I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

Chapter 72 : Realm of Ascension

“What?!”

When I opened my eyes at the questionable presence, Cho Min-ha was standing in front of the bedroom.

“You’re awake? I was waiting to see when you’d wake up. The sun is high in the sky.”

He replied, stretching his body nonchalantly, not caring that this side was surprised.

“Still, do you just come in when someone is sleeping?”

I almost struck out, thinking he was an assassin. Of course, even if I had, I would have been subdued right away.

‘He’s so selfish.’

If I had my way, I would have wanted to at least give him a warning, but since he had helped me yesterday, I ended it with a moderate grumble.

“By the way, why did you come here?”

I asked him while calling a servant and having a late lunch together.

“I’m planning to go up to the main sect soon. Thanks to you, I got to see something interesting.”

“I see.”

I couldn’t hold onto someone with a schedule for long. I left a greeting in advance.

“That’s a shame. I’ll see you at the academy later.”

As I said that, he nodded his head with a meaningful smile.

“Let’s do that. By then, you’ll probably be stronger too.”

‘He has a sharp corner to him.’

He had a good sense, like when he had sensed the danger of the shadow world and had rushed in.

While I was raising my evaluation of the opponent inwardly, Cho Min-ha added another piece of news.

“But I think there’s another visitor outside besides me.”

“Yes?”

To think he could detect that, even though the room assigned to a direct blood relative of the Zhuge family was soundproofed and had its internal and external energy blocked.

But I was more concerned about the identity of the visitors.

“Hey.”

And so, I asked while having a servant clear the dining table.

“Who came? What’s the business?”

The servant who bowed his head as if apologetic.

“I only heard that it was related to Elder Zhuge Hyeonguk. They did not reveal their business separately. They did not try to come inside either.”

“Do you not know their face or name either?”

“I’m sorry! I have not heard anything other than the appearance of the executives… Judging by their attire, they did not seem to be martial artists. If you wish, I will go and ask right now.”

“That’s fine. What about their age?”

“They seemed to be around thirty.”

A non-martial artist of at most 30 years of age.

‘Looking at it, they don’t seem to be high-ranking people.’

I sorted out the candidates moderately and then stood up from my seat.

When I opened the door and went outside, the people who had come to see me were standing there.

“What brings you here? Without any notice.”

At this side’s question, a man with a stern impression from among them stepped forward.

“We are the disciples of Zhuge Hyeonguk-nim. My name is Zhuge Dong-su. I hear you have refused the position of successor.”

They were aggressive from the start. Then I should give them a suitable answer.

“It’s not a refusal, but a postponement.”

“Isn’t that the same thing!”

Then Zhuge Dong-su, who raised his voice as if he were offended by this side’s attitude. I don’t know if it was because of the answer or the tone.

What’s certain is that if you’re a formation master of the family, you’re basically lower than a direct blood relative.

‘There’s no reason to grovel.’

“Even if you have become a first-class formation master, to be a successor after seeing you just once. We cannot accept it.”

Saying that he was a disciple of Zhuge Hyeonguk, he couldn’t dare to argue with his master and had come to this side.

I muttered, dragging out the end of my words.

“To doubt what Zhuge Hyeonguk-nim himself has judged.”

“Because we also have that right.”

Another guy who was wearing a stern-looking eyepiece stepped forward and added.

“I even beat the elder, didn’t I? Isn’t doubting me an attitude of ignoring Elder Zhuge Jong-cheol?”

Then the disciples of Zhuge Hyeonguk, who had become like a mute who had eaten honey.

“That’s not…”

Although they tried to make an excuse belatedly, the initiative of the conversation had already passed to this side.

“Or. Are you saying that the elder went easy on me? And that Zhuge Hyeonguk-nim condoned that and offered me the first-class formation master qualification and the position of successor without any basis? Was your master that kind of person?”

When I shot back at them, they shut their mouths. It was a foregone conclusion from the moment they came here, not trusting their master’s eyes.

“…Even so, we cannot accept it.”

In the end, what came out was a bluff. It seemed there was no reason to deal with them any further, but it seemed necessary to awaken the reality to the guys who had come in a group without even grasping the subject.

“Alright, if you’re so upset, shall we have a formation battle?”

“Fine. We have a stage prepared, so there…”

Zhuge Dong-su, who answered as if he had been waiting. I cut off their words for a moment and asked back.

“Then what will you do if you lose?”

“Yes?”

“If I lose, you can aim for that position instead of me, under the pretext of having defeated the successor candidate. Then what about me?”

“That’s…”

When I hit the nail on the head, they trailed off. A bet is only possible when the balance is right. Since this side had bet the honor of a successor, the opponent also had to present something appropriate.

“These guys are more clueless than I thought. Am I in a position to fight if you want to fight, and not if you don’t?”

