Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 54
Baek Seung-woo's classes were boring.
He did adopt a unique teaching style, but compared to the other professors and TAs, it was hard to say if it was systematic or efficient.
Still, since it was the curriculum set by her supervising professor, she followed it without complaint.
Lee Ji swung a massive axe every day until her arms felt like they would fall off.
She swung it so much that her arms were covered in patches.
Every afternoon, Seong Yeon-hwa would gather in the training room, take her seat, and enter meditation.
Amid the sounds of weapons swinging and heavy breathing echoing everywhere, the usually talkative and cheerful girl meditating in silence was a strangely captivating sight.
As a ranger, No Yu-ra learned how to walk silently.
It was a gait that made no sound even when stepping on bushes or dry twigs while running.
To anyone else watching, it just looked like she was imitating a cat.
Seo Ye-rin alternated between two spear techniques.
They had been clumsy on the first day, but now they were fairly usable.
Of course, they weren't polished enough for real combat.
Isis seemed to be the one receiving the most plausible instruction in the group.
When she struggled with controlling her freezing magic, he taught her a unique charm array method, suggesting she change the units of mana and range.
Double Helix... or something like that.
It was a formation she'd never seen before, so she couldn't remember the details.
And in Isabel's case...
"You still haven't done it?"
She hadn't started anything.
To be precise, she couldn't.
Seung-woo hadn't taught her anything for four days straight.
"Give me one more dayno, two daysand I can do it."
"I told you already. There's nothing wrong with my magic. Thinking there's even the slightest flaw in the spell formula Grandma corrected is the mistake to begin with."
"No... there definitely is. I just don't know how to explain it..."
She said that if she just had more time, she could point out her own flaws.
From Isabel's perspective, that was ridiculous.
Who was her grandmother, after all?
She was the guild master of , the pillar supporting Europe, and a high-ranker who had received the title 'Valkyrie' from the system itself.
No one in the world could match her grandmother when it came to magic involving light and runes. Not even the Demon King, who had advanced magical history by decades, could surpass her in that field.
There was no way a technique born from such a grandmother's teachings could have any defects or flaws.
This was a spell her grandmother had personally adjusted, down to the rune combinations and mana arrays. And yet Seung-woo claimed there was something to fix in Isabel's magic.
Naturally, she hadn't taken him seriously.
Her ex-fianc, whom she had dumped, couldn't possibly outshine the grandmother he respected so deeply.
'Still, it's not bad watching him work so hard for me...'
Seung-woo was the ex-fianc she had kicked to the curb, but seeing him rack his brains for her sake was surprisingly thrilling.
Maybe it was because of his handsome features to begin with. Watching him ponder had become quite an enjoyable daily routine.
Even though four days had passed meaninglessly, Isabel only spat barbs, but she arrived at the training room first every day, waiting for her group members and Seung-woo.
And so, time dragged on until Friday arrived.
"...Should we go out today?"
The last lecture of the week was over, and there was no class with Seung-woo.
She had no close friends at Chilseong, and right after classes, she ran out of magic stones for the spell she was researching, so she planned to head to the market.
"Thirty 6th-rank magic stones, mandragora leaves, plant growth accelerator, and a set of mid-grade potions should do it."
She could order them online, no problem.
But then she couldn't check the quality of the magic stones or mandragora leaves. That's why Isabel preferred going to the market in person over the internet.
It cost precious time round-trip, but she couldn't stop because interesting things sometimes happened on the waylike spotting Seung-woo heading into the basement of a shady building.
"...Why is he going there?"
Outside the Chilseong Academy grounds, there were forges and shops for players. Some streets were lined with blacksmiths' forges, and merchants hawking all sorts of goods were a common sight.
But the place Seung-woo was heading wasn't one of those.
It was a shady outskirts area that even Isabel, who frequented the market, had never visited.
Sensing something off, she immediately started tailing him.
Soon, she saw him heading into the building's basement.
Sss...
As the basement door opened, smoke billowed out from inside.
Moving stealthily, she sniffed the air.
"This is... grass?"
A pungent smoke that stung the nose.
It wasn't the smoke from grilling meat or fishit was from burning grass. And not ordinary grass, either.
...No way?
"W-what do I do...?!"
Isabel's expression darkened.
It felt like her delusions were turning into reality, her face twisting in horror. Yet a corner of her mind denied the thoughts swirling in her head.
Nah, no way.
* * *
I headed straight to the basement of the building.
It looked like a seedy entertainment joint from the outside, but the reality inside was completely different. Eve had dubbed this place the 'Botanical Garden' or a clinic.
Well, it was ultimately a place selling illegal drugs or plants without government approval.
What if the illegal dealer deals in more than just drugs? Like plants specialized for healing or poison, for example.
Why ask me? There are a few junkies in Barracks 42. Why not consult them?
Come on, I'm not saying I'm actually going to do drugs.
Then? Don't tell me it's that novel setting again. Aren't you sick of it yet?
