Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Chivalry (2)

After the practice ended, I had a one-on-one meeting with Instructor Lee Han-wol in the Second Tower.

Receiving the promised reward, I was asked a question by him.

‘Why don’t you use other magic?’

At that question, I thought the time had come.

There was no storyline in the game explaining why Baek Yu-seol didn’t use magic. The character ‘Blink Baek Yu-seol’ had almost no dedicated story and was just a presence-less extra blended into Stella Academy.

But reality is different. Every action I take is bound to draw someone’s attention, and I can’t keep making private excuses indefinitely.

Therefore, the answer to Lee Han-wol’s question had to be straightforward: ‘I can’t use magic.’

A student at a magic school who can’t use magic? That’s absurd. The label ‘a mage who can’t use magic’ would be a huge penalty for my academic life, career, and future in society.

In the worst-case scenario, I could be expelled. This isn’t a game, so I can’t just gloss over it.

However, seeing me momentarily troubled, Lee Han-wol stopped me from answering.

‘Don’t worry. We respect your conviction. However, you have chosen a tough path ahead. While I respect it, I’m also concerned for you.’

“…Pardon?”

Before I could fully understand, Lee Han-wol acknowledged everything and encouraged me to continue striving, then sent me off.

I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like a positive outcome. After all, the fact that I can’t use magic could’ve led to expulsion, but having a mage as prominent as Lee Han-wol acknowledge it meant I wouldn’t face major problems for a while.

Later, I met Hong Bi-yeon on the way out and received the long-awaited item.

The magic sword, Terivon Sword.

“Look at that shine.”

It wasn’t flashy, but it had a hidden elegance in its simplicity. That was the description of Terivon in the game.

In reality, it’s quite beautiful. A 20cm silver rod with a transparent but multicolored gem at the end, which changes color according to the attribute used.

In my case, having no attribute, the gem remained unchanged even when held.

“As expected, it’s in the form of an Unseen Sword. This is quite rare to acquire.”

Helping the princess paid off. Even if my family pooled all their income, they could never have acquired a magic sword of this caliber.

With this, I felt somewhat reassured about the next episode.

‘It would’ve been quite diverse if Flame had this.’

Flame, the heroine, was a very special being. She could handle the magic of elves, dwarves, and angels all while being human.

She was a multi-attribute user different from Hae Wonryang and Ma Yuseong, who would handle five attributes in the future.

One feature of this Staff is that it continuously absorbs the user’s mana, making it unusable for most mages.

But Flame had the trait [Oneness with Nature], which allowed her to recover mana by praying to nature. Therefore, she used this Wand as a sort of ultimate weapon.

But for me?

I have no mana anyway.

Thanks to Mana Leakage Syndrome, I constantly absorb mana into my body, but I can’t accumulate it and just discharge it.

Th i s w as c o p i e d fr o m k i n g mtl .o r g
In essence, the concentration of mana in my breath determines Terivon’s output.

[Mana Leakage Syndrome Lv.2]

* Strength increased by 5%
* Agility increased by 8%
* Sensory increased by 15%
*  Intuition: Activates by consuming the user’s ‘mental power.’ Detects mana phenomena within an 18m radius faintly, and ‘Cognitive Acceleration’ is activated.

Automatically activates if a crisis is determined to be approaching the user.

* Blood Mana Circulation Rate: 1%

Checking the skill description of Mana Leakage Syndrome, the circulation output is 1%. There wasn’t such a phrase when it first reached level 2, but it appeared after I realized mana breathing.

‘Only 1%, huh…’

Next, I checked my stats.

[Baek Yu-seol]

* Stats

[Strength: 1-star 77%] [Sensory: 2-star 29%]

[Agility: 1-star 87%] [Stamina: 1-star 55%] [Resilience: 0-star 97%] [Mental Power: 1-star 43%] [Mana: -]

* Remaining experience points: –

* Skill List

[Blink Lv.1]

* Traits

[Mana Leakage Syndrome Lv.2]

I hadn’t had the opportunity to gain experience points, but with the level-up of Mana Leakage Syndrome, some stats increased. Particularly, the sensory stat had noticeably increased because I invested experience points in it every time I gained them.

‘Simple weight training isn’t enough to train muscle stats.’

Should I get some protein from somewhere? Consuming the roots I received before did slightly increase stamina and strength, but not significantly.

“Hmm, but at least I have a weapon now, so I can go on dungeon tours.”

