Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 109
Each of them grabbed hold of the guya fruit equipment without a moment's delay.
Kwachuk!
The fights tipped in their favor here and there.
Seo Ye-rin launched herself at a mercenary who had hunted down several villagers with his orderly spear techniques.
High-speed movement that instinctively felt fast.
Her movements, having reached the peak realm, were incredibly swift and precise at the same time.
Seo Family Spear Art, second form: Four Latitudes Hammer Apex Whirlic! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Spear techniques flowing like waves.
She swung the spear this way and that, and in an instant, the vital points of the mercenaries all around were pierced.
Four mercenaries collapsed helplessly under her blindingly fast and accurate strikes.
Thud!
Right then, a movement closed in behind her.
A motion just half a step faster than Seo Ye-rin.
But that tiny gap created an opening in her guard.
"......Damn it."
Sensing the presence behind her, Seo Ye-rin spat out a curse.
She tried to create distance and defend with her spear, but she was one technique short.
Taking even that one hit would snap a rib for sure.
As she braced for the inevitable impact and prepared to counterattack
Someone shoved the man who had flanked Seo Ye-rin with a shield.
Bam!!
A clear, ringing clash of metal and skull.
In exchange, though the gleaming golden shield was stained with blood, Iji had fulfilled his role as guardian, protecting his comrade perfectly.
"Not bad."
Both the students and the mercenaries were holding their own.
He had assumed the battle against Chilseong's elites would end anticlimactically in the students' favor. Yet the surviving mercenaries were proving their mettle.
"Who would've thought they'd hold out against Chilseong's elites."
Baek Seung-woo took in the battlefield.
The advantage overwhelmingly lay with the students and the villagers armed with farming tools.
But the mercenaries, survivors of this harsh world, struck back sporadically, proving their worth.
The fight was turning out more entertaining than expected.
"If we hadn't given the students the guya fruit gear, one of them might've gotten seriously hurt."
Still, without that little spear-wielder sprinkling holy light to heal wounds, they might not have lasted.
"Seo Ye-rin, that girl's 'holy power' usage is still in its infancy. She needs proper training."
Her 'holy power' was limited to self-healing for now.
She could use it on others, but without any refinement or incantation, its efficiency paled compared to self-use.
She needed to learn from a skilled healer.
Can't you teach her?
"It's not that I can'tit's that I can't."
Holy power stemmed from faith and belief, the antithesis of Seung-woo's nature. He'd relied on his teacher's help for such things in childhood.
"I'm a specialist in killing."
Dominating, subjugating, slashing, stabbing.
Rather than benevolent healing.
For Seung-woo, accustomed to slaughter and strife, 'holy power' was a distant concept.
And that showed in the students he'd trained.
"Hey, your side's wide open!"
Iji shielded others while swinging his massive double-headed axe like a guillotine, aiming for his opponent's neck.
The foe kicked off the ground backward to dodge the axe, then circled to Iji's side and stomped his ribs.
Thwack!
The heavier-than-expected blow made Iji lower his stance, relying on his shield and axe for defense.
Thud!
A second kick followed, targeting the shoulder behind the shield. Iji's body was shoved back. He barely stayed upright, but the bruising was severe.
"Whoa, that's insane. Taking hits like that in a school uniform?"
Chilseong Academy uniforms offered basic bullet and blade resistance.
They brimmed with defensive abilities, including anti-demon wards.
Compared to artifacts, they rated C+ to B in durability and elasticity, minimizing most attacks.
But that kick had been dangerous.
And the opponent realized it too.
This could be bad......!
I could kill him......!
Sharing those divergent thoughts, they locked eyes.
Flash!
The mercenary struck first, kicking off the ground.
Mana surged heavily in his fist and foot, intent on ending it with this blow.
Die with this!
Even if it meant his comrades died here too, he'd take one down.
That single punch rivaled a legendary strike.
Blocking with the shield? He'd punch through it and into the body.
How do I block this?
Meanwhile, Iji raised his shield to parry.
He reinforced it with mana for extra sturdiness.
The shield was wall-like in solidity, but the fist bore fist aura akin to sword aura.
No mere wall could stop it.
It was a one-shot siege weapon equivalent.
Iji tried channeling mana into his axe for a counter, steadying his will. But what rarely worked normally failed in this crisis.
Right then
Roar!
Flames no one expected in this frozen wasteland suddenly blocked the man's fist path.
"What the......?"
Splat!
The roaring flames took form, swinging a massive fist to send the man flying.
"T-Teacher!"
"Leave this one to me."
Unable to sit idle amid the sudden escalation, Seung-woo personally conjured flames into stairs.
Clack, clack.
His shoes clicked crisply as he joined the fray, drawing a frantic shout from Iji.
"This is midterms! Is it fair for the proctor to jump in like this?!"
He raised a valid point about fairness.
A proctor intervening in an exam? Hardly fair.
But circumstances differed now.
"Of course. This qualifies as an emergency."
The wielder of that potent fist aura.
Hadn't existed moments ago.
If he had, casualties would've mounted before Iji and Isis teamed up.
Before the armored knight and Seo Ye-rin fought back.
He was that level of threat.
"He popped a pill, and suddenly his mana or internal energy amplified."
