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The Cult Leader in the Clergy Academy-Chapter 9
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Chapter 9
Bae Sung-Hyun and I walked with long strides toward the front of the class. Ha Ye-Jin greeted us with a smile.
âYou both know how to use blessings, correct?â Bae Sung-Hyun and I weren't that close to each other to say we were pair.
âThen, shall we try using the intermediate blessing of strength?â
âOh.â
âHm, is there something wrong, Do Sun-Woo?â
âOh, itâs nothing.â Oh no. An intermediate blessing when the best I could do was a lesser blessing? I felt the world going dark. Maybe it was because I was nervous, but my forehead started to break out in a sweat and my fingertips started to tremble. freewe bnovel .com
As I was dealing with my anxiety, Bae Sung-Hyun completed his blessing array with outstanding skill. It was undoubtedly a perfect intermediate blessing of strength. His array gleamed with brilliance as if to boast his success.
âBae Sung-Hyun did a great job. Now please, Do Sun-Woo, draw the blessing array for us.â Ha Ye-Jin pressed me on. I took my shaking fingers and drew the array of the intermediate blessing of strength.
As expected, I failed. The array lost its light and crumbled into ashes. I felt my heart crumble with it as well.
Ha Ye-Jin seemed to be caught off guard and looked at me with a puzzled look. âUm, was that because you were nervous? Try again.â
âI canât.â I gave up. My body shook, and my heart broke; I couldnât bear to try again.
Ha Ye-Jinâs face hardened. âAnd why is that?â
âI can only conjure lesser-level blessings.â Ha Ye Jinâs hardened face turned slightly softer as I told her the truth.
âHm~ Okay, I understand. I can call someone else, but why donât we try one last time?â
I spent the whole night yesterday attempting intermediate blessing arrays, but not once was I successful. I knew I would get the same result even if I tried again. However, Ha Ye-Jin told me to give it one more shot, and I could see a glint of hope in her eyes. She saw the possibility in me.
âAlright.â I decided to try to make it up to Ha Ye-Jin. Although I knew I wouldnât be able to succeed, I decided to put my faith in her.
I soothed my fretting heart and steadily started drawing the blessing array. I inserted the core made with divine power into the complex array woven with dozens of straight and curved lines.
Right afterward, a brilliant, ecstatic light spewed forth from the blessing array. It was the light of the blessing. This meant that I had succeeded in drawing a complete blessing array.
âI-I did iâ!â But it was a short-lived moment. The brilliant light of blessing faded away and left a dull blessing array stranded in the air. I had failed yet again.
â...Iâm sorry.â I hung my head down. I couldnât face her, and I was embarrassed that I had celebrated thinking that I had succeeded. It was a disaster.
However, Ha Ye-Jin did not look disappointed. No, she looked surprised.
âDo Sun-Woo, where did you learn to draw your blessing arrays? Was it at an after-school academy? Or maybe by your parents?â
âOh, I learned by watching videos.â
âVideos? Are you talking about online lectures?â
âNo, Iâm talking about... YouTube.â The class erupted with giggles. Some laughed because they were making fun of me, while others found me genuinely funny. They must have thought that I was joking, but I wasnât.
I learned how to draw blessing arrays through YouTube because no one around me knew how to use divine power. I hadnât been to any of the popular after school academies either.
âSo youâve never been to an after-school academy? And your parents didnât teach you?â
âYes, maâam. My situation, uh, didnât permit that.â
âI see. You have some bad habits when it comes to divine power. Here, why donât you try releasing some divine power?â
I did as I was told, releasing some divine power from my fingertips. Ha Ye-Jin suddenly grabbed my hand and used it as a brush to draw a blessing array in thin air. Unlike mine, this blessing array was perfect, without any faults.
âYour first bad habit is the direction you draw your array. I noticed that you drew in the counterclockwise direction when most people draw in the clockwise direction.â
âOh, huh.â It was common practice to draw circles in the counterclockwise direction in voodooism. It seemed that my habits had carried on my drawing of blessing arrays.
âYour second bad habit is in the process of you creating your core. You have a nasty habit ofââ
Ding dong dang dong~
Before Ha Ye-Jin got a chance to finish her sentence, the bell rang.
âWhoops, weâll pick up where we left off next class. Itâs my first class, so I didnât manage my time well. I apologize!â Ha Ye-Jin smiled as if to say she was sorry. As if waiting to hear that, the students started stretching their limbs. Bae Sung Hyun, who had been forgotten since I had been in the spotlight, had a dissatisfied expression. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and left the classroom.
