Due to the school schedule, the visit to the Eunwol family was postponed to the weekend.
Lee Seo-jun and I agreed on Friday after school and parted ways.
And the next day.
Ordinary life began again.
I woke up early in the morning, washed up, and headed to the dorm cafeteria for breakfast.
Today’s breakfast menu was soybean paste stew.
I carried the tray with the bubbling stew and sat down at a table.
As I took a sip of the soup, its unique savoury taste spread through my mouth.
“Mmm.”
This is exactly what breakfast should be.
The school cafeteria offers a variety of menus, but it’s good to have something like this once in a while.
Just as I was focusing on my meal, someone sat across from me.
“Sunbae-nim!”
It was Choi Seo-yoon. On her tray was a handmade pork cutlet.
“I see you at the cafeteria often these days.”
“Yeah, I know. But pork cutlet in the morning?”
“Here, have one.”
Choi Seo-yoon picked up a piece of her pork cutlet with her chopsticks and placed it on my plate.
“I’m good.”
“It’s not bad to have more side dishes, right? Eat up.”
I looked at my tray. I wondered if there was something I could give her in return, but there wasn’t anything suitable.
As if reading my mind, Choi Seo-yoon said,
“You don’t have to give me anything.”
“Then at least have an egg.”
I cut a portion of my fried egg and placed it on her tray.
For some reason, she grinned widely.
“Only about three weeks left until final exams.”
“Yeah, time flies. Maybe it’s because we have three exams each semester.”
Saying that, I took a bite of the pork cutlet. The crispy batter and juicy meat combined perfectly—it was delicious.
This school’s pork cutlet is really good.
It tasted slightly different from ordinary pork cutlets. I cautiously guessed they might have used ‘magic power’ in the cooking.
“Did you hear the final exam content leaked last night?”
“I did.”
Rather than a leak, it would be more accurate to say the school deliberately released the information.
And thanks to the original work, I already knew what kind of exam it would be.
“It’s the joint battle between all grades.”
“Yeah, it sounds like it’s going to be huge in scale.”
Choi Seo-yoon also put some food into her mouth after me.
“Then maybe you and I could end up on the same team?”
“If we’re lucky.”
At my offhand reply, Choi Seo-yoon seized on the wording.
“Lucky? Whose luck are you talking about?”
“Why are you nitpicking over something so trivial?”
“Come on, tell me.”
“…My luck. You’re the top of first years. It’d be great to have a strong teammate.”
It’s the last exam of the year. To finish in the top five, I absolutely need top-tier results.
And it’s better for my competition if there are no second-year elites on my team.
If I get a good grade, they’ll get good grades too.
Someone like Lee Seo-jun or Yoo Ara might be okay to team up with, just one of them.
At my answer, Choi Seo-yoon gave a pleased look and teasingly said,
“Hoo~ That’s a lot of pressure. You need me, huh…”
“…Don’t be so dramatic.”
Choi Seo-yoon chuckled and resumed eating.
At that moment, someone else sat next to me—and it was a surprising person.
“Hi.”
“Oh, hello, sunbae-nim.”
It was Yoo Ara.
Choi Seo-yoon bowed in greeting at Yoo Ara’s hello.
I stared at Yoo Ara and asked,
“What is it?”
“What?”
“I mean, what brings you to sit next to me all of a sudden?”
“I just didn’t feel like sitting alone. And I have something to ask you.”
Yoo Ara said as she picked up her chopsticks.
“Something to ask?”
“You went somewhere with Lee Seo-jun last night, right?”
At her words, Choi Seo-yoon looked intrigued.
“So what?”
“…I was wondering if you two were secretly training without me.”
So that’s what was bothering her?
This girl’s imagination is something else.
And that competitiveness—doesn’t even make sense.
I looked at her in disbelief, and she frowned.
“What’s with that face?”
“…You’re being ridiculous.”
At my words, Yoo Ara frowned in displeasure.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
After finishing all my classes, I headed to the manifestation-type magic training hall.
As soon as I arrived, I configured the training equipment.
[Generating target.]
With the announcement ringing in my ears, a magical ‘dummy’ was summoned at a distance.
“Hoo.”
I took a short breath and began channeling magic.
Crackle—
A ‘spike’ charged with electricity formed above my hand.
The form was still unstable, but that was to be expected at this stage of practice.
Electric-type spells use a lot of mana, but the spike form uses relatively less.
It’s a compatible combination, so there was no harm in practicing in advance.
I extended my hand toward the target and released it.
Bang—!
The spike shot out swiftly.
With its small surface area, it flew even faster than a typical magic orb.
A trail of blue light infused with electricity.
The spike struck and destroyed the dummy’s head.
[76 points]
“Tch.”
The score was more disappointing than I expected. While 76 might seem high, the target was only Grade 6—relatively low.
Also, I was confident I could score 100 using my usual magic orb form, which made it more frustrating.
“Tch.”
It was disappointing, but it couldn’t be helped.
It takes years to fully master even one form.
It had only been a few days since I started practicing the spike form. Expecting a higher score now would be greedy.
━━
[Electric Attribute Control Technique]
[Grade: 0 (52%)]
━━
Still, the proficiency of my Electric Attribute Control Technique had now reached 52%.
Attribute proficiency had been steadily increasing, but it had risen sharply—by about 15%—after facing Baek Eun-seong recently.
Compared to the amount of training time, it was a decent rate of growth.
“I’ll take this slowly for now.”
The reason I came to the training hall today was for something else.
It was to practice ‘simultaneous dual-form manifestation.’
