The Scent of Blood and Sulfur
Bae Seong-hyeon and I strode to the front of the classroom. Ha Ye-jin greeted us with her signature dimpled smile.
"You both know how to use blessings, right?"
Even though she said "you both" and Bae Seong-hyeon and I weren't exactly close, we nodded anyway.
"Then, could you draw a 'Mid-level Strength Enhancement Blessing' for us?"
"Ah."
"Yes? Do Seon-woo, what's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing."
This was bad. A mid-level blessing? The only blessings I knew how to use were low-level ones.
My vision went dark. Tension made cold sweat bead on my forehead, and my fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
While I stood there frozen, Bae Seong-hyeon flawlessly drew his blessing circle with expert precision. It was a perfect 'Mid-level Strength Enhancement Blessing Circle', without a single flaw. A brilliant light poured from it, as if boasting its success.
"Bae Seong-hyeon, that was excellent. Next, Do Seon-woo, please draw your blessing circle."
Ha Ye-jin urged me on. With shaking fingertips, I drew the mid-level strength enhancement blessing circle. Naturally, it failed. The circle lost its light and crumbled into ash. My heart crumbled right along with it.
Ha Ye-jin looked at me with a mix of surprise and confusion.
"Hmm, nerves, maybe? Try again."
"I can't."
I gave up. My body was shaking, my resolve shattered—I had no confidence to try again.
Ha Ye-jin's face hardened.
"Why not?"
"Truth is, I don't know how to use any blessings above mid-level."
Once I confessed honestly, her stiff expression softened a bit.
"Hmm~ I think I get it. I could call another student, but how about one last try?"
Last night, I'd pulled an all-nighter practicing mid-level blessing circles, but not once had I succeeded. Trying again would yield the same result.
Still, Ha Ye-jin urged me to give it one more shot. A flicker of expectation lingered in her eyes, as if she'd glimpsed some potential in me.
"Got it."
I decided to live up to her expectations. I knew success was impossible, but I chose to trust her vaguely anyway.
Forcing my trembling heart to calm, I carefully drew the blessing circle. At its center—where complex curves and lines intersected—I placed the 'core' formed from divine power.
Then, a brilliant, ecstatic light began pouring from the blessing circle.
The light of the blessing.
The emergence of blessing light meant I'd successfully drawn a complete blessing circle.
"It worked—!"
But only for a moment. The radiant light faded away. The now-lifeless blessing circle lingered in the air as a mere afterimage before vanishing.
Another failure.
"...Sorry."
I hung my head. I had no face to show. I felt ashamed for getting excited over that brief illusion of success.
It was hopeless.
But Ha Ye-jin wasn't disappointed. If anything, she looked astonished.
"Do Seon-woo, where did you learn to draw blessing circles? An academy? Your parents?"
"Ah, from videos."
"Videos? Like online lectures?"
"No... Nutube videos."
The class burst into laughter. Some mocking, some genuinely amused. They must've thought it was a joke, but it was the plain truth.
I learned to draw blessing circles from Nutube. No one around me knew how to handle divine power. I'd never even been to one of those trendy divine power academies.
"Never been to an academy? Parents never taught you?"
"Yeah. Circumstances weren't great."
"I see. You have some bad habits, Do Seon-woo. Shoot some divine power from your fingertip."
I did as told, projecting divine power from my fingertip. Ha Ye-jin suddenly grabbed my hand and used my finger like a brush to draw a blessing circle in the air. Unlike mine, it was flawless—no shortages, no excesses.
"First habit: direction. You draw blessing circles counterclockwise. Most people go clockwise."
"Huh? Oh."
Voodoo spell circles are standardly drawn counterclockwise. That habit must've stuck.
"And the second habit is in how you form the core. You have a very bad one—"
Before Ha Ye-jin could finish, the bell rang—ding-dong-dang-dong.
"Oops, we'll pick up the rest next time. First class, so I messed up the timing. Sorry!"
Ha Ye-jin smiled apologetically. The kids jumped up like they'd been waiting, stretching.
Bae Seong-hyeon, pushed to the back because I'd hogged the attention, clicked his tongue in annoyance and stormed out.
Ha Ye-jin smiled at the class, then turned to me.
"Picking up where we left off: your core formation method is fundamentally off. Not wrong, exactly—more like a flawed approach."
"Huh? What do you—"
"Think about it yourself."
She left a riddle and exited the classroom.
Walking back to the staff room, Ha Ye-jin mulled over the lesson.
Her Charity Class had a lot of talent. Three stood out.
First, Bae Seong-hyeon. His overwhelming talent needed no explanation. He drew the mid-level strength enhancement blessing circle in under ten seconds. He was already beyond student level.
Second, Jeong In-ah. Exceptional at analyzing blessing circles. Her analysis skills rivaled most teachers. Her practical skills lagged behind her theory a bit, but she'd grow out of it.
Third, Do Seon-woo. Perfect diagnostic test score. Unrivaled intellect, especially in theology and history. But he wasn't fully comfortable handling divine power yet.
No, it's not that he's uncomfortable. Something...
Truth be told, Ha Ye-jin couldn't properly assess Do Seon-woo's skill. His blessing circle had too many anomalies. Was this even possible?
"Ye-jin, what're you thinking so hard about?"
A colleague snapped her out of it. Ha Ye-jin startled and looked around. The staff room. She'd been so deep in thought she'd arrived without noticing.
