Melting Blood-Red Sky
The blood-red sky melted away. A wave of violent lightning swept across the barren, parched earth. "……Tch."
A storm of light brilliantly illuminated the gloomy atmosphere that had spread around them for an instant. The brief flash vanished, and once more Jeon Raydel clicked his tongue softly in the midst of the heavy, oppressive mana of the inner world. His outstretched index finger and the hair standing on end from static electricity proved that he had just fired a lightning bullet. Yet his eyes had sunk low without a trace of rising, in stark contrast to his wildly standing hair.
Crackle-crackle-crackle! Jeon frantically swung the hand he had thrust forward to the side. Following the motion of his arm, lightning discharged outward from him as its center. Whoosh! At the same time, something invisible shot toward him from all directions. The formless attacks pierced through the gaps in the lightning surrounding him and reached him in an instant. Sensing them through his instincts, Jeon widened his eyes and tried to move the lightning he had spread with his will, but the opponent's attacks were faster and more agile than his response.
"……!"
The moment it touched his skin, an unbearable, intense itch spread. Along with that unpleasant sensation that grated on his nerves even in the heat of battle, a familiar voice came from ahead.
"Jeon, do you happen to know this?"
Step, step. The man approached with a leisurely gait. Professor Karlsen appeared, radiating an air of being completely detached from the urgency of the situation, in stark contrast to Jeon's frantic expression. He wore his characteristic gloomy smile and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"The reason a mosquito bite itches is because of the components in the mosquito's saliva."
While the exact composition varied slightly between individuals, mosquito saliva basically contained anticoagulant components that prevented blood from clotting. When these reacted with histamine in the body, they triggered an inflammatory response that caused itching. In other words, the human body clearly classified mosquito saliva as a "toxin."
"Allergies, immune responses, vomiting, fever, pain, confusion, hallucinations—the types of poisoning are endless."
Itching was also a type of poisoning symptom. Professor Karlsen defined it as such, and therefore it fell within the scope of his Divine Rule, Mansang-maengdok. "It would be a bit much for a professor to freeze or burn his student, after all."
Instead, I'll make you beg me to stop with my poison until you can't take it anymore. His eyes, ringed with dark circles, gleamed unpleasantly like a pervert's. Following his will, the mana of the inner world spread widely in all directions and surged toward Jeon in a surprise attack.
Crackle-crackle-crackle! Lightning storms raged in every direction in response. But Professor Karlsen's toxins slipped through them with far too much ease, continuously accumulating minor damage on Jeon.
"……"
Jeon's body swelled red like edema. At some point, his originally sharp features had become so swollen that they were barely recognizable. His irritation rose in proportion to the swelling. It was humiliating to be helplessly toyed with by such childish attacks without being able to respond.
"Think about why 2-star and 3-star are treated differently."
Beginner and expert. The reason all disciplines except those of ebon users were recognized as having truly entered their proper realm starting from 3-star was because handling mana became significantly easier from 3-star onward. There was a difference in density and pressure between the mana inside a human and the atmospheric mana. Regardless of mana affinity, changing the internal environment was necessary to anchor atmospheric mana inside the body, and 1-star and 2-star practitioners were still in the midst of that process.
In short, up to 2-star, mana inevitably leaked from inside to outside, and ability users unconsciously suppressed that process. The stage where the inside and outside achieved equilibrium through growth was precisely 3-star. Just as humans breathed unconsciously without realizing it, the process that had unnecessarily consumed mental energy disappeared. Relatively speaking, handling magic became easier, and their skill level had no choice but to improve accordingly.
"Simply releasing it isn't enough. Transform it. Keep thinking. How can you break through my curse?"
As a dark mage, he didn't know the ways of ordinary mages. But he knew one thing: no matter what kind of ability user they were, when faced with continuous obstacles, they would eventually think for themselves and fill in their own shortcomings.
'Jeon is a student with a particularly independent streak, even among mages.'
