06. Midterm exam (11)

The afternoon class ended quietly without incident.

With Yuna, I was able to get along as usual without any awkwardness, and today’s support and class were not practical, so fortunately, I just calmly took classes without using my body.

To be honest, it was okay for her to take classes despite her fatigue as her physical stats increased a lot, but it was more difficult to hide from Yuna, who sat next to her, that her fingertips were shaking due to muscle pain.

In retrospect, this tremendous muscle pain and Yuna’s overestimation were all caused by Kertatus, so I chewed Kertatus hard on my insides.

And I was about to go back to the classroom when all the classes were over, and I saw students crowded on the bulletin board in the center of the 1st grade main building. Along with the buzzing sound, I felt a sense of excitement somewhere, and I was worried about what the hell was going on.

‘What is that?’

Lee Hyun-woo’s expulsion, the appearance of the youngest S-rank Awakener, and the transfer of the daughter of a conglomerate chaebol president. Recently, there have been numerous incidents in just a few months, so the academy first year students were accustomed to happenings to the extent that they were not surprised by even a few incidents.

Still, the noisy atmosphere was unusual. After thinking about it for a while, nothing came to mind, so I mingled with the students and looked at the contents of the bulletin board.

“Ah.”

It’s already that time.

First year combat and practical skills are the basic principle of sparring between students. It is said that as the grade goes up, there is a chance to practice with low-rank gate monsters or actually climb the tower, but this is not relevant to freshmen who have just entered.

A few months ago, Yoon Seo-hee had a sparring with Lee Hyeon-woo. Because of that, I made a golden egg.

‘By the way, who wants to fight with someone like that?’

Exams and sparring are always happening, so it’s not something to be so raucous about. So, it must be to the extent that there will be some kind of match-up to make it so noisy. I went through the list from bottom to top, looking for a name I knew.

When I looked for it, I also saw Byung-jun’s name. The combat department is attached to the combat department, but since it’s an unfamiliar name that I don’t remember at all, it seems like another anti-magical awakening. Anyway, I’m sorry to Byung-jun, but I don’t think the students are making a fuss because of this.

Then I soon found a familiar name. Even two people at the same time.

“This is it.”

Academy combat and current chief with genius magic skills.

And the youngest S rank Awakener who is certain to be the next chief.

If it’s a matchup between the two, everyone is excited like this. Because even I was looking forward to the result.

Coming to think of it, I’ve often seen the two of them cooperating, but I’ve never seen them compete against each other. Compared to Yoon Seo-hee, whose skills are getting better and better lately, it seems that Baek Ji-soo, whose mana has lost a lot because of me, will be at a disadvantage….

Still, the two of them are friends, so there’s no problem, right? There won’t be anything dangerous like Lee Hyun-woo’s time. We will keep fair play and show a good match.

At that moment, the buzz around them intensified. Yoon Seo-hee and Baek Ji-soo, who were at the center of the topic, appeared in front of the bulletin board.

“What? What happened… oh.”

Yoon Seo-hee saw her name written on the bulletin board and Baek Ji-soo’s name written next to it, and her expression stiffened.

“… ….”

Baek Ji-soo also quietly stared at the bulletin board.

I didn’t expect a friendly look of exchanging greetings by asking each other to take care of each other, but Baek Ji-soo, which is rare, felt a sharp atmosphere somewhere.

Eventually, Baek Ji-soo turned her back with a disinterested attitude, and Yoon Seo-hee glanced at Baek Ji-soo, keeping an eye on her.

I was also taken aback by the sudden change in attitude.

‘What is it?’

What’s wrong with the two of them?

–

Friday afternoon again.

Aside from the atmosphere between the two of them, I still had my own work to do.

That is, of course, the work of making swords.

Although I was concerned about the attitude of the two people, who seemed to be somewhat different from usual, my top priority is to try to win the result of being the ‘midterm exam chief’ that Baek Ji-soo asked me to do.

It’s a good thing considering the results that the two of them were set up as sparring opponents. If you are matched against someone who is too weak, the match will be over before you can show your full potential, which will adversely affect your performance.

So trust the two of them and focus only on what you have to do for now.

“Yuna. What parts did you finish?”

“This way. Was it difficult to engrave the handiwork until late last night? Working at night is the enemy of the skin.”

