I Became the Genius Mage of the Martial Academy

“Thank you for everything.”

The day of my discharge finally arrived. I was about to go outside after saying goodbye to the physician who had taken care of me, when he gave me some advice.

“Don’t push your body recklessly from now on. Now that you’ve officially joined the academy, you won’t be able to blame anyone even if you come back with a limb cut off.”

The atmosphere of the Martial Academy changes drastically before and after admission.

Prospective students are not yet officially enrolled, so they are formally concerned about injuries or death, but after becoming official students, there is no great responsibility even if they die during training or missions.

It was a result of being granted immunity by the Martial Alliance and a cold side of the martial world.

“I will keep that in mind.”

I said so and left the medical office. No matter how much this place was an academy, its background was strictly the martial world.

Whatever the superficial justification, the fact that it was a microcosm of a society where blood splatters and people aim for each other’s lives with swords did not change.

‘The real thing starts now.’

My gaze became serious. When I arrived at the training ground on time, dozens of junior students were lined up there.

But the way they looked at me was not good. On the contrary, it was mixed with jealousy and vigilance.

“He’s the top student? The guy who was always last in the morning run?”

“It’s a disgrace for the top student to be hospitalized.”

“He’s from the Zhuge family. He probably just got lucky and escaped using a formation.”

A few guys who were looking at me whispered. Considering I could hear them even with [Dulled Senses], they were probably saying it on purpose for me to hear.

It seemed that the previous suspicions about me had flared up in this final exam. And there was some truth to that speculation.

‘Even so, this reaction is too extreme.’

The martial world is originally a place where the quiet ones survive for a long time.

Common sense dictates that no matter how suspicious, there was no way they could have come this far with the intelligence to openly sneer at someone who was the top student.

‘It seems like there’s someone who’s intentionally badmouthing me.’

And a rather malicious group that confirms their bond with each other by sharing bad rumors about me.

At the somewhat unsettling feeling, I turned my head in the direction where I felt the gazes, and I saw the held-back students huddled together and giggling on one side of the training ground.

‘How ridiculous.’

To think that the so-called senior class would huddle together like a pack of hyenas. To me, who already knew the tricks they had pulled, their appearance looked even more pathetic.

But still, I shouldn’t be careless. Although they were also junior students, they were at least experienced, with at least a year of student experience.

As I was thinking that and looking around, familiar faces approached me from my side. It was Lee Huimun and Gu Dong.

“Did you rest well?”

“Is your body okay?”

Their attitudes were opposite, but the feeling of friendliness was the same.

So you guys believed in me after all. I could feel the reward for having taken care of them little by little until now. Only then did I relax my stiff expression and reply.

“Yes. By the way, has anything changed in the meantime?”

“Hmm. The secret manual library being opened and the afternoon training being added, that’s about it.”

“You’re forgetting the important thing. In today’s [Martial Combat Practice]…”

Just as Lee Huimun was about to boast, cutting off Gu Dong’s words, a silence fell over the slightly bustling training ground.

There was only one reason. The martial arts professor, Namgung Dohyeok, had stepped onto the platform.

I looked at Namgung Dohyeok, who was exuding a cold aura as usual. Then, Namgung Dohyeok’s gaze, which was looking at the crowd, suddenly turned to me.

‘Huh?’

He frowned as if he didn’t approve, and then turned his gaze away from me. Perhaps he was still not pleased that I had blocked his dagger during the entrance exam.

Namgung Dohyeok, who had surveyed the now quiet training ground, declared with his internal energy.

“Today, we will have duels.”

As he said that, he seemed to be glaring this way. I had hoped that his feelings towards me were a misunderstanding, but unfortunately, it seemed I had been marked from the first day.

It was the moment my premonition turned into certainty. I sighed inwardly at the worst-case scenario.

Of all days, to have it be so tricky on my return day. I hadn’t even properly mastered the [Heaven-Defying Cultivation Method], let alone any martial arts, and now it was a real battle out of the blue.

If we fight like this, I’ll be beaten one-sidedly.

‘Who the opponent is will be important.’

First, I was thinking of watching how the other students did and analyzing their strength. But that expectation was shattered by Namgung Dohyeok’s next words.

“Then we must first see the skills of the top student. The top new student this year, Zhuge Cheonwu. Is there anyone who will fight him?”

This is crazy. I cursed inwardly.

* * *

I had expected to some extent that there might be such a sudden situation. I hadn’t just been playing around in the hospital room either.

