「 episode 4; arc 2.2 」 —a new home//ignition— 「 yeojin iv 」  

As she stepped out of the elevator, Yeojin found herself not in a hallway, but more like a sector of space.

In a massive area stretching in all directions, the seventh floor of the building was not several rooms, but one big one. A wide open arena of sorts with similar black marble walls, clean white bleachers aligned the sides of the area for spectators. Down the middle, the area was an empty expanse that resembled a school gymnasium. In place of sports equipment being strewn about, various runic circles of different sizes were inscribed across the hardwood floor.

Chaewon led the three girls towards a row of seats near the center of the room. Yeojin looked up as she took a seat below and to the left of Yerim, and just a little away from the embraced pair of light and dark. In the far upper corner of the seats on their side, Sooyoung sat. She was sprawled out comfortably, a leg extended over some seats.

Yeojin smiled as Sooyoung nodded in her general direction. The younger girl waved.

“You’ve got to stop asking me for these late night practice rounds. You know how early I like to go to bed.”

“It’s not ten o’clock yet, grandma.”

A conversation could be heard at the edge of the area. From a door connected to a stairwell, three figures emerged. A tall girl a head above Yeojin was at the front, bearing ebony locks formed into a braided ponytail that fell over her shoulder. A long series of bangs fell down the other side of her face. “Besides, you could’ve just said no.”

A girl barely shorter than her replied. “We haven’t had a round in a minute, so…”

Locks of ash-gray hair fell to her shoulders, neatly tucked behind her ears. The top of her head had hair as braided as the other’s ponytail. She smiled towards her sparring partner. “Can’t let myself get too rusty.”

Behind the two of them, Yeojin smiled as she saw Kahei close the door behind them. She followed them at a relaxed pace as they beat her to the center of the arena.

They stood a fair amount of paces away from one another. Kahei stood between them, her eyes scanning the crowd. With a smile, she looked back to the two combatants. “It appears you have a small audience today, including our three Neophytes.”

“We better give them a show then, Jungeun,” the ebony haired girl replied with a smirk. She brought a closed fist into the palm of her open hand in front of her. Her yellow tank top and deep blue jeans were accompanied with a length of bandages wrapped around each arm. Extending from just below the shoulder to halfway down her hands, the upper halves of her fingers and palms were the only parts exposed.

“Hyunjin, I think it’s more like you just want to look cool in front of Sooyoung,” the gray haired girl teasingly responded. She removed her hands from the back pockets of her black denim slacks and pulled the collar of her featureless red shirt slightly. Her eyes of mixed hazel and crimson red seemed to be appraising her opponent. “You gain some levels recently or something? You look confident.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Hyunjin indecisively stated, returning Jungeun’s gaze with her own eyes of dark brown. “Guess we’ll see. Nothing wrong with wanting to impress my girlfriend, by the way.”

“Sorceresses, we will now begin,” Kahei said with a small smile as the two sorceresses exchanged playful grins. The older sorceress pushed up her glasses. “Please call forth your weapons.”

Jungeun went first, as was evident by the blast of heat that immediately erupted from her center.

Her crimson eye came alive as a flaming aura of scarlet mana took shape around her with an exhaled breath. It redirected itself in front of her, thinning out into a line.

Coalescing, it materialized into a tall metal pole as red as her eye. The top of it was affixed with a fusion of two weapons; an extended spearhead, and at the base of it below, the medium sized blade of an axe. The steel of the conjoined weapons was a shade of crimson deeper than the pole they were attached to.

Grasping onto it as it finished materializing, Jungeun held the halberd next to her with the bottom of the pole on the ground. The entire weapon nearly six feet in length, it towered above her by a measurable distance. Etched runes came to life across the steel, and a small assortment continued down the pole.

“Alright, Hyunjin,” Jungeun commented with a smirk. “Show the newbies what’s underneath the scary bandages.”

“Gladly.”

Hyunjin prepared herself next, breathing in steadily with open eyes that stared right into Jungeun’s. Her left eye lightened in hue, becoming a bright shade of mahogany as her brown mana took shape with her exhale.

Simultaneous with her mana forming, the wrapped bandages surrounding her arms gradually disintegrated into similarly colored dust. What lay beneath was revealed—muscular arms as toned as Sooyoung’s, lightly inked with the outlines of tattoos that spiraled around in every direction, completely encompassing her arms.

