Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Dungeon Practice (1)

“You all know the origins of magic, but by spreading magic to the world, the ‘White Mage,’ known as the progenitor mage, allowed humans and other species to wield magic.”

Just like in real life, magic classes were extremely subdivided.

Mana Orbital Mechanics, Advanced Basic Magic Theory, Studies on the Correlation of Practicality and Performance, and so on…

This w a s c o p i e d f r o m ki ng m tl . o r g
They truly had everything.

And, as in any world, lectures were incredibly boring. Especially, Professor Laydin of New Moon Studies was extremely unpopular due to his distinctively stiff and sharp tone, which stressed out the listeners.

“Elves were taught natural magic, dwarves were taught material magic, and humans were taught elemental magic. After spreading these magics, the progenitor mage disappeared.

Now, does anyone know where the progenitor mage went next?”

“Me!”

“Speak.”

“He went to the heavens to teach holy magic to the angels, and to the underground to teach abyssal magic to the demons.”

“Correct.”

So boring. Whether I knew the content or not, the lectures were incredibly dull.

‘How am I supposed to listen to this for three years…’

However, this class was quite important. It might even contain content closest to the ‘True Ending.’

With his characteristically sleep-inducing voice, Professor Laydin listed something on the board with a magic pen.

“However, there was something the progenitor mage didn’t foresee. Human curiosity did not stop at elemental magic. Human mages began traveling the world, stealing magic from other species. Thus, modern magic was completed.”

I yawned silently and glanced around. Aiselle, sitting a bit away, stood out. Did she originally take this class? As far as I remember, there was no main character who took New Moon Studies.

“Humans weren’t satisfied with that. They wanted more knowledge and more magic. But, humans couldn’t learn any more magic. The progenitor mage had left the ‘Twelve Divine Moons (十二神月)’ in the world before he disappeared. Does anyone know about these Twelve Divine Moons?”

Finally, something interesting, so I perked up my ears. The Twelve Divine Moons were my biggest interest.

A student raised their hand, and Professor Laydin pointed to them.

“Answer.”

“The Twelve Divine Moons were guardians who protected the balance of the continent. Until a thousand years ago, they spread across the world and watched over the continent.”

“Correct. They protected the continent with their unique powers.”

The professor wrote four characters on the board.

“For example, ‘Red Summer June (赭夏六月),’ symbolizing summer, controlled red flames that were said never to extinguish. Even now, you can see those red flames in the abyss of Alramanca. So, if you’re interested, feel free to go there.”

Though his voice carried no hint of a joke, the students burst into laughter. The abyss of Alramanca, ruled by the sea king Alramanca, was an ‘absolute forbidden zone’ where no terrestrial creature could enter.

Th i s w a s copi e d f ro m k i n g m t l . org
Today must be the one day a year Professor Laydin makes a joke.

Flash!

“Focus.”

Light flashed in the air as Laydin spoke, and the laughter ceased. The students focused on several images floating in the air.

The abyss of Alramanca.

In the deep abyss void of any light, a bright red flame illuminated the world, wrapped around the body of a massive octopus. The octopus, chained and asleep, strangely didn’t burn despite the flames clinging to its body.

The next picture showed a place called ‘Leviang’s Coast.’

A massive whirlpool in the middle of the sea, spanning nearly 500 meters in diameter, was entirely frozen by the power of an entity known as ‘Blue Winter December (靑冬十二月).’

A mystical phenomenon difficult to explain with magic, it was astonishing enough to wake anyone up from their drowsiness.

“Each of the Divine Moons possessed unique abilities, and when all the moons gathered, something extraordinary was said to happen.”

“What kind of phenomenon is that?”

For the first time, Professor Laydin was at a loss for words due to a student’s question.

“That… no one knows. Because in history, the Divine Moons have never all gathered at once.”

That was true. The Divine Moons had never awakened since they mysteriously fell asleep a thousand years ago.

When I was playing the game, I, as a player, had encountered some of the Twelve Divine Moons.