It's my novelhow could I get sick of it? Anyway, this illegal dealer idea isn't bad, right? This guy's holed up in a basement shop near the academy...
Eve had said the guy was in a basement shop outside the academy grounds.
That was all the info. Even if I'd heard more, I'd forgotten it long ago.
Let's see, the shops are around heremaybe do a quick sweep.
Demon Eye
My eyes turned violet, surveying the world.
In my grayscale vision, the only thing rippling was the blue of mana.
It pierced through buildings like X-rays, even underground.
Scanning every basement, I finally found it.
A place packed with plants brimming with unusually lush green mana.
That was the 'Botanical Garden.'
Thud, thud. Entering the building, I spotted a path to the basement in the corner.
The atmosphere felt like ruins, but as I descended the stairs to the bottom, a nose-stinging smoke hit me.
Glancing left and right, smoke filled the air, and at the same time, I felt my heart pounding, pumping blood furiously.
Hundred Poisons Physique reacted to the smoke, starting to purify my blood.
Drugs, huh.
"I'm here to buy plants."
"Here to buy my plants?"
Behind the middle-aged man, the botanical garden came into view.
It was quite the operation.
Running something this big near Chilseong.
Gutsy or just stupidI couldn't tell.
"New face. No plans to take off the mask?"
"Do I need to answer that?"
The man nodded at my response, conceding the point.
"Fair enough. I'm not in the business of turning away customers anyway. I just sell the goods. So, what do you want?"
This place sold grasses banned by the state.
From potent herbs to all sorts of drugs, the botanical garden dealt in two main categories of plants.
Healing poisons and illegally manufactured drugs.
Of course, the former vastly outnumbered the latter.
Why would the state ban healing herbs otherwise?
Because of their severe toxicity or high addictiveness. And my body could adapt to that toxicity and addiction, producing new antibodies.
"Crimson Sea Flower, Century Houttuynia, Black Gallgot all kinds of poisons?"
"I don't know why you're after poisons, but you're built different. Don't look like a junkienewbie?"
"Like I said, do I need to answer?"
No needhe was here to make money.
Most customers who came here hid their identities, so the middle-aged man nodded in understanding.
"True enough. But can you afford them all? Rare stuffprices aren't cheap..."
I showed him my phone transaction record.
[100 million credited to your account.]
"...Guess not the type to haggle. Big spender after all. Hold on."
He fumbled for his phone, checked the message, and his sluggish demeanor turned brisk.
Money's the best, indeed.
He pulled vials of drugs from a drawer.
"How do you want it? We usually extract the raw essence and dilute it."
The middle-aged man shook a glass vial that looked dangerous just to look at.
The clear liquid inside harbored some unsettling, impure energy. It almost seemed holy on the surface.
Hah, so this is how they've been dodging scrutiny.
I shook my head.
"Pure poison herbs in their natural form. Small quantities are finejust as many varieties as possible, specially sealed to keep them fresh and unspoiled."
"Raw and unprocessed, huh. You want the real nasty stuff. I'll get it ready quick."
He started pulling roots and herbs from the back, packaging them up.
The bags looked ordinary, but no issues there.
Just for show anyway.
"Here you gopoisons grown in our botanical garden. One root each, 228 varieties. Most are lethally toxic, even banned in hospitals, so use carefully. Unprocessed, so less addictive, but expect side effects like headaches or vomiting."
Not thrilled with the quantity for 100 million, but he kept explaining.
"My plants excel at pain relief overall, but raw like you wanted, the analgesic effect will exceed your expectations."
He brushed dirt off the bag.
"This bag keeps the plants from wilting or losing potency. I'd normally charge, but for that price, it's free."
"Appreciated."
"Ugh, kids these days have no manners. No respect for elders."
No more business. I didn't need drugsjust poison herbs to bolster my antibodies.
Deciding there was no reason to linger in this dingy hole, I turned to leave, but the man grabbed me.
He held a lighter in his hand.
"How about a lighter? When you dry the plants into smokes, the embedded magic stone boosts the herb's efficacy."
"Price?"
"20 million."
"Rip-off. And I don't need it anyway."
I wasn't smoking cigarettes to begin with, so no lighter needed.
And even if I did, I could light it with my magic.
Unaware of that, he tried to hard-sell it.
His pushiness annoyed me, so I sparked a flame at my fingertip. He nodded and backed off.
This wasn't why I'd learned fire magic.
A wave of self-loathing hit me.
Ignoring it, he gawked at the flame in my hand and said admiringly,
"You've got skills, kid. That old coot in the back room would've loved that flame."
"...Old coot in the back?"
"Nothing. Just an old acquaintance too stubborn to die. Blacksmith. He'd have been thrilled by your flame."
He waved it off as mutterings.
"Getting old, rambling nonsense. Just ignore it..."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
"Eh? Whatever, do what you want."
I left the botanical garden promptly and looked for a place to chew the poisons.
No suitable spot by the roadside, and since it wasn't legally obtained, I had no choice but to walk all the way back to the dorm.