Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 49
Seo Ye-rin's eyes sparkled with faith.
Lee Ji had always had that kind of look in her eyes, and the fact that Seo Ye-rin now shared it held great significance for me.
'No matter what happens with the master-disciple relationship, she'll at least learn my spear techniques properly.'
She wasn't the type to refuse teachings.
If there was something to learn, she learned itno exceptions.
The fact that she dabbled in healing arts despite devoting herself to spear techniques was proof of that.
Seo Ye-rin was a student thirsting for knowledge.
I didn't know much about Lee Ji's family background, but since Seo Ye-rin was a major character, I had a decent grasp of hers.
'The granddaughter of the Divine Spear, a self-made legend with power rivaling the protagonist.'
Even though she was born into a prestigious family, she had received only the bare minimum of education.
The family creed was to seize what one desired with one's own strength.
If you couldn't seize it, you learned nothing and gained nothing.
That's why she obsessed over teachings and learning, approaching Chilseong Academy's classes and grades with fanatic intensity. Eve had mentioned how she'd consistently ranked in the top four overallfrom entrance exams to graduation, in both theory and practicewhich backed this up.
I thought it'd be fun to have a study-bug character, so I added her. But somehow she turned into a monstrous all-rounder in academics and combat. No matter how I think about it, she's a balance breaker, so I stripped her communication skills... and she ended up as this weird character.
In the novel, she possessed talent and power equal to the protagonist.
That alone was enough to infer how extraordinary Seo Ye-rin was.
The protagonist was the novel's corethe center of the scenario, driving every event and incident.
To wield power equivalent to that protagonist's was beyond impressive; it was of immense value. Teaching such a girl was incredibly fortunate for me.
Come to think of it, I should have done this from the start.
Why had I insisted on getting stronger myself?
'I didn't have to be the protagonist. I just needed to raise righteous, talented students.'
I recalled why I'd ended up shouldering this responsibility.
Wasn't it because, with the protagonist at the scenario's center, far too many innocent people died?
If so, then even if it wasn't me, raising another hero would have sufficed.
I no longer needed to lament my dying body or unusable skills.
If I passed on everything I'd learned, they could handle the minor villains even if taking down the final boss alone was tough.
'The issue is time and effort.'
Raising a hero to replace the protagonist wasn't easy.
They'd need the strength to corner Kyle and the matching sense of responsibility and morality. It couldn't be done overnight.
Still, if it could be done, it had to be.
Princess Maker? No, Hero Maker, maybe.
It felt like quite the long-term project.
Of course, for these kidswho couldn't even form a basic combined assault formationto gain responsibility and solid skills, I'd have to aim for after graduation.
"Do you think you can keep up with my teachings?"
"......Yeah."
Her responses had been curt since earlier.
I knew she was passive in conversations by nature, but this wasn't how you treated an elder.
Still, it was better than before, so as the adult, I'd have to endure it.
I patted Seo Ye-rin's shoulder and boldly promised to teach her everything I could.
She didn't hide her subtle delight.
I wondered how long that joy would last.
'A week... no, not even a day.'
My training methods were far from ordinary practice.
Teaching my techniques from the basics in a systematic way would be on a whole different level from anything she'd done so far.
After a full day of it, this joy would surely turn to angerI was certain.
Oblivious to my inner thoughts, Seo Ye-rin looked up at me with an excited tone and expression.
"Then... should I call you Master from now on?"
"Uh, 'Master' feels a bit much... Can't you use something else?"
"......Huh? Usually, when someone teaches you their techniques... they're your Master."
"No need for honorifics. Just talk like you normally do."
It was valid, but I didn't like the title 'Master.'
It felt like a name unfit for someone like me.
As I scratched my head awkwardly, Seo Ye-rin tilted her head, and Lee Ji, who'd overheard from afar, chimed in.
"You've finally become Teacher's discipleah, he hates that phrasing. Teacher's student now!"
"......Teacher?"
"Yeah, he prefers 'Teacher' over 'Master.'"
Seo Ye-rin looked up at me with an expression questioning if I really wanted that.
Her gaze felt a bit annoyed, but that had to be my imagination, right?
I nodded affirmatively, though a bit suspiciously.
"Got it... So, Teacher from now on..."
"Then you're my peer now too. Ah, what a shame. If we'd both formed a master-disciple bond with Teacher, you'd be my junior sister."
"But... that's not the case."
"That's why it's a shame. It'd be fun if you were my junior sister. Ah, but if the senior is weaker than the junior, the dynamic gets weird."
"......Shut up."
"What'd you say?"
Seo Ye-rin and Lee Ji started bickering.
Cute. Kids grow up fighting, after all.
......Did Teacher feel this way watching Eve and me grow up?
Lost in unexpected nostalgia, reminiscing about the past.
A subtle presence appeared.
Utterly different from the squirrel earliercompletely so.
'......Something's off.'
Not detectable by battlefield-honed instincts or high-grade senses.
A presence caught only by my sixth sense, grasping the essence of all things, which I couldn't fathom.
Whoosh
I felt the wind.
With canyons and valleys intersecting right below, gusts were natural, but this felt slightly off.
The wind was weaker in one spot.
As if someone were standing with their back to it.
"......There."
"Teacher? What was that?"
"Get behind me, both of you."
I stepped in front of the students.
Where the wind blew from, where something stood.
I moved toward it.
These kids were lottery tickets with guaranteed future wins.
So, until the time was ripe, my role was just to keep them from being scratched.
'Until that day comes, teach the students, twist the scenario's progress, and block itthat's my role.'