She smiled vacantly.
"The lesson was kinda memorable."
"Why? Someone cause trouble?"
"No, nothing like that."
Ha Ye-jin pondered, head lowered.
"Teacher, can a blessing circle's core deviate from spherical or ellipsoidal form?"
"Huh? I don't think so. Why?"
"Just hypothetically. What if it did?"
"Hmm, never thought about it. The circle would probably collapse?"
"Right. That's the theory."
Ha Ye-jin bowed her head darkly.
"Why ask? Now I'm curious."
Her colleague pressed, and she flashed a bright smile.
"Just nothing."
"What? You always do this—dangle curiosity and bail."
The colleague pouted playfully. But Ha Ye-jin was still thinking about Do Seon-woo. Specifically, his blessing circle.
Low-level blessing circles don't need a core. Mid-level and above require one. If the core isn't spherical or ellipsoidal, the circle loses power and collapses. That's doctrine.
But Do Seon-woo's core was neither. Closer to a hexahedron or cuboid.
That's why his mid-level circle failed.
But the mystery was...
Why did blessing light emerge anyway?
If only briefly, blessing light had poured from his circle. Meaning he'd succeeded in forming a complete one.
With a cuboid core. Using his own unorthodox method.
What kind of kid is he?
Ha Ye-jin felt curiosity toward Do Seon-woo. As a teacher, and as a scholar researching divine power.
After Ha Ye-jin's class, the classroom buzzed unusually loud. Everyone wore puffed-up anticipation mixed with anxiety. I had no idea what had them so excited.
"Why's everyone so hyped?"
"Next is practical training. First one, so they're pumped."
I'd just muttered to myself, but Gu Jun-hyeok popped up out of nowhere to answer.
He was always like that—there one moment, vanished the next, then suddenly back. He felt present yet absent, absent yet present.
"Huh? Practical next? Where?"
As Gu Jun-hyeok and I talked, Jeong In-ah appeared and jumped in seamlessly.
"The hill out back. Eden Hill, I think."
"Cool. Let's go."
With her usual decisiveness, Jeong In-ah dragged us out of the classroom.
And so, the three of us headed to Eden Hill, behind Florence Academy.
The name alone reeked of 'that hill' vibes.
"But Do Seon-woo, why're you so bad at blessing circles?"
Gu Jun-hyeok teased mid-stride. By now, it was familiar enough that its absence would feel off.
"How good are you? Learning from Nutube and doing that well? Seon-woo's already good."
"No, I mean—who learns blessings from Nutube? That's ridiculous. You joking to be funny?"
"Hey! Shut it."
When Gu Jun-hyeok picked on me, Jeong In-ah defended me. I didn't need to say a word.
Our trio's convos were always like this.
Jeong In-ah bickered with Gu Jun-hyeok, then glanced at me awkwardly and smiled.
"Ask me if you don't know stuff. I'll teach you."
She figured my family situation kept me from learning blessings. Not wrong, technically, but it stirred odd guilt. Like I'd lied to her.
Though my whole life was built on lies anyway.
"But diagnostic rank 12 teaching rank 1? Isn't that total nonsense?"
"I said shut up."
"Ow."
Gu Jun-hyeok emphasized "nonsense." Jeong In-ah lightly kicked his shin for butting in.
I just smiled at them.
[I've realized a few things from that lesson. Two things. Urgent.]
Suddenly Legba spoke up. His tone was urgent.
But with Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah beside me, I couldn't respond yet.
Spotting a public restroom, I glanced around. Florence was so vast, they dotted everywhere.
"You guys go ahead. Gotta hit the bathroom."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
I sent them off and entered alone. It smelled a bit off, but perfect for talking to a Loa.
[Yes. First: you have bad habits when drawing blessing circles. Fix them.]
"You could've said that later. Thought it was urgent."
[It is urgent. Normal blessing cores are spherical or ellipsoidal. But you used a cuboid one. Know what that means?]
"Huh? No idea."
[Spell circles use cuboid cores. Your spell-drawing habits are bleeding into blessings. Keep it up, and you'll get caught soon. Florence teachers aren't idiots.]
I swallowed hard. Never dreamed I had such a habit.
[For blessings, form a spherical core. Then mid-level circles will succeed.]
"For real?"
I tested it: a mid-level strength enhancement blessing circle. Placed the divine power core in the center.
It glowed briefly—then collapsed.
Failure.
"What? Didn't work."
[Incredible. Still a cuboid. I said spherical.]
No matter how I tried, only cuboids formed. I didn't even know how to make a sphere.
[Form a spherical core!]
"What's that mean?"
[I said spherical!]
"How?"
Legba sighed.
[You truly lack divine power talent.]
After 17 years drawing only spell circles, no wonder blessings were tough.
[Sigh. Fine. We'll learn spherical cores step-by-step later. Next: this is important. Listen well.]
Legba dragged it out, building dread. I put on a serious face, listening intently—from the toilet stall corner.
[During class, I smelled blood and sulfur. Very briefly.]
"...What?"
I'd expected something minor. But this was thunder from a clear sky.
Blood and sulfur: key ingredients for Satan Cult rituals. Their followers reek of it.
And the smell during class? The implication was clear.
[Satan Cult has infiltrated Florence. Don't know why yet.]
Satanists hiding in Florence.
(To be continued)