Those who went through their events received special skills or items from the Divine Moons, which were incredibly powerful, so naturally, I couldn’t help but be interested.

Thus, I found a total of five Divine Moons.

Even that was a result of combining information from other players and barely meeting them after enduring a grueling journey. No player had found more than I did.

For that reason, I thought that the ‘Twelve Divine Moons’ might have a direct connection to the ‘True Ending.’

Ten years. For ten years, countless players had played the game with countless choices and seen countless endings.

But if no one saw the True Ending… wouldn’t the answer lie in content no one had reached?

That was the Twelve Divine Moons.

Even though I barely managed to gather five of the Divine Moons by overcoming near-death experiences due to the extreme difficulty in the game…

If I want to see the True Ending, I have no choice. I have to try again.

After the New Moon Studies lecture ended, I was walking down the corridor to the next class when someone called out to me from behind.

“Excuse me.”

“Huh?”

It was Aiselle. She approached me with a slightly dissatisfied expression and spoke.

“Why are you taking this class?”

Why am I taking it? That’s very sudden.

“Answer me.”

“Uh, well…”

T h i s was c o p i ed f r o m k i n gm tl . o r g
Actually, the ‘New Moon Studies’ class I was taking wasn’t very popular.

Magic was fundamentally about mathematically unraveling, calculating, organizing, and controlling the flow of mana, but New Moon Studies had none of that.

To make an analogy, it was closer to witchcraft or shamanism. It involved praying to the Twelve Divine Moons, who might or might not exist, and borrowing their power to use their special abilities.

Well, Professor Laydin and quite a few others worship the Divine Moons and use New Moon Magic. It’s just that New Moon Magic’s advantages aren’t as pronounced as regular magic, so it’s not popular.

In some regions, New Moon Church followers were even expelled as heretics, so its image in the public wasn’t very good.

“I’m just interested.”

“…Is that all?”

“Yeah.”

She closed her lips and pondered for a moment, then looked away, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Then… um. Does it not affect your grades much?”
T h i s wa s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g

“New Moon Studies is just a hobby.”

Something is odd.

“You weren’t at the New Moon Studies orientation. When did you sign up?”

“Well, that’s because…”

Come to think of it, it’s still the course adjustment period.

T h i s w a s c op i e d f ro m ki ng mt l. o r g
“Did you add New Moon Studies? You’ve realized its charm too, huh?”

“No? What are you talking about.”

After saying that, Aiselle quickly turned and disappeared.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d fro m k in gm t l . o r g
“If it’s not, then why is she acting like that?”

Leaving the question behind, I moved on to my next class. Today’s schedule was packed with lectures until the afternoon.

Fwoosh! Boom! Boom! Bang!

Flames erupted from a giant scarecrow, producing tremendous explosions. It was practice time for the ‘Practical Application of Magic Attacks’ lecture. Students were firing their magic at the targets according to their attributes.

This w a s c o p i e d f r o m ki ngmt l . or g
“No matter how powerful the magic, it’s useless if it doesn’t hit the target. The important thing is ‘accuracy.’ No matter how strong the magic is, it’s pointless if it doesn’t hit the enemy.”

As Professor Hong Yiel’s words fell, the scarecrow suddenly shrank and started running around.

Students’ magic exploded in the air, and Hong Bi-yeon’s magic was no exception.

Fwoosh! Boom!

A mass of flames fell into the air, and she furrowed her brows, nervously withdrawing her staff.

The firepower was strong, but it didn’t hit the target at all.

Hong Yiel whispered as she passed by Hong Bi-yeon.

“…Pathetic, Bi-yeon.”

Flinching at those words, Hong Bi-yeon’s face turned pale, but she tightly closed her eyes to hide it. Biting her trembling lips, she raised her staff again.

However, she had no choice but to lower her staff, feeling that she couldn’t do it.

“Ugh.”

An intense feeling of pressure squeezed her chest. As she endured it with rough breaths, cold sweat trickled down her face.

‘I must not show any weakness. I must not show that I’m faltering.’

