I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 14

"Everyone knows the origins of magic, but it was only when the White Mage, also known as the Progenitor Mage, spread magic across the world that humans and other races were able to wield it."

Just like in reality, the study of magic was highly specialized and intricate.

Mana Orbitology Studies, an Introduction to Magic Studies, studied the relationship between practicality and performance.

Seriously, they studied everything.

As in any other world, lectures were incredibly dull. Professor Raiden, who taught Divine Moon Studies, was particularly unpopular due to his sharp, grating voice that put listeners on edge.

"After introducing natural magic to elves, material magic to dwarves, and elemental magic to humans, the Progenitor Mage vanished."

"So, does anyone know where the Progenitor Mage went next?”

“Me!”

“Speak.”

"They went to Heaven to teach the angels light magic, then descended to the underworld to teach demons abyss magic."

"That’s correct."

Baek Yu-Seol was utterly bored. Whether or not he learned something new, the class was excruciatingly tedious.

‘How can I listen to this for three years…’

However, this class was pretty important. It was because there could be information that would bring him closer to the ‘True Ending.’

Professor Raiden scribbled on the blackboard with his signature irritating voice.

“But there were some things that the Progenitor Mage didn’t expect. Human's curiosity didn’t stop at elemental magic. Human mages began to travel worldwide and stole the magic of different races. That’s how modern magic came into being.”

Baek Yu-Seol yawned silently and looked around. Sitting a little farther away, Eisel caught his attention. 

Was she supposed to be in this class? As far as he could recall, none of the main characters were meant to attend Divine Moon Studies.

“People were not satisfied with that either. They wanted more knowledge and more magic. However, humans could not learn magic anymore. This was because the Progenitor Mage disappeared, leaving behind the world's Twelve Divine Moons. Does anyone know about the Twelve Divine Moons?”

Finally, the main topic surfaced, and Baek Yu-Seol perked up. The Twelve Divine Moons. This was what interested him the most.

When a student raised their hand, Professor Raiden gestured for them to speak.

"Answer."

“It’s said that the Twelve Divine Moons are guardians stationed to protect the balance of the continents. It’s also said that until just a thousand years ago, they spread all over the world and looked over the continents.”

“Right. They each defended a continent with their special powers.”

The professor wrote four letters on the blackboard.

“For example, it was said that the Scarlet Summer Moon (the moon representing the month of June), which symbolizes fire, is a red flame, and that flame would never extinguish. Even now, it’s rumored that you can see the red flame if you enter the Alamanca’s Deep Sea. You should check it out if you’re interested.”

He was not joking, but the students burst into laughter. 

Alamanca's Deep Sea was an absolute forbidden zone, ruled by the Sea King Alamanca. It was a place no land-dwelling life could dare to enter.

Perhaps this was the one day in the year when Professor Raiden made an actually funny remark.

Flash!

“Focus.”

A light screen flickered to life, silencing the laughter as Raiden spoke. The students directed their attention to the images hovering in the air.

Alamanca's Deep Sea.

In the pitch-black depths, a vivid red flame illuminated its surroundings. The flame was entwined around a colossal octopus bound in chains. Strangely, the fire didn’t harm the creature.

The next photo was taken at Levian's Coast.

A huge vortex formed in the middle of the sea. The catastrophic vortex with a diameter of five hundred meters was frozen entirely by the power of the Blue Winter Moon (the moon representing the month of December).

A mysterious phenomenon that was difficult to explain even with magic. It was so surprising that Baek Yu-Seol’s drowsiness went away.

"Each divine moon has unique abilities," Raiden explained. "It’s said that when all twelve moons come together, something extraordinary happens."

“What is it?”

Professor Raiden was speechless for the first time at a question from a certain student.

“It’s… No one knows. It’s because not once have all the divine moons been gathered together.”

It was true. The Divine Moons had never awakened since they mysteriously fell into slumber a thousand years ago.