The silence that followed. It was only natural, since this side had nothing to lose, from its status to its position as a first-class formation master.

“Look at these guys, they’re not even worthy of sitting at the same table. Among you, only the first-class formation masters raise your hands.”

At my provocation, they looked at each other and then a couple of guys who had slowly raised their hands. Zhuge Dong-su in the center also reluctantly raised his hand.

‘To be a first-class at around thirty is quite something, but… that’s it.’

Even if we were to concede a hundred times and say that the status of a formation master of the same level was equal, there still had to be a minimum procedure. Just as it was when the directors of the formation halls fought.

“The qualification, the format, and the content of the proposal are all a mess. It means you’re very rude and unqualified. Get lost, I don’t have time to waste on you.”

They, who felt humiliated at the open dismissal, were silent. Among them, Zhuge Dong-su clenched his teeth.

“Still, if you’re confident in your skills, you should fight!”

“Ha, now you’re not even making sense.”

I shrugged my shoulders as if in disbelief.

“Then I’ll answer at your level. If you want to fight me, get the right qualifications or bring a proposal. If you want to move me, who has been designated as the third young master of the Zhuge family, a first-class formation master, and the successor of Zhuge Hyeonguk.”

And so, leaving only a one-sided notice, I passed by them who were standing in a stiff posture.

“So this is what it means to sharpen a sword with your tongue.”

Soon, Cho Min-ha came up to my side and grinned.

“It would have been better if my body could keep up with even half of that tongue.”

As I was being humble, a surprisingly serious answer came back from the opponent.

“Then shall I help you?”

“Yes?”

“Your swordsmanship. I’ll take a look. So that you can reach a higher realm.”

At the unexpected proposal, I blinked my eyes for a moment. To think a super master would look at my sword. It was a considerable opportunity. On the one hand, although I was curious about the opponent’s intention, the answer was honest.

“I’ll be in your care.”

We immediately headed to the training ground and looked at each other, holding practice iron swords.

‘Is my physical condition not that bad?’

My mana was still recovering slowly. It must be the trace of having used the circle unreasonably in the shadow world. But my body was relatively less burdened.

The same goes for the dantian located in my lower abdomen.

‘At this rate, I’ll be able to implement the forms without any trouble.’

I looked at Cho Min-ha with my sword in hand. As I was looking for an opening to attack him, who was standing in a relaxed posture with the tip of his sword lowered as if to say, ‘Come at me anytime’.

“You’re taking too long.”

The sword that had rushed in, filling my vision, stopped in front of my eyes.

“If you’re thinking about defense, you’ll be late. You have to think that you’ll ‘also’ defend. The difference between leaving it as a possibility and having to do it is greater than you can imagine.”

He added, sheathing his sword. I swallowed dryly, feeling my pores stand on end.

‘I didn’t see it.’

If it had been a real battle, I would have been cut.

Of course, it wasn’t that there was no room for an excuse. It’s a rule to yield the first move to a lower-level person.

But to think he would attack out of the blue after saying he would go easy on me, I thought he was a very free-spirited person.

‘No, I was the one who was complacent.’

As long as we were facing each other with our swords drawn, no excuse was allowed. That was the martial world, and the truth of this world where I was standing on my two feet.

“Still, wasn’t that too fast?”

“Why, couldn’t you see it?”

“Yes.”

“But you could have blocked it, couldn’t you? With your current self.”

“Yes?”

A tone as if he were more confident than the person concerned. He tapped my shoulder with his practice sword and then grinned.

“You can’t know with just words.”

At the same time, the opponent’s figure blurred.

“So you’ll have to find out with your body.”

My sense of skin, rather than my sight or hearing, noticed it first, and I raised my sword.

Clang!

And then, at the shock that was enough to shake my whole body, I was pushed back a long way and took a stance.

But Cho Min-ha was already standing behind me.

“Slow.”

When I turned my head, what was there was the face of a sword rushing in.

“I wanted to try something like this once.”

And the last thing I saw was Cho Min-ha’s playful smile.

* * *

My head rang with a pain that turned my vision white. To think he would hit my head so mercilessly.

I naturally endured the hand that was going to the lump on the side of my head and raised my sword.

‘My sword doesn’t work on him.’

Although I had tried to respond with the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword Art, it was just blocked every time.

To say it was a basic difference in ability, Cho Min-ha was slow. After that first confrontation, he had not once moved faster than me.

‘And that first move was also to raise my senses.’

Although he looked sloppy, at times like this, I could feel that the opponent was a super master.

‘Then I’ll just use that.’

If he’s slower than me, then the opponent’s possible movements for each posture, such as his stride, the position of his sword, and his center of gravity, are limited.

‘Of course, I’ll also fully consider, no, respond to the variables.’

After a firm upper cut that pressured the front, rather than digging in, I aimed for the gap in the opponent’s sword and the angle of his waist’s rotation, which were widening the distance, and struck my sword.