Feeling like she would collapse at any moment, she endured and endured with superhuman mental strength. As she sat quietly, a girl approached her.

“Wow… Princess, you are amazing.”

“…What?”

“You used the same magic as me, but it was three times stronger.”

Did that carefree girl even know how she was feeling when she said that?

“So what. It’s useless. I can’t even hit the target. I envy you. Your accuracy is high.”

“…But, if you practice a little more, Princess, I’m sure you’ll be far better than me.”

What is she saying? Ignoring the girl who spoke to her, Hong Bi-yeon stood up and grabbed her staff. Thanks to her words, the pressure on her chest eased a little.

Come to think of it… that girl was a flame mage too?

I think I’ve heard of her.

‘Was her name Arshuane?’

I heard there was a fuss outside about an unprecedented talent in the flame attribute, but after entering, her magic was so insignificant compared to Hong Bi-yeon’s that it couldn’t even be compared.

That was only natural. Hong Bi-yeon wasn’t just an unprecedented talent; she was a world-class genius. She was just defeating opponents worth defeating, so she didn’t boast much.

“Hoo…”
T h i s w a s cop ie d f ro m kin g m t l .o r g

Even after struggling for a long time to hit the scarecrow running around, as soon as the lecture ended, Hong Bi-yeon fled the classroom.

It was because she couldn’t bear to see her mother’s face for even one more second.

“Hoo…”

She sat down weakly in the lounge. Her legs seemed to have lost their strength.

It was partly due to her training volume being two to three times that of other students and partly due to the significant psychological factors.

“Princess.”

“Yetherin, you’re here. Could you get me a drink? …And some ginseng candy.”

“Here you are.”

Hong Bi-yeon’s personal bodyguard, Yetherin, was quite tall for a woman, standing well over 170cm, so even Hong Bi-yeon, who was in her late 160s, had to look slightly up to meet her gaze.

“So, what is it?”

“Yes. It’s about the staff modification request you mentioned earlier.”

“Oh, that.”

Hong Bi-yeon pondered, rubbing her chin. Staff modification… She had heard that alchemists sometimes modified their staffs, but it was the first time she heard of a magic warrior doing so.

‘He was peculiar in many ways.’

A boy who resonated with a mid-high-level staff despite being the worst in the school and rose to Class S.

“Is the magic sword possible?”

“The staff is of such high quality that it seems likely to produce a superior result. However, there is one puzzling aspect.”

“Puzzling?”

“Well, the staff keeps trying to absorb the owner’s mana.”

“What? Isn’t that a black magic tool?”

T h i s w a s c o pi e d f r o m king m t l . o r g
“It’s a bit different from that. It seems to resonate continuously with the energy of nature.”

“What kind of strange staff is that? Stella is weird too.”

A staff that continuously absorbs the user’s mana while resonating with natural mana? It sounds strange just hearing about it.

“…Why is such a trashy staff even mid-high-level?”

“That’s why it was only rated as mid-high-level.”

“What do you mean?”

With a look of not knowing how to explain, Yetherin continued.

“The original performance was to explosively enhance the user’s magic power, tremendously amplifying the magic’s power, thus it was rated as high-level. However, since it also continuously drains the user’s mana, it was downgraded to mid-high-level.”

“High-level? How does a student have something like that?”

“I’m curious about that too.”
T h i s w a s co p i e d fro m ki n g m tl .o r g

It’s clear it wasn’t brought to resonate with. But he ended up resonating with such a staff.

‘What kind of person is that strange commoner?’

Not that I desire that staff.

The magic power boost sounds interesting, but the penalty of continuously draining the user’s mana is too steep.

“I wouldn’t use such a staff even if given. Unless one has mountains of mana or none at all.”

That was quite an odd statement. If you have no mana, you’re not a mage, so why would you use a staff?

“…I don’t know. That commoner will figure it out. I just fulfill my request.”

The owner is peculiar, and so is the staff.

I never really remembered commoners, but Baek Yu-seol didn’t leave my mind for a long time for various reasons.

End of Chapter