Baek Yu-Seol had encountered some members of the Twelve Divine Moons while playing the game.

Those who went through their events were given special skills or received items from divine moons, and naturally, he had no choice but to be interested.

He managed to locate five divine moons in total.

Even that was only possible by combining the information from other players. The five he found were only discovered after significant effort, and no player collected more divine moons than him.

For that reason, he thought that the existence of those Twelve Divine Moons could have a direct connection with the True Ending.

Ten years. 

For ten years, countless players had played the game with numerous options and had seen countless endings.

But if no one had reached the True Ending, wouldn’t the answer lie in the content no one had accessed?

And that was the Twelve Divine Moons.

Even with the game’s extreme difficulty, Baek Yu-Seol had tracked down five moons, risking death multiple times in the process.

There was nothing else he could do to see the True Ending. He just had to try again…

After Raiden's lecture, Baek Yu-Seol was walking down the hallway for the next one when someone called him from behind.

“Excuse me.”

“Huh?”

It was Eisel. She approached him with a slightly dissatisfied expression and said, “Why are you attending this lecture?”

‘Why am I attending it? What an odd question.’

“Answer me.”

“Uh, well…” In fact, the Divine Moon Studies he took was not very popular.

Magic, as a discipline, revolved around precise calculations, organization, and control of mana flow. Divine Moon Studies, however, diverged entirely.

It was more akin to sorcery or rituals. Practitioners prayed to the twelve moons, seeking their power and special abilities.

Many, like Professor Raiden, revered the moons and practiced Divine Moon magic. Yet this method wasn’t widely accepted, as its advantages over traditional magic remained unclear.

In some areas, it was said that members of Divine Moon Church were even treated as heretics and expelled.

“I’m attending because I’m interested.”

“… That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“…"

She closed her mouth for a moment, pondered, and after staring at him for a while, parted her lips again.

“Well, then… Hmm. Does it have anything to do with grades?”

“Divine Moon Studies is my hobby.”

He, too, found this situation odd.

“It seems you weren’t there during the Divine Moon Studies orientation. When did you enroll?”

“Well, that’s…”

Come to think of it, there’s still a period for course correction.

“Did you sign up for Divine Moon Studies by chance? Do you understand its appeal?”

“No? What are you talking about?”

After saying that, Eisel turned around and disappeared.

"If it’s not, then why act like that?"

Leaving the question unanswered, Baek Yu-Seol proceeded to his next lecture. Classes continued into the afternoon.

Bang! Bang!

A giant scarecrow puppet erupted in flames, causing a massive explosion. During the Practical Applications of Magical Attacks class, students practiced firing magic attacks aligned with their attributes at the moving target.

“It’s not always about firing hard and fast. What matters is accuracy. Even if you have powerful magic skills, they’re useless if you don’t hit the enemy, alright?”

Professor Hong Yi-El’s words rang out as the scarecrow shrank and began darting around the field.

The students’ magic attacks exploded harmlessly in the air, failing to graze the target. Even Hong Bi-Yeon’s attempt met the same fate.

Whoosh! Bang!

She furrowed her brows, gripping her staff tightly before casting another flaming sphere.

Her firepower was strong, but she could not hit anything.

Hong Yi-El passed by her and whispered.

“... Absolutely pathetic, Bi-Yeon.”

Hong Bi-Yeon’s face turned pale at his words. Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to suppress the chaotic emotions swirling within her. Biting her trembling lip, she raised her staff again.

Suddenly assaulted by a strong sense of self-doubt, she dropped the staff.

“Hooh…”

The horrifying pressure of failure fell on her chest and she fought to breathe against it as cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

‘You can’t make it obvious. You must not show your vulnerability.’

Hong Bi-Yeon felt on the verge of collapse but mustered superhuman willpower to stay upright. A girl approached her as she stood frozen.

“Wow, Princess, you’re incredible.”

“… What?”

