Ch. 403 - Like a Tiger (8)

Before they knew it, the first semester finals had ended, and summer vacation was just around the corner.  

For most ordinary schools, summer vacation would be a time for rest and relaxation, but for the elite students of Stella Academy, there was no time to slack off.  

While many first-year students still had the luxury of taking vacations to enjoy their school life at such a prestigious academy, things changed drastically in the second year.  

Instead of relaxing, more and more students began focusing on external training and practical experiences.  

Second-Year First Semester Overall Rankings:

1. Class S Ma Yu-Seong  

2. Class S Flame  

3. Class S Eisel  

4. Class S Hae Won-Ryang  

5. Class S Hong Bi-Yeon  

Looking at the rankings displayed in the hall, Flame felt an odd sense of déjà vu.  

The list looked almost identical to the first-year first semester rankings.  

Curious, she pressed the search button and typed in ‘Baek Yu-Seol.’  

679. Class S Baek Yu-Seol  

His rank had dropped even lower than it had been during first year.  

Despite being top-ranked in both practical exams and written tests, and even having his flash magic officially recognized as a separate subject, his overall ranking remained shockingly low.  

It didn’t take much thought to figure out why.  

“Just how many assignments did he skip…?”  

Skipping assignments would’ve been bad enough, but Baek Yu-Seol had completely missed entire classes—likely earning F grades in at least three or four subjects.  

Frankly, it was a miracle he even managed to stay in the 600s.  

He should probably be grateful to Elthman for not expelling him already.  

‘… Well, a normal student would have to be grateful.’  

But Baek Yu-Seol was far from normal now.  

Even if he caused chaos in Stella, Elthman wouldn’t be able to expel him.  

After all—  

Baek Yu-Seol was one of the few mages capable of protecting Stella.  

“Still, Ma Yu-Seong is really something…”  

Unlike Baek Yu-Seol, Ma Yu-Seong had never traveled through time and yet consistently held the top spot.  

And despite rarely ever being seen studying, his grades remained flawless.  

“Must be talent.”  

“Yeah…” 

While staring blankly at Ma Yu-Seong’s ranking, a male student suddenly spoke to Flame from behind.  

His name tag read Taseron.  

It was an unusual name, likely belonging to someone from the northern or western regions, where indigenous tribes were more common.  

Judging by his dark skin tone, which was characteristic of the western desert areas, Flame instinctively raised a finger to her forehead, performing a gesture that followed desert customs for greetings.  

“Oh, uh… Hi?”  

“Haha!”  

Taseron suddenly burst into laughter.  

“You’re an interesting senior. You greeted me with a desert custom but didn’t follow it with the desert’s formal greeting. Why is that?”  

“Uh… I just didn’t think it was necessary to go that far. Why? Were you offended? If so, I’m sorry.”  

“Not at all. I actually feel honored that you acknowledged the desert custom at all.”  

Flame glanced at the color of his name tag and confirmed that he was indeed a first-year student.  

However, his name wasn’t familiar, and his face didn’t ring any bells either.  

Taseron moved closer and looked up at the ranking board, where Ma Yu-Seong’s name stood at the top.  

“Senior Ma Yu-Seong… What do you think about him?”  

“Hmm? Well, he’s amazing.”  

Unlike Baek Yu-Seol, Ma Yu-Seong hadn’t traveled back in time or had any special circumstances. He had climbed to the top purely through talent.  

“Is that so? I actually think it’s unfair.”  

“Huh? Why?”  

“You people are the ‘real’ geniuses. Against impossible odds, you were blessed with divine talents and destined to learn magic. You deserve to stand at the top of humanity.”  

“…What are you even talking about?”  

Flame had no idea what he was suddenly rambling about.  

She was well aware of her natural talent and always felt grateful for it. She had never taken it for granted and understood it was purely luck that she was born this way.  

“That’s how I see it. Being lucky enough to be born with talent—that’s fate, and it’s also a form of skill.”  

Flame considered arguing that luck wasn’t the same as skill, but she stopped herself.  

Someone with talent arguing against that statement would only sound hypocritical.  

So, she remained silent while Taseron continued mumbling to himself. 

"But Senior Ma Yu-Seong is… different. He’s not like you."  

"I have no idea what you’re talking about… Anyway, I should get going. I have plans with my friends."  

Not wanting to get involved with this strange junior, Flame made up an excuse to leave.  

Taseron, however, simply smiled politely.  

"Of course. I’ve kept you too long. I should get going too."  

He bowed 90 degrees, showing impeccable manners, before disappearing.  

Flame watched him walk away, absentmindedly twirling her hair.  

"What was that all about…?"  

No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t figure him out.  

Shaking off her thoughts about Taseron, Flame headed toward the Crimson Eagle Club Room, where Hong Bi-Yeon was waiting.  