After losing his parents in the Dark Wave incident and nearly driving his family to ruin, an unconscious conviction had been carved into his heart. No one in this world could protect him. He had to protect himself and everything around him. That obsession was clearly reflected even in the sense of justice he had newly realized in Vivaldi Territory.
For someone like him, establishing a detailed, systematic education plan like Arina's would be unnecessary. It was enough for the obstacle to simply exist. If given a challenge, he would develop on his own to overcome it.
'As long as the difficulty is adjusted properly, there's no problem.'
Professor Karlsen would continue presenting tasks that were just barely possible to break through, yet not easy. If he could perfectly calibrate that exquisite difficulty, and if Jeon continued advancing along the path laid before him as he was now, then by the time he looked back, he would have achieved growth beyond imagination.
'Everything is proceeding smoothly so far.'
Arina Grant, who was determining and solidifying her path while receiving teachings from Professor Magnus and Professor Paracelsus. Togun Masao, who had begun sharpening his somewhat dulled sword under the guidance of Jealousy, the continent's strongest martial artist currently in Raymond. Jeon Raydel, who was steadily climbing upward by overcoming walls formed through continuous sparring. Except for Marily Raymond, whose talent showed no promise of further growth, the other members' levels were gradually reaching the point Professor Karlsen desired. In addition, the deal with Student Council President Aaron Dice had been successfully concluded.
The road to victory was arduous, but at least the first step toward that thousand-li journey was progressing smoothly. Perhaps it was because they all possessed a strong will to grow further in their hearts.
"Ah, come to think of it, tomorrow is the day of the commendation ceremony, isn't it?"
The commendation to be awarded to Jeon and Togun. Ern Benedict, the Magic Sovereign, would personally present it, and the scene would be broadcast to the entire academy via TV during morning assembly. In a way, tomorrow marked the true beginning of their Academy Tournament journey. Expecting that, the gloominess of the smile on Professor Karlsen's lips deepened even further.
Jeon Raydel's participation in the Academy Tournament. With the recommendation letter from Agni, the head of the Special Investigation Division 1 at police headquarters, and the notarization of Ern Benedict, the Magic Sovereign, it was no exaggeration to say that his participation had already been confirmed. However, a clear justification that everyone could accept for their participation in the Academy was still necessary, and the commendation stamped by the King of Raymond that they were now receiving was precisely that.
"……"
Inside the Chairman's office at Benedict Academy. In the center of the room surrounded by countless cameras, various emotions tangled complexly on Jeon Raydel's face as he received the commendation from Ern Benedict. He looked pleased, yet also calm as if it were only natural, and even a sense of pride that he had finally taken a step toward his dream could be felt.
"Heh, hehehe."
Unlike Jeon, who displayed all those complicated emotions at once, the expression on Togun's face beside him was extremely simple. Receiving the commendation from his idol, the Magic Sovereign, he couldn't hold back his smile and let out a foolish, beaming grin.
"How unsightly."
And that scene was being broadcast live to all students through the cameras. His philtrum stretched long and his mouth corners twitched without rest. He should have just smiled openly instead of holding it back. Because he was forcing himself to suppress his laughter, his face had stretched out so much that it created the illusion of looking at a monkey in a zoo rather than a person.
"I really want to show him later what he looked like on TV."
Marily burst into a mischievous laugh while resting her chin on her hand and watching Togun on the screen. Arina wanted to tell Marily to stop with such pranks, but at the same time, she was also looking forward to Togun's reaction when he saw his own face on TV. Was this what people meant when they said friends unconsciously resembled each other? Through the Hwan Empire's saying "near ink, one becomes stained," Arina herself was gradually being influenced by Marily without realizing it.
"That aside, why is Raydel's face so swollen like that?"
When the screen switched and showed Jeon, Marily frowned and voiced her question. His usually ice-sharp impression was nowhere to be found; his face was puffed up like a steamed bun, as if he had been stung by a swarm of bees.
