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Chapter 21

What makes him think that he can act like that?

As an honor student of Borsippa College, information about Se-Hoon was already circulating in the academy. And that information contained the fact that Se-Hoon’s physical abilities were among the lowest of this year’s freshmen.

He hadn’t learned any combat techniques, and he didn’t have proper equipment.

The only variable is probably the weapons he showcased at the entrance ceremony, but he doesn’t even have them right now...

Seitz wondered if he had missed something, but he couldn’t find anything that might pose a threat to him.

... then I guess it’s that, after all.

Realizing what the source of Se-Hoon’s confidence was, he sighed deeply and slowly began to speak, “Right. Since you also were admitted into Babel Academy, you must have a trick or two up your sleeve. You probably think you’re unmatched if you give it your all.”

Oftentimes, there were students who made baseless assumptions that they were the most exceptional at Babel Academy. This often occurred among students from humble backgrounds, and the reason was simple.

“But this is Babel Academy. Every student here has some kind of talent and strength, and you’re just one of them. Do you get it?”

Due to lacking the chance to meet someone superior, these students often fell into the ridiculous delusion that they could do anything if they just set their minds to it. Usually, such freshmen tasted the harsh, cold reality before even the first semester ended.

“It means that you’re nothing special.”

Today would be the day Se-Hoon swallowed the bitter pill.

Keeing!

Seitz’s mana activated the barrier, and the environment around them changed. The gloomy air pressed down as if wrapping around their bodies, and the shadows in the forest grew denser and darker.

Then, from within the forest, dark shadows began to dash through the bushes. Obscured by the shadows, they each made a low, strange howling sound, reminiscent of wild beasts.

At this sight, anyone’s fear of darkness and beasts would be stimulated.

However, up to this point, one would still think that these were merely illusions created by the barrier.

Swish!

Yet, the shadow wolf that just whisked past Se-Hoon’s head made it obvious that they weren’t mere illusions.

“Hmm.”

A few strands of hair fluttered down as if it had been cut by something sharp. As Se-Hoon calmly observed, Seitz continued with a cold look in his eyes, “This is your last chance. Apologize to Miss Erika.”

Realizing that Seitz still didn’t understand even after being told many times, Se-Hoon decided to resort to force.

He pondered for a moment before asking, “What you told me just now, is that your story?”

“What?”

“It just seemed like your emotions were leaking out of your words; you didn’t sound like you were just saying it for the sake of it. So you also got a proper beating after acting tough in your freshman year?”

Surprised by the unexpected response, Seitz’s mouth fell open. Se-Hoon nodded at this reaction.

“Well, I do understand. It must be bitter to realize you’re not the best after all.”

“You... you...!”

“But you should have still kept your pride. How foolish to just cling to others and pick up after them without caring about your own growth... tsk, tsk.”

Shaking his head in disapproval, he looked at Seitz with pity.

“This is why you ended up being called a dog.”

His calm yet penetrating remark dug deep into Seitz, and Seitz finally lost it.

“Shut up!!!!”

His mana exploded, and the shadows in the forest rushed toward Se-Hoon all at once.

Wha—

Dozens of black wolves came out, baring their fangs and letting out monstrous screams.

Seitz’s signature skill, Shadow Wolf Barrage, was a C-level barrier that immobilized the target while creating shadow wolves.

Crackle!

Although these shadow wolves were illusions created by the barrier, they were able to inflict wounds if imbued with additional mana. Thus, distinguishing between the real and the illusory could be tricky, making it a challenging skill to counter if one wasn’t able to tell the difference.

Black Weaver

But that only applied to those who couldn’t recognize the differences.

Whoosh!

The moment his hand, covered in black spiderwebs, pierced through a shadow wolf, it vanished like mist.

“What...”

“So they aren’t just made out of mana.”

While receiving Seitz’s astonished gaze, he observed the object held in his hand.

It was a black dagger, about twenty centimeters in length. Its surface was densely engraved with magic patterns, and there were signs that mana had been infused into it recently.

“You’re using a dagger as a medium to increase the mana efficiency and enable illusions to attack even without extra mana. Not a bad idea.”

“How did you...?”

Seitz looked on incredulously. His skill and its application were seen through with just one encounter.

At that question, Se-Hoon looked back with an expression of disbelief.

“What do you mean by how? I can blatantly hear the sound.”

“Sound? Wait, don’t tell me you...”

