Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 81

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 81

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius Episode 81

The Origin’s Sorcery (1)

“I think this is enough.”

I said with a confident tone.

After casting the sorcery to embody Yin energy, which she called the “Art of Ice Crystal,” several times, I started to grasp something.

A small ice bead on my hand.

It was an ice crystal with low density and size that might sell for 50,000 won [approximately $40 USD], but my eyes were filled with undisguised anticipation.

—Not bad.

Tamamo’s reaction to examining the ice crystal was not enthusiastic.

She nodded, watching the ice crystal melt in an instant on her hand.

There was no lack of sophistication or understanding in constructing the spell.

But the result wasn’t that great.

Tamamo thought.

‘It’s not bad, but… I can’t help but feel disappointed.’

The energy of Yang and Steel intertwined like a restraint within the contractor’s body.

Considering the sun existing within his body, the fact that he succeeded in creating this quality was close to a miracle.

“Really? That’s a relief. I thought I wouldn’t be able to succeed today.”

Of course, Tamamo didn’t show this fact outwardly.

Even though she evaluated it with a blank expression, I thought positively.

Even if the reaction wasn’t enthusiastic, success was still success.

Then it was time to move on to the next stage.

I was no longer interested in the basics.

Some might say that the basics must be solid to withstand the next stage, but now, opening the path was more important than carving it precisely.

“So, what’s the next step?”

When I asked expectantly, she clapped her hands as if she had just remembered.

—The next step? Ah… I did say that.

“…….”

—Actually, when I first brought it up, I didn’t expect you to do it in a day, so I just said it casually, but don’t worry. I am the Origin of Sorcery. Do you think I wouldn’t keep my promise with something like this?

She could forget other things.

I didn’t expect her to forget the most important thing.

I wanted to say something, but.

She immediately tried to fulfill the promise, so I closed my mouth.

“So, what are you going to teach me? Incantation? Summoning? I personally want to focus on learning curses.”

—Don’t rush me. I’m already thinking about what to teach you first.

Tamamo pondered, resting her chin on her hand at my urging.

What should she teach?

Sorcery is a systematized concept.

It’s not a field with various schools like magic.

In fact, there are few sorceries left in modern times.

So many people don’t even know what exists.

Some even ask if sorcery is a type of magic.

Whenever that happens, magicians and archaeologists who restore extinct sorceries unanimously say, “Western magic” and “Eastern sorcery.”

Sorcery (呪術).

Also known as Jubup (呪法) and Jujeo (呪咀), it is a discipline that induces, manipulates, dominates, and operates some kind of transcendental power invisible in all things. Eastern ritualistic acts were different from magic.

Unlike magic, where schools exist depending on various elements such as elements, arrays, and subjectivity.

The large category of ‘sorcery’ is largely divided into three categories according to function, purpose, composition, and principle.

—Do you know much about the types of sorcery?

“Well, I know it’s largely divided into three categories. Other than that, I only know a few curses.”

—That’s perfect. Hehe, you know a little bit but haven’t delved too deeply, so you haven’t learned anything useless.

Tamamo, having settled down, held out one finger.

I paid attention to her actions and perked up my ears.

The fox ears on my head also perked up.

I was that excited and nervous.

—The three categories of sorcery you mentioned. The first is classification according to function and purpose. It is divided into proliferation, disaster removal, and curses.

The most basic classification that makes up sorcery.

Among them, the proliferation is simple yet complex.

—「Proliferation」is a sorcery to achieve what you don’t currently have or haven’t achieved. For example, unexpectedly finding money while walking down the street or having a healthy child are typical examples of proliferation.

“What else?”

—Sorcerers who can handle proliferation in a more advanced way can also perform large-scale healing. Whatever the method, if it benefits the sorcerer, it can be seen as a branch of proliferation. Now, next is disaster removal.

She held out her second finger.

—「Disaster Removal」is a defensive sorcery that prevents or blocks disasters. Disaster removal is divided into defensive sorcery and counter sorcery. Defensive sorcery involves deploying all kinds of formations or preventing them with talismans [amulets], while counter sorcery aims to destroy the cause of the disaster itself.

“It’s the same as saying that offense is the best defense.”

—Hehe, indeed.

The third finger was unfolded.

