Chapter 66
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Clearing the Backlog
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One of the major classes in the Forging Department was 'Metal Refining'.
It was a class that taught basic refining techniques, so the content itself had a reputation among cadets for being easy. But the assignments were infamous for entirely different reasons.
"This assignment calls for a small shield made from Alloy No. 21—weighing 1.2 kg with a diameter of 28 cm. The main theme is resilience, so pay close attention to that when crafting it. It has to be at least standard grade to be accepted, so keep that in mind."
"......"
"......"
The cadets stared at Assistant Instructor Han In-seong with tense eyes as he spoke. Their expressions were wary, bracing for what would come next.
Han In-seong glanced at them with a faint smile before continuing.
"And like always, you can submit it anytime before the semester evaluation. Be grateful for the professor's generosity."
"Aah......"
"No way......"
The cadets groaned and clutched their faces at his words.
A generous submission window until the semester evaluation. One might think more time was a good thing, but in reality, it wasn't.
Metal Refining assignments were graded on a curve.
In other words, the better everyone else's submissions were, the lower your score. It naturally turned into a game of outwaiting each other.
'Shields aren't my strong suit... but if I invest about two weeks...'
'I want at least an A... but who knows what the others will do...'
If they were told to use various materials or play to their specialties, the skill gaps would widen dramatically. But when it strictly tested fundamentals, the differences weren't that vast.
And with such a long deadline? The bottom ranks gritted their teeth to scrape up points here, while the top ranks gnashed theirs to avoid any slip-ups.
"Heh heh......"
Han In-seong watched with satisfaction as the cadets endlessly refined and redesigned their weapons, scrutinizing each other's work.
He remembered how much he'd suffered in this very Metal Refining class as a student. Back then, he'd wanted to snap the professor in half. Now, though, he respected the man's unwavering resolve despite all the complaints.
'It's only like this in the early days anyway. Might as well toughen up now.'
They were all on similar levels of basics now, but the longer they spent at Babel, the wider the talent gaps would grow.
This kind of cutthroat competition wouldn't last past the second semester at most. It was a spectacle unique to this period, so Han In-seong was enjoying it when—
Fwoosh!
A ferocious blaze erupted in the corner of the workshop.
Clang! Clang!
Lee Se-hun hammered the glowing metal, shaping it as if he existed in his own isolated world.
Sizzle!
Unlike the others, time seemed to flow several times faster for him. Shields completed in the blink of an eye and piled up on one side.
Shh— Shh—
Having whipped up the four overdue assignments from his month in the infirmary in no time flat, Lee Se-hun gathered them and handed them to Han In-seong.
"Here for submission."
"......"
Han In-seong examined the items with a complicated expression.
With any other cadet, he'd have chewed them out for lack of effort regardless of quality. But these? He couldn't bring himself to.
'All high-grade, mid-tier quality...'
Had any prior submission even reached high-grade?
Staring at the freshman whose level was in a league of its own—not just superior, but fundamentally different—Han In-seong licked his lips before nodding.
"Good work... The professor said if you submit everything, you can skip class until the next assignment. Do as you like."
"Then I'm off."
With his tasks done, Lee Se-hun headed straight out. The cadets whispered among themselves as they watched him go.
"No way that guy's actually hurt, right? He looks totally fine."
"Guess it wasn't that serious."
"Didn't you see the photo? He was covered head to toe in blood, carried in by Head Ryu herself."
The photo that had blown up the Tower, the cadets' unofficial community board.
It showed Ryu Eun-ha bursting into the infirmary cradling a blood-soaked Lee Se-hun—not her usual stoic face, but one laced with urgency. It had sparked all kinds of buzz.
"Rumor has it Head Ryu gave him personal elixirs."
"What? No way."
"What do you mean no way? If she's taking him hunting privately on weekends, it's totally plausible."
Even a photo of the two walking together in the sub-space terminal had surfaced, fueling suspicions.
Neither Lee Se-hun nor Ryu Eun-ha bothered addressing the rumors, so they'd snowballed. Dissatisfied folks started piping up, and sharp jabs followed naturally.
"He might look fine on the outside, but who knows about the inside? Heard he wasted all his materials on intermediate refining."
