I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

Chapter 93 : Dragon and Phoenix Assembly (3)

After finishing the quarterfinals, I was on my way back to the inn. Choi Mi-kyung, who had caught up with me before I knew it, tapped me on the shoulder.

“You’re pretty good.”

“Haha, I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

I answered with a moderate laugh.

“Of course not. You knew all along.”

Choi Mi-kyung muttered for a moment and then added playfully.

“Who do you think will win?”

It was a question that couldn’t be a question. So I suggested instead.

“Let’s make a bet.”

“Huh?”

“If I lose, I’ll invite and guide you to the Martial Academy, which you’ve been curious about.”

“Hoo, then what about the opposite?”

“If I win, please give me your testimony.”

“Testimony?”

A question arose in Choi Mi-kyung’s eyes.

“You saw me induce the blood demon’s berserk state earlier, right?”

I asked in a confident tone. There was no way she hadn’t seen it. Because she had been watching the match with Yang Ha-eun, who was next in line after me.

Choi Mi-kyung quietly nodded her head.

“I’d like you to testify to that. In front of others.”

“You’re quite bold.”

The corner of her mouth rose slightly. What I was asking for now was to borrow the authority of an elder of the Hainan Sect.

I needed her name value. Because after the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was over, I was planning to go back and write a thesis on the Great Blood Art. It was necessary for my credits and to keep the Blood Cult in check.

In fact, the Great Blood Art was a difficult technique to use in a real battle. A high-level technique that required inducing, amplifying, and changing the resonance of a specific pattern through qi.

To learn this, you had to have not just a good sense, but a considerable talent. Because it was a matter that required a control that had reached the extreme, not a matter of the depth of your realm or internal energy.

Of course, there were very few who could use it in battle other than me, the creator. Probably even a super-master would have to stand still and concentrate to use it.

Still, that alone was enough to distinguish the subordinates who had infiltrated various parts of the central plains.

Because forcibly inducing the enemy’s berserk state meant that you could weed out the hidden blood demons.

Considering the importance of information warfare, it was a strategic technique that could change the entire war situation.

But even if I said I had a way to distinguish the Blood Cult by myself, it wouldn’t work.

It would take a very long time from verification to education and spreading it in the field. It might not even be proven at all.

So I needed authority. Just as you secure credit by citing or putting a professor’s name in a thesis, the testimony of an elder of the Hainan Sect could bring credibility.

‘Since it’s not a lie, there won’t be a problem.’

I looked at the opponent. A somewhat thoughtful gaze. Although it seemed like nothing special, a name was quite important.

When you’re an elder, your business card itself reveals your affiliation and existence.

That’s why it was necessary to give a gentle push from behind.

“If I create the Great Blood Art related to the Blood Cult in the future, the first witness will be Elder Choi Mi-kyung.”

“That’s not bad.”

Choi Mi-kyung, who nodded her head faintly. She was a cautious person despite her seemingly light tone.

‘If I had set a bigger condition, I would have been rejected.’

This was, after all, a light bet. Since I couldn’t ask for something huge in a relationship that had only lasted a few days, this was the answer I came up with.

It doesn’t matter if I lose. If we go to the Martial Academy together, my safety on the way back is guaranteed.

It was the same for the opponent. Whether she won or lost, she had to stop by the Martial Academy in the end. So she could go to the place she was curious about.

A good bet should have a pleasant process and result.

Doesn’t a drinking bet with a friend also presuppose a drinking party that everyone can enjoy together, whether they win or lose?

And such bets usually start with a stubbornness.

“Don’t tell me you don’t believe in your disciple, do you?”

“This… yes, then!”

When I gently scratched her, permission was finally granted. Choi Mi-kyung grumbled for a while and then gave a blunt look.

“It won’t be easy. Although she’s timid, her martial arts are unrivaled among her peers.”

“I’m prepared.”

“Then that’s fine. But is it okay for us to go to the Martial Academy?”

I nodded my head and answered yes.

From the intermediate students, you can invite people from outside the school. Because there are many points of contact with society, such as external activity factions and clubs.

Of course, the procedure is quite strict, but if you’re an elder of the Hainan Sect, you can pass easily.

“Then it’s a bet. You have to keep your promise.”

“Alright, you just get ready to guide me.”

On the way back to the inn. We had a war of nerves, and only Yang Ha-eun, who was caught in the middle, didn’t know what to do.

The next day dawned. The path to the semifinal venue was full of spectators and various merchants.

In an era where martial power was everything, a master was a person of power. In that sense, for the common people, the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was a chance to get a glimpse of future talents and a rare and precious spectacle where they could experience the performance of a master they had only heard about in words.

To the extent that even after the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was over, the area would be noisy with news related to the competition for a while.

“Then let the semifinals begin!”

When the thunderous declaration was heard, I went up to the training ground. Beyond the stage, which was about 30 meters wide, was Yang Ha-eun.

She, who had been arranging her momentum with a sword in her left hand, soon lifted her head. The gaze that was staring from beyond her lush bangs was sharp.