Ha Ye-Jin smiled at the class and turned her head toward me. âTo continue with our conversation, your method of creating your core is fundamentally incorrect. Hm, to be exact, itâs not incorrect, but your approach is problematic.â
âI donât understand, maâam.â
âTry to figure it out.â Ha Ye-Jin left the room on that confusing note.
***
As Ha Ye-Jin walked toward the teacherâs office, she pondered what had happened in class. There were a lot of talented students in her homeroom class, the Class of Charity. But three of the students caught her eye.
First of all, there was Bae Sung-Hyun. He had tremendous talent, as showcased in his ability to complete the array of the intermediate blessing of strength in under ten seconds. He was clearly above the average.
The second was Jung In-Ah. She had an eye for analyzing blessing arrays. Her analyzing ability was comparable to any regular teacher. However, her skills were not on par with her analytic abilities. That was unfortunate, but it could be fixed with practice.
Lastly, there was Do Sun-Woo. He scored a perfect mark on the evaluation. His talent for religious studies and history was unmatched. However, he was not used to using divine power.
âNo, it wasnât that he was not used to it... It was more like....â To be honest, Ha Ye-Jin could not clearly gauge Do Sun-Wooâs skill level. Way too many things were off in Do Sun-Wooâs blessing array to the extent that she was wondering how this was logically possible.
âMrs. Ye-Jin, what are you thinking so hard about?â a fellow teacher asked Ha Ye-Jin, who was deep in thought. Ha Ye-Jin was bewildered and looked around. She was in the teacherâs office.
She had been so deep in thought that she hadnât noticed that her surroundings had changed and had made it to the teacherâs office. Ha Ye-Jin laughed innocently. âI just had a very impressive class.â
âWhy, did a student cause trouble?â
âNo, itâs nothing like that.â
Ha Ye-Jin looked down and thought for a few seconds.
âHey, is it possible for the core of a blessing array to have the shape of something other than a sphere or an ellipsoid?â
âHuh? From what I know, thatâs impossible. Why do you ask?â
âJust out of curiosity, what happens when the core is not a sphere or an ellipsoid?â
âHm, Iâve never thought about it. Iâm not sure, but wouldnât the array fall into pieces?â
âThatâs whatâs supposed to happen, right?â Ha Ye-Jin nodded with a dark expression and looked down again.
âWhy do you ask? Iâm curious now.â
Ha Ye-Jin responded with a bright grin to the question that her fellow teacher asked. âOh, itâs nothing.â
âHey. You always lead people on, make them wonder, and stop talking.â The fellow teacher jokingly pretended to pout. Throughout the conversation, the only thing on Ha Ye-Jinâs mind was Do Sun-Woo. To be more specific, it was the blessing array that Do Sun-Woo had drawn.
A core was not required to complete a lesser blessing array. However, any blessing array with a higher level than a moderate array needed a core when conjured. According to well-established theory, these cores had to be in the shape of a sphere or an ellipsoid. Otherwise, the blessing array would lose its power and disintegrate.
However, the core Do Sun-Woo had drawn was neither a sphere nor an ellipsoid. Instead, if one were to be exact, it looked more like a cube, or something resembling it. This was why Do Sun-Woo had repeatedly failed in drawing an intermediate blessing array.
But, the question was, why had the blessing array emitted light?
Although it was just a moment, Do Sun-Wooâs blessing array had spewed out the light of blessing. This meant that Do Sun-Woo had managed to conjure a complete blessing array, although it only lasted seconds. And this feat was done with not even an ellipsoid core but a cubic core. He had strayed from the norm and drawn his rendition of a blessing array.
âWhat is this guy?â
Ha Ye-Jin was intrigued by Do Sun-Woo. It was not only the interest of a teacher looking at her student but also the interest of a researcher of divine power.
***
After Ha Ye-Jinâs class, the classroom turned exceptionally noisy. Everyone's faces were filled with excitement and anxiety. I could not tell what was causing all the commotion. âWhy is everyone so excited?â
âItâs because our next class is a training class. Everyone is hyped because itâs our first actual training session.â I had just been talking to myself, but Koo Jun-Hyuk suddenly came out of nowhere and answered my question. I would find him next to me sometimes, then gone, and then back at my side again. Maybe it was because of this, but it felt like Koo-Jun Hyuk was always next to me and far away from me at the same time.
