Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 28: Magic (7)

“Yoon Siwoo! I challenge you again today!!”

“Hm? Didn’t you already lose last time?”

“If we fight again... again, I’m sure I can win!”

As always, the bold little voice of the red-haired girl rang out.

“This time, I’ve already fully analyzed your swordsmanship! So let’s fight again!!”

“Haah... yeah, alright. Helicia.”

There were certainly a lot of strange people in his class.

There was even a student whose body was so absurdly large, several chairs had broken beneath him.

There was a tiny body but a great mage who always challenged him to fights, a descendant of a legendary hero who stared silently at him with cold eyes, and other oddballs too.

Each one of them was powerful, unique, and undeniably special.

And to think that he was counted among them... it still felt hard to believe.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

But for some reason—

[Trait – Tree of Genesis (EX) is analyzing the paths of the Great Ones.]

Even among them, he was exceptionally strong.

[You are the one who gazes at the past, stands in the present, and moves the future. The one who rides the four-legged beast and shakes the stars awake. The woman adorned in silver that shines with the moonlight. Almighty, yet not all-powerful.]

[Passive – <Yesod>: The foundation identifies the target’s base composition.]

“You won’t be able to dodge this one!!”

[Fifth-Rank Bombardment Magic – Raheb]

The moment they arrived at the training ground, the girl launched into battle without hesitation.

To be honest, it felt more like light exercise to him—but clearly, that wasn’t the case for Helicia.

Countless magic circles drew themselves into the sky, glowing with energy as flaming orbs rained down from above.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

“Sword.”

Despite the overwhelming heat and explosive force, a single sword suddenly appeared in his hand, deflecting all secondary effects with ease.

[Ideal takes the form of a sword.]

He lightly stepped from place to place, dodging every blast as if he’d seen them coming in advance.

“...Since last time! What is that sword, anyway?! It deflects every single attack!!”

“Dunno.”

Yoon Siwoo didn’t know much about the sword either.

He had no idea when he’d first been able to summon it or why.

But if holding it let him not just defeat, but overwhelm his opponents, there was no reason not to.

“Got anything stronger?”

“Grr...! Don’t get cocky!!”

Furious, Helicia slammed her staff into the ground.

[Warning]

[Sixth-Rank Lightning Magic – Cernoa]

A stream of light plummeted from the sky, striking directly at him with terrifying speed.

The sky turned white.

Then, everything vanished in a flash of annihilation.

KRA-KOOM!!

Smoke billowed into the air as Helicia shouted.

“Ha...! That’s what you get for letting your guard down...!”

“So shallow.”

His vision cut through the smoke as he stepped out.

Tap!!

He leapt forward, feet leaving the ground, and charged straight at Helicia.

“Impossible...! That was a direct hit!”

“The sword acted as a lightning rod.”

“What kind of physics-breaking nonsense is that?! What is your body, rubber?!”

Ssshh...!

Grinding her teeth, the girl cursed under her breath.

And just as the tip of his sword touched Helicia—something transparent made contact instead.

A barrier. One she had cast in advance, stopping his strike.

Then came her smile.

“Got you!”

At the same time, something lit up beneath him.

[Sixth-Rank Binding Magic – Compact Bind]

SHHHH!!!

Hundreds of bandages, with strength like steel and tension surpassing spider silk, surged up to wrap around his body.

“......”

A clear threat.

But he didn’t panic.

[Clear Mirror Still ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Water (A) is active.]

In the midst of battle, traps like this couldn't shake his focus.

Slice!!

“Wha—?!”

If the bandages were as strong as steel—

Slash! Clang!

Then anything that could cut steel could cut through them.

“How the hell—?!”

“This is the end.”

SWOOSH!!!

The sword stopped right in front of the girl’s face.

“...Come back after you’ve trained more.”

“Ughhh...! You’re lucky I didn’t use any large-scale magic! I only used person-targeting spells because the training ground wouldn’t survive otherwise!!”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Anyway, I won, so I’m heading out first.”

“AAAAAGHHHH!!!”

Leaving her screams behind, he exited the training ground, wiped off his sweat, and got ready for the next class.

Even though not even he understood the origin of this power, he used it as naturally as breathing.

And the classes? Every one of them was boring. He didn’t even know why he was here anymore.

A monotonous life. A monotonous existence.

It wasn’t even some noble question like “What am I living for?”

But if he had to name one person who came to mind...

“Esha.”

“Hm? Did someone call me?”

“No, nothing.”

“But seriously, just once! Let’s fight, just once! I won’t hold back this time!”