An introduction to the sorcery I was most interested in came from Tamamo’s mouth.

—Next is 「Curse」. The area you wanted to learn the most. Unlike the two sorceries described earlier, which are developed around the caster, curses are sorceries that are manifested on others. Usually, it is a sorcery used to inflict harm.

A sorcery that manifests on others, used to inflict harm. It was truly the ability I needed most.

Curses are the foundation of 「Foxfire」.

The more I learn and study curses diligently, the more obvious it is that its power will increase day by day.

However, because my knowledge of curses was still low, in the battle with Yuren, I sometimes used it in a way that cursed both the opponent and me, resulting in both of us dying.

If I explain that episode, Tamamo will laugh at me, right?

I should just shut up.

—The classification according to function and purpose is enough. Next, let’s learn about the classification according to composition.

“The explanation of sorcery alone seems more complicated than I thought.”

—Really? Don’t worry too much. The classification according to composition is simpler than what I explained earlier. Sorcery is divided into three categories according to its composition: incantation, tools, and ritualistic acts.

This time, Tamamo unfolds three fingers at the same time.

She cleared her throat and continued her explanation.

—These are really simple and intuitive sorceries. 「Incantation」refers to all linguistic acts that follow the laws of sorcery, 「Tools」refers to tools such as talismans or weapons containing sorcery, and 「Ritualistic Acts」refers to the ‘event’ itself performed with the preceding incantations and sorceries. How is it, simple, right?

“Yeah. This is really simple.”

—If there is something simple, there are also difficult sorceries.

Tamamo, who smiled brightly, raised two fingers.

I felt uneasy at her seemingly cheerful appearance.

—Finally, sorcery is divided into sympathetic sorcery and contact sorcery according to its principle. Unlike other sorceries, it is on a higher dimension overall, and there is nothing easy from preparation to casting.

Instead, the ability is guaranteed as much as it is difficult.

Tamamo, who swallowed her last words, continued.

—「Sympathetic Sorcery」, also known as imitative sorcery, is based on the principle of ‘similarity of cause and effect,’ which states that similar things cause similar things. Um, the explanation might have been a bit difficult.

“Similarity of cause and effect? Does it mean that the cause and the result are similar?”

—That’s right. The cause is the process to reach the result. Then wouldn’t the cause be the result? Sympathetic sorcery is a sorcery born from this kind of thinking.

“That’s sophistry.”

As she said, the cause is the process to derive the result.

However, the cause and the result cannot be the same.

The result is derived by adding trial and error to the cause. In the process, the original cause loses its form.

Therefore, the sympathetic sorcery she explained is sophistry.

The cause can never be similar to the result.

If it is similar, it is a wrong result.

Tamamo scratched her head as she looked at me, who had uttered those words about sympathetic sorcery.

—Contractor, like you said, sympathetic sorcery is sophistry. If the cause and the result are the same, why would you risk trial and error? Everything is established with just the cause.

Negative words.

However, Tamamo’s expression was far from negative words.

—But don’t forget. Sorcery is originally the ability to perform impossible principles by borrowing from mystery. Drawing a picture of heavy rain to make it rain on dry land due to drought, or imagining the strongest version of yourself to achieve a gradual improvement in skill. Achieving these things is what sympathetic sorcery is all about.

Draw rain to express the desire for rain.

To achieve this, skip the process by borrowing from mystery and derive the result of rain.

Imagine the best version of yourself for excellent swordsmanship and become a master swordsman by virtue of mystery, skipping the process.

That is sympathetic sorcery.

A brutal sorcery.

It seems incredibly difficult.

“Is that a sorcery I can learn, right?”

—Of course. I’m teaching you personally, so how could you not learn sympathetic sorcery? Hehe… It’ll only take about 17 years to learn.

“……I’d rather not learn it.”

At the unexpectedly distant time, I erased sympathetic sorcery from my memory without hesitation. Unless it unexpectedly suits my aptitude.

If not, I will probably never learn it until the day I see the end of this world.

—Now, next is finally the last one, 「Contact Sorcery」. This is a sorcery with the same resolution as the curse you want. Do you remember the explanation of the curse I explained?

“A sorcery that manifests on others and aims to inflict harm?”

