The Spatiotemporal Training Ground and the S-Rank Magic, Reversion
The solemn toll of the bell announcing the end of the practical magic formation class echoed through the air, and within moments the practice hall of Arhen Magic Academy was alive with the excited chatter of students.
Amid the mingled joy of success and groans of failure, the noble students were all talking over one another about the artistic fire magic formation Yushin had just demonstrated and the shock of his A-rank mana.
Yushin met Erika's flushed face with a smile, then quietly drew the mana of the fire formation that had been hovering in the air back into himself.
As the ruby-colored flames died down, the surrounding atmosphere settled calmly back to the ordinary temperature of a classroom.
My time with Erika was delightful, so now let's give the key the headmaster gave me a proper test.
Fingering the silver-gleaming key to the ancient training ground tucked inside his robes, Yushin called the system in his mind.
"Yurang, let's move to the training ground I got from the headmaster's office."
[ Initiating Training Ground activation sequence. ]
[ The moment you enter the Training Ground, space and time will be completely severed from the outside world. ]
"What exactly does it mean, space and time severed?"
[ To put it simply, Master — while you train inside the Training Ground, the flow of time in the external reality and the world of Arhen comes to a complete standstill. ]
[ Furthermore, all interdimensional interference and visual observation from the outside are entirely blocked. ]
Yushin curled the corners of his mouth and let out a satisfied smirk.
"So while not a single second passes out there, I can spend days, even months, freely in here. This is a way more overpowered cheat item than I imagined."
Crack!
Space folded in on itself, and Yushin's body vanished from the Arhen classroom, transferred into the endless white infinity of the sub-dimension within.
Perfect stillness — no noise, no wind, not even the faintest trace of any living being.
It was a transcendent space, as if he were the only existence in the entire universe.
[ The ancient combat database within the Training Ground has been opened. ]
With Yurang-i's guidance, a list of simulations left behind by the great ancestors who had once passed through this training ground unfolded in a corner of Yushin's vision.
Go Jumong.
Go Damdeok.
Go Georyeon.
Yushin was idly scanning down the names when his gaze suddenly stopped at the last one.
"...Huh? Go Georyeon?"
It was the true name of King Jangsu, the 20th conquering monarch who had led Goguryeo to its golden age, subjugated Baekje and Silla, and moved the capital to Pyeongyang.
"Go Georyeon means King Jangsu, doesn't it? King Jangsu wasn't an awakened Dimensional Wanderer, so why is his training data registered here?"
In response to Yushin's question, the system Yurang-i calmly floated up the answer, as if she'd been waiting for it.
[ Because the previous user, the 19th Taewang Gwanggaeto the Great, registered the actual combat data of his son and successor, King Jangsu, as a simulation opponent himself. ]
"Then that means I can register people I know from reality or other dimensions as virtual data here and fight them too?"
[ Affirmative. I will sort the list of individuals existing within your range of cognition, Master. ]
Flick!
The names of the figures etched into Yushin's mind spilled out in perfect order.
His father Go Hyeonseok, his mother Yoo Jeongyeon, and his little sister and fiancée, the A-rank Holy Maiden Go Yeona.
Korea's S-rank Ice Empress Kang Yoora, Japan's Plum Blossom Sword Master Hanazawa Hina, and America's Flame Emperor Arnold Brown.
From the Abyss — the Demon King's daughter Lilith, the vampire noblewoman Amelia Tia, and the pureblood evil dragon Burnhelia.
And from Arhen — class representative Erika, Headmaster Ervain Phileosia, and even practical instructor Shuka.
"So I can summon anyone whose mana signature I've personally sensed and confirmed."
[ The precision of a training target is proportional to the depth of your perception and mutual resonance data, Master. The mana waveform and combat habits of the real individual are perfectly reproduced. ]
Yushin chose, without hesitation, the opponent against whom he had recently clashed most violently of all.
The arrogant Demon King candidate who once ruled the blood-red castle of the Abyss — the vampire noblewoman Amelia Tia.
"Summon Tia."
[ Amelia Tia has been designated as a simulation opponent. Initiating data synchronization. ]
[ Approval complete. Materializing the Amelia Tia virtual replica. ]
Tsszzk!
The white space before Yushin's eyes split apart, and crimson mana whirled ferociously through the air.
The particles of light hardened into the shape of a person, revealing a peerless vampire noblewoman with long red hair blazing like fire, sharp crimson eyes, a black-and-red corset dress baring her generous cleavage, and garter-belt stockings.
A flawless reproduction, accurate down to the last hair.
Even the cold, frost-blue tint of the blood-red mana seeping from her body was exactly the same.
Mischief took hold of Yushin, and he snickered, taking a step closer.
"Wow... she really is identical to Tia. Not just her looks — I wonder if even that pathetic little pussy-gripping she did writhing on the bed is the same?"
It was the very instant Yushin reached out his hand to slip it up under Tia's corset skirt.
Shaaaaak!
With a lethal tearing shriek that ripped the air apart, Tia's eyes cooled to ice, and scarlet blood mana blasted from her fingertips like a bolt of lightning.
A lethal condensation and discharge of blood magic, without mercy or hesitation.
Yushin reflexively snapped his head back, barely slipping past the trajectory of the mana.
Kwajijik! Kwang!