Using a dagger as a medium always ended up making a whistling sound. Had Se-Hoon actually understood everything just by hearing that sound when it first passed him?

As Seitz was stunned, finding this realization unbelievable, Se-Hoon casually surveyed his surroundings.

So, there are about twenty-five daggers in total. It seems I can deal with about ten at a time, but... that won’t be enough.

If the battle prolonged, he would be at a disadvantage since he had a lower amount of mana and stamina. As such, he decided to make a simple yet bold move.

Bond Imprint

[Bond Imprint ‘Iron Desire’ has been activated.]

Crunch!

Se-Hoon’s right hand turned a reddish hue, and the dagger seemed to melt before it was absorbed into his skin.

This was the effect of the Fatestone of the S-rank hero, Weapon Eater Ryu Eun-Ha. Iron Desire, the ability to gain strength by consuming metal, was partially activated and attached to his right hand.

“Wait... stop!!!”

Unfortunately for Seitz, the custom-designed dagger, worth over a million won, melted away without a trace in Se-Hoon’s grasp.

After regaining his senses belatedly, Seitz mustered all of his mana and directed the shadow wolves to all charge at once, exerting his full strength upon realizing that Se-Hoon’s capabilities exceeded his imagination.

Ah.

But his realization came much too late.

So this is what it tastes like...

The taste, which couldn’t be found in ordinary food, pierced through Se-Hoon’s body, starting from his mouth. Simultaneously, the blood in his right hand boiled before surging through his body in an instant.

As he slowly scanned the shadows rushing toward him, the ends of his hair faintly started flickering like flames.

Adrenaline

His body kicked off the ground and narrowed the distance in an instant.

Clang!

The menacing shadow wolves pounced, but the daggers inside them simply collided with each other before scattering on the ground.

Se-Hoon had instantaneously broken through them to reach right in front of Seitz.

Wham!

And his clenched fist shot up with enough force to pierce through Seitz’s abdomen.

“Argh!”

Even on the brink of death, a barrier conjurer had to maintain their deployed barrier. This was a common rule among barrier conjurers, yet Seitz’s Shadow Wolf Barrage was undone by a single strike.

Se-Hoon’s punch just hurt that much.

“Wait...”

No matter what he did, he knew that taking another hit like that would make him go insane. Sensing that, Seitz tried to say something to make Se-Hoon stop.

But before he could, Se-Hoon’s hand brutally grasped his neck.

“Ughhh!”

Deprived of the chance to speak, he looked at Se-Hoon with trembling eyes. It was only then that he understood everything.

“Didn\'t I mention it earlier?”

Se-Hoon wasn’t underestimating him or ignoring him.

“My second specialty is beating the senses into idiots.”

He was simply assessing him without any emotion like he would with materials on a workbench. Nothing more, nothing less.

For Se-Hoon, this fight was a form of refinement.

“Wa―wait...”

And his refinement didn’t stop until the weapon was forged.

“Now, become a human, won’t you?”

Se-Hoon relaxed his shoulders and clenched his fist tightly.

“Then, I’ll stop.”

***

“Now, speak.”

At Se-Hoon’s order, Seitz, with a swollen face, opened his mouth with a hoarse voice, “I apologize for unilaterally imposing my opinion... without considering the circumstances or contexts.”

“And?”

“I will not project my inadequacies onto others... or overstep my bounds beyond what I am ordered to... ever again.”

“Hm...”

Seitz’s shoulders began twitching at the hint of dissatisfaction in Se-Hoon’s voice. Each time this happened, he was beaten up for not being fully “reformed.”

Please... please...

Seitz trembled due to the bizarre yet terrifying beating by Se-Hoon. He wished he had been knocked out and didn’t have to endure the excruciating pain that somehow left him painfully conscious.

“Ok, fine.” Se-Hoon nodded as if he had no other choice.

“You’re still my sunbae. I can’t be too harsh on you.”

If this wasn’t too harsh, then what on earth would be considered too harsh? The mere thought made Seitz’s face go pale with fear.

Se-Hoon stood up.

“But make sure you relay this to your young master. Tell him that he shouldn’t drag me into such pointless fights.”

“Answer.”

“Yes, yes...” Seitz responded reluctantly.

Se-Hoon clicked his tongue and smacked the back of his head hard.

Whack!

“Aack!”

“Ugh, how pathetic...”

Se-Hoon didn’t consider all factions vile, but he wondered how “impressive” a family could be if it would even send someone over for such trivial matters.

