Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 99

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 99

Side Match (4)

Wall slam.

It was an action I had only heard about.

It felt like witnessing a folktale passed down through word of mouth. And I was the subject of it.

‘…I don’t feel so good.’

The atmosphere and surroundings weren’t exactly suited for a wall slam.

From the start, Nam Hwa-yeon and I didn’t have a deep relationship.

So much so that my tail drooped in this unexpected situation.

Of course, I couldn’t see the tail behind me.

Only Tamamo saw it and giggled.

My interest was solely on Nam Hwa-yeon’s right arm, which she used for the wall slam.

Because there was a hole next to it.

‘Good heavens.’

Who on earth uses [Body Enhancement] while doing a wall slam?

And so powerfully.

A weakling like me would probably have several joints dislocated if I touched it wrong.

Her strength was more outstanding than I thought.

Partly because her skill in handling magic and mana was extraordinary.

‘It’s simpler than the [Body Enhancement] I use.’

Frankly, when considering just the spell itself, mine was superior.

I analyzed the mana waves surrounding her arm, muscles, and bones.

It was a truly wizard-like action, with no regard for the current situation.

Fortunately, the analysis didn’t take long.

It was too simple, and I was so familiar with the field that I could easily understand it.

While ordinary enhancement magic simply strengthens muscles or increases speed.

Nam Hwa-yeon, befitting her title of , was adjusting even the most minute areas, such as blood flow and muscle density.

That was probably the maximum enhancement a wizard could achieve.

But it was still below mine.

The enhancement I use isn’t primarily focused on the current state of the body. If Nam Hwa-yeon’s [Body Enhancement] systematically enhances muscles through the distribution of blood flow and mana.

My enhancement is an insane technique that forcibly transcends the realm one can reach, using mana.

My teacher explained what I had created with quite difficult terms; what did he say back then?

‘When essence, energy, and spirit are in harmony, it is a peerless divine skill that leads essence and vitality to a higher level by prioritizing the desire to become stronger and uniting them.’

The words are difficult.

But it’s simple when you interpret it.

When essence, energy, spirit, essence and vitality, and mind and body become one and harmonize.

If you prioritize the desire to become stronger, elements such as the body and mana will advance to a higher level following the mind.

With this power alone, even a master of martial arts can become an absolute expert, and a wizard who has learned advanced magic can use magic with power comparable to a great wizard in their specialty.

However, as with all principles in the world.

Such unbelievable abilities require a corresponding price.

‘The backlash is no joke, the pain is terrible.’

People’s minds are always wavering.

It’s not just a woman’s heart that’s like a reed [easily swayed].

Men, no, people in general, have minds that waver like reeds.

It’s no wonder that unwavering mind is one of the highest states pursued in Buddhism.

As a result, considerable mental strength is consumed just to maintain the desire to become stronger.

Anyway, Professor.

“I’ll tell you the spell, so can you please move your hand?”

It’s scary.

* * *

Namgung Seongjin and his assistants were cleaning up the arena, which looked like it had been hit by a storm. The arena, with its floor torn up and damaged by intense heat and lightning, was in a terrible state.

The chairman suggested calling in a professional company because it was difficult to clean up.

But Namgung Seongjin adamantly refused.

Because he approved this, he should clean it up.

He began repairing the arena, carrying stones and materials by the ton.

At that sight, Namgung Seongjin’s assistants swallowed their tears and reluctantly stepped forward.

If their boss was doing hard labor, how could they just stand by and risk being punished?

The assistants, silently repairing the arena, began to glare at their chief assistant, Mugung.

If he hadn’t made an objection, betting on Baek Seungwoo, they wouldn’t have had to do this labor.

Until yesterday, Mugung was their respected superior, skilled and confident.

But from this moment on.

Mugung became their enemy, not their respected superior.

“Seriously, why cause trouble when you don’t have the skills?”

“Really, it would be one thing if he won. But he lost so miserably.”

“Baek Seungwoo was copying the chief assistant’s technique so easily. If that rascal can copy it, maybe I can too?”

“Don’t even think about it. No matter what, we can’t wield Mugung’s Changcheon [Mugung’s signature sword technique]. It’s all thanks to that fox’s talent.”

“Honestly, I hate to admit it, but Baek Seungwoo is amazing. His reported achievements so far, too. His personality is the worst, but you have to acknowledge his skills.”

“Unlike someone else…….”

Thus, his image was tarnished in an instant.

The respected senior was nowhere to be found.

Only an incompetent loser remained.

“……Damn it.”

Thump!

Mugung threw the material he was holding on the floor and left.

The junior assistants and Namgung Seongjin blankly watched his retreating figure.

No one stopped Mugung’s sudden action, and the assistants were even more busy gossiping about him.

Meanwhile, Namgung Seongjin silently watched him.

There was no particular reason why Mugung became his chief assistant.

It was just a title given to the assistant who had assisted him the longest. A full six years.

It was the time Mugung had spent watching and learning from Namgung Seongjin.

During that time, Mugung watched and learned his swordsmanship and incorporated it into his own sword. The years of effort he had proven were denied in an instant.

What could he say in such a situation?

That the opponent was a genius, so it couldn’t be helped? That he should blame his lack of talent?

Even after thinking about it, no good ideas came to mind.

Namgung Seongjin’s speaking skills weren’t very good, so time passed.

