Chapter 132

Chapter 132

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 132At the same time Kwak Chun-sik entered the Academy, a new subject was established.

The name of the subject was <​Applied Theory of Aura and Mana>It could truly be said to be a subject perfectly suited to him.

“There is something famous heroes and researchers often say as though it's a habit. ‘Aura and mana are living beings.’ Well, when you look at people who are said to have received mana's blessing or have good sensitivity, I can understand why they'd say that. Yes, that can happen. But───.”

Bang! Using a hand made from aura, he struck the blackboard.

“In my class, think of all of it as bullshit.”

Kwak Chun-sik, who had seized the students' attention in an instant, smiled.

“Aura and mana are tools. Tools used by the user. Surely none of you think you can become friends with a tool, right?”

At that, Marie shot her hand up.

“B-but Instructor. To say we should dominate mana. I-it feels pretty different somehow.”

“What? You, your name was... Marie Nate?”

“Eek!”

Kwak Chun-sik strode over to Marie and examined her closely, then soon shook his head and abruptly turned away.

“Right, you can think of it as a friend.”

“...

Pardon?”

“One of those people fantasists often talk about, with high mana sensitivity. Someone blessed by mana. You're one of those types, so you don't particularly need to think of it as domination.”

“Ah, yes...!”

Just as he said, Marie Nate was the type born with high sensitivity, so Kwak Chun-sik's words could be called correct.

“Looking at this, it seems Ji Su-hyeon didn't gather only ordinary children, so I'll have to explain it a little more simply.”

As he said that, Kwak Chun-sik drew the shape of a person on the blackboard.

“This is you. Most Awakened absorb and use the mana or aura drifting outside through what are called the mana vessel and aura vessel, the cores inside their bodies. Ah, I don't need to separately explain the difference between mana and aura, right? They're simply different depending on what kind of refinement process they go through, so you don't need to worry too much about it.”

Tap. Tap.

Kwak Chun-sik drew an asterisk in the center of the human figure and continued his explanation.

“The problem is how you take external energy into your body. In the case of that child who asked the question earlier, when necessary, external energy fills her body without any resistance at all, meaning she has high ‘sensitivity.’ We describe that as talent. And──.”

He suddenly stopped speaking and looked at me.

“The opposite case exists too. Drawing in external mana by force, forcibly refining it, and then using it yourself. We call that having high ‘dominance.’ Now, then the question would be this. Which type am I? For those children, I'll explain a simple method.”

Huh? He's teaching this at this point in time?

What he was about to say was something Kwak Chun-sik only revealed around the latter stages even in the game.

Originally, after the secluded him came out of Gangwon Province, it was something he should've announced in order to recover the honor and wealth he'd lost until then.

“First, gather mana or aura above your hand. The shape doesn't matter. Just make it distinct enough to be visible.”

At his words, all the other children closed their eyes and began gathering their respective sparkling energies above their palms.

“Boss. Boss, aren't you doing it?”

Jin-woo, who had already compressed a sphere of wind over his hand, looked at me sitting there blankly and asked.

“This is what I do every day after eating.”

Take this a little further and it becomes the aura-control training I normally do.

So for now, I decided to just watch the others.

“Now, from here, tightly clench your hand. Then the aura or mana gathered in your hand will either be absorbed into your body or scatter outside, right? It's a simple method, but with this, you can clearly tell which type you are.”

At the same time, the students began clenching their fists one after another.

But just as Kwak Chun-sik had expected, most of the children's aura entered their bodies once, then scattered and disappeared.

It meant they lacked talent in mana sensitivity, unlike Marie.

Except for a few.

“Oh. Eugene, did you see? Mine scattered right away, right? That means I'm a genius, right?”

“Boss, Boss! Could I perhaps... have been a genius? My mana just mixes into the wind and disappears?”

Other than Marie Nate, there were about three or four who showed a response indicating mana sensitivity, including Jin-woo and Se-ah.

Everyone else had the form where it was absorbed into their bodies...

And there was also an exception that belonged to neither side.

“Um... Instructor. What does this case mean?”

Even though he'd clenched his hand, Young-je's mana had moved above his fist and was flickering there as he cautiously asked Kwak Chun-sik.

The mana resting on his fist looked as though it were burning like fire.

“I already explained everything earlier, so what─── What the fuck is this?”

“Pardon?”

As though genuinely shocked, he jumped up and rushed over to Young-je, bending down to stare at his fist where mana was flickering.

“The mana solidified? No, should I say it's in a stopped state instead?”

He suddenly began muttering to himself, then slowly tapped Young-je's mana with his hand.

But even with his stimulus, the mana remained perfectly still as though solidified.

“Huh. So that's what it was. That's what it was.”

Then, as though he'd understood, Kwak Chun-sik nodded and stood up before speaking.

“You, you're in Eugene's club, right?”

“Pardon? Ah. That's right.”

“See me after school.”

Apparently it was something he was a little reluctant to discuss in such a public setting.‘Good grief.’

______________

After school, in the club room.

As he'd said during class, Kwak Chun-sik came to the club room after school, immediately sat on the sofa, ordered coffee, and looked at Young-je in front of him.

“You. Is your master that girl with the chuunibyou-ish alias Arcobaleno or Arco-baleno or something?”

“Pardon? Ah, that's right.”

“Right~? As expected~ even though I'm old, my eyes haven't gone bad yet. Kekeke!”

He burst into laughter, delighted that his guess had been correct.

“Your coffee is ready.”

“Right. Thanks... Huh? What's this? What is this black water? I asked for coffee.”

Then, seeing the Americano Jin-woo had brought, his face immediately crumpled.

“What? It is coffee. An Americano.”

