The forms of the Six Harmonies Sword Art unfolded, and the blade, thickly imbued with mana, rushed towards the flustered instructor.

Clang!

The new instructor, who barely blocked it by raising his sword in a somewhat awkward posture. But that was not the end.

“Huh?”

His mouth, which had received the sword, opened, and a single word came out.

His posture was collapsing as if he were leaning back.

Grease magic. From the moment I had held out the challenge plaque, I had designated the coordinates and had eliminated the friction under his feet.

Thanks to that, the new instructor, who was unable to properly put strength into his lower body, began to be pushed back.

Immediately taking advantage of the momentum, I struck my sword towards the opponent’s knee, which had become defenseless.

Kiiing!

But the opponent, who had received it even in a state where his upper body was bent back. Not only that, but he had imbued a considerable amount of sword qi for a moment and had rather deflected the offensive.

‘I’m still far from it with a sword.’

I took a step back and controlled the tingling sensation in my palm, sizing up the opponent.

This side was definitely half a beat faster. Nevertheless, the reason why the attack was blocked must be the difference in physical ability and realm. No matter how new he was, it was difficult to beat a peak-level master with a sword.

“Is the surprise attack over with this?”

The new instructor, who had escaped from the range of the grease, muttered under his breath. He stomped on the ground, imbuing his feet with true qi, and shattered the magic field, raising his sword.

“You’re using petty tricks. It’s good that you’re prepared, seeing as you’ve even laid out a formation like this. But that’s all.”

Although he was trying to act tough, he was still sweating. On the contrary, his breathing was rough, as if his energy veins were unstable from having to operate his internal energy in a hurry.

‘I can’t give him the leisure to catch his breath.’

If it were a master of that level, no matter how rushed he was, he could quickly control his physical reactions.

I had to settle the score when his true qi was fluctuating from having to gather his strength suddenly.

Woooong-

I immediately gathered the mana of the third circle.

The flow of the pulsating mana. I could feel a power that was incomparable to before being amplified at my fingertips.

This was the first time I had used magic in a real battle after reaching the third circle.

Fwoosh!

In an instant, five fireballs the size of a torso rose above my head. It was a perfect match, since there was a target that couldn’t move properly.

“Huh?”

The new instructor, who made a dazed voice at that sight.

I immediately rushed at the opponent with the fireballs floating.

“Huh?”

The new instructor, who blocked this side’s sword, which was imbued with mana, with wide-open eyes. At the same time, I shot the five fireballs that I had stopped in the air.

“What… is this?!”

Only then did the opponent try to push me away and block the magic, but it was already too late.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!

Flames soared. What was revealed after the smoke had cleared was the new instructor, who was standing precariously, wearing tattered clothes.

“Keuk!”

Whether it was because of the shock, he coughed dryly with a trembling body.

‘But I couldn’t completely break through his protective qi.’

It seemed he had surrounded his body with his internal energy to protect it in that instant. Although I could see the blood vessels on his neck bulging, as if his energy had flowed back from his dantian due to the forced operation.

‘It doesn’t matter. It’s just the beginning.’

I raised my mana, creating a distance from the opponent.

Now that I had reached the realm of the third circle, I could now maintain and control magic for a longer time.

It meant that a time-lag attack was now possible. Just like now.

I immediately formed the next magic.

Then a fireball rose above my head again. But this time, its shape was different. I compressed the front of the fireball, making it spiral. Like an arrow.

I added a wind magic to it. Now that I had reached the realm of the third circle, it was possible to fuse and use two kinds of magic at once.

When I was at the second circle, I had used them consecutively to make it seem as if I were manifesting the magic at the same time, but now there was no need for that.

Because I could put all the magic into a single shot. In the midst of my immersion, the ring of the third circle resonated, and at the same time, a lump of mana was drained.

What would unfold from now on was a different kind of magic from the magic I had used before.

Fusion magic.

Fwoosh!

A crimson fire arrow blazed over my shoulder, and I aimed my sword as if I were drawing a bowstring. At the end of it was the new instructor, who had a pale face as if he had seen something strange.

Paang-!

And soon, along with the sound of the air being torn, a fire arrow, which was carrying the acceleration of a wind magic, was shot.

Kwaaaang!

A blazing flame. In an instant, the surroundings were dyed red. And soon, in the midst of the blazing fire that was crackling, the sword qi that had been emitting light scattered.

In the smoke that had not yet cleared, the new instructor came out, blackened.

“What is this chan…”

And then he collapsed on the spot.

‘The power of the third circle is stronger than I thought.’

