I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 17

Baek Yu-Seol, sensing through intuition that an attack spell was incoming, instantly teleported to the top of a tree.

Thwack!

A light bullet grazed the spot where he had been standing, colliding with the tree and disappearing.

Baek Yu-Seol looked at Flame lying on the floor, drenched in cold sweat.

'Is this worth killing someone over?'

Mana Leakage Delay’s level had recently increased, and it could now detect mana fluctuations from 18 meters away, so he wiped away the cold sweat, realizing he’d almost been in trouble.

While most mages could enchant their bodies with a thin layer of defensive magic, he couldn’t.

'And really, a Light Bullet? Isn’t that too much?'

In the world of magic, a seventeen-year-old mage was considered a genius if they could wield Class 2 spells.

But in Stella, it was nothing out of the ordinary. 

First-year students were already using Class 2 magic freely, and students who excelled, such as Flame, were manipulating Class 3 magic.

With its fast attack speed, high damage, and efficient healing properties, the absurdly overpowered ‘Light’ series of elemental magic was something best avoided.

'But now I have two charges of Flash left, so if I can use the terrain well, I’ll be able to deal with her to some extent…'

[Flash]

[Class: 1]

[Maximum Range: 12m]

[Maximum number of charges: 2]

[Cooldown: 3 seconds]

Thanks to his early morning training, the number of Flash charges had increased to two, granting him more mobility.

‘Still, it would be hard to fight with her.’

Dealing with the main protagonist was a bad idea, so he decided to retreat.

Baek Yu-Seol’s goal was to be in the top 5. No, he was aiming for exactly 5th place.

As he recalled, the prize for fifth place was Edelic Root. When consumed, it increased stamina and muscle strength by a certain level, and although it was not that good, it was added as a product to replenish energy when young students studied.

‘Jeremy was first, followed by Hae Won-Ryang in second place, and Hong Bi-Yeon in third. 

‘Ma Yu-Seong was supposed to be fourth, but there was a branch where Flame would take it away from him because he slacked off…’

The gap between the fourth and fifth places was so large that he didn’t bother worrying about it. The cutoff for fifth place was roughly 70 points. He only needed three more point sticks.

However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall where the remaining point sticks were. His only option was to trust in Flash’s mobility and keep searching.

“Oh, another dead end?”

He realized he had taken the wrong path. The terrain’s constant changes made it incredibly confusing.

With no other choice, he turned around to find another way out.

Rustle!

The grass in front of him parted, and about five boys appeared.

“Oh, who’s this?"

“Isn’t he Baek Yu-Seol from Class S?”

The boy who checked his name tag was Aiden. Baek Yuseol recognized him immediately; he was well-known as one of Jeremy’s errand boys in Yuslek’s faction.

In other words, Aiden was a member of a faction created by another faction member. Alongside him were other boys who also appeared to be part of Yuslek’s group. Baek Yuseol couldn’t help but feel impressed by the display of camaraderie.

Aiden was holding three point sticks in his left hand.

‘They’ve gathered quite a lot.’

Aiden’s gang approached arrogantly.

“So, you’re Baek Yuseol, the fraud who got into Class S by cheating even though you can’t use magic?”

“Getting into Class S by solving those three weird problems? I heard Stella’s standards have dropped a lot recently.”

“You resonated with the upper-intermediate staff, didn’t you? Why don’t you show us then? Although it’s probably useless since you can’t use magic anyway.”

Although their jokes weren’t funny, they laughed amongst themselves, typical of high school bullies.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen something this cliché. Feels nostalgic.’

Baek Yuseol had dealt with plenty of such students in his school days.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Never mind. Just hand over your point stick.”

“No.”

When Baek Yu-Seol subtly hid the point stick behind him, Aiden scoffed.

“Ha, what makes you so confident? Don’t tell me you’re wearing a damage suit?”

A damage suit was protective gear used during practical exams. It contained a shield that ensured safety by ejecting the wearer upon receiving significant damage.

In other words, it meant elimination.

"But that only prevents death. It doesn't reduce the pain. They say it’s so we can experience real battle. Hehe, you’ll probably experience pain as if you were dying."

"Hmm..."

Baek Yu-Seol considered his options for a moment. With his Class 1 Flash, he could handle most weaker students, but against a mage from a prestigious family with enough talent like Aiden, it probably wouldn't work. At least, not without having three Flash.

However, there was a variable.

The point stick in his hand and the fact that this place was a dungeon.

"Here."

"That's the spirit."

Baek Yuseol subtly extended the point stick as if surrendering. Aiden approached, smirking, clearly assuming Baek Yuseol had given up.

And then, in that moment…

[Flash]

Swish! Baek Yu-Seol's form disappeared like mist. The sound of his robe fluttering was heard in that split second.

"Huh...?"

Aiden made eye contact with Baek Yu-Seol as he reached out his hand towards Aiden’s head.

‘When did he…?’

Thwack!!!

A heavy blow landed on Aiden’s forehead. The magical shield surrounding his body shattered as he reeled from the impact, his mind thrown into chaos.

In the midst of that, Aiden instinctively responded by spreading mana waves.

Boom!!!

‘Oh, that was close.’

Since the attacker had already fled, the mana wave only hit the air. Aiden shook his head and woke out of his stupor, quickly realizing that one of the point sticks in his left hand had been stolen.

“Damn it…!”

Baek Yu-Seol had taken it away in a short span of time.

“What?!”

“How did…?”

As expected, the other sheepdogs couldn’t even react. 

Aiden gritted his teeth and looked back at Baek Yu-Seol playfully waving two point sticks.