“Really? You don’t have to be so pushy. It was because of my greed that I wanted to submit this to the midterm performance.”

“Whoops, I’m kidding. I am proud to be an engineer. And Jin Lee is helping me this far, so of course I have to do it all night.”

“In that case… thanks. I will write well.”

Now I’m used to going straight to the workshop at Klaproth’s mansion after class.

With Yuna’s excellent skills, I was able to quickly receive the magic stones needed to make the gunblade and the parts for the gun by express delivery, and the magic work was also completed as I requested.

Now that I made the sword part and Yuna made the gun part, the only thing left to do is combine them.

In a corner of the studio, inspect the parts covered with luxurious fabric. The handle that serves as the magazine and chamber is made integral with the cylinder. Even though it was engraved, the surface was smooth, so other than that, I didn’t see anything unusual. This was also my request.

“Isn’t the magical work well engraved on the inside?”

“Yes. As Lee Jin said, if you engrave the outside and the imprint is erased due to even a small scratch, the biggest advantage of this weapon will disappear, right? The imprint will not be erased unless the sword is completely destroyed.”

Another disadvantage of the magic sword is that since it has an imprint on its surface, the imprint can be easily damaged if it is scratched during battle. In that area, the gunblade was more stable.

Anyway, unlike a sword made by melting iron, it is a form of making parts and assembling them, so there is room left to engrave engravings here and there that are not visible.

It didn’t take long since it was just putting together what was already made according to the blueprint.

Then, the finished gunblade had a handle long enough to hold with both hands, a cylinder that could hold a total of 6 magic stones, and a blade length of 160cm that was close to a greatsword.

This size was unavoidable to withstand the explosive force of bullets, but it was not as heavy as titanium is characterized by its light weight, which is only half that of steel. If it’s an Awakener’s physical stat, it’s enough to handle it easily.

Both hardness and cutting power are more than basic, and the destructive power can be supplemented with the gunblade’s own function anyway, so it was the perfection I wanted.

Bung- As I swung lightly, the sound of cutting through the air resonated vividly. The grip and balance that fits in the hand are perfect. I didn’t pay much attention to the appearance because I was going to test only the functions anyway, but since it’s a weapon that maximizes romance, I felt its own style even with the basics.

At this level, it can be considered complete. Of course, if there are any deficiencies after the test, there will be some reinforcements left….

“How is it?”

Yuna’s expression full of anticipation.

Check the finished weapon through analysis. As a result of making it with a high-concentration magical alloy and sparing no skill and material cost, the magical power felt is comparable to that of an S rank… Unfortunately, there was no unique skill attached to the Gunblade prototype.

“The grade is S rank. It’s an amazing grade considering the production of the workshop.”

“I spent billions of dollars on material costs alone, and I did not spare Lee Jin and my skills, so that is only natural. Mass production will be a bit difficult.”

“Yes. If you want to sell it to lower hunters, you will need to downgrade its performance by thinking about cost-effectiveness. And unfortunately, the skill didn’t stick.”

Yuna’s expression, which was full of anticipation, became blurred. She tries hard not to show any sign of discouragement, but that was it before my analysis.

I’m sorry too. The second S-Rank weapon created after the Reinforced Golden Egg. I made it with all my heart, using excellent ingredients as I have done so far, but why didn’t I have skills this time? What is the difference between now and other weapons that have been equipped with skills so far?

If only I could know the difference, I would be able to grant the skill as I intended, unlike until now, where a unique skill was created by chance.

What was missing? Was the collaboration with Yuna a problem? Do I have to make it with my own hands from start to finish?

“Um….”

This is a question that cannot be answered even after thinking about it. And it’s a prototype that Yuna and I worked together to finally complete, but it wouldn’t be a good attitude to be so disappointed that a single skill wasn’t attached.

“Shall we move on to the performance test? It doesn’t have the skill, but if it functions as intended and shows great performance, that alone will be worth the sale.”

“… Whoops, that’s right. It’s too early to regret it yet. We’ve just taken the first step… Since Lee Jin’s design and my skills were combined, it must be a great weapon even without skills.”

It is meaningless to feel sorry for not having it. Let’s think about the conditions for attaching the skill later.

For now, I just hoped that the Gunblade would perform as expected.