However, there weren’t many countermeasures I could take in this situation.

Having suddenly become the center of attention, I looked around.

On one side, Peng Geun-u was looking at me with his arms crossed as if to say ‘what are you going to do’, and on the other side, Baek Cheong was watching me with interest.

“Is there no one who will fight him?”

Despite Namgung Dohyeok’s continued provocative shouts, there was surprisingly no response. Still, the top student. Everyone thought there must be something.

Even in this unexpected situation, I was not at ease.

‘Someone come out!’

Because if time dragged on like this, Peng Geun-u, who had doubted my qualifications, would eventually challenge me.

Even at this point, Peng Geun-u was a rising star who had reached the peak level. At my current level, I couldn’t win even if I died and came back to life.

As I was racking my brain to break through this situation somehow, I suddenly remembered a plan I had prepared before.

‘No, in this case, on the contrary…!’

“Martial Arts Professor Namgung Dohyeok!”

I suddenly raised my hand. At that, a few students who were about to raise their arms flinched, and all the surrounding gazes turned to me.

“I have joined the training late, so there are many faces I don’t know. In that sense, I would like to fight with the new students I haven’t met until now.”

In other words, a story of wanting to fight with the held-back students. At those words, the expressions of a few of the held-back students crumpled.

Because if they misinterpreted what I was saying now, it could be seen as me judging that it would be easier to fight with the guys who had failed to be promoted rather than fighting with the monsters among the new students.

And that was indeed my intention.

‘It’s much better to fight with the held-back students than with Peng Geun-u or Baek Cheong.’

Failing to be promoted meant that they had either not reached the first-rate realm or had been frustrated while on the verge. At least they were not impossible opponents.

“…In that case, is there anyone among the long-term students who will challenge?”

As I scanned the surroundings to see if there were any, I saw the held-back students, who had misunderstood my gaze, flinch.

But there was no one among them who boldly challenged.

For the held-back students, for whom this year was their last chance, every single one of these evaluation points was desperate.

Naturally, not many were willing to take the risk of fighting with the top-passing student. No matter how much there was a rumor that it was all a bubble.

‘They must have keenly felt what the top-ranking strong people were like last year.’

Because they had directly competed with geniuses for a year, they had no choice but to hesitate. A battle with the current top new student.

This was also expected. Just as Namgung Dohyeok, who was watching this situation with frustration, was about to induce the participation of the held-back students with the excuse of additional points.

“Martial Arts Professor Namgung Dohyeok!”

I raised my hand again.

“…What is it?”

Namgung Dohyeok asked me, not hiding his annoyance.

“There are those among them who have insulted me today. They are the ones who do not believe that I became the top student through a fair exam or who are sneering. For the sake of restoring my honor, could you let me have a duel with them?”

At my words, Namgung Dohyeok’s eyes narrowed slightly for a moment.

He seemed to feel pathetic at the actions of the long-term students who were whispering behind his back, and secondly, he seemed annoyed that they had expressed dissatisfaction without grounds for the exam results that the professors had judged.

I deliberately brought up the fairness of the exam and linked it to my own honor.

If I brought the justification for the duel like this, Namgung Dohyeok would also have a hard time finding words to refuse.

“Do so. However, if I judge that the opponent is not a good match, I will match you with someone else at my discretion.”

As he thought, Namgung Dohyeok partially accepted my proposal.

It was to prevent me from deliberately choosing a weak-looking opponent to fight.

‘As planned.’

I had expected that much. I chuckled inwardly and pointed at one of the held-back students.

“I want to fight with that person.”

He was a man with a muscular and sturdy build. In particular, his two legs were thick, which could be seen through his student uniform.

Then, the students murmured.

“Do Sogi?”

“Isn’t he a bit of an ambiguous opponent to fight with the top student?”

The reactions were mixed.

“You’ve chosen a rather difficult opponent. That person’s name is Do Sogi. I saw him dueling before, and he was incredibly fast, so you should keep that in mind.”

Just then, Gu Dong said from the side. Lee Huimun added to his words.

“It wouldn’t matter to you, but you have to be careful of that guy’s charge. He’s a guy who has learned the sword of the Moyong Sect. In the last duel, I was hit by his first move when he rushed in at the beginning. He’s a fast guy in a different sense from me.”

‘I know. That’s why I chose him.’

While recuperating in the hospital room, I had analyzed the students who were training in the training ground from time to time. Among them, there were a few for whom I had prepared a countermeasure in my own way, and one of them was Do Sogi.