The mana she had summoned moved down in two streams, mixing with the resulting mana of her bandages’ erasure. The sources combined, multiplying in density as each of her arms became surrounded in clouds. Yeojin and Yerim alike were peculiarly surprised as the mana sank into her arms. Her tattoos appeared to come to life, the mana becoming dark brown ink that filled the empty spaces of her tattoos in.

The intricate designs of intertwined shapes and figures now complete, Yeojin was dumbfounded by the process as Hyunjin stood with decorated upper limbs. She shook her hands by the wrists with a smirk before cracking her knuckles and then her neck. “Alright, Granny Jungeun. Wakey wakey.”

“Still talking like that after last time?” Jungeun remarked with an amused scoff as she took her stance. She placed one leg behind her, gripping her polearm by the bottom and the center of the shaft. “You must really want me to show the Neophytes why I’m the Adept and why you’re the Intermediate here.”

Hyunjin replied to the taunt with a smug grin as Kahei lowered an extended palm to the floor beneath them. Her earthen mana took shape, streaming down to the largest runic circle in the center of the area. As she did, Yeojin heard a loud whirring noise.

Looking up, she witnessed thin stretches of the ceiling receding. Mechanisms similar to a garage door seemed to be at work as large panes of extremely thick glass were slowly brought down in front of the bleachers. Etched into them were runic circles similar to the floor.

“Give it your all,” Kahei sweetly encouraged the two as she began to make way towards the side of the audience stands that everyone was collected on. She slipped underneath the wall of glass before it came all the way down. As the sounds of the ceiling’s mechanisms came to a stop, Jungeun and Hyunjin were securely locked into an empty playground.

The runic circle between the two fighters became illuminated with a bright light that quickly spread across the battleground, extending up to the glass walls which had their circles lit up as well.

The sight seemed familiar to Yeojin. “Is that a barrier?”

“That’s correct,” Kahei’s voice answered her from out of her view. Yeojin looked to the Master sorceress as she sat down next to her. Yerim was quick to change seats, sitting on the other side of Kahei with excited intrigue. “Much like our own barriers, it’ll protect the arena from becoming damaged.”

“So then what’re the rules?” Yerim inquired, watching with curiosity as the wave of light continued upwards still. Runic circles on the ceiling that Yeojin hadn’t even initially noticed came to life.

“The winner is decided by means of depleting their enemy’s barrier first,” the scholarly Kahei explained. “Alternatively, if the barrier of the arena falls first and both fighters still have their shields, it’s declared a draw.”

“Seeing a lot focus on this barrier business,” Yeojin commented, tilting her head. “There’s a lot going on with it…”

“It’s what allows us to engage in combat with fiends of all manner and shape without the requirement of overly cumbersome armor,” Kahei informed them, bringing about understanding nods from Yeojin and Yerim. From a bit down the bleachers, Hyejoo’s eyes were focused on Kahei. She listened just as intently. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to move as we could in battle.”

As a loud buzzer began to sound off in the area, the final of its siren-like noises being slightly longer than the penultimate one, Yeojin immediately made sense of Kahei’s words.

With a downright frightening burst of speed and impeccable might behind her launch, Hyunjin leapt into the air towards her right the moment the final buzzer went off. In response, Jungeun broke out in an agile sprint parallel to her. Flipping her halberd over, she dashed with the axehead downwards and facing Hyunjin.

Displaying unreal dexterity, Hyunjin rotated herself over in mid-air, the soles of her boots stomping hard onto the glass wall. With a show of force, she expelled herself off of it after a delay so short it was nearly beyond perception. Flying towards Jungeun, her body was carried by the significant velocity of her rebounded launch. The strength Hyunjin exerted to bounce off the wall was enough to cause a slight crack in the glass’ barrier.

She spun around vertically with an outstretched leg towards a still running Jungeun. She touched ground with a downward axe kick so outwardly violent that significant damage showed itself at the point of impact, the hardwood floor's shield suffering expansive veins of splintered cracks. For all of her effort, however, Hyunjin had missed her target.

Jungeun had spun backwards with her polearm extended, performing a defensive fading slash with the axe end. The strike made contact with Hyunjin’s foreleg, deploying a small amount of force onto the martial artist’s barrier. She slid back in place very slightly, minor cracks manifesting at the spot of impact in the brief moment her barrier flashed into being.

