The Support Ate it All

A thin crescent moon faintly illuminated the sky.

It was a night darker than usual with thick clouds constantly obscuring even the slim crescent moon.

Such dark nights were perfect for thieves to strike.

Black figures gathered in front of a large statue near the old school building.

They were dressed uniformly in black with masks covering their faces.

And among such people, I was also present.

I quickly recognized the slender masked person in the bunch to be Dang Gyu-young.

I didn’t know the real faces of the others though.

Two male students who looked to be twins even though their faces were concealed by masks as they were strikingly similar in both build and demeanor.

A male student with a very short wand strapped to his arm,

And a male student who exuded a carefree attitude and who turned out to be Shin Byeong-chul upon closer inspection.

They exchanged glances and nodded their heads in unison as if they could recognize each other even with masks on.

On the other hand, since it was my first time meeting them, one of the twins felt puzzled and asked.

“Hey, there’s someone unfamiliar here. Who’s this?”

“This person will be helping us with our task tonight. Be careful not to be rude.”

“Hmm…….”

The twin didn’t seem entirely convinced but nodded his head in acknowledgment anyway.

It was better to keep the number of people aware of the [Cube of Life]’s existence and capabilities to a minimum.

Any careless talk could jeopardize not only the mission but also the safety of the items we intended to store inside.

For now, my cover identity was that of a mysterious expert invited by Dang Gyu-young.

“Ah, nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you tonight.”

Shin Byeong-chul bowed his head while winking with one eye at me.

He seemed to have figured out who I was from the bits of my face visible through the mask and the general situation.

He was quick-witted and owed me a favor, so I was confident he wouldn’t reveal my identity.

Dang Gyu-young asked the girl with the tablet.

“How much time do we have left?”

At her question, the girl’s fingers flew faster over the tablet.

Numbers crowded the screen as she seemed to be making some calculations, and her gaze occasionally shifted to the sky, more precisely, to the moon.

“Three minutes left.”

“Good, let’s get ready.”

Everyone made a final check of their gear or gathered their mana.

I secretly exchanged glances with Dang Gyu-young.

Her shadow squirmed as it formed letters.

Do just as you’ve been instructed.

I had received a separate briefing on the operation beforehand.

Although the others would handle everything necessary, I needed to understand how to enter and exit without making mistakes.

Now that I knew all the details, my role tonight was to follow along quietly and not cause them any trouble.

Isn’t this the essence of being a bystander?

As the three minutes mentioned by the tablet-carrying female student approached,

Clouds gathered, completely obscuring the moon.

Rush in.

[Shadow’s Safe Haven]

The shadow emanating from Dang Gyu-young formed a dome, and everyone promptly gathered within its range.

The shadow clung to our bodies and it enhanced our stealth.

Even at close range, we could barely discern each other’s silhouettes, so it would be even harder to be recognized from a distance.

The thieves club members soon began to run with Dang Gyu-young in the lead.

Despite several people running, there was no sound of footsteps or rustling clothes.

I ran alongside them while observing Dang Gyu-young’s legs.

More precisely, her footwork.

B-rank.

The [Thief’s Step] was the primary mobility skill of the Rogue class.

It made one’s footsteps quick and stealthy and moving through darkness added an extra bonus.

Since she was skilled enough to become the club president in her third year, achieving a B-rank in this skill was easily within reach.

[Activate “Copy-Skill”.]

[Registering the target’s skill ‘Thief’s Step (B)’ in the slot.]

▷Copy-Skill[2/2]

1. Hummingbird (E)

2. Thief’s Step (B)

Now that the cube was finished, I wouldn’t need [Magical Engineering] for a while.

As I moved using [Thief’s Step], the members of the club focused their attention on me.

To them, my first footsteps must have been relatively loud, but they quickly became a perfect Thief’s Step, which was quite astonishing.

However, as I continued running straight ahead, they too seemed to decide not to be distracted and withdrew their gazes.

As we neared the old school building, I started to notice students wearing disciplinary committee armbands patrolling around.

They kept a certain distance from each other as they patrolled.

Covering the vast interior and exterior of the old school building with just the disciplinary committee members meant there were bound to be gaps.

According to the information I received from the thieves’ club, the area we were heading towards was relatively vulnerable.

