Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 251

Chapter 251

The Noble Soul (4)

***

Aether’s Far East, Istus Plateau.

There was a beautiful tourist spot called the ‘Heavenly Dragon Cliff,’ named because the shadow cast by the towering cliffs resembled a dragon ascending to the heavens when the sun shone down.

Though it had been eroded by dark mana for over a hundred years, rendering it ineffective as a tourist destination, it still attracted countless adventurers. Even after all this time, the place still breathed with the pulse of life…

But today, that pulse seemed to come to an end.

Clouds began to rise from the ground.

Not metaphorical clouds, but real ones—the very clouds that usually floated in the sky.

However, due to the distortion of space, they had momentarily settled on the ground, disoriented and confused about their position.

The clouds were swept away by the wind like mist, revealing a landscape that was no longer a cliff, but more of a basin.

The once majestic cliffs had collapsed into a flat plain, and the mountain range that formed the backbone of Istus had been uprooted and forcibly repositioned. Any adventurers who would visit in the future might have to redraw their maps.

“…Ah. This is a problem.”

Rudelik Hallow, the Tower Lord of the Tower of the New Moon, stood there, wiping the blood that trickled down from his mouth with his sleeve. But then he realized that his right arm had long since been crushed and disappeared beyond a dimensional rift.

“Haha, as expected… The Twelve Divine Moons are still a bit too much for me.”

His battle with Grey Sky October had been quite the experience for him.

A battle between spatial mages was entirely different from ordinary magical duels.

For them, the phrase “looking one step ahead” became meaningless, as they completely ignored the constraints of space.

Step, step.

Grey Sky October emerged from the clouds, his expression cold as he looked down at the fallen Rudelik.

“You’re doing something pointless. Is there any reason for this, mage?”

“Who knows.”

Although he had known he would lose, that didn’t mean his actions were without purpose.

He had managed to alter a ‘very small event’ that was bound to happen soon.

If Rudelik’s prediction was correct, Grey Sky October would have sensed a twist in fate from Silver Age November here.

Of course, any mage of the 9th class or above could feel that fate was being distorted, so Grey Sky October would have noticed that much.

However, he wouldn’t have found the most fatal ’cause’ behind the change in fate. As soon as the Twelve Divine Moons interfered with the affairs of the world, all events and stories would be tainted.

Grey Sky October would never act without full understanding. He would undoubtedly try to identify and eliminate the ‘one cause’ of the twisted fate through Silver Age November.

That must not be allowed.

While Grey Sky October could see the entire world… he couldn’t see the smallest, most trivial things. Rudelik had to take full advantage of that fatal flaw.

Someday… until that boy could stand up to Grey Sky October.

“The flow of the world will end in less than ten years. All of this is just meaningless flailing, mage.”

Grey Sky October said, casting his gaze into the distance. He tried to track the traces of Silver Age November, but the old man had fled so quickly that he couldn’t be found.

“…Next time, this won’t go unanswered.”

With those words, Grey Sky October disappeared into the grey space.

“Hah…”

Letting out a hot breath, Rudelik slowly stood up and stroked the space where his right arm had once been with his left hand.

A golden light shimmered, and the severed arm rapidly regenerated. It had taken a tremendous amount of mana to restore the lost limb, but it was still better than being inconvenienced.

“Still, you’re quite something.”

Rudelik spoke into the air as if talking to himself. Surprisingly, a silver line appeared, splitting the space, and Silver Age November, who had hidden long ago, reappeared.

“I never expected you to be so adept at manipulating space that you could deceive even the spatial Twelve Divine Moons…”

“Time and space are inseparable. After running for hundreds of years, I had to get good at it.”

Silver Age November muttered bitterly.

“Perhaps I’ve been living too irresponsibly, having let go of everything.”

“…That’s not true.”

Rudelik denied his words, but he couldn’t shake an overwhelming sense of pity.

Most likely… Silver Age November had seen some horrifying vision, possibly even worse than the impending destruction of the world in ten years.

That’s why he had given up on his ability to foresee the future.

He had even sealed his memories, entrusting them to his ‘fragments,’ and chosen a life of running away. As a result, they now found themselves in this situation.

‘What kind of sight could he have seen that even Silver Age November, one of the Twelve Divine Moons, couldn’t overcome his fear and ran away?’

That was the question Rudelik had always pondered.

“Are you worried?”

Silver Age November suddenly asked, and Rudelik nodded.

“…Yes.”

The old man smiled bitterly and turned to walk away, heading somewhere unknown.

“I truly am a pathetic sight.”

Yet, for some reason, his back didn’t seem heavy, as if he had finally shrugged off all his burdens.

There was no doubt about it.

He had made some kind of decision.

It was likely… something he had decided even before meeting Rudelik.

What had changed him?

Just as Rudelik was about to ponder the question, the answer became clear.

There was only one person in this world capable of shaking fate so profoundly.

‘It’s only been half a year since he appeared in this world…’

That boy is moving quickly.

With that thought, Rudelik closed his eyes. The battle he had just fought had exhausted him… He needed some rest.

***

Compared to modern times, communication methods in Aether were incredibly inconvenient. Not only was there no such thing as personal cell phones, but if the person wasn’t near a telephone, it was a hassle to contact them.

-I’m perfectly fine, so there’s no need to worry.

Especially when the person you were trying to contact was the Elven King. As a mere student, reaching out to her personally without scheduling it was out of the question. But thanks to Alterisha, I was able to give her my dormitory phone number, and we managed to get in touch.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

-Of course. Are you worried about me?