A question came to Yeojin’s mind as the battle unfolded. She pondered it aloud as she watched the two magi clash. “How is it that damage to a barrier happens, exactly? Is it just the force of the attack, or is there more to it…?”

“The power behind a strike is only one aspect,” Kahei answered the inquisitive Yeojin. “Your affinity towards the element of the incoming attack is just as important.”

“Archmagus Lee told us about that in her office,” Yerim informed Kahei, bringing her older sister’s eyes to her. “The level system, right?”

“Correct,” Kahei affirmed with a nod. “Your level of affinity with an element details more than just how quickly you can convert managen into it or how well you can utilize corresponding effects. It is also an indication on how well your barrier will defend you against it.”

Dashing straight towards Jungeun, Hyunjin’s odd eye began to glow as the spearwoman took a defensive stance. Suddenly, Hyunjin slid to a stop. Raising her right foot, she suddenly slammed it down hard with an exhaled breath. Stomping a freshly materialized runic circle beneath her with immense force, it broke to pieces as a moderately sized charcoal boulder quickly came into existence right above Jungeun’s head. The barrier of the arena floor beneath Hyunjin flashed, veins of cracks spreading from her stomp.

Not suspending it with mana, Hyunjin allowed the boulder to be subjected to gravity. Keeping her wits about her, Jungeun reacted to the feint in time with a long leap backwards. The boulder crushed nothing but air as it fell onto the floor with a loud crash. A veritable web of cracks on the floor showed itself, the floor barrier taking heavy damage from the large rock’s fall.

Landing on her feet, Jungeun looked up and witnessed the sight of Hyunjin positioned in the air above the boulder.

Using the sizable stone as a launch point, Hyunjin had jumped straight up. She took an especially deep breath. A mass of mana dissipated from her left arm, the inked fillings of her tattoos receding slightly as some of her upper arm lost color. As a result, a perceptible aura of earthen energy gloved her right hand as she swiftly fell to the earth. She made impact at the top of the rock formation with her hand, and with it, the entirety of it shattered into pieces.

“Your weak point is not called as such simply because you will find difficulty in making use of that element for effects,” Kahei divulged to a wide-eyed Yerim and Yeojin, the fledgling sorceresses impressed by the scene before them. Hyejoo was equally growing invested in the action, leaning forward with Chaewon slightly.

“Weapons manifested from elements will apply corresponding elemental damage with any strike they perform,” she continued, “similar to effects brought about by the manipulation of mana. When an element strikes your barrier, the severity of the damage it suffers is based on your level of proficiency with that element.

“Barrier damage is measured at the average of a level four affinity towards an element. Levels five through seven have increasing defenses, while levels eight or higher can withstand especially fierce strikes with ease. Levels three and two will struggle to withstand most hits,” Kahei explained, watching the battle with analytical eyes.

The resulting debris from Hyunjin’s rock found itself suspended as she took another breath. Sharp, jagged stones that once formed a whole were launched towards Jungeun at a great speed, inciting the woman of fire to quickly act. As an initial wave of Hyunjin’s projectiles nicked her barrier and brought small fissures over her body’s coat of light, the rest were subdued by a massive barricade of flame.

Stabbing her halberd into the ground by the tip, Jungeun’s vermilion eye flashed with fire as a mass of crimson mana took shape in front of her. With her breath, it coalesced into a raging blockade of flame that quickly swept forwards. The threat of being encompassed by it increasing with its approach, Hyunjin redirected the remaining debris backwards in a defensive maneuver.

It assimilated in front of her, recollecting into thick walls of earth taller and wider than her own body by a slight margin. As the wave of fire subsided, Hyunjin found herself suddenly pushed back by force. Unbeknownst to her, Jungeun had rushed forward behind the cover of her flames to pierce through the earthen barrier with her spear.

Her plan came to fruition as she felt the tip of her halberd make contact with Hyunjin’s body. She exerted strength forwards, watching the wall of rock crumble to dust as Hyunjin slid back a fair distance. Her barrier glimmered briefly, revealing a moderate series of cracks centered on her chest.

“So taking a hit from your weak point is seriously bad news, huh?” Yeojin deduced.

“That’s putting it very lightly,” Kahei warned. “In the worst circumstances, if an attack or effect is powerful enough, the entirety of your barrier can be destroyed in one fell strike. With further force, the protective runes on your clothing which summon your barrier can break, requiring new ones to be set in.”