—Yes, you remember well. Contact sorcery is also called infection sorcery, and it allows interaction with the target that has been ‘contacted’ in any form. Under the premise and principle that continuous interaction is possible once contacted, its appearance is similar to infection, so it is called infection sorcery.

“……Isn’t that just a curse?”

From what I heard, it seems like only the condition of ‘contact’ has been added to the curse.

I don’t think it’s any different from a curse.

—Like you said, curses and contact sorcery are similar. However, contact sorcery is strictly a higher-level sorcery than curses. What do you think is the reason?

“I don’t know. Is it power or range?”

—Power is wrong, but range is correct, Contractor.

“Really? How much range are we talking about?”

—Contact sorcery can affect each other beyond time and space, even after the contact between them is severed.

“……What?”

That doesn’t even sound like words.

Transcending time and space?

Even dragons, who are called the progenitors of magic, can’t do that easily.

But such a discipline exists under the name of a branch of sorcery.

Is this right?

“Is it real?”

—Time and space, the words are grandiose, but in reality, it’s not as great as you think. Um… To give you an example, a representative contact sorcery is to curse a straw doll by putting a strand of hair of the person you want to curse into it, thereby ‘contacting’ the person, and then using nails to inflict pain no matter how far away they are. By the way, it is also possible to transfer the damage inflicted on the doll to the opponent a few hours later. That’s how 「Contact Sorcery」interacts beyond time and space.

Although the grandiose expression of time and space was used, it does not have the power to distort it.

Also, it is not difficult to interfere with the present and the near future.

The distant future and the past were difficult areas even for Tamamo, the originator of sorcery.

—Contact sorcery can theoretically interfere with the past, but that is a miracle that even I cannot easily do… or a miracle. In fact, it is almost impossible to interfere with the already confirmed past.

“Even considering that, it doesn’t seem easy since the characteristic of time and space is involved.”

—Of course. Even I, the originator, don’t delve deeply into contact sorcery, so it would be difficult to teach you anything. Well, that’s enough of the introduction to sorcery. From here on out, it would be better for you to learn it directly with your body than to hear it a hundred times, Contractor.

When she cut off her words like that, I tried to memorize the information I had just heard in my head.

The three classifications of sorcery.

Accordingly, it is divided into a total of eight fields.

Each is called proliferation, disaster removal, curse, incantation, tools, ritualistic acts, sympathetic sorcery, and contact sorcery.

Um, it looks more difficult than I thought when I list it like this.

I flinched at the unexpected vastness of sorcery, while desperately using my head to not miss any of the knowledge about sorcery that Tamamo was telling me.

[Trait, 「Magical Constitution」, encounters ancient forms of knowledge.]

[「Magical Constitution」absorbs all acquired knowledge and systematically organizes it.]

[A category called ‘Sorcery’ is created in the Magical Constitution!]

……It seems like I used my head in a different sense.

Well, the good is good.

* * *

The vast sea and horizon under the sky.

These two combinations are backgrounds that everyone thinks are the best.

However, the gloomy sky spread over the sea and horizon, with only the outlines faintly revealed by the dim light, was bleak and exuded a dark and ominous energy.

Even the night sky at dawn is not this dark.

Black sea, black sky, and black land.

A scene reminiscent of hell.

There is only one place in this world where all of this is equipped.

That is, an uninhabited island (無人島) [Mujin-tō in Japanese, meaning “uninhabited island”].

Uninhabited island.

A land where ‘people’ do not live.

Likewise, ‘people’ cannot approach it, and it is a prison where things that are not ‘people’ cannot leave, and a silent cradle where not a single ray of light enters.

On that very uninhabited island, where no life has stirred for decades, a man walked along the sandy beach.

“Hmm, who should I wake up?”

The man roamed around the black uninhabited island in a black robe for the umpteenth time.

It’s not that there is no way to escape from the uninhabited island, nor is it that he is performing some special sorcery. The uninhabited island was not that big.

There was not a single blade of grass on the island, only seventy-two tombstones.

The man in the black robe was just worried.

“Originally, I was going to wake up the ‘Plunderer Marquis,’ but… um, this is too difficult.”

While walking around the uninhabited island, the man approached the sixty-third tombstone and placed his hand on it. The rank and name engraved on the tombstone.

Written in what is presumed to be Hebrew, it was so twisted that it was impossible to read.