"Who knows?"
Arina could only tilt her head in the same confusion at Marily's question.
"That's your handiwork, isn't it?"
It wasn't only Marily who frowned at Jeon's face on the screen. In the Benedict Academy infirmary, Jealousy, who had been watching the scene on TV along with the other students, turned his head to the side with a sour expression. There stood Professor Karlsen, who had suddenly visited the infirmary early in the morning and was disturbing his leisurely time, smiling unpleasantly as usual.
"You should have gone easy on him."
The fact that he only smiled unpleasantly was no different from silent affirmation.
"How unexpected."
At Jealousy's scolding, Professor Karlsen's head tilted slightly to the right. After all, it was unexpected for Jealousy himself—rather than the disguised Professor Clara—to worry about someone else.
"Think about my eyes that have to see that ugly face on TV. It rots my eyes. At least his original face was decent."
"Ah, so that was the problem?"
As expected. Jealousy's grumbling hadn't been out of concern for Jeon, but irritation at having his own eyes sullied.
"Anyway, why did you come here first thing in the morning?"
"It would be lonely watching alone in such a big place, wouldn't it?"
"Bullshit."
If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have had to watch that crap. Jealousy snorted at Karlsen's words as if they were absurd. "If it weren't for Professor Vivaldi's broadcast-related work, I would have brought him along too. What a shame."
"Yeah, that's really fortunate."
It was better that he could show his true form like this. If that guy had come along too, he would have had to sit there uncomfortably in Professor Clara's appearance. And that damn guy would have been holding back laughter beside him while enjoying the gap.
'He's gradually losing all sense of caution these days.'
Karlsen was the type who deliberately ignored tact, not the type who lacked it entirely. He already knew that as long as Arina was attending the academy and Jealousy needed to protect her, Jealousy could never harm him.
"Tsk."
Jealousy clicked his tongue and turned his head back toward the TV. On the screen, the Magic Sovereign's speech continued. He was proud of them, it was an honor to deliver this commendation on behalf of His Majesty the King, and so on—nothing but the usual platitudes. As he spoke, the ugly smile on Togun's face on the TV grew increasingly pronounced.
"……I don't like this."
Conversely, Jealousy's mood sank deep enough to pierce the earth's core. Unlike Jeon, whose face had become ugly against his will, Togun was voluntarily becoming uglier by the second. But that wasn't the reason Jealousy's mood was sinking.
"What the hell did those brats even do?"
Honestly, the one who had been most active at the time was none other than himself. He had overwhelmed Kindness, one of the 7 Cardinal Virtues, and exposed one of the Church's hidden trump cards. Of course, he had made the major mistake of letting Kindness escape, but compared to the brats' brief meddling, it was clear he had achieved far greater merits.
"……Did you perhaps want to receive a commendation from His Majesty the King?"
"Fuck. Am I crazy?"
At Karlsen's words, Jealousy's expression crumpled. No matter how much he was called Jealousy in the underworld, he wasn't rotten enough to envy a commendation from the King of Raymond. In this world, there was only one person he acknowledged above himself: Sawang Heokcheon.
"I went out of my way to handle things proactively because it was annoying. So obviously, our young lady should be the one receiving the commendation, not those brats."
Yet the only reason Jealousy expressed dissatisfaction was one thing: Arina hadn't been there in that place.
"……"
Ah, right. This guy was a doting uncle, wasn't he? Even the great Karlsen couldn't hide his bewilderment and had no choice but to gape at Jealousy, who was venting his anger over an entirely unexpected point.
"Just you wait. Those brats."
Regardless of what Karlsen did or didn't do, Jealousy only ground his teeth while glaring at Togun's foolishly grinning face on the TV.
'I'll work you even harder.'
Added to the anger Karlsen had built up was revenge for his young lady. At that moment, an even darker shadow fell over Togun's future than usual.