My mana output was still low, so Terivon’s power wasn’t even on par with the Point Stick I used before, but with a bit more growth, its performance would be good enough to use even in later stages.

With this, I should be able to tackle the low-grade dungeons in Bulbul Glasses.

But before that.

“…I should practice swordsmanship.”

* * *

Living as a modern person, I had never attended a swordsmanship dojo, so I had almost no experience wielding a sword. There were no separate skills related to swordsmanship, so the only way was to train by swinging it a lot myself.

S-Class exclusive training ground.

This place had a training area to improve players’ sensory stats, similar to a pitching machine that shoots out baseballs.

It was a training exercise where characters blocked and dodged magic bullets shot from various angles and speeds, enhancing their sensory stats.

Th i s w as c o p i e d f rom k i n g m t l . o r g
When players controlled it themselves, the stats increased faster, but most preferred ‘automatic training by pressing a button.’ It wasn’t very efficient, so it was used for the character to train while eating or sleeping.

‘How nice it would be if something like that existed in reality.’

Pressing the button, lights immediately came on the screen in front.

[Magic Pitching Machine Stage 1 Start!]

[Quickly react to incoming attacks and deploy your magic shield!]

Whoosh! A red sphere aimed at my left thigh, and I immediately drew Terivon.

The 20cm silver Wand extended into a 1m white beam.

A visual reminiscent of a lightsaber from an SF movie!

Clang! With a light striking sound, I deflected the sphere, but Terivon’s mana wavered. If my breathing faltered, the magic sword’s stability would also waver.

‘Focus! Focus!’

Whoosh! Clang! Whoosh! Clang!

The incoming magic spheres didn’t have a fixed direction. Everything except the floor was a potential trajectory.
T h i s wa s c o p ie d f r o m kin g m t l . or g

Swinging Terivon wildly while flailing around.

[Stage 1 Clear!]

[All 20 hits! Wow, you could be a baseball player!]

In an instant, the first training session ended.

Even though I didn’t know swordsmanship, thanks to the monstrous reaction speed from Mana Leakage Syndrome, it was somewhat possible to swing the sword in response to incoming attacks.
This w a s co pi e d f r om ki n g m t l .o r g

Seeing the perfect score, confidence welled up.

“I can do this. Raise it to stage 5.”

[Stage 5 Start!]

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Ouch! Ugh! Ack! Oof!”

…And I ran out, barely escaping the deluge of countless magic spheres flying from all directions.

“Pant, pant.”

Even maintaining Terivon’s form was impossible. One swing brought five spheres, and two swings brought fifteen. How could anyone block that?

“Damn it…”

Lying on the ground to rest, I went back in out of sheer stubbornness and pressed the stage 5 start button.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

That day, my body was covered in bruises.

* * *

“In primary and middle school, you only studied theory.”

The mandatory class, ‘Magic Defense,’ was in session.

“During the recent dungeon practice, many students couldn’t properly perform magic. That’s understandable. Proper magic is taught starting from seventeen, in high school.”

Because students from A to S classes were so advanced, students in the lower F to D classes could barely hunt any monsters.

“But from today, we’ll have time to practice and implement proper magic.”

At Professor Berayon’s words, some students’ eyes lit up.

In primary and middle school, magic use was extremely limited, and they spent most of their time studying dungeon and magic theory, which must have been exhausting.

But from the age of seventeen, they could relieve that stress with magic practice, and some would display their unique talents here.

‘That’s if they can use magic…’

Baek Yu-seol lamented inwardly.

Being a mandatory course, I still had to attend, but honestly, it felt like a waste of time.

This class was a mobile lecture where students could attend at their desired times, so students from F class to S class were all around. Even before starting, Berayon had already distinguished ‘noteworthy students’ from others.

‘It’s good to line them up by grade.’

Although lower-ranked students also learn well, guiding the higher-potential B to S class students would make his image much better.

“Now, everyone hold up your Wand.”

As the students pointed their Wands into the air, Professor Berayon explained.

“Once, there was an era when magic was realized through imagination. In those days, mages determined their defensive power with sheer will, simply expelling mana to defend against enemy attacks.”

Berayon gently waved his Staff.

“But not anymore.”

A blue circular magic circle floated before him. It was a complex magic circle specialized in defensive magic, unique to Professor Berayon.

T h is wa s c op i e d f r o m ki n g mt l . o rg
“A magic shield is akin to a patchwork iron plate. You can increase its strength by adding runes related to defense like firm, solid, hard, strong, sturdy, robust.”

The core of defensive magic was quickly calculating and chanting the most solid magic formulas.

