Fragments

Ch.32 - Goodbye Today

"I nearly made a terrible mistake…"
Reflecting on yesterday's behavior, Min-jun spent the night sleepless, on his back in a messy bed, not having bothered to undress himself. The small room was almost completely covered in darkness, only faint morning light glimmered through curtains, and a small structure out of shiny, green barriers acted like a beacon for his eyes to follow.

He twirled it between his fingers, holding it above his chest, while his head leaned on a soft pillow, looking awfully solitary…

"If Yuu hadn't stopped my thoughtlessness, I would've engaged first… If the Guild is watching me– if Yin is a spy– I need to carefully observe my enemy before acting."
Min highly suspected his mysterious combat skills were related to the Guild, and he intended to flip his potential peril into an advantage using them.
"However, I'm definitely being watched as well… I couldn't find any cameras, but I'm certain of it, and I'm fighting on this city's rulers' porch. No matter what I do, I'll be on borrowed time…"
Eventually, he stopped toying with the small construct, closing his fist around it.
"I should start by getting different clothes, and observing their mansion from up-close, in disguise. From guard routes to trying to see what's happening inside, I need all available information."

What caused Min-jun's insomnia was not nervousness, frustration or fear – though he experienced all those emotions in droves, what didn't allow tiredness to get the better of him was blazing willpower, and his relentless planning trapped him within a cycle of almost inexhaustible energy.

After enough time spent thinking, the outside world gently brightening, Min held up his cylindrical creation again.
"With this I'll complete my triad of tools," he said dreamily, "because the raid made me realize one flaw in my thinking– I'm incredibly disjointed… My skills are versatile, but I slow and weaken myself by planning out every tool for every situation. The armor and greatsword I developed are sufficient, but I lack range, and skilled opponents will wear me down before I reach them."
A small, quadrilateral base, atop which a cylinder rested, having another square connected to its vertex… This was the absurd solution for a lack of range.

A piston.

For Min-jun, transforming a barrier's shape after creating it proved daunting, but he's been hard at work, attempting to enhance this part of his arsenal, until an unconventional weapon was developed.
Though far from having mastered its usage…

The creation suddenly extended in Min-jun's hand, thanks to telepathic control.

It could fully expand in less than a second, regardless of size.

"Instead of constantly crafting new ways to fight, I'll settle on three tools that'll be powerful enough to deal with any situation… My efficiency will be massively boosted in return, which is something I desperately need– I doubt the Guild wants me snooping around like this."

All his predictions, observations and speculations were right on the mark and Min-jun rehearsed them into oblivion, making time feel as though it raced by…

So, when the obnoxiously loud bell above his doorframe rang out, it made him jolt to life with sudden alertness.

"Oh… It's already morning," he thought, apathetically observing the small, metallic dome vibrate, "and here I wanted to exercise again."
Min sighed, getting up and stretching, not an inkling of weariness found within him…

The wake-up call presented a very small, simply distracting problem, to which the only solution was stepping out of his room and going downstairs to report to his Instructor.
Right after exiting his room, he met Yin on the way and they locked eyes shortly, the white-haired girl averting her head almost instantly, painfully discomforted, while odd, muffling tension formed between them…