“You mean you can’t just recharge the shield?” Yeojin asked, her eyes finding Sooyoung. The swordswoman was equipped with a calm expression as she watched her partner in combat. “The thing that Haseul did earlier today, when you guys fought that passenger...she healed Sooyoung’s shield, right?”

“Yes, that was a barrier recharge,” Kahei said with a nod. “Barrier runes set upon clothing are charged with mana. When your shield takes damage, this mana depletes. It can be refilled with ease by elements naturally suited to healing—light, water, and air. They can also recharge themselves over time, though it’s a much slower process.

“However, if you suffer force strong enough to break the runes themselves, commonly through weak point damage, you’ll be without a shield until you can acquire new clothing. After that, without a barrier, you will find yourself at a serious risk of having your manastream become corrupted even versus the most basic of fiends.”

Jungeun’s offense was without end.

As she approached Hyunjin at the other end of the arena, her scarlet eye pulsed with light as various spheres of mana took shape a short distance ahead. Exhaling, red runic circles then took shape right in front of her. With each one she deftly slashed in the middle of her continued dash, a cloud of mana coalesced into orb of flame which was expelled forwards.

The vermilion fireballs propelled themselves towards Hyunjin at varying speeds and angles, creating a staggered assault. It was quite clear that the Adept sorceress knew better than to let herself be predictable. In response, Hyunjin opened her eyes wide as she inhaled a hefty breath of air.

Exhaling quickly through her nostrils, a massive formation of earthen mana came to existence in front of the martial artist. The tattoos on Hyunjin’s left arm quickly lost a sizable amount of their ink as mana seeped out from them. The mana joined with the rest she summoned. A monstrous runic circle came to life, standing in front of her vertically.

Rearing back her arm, the ground beneath Hyunjin gave way as her entire body briefly surged with a wave of energy outwards. Gathering strength, she tightened her fist and slammed it forwards, shattering the circle into fragments with a punch of insane strength. Her odd eye illuminated itself to an extreme degree as a remarkably titanic barrier spawned from the coalescence of her mana.

Thick and dense gray stone stopped Jungeun’s torrent of fireballs without issue. The earth magus was safe behind cover as the ranged volley crashed into her emergency defense system.

“Whoa, seriously?!” Yeojin couldn’t help but respond in surprise to Hyunjin’s immense creation. “That girl’s only an Intermediate level sorceress? How many ranks ahead of us is that?”

“The next proceeding,” Kahei informed the wind magus. “Neophyte, Intermediate, Adept, Master, Grandmaster, and finally, Archmagus.”

“Kahei, what does earth excel at?” Yerim’s question followed next, fascinated by Hyunjin’s application of the element. “I thought it would be defense, like with that wall, but the way she’s been using it in general…”

“The element of earth is no slouch when it comes to DPS,” Kahei announced, smiling proudly. “We of earth are capable when it comes to offense. It’s not nearly as potent as ice, fire, or electricity, but it is comfortably average in offensive capabilities alongside water. Air follows, and then light.”

“DPS?” Yerim parroted, tilted her head. “What does that mean?”

“It stands for—”

“Damage per second.”

To the surprise of the group, Hyejoo had cut off Yeojin. It seemed to be unintentional as she blushed slightly with embarrassment when she was suddenly met with the glances of the other girls. Chaewon smiled especially brightly.

“Do you mind if I explain it…?” Hyejoo posed a question to Yeojin, appearing eager to divulge the information.

“Go for it," Yeojin allowed the girl with an encouraging smile.

“It’s...it’s a term from online games that means how good something is at inflicting damage,” Hyejoo explained, forming a small smile even through her bashful expression. She seemed well-versed and personally invested in the topic. “Something that has high DPS or is focused on DPS means it has strong damage output. It comes from MMORPGs mostly...there are classes that fall into roles of tanks, DPS, and healers.”

“The terms you guys use in LOONA really extend that far into this whole theme of an MMO?” Yeojin directed her question towards Kahei. “I thought you guys were mostly just being cute when Sooyoung talked about enmity and aggro…”

“Quite the contrary,” Kahei revealed with a soft giggle. “It was Jinsol’s idea when we arrived here three years ago. She played some of those games with her friends back in our world. In truth, the concepts fit surprisingly well to the teams of four we’ll be operating in. While the terminology was rather niche, Archmagus Lee settled into it eagerly.”