“Alright, give it a try.”

““Magic Shield!””

With the students’ chants, blue light flashed everywhere. Some conjured distorted magic shields, some created shields with missing formulas that were weak in defense, but a few managed perfect magic shields.

They were students who had received early training from their families or had innate talent.

“Hmm! Kowajen. Even in your first class, your shield is nearly complete. Impressive. Repelian, you’re doing well too.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Berayon lavishly praised students from noble families, regardless of whether their magic was truly outstanding.

Finding a reliable sponsor in the magic society was as hard as picking stars from the sky. As Berayon was a commoner, he needed to curry favor with noble students.
T hi s w a s c o p ied f r om k i n gm t l . o r g

‘A professor like him still being at Stella…’

‘Ugh, I really hate this.’

‘Should have taken defense magic from another professor.’

Such corruption was almost routine in the magic world, so the students could only grumble quietly.

‘This batch has many promising students.’

Berayon observed the students’ condition while walking slowly when he heard someone giggling from the back.

Momentarily angered, Berayon was about to scold them, but hesitated when he saw it was Yuslec’s group.

Strictly speaking, Berayon wasn’t a professor but an instructor. As an instructor of defensive magic, he needed connections to stay at Stella Academy, and one of those connections was the family of ‘Morso Dorden’ from Yuslec’s group.

Being sponsored by the Dorden family and being part of Scalven Empire, he couldn’t reprimand them, so he approached with a forced smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, Professor. Look at that student over there.”

“Hehe, doing nothing at all?”

“Shouldn’t he get penalized?”

“What?”

Looking in the direction of Yuslec and Morso’s mocking comments, Berayon indeed saw Baek Yu-seol standing idly.

‘Is he from S class?’

Baek Yu-seol was already famous among the professors. A commoner in S class, resonating with a mid-level staff, achieving 5th place in dungeon practice, and most notably, possessing the ‘spirit of chivalry’ by not using magic.

He was already in the spotlight in the magic world, and Berayon didn’t like that one bit.
T h i s w as c op ied f ro m k ing m t l .o r g

‘Spirit of chivalry, my foot… He just wants to stand out.’

For every person like Lee Han-wol who recognized Baek Yu-seol’s conviction, there were others who didn’t. Unfortunately, more professors didn’t want to acknowledge his conviction.

In a world where everything was defined by magic, they didn’t want to favor someone unique like him who insisted on using a sword.

‘Even though the principal seems to want to leave him be…’
Thi s wa s cop i ed fr o m ki n g mt l. o r g

But does that mean the professors should do the same?

‘After all, his specialty is Blink magic. He doesn’t use any other magic, does he?’

Suddenly having a good idea, Berayon smiled slyly and approached Baek Yu-seol.
T h i s wa s c op ie d fr o m k in gm tl.o r g

“Baek Yu-seol. Why aren’t you doing anything?”

Baek Yu-seol hesitated before answering.

If he said he couldn’t, he’d be penalized for not making an effort. If he said he wouldn’t, he’d be penalized for being impudent.

Especially since Professor Berayon was notorious for his evil deeds in the first-year episode, and if he got on his bad side, he’d face harassment all year long.

Although I remember that Flame delivered justice eventually… waiting until then would drive me crazy. It’s better to just handle my business myself.

“I’m practicing a different defensive technique, so I don’t need to learn basic magic.”

Though it sounded rude, it wasn’t uncommon for students to reject basic education.

Students directly from noble families who learned bloodline magic often had much better ‘heirloom magic’ and could reject school magic.

Hong Bi-yeon Adolevit, ranked 5th in her grade, was an example. She didn’t need to learn the school’s basic fire magic because of her legendary bloodline fire magic.
Thi s w a s c o pi e d fro m kin g m t l . o rg

“Oh, is that so? Your own defensive technique, huh? I’m curious.”

But that only applied to students from proven families.

If every student rejected the professor’s lessons under the pretense of heirloom magic, what would happen to the school’s authority?

To prevent that, professors usually resorted to one method.

Ordering a magic demonstration.

“Then, to set an example for other students with that excellent defensive technique, how about going up on the platform for a demonstration? Your opponent will be… yes, Morso.”

And the magic demonstration usually involved ‘dueling.’

With a twitch of his lips, Berayon spoke, and Baek Yu-seol sighed, nodding.

“Alright then.”

It was a good opportunity to test the defensive techniques he had been practicing with Terivon for the past few days.

End of Chapter