Inside, Eisel had already taken over one of the expensive sofas, wearing reading glasses and engaged in a heated debate with Hong Bi-Yeon.  

Even from a glance, it was clear they were discussing advanced magical theories.  

The conversation was so high-level that even the third-year seniors in the room looked completely lost, their expressions blank as they struggled to keep up.  

"I’m telling you, there’s no need to stack shields. The efficiency of Prokitex’s layered circuits was already doubled last year by the new reverse-engineering chain formula. In this situation, reinforcing the shield is a waste of effort."  

"Still, it’s not like we can just recklessly increase the area. Unless you can perfectly analyze the destructive power of the opponent’s magic, it’s better to have a stronger shield."  

"And what if you waste all your mana on the shield and can’t counterattack when the opportunity arises?"  

"Hmm, fair point."  

"So you agree?"  

"But you realize, right? If you miscalculate and get hit by a random spell, you won’t be able to counterattack at all, because you’ll already be dead."  

"Oh, for fu—"  

Despite their ongoing arguments, it was clear that Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel still had completely different mindsets and personalities, making them a mismatched pair.  

"Enough with the pointless theories. Are you two ready yet?"  

"Oh, Flame…"  

Flame casually joined the group, grabbing a handful of the expensive snacks that Hong Bi-Yeon had prepared and stuffing them into her mouth.  

Today’s gathering at the Crimson Eagle Club Room wasn’t just for a study session—  

It was also to discuss their upcoming field mission.  

"Some teams have already left for deployment."  

"W-What? Already?" 

As soon as summer vacation began, most second-year students were dispatched on field training missions.  

Although the academy didn’t require these missions, students took them on to gain experience, earn points for better employment opportunities at magic towers after graduation, or even because of pressure from personal connections.  

For Flame, Hong Bi-Yeon, and Eisel, the reason was simple. They wanted to gain experience.  

Hong Bi-Yeon, who never had to worry about employment, could easily gain recognition within the kingdom with just her Stella graduation certificate.  

But that wasn’t enough for her.  

She refused to settle for mediocrity. She wanted to surpass even Hong Si-Hwa’s achievements and had no intention of resting for even a moment.  

Similarly, Eisel dreamed of building her own magic tower after graduation.  

In this cutthroat world, where even getting an entry-level position at a magic tower was difficult, having her own tower meant she had to stay one step ahead of everyone else.  

Their mission?  

A risk level 5 Dungeon Subjugation.  

While their current magical skills made the mission seem manageable, from an objective perspective, giving a risk level 5 assignment to second-year students was considered extremely dangerous.  

That’s why the academy strictly instructed them to prepare thoroughly.  

"We know your magic skills are impressive—even for second-years—but you must be careful! Always!"  

Despite the professors’ concerns, they ultimately approved the girls’ participation in the risk level 5 missions.  

“…So, as long as we’re careful, we can take on risk level 5 missions?”  

Proving that they were qualified, Flame eagerly signed up for as many assignments as she could and ultimately secured seven missions.  

It was a grueling schedule that would consume most of their summer vacation, but Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel had no regrets.  

They knew that if they wanted to catch up and be of help to Baek Yu-Seol, this level of effort was necessary.  

“Alright, let’s head out!”  

***

While the girls departed on their intense summer missions, Baek Yu-Seol, surprisingly, stayed behind at school.  

He didn’t need to earn points or take on outside assignments.  

Instead, training with Scarlet within the academy offered him far greater benefits.  

“Ugh… I’m dying…”  

Scarlet, wearing a shiny headband with glowing star patterns, stumbled with an exhausted expression.  

But Baek Yu-Seol wasn’t sympathetic in the slightest.  

“Let’s do it one more time. I’m starting to get the hang of it.” 

Baek Yu-Seol’s body was battered and scorched, with signs of frostbite scattered across his skin. He was already a mess, but somehow, he still looked full of energy.  

As he raised his wooden sword, Scarlet reluctantly lifted her staff in response.  

‘Ugh, this is hopeless! Forget training—I just need to knock him out cold so we can’t keep going!’

After all, Baek Yu-Seol had handicapped himself by not using Flash magic and was only wielding a wooden sword without any magical enhancements.  

Meanwhile, Scarlet was using class 5 magic.  

She had even gone so far as to commission Alterisha to craft specialized equipment and personally asked Elthman to weaken the academy’s magical barriers so she could cast more powerful spells inside Stella Academy.  

Of course, the drawback was that her antenna headband’s battery drained rapidly the more powerful her spells were.  

But at this point, Scarlet didn’t care.  

“…Crimson Shackles of Life.”  

With a short incantation, red flowers bloomed from the ground around Baek Yu-Seol.  

Despite their vibrant color, the flowers emitted an icy chill, and anything they touched was frozen solid.  

The spell was designed to immobilize Baek Yu-Seol, who relied heavily on mobility to fight.  