“Tanks keep an enemy’s attention by holding aggro so the DPS can focus on burning down mobs with high damage,” Hyejoo spoke up again, focused on the battle once more. Kahei smiled, glad to let the timid girl take the reins again. “Healers help out with damage when they can, but they’re best source of recovering health, so they have to stop and be sure to heal when necessary.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kahei complimented Hyejoo with a warm smile. The smile extended to Chaewon who rubbed Hyejoo’s intertwined hand with hers. Hyejoo smiled sweetly. “To answer your original question, however, Yerim—earth’s strongest aspect is team support through various means.

“Walls to nullify projectiles as Hyunjin just did, creating earthquakes to displace an enemy’s footing...there are many ways its defensive strengths can manifest. While it’s damage is average, that is only a baseline, however. Hyunjin’s immense physical strength from years of physical training allows her to attack in ways that would perform more damage than you would expect from the element.”

Kahei’s comment on Hyunjin’s physical strength became even more apparent with her next maneuver.

Sliding to a stop a distance away from the earthen wall, Jungeun’s eyes seemed to scan the area around and above it, trying to react to wherever the martial artist might choose to emerge from. She took a defensive stance and kept her breathing in check, keeping the entirety of the barricade in her field of view so she could focus on the area surrounding it.

The lack of attention paid towards the center resulted in her being met with an unreal force.

From behind her blockade, Hyunjin had started a furious sprint towards the close by back wall of the arena. She employed a measurable degree of force leaping off the ground, cracking the floor’s barrier. The wall’s barrier was even more severely fissured as she flipped her body in mid-air, planting her feet against for another amplified rebound.

Flying towards the center of her defensive structure with intense speed, Hyunjin inhaled deeply. Mana took form around her left arm. The same arm came to life as ink drained from it once again, now nearly empty. Her earthen mana compounded with great density, and with an exhale, it coalesced around the limb—a sleeve of thick, slightly uneven cobblestone, fitted around the arm.

Equipped with an enhanced appendage, Hyunjin effortlessly smashed through the middle of her wall, barreling forwards in the air towards Jungeun. With no time to prepare, she was left only to anchor herself to the ground as she flipped her polearm over, the spear end aimed up at Hyunjin. With a forward , the tip of her weapon met with Hyunjin’s stone fist.

The resulting wave of energy was calamitous in nature.

Originating from the point of impact between them, a burst of force rushed outwards, sweeping their hair and clothing. As it passed Hyunjin’s wall of rock, it instantly shattered into pieces, falling over in large chunks. Equally, the entirety of the arena’s barriers cracked slightly.

Landing on her feet, Hyunjin anchored herself to the ground in a manner similar to her opponent. She continued to push forward with her rocky fist into the tip of Jungeun’s halberd. Jungeun returned an equal amount of force, seemingly capable of more physical might than her body might have portrayed. As the two continued to exert force into one another, their barriers activated. Jungeun began to inhale slowly.

Both of their shields started to gradually fissure at a similar rate. Small cracks, equal in size, expanded at the same pace. The sight put Yeojin in awe. “They’re really evenly matched…”

“Jungeun and Hyunjin truly are sparring partners meant for one another,” Kahei said with a smile. “Jungeun is a fire-aligned magus with a clockwise orientation. Her next immediate element is earth, with which she has a level seven affinity. Hyunjin is a counterclockwise based earth magus, meaning her next element is fire, equally at level seven.”

“So they both have naturally high defenses against each other’s element,” Yerim surmised, her eyes alive with wonder as she watched the scene. “In a one-on-one situation like this, you especially wouldn’t want to be fighting someone who can use an element you’re weak to, then…”

“A duel between magi carries an added danger of that, yes,” Kahei told the group. “Without allies at your side, you won’t last nearly as long when met with an enemy that can exploit your weak point. Having a proper team that can cover an array of elements is most desirable...”

Another outward wave of energy interrupted the conversation.

It came from the two magi, still firmly stood at their positions as they exerted more and more of their physical might into each other. They had a dense network of fissured splits across the coats of light that surrounded their bodies.

Their barriers were close to giving way. Both clenched their teeth fiercely as cracks on the floor’s shielding beneath them rapidly spread outwards from below. Were it not for the arena’s self-defense system, Yeojin could have easily imagined them standing in craters of their own downward force as they held their position.

“The hell?!”

For the first time in the encounter, a voice broke out between the two combatants. As both their barriers and the glass walls approached a complete shattering, Jungeun had made her move.