A martial artist who strangely uses a charging technique.

To win perfectly, it had to be that guy.

At their advice, I nodded silently and walked to the center of the training ground.

Namgung Dohyeok also didn’t add any words, as if he thought that an opponent of this level was not bad.

As I stood still like that, Do Sogi, with a flushed face, soon came up onto the stage.

“I must have looked like a joke to you.”

Still, he couldn’t ignore his experience, as he seemed to have vaguely noticed that he had been designated as the weaker one.

Because in a duel like this, the person who is called out first is usually either a promising prospect or a sacrificial lamb.

But even so, I was in no position to ignore Do Sogi.

‘He looks quite powerful up close.’

Now that I was about to fight him one-on-one, I was quite nervous. Unlike the entrance exam where Namgung Dohyeok had held back, this was a real battle and my first real fight.

‘I’ll go according to the strategy.’

I drew my sword, recalling the plan I had thought of inwardly.

Unlike Lee Huimun’s sword-drawing technique, Do Sogi’s signature martial art was a charging technique. The [Heaven-Shattering Sword] that rushes in quickly and cuts upwards.

I was thinking of using this characteristic of the opponent to the fullest.

“Hoo.”

To time it, I raised all my senses with mana. Then, the voices I couldn’t hear before slowly began to be heard.

“Can he even win with that frail body?”

“Last time, he passed because it was a formation. Even if he’s from the Zhuge family, it won’t matter if a blade enters his belly.”

The voices of those who ignored me.

“The fact that he collapsed in the first place means he’s weak.”

I stood alone amidst the ridicule.

“That’s ridiculous. Then why don’t you fight over there?”

“Grumbling from behind is not the way of a martial artist.”

But soon, familiar voices were heard.

Well, it seemed I wasn’t completely alone in this training ground.

“Ready.”

Soon, Namgung Dohyeok’s voice echoed through the venue, and I caught my breath.

Meanwhile, Do Sogi was lowering his stance and inflating his thighs with internal energy.

A tense tension flowed between us. And.

“Begin!”

With the signal, Do Sogi kicked off the ground. It was a much faster speed than when I had watched from a distance.

Do Sogi, who became a single afterimage and shot towards me, to the point where the expression ‘fierce’ would be appropriate.

His massive body soon rushed in as if to overlap with me.

Thwack!

Soon, with the sound of flesh bursting, a dust wind that had belatedly followed the acceleration rose in the area.

“Wh-what is this!”

The students each doubted their own eyes. Some even had their mouths agape in surprise.

“What just happened?”

“Ho.”

Peng Geun-u also narrowed his brow without knowing what had happened, and Baek Cheong also pursed his lips as if interested.

It wasn’t a matter of the top student being defeated, but the complete opposite. Many would judge it as natural, but the reality was completely different.

Because right now, Do Sogi was collapsing on the ground with his face crushed, in the same posture he had been running in mid-air.

I looked at him and sheathed the sword I had never once swung.

‘If it’s difficult to respond because the charge is fast, can’t I just build a wall in the air?’

My strategy was simple. I poured all the mana from my now larger circle and created a transparent shield in his path.

Then, the charging opponent would crash into it on his own and fall. A strategy that used the opponent’s advantage against them.

It was an absurd strategy, but that’s why it was effective.

Who would believe that a transparent and hard wall that even an arrow couldn’t pierce was erected in the air?

‘I see why he was held back even with that kind of charging power.’

He has no energy sense at all. In that case, he’s just a stupid wild boar.

At that moment, something stirred within me.

‘This is…!’

This tingling sensation in my mouth. I could feel it instinctively. That this was dangerous.

‘It’s been quiet until now, why of all times, now!’

Perhaps it was because it was now. Despair clouded my eyes, which were full of bewilderment.

The trait of [Arrogant Young Master] was creating a synergy with [Intermittent Debuff Enhancement].

And the result was revealed in a single word.

“I didn’t even need to draw my sword.”

A cold word. It was like a scene from a manga. If only I wasn’t the main character.

‘Kyaaaaaak!’

A scream erupted from within. It was a terrible sensation as if my whole body was shriveling up, but I didn’t show it on the outside at all.

Because that was [Arrogant Young Master].

As I showed a cold expression and took my eyes off Do Sogi, Namgung Dohyeok’s declaration echoed through the training ground.

“Winner, Zhuge Cheonwu!”

Under everyone’s heated gaze, I slowly closed my eyes.

For some reason, the first victory in a real battle had a bitter taste.