Although Seitz might think of himself as a member of the Inoue family, he seemed like no more than a replaceable part to Se-Hoon.

I hope he learns something from this.

If he wasn’t able to realize anything, he would be used like a part of a machine until he was discarded.

Shaking off the thoughts about Seitz, he picked up his jacket from the ground.

“I\'m leaving. Do the cleanup yourself.”

“Yes...”

“And if we ever cross paths again, you know what to do.”

With those final words, Se-Hoon left the way they came in. Until the sound of the footsteps faded, Seitz continued kneeling with his head down. He then collapsed onto the ground, drained of strength.

“Damn it.”

He had come to warn a freshman, yet he was the one beaten up. What was worse was that he had been ordered to clean up the mess.

It was a pathetic situation, but Seitz had no other choice. He had lost the option the moment he went too far out of frustration.

And I still lost after I did all that.

Though he was in the upper-middle ranking among the third-years, he believed that he would be in the upper rankings if he had fought for real.

Yet it seemed that the deluded one wasn’t Se-Hoon, but himself.

As Seitz sighed deeply, feeling vain from how he hadn’t changed at all, a girl emerged from the forest.

“Looks like it’s all over.”

“M-Miss Erika...?”

Seitz’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of Erika, who appeared before him.

How long had she been watching? The thought that she might have witnessed his actions that went beyond commission caused Seitz’s face to turn pale.

“This... this is actually...”

“I’m not interested in your excuses. Just answer my questions.”

Her eyes were on him, but it felt as if he wasn’t even there.

Facing a gaze more devoid than even Se-Hoon’s, which seemed to regard him as inorganic matter, Seitz swallowed dryly and nodded.

“U-understood...”

“Lee Se-Hoon absorbed one of your daggers to unleash something, right?”

“Yes...”

“The dagger, bring one to me.”

“Understood!”

At her command, Seitz hurriedly examined the daggers scattered on the ground. Sooner or later, his eyes widened in surprise.

What? Why are there only fourteen?

Since Se-Hoon absorbed one, there should be twenty-four left. Vaguely realizing the whereabouts of the missing ten daggers, Seitz’s mouth fell open.

“What are you doing?”

“I-I’m on it.”

He hurriedly gathered all the remaining daggers and presented them to Erika, who immediately examined their surfaces.

Sure enough, there’s an anti-theft enchantment engraved.

Weapons that were used as a medium become powerless if stolen by the opponent, so preventing that was crucial.

Thus, the daggers had been enchanted to prevent theft, but Se-Hoon had somehow effortlessly nullified that.

That black spider web-like spell made it possible...

Judging based on its form and effects, she theorized that it was a new spell based on Professor Robert’s Blood Matrix and the Spiritless Array she had shown. He had extracted only the versatile element from the two barriers to optimize the spell.

Although it seemed incomplete, it was sufficient to be recognized as a proper skill.

Recalling the potential Se-Hoon had shown until now, she slowly revised the assessment of him in her mind.

His aptitude for refining techniques is S-level or above. And his aptitude for spells can be adjusted from B-level to A-level or even higher.

With such potential, she expected that Se-Hoon would reach the minimum level that she could accept, even if progress was slow. Having reached that conclusion, she looked at Seitz again.

“You’re going to report to my brother when you return, right?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to report this.”

Seitz’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Then, the young master would...”

“It’s fine. I’ll report it directly to the head of the family. Understood?”

“Ah, yes!”

“And starting tomorrow, you\'re going to work under me.”

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Seitz was unable to hide his bewilderment, but he quickly tried to compose himself.

Given that his situation had already gone south, he figured he had no choice but to go along with the unexpected flow and somehow survive.

“Understood. Do you have any orders for me?”

“Keep an eye on Lee Se-Hoon and assist him with anything he needs. That will be your main task.”

Seitz’s solemn face stiffened at her command. Hadn’t Se-Hoon clearly warned him to never cross his path again?

But more importantly, seeing how effortlessly Se-Hoon had stolen ten of his daggers, it was obvious that an encounter with Se-Hoon would lead to trouble.

“Uh... if we ever meet again, he might beat me up...”

“Is that so?”

She coldly responded to his cautious question, “Consider it as a form of stress relief, then. That should be good enough.”

“Take it with all you have.”

At this moment, the remaining time at the academy was determined for Seitz, a third-year student of the Department of Spells under the College of Ur.