After a slow and steady continuous inhaling of air that she started from the onset of their centralized clash, the spearwoman finally exhaled. Hyunjin’s eyes widened as a thick mist of ocean blue mana took shape, gradually shrouding the two of them and a large region of the arena.

“You converted this much that quickly?!” Hyunjin shouted in surprise, the sight perplexing her greatly. She was not met with an answer, but instead with a dense white mist.

In the same moment the mana around them took the form of water, a scorching wave of heat flew outwards from the tip of Jungeun’s spear. She had quickly coalesced her natural mana as her heavy cloud of water mana did the same. The effect was staggered, flames coming to life a split second after the liquid materialized.

What should have been a downpour of water became the birth of a steamy fog. Thick and heavy, both parties lost sight of each other as it enveloped the area. Expecting a surprise attack, Hyunjin turned around and braced herself. As the steam gradually subsided, nothing was revealed in front of her. Confusion made itself clear on her face, but it was quickly washed over with anxious surprise.

In the middle of turning back around, Hyunjin was tripped at the ankle by Jungeun’s leg. Hyunjin’s barrier triggered as she fell to the floor, her body immersed in a sea of sizable fissures. Barely holding itself together, her shield of light clung to life for another moment before it met its end.

Holding her spear vertically with a foot atop Hyunjin’s abdomen, Jungeun brought the tip of her polearm down towards Hyunjin’s chest. Knowing she wouldn’t need much more damage, the force she exerted was measured. With little effort, the end of her weapon sank into the Hyunjin’s shield as the final cracks took shape. A wave of energy erupted from the martial artist as her barrier shattered.

A circle of runes flashed with a dim light on Hyunjin’s shirt. In a similar fashion, lines of them came to life down each side of the legs of her jeans. With weak strength, they glowed their last before losing their light entirely as they faded back into the fabric.

In unison, the expansive array of runic circles that littered the arena all began to emit mana. Emptying themselves, they deactivated. In turn, the ceiling’s mechanics kicked in, slowly recalling the protective walls of glass.

Hyunjin took an exasperated breath as she laid on the floor. The pointed end of Jungeun’s halberd above her chest began to dematerialize upwards, a crimson runic circle running up its length. Her weapon gone, Jungeun’s still crimson eye looked at Hyunjin with an amused smile as she removed her foot from the girl’s stomach and extended an arm down.

Hyunjin took hold of Jungeun’s limb by the elbow, being assisted up. Not standing fully, the earth magus was content to sit on the floor as she collected her breath. Legs up in front of her, she rested her arms on her knees. “, Jungeun. That was dirty. You seriously converted that much mana just to hide yourself and then you didn’t even move?”

Jungeun smiled with a proud laugh as the others rose from their seats in the bleachers. “Flanking you there is the most obvious move possible. I’m not that predictable.”

“And that, Neophyte sorceresses, was an excellent display of mana conversion in action as well as the fusion of elements to produce a compound effect.”

Jungeun and Hyunjin craned their heads to see the approach of a warmly smiling Kahei, new students in tow. Getting up off the floor, Hyunjin lifted herself to her feet and shook her wrists. Yeojin watched with extreme interest as the girl’s tattooed arms began to empty themselves of ink. Returning to their base outlines, the mana they released coalesced itself back into the form of her bandages. One end loose, she tightened it as she looked to Yeojin. “You the new girl?”

“Me? Ah, uh, y-yeah!” Yeojin stammered in surprise, eliciting smiles from Jungeun and Yeojin. “My name’s Yeojin. Just got here.”

“What’s your alignment?” Jungeun asked curiously, tilting her head.

“Wind,” Yeojin told her, a light breeze caressing her body as she took a breath. Her hair swayed slightly. “Sunmi said I was level thirty six.”

“A fresh newbie,” Hyunjin said with a smile, placing a hand on her hip. “Nice. Welcome to the team.”

“Yerim and Hyejoo decided to join too, then?” Jungeun questioned, inciting nods from the both of them. She nodded towards them, smiling kindly. “Good to know we’re finally getting somewhere, then. Thanks, guys.”

“God damn, it is fun to watch you get your kicked.”

Sooyoung approached the group from behind with a taunting smirk. Hyunjin returned the notion, smiling with a laugh. “In front of the Neophytes, babe? That’s pretty savage.”

