Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 93
"Excellent. We haven't even had a hundred examinees yet, and already a Grade 1."
Grade 1.
The highest score Namgung Seong-jin could award in this performance evaluation.
The moment those words landed, the studentswho had been mesmerized by the massive, razor-sharp bladesnapped back to reality.
The owner of that ultra-rare Grade 1, achievable by only a select few.
And one spot had just been claimed.
"A Grade 1 already?"
"As long as they meet the criteria, it's possible. Not impossible, but..."
The benchmark Namgung Seong-jin had set for Grade 1 was a single stroke.
Slicing the log clean through in one swing.
But by principle, Grade 1s were reserved for the top 4% of the entire year. An ironclad rule set by the chairman.
Which meant that even if someone couldn't cleave it in one go, if the number of Grade 1s fell short of 4%, even Grade 2s might get a shot.
And one of those shots...
Had just flown away in this very moment.
"Hey, how many is 4%?"
"4% of 2,000 is 80."
"That's more than I thought. Even if that guy's number one, 79 spots left."
"Hey, hey. There are nine graders."
"Oh..."
First-year total: 1,991 students.
Of them, the top 4% who could claim that honor: 79.64 students.
Rounded up, 80. No different from the original count.
But in the students' hearts, it felt like those empty seatsthanks to their absenceshad created the opening for that Grade 1. Among the dead was a girl skilled with dual blades.
If she'd lived, she surely would've taken a Grade 1...
Such thoughts hammered their minds.
The kids still couldn't forget the classmate they'd shared lectures with. They were far too young to brush off death and let time wash it away.
Meanwhile, as the students grappled with that...
The so-called performance evaluationa blatant sorting of gems from pebblescontinued.
Woooaaahhh!!!
Suddenly, the students watching from behind shot their hands up in cheers.
At the center of the roar stood a giant slamming the log down with a massive shield.
"As expected of Suho! Weird if a build like that couldn't one-shot it!"
"That's just raw muscle power?"
"Dude, you know Suho's scores? Theory's meh, but practical's school-wide eighth."
Muscles bursting out of the academy-issued dress shirt, impossible to hide.
A physique so unbelievable for a 17-year-old boy that it bred suspicion in anyone who saw it.
He could've passed for mid-20s.
And the way his back muscles devoured the shirt...
It turned heads without fail.
Like my tail, almost.
"Kim Suho. A bit muscle- and strength-focused, but he cleaved the log in one go. Grade 1."
Practical school-wide eighth.
Shield-and-axe guardian warrior.
For Kim Suho, armored in sheer power, a Grade 1 was probably a given.
In the students' eyes, it was all thanks to those muscles. With that bulk, he'd pulverize a logor a boulderin one hit.
They're all so young.
Maybe because they're kids.
Most lacked depth in their judgment.
Big stamina, strong muscles, cleaved in one strike?
Wrong.
Did those logsgrown sucking the high sap of the godwoodlook that simple? They embodied the godwood's traits, even if faintly.
'To fell godwood, you need the logging skill of an average woodsman... and unshakeable will to cut it down.'
The former was doable even for freshmen.
The latter? Far more nebulous.
Unshakeable will to cut it down.
Answers vary by person.
And those certain in their answer? Masters who've looked inward, harmonizing outer form and inner self.
In other words, beyond student level.
Only because these were mongrel logs parasitizing the godwood, faintly mimicking its traits, could first-years chop them.
Real godwood? Here, only Namgung Seong-jin, me...
And
"Oh, my turn. Be right back, Teach!"
Seong Yeon-hwa.
She waved at me with zero tension or nerves in her voice.
No certainty or confidence in that smile that she'd ace the eval with a Grade 1. Seong Yeon-hwa simply...
Had no thoughts, no distractions.
Her bright tone and ever-present smile hid an inner void.
Seong Yeon-hwa was like a keenly honed blade.
Patiently awaiting the moment it would be drawn from its sheath.
"Can I start the test?"
A brief pause.
Then her turn arrived.
Shring. She drew a single sword from her waist.
Compared to her usual blade, this one was noticeably crude.
Could that really cut the log?
Seemed like it'd just dull the edge on that shoddy iron.
"Yah!"
Seong Yeon-hwa let out her kiai.
No hesitation in that tone. Just cold, sharp steel.
A true artisan blames no tools.
Not because they already wield top-tier gear.
Their skill transcends the tool.
A true artisan
'surpasses the tool's limits by their mere existence.'
Clack!
She drew the sword, then instantly sheathed it again.
As everyone wondered what bizarre stunt this was...
She dropped into stance, sliding her left foot back.
Her other hand gripped the hilt and sheath.
"What's that stance?"
"Whoa! I've seen it tons in anime!"
"You magic nerds, buried in library books every day and you don't know? It's iaido, iaido."
"Good for you. Musclehead."
Iaido.
Also called battoujutsu.
Originally for counter-ambush or ambush swordplay.
But media and fiction turned it into an ultra-fast finisher.
Iaido as a finisher? Not bad form. But that gimmick has limits.
'...Gimmick, huh. Not wrong.'
What you just said sounds like iaido isn't a gimmick. Know something?
'You'll see.'
Gimmick, as Tamamo saidiaido was simplistic next to high arts.
Of course, value depends on the user, but technically, yes, a gimmick.
Imperial Sword Forms, Crimson Flower Divine Sword, Tai Chi Beneficent Sword, etc.
The world brimmed with profound sword arts.
Iaido couldn't compete.
"Student Seong Yeon-hwa, begin."
Swish!
The instant Namgung Seong-jin's go-ahead ended, her hand snapped to the hilt.
She drew slowly.
The chill blade reflected light.
The moment its tip met eyes...
Krunchhh!
A grinding sound, and the sheath crumpled.
