I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 117

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝟕

Advanced spells are generally quite powerful and cannot be used in the old training grounds.

So after class, I headed to the state-of-the-art 4th training ground. There, I bumped into Jung Han-sol, who was also going there.

“You really are a character. Is there a day you don’t go to the training grounds?”

“I take a break once in a while.”

I checked Jung Han-sol’s information as he approached me with a look of exhaustion.

【Jung Han-sol】

▶Level: 40

To think he’d raise his level by 2 in such a short period. As expected, his growth rate is considerable.

However, the vast gap we had at the beginning of the semester was eventually closed as I caught up to him.

Jung Han-sol expressed his puzzlement when he saw my satisfied smile and continued.

“Why are you in such a good mood today? It’s kind of creepy.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Did you hit it off with someone again? Geez, the kids need to know about your merciless womanizing.”

Jung Han-sol had no idea what I was talking about, but I needed someone to help me test my spells.

I went inside the training ground with Jung Han-sol and settled down in a room.

Then I asked him a question.

“Have you ever used an advanced spell before?”

“Huh? Only the lowest level ones. But I’m not very good at it, so I don’t use it in real combat.”

Although he didn’t come from a prestigious family, Jung Han-sol was one of the most talented students. It seemed he had already started learning advanced spells.

“Why? Have you been practicing them lately? Just memorizing the spell structure must be a pain. Do you want me to help?”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

It was a kind offer, but unfortunately, I didn’t really need to study spells.

I could just think about them and naturally understand them, thanks to my Mental Spellbook trait.

I had Jung Han-sol stand against a wall in the training ground and asked him to do his best to cast a defensive spell.

“. . . What are you trying to do? I’m a little worried.”

“It’s not an attack spell, so don’t worry.”

First, I would test the advanced binding spell I had used once before.

Whooooosh.

“Taebaek is the circle of emptiness.”

“Wait, are you using that on me right now?”

Jung Han-sol was taken aback, but that was half the fun. I knew all about it, having seen Jung Han-sol do it several times in the original story.

“Dowon is the circle of selection.”

“Ugh, seriously. Azure Sky Wall!”

Bam!

Jung Han-sol’s intermediate-level defensive spell, the Azure Sky Wall, appeared in front of me, and at the same time, I concentrated all the spiritual power swirling around me and fired my spell.

“Eight-sided Rotating Lotus Net.”

Boom.

Crackle!

The two spells collided, and Jung Han-sol’s Azure Sky Wall, which had been firmly deployed, began to crumble slowly.

And finally.

Craaack!

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Jung Han-sol was swept away by a wave of spiritual power and his movements were restricted by the shattered defensive spell.

「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙩.」

Jung Han-sol’s Azure Sky Wall seemed to be quite well-made, but I was able to break it without much difficulty. That meant my spell had been cast perfectly.

“. . . Hey, it’s stuffy, so hurry up and release this.”

“Sure.”

Whooooosh.

Rustle.

Of course, it was just a simple exchange of attacks, but if it could work on someone like Jung Han-sol, it would definitely be effective in real combat.

I began to test other spells with a satisfied expression.

“I want to test an attack spell, but can you cast a high-level defensive spell?”

“I can if I prepare in advance. But when did you learn to do all this?”

Jung Han-sol looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

After all, to Jung Han-sol, who didn’t know the truth, it must seem like my abilities had suddenly and inexplicably skyrocketed.

“You can’t possibly have learned it overnight. So you were just pretending not to use them in the exams?”

It was true that I couldn’t use them before. But since it didn’t make sense even to me, I made up an excuse.

“Same as you. I just hadn’t mastered them properly.”

“Ah, I guess that’s why you’re practicing now. But even so, you’re pretty good at them.”

The reason Jung Han-sol felt that way was simple. It was also thanks to the Mental Spellbook trait.

「𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡.」

No matter how intelligent or skilled an exorcist is, there will always be a slight delay when they try to cast a spell with a complex structure.

If their spellcasting ability score is high or they are proficient in that particular spell, they can cover for it, but not many people can do that.

「𝙀𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧.」

But I can just transfer everything that comes to mind.

In other words, the difficulty of the basic task was different.

「𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮.」

There were many people in the world who were more talented than me, but I definitely had an unfair advantage in that regard.

After continuing to test my spells with Jung Han-sol’s help, I was able to get a sense of my current limits.

「𝘼𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙤.」

For example, I still couldn’t use the spell that Hektel had used in our last battle, the Deathly Fragrance Poison.

However, I would be able to use them one by one as my level increased.

There was no need to be impatient.

“How did you memorize so many spells? You seem to know more than me.”

“I’ve been studying a lot since before.”

“You really are a strange one.”

Jung Han-sol seemed to find it amazing, but he didn’t seem to have any further questions.

Jung Han-sol, who had finished stretching, spoke to me again.

“So are we done now?”

“No, I have one more thing to test.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I pulled out a blue talisman from my pocket.

It was a talisman made in the style of Cheong-woon, the founder of the Cheong family, which Cheong Juhwa had given me last time.

I hadn’t used it yet during the battle with Shin Do-hoon, so I had made sure to bring it with me.

So it would be better to test it out now, just in case I needed it later.

“If you’re going to do it, do it quickly. I’m getting tired.”

“This is the last one. Defend yourself with an intermediate spell.”

I aimed the talisman at Jung Han-sol, who had reluctantly put up the Azure Sky Wall again, and fired a spell into it.

「𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙁𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.」

But then.

“Huh?”

Whooooosh.

Crackle.

Boom!

In an instant, the spell spun out of control and shot off in a random direction.

The spell, which had been aimed far from my intended target, hit the wall of the training ground and left a significant mark of destruction.

Thud.

Bam.

Rumble.

After a brief silence, Jung Han-sol looked at me with a face full of betrayal.

“. . . Hey, you devil. You said an intermediate spell would be enough? Do you hate me?”

“I didn’t know it would be this bad. Sorry.”

It really was worse than I thought.

Not only was the power great, but the recoil was so strong that I couldn’t properly control the spell.

「. . . 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩?」

Thinking about it, the creator, Cheong Juhwa, had said that she couldn’t properly infuse the talisman with spells above intermediate level yet.

I was quite confident in my ability to control spells, but if even we were having this much difficulty, it must be something extraordinary.

「𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

It felt like it was stimulating and amplifying the spell, bringing it to the brink of runaway. But at the same time, it was possible to obtain enormous power.

It would take a lot of practice, but it was clear that it would be a very powerful weapon once I got used to it.

After helping Jung Han-sol with his training as a way of repaying him, I headed out and made my way to the exit, where I filled out a record of my visit and set off for somewhere else.

That place was none other than Myungrim Mountain, where the prophet Unyeon resided.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“It’s been a while. I heard the news from the old man Myung-yul.”

“Yes. I’m glad to see you well.”

There were two main reasons why I had come to see Unyeon.

First, to report that I had prevented the tragedy between Arietta and Myung-yul as promised.

And second, to ask if her prophecy of invincibility had truly been broken.

After exchanging brief greetings, I got straight to the point and asked Unyeon.

“Is the tragedy that Unyeon spoke of this?”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Then, has the prophecy of invincibility towards those two truly been broken?”

At that, Unyeon hesitated for a moment before carefully continuing.

“What is certain is that Myung-yul’s death, which I saw before, is no longer observable at all. I met with the old man just yesterday, so there is no mistake.”

“. . . I see.”

After resolving this situation, I felt a sense of unease.

Of course, the incident with Shin Do-hoon and Myung-yul was a complex and twisted one, and it was no exaggeration to call it a major crisis, but something had been bothering me the whole time.

「𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. . . . . . .」

That was one question that remained for me.

If I had brought Cheong So-ha instead of me to that place, wouldn’t she have been able to resolve the situation with her strength alone?

That thought kept coming to mind, and the uneasiness wouldn’t go away.

Unyeon nodded slightly as I explained it roughly, and then she spoke again.

“I understand what you are struggling with. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the exact atmosphere, but if you felt that way, then it’s natural to have doubts.”

“. . . . . . .”

“However, even if someone else had been there instead of you, it would have been difficult to prevent the tragedy in the end. That’s what a prophecy of invincibility is.”

Unyeon’s words were quite convincing, and as I looked at her, she continued softly.

“If you didn’t feel any particular force of destiny at that moment, there is only one reason.”

“What is that?”

“It’s because the size of the destiny you possess is so enormous. Enough that you could distort the destiny of others without much difficulty, if you so desired.”

To be honest, that was a very grandiose story.

Was it not arrogant to say that I could distort the destiny of others at will, as if I were a creator?

Still not quite convinced, I asked Unyeon another question.

“Is such a thing possible?”

“Theoretically, it’s not impossible.”

“Then, has there ever been anyone like me before?”

Unyeon answered resolutely.

“At least, I have never heard of one.”

“. . . . . . .”

“It seems that you have countless causes and effects intertwined within you, even more than I thought.”

Unyeon’s eyes, as she spoke, seemed to hold both compassion and fear of the unknown.

I stared at her with an indifferent gaze and slowly lifted the teacup in my hand.

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