“Maybe next time.”

“Ughhh...!”

Esha.

For some reason, that name wouldn’t leave his mind.

He’d misread her aura a bit last time, but this time was different.

That grotesque thing howling behind her back—it had looked dangerous enough to shake even his composure for a moment.

Whether she didn’t realize that thing was attached to her, or whether she knew and just didn’t care, he had no way of knowing.

But what he could tell was that either way, the girl was far from normal.

“Would’ve been nice if we were in the same class.”

But her class was further away than he’d expected, and with no overlap in their schedules, pretending to bump into her by chance was basically impossible.

“Haaah...”

Yoon Siwoo sighed, frustrated by the tight knot in his chest that felt like it should unravel but never did.

[Trait – Ideal (???) is limiting your activity.]

But with the next class starting, he shook off the stray thoughts and focused on the professor’s voice.

,

,

,

Later, after all his classes were finally over—

“Yoon Siwoo, are you headed to training again?”

As usual, someone stopped him on his way to the training room.

“Ah, yeah.”

He glanced back and, recognizing the person, gave a short reply.

Black hair just like his—but she wasn’t just some ordinary black-haired student.

The descendant of the great hero who once single-handedly slew Behemoth, the catastrophe that nearly destroyed the world.

Someone everyone wanted to befriend, but who kept people at arm’s length with her stoic expression and unreadable emotions.

Hyun Seolah.

“But why all of a sudden?”

“I’m curious about your swordsmanship. I want to analyze it.”

“There’s not much to see, though?”

“That’s fine.”

“Sure, I don’t really—”

Just as he was about to say yes, he caught sight of a girl stumbling in the distance.

That’s...!

And still attached behind her, that same grotesque thing.

“Sorry! Something urgent came up!”

“Uh...”

His priorities changed.

He felt bad about leaving Hyun Seolah standing there with that dazed look on her face, but there was no helping it.

Without hesitation, he left her behind and began tailing Esha from a distance.

Where’s she going?

The first place the girl stopped was the library.

There, she slipped into a supply room with another girl—one with chestnut-colored hair—where no one could see them.

He watched as Esha handed something over, and the chestnut-haired girl looked overjoyed, carefully tucking it into her pocket.

Drugs? No, maybe... some kind of shady exchange?

Maybe he was overthinking it.

But just seeing that monstrous thing latched to Esha’s back made it hard to keep calm.

They had gone into the supply room.

He considered opening the door—but if he was wrong about all this... then he’d definitely be questioned about why he came here in the first place.

And there was no way anyone would buy the “I just walked in by accident” excuse.

He thought about pressing his ear to the door to listen in, but it was thicker than expected—he couldn’t hear anything clearly.

Should I open it? No, no... but what if something’s actually happening in there? That’d be a problem too... no wait, this is literally the behavior of a complete lunatic—

While he was battling with himself in his head, someone stepped out from the supply room and walked off.

From the back, it was clearly Esha.

He was curious about who was still inside, but she took priority.

Her pace didn’t look particularly fast, so if he chased her right now, he could find out where she was going.

Even Yoon Siwoo himself didn’t really know why he was so fixated on her.

He just kept telling himself it was about preparing for that terrifying thing trailing behind her—and held on to that justification as he ran.

,

,

,

Eventually, he arrived in front of a building.

The door to the house shut just before he could follow, leaving him outside.

He stood there for a few minutes, thinking.

Should I ring the doorbell or something...?

But if she realized he had followed her here, she’d probably find it downright horrifying. So he decided he’d just remember the location and leave.

Beep! Click.

“...?”

“...Oh.”

Perfect timing—or terrible, depending on your view.

She was walking out the door, and their eyes met head-on.

A heavy silence passed between them before Esha spoke.

“Stalker?”

“No—no, it’s not like that...!”

He scrambled to explain himself in a panic, but—well, from her perspective, it looked exactly like that. There was no arguing it.

“You psycho!!”

She yelled, the insult landing like a slap to the ears, and she ran off before Yoon Siwoo could stop her.

“...Haah.”

Was this what they meant when people said alcohol and cigarettes started to sound good?

A day where nothing went right.

Yoon Siwoo, now verbally abused twice in one day, stood there with his mind going completely blank.

And the worst part? He knew full well that what he’d just done really wasn’t much different from stalking.

That realization gnawed at what was left of his sanity.

How the hell had things ended up like this?

[Clear Mirror Still Water (A) is temporarily deactivated.]

“Ugh...”

And just like that, Yoon Siwoo’s mental state finally collapsed.