âHuh. Do we have training next class? Where is it at?â As Koo Jun-Hyuk and I talked, Jung In-Ah appeared and naturally joined the conversation.
âItâs on the hill that comes up when you go down this path. Iâve heard itâs called Eiden Hill?â
âOh yeah? Letâs go then.â Jung In-Ah displayed her characteristic drive for action and dragged us out of the classroom.
So us three set off to Eiden Hill that was located behind F.A. The name seemed to pay homage to a specific âgarden.â
âHey, Do Sun-Woo. How come youâre so bad at drawing blessing arrays?â Koo Jun-Hyuk playfully started picking a fight. At this point, it felt like something would be missing if he didnât cause conflict.
âAnd how good are you? Heâs pretty good for learning through videos online.â
âWho even does that? Learning how to do blessings through online tutorials is unheard of! Werenât you joking?â
ââHey! You be quiet.â When Koo Jun-Hyuk picked a bone with me, Jung In-Ah defended me. I didnât have to say anything. Usually, this was how our conversations went. Jung In-Ah and Koo Jun-Hyuk argued back and forth and eventually looked at me to find me awkwardly smiling.
âIf you have any questions, feel free to ask. Iâll teach you.â It seemed like she thought I didnât get a chance to use blessings because of poor family circumstances. If one thought about it, she wasnât technically wrong, but I felt guilty. I was discreetly lying to her.
Of course, this was coming from me, and my whole life was a lie.
âIsnât it nonsense that the person who placed twelfth in evaluations is teaching first place?â
âDidnât I tell you to be quiet?â
âAck.â Koo Jun-Hyuk stressed the word nonsense as if to put extra emphasis on it. Jung In-Ah lightly kicked the shins of the provoking Koo Jun-Hyuk. I just laughed while watching their interaction.
[I realized a few things from class. Two important things. Itâs urgent.] Legba suddenly spoke to me. I could hear the urgency in their voice.
However, I couldnât answer Legba immediately because Jung In-Ah and Koo Jun-Hyuk were next to me. I looked around and spotted a public bathroom close by. F.A. was so big that they had constructed public restrooms for convenience.
âYou guys go ahead. Iâm going to make a stop at the bathroom.â
âHuh, oh, okay.â I sent Koo Jun-Hyuk and Jung In-Ah off first and walked into the bathroom. It smelled foul, but there wasnât a better place to talk to a Loa.
[Okay. First of all, you have a bad habit when drawing your blessing arrays. Fix it.]
âThat doesnât seem too important. Why didnât you tell me later? I thought it was something urgent.â
[No, it is urgent. Usually, all blessing array cores take the shape of a sphere or an ellipsoid. However, you used a cubic core instead. Do you have any idea what this means?]
âHuh? Iâm not too sure.â
[Curse arrays use a cubic core. Your habits from drawing curse arrays are apparent through your blessing arrays. Since F.A. teachers arenât idiots, theyâll have you found out if you carry on.]
I gulped. I did not know I had such a habit.
[When you draw your blessing array, make a spherical core. Then youâll be able to draw a blessing array successfully.]
âWoah, are you serious?â
I experimented by attempting an intermediate blessing of strength array. I placed the core made out of divine power into the center of the blessing array. The blessing array seemed to emit light for a moment, but then it lost its glow and quickly broke down. To no surprise, I had failed yet again.
âHey, itâs not working.â
[Huh, as if it would work when youâre still using a cubic core. Use a spherical core.]
However, I could only conjure a cubic core no matter how hard I tried. I didnât know how to construct a spherical core in the first place.
[Make it a sphere!]
âWhat?â
[A sphere!]
âHow?â
Legba sighed. [Itâs clear that you donât have any talent in using divine power.]
It was impossible for someone like me, who had spent seventeen years drawing curse arrays, to conjure a good blessing array.
[Ha. Okay. We can slowly learn how to conjure spherical cores later on. But now, this is something very important. Listen carefully.] Legba paused dramatically, trying to scare me.
I listened to what they had to say with a serious faceâwhile sitting on the toilet. Very seriously.
[I smelled the stench of blood and sulfur. Just for a second.]
â...Huh?â I thought it would be unimportant, but it was quite the opposite. It was earth-shattering news.
Blood and sulfur were the key ingredients that Satanists used during their rituals. These smells usually rubbed off on them. Legba had smelled blood and sulfur during class. This could only mean one thing.
[It seems that the Satanists have infiltrated F.A., although we donât know why.]
A Satanist was hiding in F.A.