Hyunjin’s smile widened greatly as Sooyoung came close to her. The swordswoman put an arm over the barely shorter girl. Hyunjin raised her hand towards Sooyoung’s on her shoulder, their fingers intertwining.

Sooyoung looked over to Jungeun with an eyebrow raised in intrigue. “Trying to one up your best friend’s natural alignment to water, Jungeun? Good stuff.”

“That was definitely nothing compared to Jiwoo,” Jungeun declared with crossed arms, “but yeah, she's been helping me practice with it recently. I haven’t checked with Sunmi, but I think she's help me get to level five affinity with it."

“Well, that explains that,” Hyunjin said with a roll of her eyes before jokingly whining. “You’re totally breaking our agreement! Natural elements only!”

“I don’t remember shaking on that one,” Jungeun remarked with a shrug. “Good fight, though. You almost had me.”

“I mean, I did have you, but then you cheated with Jiwoo’s help, so—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, just shut up and take the compliment, Hyunjin,” Jungeun openly complained while turning around. The others laughed as she walked off, raising a hand to wave to them. “I’ve gotta get to bed. You kids keep me up too damn late.”

“Well, you must be starving after that,” Sooyoung said towards Hyunjin as Jungeun disappeared behind the door to the stairwell. “Wanna get some food?”

“The bakery’s still open this late, right?” Hyunjin pondered, her head resting on Sooyoung’s chest. “Let’s head there.”

“You and your bread,” Sooyoung said with a roll of her eyes. As her partner nuzzled her head into her chest, Sooyoung looked to the remaining girls. “Anyone wanna come with?”

“Kahei, can we go?” an excited Yerim turned to her older sister. “It’s not too late, is it?”

“No, it should be fine,” Kahei confirmed, much to the excitement of Yerim. Her eyes found their way to the pair of light of dark and the magus of wind. “Would you three like to come along?”

Yeojin answered first. “I think I’m good for now. Kinda wanna settle into my room and maybe turn in early myself. It’s...kind of been a long day.”

Yeojin’s weak smile was met with understanding nods from the group, especially Sooyoung and Kahei. In the excitement of learning about the elemental wheel and the finer aspects of combat from the action-packed duel, Yeojin had nearly forgotten…

The inexperienced magus spoke up again, regaining her composure. “Thanks, though.”

“Chaewon, can we go back to my room…?”

Hyejoo’s voice came next. The girl yawned cutely. “I’m a little sleepy…”

“Sure. Let’s head back,” Chaewon said with a nod, looking to the others. “We’ll see you all around, then. Yeojin, would you like me to show you to your dorm room?”

Yeojin’s attention was summoned to the blonde haired girl while waving goodbye to the sisters and romantic partners who had departed for the stairwell. “Huh? Oh, yeah. That’d be cool, thanks.”

With Hyejoo in hand, Chaewon led the two girls back to the elevator and summoned it. Yeojin gazed upon the empty arena as she entered it, the pristine condition of the floor making it look like the battle never even happened. Her mind idly wandered as the elevator shut closed, lifting the three magi upwards.

Duels and weak points, huh…?

A short interval of time passed before the elevator opened. Yeojin stepped out with Chaewon and Hyejoo, finding herself in a small common area. Furniture was spread about, and there was a television with some game systems. At one end of it, the entrance of a long hallway stood.

“Right this way,” Chaewon politely showed Yeojin forwards, bringing the girl into the hallway. Down the length of the hall, closed doors were lined, alternating between the left and right walls. Yeojin inspected them as she walked past. The first read Heejin. The next Hyunjin, and the proceeding one Haseul.

Chaewon came to a stop in front of the fourth. Yeojin nearly crashed into her as she paused her stride, her eyes seeing her own name on the door.

“This is your room,” Chaewon said with a smile.

Yeojin blinked. “I don’t...have a key.”

With a laugh, Chaewon brought her hand to the door and gently opened it. “It’ll be inside.”

Yeojin was flushed with slight embarrassment as she nodded. “Yeah, should’ve expected that, I guess.”

“Where are you guys?” Yeojin inquired as she started to step inside, solely out of curiosity.

“My room is the second to last, and Hyejoo’s is the final one,” Chaewon revealed with a nod. “If you need anything, please feel free to knock on Hyejoo’s door. That’s where we’ll both be.”

“Okay, cool,” Yeojin said with a smile. “Sounds good. Thanks, guys.”

Chaewon returned the smile, as did Hyejoo, albeit less in scale. Yeojin still felt it entirely genuine, however, causing her own smile to widen as they walked off.