This was partly because a higher proportion of the patrolling students were first-years.

“Hmm~ Hum hum~”

Han So-mi wandered around while humming to herself as if she were out for a casual night stroll.

But as we passed by, she remained completely unaware of our presence.

There was one more first-year on patrol.

He had the appearance of a prince with a striking golden sword.

It was Geum Jo-han, the noble son of the Golden Lotus master.

Coincidentally, Geum Jo-han’s route overlapped with our path.

Yet no one slowed down their pace.

Dang Gyu-young who was leading the way raised the momentum.

[Shadow Butterfly Flight]

A butterfly formed from shadows took flight.

The butterfly fluttered away and landed lightly on Geum Jo-han’s shoulder.

“!!”

Before Geum Jo-han could even half-draw his sword, an explosion of shadows burst forth from the butterfly.

He was engulfed by the shadows and then bound tightly like a cocoon.

One of the twins placed a hand on his body.

“Uh—uh—”

“Let’s go quietly. Resistance will just tire us both out.”

The other twin manipulated the air as if molding clay.

After a while, a clone that looked exactly like Geum Jo-han was created and started walking along the patrol route.

Though it seemed considerably less sharp than the original, by the time the disciplinary committee started to have suspicion, it would be already too late.

Meanwhile, the real Geum Jo-han was still bound and was pushed into a corner.

After leaving the clone to act on its own, our group clung to the exterior wall of the old school building.

As the male student with the wand recited a spell, a circular staircase formed, step by step, leading up to a third-floor window.

We swiftly ascended the stairs and reached the window where the wand-wielding student began dismantling the magical seals.

“Wow, they’ve really made a mess of the alarm spells.”

Seeing him even praising the setup, it seemed like the disciplinary committee had done their job well.

Even if it was ultimately breached in the end.

Once the seals vanished, Shin Byeong-Cheol neatly removed the window and we stepped inside.

The temporary storage was located in Practice Room D on the third floor of the old school building.

We were in Practice Room A.

Entering through Room D’s window was impossible due to the multiple layers of barriers and magic.

Therefore, our plan involved infiltrating through Room A and then moving through the corridors to our destination.

“Intrude-!”

As we were moving, a disciplinary committee member patrolling the corridor spotted us and was about to shout, “Intruders!” when Dang Gyu-young blocked the sound waves and the twins quickly overpowered him.

If they fought one-on-one, the disciplinary committee member might have won, but since he was caught off-guard and outnumbered, he couldn’t fully use his skills and was swiftly subdued.

While the twins created a clone of the disciplinary committee member they had subdued, the female student quickly tapped away on the tablet.

Her gaze fixed on the crystal orbs illuminating the corridor.

“It’s done.”

Her “It’s done” likely indicated that all the crystal orbs had been neutralized.

The magic traps were dismantled by the male student with the wand, while Shin Byeong-Cheol took care of the regular traps before marching forward without hesitation.

I think even slugs have a knack for rolling.

Shin Byeong-Cheol’s skill and speed in disarming traps were on par with those of the second and third-year students.

That’s why he was included in this elite party.

I slightly raised my internal evaluation of Shin Byeong-Cheol.

A B-rank talent, but only when it came to disabling traps.

But that doesn’t mean I had any intention of nurturing this talent.

Compared to Seo Ye-In, he was merely a firefly’s glow.

“……..”

Now, just around the corner was the practice room D and temporary storage.

However, Dang Gyu-young who was peeking around the corner with a small mirror cursed under her breath.

“Damn, this one’s tough.”

“Who is it?”

I took Dang Gyu-young’s mirror to see for myself.

There was a male student guarding the front of the temporary storage.

disciplinary committee armband. A third-year tie pin.

And a thick axe with a red color.

I didn’t know much about this senior student, but the item he held was familiar.

The A-rank Hell Axe

If a third-year disciplinary committee member wielded the Hell Axe, it would indeed be a tough match for Dang Gyu-young.

I had planned to just watch from the sidelines, but now it seemed I had to lend a hand.

“Shadow Butterfly Dream, right? You know how to use it?”

Dang Gyu-young was startled.

“How do you know about that?”

How do I know? Because I’ve raised someone with the same skill.

“Can you use it now?”

“It’s not fully mastered yet. Only at C-rank.”