“Begin!”

The sound of a bell echoed, and Yang Ha-eun began to run right away. I took a stance and recalled the plan I had prepared.

‘I’ll use magic to a minimum.’

I had felt something while absorbing the true blood and awakening the mana blood recently. A feeling as if I were about to reach a vague wall. I instinctively felt that it was an opportunity for growth.

A sign of a realm ascension. The talent of [Peerless Body] was on the verge of a full-fledged bloom.

The intuition on the other side of my consciousness was telling me. That I shouldn’t rely on magic for the next leap.

I took a step diagonally in line with the opponent’s advance.

Then, in an instant, her arm bent, and a sword that was soaring as if it were scooping up from the left. The pride of the Hainan Sect, the South Sea Thirty-Six Swords, unfolded.

‘Fast.’

I raised the Muhak Sword, looking at the blade that was approaching, eating up the distance in an instant.

Clang!

The sword, which had pushed in heavily like a wave, bent in an instant, and a soft series of strikes followed.

‘I’m being pushed back.’

It was different from the Huashan Sect newcomer I had fought yesterday. Although it was the same beginning, I could feel that she had embodied the enlightenment more surely. Her form was stable and profound.

To the extent that my body, which had been enhanced with mana blood, was being pushed back. I hurriedly surrounded myself with sword qi, which had been condensed from mana, and blocked the opponent’s offensive.

Saaaaa-

Just then, a low vibration was felt beyond the sword.

‘This is?!’

Yang Ha-eun’s sword began to shine blue. Sword qi, a symbol of the peak level and a bridgehead for the manifestation of the mind’s eye, began to vibrate the surroundings.

The blue wave scattered in a single strand and then took the form of the sea.

“Damn it.”

It seemed she was not at the beginning. The blue light formed along the trajectory she had swung, and the afterimage of the sword qi, which had been implemented with the mind’s eye of the South Sea Thirty-Six Swords, pressed down on me along with the sword.

I forcibly exploded the mana blood by applying the Blood River Art. No, even that was not enough, so I cut the shield into small pieces and wrapped it around my body.

I endured the residue of the sword qi by mobilizing various means and barely deflected Yang Ha-eun’s offensive. At the same time, the tip of my sword flashed.

Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.

A gracefully bent sword aims for Yang Ha-eun’s shoulder. But the attack was blocked too easily. On the contrary, since she had tried to use the offensive to land a counter, I stepped on the Spirit God Steps and increased the distance.

‘That was dangerous.’

The sword of the Hainan Sect was a fast sword, but it also had the characteristics of a changing sword. Because it was flexible and had many variables, if you were to get caught up in it once, you would be swept away. Just like a raging wave.

Having escaped from the touch-and-go crisis, I let out a long breath. I had only exchanged a few blows, but my breath was rough, and my two hands were trembling faintly.

Before blaming this weak body, I first examined the opponent. Yang Ha-eun, who had revealed her presence like a huge wave, was aiming for the next move with her sword outstretched.

‘It’s like the sea.’

Usually calm, but you never know when it will reveal its huge power. To me now, Yang Ha-eun was like a huge tsunami.

‘Then I’ll have to overcome the wave.’

In an instant, a question flashed through my mind. Overcome the wave. With what? A sword? Or magic?

When I thought that far, a hollow laugh escaped me without realizing it.

What have I been doing until now? I dropped my sword to the floor with a laugh.

“……?”

At that incongruous sight, Yang Ha-eun’s eyebrows, which were covered by her thick bangs, were slightly raised.

The posture that Zhuge Cheonwu had taken now was a formation that aimed for a counterattack in line with the opponent’s movements, rather than a standard check with the blade outstretched to the front.

‘Strange.’

She was sure after exchanging a few blows just now. That Zhuge Cheonwu was at least half a step below her. But it was strange for a novice to take such a posture.

Because such an act was like yielding the first move. It even felt like a trap. But Yang Ha-eun was not careless. She was planning to dig in with the fastest form she could.

So that he could never block it with a late follow-up attack.

Yang Ha-eun’s sword was dyed blue, and in an instant, her figure shot out quickly. At the end of it was Zhuge Cheonwu.

–

I faced the situation in front of me with a much clearer mind.

The wave of Hainan is coming. I was just facing the fate that was approaching like a small reef in front of it.

‘You have to ride the wave.’

I had been having foolish thoughts until now. To win by using magic to a minimum. That such a restriction was the path to a realm ascension.

‘What I’ve built up is not like that.’

I had lived my whole life calculating and measuring. In the midst of it, I had sometimes relied on my intuition, and at other times, I had trusted my head. But that was not the essence of my life. Looking back, at least at the moment of a match, I had bet everything.

Because that was all I had. I couldn’t have survived otherwise. That was me.

Along with the expansion of my consciousness, all the mana in my whole body exploded in one go.

Fwoosh-!

Yang Ha-eun, whose eyes widened in an instant at the explosion of the tremendous energy.