I looked at the scene that had turned into a pile of ashes for a moment without a word and then lifted my head.

“Come out.”

But there was no answer. I opened my mouth again.

“I didn’t just guess. There’s no way you would miss a spectacle like this.”

“This is beyond my imagination. It’s amazing.”

Then, what came out was Wu Hwiryeong.

Seeing her, I recalled the advice I had heard after the friendly exchange match. That I had to be careful about the special power of magic.

But I had no intention of just hiding this power forever.

‘In the first place, there’s no reason or need to hide my magic anymore.’

I had already shown it as a kind of sorcery in the friendly exchange match, and since I had even become the successor of the Dark Formation Martial Sect, which would prove it, my backing was also solid.

As long as the background of the Zhuge family and the special-class formation master, Zhuge Hyeonguk, were on my side, no one would be able to lightly question the identity of my magic.

‘Now that I’ve become strong enough to subdue a master at the beginning of the peak level head-on. The time to just hide is over.’

Even if a certain force were to notice the uniqueness of my magic and aim for it. As long as I had a minimum of martial prowess, it was impossible in the academy, and I would also become stronger in the future.

“You should have stepped up instead of just watching. If you had mediated in the middle, he wouldn’t have been hurt like this.”

I checked the pulse of the collapsed new instructor and expressed my honest feelings.

The internal injuries of the blackened opponent were quite deep. It must be the aftermath of having to draw up his internal energy excessively to defend.

“Oh my, are you telling me to make the loser even more miserable?”

At Wu Hwiryeong’s joking remark, I asked back again.

“So is it a pass? The instructor can’t sign the challenge plaque.”

“Hmm. There are many ways to get a signature.”

Wu Hwiryeong put the hilt of the sword in the hand of the fainted new instructor. And then she placed my hand on top of it and then brought the challenge plaque, which she had taken from this side’s bosom before I knew it, to the tip of the blade.

“What are you doing? He’s saying he’ll sign it.”

“…Ah, yes.”

I finished the signature, at a loss for words at the common sense of the martial artists.

“By the way, you’re the last one.”

Although it was a remark that was thrown out as if in passing, it was a quite meaningful remark.

‘Are you saying everyone passed?’

The day was not over yet. If there were people who had not passed, there was no way I would be the last one.

Although I had secretly hoped that at least one person would fail, having been caught by an experienced instructor, it seemed everyone had sharpened their swords during the vacation and had come out.

“The next exam will start tomorrow, so be well prepared.”

Wu Hwiryeong said that and then disappeared from the air. I, who had been left alone, carried the unconscious new instructor on my back and headed to the clinic.

* * *

That night, I was in a private room prepared for the grade-skipping examinees, circulating my qi in preparation for the exam that would be held tomorrow.

‘The magic of the third circle is definitely powerful.’

To the point where I could break through the protective qi of a master at the beginning of the peak level if I just focused well.

‘The problem is that with just magic, I’m vulnerable in a fight of a moment.’

It wasn’t for nothing that they said that the natural enemy of a mage was a knight. The knights, who had only polished the sharpness of their mobility and aura, always had the upper hand in terms of time and space in a battle.

The space within the range of a sword is the realm of a knight, that is, a martial artist.

And the initiative of approaching and escaping based on a superior mobility was also with the martial artist. And on top of that, doesn’t the sword qi even cut or block magic? That’s why it was a compatibility.

‘Of course, if you secure that much distance and time, the mage can take the upper hand.’

So it was important to create a situation like the battle with the new instructor during the day.

Because my swordsmanship skills were still lacking.

And so, with various worries, just as the night at the academy was deepening.

Swish-!

I sensed something flying at a high speed beyond my senses. I immediately raised my sword and blocked the flying dagger.

‘Fast!’

A speed to the point where I would have been hit without a doubt if I hadn’t known about the surprise attack in advance and had prepared.

‘As expected.’

The word ‘tomorrow’ that Wu Hwiryeong had said earlier, it meant that it could start at any time after midnight.

‘And it also roughly matches the guide content.’

In the game, a surprise attack at night like this would often come in during the grade-skipping exam.

Of course, just because I knew didn’t mean I could completely respond.

‘And especially, my legs would have been in danger if I hadn’t protected them with a shield.’

It was surprising that he had aimed for my knees and ankles, which were in a qi circulation posture, as if he had grasped the inside.

‘It must be Namgung Dohyeok’s doing.’

I couldn’t even feel his presence. And yet, it was like him to have limited the power to the point where a peak-level master who had not let go of his tension could barely block it.

‘But he could have underestimated me a little.’