One in the form of a spike, and one in the form of a sphere—manifesting them at the same time.
In manifestation-type magic, this was the highest level of technique, beyond even compressed manifestation techniques.
Incidentally, this training also serves as practice for ‘simultaneous dual-attribute manifestation.’
If I could pull off the simultaneous manifestation of two attributes, I might be able to create situations in one-on-one combat that would be very difficult for my opponent to deal with.
And maybe—just maybe—I could one day succeed at the “simultaneous triple-attribute manifestation,” which no mage in history has ever achieved.
But for now, it was a far-off goal for someone like me, who couldn’t even properly manifest a single spike form yet.
Better to put away such delusions for now and focus on dual-form manifestation first.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
Whoooong!
I first manifested the ‘sphere,’ the form I was most familiar with.
While keeping that stable, I began to simultaneously manifest the second form—the ‘spike.’
Magical energy swirled around me, and an unstable form began to take shape over my hand. A long stick.
This was far from what one could call a spike.
I tried again to mold it into the correct form using my imagination, but it didn’t go well.
“…Tch.”
In the end, I dispelled the manifestation.
As expected, trying to manifest two forms simultaneously was still too difficult for someone who couldn’t even handle a single spike properly.
Still, that attempt gave me a bit of a feel for it.
The flexibility of imagination. The method of controlling mana.
I had a growing confidence that if I tried again, I could do better than before.
[You have gained magical insight through a new attempt.]
[Mana Control Technique (B) proficiency increased by 22%.]
“Huh?”
Proficiency increased?
[Mana Control Technique (B)] [Proficiency: 92%]
“Haha.”
A smile spread across my face.
92%.
Only 8% left to reach A-rank.
I had originally planned to reach A-rank within one or two years, but I was improving much faster than expected.
Time passed, and Friday evening—the day I’d promised to meet Lee Seo-jun—finally arrived.
I was waiting for him in front of the school gate.
“Kim Sunwoo.”
Just when I was starting to get tired of waiting, Lee Seo-jun showed up.
“Geez, what took you so long?”
“Ah, sorry. I was talking with a teacher for a bit.”
“We’re running late. Let’s hurry before it gets worse.”
Lee Seo-jun nodded and started walking, then suddenly said,
“But you really didn’t have to come with me.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I could’ve gone alone. I feel bad that you’re tagging along.”
“It’s fine. I want to learn something too.”
In this world, each mage family had its own secret techniques.
And those techniques were only passed down to mages belonging to that family.
Normally, they were passed down through bloodlines, but sometimes, families took on disciples to expand their power.
It was a form of ‘power cultivation.’
The Eunwol family was well-known among prestigious families for raising disciples.
And training magic resistance against illusions was a rare opportunity.
Of course, you could buy that benefit as an outsider, but with limited points, you shouldn’t miss a free chance.
Plus, who knew what butterfly effect could unfold? It was better to stay close to Lee Seo-jun.
At my words, he nodded.
“You put it that way, I can’t argue. Let me know if you need help with anything next time—I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Then if we end up on opposing teams for the finals, let me win.”
“What?”
He gave me a baffled expression.
“What? You said you’d help me with anything.”
“But that wouldn’t just hurt me, it’d hurt my teammates too.”
“Tsk. All talk.”
He still looked dumbfounded as he stared at me.
And so, Lee Seo-jun and I took a portal to a small town in Chungcheong Province.
After walking through streets that resembled a rural village, we arrived at a large estate.
From the outside, it looked like a traditional Korean house.
The nameplate had the large word ‘Eunwol’ engraved on it.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
Lee Seo-jun muttered quietly beside me. I hesitated for a moment, then rang the bell.
Ding dong.
The door opened, and someone appeared.
It was a young woman who looked to be in her twenties.
“Who are you?”
She asked us.
Lee Seo-jun replied politely.
“I’ve come seeking instruction from the Eunwol family.”
“Huh? Wait, that face… are you Lee Seo-jun by any chance?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
When he answered, the woman blushed slightly and stared at him intently.
“Wow… that face… Ah! But you want to become a disciple of the Eunwol family?”
“Yes, is that not allowed?”
“Oh, no, I’ll go inform the head of the household. Please wait a moment.”
With that, she ran off somewhere. Lee Seo-jun turned to me and asked,
“Think they’ll accept me?”
“They will. That woman’s probably a disciple too.”
“Still, they won’t just accept anyone, right?”
“Just show your talent. They’re more open than you think. Besides, you’re not just anyone.”
“…”
He didn’t respond.
Soon, the woman returned.
“Please come in. The head of the household wishes to see you.”
And so, Seo-jun and I entered the residence.
Inside, I saw a few disciples wearing hanbok.
It really felt like we’d stepped into a martial arts sect from a wuxia novel.
“This way, please.”
As we walked, I felt someone watching us.
Peeking out shyly from behind a wall was a silver-haired girl.
Her exotic hair color didn’t match her Asian features, but it suited her pale skin perfectly. Most of all, she was stunningly beautiful.
As soon as I saw her, I realized who she was.
Eun Seol-ah.
The granddaughter of the Eunwol family head and a key new character who would enter the mage academy as a first-year next year.
When our eyes met, she flinched and disappeared behind the wall.
“…”
Click.
Just then, a door opened, and we entered a large room.
A woman in her forties sat inside, gazing at us intently.
The head of the Eunwol family, Eun Hye-soo.
Despite her youthful appearance, she was actually in her seventies.
“So, you’re Lee Seo-jun? I knew you’d come one day.”
She then turned her gaze toward me.
“And who’s that? Your lackey?”
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