Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

After the training, Baek Yu-Seol had a private meeting with Instructor Lee Han-Wol in the Second Main Tower.

As he handed over the prize, Lee Han-Wol asked, “Why don’t you use other magic skills?”

Baek Yu-Seol realized that the time had come.

There was no explanation for why he did not use other magic skills in the game. The character Baek Yu-Seol had little to no backstory and was in Stella Academy as an extra.

But reality was quite different. Every one of his actions would draw the attention of others, and he could not keep making personal excuses.

Therefore, the honest answer to Lee Han-Wol’s question was, “I’m incapable of using magic.”

He had to answer truthfully.

A student entering a magic academy without being able to use magic? 

Did that make sense? 

What kind of repercussions would the stigma of “a mage who can’t use magic” have on his academic life, career, and society?

If he was extremely unlucky, he could even be expelled from the academy. He would not get a second chance because this was not a game.

However, after looking confused for a while, Lee Han-Wol answered, “No worries. We’ll respect your beliefs. But you’ve decided to walk a rather difficult road ahead. Yes, it’s admirable, but it’s also worrisome.”

“Eh?”

Before Baek Yu-Seol could even understand what he was talking about, Lee Han-wol ended the conversation. 

Then, the next moment, Baek Yu-Seol was out of the room with Lee Han-Wol’s concluding statement echoing in his ears. 

“Keep up the hard work.”

He was not certain, but it appeared the result was positive. He had feared that his inability to use magic could cause problems such as expulsion, but since Lee Han-Wol had now acknowledged him, there would be no problems for the time being.

Afterward, on the way out, he met Hong Bi-Yeon and she handed over the item he had been lusting for.

The magic sword, Teripon.

“Look at it.”

It was not flashy, but there was something special about its simplicity—something ancient buried deep behind its ordinary appearance. 

That was the description of Teripon in the game.

It was actually quite lovely. 

A transparent pearl-like crystal shimmered in bright colors at the tip of the 20cm long silver rod. 

The color was said to change depending on the attributes used.

In his case, he had no attribute, so there should be no change even if he held it.

“As expected, it took the shape of an intangible sword. It’s difficult to find something like this.”

He was glad that he had helped the princess. Even if he used all the money he had accumulated so far, he would never have been able to obtain a magic sword of this level.

Now that he had this, he thought he could relax for the next episode.

‘It would have been quite versatile if Flame had this.’

The protagonist, Flame, was a very special existence. Although she was a human, she could wield the magic of elves, dwarves, and angels.

Unlike Hae Won-Ryang and Ma Yu-Seong who would eventually handle five attributes, she was a multi-attribute user of a different kind.

One of this staff’s characteristics was that it constantly drained the user’s mana. As a result, it was impossible to use unless you were a fairly skilled mage.

Flame, on the other hand, possessed qi regulation and the ability to restore mana by praying to nature. As a result, she could use this wand to perfection.

But what about Baek Yu-Seol?

He had no mana.

Because of the mana leakage delay, mana was constantly being absorbed into his body, but he could not accumulate even a speck before it was discharged.

In other words, the concentration of mana contained in his breath would soon become the output for the Teripon.

[Mana Leakage Delay Lv.2]

[Strength: +05%]

[Agility: +08%]

[Sense Enhancement: +15%]

[Sixth Sense: Activated by consuming the user’s mental power. Effective within a radius of 18m.]

[Once mana fluctuation is detected, Cognitive Acceleration would activate. It is automatically triggered when it is judged that the user is facing a crisis.]

[Mana Circulation Rate: 1%]

The first time he checked the mana leakage delay skill description, the circulation output was 1%. There was nothing of such when he first reached level 2. It was created after he started breathing exercises.

‘It’s only at 1%…’

Next, he checked his abilities.

[Baek Yu-Seol]

[Abilities]

[Physical Strength: 1-star (77%)]

[Sense: 2-star (29%)]

[Agility: 1-star (87%)]

[Stamina: 1-star (55%)]

[Endurance: 0-star (97%)]

[Mental Strength: 1-star (43%)]

[Mana: ~]

[Remaining EXP: ~]

[Skills]

[Flash Lvl.1]

[Characteristic]

[Mana Leakage Delay Lv.2]

There was no opportunity to gain EXP, but as the level of the mana leakage delay increased, some of the stats went up along with it. In particular, every time he gained EXP, he invested in his senses and it rose noticeably.

‘It’s hard to train physical strength stats with simple exercises.’

Where was he going to get the protein? Baek Yu-Seol’s health and physical strength increased slightly after consuming the root he received the other day, but the change was insignificant. 