The blood spear that grazed past him bored deep into the training ground's floor, raising red fissures.
It was no mere physical strike — it was a murderous blow designed to sever the very flow of mana itself.
"...Wow. That's brutal."
Yushin wiped away a cold sweat and gave a hollow laugh.
"So the training ground is telling me to drop any stray thoughts and focus purely on training, huh."
The Tia before his eyes was already preparing her next attack.
Dozens of blades of blood whirled at her fingertips, tightening around Yushin's blind spots.
The Tia summoned to this space was not the real Tia's consciousness or ego.
She was a perfect, emotionless replica doll with only combat data and killing instinct programmed in.
"Fine. Then let me subdue you nice and cleanly."
Yushin advanced, lightly deflecting the oncoming blood blades with the sheath of Heukwol at his hip.
No incantation, no complex chant.
Following the instinctive sense of the A-rank mana flowing through his dantian, Yushin swiftly drew red and blue mana lines through the air with the index finger of his right hand.
A magic formation unique to Yushin himself — one he had never been taught, nor seen in any book.
It was the structure of a new law, combining the Taewang's secret art he had grasped in the library the previous night with the principle of gravity.
The moment Yushin inscribed a heavy, signature stroke into the center of the formation, the air hummed and resonated.
Woooom—!
The magic formation did not erupt in a flashy explosion.
Instead, it crushed the surrounding space in an instant, forcibly imposing an absolute physical order upon that spot.
In that moment, the dozens of blood-red blades Tia had been about to fling lost their direction mid-flight and froze dead in the air.
The mana had not vanished.
Before the law of the formation Yushin had deployed, the command structure within the blood's mana had been forcibly collapsed and subordinated to Yushin's will.
Shushushuk!
"...!"
The chains of blood-red mana that had betrayed their mistress flew back in reverse, coiling tight around Tia's limbs and the nape of her neck.
A self-inflicted attack lasting only an instant.
The replica Tia, unable to offer any resistance whatsoever, fell to her knees on the floor, completely bound.
Yushin gathered his mana and casually checked between the replica's legs, then clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"The appearance and the structure are perfectly identical... but with no emotion and no soul, she's nothing but a cold doll. It just makes things weirdly awkward."
As Yushin dusted off his hands, the replica shattered into blue particles and scattered into the air.
This training ground was not a bedchamber for sating desires — it was an absolute place of training, solely for honing and verifying the extremes of the demonic arts.
"Speaking of which... what exactly was the principle behind that magic formation I just deployed?"
As Yushin rested his chin on his hand and pondered, the training ground's system read his intent and responded.
[ Replaying the previous combat data as a three-dimensional hologram. ]
Sssssk.
The structure of the magic formation Yushin had drawn moments ago, along with the trajectories of his mana, was reproduced in meticulous detail in the air.
The concept Yushin had infused into it was simple.
The principle of gravity — drawing everything in, crushing it, and dropping it to the ground.
But the formation Yushin had designed did not release that gravity as mere destructive energy. Instead, it reinterpreted it as the ultimate law of Reversion — violently shaking the target's mana control authority, forcing the flow to return to its original state of nothingness.
"I didn't suppress it or crush it... the flow of mana itself was reverted to its origin, which is why it couldn't even resist."
Yushin's eyes flashed open wide.
It was an absolute, superior magic system that toyed with the fundamental laws of magic themselves — transcending by an immense margin the mere elemental magics of flame or ice.
Yushin raised his hand into the air and overlaid a new mana line atop the replaying formation.
Not blindly amplifying the output, but an ultimate alignment density converging the mana loss rate to zero percent.
The moment he subtly twisted and locked the angles of the connecting lines between the center and the outer ring, the entire formation resounded brilliantly in gold.
Skill: Reversion(S-Rank)
— Registered Magic List —
Revert (S-Rank) — Instantly forces the flow of mana deployed by a target back to its original position, nullifying it.
Displace (S-Rank) — Forcibly distorts the reference point and coordinates of an opponent's mana, completely collapsing their control over the spellcraft.
Collapse (S-Rank) — Collapses scattered mana into a single point, cohering it in perfect order and dominating it with gravity.
Dominion (S-Rank) — Usurps absolute control over a target's mana for a set duration, manipulating it at your will.
Silence (S-Rank) — Completely severs all mana interference and casting within a designated space, establishing a zone of absolute silence.
"Revert, Displace, Collapse, Dominion... and Silence."
Yushin clenched his fist as he reviewed the detailed descriptions of the five S-rank magics floating in the air.
The ultimate anti-mage killer skills — reverting an opponent's magic, collapsing it, stealing it, and silencing it completely.
With the vast mana throughput of an A-rank mana grade and these five S-rank Reversion magic systems now in his grasp, Yushin had acquired absolute power that would never know defeat before any grand mage or royal of Arhen.
"Whew... flawless."
Embracing the surging sense of accomplishment, Yushin opened the training ground's door and stepped outside.
Not a single second had passed in the external reality, and warm sunlight still poured into the corridor of Arhen Magic Academy.
The Dimensional Wanderer Go Yushin, with the S-rank magic system Reversion installed in the depths of his dantian.
Before him, a new war that would shake the Magic Empire of Arhen — and beguiling bonds with the heroines — was drawing ever closer.