Whether it was like this from the time the tombstone was designed, or the letters damaged by time and sea breeze, it now resembled the form of an ancient language that no one uses.

“Mother of hoarse storks.”

And the man was the only man who could read that ancient language.

“That long beak points to where wealth is, and you have countless limbs to pick them up. That power blinds people’s eyes and makes their ears faint, so how can I think I am safe?”

Four bizarre letters.

What it means is the name of what is contained in the tomb.

Even that name is distant ■■■■.

…….

“Hmm, it seems like I can’t read it out loud from here.”

The man was reading the ancient language written on the tombstone when he suddenly realized that his voice was hoarse.

When he stopped reading the tombstone, his locked voice returned.

It seems that there is a curse that prevents him from reading the tombstone.

And a very powerful curse at that.

It felt as if the world itself was preventing the mention of this.

“If I can’t read it, I don’t have to read it.”

The man got up from his seat without hesitation and began to walk around the uninhabited island again. The sea level is low and the land is narrow, so it is a small piece of land that is too embarrassing to be called an island.

Walking around the cramped island, the man fell into deep thought.

“That’s why you shouldn’t entrust work to beasts carelessly.”

Doru… was it Do?

A demon who claimed to be a servant serving the nobles.

If he hadn’t failed the plan twice in a row, the man would now have the souls of the people he killed at the academy and auction house, as well as the Sesshoseki [a legendary cursed stone], the Sword of Kusanagi [a legendary Japanese sword], and other sacrifices.

If that were the case, he could have fully awakened one baron sleeping on this uninhabited island.

But the result was a clear failure.

The man now had only a portion of the soul and 1/12 of the originally expected sacrifices.

“This is troublesome.”

Even dozens of members of the Demonic Cult were sacrificed.

Compared to the price paid, what comes back is too little.

With this amount of sacrifice, you cannot fully awaken the baron. The viscount is the same.

If that’s the case, then rather.

“I have no choice but to wake up two viscounts incompletely.”

If the quality is not good, there is no choice but to compete with quantity.

The man, who had made up his mind, cut his wrist with a knife and drew a circle on the ground using blood. An altar made of blood.

What it pointed to was the weather.

Now is the time for them to wake up one by one in the silent cradle where not a single breeze blows.

First, starting with two people.

“Oh, you who are truly worthless, you peacock who confuses people’s brains with your three-inch tongue.”

The man moved his mouth and placed simple sacrifices on the altar drawn with blood.

The souls of nine students, the souls of thirty rich people united by desire, the souls of one hundred and twenty demons who failed their mission, and sixty-six pure souls of the Demonic Cult who martyred themselves on their own feet.

Ah, it’s not enough.

It was too insufficient. This amount was not enough to stimulate the appetite of the nobles who had fallen into a deep sleep.

Well, what can I do?

“Now, it’s time to wake up. You sleepy nobles who are in charge of the 65th and 68th ranks, respectively.”

The nobles of the demons.

The man who awakens their eternal leaders.

At that very moment, the 65th and 68th coffins among the many coffins on the uninhabited island fell into the ground.

At the same time, two shadows stretched out long behind the man.

“Haha, I see the ‘Worthless One’ and the ‘Beautiful Peacock.’ To be able to serve the two of you together like this. Could there be any glory that does not suit my station like this?”

The man turned around, then bowed and raised his hands to his chest, paying his respects politely.

Whether it was disgusting to see that appearance.

The red-haired man opened his mouth with an unpleasant look.

“You’re good at talking. While we were sleeping, did you grease your mouth with yesterday evening’s meat?”

“Satan, what an undignified remark. If you are a noble, you must respect even commoners and slaves.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Peacock. That’s just livestock that looks similar to us. And in fact, don’t talk about dignity when you’re a bird with a bird’s head and body.”

“What, what did you say?! How can you say such undignified words……!”

Beings that had been sealed for decades.

They began to slander and slander each other.

An infinitely ugly sight to be called a noble.

Simon, the man in the robe, closed his eyes as he witnessed the scene with his own eyes.

“…….”

The ominous idols that should never have awakened began to open their eyes one after another.

Now, the curtain of the main act was about to be lifted in earnest.

Because he had walked smoothly to the path guided by his god.

It was the beginning of the full-fledged main story.