“That’s good enough.”

She looked puzzled.

[Activate ‘Amplification’]

[The target’s ‘Shadow Butterfly Dream’ rank increased. (C->A)]

[Duration 00:01:59]

[Cooldown 00:49:59]

Now that the skill became an A-rank, it seemed worth a try.

Dang Gyu-young’s eyes widened again.

“How did you do that?”

“No time to explain. Let’s hurry.”

“………”

She seemed to agree with my statement about the lack of time and kept quiet for the moment, but her expression was resolute as if she was silently vowing to ask me questions later.

Dang Gyu-young clasped her hands together.

Above her palms, shadows formed into butterflies and they gathered one by one.

In a flash, dozens of black butterflies had swarmed and Dang Gyu-young released them into the air.

[Shadow Butterfly Dream]

“!”

The third-year disciplinary committee member reacted instantly.

As he frantically swung his hell axe, a third of the flying butterflies were split in half and scattered.

But one butterfly managed to touch him and exploded into shadows.

The shadows engulfing him seemed to dissipate with a single grunt of effort.

It was a kind of internal energy barrier used by warriors.

However, as two and three butterflies continued to attach and entangle him, the number of butterflies overwhelmed his ability to dispel them.

Eventually, he was buried in a giant cocoon of shadows.

Dang Gyu-young looked to be exhausted as she turned to me and said.

“You, we need to talk later.”

“Of course.”

I supported the staggering Dang Gyu-young briefly, but soon she regained her strength and took the lead.

The door to the temporary storage was wide open but the thieves club members meticulously inspected even the smallest devices nearby before entering.

Triggering even a single alarm spell could spell disaster here.

Only after ensuring complete safety did they begin to sweep the prohibited items into their inventories.

“Let’s grab what we need and get out of here quickly.”

“Yes, noonim.”

Dang Gyu-young and I exchanged glances.

As I opened the [Cube of Life], I began to selectively pick and place only the valuable items inside.

I should also start my own bit of shopping.

I started rummaging through the mountain of prohibited items.

To know exactly what was there, I had to look closely, but the types of prohibited items were almost predetermined.

The main criterion for the ban list at Dragon Slayer Academy was “side effects”.

The question was how much of a side effect followed in exchange for immense power.

For example, a [Magic Tome] could rapidly enhance strength in a short period of time, but the more one learned from it, the more one’s mind became corrupted by dark energy, increasing the likelihood of becoming evil.

The [Dark Ice Crystal] I acquired on the train also drastically increased mana in an instant, but if one couldn’t withstand its coldness, they would be frozen to the bone immediately upon use.

Items causing physical or mental harm are mostly designated as prohibited items.

The more severe and permanent the damage, the higher they tend to be on the list.

Most of the items here carry some penalty, big or small.

Among these, my target was prohibited items with an “elemental penalty” similar to the Dark Ice Crystal.

This is because most elemental penalties can be completely nullified with my S-rank [Elemental Resistance].

First one.

[Heart of Thunder]*2

Two rough and uneven beads that seemed to have been forcibly compressed from lightning.

Since it was not feasible to use them immediately, I stored them in the Cube of Life.

I kept looking through the mountain of items, but unfortunately no more items with elemental penalty were found.

Given the limited time, it seemed wiser to shift my focus elsewhere.

Skill books.

That was also a primary reason for my visit here.

Being a place teeming with prohibited items, it was likely to have a skill book or two with elemental penalties.

However, finding them wouldn’t be an easy task.

Starting from the very top, the first skill book was a dud.

[Skill Book – Asura Blood Demon Art]

The more one mastered it, the more the blood demon energy would seep into their marrow, eventually driving them insane.

This was 100% a reservation for a future villain.

Who knows which audacious person brought it in?

It must have been incredibly difficult to obtain.

[Skill Book – Necrograsp]

A close combat skill of necromancers that would make everything they touched rot and decay.

Its major drawback was that every time it was used, the spellcaster’s hand would also slowly decay.

Elemental penalty, elemental penalty…

While I was repeating “elemental penalty” in my head I flipped through skill book after skill book. Finally, I stumbled upon something worthwhile.

No.

It wasn’t just worthwhile; it was almost a jackpot.

[Skill Book – Inferno Fist]