It was a Class 6 spell—one that Baek Yu-Seol had never seen before.  

Even his Sentient Spec couldn’t analyze it immediately.  

But Baek Yu-Seol reacted instinctively the moment he saw it.  

Without any assistance, his natural reflexes kicked in.  

Step—

“…Huh?”  

Even Scarlet was shocked.  

Instead of cutting through the Class 6 magic—which sapped vitality upon contact—Baek Yu-Seol simply stepped onto it.  

Not only that—  

Step. Step.  

Baek Yu-Seol took one careful step after another.  

Then, realizing the flowers posed no threat, he broke into a full sprint straight toward her.  

‘What is this…?’

For the first time in ages, Scarlet felt genuine panic.  

To be precise—  

800 years, 97 days, 6 months, 17 days, 7 hours, and 19 minutes.  

After nearly a thousand years, the White Witch was truly shaken—  

By another person’s magic. 

In that moment—  

Time stopped.  

It was an instant so brief that Baek Yu-Seol, still charging forward, couldn’t even perceive it.  

This was the ‘Time of Thought’—a spell that only a class 9 mage could wield.  

In this frozen moment, no one else could think.  

Only a grand mage of the Class 9 could process thoughts within this timeless realm.  

‘Analyze. I need to analyze this…’  

Baek Yu-Seol’s footsteps weren’t threatening.  

Scarlet was certain his attack couldn’t harm her.  

And yet—  

His movements felt strange.  

So strange, so fascinating that a burning curiosity stirred within her.  

No mage in existence could walk on magic.  

While stepping on solidified magic like ice or stone might be possible, touching something as intangible and repelling as raw magic energy was impossible.  

To make a comparison—  

It would be like a normal human walking on air without magic.  

Wasn’t it ridiculous?  

And yet—  

Right now, Baek Yu-Seol was running across pure mana itself.  

And this…  

This wasn’t Ha Tae-Ryeong’s technique. The swordsman who once captivated Scarlet’s admiration a thousand years ago.  

Ha Tae-Ryeong didn’t step on magic.  

He cut it down.  

Ha Tae-Ryeong was a swordsman prodigy, a master of destruction, who could cut down even class 9 magic—  

The one who had ultimately held his sword to her throat.  

He could be called the greatest magic destroyer. 

But Baek Yu-Seol—  

He wasn’t copying Ha Tae-Ryeong.  

Instead, his approach was completely different.  

Where Ha Tae-Ryeong used genius swordsmanship to cleave and destroy magic,  

Baek Yu-Seol, who had zero talent in swordsmanship, analyzed and understood magic—  

He identified weaknesses and cut along precise fault lines.  

That was the difference between the two.  

A genius and a talentless person.  

Baek Yu-Seol, unfortunately, had no talent for magic or swordsmanship. 

But…  

He had something that made up for his lack of talent in magic and swordsmanship. It was an extraordinary analytical ability.  

‘He’s a genius.’

Though he was untalented in magic and swordsmanship, he was a genius in analysis, calculation, and judgment.  

What he had just demonstrated was proof that he had grown through his training with Scarlet.  

Scarlet had seen it before.  

She remembered how Ha Tae-Ryeong, who had only shown a level of 5 one day, suddenly displayed a level of 50 the next.  

An impossible phenomenon for mages, as their growth relied on mana circles and gradual accumulation of magic.  

But it was a phenomenon unique to swordsmen with Mana Leakage Disorder, who could grow purely through insight and enlightenment.  

Baek Yu-Seol’s growth had likely been stagnant for a long time.  

No matter how much he trained, his lack of talent made it difficult to reach higher levels.  

Time might have eventually solved this.  

Perhaps after 10 or 20 years of effort, he could have approached Ha Tae-Ryeong’s level.  

But Scarlet had become his catalyst—  

She had pierced a tiny hole in his mental barrier, and that hole had expanded into a breakthrough.  

This moment was the result.  

“...What are you doing? Aren’t you going to respond?”  

Baek Yu-Seol, holding his wooden sword to Scarlet’s neck, frowned at her.  

But Scarlet simply smiled brightly, like a fool.  

“Nope, I couldn’t respond. You win.”  

“What…?”  

He was dumbfounded.  

They had only exchanged one move, yet she was already calling it a victory.  

Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t accept it, but Scarlet looked completely satisfied.  

Smiling even wider, she reached out and pinched both of his cheeks.  

“For now… Take some time to reflect on what you just learned. At this moment, that’s more important for you than continuing the training.”  

“Uh… Okay…?”  

Although her tone was light and cheerful as usual, there was an odd weight to her words that Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t ignore.  

‘This feels… strange.’  

After Scarlet left, Baek Yu-Seol stood still, clenching and unclenching his hands as he replayed the battle in his mind.  

For the first time in a long while, he felt like he was on the verge of breaking through—  

As if he could finally do something he hadn’t been able to before. 

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