“You used the same magic as me but had three times the power.”

'Is this brat aware of how I’m feeling, or she's just speaking without thinking?'

“What’s the point, though? It’s pointless. I’m not even sure I can hit it. I’m envious of you. You have high accuracy.”

“But if the Princess practiced a little more, wouldn’t she surpass someone like me easily?” 

'What do you mean?'

Hong Bi-Yeon ignored the girl’s words, picked up her staff, and stood tall again. Oddly enough, the pressure in her chest lightened somewhat after their conversation.

'Come to think of it, is she also a fire-attribute Mage?'

'I think I’ve heard of her. Her name is Arshuang.'

Outside the academy, rumors had spread of Arshuang being the greatest flame attribute talent in generations.

After thinking a bit, she recalled hearing it before, but when Arshuang entered the academy, her magic skill was so shabby that she could not even be compared with Hong Bi-Yeon.

And rightly so, Hong Bi-Yeon was a world-class genius. She didn’t feel much pride in outclassing someone she was clearly meant to surpass.

“Hooh…”

For the remainder of the lecture, Hong Bi-Yeon struggled to hit the moving scarecrow. The moment class ended, she bolted out of the room, unable to bear another second of her mother’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Hooh….”

She went to the lounge and sat down helplessly. Even her legs felt numb, and she lost all sensation.

Perhaps it was the sheer effort she put in - two or three times that of the other students - or maybe the psychological strain.

“Princess.”

“Yeterin, there you are. Bring me a drink. And some red ginseng candy while you’re at it.”

“Here you go.”

Princess Hong Bi-Yeon’s exclusive bodyguard, Yeterin, was tall for a woman, reaching almost 170cm. Hong Bi-Yeon, who was 160cm, had to look slightly upward to make eye contact with her.

“By the way, any news?”

“Yes. It’s about the staff modification request you ordered the other day.”

“Ah, that.”

Hong Bi-Yeon stroked her chin and pondered. She had heard that alchemists sometimes used remodeled staffs, but she had never seen a mage do that before.

‘He is unique in many ways.’

A boy who was last place in the whole academy yet resonated with an upper-intermediate grade staff and had made his way into Class S.

“Can it be turned into a magic sword?”

“Since the staff is so good, a good quality product will come out without problems. However, there’s one thing that is a little questionable.”

“Questionable?”

“That’s… The staff keeps trying to drain its owner’s mana.”

“What? Is it a cursed artifact?”

“It’s not exactly like that. It appears to be constantly resonating with natural energy.”

“What kind of strange staff did he get? Stella is also strange.”

'Continuously absorbing the user’s mana and resonating with nature’s mana simultaneously? It's just weird to hear.'

“Why's such a garbage staff at upper-intermediate grade?”

“That’s exactly why it’s only upper-intermediate.”

“What does that mean?”

Yeterin’s expression suggested she didn’t know how to explain it, but she continued.

“Its original performance was rated advanced grade because it had the effect of explosively enhancing the user’s magic power and amplifying it tremendously, but it was lowered to upper-intermediate grade because it would suck away the user’s mana upon contact.”

“A-Advanced Grade? How does a student hold such a thing?”

“That’s a riddle for me too.”

Hong Bi-Yeon knew very well that it was not set up for resonance in the first place. But how did he resonate with such a wand?

‘What is that strange commoner doing?’

Not that she wanted the staff for herself.

It was strange that the power of magic skill increased explosively, but the penalty of losing mana was too great.

“I wouldn’t use that staff even if you gave it to me. Unless I had an infinite supply of mana, or none at all.”

That was pretty weird. If one had no mana, one wouldn't be a mage, so why use a wand?

“I don't know. The commoner will figure it out. I will just do what I was told.”

'Its owner is also one-of-a-kind, as is his staff.'

Hong Bi-Yeon rarely gave commoners much thought, yet Baek Yu-Seol lingered in her mind for far too long.