“Well, I’ve got a weapon now, so I should go on a dungeon tour,” he concluded.

Baek Yu-Seol’s mana output was still low, so Teripon’s power might not be as strong, but its performance was so good that it could accompany him even if his strength soared in the future.

He wondered if this was enough to clear a low-grade dungeon mentioned in Sentient Specs.

However, before that…

“Should I practice how to use a sword?”

Living as a modern man, he had never attended a swordsmanship class, so he had little experience with actual swords. 

Since there was no separate swordsmanship-related skill, the only way to train himself was by swinging it a lot.

Class S Training Facility.

There was a training field here to improve students’ sense stats. There was a device similar to a pitching machine for shooting baseball.

The students practiced their dodging and blocking with the magic bullets fired from various angles and speeds. This, in turn, increased their sense stat.

The increase would be faster if the machine were manipulated by a mage with a high sense stat. 

However, most preferred automatic training by pressing a button.

Since the efficiency was low, the characters had to train themselves constantly.

“It would be nice to have something like this in real life.”

As soon as Baek Yu-Seol pressed the button, a light appeared on the screen in front of him.

[Magic Pitching Machine, Level 1!]

[Respond quickly to the attack by releasing a magic shield.]

Shoo!

As a red sphere flew towards his left thigh, Baek Yu-Seol immediately pulled out the Teripon.

From the top of the 20cm long silver rod, a pure white flash of light rose almost one meter high.

It reminded him of a lightsaber.

Taang!

When the sphere struck his mana sword, Teripon shook. If his breathing rate was disturbed, the power of the magic sword would also become chaotic.

‘Concentrate! Concentrate!’

Shoo! Bang! Shoo! Bang!

The trajectories of the flying magic spheres were not fixed. Except for the ground and the ceiling, all four directions were possible routes.

It was not easy to wield Teripon.

[Level 1 Cleared!]

‘I hit all 20! Wow, should I sign up to become a baseball player?’

The first training ended in an instant.

He had no idea how to use a sword, but perhaps the monstrous reaction speed granted by mana leakage delay made it possible to swing the sword in response to incoming attacks.

When he saw the perfect scoreboard, his confidence soared.

“It’s doable. Please raise it to level five.”

[Level 5. Start!]

Pa! Pa! Pa!

“Oh! Please! Kekk! Argh!”

Amid countless magic spheres dancing around in every direction, he dodged like a madman.

“Hey, hey!”

It was impossible to even maintain the shape of Teripon’s light field. The first time he swung it, five magic spheres came knocking on his doorstep. 

The second time he swung it, as many as fifteen magic spheres struck him. 

‘What the hell?’

‘How do I block them?’

After lying on the ground to rest, Baek Yu-Seol went back to the machine and pressed the level 5 start button.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

That day, he had bruises all over his body.

“In elementary and middle school, all of your courses were theoretical.”

Time for the mandatory subject, Magical Defense Techniques. 

“During the previous dungeon practicum, many students were unable to properly use their magic. It’s entirely natural. This is due to the fact that proper magic is learned from the age of seventeen in high school.”

The students in Classes A and S were strong, but the students in F to D who could properly hunt demons could be counted on one hand.

“However, starting today, we’ll have time to practice proper magic and implementation.”

At the words of Professor Verayen, the eyes of some students flashed.

In elementary and middle school, the use of magic was extremely limited, and it was quite tiresome to only study the theory of dungeons and magic.

However, from the age of seventeen, they began to practice magic. That was where some people started to show off their unique talents.

‘You have to be able to use magic too…’

Baek Yu-Seol lamented inwardly.

First of all, he was only taking the lecture because it was a required course, but it was close to a waste of time.

This course was available at any time. There were students from Class F to Class S because it was a mobile class where you could listen to lectures whenever. 

Before even beginning, Verayen distinguished between “remarkable” and “not-so-remarkable” students.

‘You did a good job arranging everyone by grade.’

Even the lower class students were capable of learning, but it would be far better for his image if he primarily focused on Classes B to S students, who had the potential to rise even higher in society.

“Come on, let’s all raise our staffs.”

As the students pointed their staffs into the air, Professor Verayen explained, “Once upon a time, there was an era when magic was imaginary. In the days when defense was determined by their will, mages defended against enemy attacks by simply spewing out mana ignorantly.”

Verayen gently shook his staff.

“But not anymore.”

A blue magic circle hovered in front of him. His complex circle specialized in defense magic.