The opponent’s center of gravity is back, and the position of his sword is also ambiguous to put power into.

A sword strike that was bound to be faster on this side.

Clang!

But as if he had expected it, Cho Min-ha’s sword deflected it. A result achieved only with the movement of his wrist, the change in his tiptoes, and the elasticity of his abdomen.

‘Damn it.’

I should have been resentful, but I was captivated by the very clean trajectory and the sword cry that was scratched at the tip of the sword.

‘I must be crazy.’

The sword stopped.

Although my posture was the same, my mind’s eye was boiling as if it had received an inspiration.

“I ask for another lesson.”

I shouted spiritedly to continue the duel that had stopped because the flow had been cut off.

Then Cho Min-ha’s side shook his head.

“That’s enough.”

“Yes?”

“You’re at your limit, aren’t you?”

He said, pointing at this side. My whole body was soaked in sweat from the duel that had continued for several hours on top of yesterday’s incident.

It seemed I had overdone it more than I thought in a duel where I had used all my strength for the first time in a long time. To the point where my two legs were also trembling faintly.

“It’s orthodox but sensory, and sometimes flashing and flexible. If you train like this, you’ll be able to reach the next realm sufficiently.”

“I see.”

“This is really something. It’s hard to get a compliment from me, you know.”

Cho Min-ha scratches his cheek awkwardly.

Then, he suddenly asked with a serious face.

“But why are you in such a hurry?”

A gaze as if he were looking into this side’s inner self. Although I could have just brushed it off as usual, I couldn’t do that after he had done this much.

“Because there’s an opponent I have to win against. When this vacation is over.”

“Ho, there should be almost no opponent for you among your peers. He must be quite strong?”

“Because those guys have already reached the peak.”

“That’s you too…”

Cho Min-ha trailed off and then touched the corner of his mouth.

Even to his eyes, it must have felt that my physical realm had not yet reached, compared to the sword qi I had shown before. The overall realm of my swordsmanship also seemed to be far from the peak.

After thinking for a moment, he took a stance.

“Raise your sword.”

“Didn’t you just tell me to rest?”

I asked, raising the faintly trembling tip of my sword.

“In the end, for a dramatic growth, there’s nothing like a life-and-death battle.”

In an instant, Cho Min-ha’s momentum changed. A chilling, thick killing intent that stretched out. If it weren’t for [Extreme Will], I would have flinched.

Soon, Cho Min-ha, who had lowered his stance, pulled his blade back as if to show a drawing sword art.

“If you can’t block it, you’ll die.”

I could tell at a glance that he was serious. A feeling of being on the line between life and death.

All my senses were on edge. As if I had drunk a stimulant, in the midst of each and every breath being clear, the surrounding scenery disappeared, and only I and he were left.

The space between us was filled with the possibility of countless sword paths. Like a magnetic field that was infinitely split.

When I realized this, an irresistible unknown trajectory and a sense of helplessness wrapped around my whole body. But even so, one thing was clear.

That the outcome would be decided at the point where the opponent’s beginning and my end met.

In the middle of the training ground, which had frozen as if it had stopped. The moment the gentle breeze that had been blowing stopped, I struck my sword as if to explode.

Kiiing-!

A collision that happened before I could even perceive it. I took a step back, holding the sword that was resonating greatly.

Since I had used all my strength, my whole body was trembling as if in a convulsion, but I didn’t care.

Because I was experiencing something much more important.

‘I’ve finally reached it.’

The pinnacle of the first-rate. It felt like I had finally caught a glimpse of the fragments of the next realm.

“Congratulations.”

Cho Min-ha grinned and sheathed his sword.

“The wall of the peak is thick. But it’s just a realm you reach at some point. It’s similar to realizing that you’ve walked this far when you look back. Muscles have grown on your body, you’ve grown taller, and the moments you thought were stagnant even though you ran every day have accumulated, and you finally implement a miracle-like daily life where you show an impossible flash. Remember. You already know.”

Against the backdrop of the setting sun, a cool breeze was blowing. After gathering my realization for a moment, I lifted my head.

“Why did you help me?”

“Because I saw something good yesterday. Today is the price for that.”

Seeing my state of barely being able to stand, he turned around, saying that a send-off was unnecessary. As he was leaving the training ground, he added.

“And I feel like you and I will face each other in some way someday. Think of it as a favor from a senior.”

With those words, Cho Min-ha leisurely left the training ground. He would probably leave the Zhuge family right away. Although it was sudden, since he was that kind of person, rather than being disappointed, there was a corner of me that accepted it.

“A senior.”

I muttered, lying down on my back in the middle of the training ground.

It had been several months since I had come to this world, and I felt like I had met a senior worthy of the name for the first time today.

(End of Chapter)