Chapter 149

Chapter 149

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 149“What I'm going to teach you today is how to evolve your aura to the next level.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the aura spread broadly over his hand gathered around his index finger and slowly began to fade.

And when it had completely shrunk to about the size of a finger joint.─────!!

A sharp, high-pitched sound began ringing out, as though tearing apart the surrounding air.

“Eugene. Do you know what happens if you compress frost-covered ice over and over?”

“Ice... you mean? I'm not sure.”

“It becomes transparent. As though proving there is nothing inside it. And the same applies to aura.”

As Kwak Chun-sik said that and flicked his wrist, the aura attached to the tip of his finger flew toward the floor like a splashing droplet.

At the same time.

Rrrrrrrrip───!

The spot it struck was gouged deeply, and cracks began spreading around it.

He watched the sight indifferently before turning his gaze back to me.

“Pure Ice and Jade. You could call it the basic technique of the applied stage of Aura Style. And it's also the technique you'll be learning today.”

It was the moment one of the techniques that represented him was demonstrated right before my eyes.

“You're saying I'm learning this today?”

“That's right. Midterms are coming up soon, aren't they?”

Even so, I never imagined he'd teach me this technique so easily...

For a moment, the hardships I'd gone through trying to learn this technique in a short period of time flashed through my mind.‘You stupid bastard! You want me to teach you Aura Style? Go sweep the yard, you fool!’‘With skill like that, even if I taught you, you couldn't use it! Get lost!’‘Where do you think you're asking me to teach you a technique for free! Not a chance, you brat!’...

And now it was this easy.

“Eugene?”

“Ah, it's nothing. I was simply so impressed by your technique, Old Man.”

“Haha! It certainly is quite a beautiful technique. Now then, let's start from the basics.”

As expected, life is all about school ties, regional ties, and blood ties.

“First, I just need to concentrate my aura in one place?”

“That's right.”

The sensation of gathering aura into a single point wasn't particularly difficult.

Even normally, when fighting or using my Bloodline Ability, I often concentrated aura in one place.

As I gathered all the aura flowing through my body into my right hand, red aura began blooming around my fist as usual.

Kwak Chun-sik carefully observed it.

“More.”

“More?”

Compress it even further from here?

Usually, I'd increased the purity by forcibly cramming in overflowing power, but there was no way that would be easy in a calm situation like this.

For now, I began feeling out the aura remaining throughout my body one by one and slowly pushing it toward my arm.

It felt like forcibly compressing the inside of an already full trash can even further.

When I pressed it down, it swelled back up, and when I pressed it again, it expanded once more and returned to its original state.

“Not working well?”

“Yes. It feels like it's struggling because there's nowhere left for it to go.”

“Then how about changing the image?”

“...

The image?”

Change the image?

What did that mean?

“Hmm... right. It would probably be better to show you like this.”

Perhaps reading my expression, Kwak Chun-sik opened his palm and began shaping his aura into something.

In an instant, aura took the form of a drill above his hand.

“Like this. Rather than simply pouring aura in, imagine drilling into it. Imagine forcing the aura deeper as though boring through your blood vessels.”

Since my proficiency was still lacking, was he telling me to change the mental image first?

Following his explanation certainly seemed like it would make the image easier to grasp.

“I'll try.”

Imagining the blocked aura, I pictured a drill slowly rotating.

Then the red aura began gradually fading.

Its color grew fainter and transformed into a translucent red glow reminiscent of a gemstone.

And after compressing it as much as possible.

“I think this is the limit.”

No, it could no longer really be called flickering.

It rippled slightly, like droplets of water beading on a surface, but it did not flicker.

“Well, it's only your first day, so I suppose we should be satisfied with this much. You're this good at it, yet why do the other children whine that even the degraded version is difficult... tsk, tsk.”

Kwak Chun-sik frowned briefly, then looked back at me and smiled brightly.

“Now then, let's have a light spar just like that. We'll exchange attacks and defenses. I'll match your speed, so come at me slowly as though you're following along.”

“Yes. Then excuse me.”

Following what I'd learned today, I compressed my aura as much as possible and charged toward Kwak Chun-sik.

Truly, a mentor's special lesson for the midterms.

Hm? Wait.

I could use this, couldn't I?

______________

That evening.

It was a rather late summons, but everyone gathered in the club room.

“Special midterm training?”

The kids all made different expressions after hearing me out.

“So what Boss is saying is, invite each of our mentors to the club room and have them teach us the areas we're lacking in. Right?”

At Jin-woo's serious explanation, Se-ah's eyes widened in surprise.

“No, you understood that in one go? You?”

“I'm not an idiot. You seriously think I wouldn't understand that?”

At his shout, Young-je and Se-ah nodded, while Choi Yeon stared at me blankly as though she didn't understand.

“Grandfather said being taught by strong people is good. I'm in favor.”

Still, she seemed to understand the essence of the idea, because she raised her hand and nodded.

“I'm in favor too. Then how about inviting Guild Master Han Yeo-eun of the Artemis Guild?”

“Why the hell would we invite that crazy woman!”

“What did I tell you would happen if you insulted my goddess! You want to die?!”

The moment someone suggested inviting Han Yeo-eun, Jin-woo's mentor, the meeting room turned into a place filled with screams and violence.

