling. Shimmering fragments filled the entire space. A loud sound, like raindrops striking the water's surface, rang out as everything around us cleared.
Only for a moment.
Seong Hyeonje lifted the corner of his mouth as new droplets rose again.
“It won't end with ordinary methods.”
Exactly. Did we need to evaporate all the water? I remembered the Mermaid Queen saying it would be a little troublesome. This was not a little troublesome. A simple dungeon where monsters appeared and got taken care of would have been much better.
Should I use the skill we'd received now? It would be fine if this were a single-floor dungeon that ended here, but there might be another floor. I wanted to look around more first.
Meanwhile, Yerim, who had slipped out of my arms, raised her ice spear high.
“Let's freeze all the water!”
“The water?”
“Yes. The droplets are coming out of the water pooled on the floor, right? If we freeze it all, won't they stop appearing?”
She spoke with a competitive gleam in her eyes, as though she had not been close to tears a moment ago. Our Yerim really was spirited.
“It seems endlessly vast. Will you be okay?”
“I have plenty of mana potions. Let's keep going until I get sick of orange and apple flavors, like you!”
That was reassuring. Still, don't overdo it.
Yerim hopped forward and floated into the air, starting to freeze the water beneath her feet. With a crack-crack-crack, the water touching the mist turned solid white. The ice beneath my feet, which had already been frozen, grew even sturdier and gave off a cold chill.
A cluster of lightning-charged light shot over the water, which had frozen smooth as a mirror. Before the fragments of bursting droplets could even fall, they hardened into round beads.
‘Yerim and Seong Hyeonje work together fairly well... probably.’
Thinking of all the ways that could be applied made me feel a little sour. Still, Moon Hyuna was better. She and Yerim were already fairly close, too. I should find a way to help Moon Hyuna grow stronger as well.
“Yoohyun, have you named your spirit yet?”
“No, not yet.”
As though it had noticed we were talking about it, the fire lizard suddenly popped out and circled Yoohyun's shoulder.
“This little guy is picky. It rejected every name.”
Was he just bad at naming things? Had he suggested strange names?
“More importantly, Hyung, you seem close to the Sesung Guildmaster.”
“I keep telling you, we're not close.”
Why were you joining Yerim in this?
“We only act friendly on the surface because we both have something to gain. It's a dry relationship.”
He was the sort of person who would sever ties as easily as turning over his hand once I became useless. Of course, if the reverse happened, I would also give him a clean, refreshing farewell.
The problem was that such a thing would probably never happen. I would need Seong Hyeonje's cooperation not only for skills, but to prepare for what was ahead.
“He's not a bad person to work with. Weren't you fairly close too?”
Yoohyun slightly furrowed his brow at my words.
“Close... Be careful not to get dragged in. Don't casually follow him into places like dungeons, either. No, never again. Once was enough.”
“You don't need to worry that much anymore.”
I explained Eunhye, the equipment Myeongu had made, in detail. It could be recharged with mana stones, and damage negation at the S to A-Class level lasted a long time. As long as I managed it properly, I should be safe even in high-grade dungeons.
Yoohyun, who had been listening quietly, grabbed my wrist.
Then he removed my bracelet.
“Uh...”
Well, that had been taken away incredibly easily. It was only natural, since he could touch me whenever he wanted.
Chirp!
A bluebird leaped from the bracelet's jewel and pecked at Yoohyun's hand with a series of chirps. When it didn't leave even a scratch, it cried louder as though it had become even angrier.
Then,
Hiss.
The fire lizard suddenly popped out and clamped its jaws around the bluebird's head.
Chirp!
“Eunhye! Don't eat it!”
Fortunately, perhaps because Yoohyun stopped it or because it decided it wasn't food, the lizard opened its mouth with a spit. Eunhye flapped its wings and pecked the spirit's head.
“You'll get bitten again. Come here. Good bird.”
Chirp, chirp!
“Yes, yes. The lizard was bad. What a bad lizard.”