Closing the door behind her, Yeojin was met with amenities far beyond her imaginations.

Her dorm room was a sprawling space, complete with a small kitchen and living room. Pre-furnished, she had a kitchen table and seats entirely prepared for any potential guests. A large couch was situated in front of a sizable wall-mounted television. Approaching the fridge, the girl’s surprise doubled as she found it already fully stocked with various food and drink.

“Sunmi, what the hell, dude?” the young magus said to herself with a smile of astonishment. “We just met…”

Exploring her quarters further, Yeojin then discovered she was the owner of a full sized bathroom, complete with both a tub and a standing shower. She held her head in disbelief as she took in the sight after turning on the light. Wordlessly, she simply shut the lights off and closed the door behind her to explore the rest of the space.

At the end of a hallway, there were two doors opposite to each other. Picking one at random, Yeojin strolled into a room similar in design to the arena. It was a wide open space with nothing present and equally empty walls. The only things to see were runic circles scrawled all over the room.

“A playground to mess around in, huh?” Yeojin mused as her odd eye briefly came alive with jade green. A sphere of wind forming, she launched it forward and nodded to herself as a barrier flashed into existence on its contact with the floor. “Pretty cool.”

Exiting the room, Yeojin entered the only remaining one. She was met with a luxurious bedroom, equipped with a terribly expensive looking king sized bed. Much like Sunmi’s office, the entirety of one of the walls was a window. Yeojin was blessed to be on the side of the building facing Mobius, allowing her to marvel at the impressive city and the looping leyline above it.

The corner of the room was fitted with a large desk and chair, and with it, two monitors hooked up to an extremely capable looking computer. At the wall opposite of the bed, she found herself in possession of yet another wall-mounted television, stationed high near the ceiling. The dresser below it had various game systems organized at the top, wireless controllers ready.

With continued silent amazement, Yeojin inspected the only thing left to examine. A door in one corner of the room led into a fairly sizable walk-in closet. Turning the light on, Yeojin found herself surrounded by all sorts of clothing, shoes, and accessories. Walking up to one of the garments, she felt its fabric as her mind burned with a question.

Yeojin found her answer as runes on the clothes came to life, shining gently in response to her touch. She examined a few more and was met with the same reaction. Yeojin processed the sight as she stepped back.

“Least I won’t get messed up by another passenger with these now,” she assured herself as she stepped out of the closet. She caught her mistake, shaking her head. “Fiend, right...they’re fiends.”

Only one stone was left unturned. Yeojin had missed it when she first walked into her bedroom. A lavish looking note card was set upon the mattress. Picking it up, she read it over, struggling just a little bit to make sense of the ornate, fancy handwriting.

For those who did no harm and lost everything for it.
Welcome home.
-Sunmi

A warmth radiated within Yeojin as she read the note from the archmagus. It soothed her from the inside as she shook her head with a smile.

“You’re something else, man…”

With respect, Yeojin walked over to her computer desk and placed the card down neatly. She eyed the computer and the television, but after a moment of consideration, she found herself simply falling forwards onto her bed instead.

Rolling over onto her back, she laid spread out on the middle of it with plenty room to spare all around her. She started at the spinning fan above her, her eyes focusing on just a single one of the twelve blades as it made laps in circles.

For as much as there was to think about, there was an equal desire to hold off on contemplating those things in her mind. The day’s events had gone far beyond what she was sure to be just another round of scavenging when she woke up in her timeline that morning. There was a lot of process, but not enough energy to process it.

The only thought on her mind was how she on a proper, comfortable bed for the first time in several years. Sinking into the plush mattress, sleep consumed her thoughts.

“Since I’ll be lucky enough to even see tomorrow…”

She grabbed a pillow above her. She settled her head into it, turning over on her side.

“...let’s just think about all of it in the morning…”

A content smile was on her face as she fell into a deep slumber. Beyond the relaxed contentment, however, existed much more passionate emotions. Things that began to truly take form in her heart and soul at that moment, driven by the opportunity she had been so generously gifted to keep on living.

Pure, undying appreciation for the sorceresses who saved her life.

Profound respect for the archmagus who went to such extreme measures out of nothing but the kindness of her own heart, expecting nothing in return.

The drive to become the embodiment of a heroine as a sorceress in LOONA—the fervent ignition of her motivation to save others just as she had been saved.