“A magic shield is like a kind of ragged iron plate. It’s possible to further increase the strength by adding runes related to defense such as strong, hard, resilient, durable, and tough.”

Computing and chanting more and more solid magic formulas in a short time was the key to defense.

“Let’s all do it.”

“Magic Shield!”

As the students chanted, blue light began to flash from all directions. Some students cast distorted magic shields, while some created magic shields with poor defense and missing formulas. However, there were some who made perfect magic shields.

They either had an early education in the family or were gifted students.

“Oh! Kowazen, even though it’s your first class, your shield is almost perfect. That’s good. Lesrian, you’re good at it too.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Verayen looked at the students of noble families and heaped praises on them, even if their magic shields could not be considered great.

Finding a reliable supporter in the magical society was as difficult as picking a star in the night sky, and since Verayen was a commoner, he needed to be remembered by noble students.

‘I can’t believe this professor is still in Stella.’

‘Oh, I really hate this.’

‘I should have taken another professor’s defense class.’

This level of corruption was, in fact, a very common thing in the magical society, so there was nothing the students could do but quietly mumble.

‘This batch certainly has a lot of good students.’

Verayen was walking slowly and observing the conditions of the students when he heard someone giggling behind him.

He tried to pinpoint the offender but paused for a moment when he realized the target was part of Yuslek’s faction.

Verayen was an instructor rather than a professor. A defense instructor. He needed personal connections to stay connected to Stella Academy, and one of those connections was the family of a student named Morso Dorden, a member of Yuslek’s faction.

Some of them were sponsored by the Dorden family, and because they belonged to the Skalven Empire, he could not do anything to them. So, Verayen approached them and squeezed out a smile that was as sweet as possible.

“You guys, what’s going on?”

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

“Haha, why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Shouldn’t you at least give him a penalty?”

“What?”

When Verayen returned his gaze in the direction they pointed, he noticed the student named Baek Yu-Seol standing still and doing nothing.

Yes, it was unfortunately Baek Yu-Seol.

‘Is he a student in Class S?’

Baek Yu-Seol was already famous among professors. As a commoner advancing to Class S, he had an excellent record of being ranked fifth in Dungeon Training and resonating with an upper-intermediate grade staff. Above all, he was unique since he practiced the chivalry of the old times.

Baek Yu-Seol was already attracting attention from the magic world, but Verayen did not like it very much.

‘Chivalry is just…. He just wants to stand out.’

There were bound to be those who did not recognize his beliefs, just as there were those who did. 

Unfortunately, the number of those who refused to accept his beliefs far exceeded those who did.

They refused to accept the concept of using a sword in a world where magic was the standard.

‘The principal seems to want to leave that student alone, but…’

But he never said anything to the professors.

‘Anyway, that student’s characteristic magic is flash. Didn’t he say that he doesn’t use any magic other than that?’

Verayen, who suddenly came up with a good idea, raised the corner of his mouth slightly and approached Baek Yu-Seol.

“Baek Yu-Seol. Why are you doing nothing?”

“Well.”

Baek Yu-Seol pondered the answer for a moment.

If he said he could not do it, he would be given a penalty point for giving up without trying.

Besides, Professor Verayen was notorious for his misdeeds during the first-year episode, so once he was caught, he would be bullied for the rest of the year.

Baek Yu-Seol remembered Flame as the embodiment of justice. However, if he waited until then, he would die of anger. It was better for him to do his own thing.

“I’m learning other defense techniques, so I don’t need to learn basic magic.”

At first glance, that could seem like an absurd answer, but in fact, it was quite common for students to reject this basic education.

In some cases, students learned the inherited magic skills from their blood relatives. Those skills were far superior to the magic skills taught at the academy, allowing them to reject the professor’s magic.

Hong Bi-Yeon Adolevit was an example of someone who did not learn the normal flame-attribute magic in the academy because she was studying the legendary bloodline magic of the flame world.

“Oh, is that so? Your own defense skill? I’m curious.”

However, that only applied to students from well-known families.

What would happen to their teaching authority if all students rejected professors’ classes on the pretext of inherited magic?

Therefore, there was usually one method chosen by professors to prevent it.

To order a demonstration of magic skill.

“Then, in order to set an example for other students with that great defense technique, how about going up to the podium and demonstrating it yourself? Your opponent will be… Yeah, Morso would do.”

And the magic demonstration mode was usually combat.

As Verayen licked his lips and spoke, Baek Yu-Seol sighed and nodded.

“Alright.”

‘This is fantastic.’ 

It was an excellent opportunity to test the defensive technique he had been practicing with Teripon for a few days.