Lightning-fast iaido draw. Just unsheathing generated massive wind pressure, shattering the sheath.
Shring!
The blade struck the log so fast it felt like a thunderbolt.
Onlookers, clueless to what happened, just gawked...
Then the log split neatly in half and dropped.
"Seong Yeon-hwa. You cleaved the log in under a second from start."
"Yeah?"
"Precisely 0.21 seconds. New record."
"Woo! Does that make me number one?!"
The world's noblest swordswoman.
Destined for the title of Sword Sovereign, she'd never been weaker than anyone, not for a moment.
"You've always been number one, Yeon-hwa."
"Theory excluded. Man, if only that student could fix her theory scores."
"What can you do when she hates it."
Practical 1st, theory 1,729th.
Overall, school-wide 4th.
Seong Yeon-hwa was undisputed first-year strongest.
Though someday the protagonist would claim it.
For now, she reigned supreme.
"Haha... speechless."
"Same age as me?"
"Noble heirs are just built different from the roots up."
All watching students fell silent.
The instant the blade cleared sheath, bisecting the log in a flash of brillianceit wasn't jealousy, not even awe they could muster.
The gap between Seong Yeon-hwa and them.
Impossible to bridge.
A simple log-cleaving eval made it hit hardest.
Hunting dozens of beasts? Blame experience, technique. But this? Pure skill and talent.
And then.
Right after the undisputed top student claimed her Grade 1...
"Student Seo Ye-rin. Step forward."
It was her turn.
* * *
Finally, the moment they'd all been waiting for.
Seo Ye-rin's turn.
As she stepped out, spear of metal on her shoulder, the cheering-for-Yeon-hwa crowd and record-keeping TAs lit up.
"That's her, right? Divine Spear's granddaughter."
"Gotta be. Saw her swinging a spear passing by last timeimpressive."
"Yeah. She saved my ass once."
"Ooh, she'll crush it then."
"Hey, why's your face red? You into her?"
"N-No! You psycho!!"
"So obvious. Calm your excitement, zero credibility."
Everyone buzzed about Seo Ye-rin.
Inarticulate by nature, the sudden spotlight felt burdensome. Normally fine, but...
That recent display and the whispers in her ears.
'C-Can I... do well?'
A hollow question to herself.
No answer, naturally.
Anxiety surged instead.
Seong Yeon-hwa's thunderous draw, log felled in a blink. She had perfected sword aura; Seo Ye-rin was still green.
All she'd learned: her family's basic spear art, self-taught healing, awakened holy power from it.
Plus two recent subtleties and channeling will into the spear.
That was it.
Impressive for 17 years of life.
Yet pathetic next to peers. Why?
'...I'm different from the others.'
Isabel, Valkyrie's granddaughter, gifted genius talent and grandma's full support.
Seong Yeon-hwa, sole heir inheriting everything.
Even peers edged her out.
Noa vast chasm beyond time or distance.
Even teacher Seung-woo, at 21, taught magic and martial arts alike.
No one around her was lesser.
The lowliest was her.
As anxiety crept from her chest, hesitation frosted the spear tip gripped tight. Potent unease manifesting as will.
"Hmm, not great. Aura's decent, but the will..."
"Weak?"
"Yeah! As expected of my senior TAyou read me best. Seo Ye-rin, right? Heard she was top-ten practical at entrance, had hopes. This way, kinda disappointing."
Namgung Seong-jin's senior TA eyed her spear.
Didn't look unskilled.
Talent probably top-tier even in Chilseong Academy's elite pool.
But her current showing? Questionable.
Far from the martial ideal they sought.
"......"
While others voiced concerns...
Seung-woo stayed silent.
No big change in Seo Ye-rin's skill over the week.
Her mindset, though? Vastly shifted.
How much? Let's see.
Right then.
"!!!"
"...Impressive."
"Oh ho."
Namgung Seong-jin, then Seong Yeon-hwa.
And Seung-woo's reactions.
Three here with their own martial foundations.
Awe, fighting spirit, intrigue.
She channeled hesitation straight into the spear.
Opposite most martial spirits emphasizing no-fear.
Casually doing what "evil sects" might, then regulated her breath.
As she did, the crowd hushed.
Her breathing filled the air alone.
Perfected form.
Perfected stance.
Body and technique: set.
Only mind remained.
"...What the hell."
"W-What's that?!"
Clatter. As Seo Ye-rin shifted grip on her long spear, gasps erupted. Mostly bewildered.
For good reasonher stance was far from log-cleaving.
"Javelin throw? She's been peeking at what I taught Yi-ji from the sidelines."
Javelin.
Anybody could see: javelin throw.
Legs spread wide.
Power centered low.
Hands pulled back for arc.
Unprecedented in evals, everyone puzzled...
Then Seo Ye-rin's body, hesitation-laden spear, tensed rigid.
Maximum tension from her frame. Arm stretched to limit.
Now, just hurl it.
"Huuu..."
Here goes.
Twist the waist huge, leverage body spring and recoilfor max mana-free physical output into the spear.
Thus, her spear flew with tip as warhead.
Shwooo!!
Seo Ye-rin's wind-cutting javelin.
All watching thought: That wastes reach advantage. Better off chucking an axe.
Everyone thought it.
No one said it.
Whether javelin was lame here, or their thinking outdated...
Results spoke.
One point.
Not the edgethe tip pierced and split the log.
Undeniable Grade 1.
The crowd erupted in shock and cheers.
"Whoa, she did it? That works?!"
"Now javelins seem viable."
"Nah. She's Divine Spear's granddaughterthat's why. Rest of us? Axe smash."
High-ranker, Divine Spear's granddaughter.
Seo Ye-rin.
The moment the spear artist vying for next Divine Spear moniker took her first step.