I wrapped the sword with all the mana I had drawn out. My whole body was hot. The sword gradually began to be dyed red.

My instinct was whispering to me to entrust it to the senses of my body, but that was not all of me.

The five senses of my body and my calculated reason were all mine.

I won’t leave anything behind. To ride the wave, you had to know how to throw everything into its grain.

I took a heavy step and struck with my sword.

A sword strike that soared from bottom to top, and a plum blossom that bloomed along the trajectory of the red sword qi.

The red trajectory, as if a plum blossom were growing from a reef, stretched out towards the wave that was mercilessly rushing in.

Clang-!

A desperate ringing that was hard to believe had come from the clash of swords erupted.

A battle of a fast sword and a fast sword. The brilliant red and blue sword qi intertwined with each other and lit up the center of the training ground.

A sword strike that contained the heaviness of a wave strikes down, and a sword that resembled the freedom of a plum blossom deflects it and digs in as if taking root.

The wave was rough and huge. It was so precarious that it seemed I would be swept away just by riding it. The sword was sent flying, and an excruciating pain arose in the joints that were creaking from the shock.

But I did not let go. Because a plum blossom blooms even in winter.

I gripped the sword tightly. And I manifested the inner mind’s eye that I had only been observing until now in this place.

Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art Second Form, Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance.

Just as the name suggests, the sword flutters like a butterfly and teases Yang Ha-eun’s sword. It doesn’t engage in a frontal confrontation, but deflects the blade and looks for an opportunity.

In a precarious situation where I would be swept away if there was even a slight error, I did not hesitate. Sometimes I dug in boldly, and at other times I retreated far away like a coward.

It felt as if all the time in the world had become scarce. In a world of high density, I alone saw the opponent’s sword slowly.

A state of self-forgetfulness. Strangely, my senses became clearer every time the swords clashed. The more painful it was, the sharper my consciousness became. Just like a tempering.

It felt as if I were becoming a sword myself. The path that the sword had to take was so close that it seemed I could grasp it. That’s why. I had twisted the existing sword path.

A red-and-red trajectory bends wildly and dazzles the eyes.

Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art Ninth Form, Plum Blossom Nine Changes.

The sight of the plum blossom, which had been implemented with sword qi, changing nine times was not just brilliant, but dazzling.

Clang-!

Yang Ha-eun’s sword was sent flying back for the first time. The torrent of the blue sword qi’s afterglow, which had been created, distorts as if a ripple had occurred.

A red sword stabs into that gap.

In an instant, the wave churns. The raging waves of the tsunami, which had filled the vision, bloom in a red-and-red color in an instant, as if the wave were soaked in the sunset.

Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art Tenth Form, Plum Blossom Full Bloom.

The plum blossoms, which had bloomed to the fullest before I knew it, spread out, swallowing the wave.

“……?!”

Yang Ha-eun’s mouth opens as she is pushed back by the suddenly strengthened sword. But even as the wave of the sword qi is clearing, she is still firm.

This was not enough. I exploded all the mana I had put into the sword until now.

Craaack-!

The surroundings began to freeze. The sweat froze white and then scattered like snow. The body, which had been covered in heat, emits steam and strikes with the sword. Beyond that, a chilling cold is carried.

The cold, which seemed to freeze everything it touched, reached the plum blossom that had finally bloomed at the tip of the sword, following the branch that had stretched out with the sword path as its root.

Pshhh!

The plum blossom that had bloomed to the fullest in the world freezes dazzlingly white.

The ice flowers were in full bloom in the spot where the wave had stopped for a moment. And soon, the curtain of the blue sword qi collapsed, and the illusion that had been shaping the mind’s eye scattered.

What was revealed in that scene was me, who was holding out a sword covered in frost, and the pale face of Yang Ha-eun, whose neck was touched by the tip of the sword, as she had not been able to block it.

“…I, lost.”

When Yang Ha-eun finally declared as if she were squeezing it out, a cheer that was more explosive than any other stage poured out over the training ground, which had been engulfed in a silence.

“Waaaaah!!!”

In the midst of the thunderous cheers of the thousands of people, I was still feeling the tingling fingertips and the beating of my heart. The highly elated senses gave me the certainty that I had finally reached it.

Peak-level achievement.

It was the moment when I had finally broken through the wall.

The arena was truly a crucible of enthusiasm. In the midst of the chaos mixed with excitement, the cheers continued for a while.

“Waaaaah…”

But the atmosphere was somehow strange. Even though Yang Ha-eun had declared her surrender, the host did not declare a victory.

When I belatedly came out of the afterglow and turned my head, the host was talking with one or two of the masters who had been invited as judges on one side.

The host, who had been nodding his head with a troubled expression, finally came up onto the stage again.

Although it was still noisy, the heat of the match had subsided a little.

That’s why I could hear it clearly.

“Since a sign of the use of sorcery has been detected, we will now judge whether it is a violation of the rules.”

A variable that I had never heard of in my life.

(End of Chapter)