What needed doing hadn't changed.
Get worked to the bone as a TA for the professor, pull all-nighters studying magic every dawn with that snake.
Maneuver slyly between family and guild politics, twist the scenario, block the protagonist's involvement.
Just one new goal added.
Teach the students.
Have them reduce the predetermined sacrifices, even a little.
It'd be great if they could take down the final boss too.
I wasn't asking for much from them.
Just that much.
The rest was for the adults.
Step by step, I walked forward, thinking.
The one right ahead wasn't a big issue.
The real problem was whoever might be lurking somewhere, just eavesdropping.
This was a measure to effectively threaten such lurkers.
I chose removing my gloves as that measure.
Removing the gloves was a ritualistic acta way of shedding a larger layer.
Smoothly, I took off the black leather gloves.
[Releasing 'Ordinary Black Gloves.']
[With the gloves released, the suppressed presence bursts forth all at once!]
[The released presence naturally summons violet fox eyes.]
['Fox Fire' illuminates the surrounding darkness with purple flames!]
As violet flames flickered like lanterns, my tail began swaying proudly in front of the blaze, as if under a spotlight.
It shook excitedly, without its owner's knowledge.
That's not a spotlight, you know.
* * *
Suddenly, a gust of wind howled.
Startled by the abrupt phenomenon without warning, the students gripped their weapons. Lee Ji sweated profusely, wondering if it was some ghostly supernatural event.
Lee Ji stared straight ahead with trembling eyes.
She sensed the culprit behind the wind at its center, right in front of her.
Peering intently with bated breath.
The cause turned out disappointingly mundane.
"......T-Teacher?"
Her mentor, who had bestowed knowledge upon her, and their guiding teacher stood at the gust's epicenter. It didn't seem intentional; it looked like an updraft from releasing a massive amount of mana.
Whatever the case, it had nothing to do with ghosts, which loosened Lee Ji's legs.
"No, Teacher! Even for courage training, isn't this event too much?"
"......"
"Um... Teacher? Are you ignoring me?"
"Hey, if you're clueless, just stay quiet. You think that looks like an event?"
"What are you talking about? Anyone can see it's an event..."
As Lee Ji kept questioning without response, Isabelsensing something ominousnudged her shoulder.
At the same time, a nauseating stench paralyzed their noses.
Sniff sniffthe revolting, acrid smell of blood crawled into their minds through their noses.
A pungent metallic tang, like biting into a liver ripped from a corpse, reverberated everywhere. Shocked by the assault on their senses, they looked up.
Whoosh.
The wind blew again.
Unlike the previous gust, it blew chillingly.
An eerie wind brushing their skin clammily.
At its center stood a man.
His face was one the students recognized.
It was their guiding teacher, Baek Seung-woo, after all.
It'd be weirder if they didn't know him.
Yet his appearance was utterly different from usual.
His frail, listless, decadent aura had sharpened into a needle-like edge.
His ruby-brilliant eyes remained, now gleaming with amethyst-violet luster.
The students' eyes widened at the transformation.
They panicked at the sudden change in appearance.
As all stared blankly at Baek Seung-woo, Seo Ye-rin and Seong Yeon-hwa glared intently.
With their acutely sensitive senses, they could objectively grasp his change among the group. It wasn't just a minor shift in looks.
Every aspect of his presence had altered.
They could believe he was a completely different person.
Baek Seung-woo, with his tail revealed, exuded an entirely alien aura.
Gazing blankly, Seo Ye-rin murmured.
"......Nine-Tails."
The Heavenly Fox Baek Family were commonly called subhuman, but strictly speaking, that was wrong. They ranked above subhumans.
Foxes grew closer to the illusory races known as fantasy species with more tails.
Upon reaching nine tails, they ascended to supreme or absolute species, rivaling dragons or high elvesor so the legends said.
Legends, of course.
Even a one-tail fox far outclassed ordinary humans in presence.
Whooshsuddenly, flames erupted behind him.
Nine cursed flames fueled by souls, scattering maledictions: Fox Fire.
Those cursed flames banished the pitch-black darkness reliant on moonlight and flashlights.
Revealing the opponent's form.
They looked up, but no face was visible.
Not because it was too dark to see featuresthe face itself was shrouded in shadow.
Not a mask, apparently.
He showed no intent to remove it.
"......Then I'll burn it."
Pyrokinesis
Flames rippled in the air, hovering behind him like tails.
Denser and more mana-infused than standard fire magic. Magic expert Isabel looked up.
"......The incantation's difficulty is mid-tier, no, nearing mid-high. The original form is barely intact."
To her eyes, the floating spell looked ragged.
A spell prioritizing only power and efficiency, lacking even basic safeguards to protect the caster.
Insane. Utterly mad.
Isabel prided herself on going mad with magic after sending off her fianc, but she couldn't fathom his level of madness.
That spell was pure suicide bomber material.
Roarrr!!
A massive fireball with physical force.
At that size and mass, it matched a boulder of the same dimensions. Baek Seung-woo hurled it without hesitation.
Boom!!
The fireball crashed into the ground.
A deafening roar and dust cloud like a landslide spread everywhere. It'd turn a wild animal to paste, sever limbs from low-rank demons.
And since it was pure flame.
Sparks scattered to the grass, igniting burns.
Sniff sniffno smell of roasting meat.
Meaning the target had either defended with magic.
Or lacked flesh to burn.
Step step.
A shadow approached through the dark red smoke toward them.
It was a shadow in the literal sense.