Eunhye returned to my hand in indignation. Then it opened its beak wide and shouted.
“Bad lizard! Bad lizard!”
“...It can talk?”
“That's the first time I've heard it speak too.”
The bluebird, which only kept yelling “bad lizard” as though it knew no other words, went back into the jewel once Yoohyun returned the bracelet. They said it would gain more skills as it grew. Could it learn to speak too?
“Don't trust items too much. Especially against people.”
“I know that much. But the Sesung Guildmaster is someone who'll calmly assess my value and respond accordingly. I'll be safe until he finds something more useful than me.”
But would such a thing even exist? If I were an item, I would easily be L-Class and then some. Poison Resistance, Curse Resistance, attack skill buffs, growth buffs, learning new skills, stat and skill buffs, a damage-negating shield, raising monsters, and even combining cursed poison dragons, though that had not succeeded for certain yet. Add Sprout and the teacher skill to all that, and I would be an item to cherish so carefully one might fear the wind would carry it away.
...It was a little unfortunate that I was human. If I were really an item, it would be easier to use, and its user could receive resistance and buffs at all times without Skill Sharing. Thinking about it, it really was a shame. Why wasn't I an item?
“If I were a dungeon item, I would've given myself to you.”
“...What are you suddenly talking about?”
“It's a shame.”
While we talked, the water had frozen cold all the way into the distance. Nearly all the droplets had burst as well, except for a few in the corners. Perhaps because the water had frozen, no new droplets appeared.
“Mister! It's blocked from here!”
Yerim shouted, waving both arms widely. She said it was blocked, but the space continued beyond it. It seemed to be something like a transparent membrane. As I headed toward Yerim, I slipped, and Yoohyun caught me.
“We should've brought Peace.”
Exactly. It had not occurred to me. Was it because Peace always stayed in its juvenile form at home? I couldn't help feeling like it was too young to bring into a dungeon.
“This is really sturdy. Is this the end of the dungeon?”
It did resemble the way ordinary dungeons were blocked off. But up close, it felt strange.
Frozen water stretched beyond the transparent membrane. Endlessly. Yerim's skill range was broad, but not that broad. And it was beyond a barrier she could not break through.
“It is not a dungeon barrier.”
Seong Hyeonje seemed to have reached the same conclusion I had. This was...
“A mirror.”
A mirror that did not reflect us. No, if this dungeon itself was a mirror, then it had reflected us. Our memories. It had shown each of us what we wanted to see through that zombie.
I felt like I understood more clearly what kind of being this new Filial Piety Addict was.
“A mirror? It's just transparent.”
“Look carefully. Everything except us is the same. Even the slightly broken ice over there is reflected exactly.”
“Oh? You're right. But what do we do now?”
Who knew? It was still not reacting. As I swept my gaze around, I spotted several water droplets scattered in the distance.
“Yerim, try bursting the rest of those.”
“Okay!”
With a brisk answer, arrow-like shards of ice flew out and cleanly took care of the remaining droplets. Immediately afterward, the membrane, the mirror's surface, began to ripple in circles. Yoohyun grabbed me and stepped back, while Yerim moved in front of us. Seong Hyeonje also retreated several steps.
“I knew freezing everything and sweeping it away was the right answer!”
Once we had eliminated the droplets reflecting memories and prevented them from appearing again, the mirror reacted. This really was...
“Be careful. It seems something from our memories might appear.”
I warned Yoohyun and Yerim. I was not especially worried about Seong Hyeonje. Though I was probably in the most danger. Should I close my eyes in advance?
The ripples over the mirror grew larger and rougher. We moved farther away just in case. Our reflections briefly appeared on the trembling surface, and then,
Blue light began to spread.
“Uh, that earring?”
Yerim's eyes widened. A familiar earring swayed with a jingle. Slowly emerging from beyond the mirror was a massive mermaid with blue scales.
It was the Queen of the Merfolk of the Blue Billows, holding a long spear and spreading her scaled wings.