Sighing at the sight, I tapped the table and slightly released the power of the ‘Ancient Berserker's Ring(True).’

At the same time, black haze spread outward from me.

The startled kids glanced toward me.

“──Try to restrain yourselves.”

“...

Ah. Sorry.”

“...

Sorry. Boss.”

That quieted them down a little.

“To continue, I've actually already thought about who would be good to invite. The important part now is that you have to bring them here.”

The Academy's midterm period lasted three days in total.

Since we had to take exams in such a vast number of subjects, the people I'd selected were those I judged would help with the remaining subjects.

“There are two people I want to invite. One is the Sword Saint of the Azure Sky Sword Clan.”

“...

Hm? My grandfather?”

Choi Yeon reacted immediately at the words Sword Saint.

“The Sword Saint knows how to use most weapons, doesn't he? And he's trained talented people for many years, so I thought he'd be a great help. Choi Yeon, can you persuade him?”

At my question, Choi Yeon looked thoughtful for a moment.

Then she nodded.

“Yeah. Grandfather seemed very interested in the club too. If I ask him, I think he'll agree.”

“That's good. And the next person I'd like to ask is... Guild Master Han Yeo-eun of the Artemis Guild.”

“Boooooooss! Just kill me instead!!”

“My goddess is descending upon our cluuuuub!!”

The reactions of the two couldn't have been more opposite.

“Boss. Are you really planning to call that crazy woman? If you do, we're all going to die!!”

Jin-woo spoke while trembling from head to toe.

Se-ah clamped a hand over his mouth, then smiled at me.

“Surely Mr. Eugene wouldn't invite Guild Master Han Yeo-eun without any reason, right?”

“Exactly. Guild Master Han Yeo-eun is an assassin or thief-type hero, but she's actually close to an all-rounder. If we learn things like her weapon techniques and situational judgment, it'll definitely be a huge help.”

After all, Han Yeo-eun had built the enormous Artemis Guild through those abilities.

“And during self-study periods, I plan to ask Old Man Kwak Chun-sik and Instructor Ji Su-hyeon to guide us. They're both among the best in the world when it comes to aura and mana control, and they've trained disciples for a long time.”

There were three things I was aiming for with this opportunity.

Making connections with the other mentors.

And quickly filling in the areas I currently lacked.

Of course, the process would be extremely painful and difficult, but I couldn't give up the chance to assemble the world's strongest lineup of instructors exactly to my liking.

In fact, even Old Man Kwak Chun-sik had been pleased after hearing my plan and said it was a good idea.

By day, masters of the light.

By night, masters of the shadows.

If this were a game, you could call it taking the hellish training route, but one thing was certain.

This operation would make our club even stronger.

“S-so Boss. When exactly are we supposed to contact those mentors? It's pretty late today, right? Right?”

Jin-woo, who had somehow escaped Se-ah's restraint and moved to the seat beside Young-je, cautiously asked.

“Obviously right now.”

“W-what? R-right now? But that craz── our mentor is probably pretty busy right now?”

“No matter how busy she is, would she coldly refuse when her disciple asks for help? Why don't you at least try?”

It's not like I didn't know Han Yeo-eun's personality.

Did he really think an excuse like that would work?

Hearing my gentle tone, Jin-woo pulled out his phone with the expression of someone who had given up.

After he moved his fingers a few times, the ringtone came through the phone.

A moment later.

-Hello.

A woman's voice came from Jin-woo's phone.

“Ah. Um... Mentor? I... have something to ask.”

-You have something to ask? You?

“Ah. Yes. It's just...”

Jin-woo glanced toward me.

I gently urged him again with the shape of my mouth.‘Want a beating?’Fortunately, he seemed to read my lips successfully, because he squeezed his eyes shut and continued speaking.

“Um, well. I know it's a little late, but... could you maybe, just maybe, help our club members with special training for the midterms? If you can't, that's fine. No, if you can't, I'd actually be gratef... ul?”-...

A brief silence.

-I'm coming now.

“Ah. Right? Of course you're busy... huh? You're coming now?”

-Why. You asked for help.

“No, it's just that you said you were busy this week...”

-I'm free now. I'm heading to the Academy.

Then the call abruptly ended.

Jin-woo stared blankly at the now-black phone screen, then slowly raised his head, lifted a trembling hand, and gave a thumbs-up.

“I-it's... solved, right?”

Transparent tears streamed down as he spoke in a trembling voice.

I walked over to Jin-woo, who was shouting behind me, ‘No, seriously! She definitely said she was busy!’ and patted his shoulder.

“Yeah, good work.”

“...

Boss. What exactly are you trying to learn by calling Han Yeo-eun, that woman? It's true I got stronger because of her, but I have no idea why you're calling her.”

For once, Jin-woo asked a proper question.

The other kids seemed curious too, because all of them turned their attention toward me.

“No, I wasn't planning to ask for anything that incredible. I was just going to ask her to teach us a skill that would help everyone. Jin-woo, you're probably already good at this, right?”

“Hm? What's that?”──How to get hit without it hurting.

“Let's start with how to get hit without it hurting.”

It was the first subject in star instructor Han Eugene's cram-session curriculum.