“You bastard…”

Apart from his anger, Baek Yu-Seol was honestly a little impressed. It was true that a mage who trained mana had better senses than normal people, but even so, he did not imagine that the first-year student with no experience in combat would be able to respond to Flash.

'Well, no matter how idiotic they seem, they are still Stella students, huh?'

When opponents didn’t know about Flash, it was easy to swipe point sticks like this, but once they started preparing for it, things would get tougher.

‘However, as expected of the point stick. The performance is unmistakable.’

Many players had discovered an interesting quirk about the point stick during this episode.

The point stick was, in fact, a bug-like item.

According to the lore, these Point Sticks were crafted by the faculty to be impervious to student magic. Their durability was absurdly high, and when swung, they exhibited strength comparable to decent magical weapons.

As a result, there were countless amusing moments during dungeon practicums where novice players, inexperienced in using magic, defeated monsters with point sticks.

Of course, this strategy only worked for beginners; using magic was far more advantageous for most. But…

It was different for the character Baek Yu-Seol.

His playstyle revolved around physical attacks, and with a strong weapon, he could maximize Flash’s efficiency to 100%.

“This was well worth it. If I ever get a girlfriend, I should give her one of these as a gift.”

"You, you bastard!"

When Aiden swung his staff, lightning struck the spot where Baek Yu-Seol had been standing.

However, Baek Yu-Seol had already Flashed to a nearby tree.

Aiden’s minions fired ice spikes and fire orbs at Baek Yu-Seol in quick succession, but he avoided them by casually leaping down from the tree branches.

“Now!”

Two other boys, assuming he couldn’t move mid-air, fired ropes of wind and water spells at him, but a massive boulder suddenly fell from the sky, blocking their spells.

It was a dungeon trap that was aimed at Baek Yu-Seol.

“Huh? What?”

The ground rose up, ensnaring their ankles, while nearby trees spun around, disorienting the boys with a loss of sense of direction—the dungeon's traps were throwing them into disarray.

This was a dungeon, not a place for a straightforward battle.

With the enhanced Sixth Sense granted by the Mana Leakage Delay, Baek Yu-Seol not only avoided the trap freely but also flexibly used it as a shield or blindfold, turning the Aiden gang into dogs that chased after chickens.

"Damn it! Where is that bastard?! Find him already!"

“H-he’s too fast! We can’t find him!”

Thwack!

“Argh!”

Any slight opening was enough for Baek Yu-Seol to dart into the trap zone and strike their heads with his point stick.

The boys gritted their teeth, staying on high alert, unsure of when or where the next attack would come.

“There he is!”

“Where? There’s no one there!”

“He just disappeared!”

With dirt flying, tree branches whipping around, and the ground spinning beneath them, locating Baek Yu-Seol was nearly impossible as he used Flash to toy with them, striking lightly before vanishing again.

His years of PvP experience had taught him how to use the terrain to his advantage.

Here one second, gone the next.

Teleporting back and forth, he spotted a vulnerable opening, his eyes lighting up.

[Flash]

As soon as the decision was made, he approached a boy who was standing on the precipice and casting magic.

And then Baek Yu-Seol screamed.

“Boo!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Startled, the boy fumbled his spell, dropped his staff, and fell backward.

At that moment, a magic rebound was triggered by the effect of casting failure.

There was enough cooldown left for Flash, and while it was possible to avoid it, magic rebound of only Class 1 or Class 2 would not cause too much damage, so avoiding it was unnecessary.

Instead, he went on the offensive.

Right before the rebound triggered, he kicked the boy in the stomach, sending him flying toward Aiden and the others.

Ting!

The magic shield on the boy’s robe absorbed some of the impact, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from being knocked back.

Bang!

“Whoa! Argh!”

“Argh!”

The resulting shockwave was more like a small firecracker, but within the dungeon’s trap-laden environment, it was enough to cause panic. The rookies, startled, screamed and retreated.

This tactic worked perfectly against young mages still learning how to fight.

And in between…

[Flash]

Baek Yu-Seol moved behind Aiden who had taken a step backward in surprise and stole another point stick.

“You… This bastard…!”

"Oh, dear boss, you’re even running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion? Your store’s going to go bankrupt!"

"Give that back—now!!!"

Aiden launched a lightning strike, but it failed to reach Baek Yu-Seol, who had already hidden behind a tree.

‘I don’t think I’ll be able to take the other one.’

He stuck his head out again, prepared to be content with his spoils.

“I had a lot of fun, so I’m leaving now. I have a date tonight.”

“You…!”

Aiden shouted, but Baek Yu-Seol, who had already activated Flash and left that place, could not hear it.

‘Hehe, what a lucky break.’

If he had fought normally, he would have been robbed, but thanks to the fact that this was a dungeon, he was able to steal the point sticks.

‘This is what you call the wisdom of experience.’

As he left the battlefield, something caught his eye.

A familiar black-haired head.

‘Flame? What’s she doing here?’

Baek Yu-Seol hadn’t noticed her earlier since his Sixth Sense only detected active magic. She had been watching his fight with Aiden from a safe distance for quite some time.

‘Is stalking her hobby?’

It was strange. 

According to the game, Flame had two choices here: defeat the hidden boss Eisel was targeting or intervene in Hae Won-Ryang and Ma Yu-Seong’s fight to influence the outcome.

‘What’s she doing here at a time like this…?’

Lost in thought, Baek Yu-Seol was about to climb a tree when his Sixth Sense suddenly screamed danger.

“Uh…?”

When he turned his head...

Whack!

A massive fireball flew straight at his landing spot.