“What? I don't know what Ameri-whatever is, don't you know coffee? Mix coffee?!”

“Ah.”

“What do you mean, ah! Bring me mix coffee!”

“Yes...”

Kwak Chun-sik shook his head at Jin-woo turning away dejectedly, then sighed again and looked back at Young-je.

“Anyway, getting back to the point. The reason your mana remained still on your fist was because you ordered it to ‘stay gathered.’”

“...

Ordered it?”

“Yes. In a way, you could call it domination, but as I said in class, ‘domination’ requires passing through the body. But in your case, you're issuing commands directly to external mana. And among the people I know, there's only one person capable of that.”

“That would be my master.”

“Right.”

At some point, he picked up the mix coffee placed beside him, took a sip, and continued.

“Since you issue commands directly to external mana, you probably aren't limited by magical attribute either, and your casting time must be extremely short. It could truly be called one of the greatest talents a mage can possess. And she called it ‘conducting.’”

“Ah...”

Because of the ability to freely use all sorts of magic like this, Young-je's master had gained the alias ‘Conductor of the Rainbow,’ a mixture of Arcobaleno(arcobaleno),

meaning rainbow, and the word conductor.

“To think that girl had a disciple. Kekekeke. So, is she doing well?”

At the sudden question about Arcobaleno's current state, Young-je's expression hardened.

“Master is... currently trapped in a dungeon.”

“Hm? She's trapped in a dungeon?”

“Yes. The president... Eugene told me so.”

At that, Kwak Chun-sik's gaze turned toward me.

“Is that true? If so, how do you know that?”

“It's information I happened to come across, but its reliability is close to 100%.”

“Hmm... I see. That child is trapped in a dungeon... judging by how you say it, she seems to be alive.”

“Yes. That's what I understand.”

“Huh, then there's no need to worry. If it's her, it wouldn't be strange for her to survive in a dungeon for the rest of her life. You don't know which dungeon?”

“Yes. For now, all I know is that she's trapped in a dungeon. I'm still tracking it down diligently.”

Well, I actually knew.

The problem was that if I went there before I was prepared, things would obviously get completely tangled up, so it couldn't be helped.

That place required meeting minimum conditions.

“I see... well, something will work out somehow! Then, I suppose you lot should start preparing for club activities?”

Having drained the last drop of his coffee, he stood up and asked.

“That's──.”

“Ever since we submitted for review recently, nothing's happened, so we've just been playing every day.”

Before I could finish answering yes, Jin-woo cut in first.

At that, Kwak Chun-sik grinned and looked toward me.

“Is thaaat so? You've been playing?”

“E-Elder?”

“Our Eugene. I think you'll need a little training for this week.”

“No, that's──.”

“Follow me. I hear there's a good training room here.”

He grabbed my hand and half-forcibly dragged me toward the training room.

No, I was planning to rest properly today before going to Jeju Island.

This is how things turn out?

I tried to glare at Jin-woo and curse him with my eyes, but.

“Ah, today's the day I visit the Recipe Development Club. I'm going on patrol, Boss!”

The quick-witted bastard immediately avoided the situation and escaped the club room.‘...

That bastard. I'll definitely get revenge.’And so we came to the club's training room.

“Now then. Let's start by learning how to deal with the monsters on Jeju Island.”

“I'm sorry, Elder, but I already roughly know about Jeju Island's monsters──.”

“Ahem! Talking back while an elder is speaking! You only need to quietly say, Yes. Understood. Why do you feel the need to add unnecessary remarks!”...

There's no reasoning with him.

“You know that Jeju Island's monsters use aura and mana too, don't you? You're going there anyway, but you shouldn't come back after getting beaten up.”

As he said that, blue light flickered in his eyes.

“How to read the movement of energy inside monsters. Don't you need that? You just need to apply what you learned in class today a little.”

“...

That is something I need.”

Reading the flow of an opponent's aura or mana? Just that alone could give you an enormous advantage in battle.

They say you should seize an opportunity when it comes.

Just as I reluctantly decided to follow him.

“I heard Old Man Kwak Chun-sik came? Let's go squeeze some mana-control techniques out of him.”

“Ack! I already used up all my mentoring sessions this week. Instructor!”

“Yeah~ this is club activity~ I'm the advisory instructor, so if you don't like it, leave the club~”

“The world is fucking me over!!”

Seeing Se-ah being dragged along by Ji Su-hyeon made my heart feel at ease.

Right, at least watching Se-ah suffer beside me might provide some comfort.

That was what I thought, but...

“Now, if you've learned it, you need to test it. Let's see if you can dodge my attacks.”

“...

Pardon?”

I never expected I'd be the one suffering more.

Ponies and tangerine trees and whatever the hell else...

______________

Screech─! Screech─!

The early morning at Busan Port, just as the morning sun was rising, was extremely noisy.

Fishermen carrying the results of their work onto land, men loading trucks full of ice, and even the fish market where auctions were taking place.

And among all that, there was a group that stood out particularly.

“Please move the rice and kimchi over here!”

“The bread and wine go here!”

Unlike those wearing rubber boots or gloves, the ship where nuns, priests, and men in black suits had gathered was being loaded not with fish but with other daily necessities.

And clearly written on the ship was the name [Francesco].

It was a ship bound for Halla Cathedral on Jeju Island.

After confirming it was the ship I was supposed to board, I walked over with a faint smile.

Then one by one, gazes gathered on me.

Since no ordinary fisherman would be walking toward this place, they were clearly puzzled.

And among them, I approached the priest who seemed to be the representative, held out my hand with a bright smile, and spoke.

“Greetings. I'm the Calione Hitman accompanying you this time.”

──Saber Cloud.