"But doping drugs alone shouldn't......"
"Watching from afar, that pill gave off a sinister, repulsive vibe like something from a demon."
"!!!"
Demon.
To modern folk, one of society's uneasy elements.
Unlike human logic, demons acted whimsically, potential terrorists sparking incidents anytime.
A pill reeking of demonic essence?
Unheard of.
And why in this remote backwater?
Iji couldn't fathom it.
Neither could Baek Seung-woo.
......Something I don't know is going on.
Not here purely as proctor and teacher, Seung-woo's impatience grew.
A bad premonition stirred.
The former Sword Saint's intuition.
* * *
Only after binding or killing all mercenaries did the battle end.
Drones broadcast the first fight to dungeon spectators: an anticlimactically overwhelming victory.
Still, students as protagonists earned bonus points.
Hmm, even without those kids...... the armored knight could've handled it alone.
'Honestly, yeah.'
The students tilted the scales one-sidedly, but merely minimized village losses.
Seeing the knight up close made it obvious.
This guy had been holding back.
Victory was decided from the start.
"My thanks. Your aid let us repel the raid smoothly."
Whether from the thick helmet obscuring his face or the armor's enchantments, his voice echoed regally.
Impossible to guess age or gender from the resonant tone.
He introduced himself in archaic speech.
"I am Termiya, knight captain of Frontier and the viscount's knight. Though only newly entered Sword Expert, His Lordship's favor placed me here."
Frontier.
Knight captain.
Viscount.
Sword Expert.
A string of unfamiliar terms.
Inferring context while parsing into natural phrasing.
But too many proper nouns; he gave up translating on the fly.
Memorize wholesale, decode later.
'Knight captain, huh. Don't know Sword Expert's exact level, but he's a powerhouse with refined martial arts.'
At least beyond supreme mastery.
Stronger than Mu-gung, comparable to Namgung Seong-jin? Maybe equal or more.
An intriguing specimen.
Termiya gauged this world's power scale and difficulty perfectly.
Intrigued, he overlaid Heavenly Eye on the snow.
[Heavenly Eye peeks at 'Termiya's Status Window.]
[This fringe zone lies beyond the System's grace.]
[Rendering arbitrary Status Window based on prior Heavenly Eye observations!]
Name: Termiya
Age: 27
Race: Human
Title: Frontier Knight
Rank:
Abnormal Status: Loyal to Sovereign and Patriotic (), Zealot ()
Trait
Knightly Honor
Stats
Stamina: A Strength: B+
Durability: C (A+) Agility: B (C+)
Mana: B- Senses: A
*Durability boosted seven ranks by 'Impenetrable Armor.'
*Agility dropped two ranks due to armor's proportional weight.
Skills
Divine Invulnerability (S), Blessing of Loyalty (A), One Path (A), Knight's Sanctuary (A), Imperial Swordsmanship (B)
Well-rounded, exceptional abilities.
Especially the balanced stats caught the eye.
Unlike his mana- and sense-heavy build, Termiya's were evenly distributed.
'Ideal stat spread. Still, my mana and senses outclass his. Physical stats are inevitable, but agility's equal.'
That agility equality came from rings boosting under the armor's weight penalty.
Strip the armor, and he'd outpace him.
Unlike Seung-woo's frail-but-mana-potent frame, Termiya formed a perfect hexagon: the ideal warrior.
"I offer thanks for your aid. Might I have your name?"
"Iji, B-rank adventurer with the Adventurers' Association."
"Ah, an adventurer."
27, supreme mastery or beyond: prime warrior material.
Digging one path, he could've been renowned here.
Yet stuck in this outpost due to extreme traits.
Loyal to Sovereign and Patriotic.
Zealot.
Trait Knightly Honor and synergies made him a knight, not mere warrior.
'Don't know what S-rank 'Divine Invulnerability' does, but S-rank means top performance.'
S-rank skills were reliably potent.
Beyond good, they could reverse dire straits.
Key was mastery.
Low like his Charm, and it was wasted potential.
Not quitebut true ownership required control.
"Where are you from, Sir Knight?"
"Me? Haha, as I said, from Frontier. A well-paved city even in these troubled times."
"A city? Didn't see any on the way here......"
Termiya tilted his head at Iji's casual query, then smiled understandingly for an adventurer.
"Fair enough; wanderers like you might not know local geography. Frontier's nearbynot instant, but four days' leisurely walk."
Horseback? One day.
He chuckled, then excused himself to check the wounded villagers.
No one stopped him or moved.
All eyes fixed on the Status Window in view.
['Village-scale' Shadow World expands to 'City-scale' via scenario!]
[Expanded domain reduces mapping completion sharply.]
[49.9% 4.7%]
World at least tenfold larger.
His pupils shook at the sudden twist.
What now?
Beyond this...... he knew nothing of the world.
Too much had diverged from his faint knowledge.
Zhuangzi's butterfly, with pitiful wingbeats summoning storms, trembled aspen-like in pre-storm calm.
'......I know nothing now.'
He monologued self-mockingly.
The butterfly, never imagining its flaps birthing tempests, beheld the horror only descending to earth.
......His own feeble flutters, pitiful struggles, had ruined too much.