Flowerseorin made a playful joke, and I responded casually.

“Well, something like that.”

-…Oh my, is that so?

She paused for a moment and then let out a soft laugh.

-Hehe, I don’t know why, but that makes me feel happy.

Even after hearing her answer, I couldn’t completely set aside my worries. It wasn’t just her that concerned me—I was worried about myself, too.

Recently, I had started having mental issues.

More specifically, there seemed to be a problem with the skill [Blessing of Red Spring March].

I was well aware of my own mental strength.

While it’s odd to rate one’s own mental fortitude, I had always prided myself on having a fairly resilient mind, having survived an unfortunate childhood with optimism.

On top of that, I had received the blessing of Red Spring March, which I thought allowed me to maintain an unbreakable mental state, no matter the circumstances.

But lately, there was a single negative feeling that kept creeping into my mind.

‘Despair.’

Logically, this meant that something had gone wrong with Red Spring March…

-Anyway, I’m truly doing well. I’ve been taking off my mask more frequently these days, and I feel refreshed because of it.

Flowerseorin, who had received the same blessing as me, didn’t seem to be experiencing any problems at all. This led me to believe that the issue wasn’t with Red Spring March, but with my own mental state.

There were two possible causes.

Either I had become so deeply negative that even Red Spring March couldn’t handle it, or someone connected to me mentally was in trouble.

The former wasn’t the case.

I tended to live in a carefree manner, enjoying life without much thought, and even if something bad happened, I always had the mindset of ‘Well, it’s not like I can die more than once.’

In other words, the real cause was most likely ‘Spirit Leafanel,’ with whom I was mentally connected.

“Hmm, do you have some time?”

-…Time?

Flowerseorin hesitated for a moment as if contemplating something, and that’s when I realized I had made a mistake.

Asking the busy Elven Queen if she had time? My goodness, even a chimpanzee wouldn’t ask such a question.

“Oh, I’m sorry—”

-I think I can make time.

“…What?”

-Yes. I won’t be able to set aside too much time since my workload has piled up… but I think I can manage a little.

She let out a deep, worried sigh. It seemed that the absence of Oranha, her recently retired aide, had left a significant gap.

“Uh… Just a brief moment would be fine. I’m planning to visit Leafanel.”

-Oh my, really?

Leafanel was said to be one of Flowerseorin’s closest friends.

…In fact, she might even be her only friend.

In any case, Flowerseorin had always cherished Leafanel, and as a High Elf, she would be extremely sensitive to any changes in the spirit’s condition.

Besides that, I also wanted to spend some time with her and Leafanel together.

-That sounds wonderful. When should we meet?

“Is this weekend okay?”

After I said it, I had a fleeting thought—did royalty even have weekends like normal people? But Flowerseorin answered without hesitation.

-Yes! Let’s meet this weekend.

After finishing the call, I checked the time.

It was almost time to head out for dinner with Ma Yuseong and Aiselle as part of our club activity.

Since it was summer and I didn’t need a jacket, I just threw on my uniform shirt and vest before heading out. In the hallway, I saw a group of second-year seniors hurrying somewhere.

Judging by their attire, I could guess what was going on.

‘League of Spirit.’

If Soul Chess was the ultimate brain sport in the magical world, then the ultimate physical sport was League of Spirit.

Naturally, Stella Academy had its own League of Spirit club, and it was massive—far beyond the scale of my humble Gourmet Club.

It was almost like a professional sports team, backed by astronomical sponsorships. Given that the youth teams of all the magic schools gathered for an enormous annual tournament, it was no surprise.

And considering that this was ‘Stella,’ the most prestigious name in magic, such astronomical sponsorships were to be expected.

After all, this was a matter of pride between schools.

“Ugh, this is a problem…”

“What should we do?”

“How about we just bring in third-year Senior Malek?”

“He’s individually talented, but terrible at teamwork… Plus, he doesn’t listen to orders.”

“And we have to fill the remaining slot with a first-year. Bringing in a third-year would incur a penalty.”

“What other choice do we have?”

As I tried to pass by them, it seemed they were facing some sort of dilemma. I had a hunch.

‘A sub-episode flag.’

This was a common event that often triggered while playing the character ‘Flame’ in the game *Aether World Online.*

It was a typical setup where Flame, an ordinary commoner girl with little interest in clubs, accidentally filled in as a substitute for the League of Spirit club, only to have her hidden talent shine.

This event was part of the prologue that players went through before engaging in online matches of League of Spirit. Over 90% of players would experience this episode.

And now, that event was happening.

“Hey, aren’t you Baek Yu-seol, the first-year?”

“Yeah, I heard he’s pretty smart.”

“I don’t think he’s ever played League of Spirit… but he should be fine, right?”

The seniors approached and asked me.

“Hey, have you ever played League of—”

“I’m not interested.”

I quickly refused and bolted.

“W-Wait! Just hear us out! It’s fine if we lose the match!”

“We’ll buy you something delicious afterward!”

“No thanks.”

It was a bit unfortunate, but I had no interest in League of Spirit.

To be precise, I had grown tired of team games.

During my time in Korea, I had played enough 5 vs 5 team battle games to learn one undeniable truth.

‘If there are five people, one of them is always a deadweight.’

There was no telling who the troll among those seniors might be.

Nothing frustrated me more than performing extraordinarily well, only to lose because of bad team dynamics. That’s why I preferred 1 vs 1 matches.

“Just once…”

I brushed off the senior’s hand reaching out to grab me and quickened my pace.

I was sorry, but they should take that request to Flame instead.

End of Chapter