‘...Damn it.’
Could that mirror be reflecting the strongest opponent from our memories? Yerim seemed to have seen the same thing, so that confirmed it. We were truly screwed. This was not a little troublesome. That damned, cheating Waterdrop!
The Mermaid Queen's closed eyes slowly opened. Dark blue eyes, like emotionless beads, looked at us. Perhaps it could not copy the real thing completely, because its pressure was weaker. But it was still a monster we could never face with our current strength. At best, we could escape while using the bracelet's power to block its attacks.
“Yerim, use your skill!”
Yerim, who had frozen stiff, quickly tightened her grip on her spear. The jewel set into it shone.
Drip. Drip-drip.
Rain began to fall.
Through the growing rainfall, I saw Yerim's back. She was clearly small and fragile, yet an overwhelming presence poured from her, strong enough to be frightening. If she turned around and looked at me, the pressure would make my knees tremble too much to stand. Not just Yoohyun, but even Seong Hyeonje could not take his eyes off her.
Before I knew it, all the ice had melted, and water soaked our ankles.
“This is no joke.”
Yerim spoke lightly, yet heavily. The false Mermaid Queen looked at her. The tip of its long spear moved, and with that single slow motion, the entire dungeon shook.
But that was all.
The force that seemed capable of splitting the earth vanished in an instant. I had no idea why. Yerim tilted her head slightly as well. Water droplets rippled around her as she floated lightly in the air.
“...Mister, I don't think I understand. The skill is moving on its own.”
Her troubled voice cleared my suppressed thoughts a little. I looked back and forth between Yerim and the false Mermaid Queen. Rain fell around the Mermaid Queen too, but its thickness and speed were slightly different.
The two were using the same power at their core. In that case...
‘Though I don't know if I can endure it.’
Rather than waste this precious chance, I should at least try. I used the teacher skill on Yerim. At the same time, I felt water.
Nothing but water. It was not merely the sensation of being submerged. An indescribable sensation overwhelmed me, as though my entire body, every tiny hair and every drop of blood, had been engulfed by water.
“Hyung!”
Yoohyun's voice reached my ears a beat later. I could feel my brother's arm supporting my body. Wow, this was seriously no joke. Was Yerim all right?
“I'm fine.”
“What do you mean, fine? What did you do?”
What did I do? I just used a skill.
“Mister! Don't use that skill!”
Yerim shouted too. No, I could handle it. It was too precious an opportunity to just waste.
“...I said I'm fine. Hey, good adult.”
I barely turned my head to look up at Seong Hyeonje. Why did that man look displeased again?
“A skill, please.”
That one, Combat Precognition. If Yerim could experience the sensation of a skill like hers, though much weaker, being used, she would gain more from it. It would be even better to use the teacher skill on the false Mermaid Queen too, but I really did not think I could endure that.
When I applied the teacher skill to Seong Hyeonje, he slightly raised an eyebrow.
“If I refuse, you look ready to faint on the spot.”
“...Don't be like that between us. We're friends for a week, aren't we?”
“I have never made friends in my life.”
What a bleak life. Though he did not look pleased, Seong Hyeonje used Combat Precognition.
Then the water moved.
The Mermaid Queen and Park Yerim. Two rulers of water wielded their authority at once. The phenomenon I had not understood a moment ago now made sense.
Everywhere the rain fell, no, every particle of moisture in the air, obeyed Yerim's will. Water held so many things. This entire space was watching only the movement of her small fingertips.
The false Mermaid Queen also tried to expand its control, but it was woefully insufficient. Like a tiny provincial lord standing before a monarch commanding a million soldiers, the gap between them was enormous.
The moment Yerim vaguely realized how she needed to move, it was over.
Crash!
The mirror shattered. Mirrors all around us broke apart. Water rippled across a space that was not particularly large for a dungeon, and rain continued to pour down.
Receiving the worship of all water, Yerim turned around.
Hm. She looked angry.
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