I let out a sigh, staring at the dagger that had fallen on the bed.

Although I had deliberately taken a lot of time to put up a shield in several layers, it had been completely broken by just one or two daggers.

‘A shield is not all-purpose.’

In the past, thanks to the structure that had been solidly built with the talent of [Absolute Magic], it had boasted a hard defense compared to its mana, but to put it the other way around, it also meant that since it had used an efficient structure from the beginning, the limit of its hardness was set.

‘If I put in more mana, I can solve the strength problem… but that’s not the answer.’

In the end, a shield is a surface-unit structure.

Assuming the same amount of energy was put in, the difference in destructive power between a surface, a line, and a point was fundamentally bound to occur.

Just like now.

Because if it were a lump of iron of the same weight, a carving knife would be more fatal than a thick silver foil, and a awl would be more fatal than a carving knife, to cut the opponent’s breath.

I began to gather the daggers that had fallen on the floor. To be precise, I looked at the Chinese characters on the papers that were tied to their ends.

‘Come to the Great Maple Valley.’

It was a place that any student who had taken Namgung Dohyeok’s class would have heard of at least once. It was a content that you would train there when you became an intermediate student. It was quite a distance from here.

I looked at the moonlight that was seeping in through the tattered wooden window. At the end of the faint ray of light was a wall with a dagger stuck in it. The Chinese character that was hanging under the dagger meant to come within a quarter of an hour, that is, 15 minutes.

‘If I had been injured, it would have been quite dangerous.’

Because I would have had to run right away without even having time to treat it, considering the distance.

I stepped on the Spirit God Steps and went out of the open window frame. In the center of the night sky, I could see a half-moon that was half-full. And so, I began to traverse the academy around midnight.

“Phew.”

As I climbed the rocky hill, letting out a hollow breath, I could see the Great Maple Valley, the next exam location.

A valley created by two huge cliffs that formed a pair. In the night sky, which was spread out like a black ink between the canyons, a half-moon was hanging, and below, rocks the size of a person were laid out like small pebbles.

“I arrived on time.”

And in the center of it, Namgung Dohyeok was standing. The rest of the students, including Baek Hasin, seemed to have already arrived.

“Then let’s start the exam.”

Namgung Dohyeok turned his body without even giving a glance this way. And then he swung his two arms at a speed that could not even be seen towards the valley.

Pa-pa-pa-pak!

Then a hundred or so daggers were stuck in the stone floor, creating four round circles with a diameter of 1 meter.

“Go in there.”

As we, including me, entered one by one according to his guidance, Namgung Dohyeok opened his mouth.

“A martial artist is a person who secures his own territory and also protects it. From now on, you must dominate and protect the space assigned to you.”

Everyone must have heard the story of a master who fights with a sword, facing each other.

It’s not that they’re scared. It’s that masters don’t rashly attack because they each have their own space and strategy.

The territory that Namgung Dohyeok was talking about was connected to that point.

An exam to see if you have secured your own territory and trajectory where you won’t lose when you have an opponent of the same number.

The dagger that Namgung Dohyeok was holding was flicked and then rotated around him once like a swimming fish and returned to its original position.

“From now until morning comes, nothing should touch the floor inside the circle. I will be recording every moment, so it’s no use to step on it late or to clean it up.”

Swish-

Just then, a wind that sounded like a beast crying in agony blew from beyond the valley.

At that ominous tremor, everyone, without exception, lifted their heads. Only then could the people who were standing in the circle witness it.

The thousands of great maple trees that were growing lushly on top of the two high cliffs.

The starlights that were sparkling along the crack of the night sky that the canyon had cut upright. In the center of it, as if to give a spotlight, something was scattering in the midst of the pouring moonlight.

“Huh?”

“What’s that?!”

Baek Cheong, who was familiar with the rugged rocky mountains of Huashan, was the first to make a face as if he couldn’t believe it, and Peng Geun-u, belatedly, opened his two eyes wide.

Swaaaa-

A cool wind continued under the canyon like some kind of premonition.

In the midst of it, only I quietly took a stance, foreseeing the shower that would happen from now on.

Have you ever seen the fruit of a maple?

It takes the shape of a boomerang the size of a thumbnail.

The strange and rough wind peculiar to the canyon stopped, and soon, a static world came with the darkness.

It wasn’t that the clouds had gathered, nor that the moon had disappeared.

But everyone was looking up.

What came into their sight were the thousands, tens of thousands of wings that were filling the night sky.

The countless maple fruits, which were reflected in the moonlight, poured down under the canyon like a swarm of bats.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep