I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

Chapter 86 : Blood Fiend Seo Muk-ho (1)

‘How did this happen?’

I quietly observed the way things were going.

In the center of the crowd, Namgung Bihwa was wiping the back of her hand with a handkerchief. A cold gaze, as if displeased.

The atmosphere around her seemed to freeze because of the aura she was emitting.

The way she was wiping her hand was somewhat obsessive. At the strangely incongruous sight, I recalled one fact.

‘I see.’

There was only one reason why the two relatively moderate people, Baek Hasin and Namgung Bihwa, would clash.

Demonic Qi.

Come to think of it, what Namgung Bihwa detested was precisely demonic qi.

I heard she had a bad experience in the past. I don’t remember the details, though.

It seemed that while Baek Hasin was waiting for the opening ceremony, he had tried to control his energy as usual for training, and a small amount of demonic qi had leaked out. Unfortunately, it had reached Namgung Bihwa.

Since he had become rapidly stronger recently, his control was precarious.

Of course, even so, it was excessive to be so heavy-handed.

‘What a grand welcoming ceremony.’

Just as I was thinking that, I suddenly felt a presence from the center of the crowd.

When I lowered my gaze, Baek Hasin was there, getting up from the ground, clutching the dirt floor with a pained expression.

‘To think there would be such a difference.’

Baek Hasin had also grown considerably in the meantime, but I never thought he would be defeated so helplessly.

No matter how much one talked about it being an accidental accident, not a formal duel, or whatever, a real battle always happens suddenly.

In the end, it was Baek Hasin who had fallen without being able to use his proper strength.

That overwhelming gap seemed to be saying this.

That they had merely crossed the wall of a junior student.

And it showed.

That those who were knocking on the wall of a senior student, beyond an intermediate student, were on a different level from the start.

“That’s enough.”

After thinking that far, I cut through the crowd.

“…And you are?”

Namgung Bihwa raised an eyebrow and glanced this way. My impression of her wasn’t good to begin with, and since I had appeared at a bad time, she had no choice but to look at me that way.

“It’s been a while, senior. No, now that we’re classmates, I’ll speak comfortably…”

“……”

Feeling an unusual momentum, I trailed off my words and retreated. With this, I had drawn enough aggro.

In the meantime, Baek Hasin had gotten up, so the rest would be resolved between the two of them.

But contrary to that thought, Namgung Bihwa turned around abruptly, and Baek Hasin just dusted off his clothes as if nothing had happened.

The friction ended more blandly than I had thought, but the real thing was from now on.

“Attention!”

Just then, the opening ceremony for the intermediate students was held.

I could see a few professors, including Wu Hwiryeong. Among them, a middle-aged man with a cold and stern impression, who looked to have some experience, came forward.

‘Why is that man here?’

It was Baek Yuhwan. I couldn’t understand why he, who had definitely been in charge of the junior students last semester, was in this place.

‘Don’t tell me he’s still trying to keep Baek Hasin in check?’

It was absurd, but it was safe to say that a mid-level professor’s assigned class would not be changed in the middle of the school year without his consent.

It was a truly ridiculous thing.

‘Let him try.’

Whatever he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop Baek Hasin now.

Based on the original work, this was the period of his most explosive growth.

A voice was heard.

“From the second semester, it’s a full-fledged real battle. There are no common classes other than personally seeking guidance.”

Baek Yuhwan’s assertive voice filled the training ground.

It was a new semester, but there were no classes. It was strange, but everyone seemed to have understood, as if they already knew.

In fact, by the time you become an intermediate student, you are at least a first-rate martial artist. At this point, it’s no longer just a time for learning.

A time to combine real battle and training. Shutting oneself up in the mountains and training day and night until one becomes a super-master was now an old-fashioned method, except in special cases.

Because no matter what theory or lecture, in the end, there was nothing like experience in battle.

Baek Yuhwan’s explanation continued.

“In order not to be held back or to be promoted, you must at least fill the minimum score for external activities.”

Baek Yuhwan’s words continued. The minimum score for external activities, that is, the minimum credits, was an essential condition to prevent being held back.

Also, in order to advance to a senior student, one had to accumulate a certain number of credits or more.

In the end, it was a system where the more achievements and fame one gained outside, the more points were greatly allocated.

The reason why the students of the Martial Academy were famous throughout the central plains was precisely because of this. Because from the intermediate student onwards, there were external dispatches.

Since they mainly performed righteous deeds supervised by the Martial Alliance, it was also helpful for gaining real battle experience and fame.

It was not uncommon for those who stood out among the intermediate students to obtain a title during their external activities.

‘Although it’s that much more dangerous.’

Of course, it wasn’t just the students who went on external activities. Usually, an instructor was included, or depending on the case, they would be accompanied by a military unit from the Martial Alliance.

I let Baek Yuhwan’s explanation flow in one ear and out the other, and I checked my future plans.

‘I will advance to a senior student within this year.’

The reason I had taken the grade-skipping exam this time was all because of the senior student promotion exam that would be held at the end of this year.

In my case, since I had received Jeongmuk’s recognition in the past and had obtained the Martial Study Sword, I had passed one of the application qualifications, but the most basic credits were in a precarious situation.

‘To catch up to the top-tier level, I have to be that much more active.’

Namgung Bihwa and the other intermediate students had been accumulating credits through external activities, little by little, during the first semester.

Since I had joined late, I had to catch up even faster.

And so, as I was checking my plans in my own way, I heard Baek Yuhwan’s voice from outside my consciousness.

“Then we will now conclude the opening ceremony. As for the external activities, they are posted on the bulletin board of the intermediate student building, so choose and participate as you see fit. If you don’t want to be held back.”

With that, it seemed he had glanced at me and Baek Hasin’s side, but I ignored it.

‘What I can do is limited anyway.’

The fact that there were no classes meant that it would be difficult for the professors to interfere at their discretion. Since there was no way I would be taken advantage of with my eyes wide open, there was no reason to worry.

And so, the opening ceremony came to an end.

The intermediate students, who scattered in their own ways as if they were used to it.

If I were to make a modern analogy, it was a concept like a self-designed major, so from now on, everyone had to do it on their own.

‘Then the place I have to go is decided.’

I moved my feet towards the intermediate student building.

A fairly tall building was soaring there. As I entered the entrance, on one side of the ㅁ-shaped central hall, which was made by demolishing the ceiling from the first to the third floor, request forms were posted in large letters.

[Northern Hunan — Elimination of the remnants of the Eighteen Fortresses of the Yangtze River Waterway. No reward. Estimated at twenty individuals. Intermediate grade, 4 points.]

[Geummun Merchant Guild, escort to Jiangxi Province. Reward 80 nyang. Scheduled to take five days. Low grade, 1 point.]

[Anhui Province, Blood Fiend Seo Muk-ho. Bounty 2,600 nyang. Martial arts level estimated to be at the extreme of the peak level. High grade, 9 points.]

Most of them were related to the work of the Martial Alliance or were received as requests.

The request forms had a maximum of 10 points and had three major classification criteria.

Low grade was 1 or 2 points, intermediate grade was 3 or 4 points, and high grade was 8, 9, or 10 points.

You can think of it as the point difference between each grade being more than double.

Although there were sometimes intermediate-high grade requests between 5 and 7 points, since their number was rare, it was more convenient to classify them into the three categories above.

‘It’s going to be a lot of work to fill the credits with these.’

The total credits required for the senior student application qualification was 80 points. And even that was the minimum, and usually, it had to be 100 points.

The other intermediate students must have already secured more than 30 points during the last semester.

Compared to that, the points I had were 0. It was a tight situation to even fill the minimum credits of 50 points to avoid being held back.

After finishing my thoughts up to that point, I chose one of the dozens of request forms.

‘Then this is the only one.’

What I chose was the high grade difficulty hunt for Seo Muk-ho. It was a conclusion I had reached after reading the request form, which had his martial arts, appearance, and last known location written on it.

‘The problem is that he’s too strong.’

No matter how much he was an individual, he was still a master who was evaluated to have reached the extreme of the peak level. A master at the level of the elite of the Zhuge family, the Hakseondan.

Although it was extremely dangerous, in the current situation where I didn’t have much time, it was a request that was worth a try among the high grades.

Just in time, there was something I wanted to test and confirm regarding the martial arts he used.

‘I’ll reverse-engineer the Blood River Art and find the weakness of the Blood Cult guys.’

The grudges of the martial world do not disappear.