"Oh yeah, I heard that too. Professor Kim In-cheol barely saved him from a meltdown."
"And there's talk he got a mana crystallization from the mine ambush. If true, he's done for."
No matter how solid your basics, poor mana control meant you'd lag behind eventually.
Doubts about Lee Se-hun's injury and slump had grown over time, fanned by sightings of him barely using mana in class.
And so, as the weekend approached...
"Just what trick did you pull?"
Lea, sitting across from Lee Se-hun, asked curiously.
"What do you mean?"
Lee Se-hun glanced up from etching an enchant onto cheap pottery. Lea shot him a baffled look.
"How does someone go from hero to joke in one week? This makes no sense."
The hero industry was brutal—a single injury could tank a career—but suspicions usually stayed just that until proven.
Yet the rumors and smears about Lee Se-hun had spread like wildfire. Now, the idea that his injury crippled his mana control was practically accepted fact.
Even hiding the Phantasmal Orbit's creation didn't explain the weird vibe. Lea couldn't make sense of it, so Lee Se-hun shrugged nonchalantly.
"There's enough smoke to suspect, and no denial from me. That's plenty to go on."
The controversy swirling around him was so shallow that a word from his attending physician, Professor Ahn, Borsippa's head Ryu Eun-ha, or Forging advisor Kim In-cheol would snuff it out.
But at Lee Se-hun's request, all three were staying mum—which kept the rumors alive.
"True... Staying silent while getting trashed does make you look guilty."
"Pretty much. And guys who've always hated my guts are fanning the flames too."
Michael Valmut, the vice-head gunning for Borsippa's top spot and the Forging Department. That schemer was surely working the shadows at every opportunity.
Lea nodded but still looked puzzled.
"But if it gets out you're fine, won't this all look stupid? Why even let it happen...?"
Rumors were just rumors. No way a sudden phantom injury would tank his skills just because people talked.
So why? As Lea muttered, Lee Se-hun answered inwardly.
'They must be confident they can make the rumors real.'
Using this chaos to truly cripple him. It sounded extreme, but things had changed.
'Since the Valmut family allied with the Overseers to shut down the Forging Department.'
If they were after more than Babel power, it was worth the gamble.
His talents could've elevated the department to Babel's pinnacle—not destroyed it.
'Need to watch this a bit longer.'
Memories from the regressor's Phantasmal Orbit vision.
They were real past events, but turning back mid-exit to skim files? That never happened.
So the info he'd glimpsed wasn't confirmed fact yet.
'Yeah... still too soon.'
Recalling the files he'd skimmed—and the last one on Kim In-cheol—Lee Se-hun organized his thoughts and set down his brush.
"Done."
"Ooh, faster than I thought. Let me see."
Lea took the pottery from him, turning it this way and that to inspect the etched enchant.
Perfectly clean lines without a single flaw. The framework faithfully reproduced the formula he'd taught, with personal tweaks evident everywhere.
'Barrier spell base? The connections between formulas are loose... no, it's structured to fill in when mana flows. What novice pulls off this technique...?'
Few had proper enchant training, yet this outshone Enchanting Department hacks by miles.
'No, first check if it activates.'
Flashy looks meant nothing without function. Lea infused her mana slowly.
Vmmm—
The fresh enchant glowed faintly as it absorbed mana, and the air around the pottery began to waver.
Soon, wind sucked inward like into a vortex, followed by a small noise from within.
Whoooosh
Wind howled through the sealed room.
Feeling the faint vibration, Lea flipped it over and shook out the contents.
Whirrr
A small green whirlwind tumbled onto the desk, spinning.
Made from wind-attribute materials and Lee Se-hun's enchant, it held for about 20 seconds before dissipating.
"......"
Lea stared at the lingering traces, hesitating before blurting out.
"I can hold mine over a minute."
Less brag, more complaint. Lee Se-hun chuckled.
"Didn't ask."
"......Jerk. Do it all yourself then."
After lavishly praising him, Lea set down the pottery—her Ancient Enchanting homework—and glanced back.
"Assignments done, so let's research enchants. I'm in peak form lately. Bring tough materials like before; I'll handle 'em. Oh yeah, the Ink Spider Ring needs enchanting too, right? How's that going?"
Chattering excitedly like her grumbling never happened. At her quick shift, Lee Se-hun pulled up a postponed topic with an exasperated look.
"Something to show you first."
"Hm? What?"
"Hold on."
Ignoring her puzzled question, Lee Se-hun unbuttoned his jacket and shirt.
His unexpected move made Lea's eyes go wide. As his bare chest emerged between the parted clothes, she blurted without thinking.
"Ooh......"
She knew little about muscles, but those screamed impressive on sight. Staring at his solar plexus in awe, Lea froze—until.
Fwoosh!
Familiar purple flames surged up.
"Eek!"
Caught off guard, Lea jolted back. Lee Se-hun gave her an incredulous look.
"Why the freakout?"
"Fire bursts from your body—wouldn't you? Wait, is that... the Phantasmal Orbit?"
"Yeah. Got absorbed."
"Wha— hold up!"
Crash!
Lea dove under the desk and popped out beside him, shoving her face to his chest to inspect the phantasmal flames.
"It's really linked to your body. Even for phantasmal mana, how does it...?"
Examining it from every angle with a baffled frown, Lea prompted Lee Se-hun to review his new skill info.
[Dream Storage] 『A』
A sub-space utilizing the dream boundary.
Using phantasmal mana's substitution function, items can be stored within the body. However, storage is impossible if phantasmal mana is depleted.
*Objects can be stored inside the body.
*Storage impossible if phantasmal mana depleted.
*Currently stored: Finger bone of the unknown. Phantasmal Orbit.
A storage skill using phantasmal mana's dream-substitution ability.
In an era of sub-space pockets, it might seem quaint, but Lee Se-hun instantly grasped Dream Storage's convenience.
'No risk of theft, and instant access without gestures.'
A hidden ace, in a way. What caught his eye was the space itself.
"Gimme your hand."
"Huh?"
Lea, still peering closely, extended her hand obediently. Lee Se-hun grabbed it and thrust it toward his chest.
Fwoosh
Her hand plunged through the flames up to the wrist. It could've pierced his heart, but Lea's eyes sparkled at the sight.
"Ooh... whoa... it's inside you."
"Can't store it, but passing through works. Cool, right?"
As Lee Se-hun stirred her arm around, anyone else might've recoiled at the visuals despite the feel. But Lea wiggled her fingers inside, marveling.
"Feels more like smoke than fire. And my fingertips are brushing something... wait, my enchants?"
"Yep."
The enchants etched into the Phantasmal Orbit floated in that enigmatic space.
Lea made amazed faces at the shapes she felt. Lee Se-hun elaborated.
"Seems phantasmal mana, enchants, and my skills meshed to create this."
"Incredible. A weapon turning into a skill... first I've heard of it."
If word got out, it'd kill all the pointless rumors. Lea hesitated, then asked.
"This a secret too?"
"Has to be. Too much hassle otherwise."
"Fair. They'd swarm you for research access."
A twinge of regret, but she shook it off, withdrawing her hand.
"So what's the point of showing me? Not just to brag, right?"
"Wanna study how Dream Storage formed. Whenever you're free."
Lea's eyes lit up at the hoped-for answer, her face beaming.
"Yesss... knew my junior was one of a kind! That's why I lo—"
"No nonsense."
"—okay, not love, but can't help liking you! You're the best!"
She pivoted shamelessly. Lee Se-hun rolled his eyes as she grinned and pressed.
"When do we start? Right now? We could crack it over the weekend. I'll buy food and coffee—pull an all-nighter! Yeah?"
Her enthusiasm earned a headshake.
"Not this week."
"What? Why... oh. Right, exchange tomorrow."
The Noblesse Exchange, where heirs of hero world powers mingled with the world's top geniuses—only the unrivaled got invites.
Recalling the schedule, Lea eyed him in surprise.
"Kinda unexpected. Thought you hated that stuff."
"I do."
"Then why go?"
As Lea blinked in confusion, Lee Se-hun buttoned up and met her gaze with a grin.
"Exactly."
"...?"
Fixing his clothes, Lee Se-hun smirked at Lea.
"Gonna go raise some hell."