Still, he couldn’t just stay still, so Namgung Seongjin followed the path Mugung had taken.

“Huh? Is this not the way?”

Mugung was nowhere to be found where he was headed.

Beyond this was a canyon, an area managed by Professor Tiger Grylls, a master of hunting.

Even if he was in a bad mood, he wouldn’t have headed for such a rough path, so Namgung Seongjin scratched his head and returned to the arena.

Contrary to his thoughts, Mugung was now in the most rugged terrain of the canyon.

Step by step.

He walked silently across the canyon.

And stopped at one point.

The place was surrounded by rocks, and the floor was so uneven that it was difficult for people to walk. Something was bubbling from the floor right there.

The identity of the black something was a shadow.

Mugung grabbed his injured arm and settled near the shadow.

“……Seriously, it hurts like hell.”

He massaged his injured arm.

The arm wrapped in bandages was covered in blood vessels and sensitive to stimulation.

Perhaps because he had cut off his arm before the shadow armor she had given him was released, and then reattached it. One arm was still in a state just before berserking, so there were difficulties in adapting.

Bubble, bubble.

The shadow was bubbling more and more violently.

Seeing it like boiling water, Mugung finally realized that he was connected to the ‘shadow’ and protested right away.

“You said you’d give me power! You said you’d give me power!!”

Bubble, bubble.

The shadow was still boiling.

Other than that, there was nothing different from before.

Mugung, angry that he was being ignored, continued.

“I paid the price. I planted your work in my stomach! Then as a queen…….”

His words could not continue.

Because ‘it’ felt displeased with the one word, queen, and came directly.

“Shut up.”

Before distinguishing whether it was female or male.

A bizarre voice that made one question whether it was even a human voice.

“I watched the match. You lost miserably.”

‘It’ was something made of shadows.

Mugung had argued with the ‘shadow’, but it didn’t seem to care about his words.

It began to list what it had to say.

“You unfolded Changcheon with a sword. But it was so funny how you tried to express the vast Changcheon with the limited tool of a sword.”

Ha ha ha, it laughed mechanically and continued.

“But even that was imitated by a wizard in an instant, and eventually it was no longer your own.”

“Th, that’s…… because that guy’s talent is ridiculous! To copy it after seeing it once. Does that make sense!!”

“You lost because it made sense. Didn’t it?”

Mugung closed his mouth at the confirmation.

Then the ‘shadow’ said.

“And then you wore my armor. You’re too weak to withstand the madness of the armor. Because you revealed my things in front of so many spectators, the chairman, that beggar, started looking for me.”

Not just that guy.

The witch who doesn’t have the qualifications of a king also started looking for the ‘shadow’.

No, to be more precise, it would be right to say that she recognized it.

If that witch had been sincerely looking for it, its location would have been discovered in half a day.

The ‘shadow’, which had hidden itself from the world, hated Mugung for revealing the excuse for its whereabouts. An tone with anger dripping.

Even so, to the ‘shadow’.

“You even lost after that.”

Overwhelming the opponent with just one word.

“I will give you one last chance.”

It was truly the dignity of an emperor.

It is different from her, who chose seclusion despite having obtained the qualifications of a king.

“Investigate Baek Seungwoo, every inch of him.”

An overwhelming dignity that demotes even his superior, Namgung Seongjin, to ‘nothing’.

Mugung, whose spirit was broken by that dignity, looked at the ground.

If he raised his head now and argued, he would die.

That conviction was stimulating his instincts.

But he had no choice but to ask.

“Y, you, you can find out. You’re a ‘shadow’, so isn’t it easier for you to investigate?!!”

In fact, as Mugung said, the ‘shadow’ spies on others in the shadows and searches for information. It is truly a master of information retrieval.

Why would such a person entrust his specialty to me?

Mugung couldn’t understand at all.

In response, an unpleasant, mumbling tone echoed through the canyon.

“There is no information.”

“……What?”

“I’ve already tried. But because his senses are extremely sensitive, I couldn’t approach within 5m. Spying only 5m away was all I could do.”

“Are you serious……? Not joking?”

Mugung knows best that the ‘shadow’ is not joking.

Even so, he asks because he can’t understand at all.

There is someone who can sense the ‘shadow’ without being a high-ranker, those who are strongest by force.

He couldn’t believe it.

Before that, he didn’t want to believe it.

That the guy who had miserably destroyed him had a part that could stand shoulder to shoulder with such beings.

As soon as he thought that, he began to rationalize, ‘I lost because of that’, so he didn’t want to believe it even more.

But he admitted it.

Baek Seungwoo’s talent, that devilish ability to copy the martial arts he had devoted his life to in an instant, had no choice but to be acknowledged.

That guy is…… strange in a good or bad way.

And the ‘shadow’ also felt the same way.

“One week.”

The ‘shadow’ had been watching Baek Seungwoo, who relied on the light of the lamp to read books every day.

He didn’t seem to be in his right mind, muttering to himself in the air from time to time.

At first, it found it strange.

But after watching him in the shadows for about a week, it realized.

That guy had no choice but to be out of his mind.

“It’s the number of days that guy hasn’t eaten or slept.”

“!!!”

Is that even possible?

Mugung recalled Seungwoo, whom he had faced, and recalled his monstrous casting skills.