Since I didn’t know when I would face the female master from the Blood Cult who had attacked me in the past, I had to prepare a countermeasure.

The force in Sichuan that Tang Surin had mentioned was also highly likely to be the Blood Cult.

It wasn’t a bad idea to gain real battle experience with a master of the Blood Cult this time.

‘But I can’t do it alone.’

No matter how good a plan was, if I couldn’t digest it in the end, it would be all for nothing. The more high-protein a food was, the more preparation was needed to chew it thoroughly.

Thinking so, I slowly turned my head. Then, a guy came into my sight.

Just as I was approaching him to talk, the opponent first spoke in a blunt tone.

“That was an unnecessary interference earlier.”

It was Baek Hasin.

“For someone who got beaten up so badly?”

“…I won’t be beaten next time.”

“Then it means you were beaten at that time. If it weren’t for me.”

“What in the world are you trying to say?”

Baek Hasin slightly narrowed his eyes and glared at me. In response to that, I fluttered the request form in front of him.

“Aren’t you in the same boat as me anyway.”

A newcomer who had just entered the intermediate student level and needed credits. I said to him.

“Let’s do a job together, us.”

The persuasion continued.

Then, Baek Hasin, who had been showing a reluctant expression at first after seeing the high-grade request form, soon nodded his head.

“But it’s difficult with just us. It’s also ambiguous whether they’ll listen even if we request a guide.”

From the intermediate student level, it was almost laissez-faire. Even if you died during an external activity, they didn’t take much responsibility.

It was like a sect’s journey into the martial world. A situation where you had to bear both the risks and the achievements yourself.

Since most of them were over the age of 20 or around that age, it was a time when it was understandable.

Still, for dangerous or justifiable activities, you could receive support from an instructor or a professor, but the problem was that they didn’t provide such high-level personnel to just anyone.

It meant you couldn’t have high expectations.

“It’s okay. Because there was a wooden plaque hanging next to the request form.”

A wooden plaque pinned to the bulletin board was a kind of standby application. In the case of a difficult request for a single person, they would hang a wooden plaque like this to wait for additional personnel.

To be on standby alone for a high-grade request meant that they were at least a peak-level master.

If there were three peak-level masters, including us, it was worth a try.

And most of all, there was a mage on this side.

The moment a mage could truly be active was precisely when their strength was combined. If only the conditions were provided to pour out all their firepower, they could maximize their efficiency.

If it were simply three peak-level martial artists, Baek Hasin would have continued to object. It was because he had watched the process of me defeating Baek Cheong from the side that he had accepted this request.

‘Of course, I’ll have to see the level of the person on standby.’

First of all, since the basic premise of this team was that the front line, including Baek Hasin, had to hold on, the martial arts level of the person on standby was important.

If the opponent was around the initial stage of the peak level, it was necessary to gather more personnel. Because even if it was the same peak, the difference between the initial stage and the extreme stage was enormous.

‘From what I observed last time, Baek Hasin’s martial prowess is now at the level of just having reached the proficient stage of the peak level.’

Perhaps because of the talent of [Peerless Body] and the qi sense of [Absolute Magic], it was a judgment I could make because it was possible to gauge the opponent’s level to some extent.

Then, if Baek Hasin were to fight properly with a master who had reached the extreme stage, he would be able to barely last a few exchanges.

The conclusion I reached based on this was that, in the end, it was urgent to supplement the front line for a sure hunt. We took the request form and headed to the reception desk.

The clerk who was looking at the work there took the request form with the signature and asked back.

“This is really something. It could be dangerous for an intermediate student, are you sure?”

With that, he subtly questioned our martial arts level. A formal procedure like this to prevent a pointless death.

When we each slightly showed our sword qi, he finally nodded his head and began to scribble something.

Around the time the general procedure was over, I got to the main point.

“I’d like to meet the person on standby.”

At my question, the opponent lifted his head from the book and gestured to one side.

“He just came here to confirm the additional personnel and left. He’s over there.”

We turned our heads, following his fingertip. The straight index finger was pointing at…

‘I had a feeling when I heard the name Anhui Province.’

I let out an inward sigh and faced the identity of the person on standby.

A woman with straight, soft hair and sharp eyes, it was Namgung Bihwa.

(End of Chapter)