I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 48

“Achoo!”

Upon entering the dungeon, a strong sneezing fit overwhelmed him. Thinking quickly, Baek Yu-Seol put on his gas mask.

‘Oh, pollen allergens.’

He couldn't recall the exact name, but players often referred to it as pollen allergens. It caused characters to repeatedly sneeze, interrupting their actions and leading to precarious situations.

Fortunately, he had prepared multiple gas masks in advance.

"Oh, how beautiful."

Having never visited this place before, he’d pictured something akin to a dark, damp cave. Yet, what greeted him was a mesmerizing sight, a dreamlike field adorned with petals that shimmered with a verdant glow. Among the ethereal beauty writhed the sinister leafanel roots, the monsters that prowled this dungeon.

These roots were unnervingly agile, capable of strangling and draining the life from their prey. Fire was their natural weakness, but dealing with them wasn’t as simple as dousing them in oil and setting them ablaze.

Plant-type monsters were resistant to non-magical fire.

That was why he turned to alchemy.

Of course, as an accomplished alchemist, it was possible for Baek Yu-Seol to instantly combine gunpowder and magic to create powerful explosives. However, he didn’t have enough mana to unleash offensive alchemy.

What he intended to do was simply throw a class 1 firebomb, which might be bothersome but could still be helpful in its own way.

Moving cautiously, he spotted a wandering leafanel root and sprang into action.

Crash! Whoosh!

Screech!

The firebomb detonated with a sharp burst.

"Woah. It sounds like it's screaming."

As soon as he confirmed the Leafanel root’s agony, he used Flash to approach and swung his Teripon Sword. However, before he could land a hit, the creature lashed its head like a whip.

Reacting swiftly, Baek Yu-Seol flashed upward, landed lightly on a branch, and propelled himself toward the root once more, sword aimed to strike.

For a brief moment, the creature lost track of him, giving him the chance to deliver a powerful slash to its midsection. Despite the strength behind his blow, the resulting shock nearly knocked the sword from his grip.

‘How is this thing so tough?!’

Forced to retreat, he tumbled backward, realizing his earlier thrust had missed its mark. Without hesitation, he activated Flash again, this time diagonally, to stay one step ahead of the creature’s strikes.

The roots lunged, writhing to ensnare him, but he rolled away just in time and struck a spot marked with a faint blue glow.

Squelch!

Screech…

Fatally struck at the weak point, the roots slumped, losing their strength.

[You have obtained EXP.]

"Phew... Well, at least it gave me a lot of EXP."

Despite having a danger level of around 3, the leafanel roots were terrifyingly lethal. Facing even one of them head-on would have been near impossible.

He owed his victory to the gas mask that neutralized the pollen and the calculated damage inflicted by the firebombs.

Without them, Baek Yu-Seol wouldn’t have dared to step foot in this dungeon.

With some effort, he got back on his feet. He’d barely taken down one enemy, and yet, the dungeon still stretched on endlessly before him.

Baek Yu-Seol continued the dungeon exploration for about three more hours and achieved the feat of defeating a dozen or so leafanel roots.

"Cough! Damn, I'm exhausted."

He sat on the ground, changed the gas mask, and sipped water through a straw connected to a water pouch.

Baek Yu-Seol’s upper body was covered with makeshift armor made from Leafanel roots, utilizing the blueprint and materials he had prepared in advance. It was a method that players in the game often used. He decided to try it himself, and it proved effective.

Leafanel roots had a tendency to attack and coil around the upper body of humans and hesitated to initiate an attack if they sensed their kind. Even if they did attack, they would momentarily hesitate, or thanks to their tough bark, he could avoid taking significant damage.

In fact, there were a few instances where he miscalculated the cooldown of Flash and would have been in big trouble, but thanks to this armor, he managed to survive unscathed.

A quick glance at his watch told him it was already past midnight—Saturday. His goal was to conquer the dungeon by Sunday, and for that, he needed to pick up the pace.

"Ugh... Should I keep going?"

***

Staying up all night hunting in a game and doing so in real life were different things.

In the game, recklessness was forgivable, death merely meant respawning. But here, one wrong move could mean permanent death.

As he continued hunting, he could feel his body getting stronger, but his mind was gradually becoming exhausted. It was inevitable that his stress would reach its peak due to excessive concentration.

"I'm dying..."

He collapsed just outside the boss room, gasping for breath. He hadn’t cleared all the leafanel roots, but he’d eliminated every obstacle blocking the shortest path to the boss.

His true objective wasn’t the small fry, it was the divine spirit, Leafanel, that dwelled deep within the dungeon.

"Hooh."

He drank a vitality potion to slightly relieve his fatigue and then reached out his hand to open the door. He had come with this purpose and couldn't afford not to make proper use of it.

[Entering the dungeon's boss room.]

With a heavy creaking sound, the massive wooden door opened, and a gentle breeze brushed past his cheeks.

Swish!

As a breeze brushed past his cheek, he was left speechless.

“Wahh…”

A luminous full moon, far more radiant than Earth’s, hung in the sky. Stars painted the heavens, their glow casting an enchanting light over the flower-filled field below.

Beneath the vast flower field where the moonlight scattered lay Divine Spirit Leafanel. Trapped in eternal stillness, she knelt with her hands clasped as if in prayer. Her translucent form exuded an ethereal glow, her beauty colder and more distant than the moonlight itself.

At a glance, she might seem like an ordinary spirit praying, but that was the form of a divine beast on the verge of transforming into a divine spirit.

Divine spirits were the most mysterious beings in the world. They were pure souls that had trained for hundreds of years and finally attained enlightenment, transcending into new existences. In the Aether World, such beings were not abundant.

However, the presence before him was not a perfect divine spirit.

Just before ascending, she had lost her heart, leaving her frozen in this half-formed state. Now, she was nothing more than an empty vessel, a living plant.

Nevertheless, she was still a divine spirit, so when he entered her presence, an immense pressure of mana would surely bear down on his entire body.

Taking a deep breath, Baek Yu-Seol braced himself and stepped forward.

Boom!!!

"Gah...!"

As if being trampled by an elephant, the pressure crushed his body. It was so intense that it felt like his skin might burst, and despite reading the warnings to always wear high-level protective armor, he was currently completely bare-bodied, having discarded even the root armor.

He was bearing the pressure purely with his body in order to overcome it.

‘It seems like my mana leakage delay is holding up to some extent...!’

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to take another step. Then another. But the effort left him collapsing to his knees, pain coursing through his joints.

"Ughhh!!"

But he couldn’t give up… not here. Forcing himself to summon every ounce of strength, Baek Yu-Seol pushed back against the crushing force. And in that moment, the pressure lessened ever so slightly.

Baek Yu-Seol’s body was resisting the pressure of a divine spirit!

Indeed, even in death, a divine spirit was still divine, as evident from the pressure emitted at the moment of dying.

Yet, against all odds, he rose to his feet. Energy surged through his limbs, and though he couldn’t store mana like a mage, he could feel the mana pathways within his veins pulsing with newfound vitality.

"Haha."

In this pressure, he stood up.

With this pure accomplishment, he could feel joy.

[EXP for the trait ‘Mana Leakage Delay' has increased.]

[Stats have increased.]

This was the divine spirit's final resting place, an unparalleled training ground. It was one of the rare 'Mana Veins' that mages all over the world were desperate to find.

It was a mystical place where even ordinary training could yield tens to hundreds of times greater effects.

Moreover, the residual energy of the divine spirit enriched one’s connection with nature. It would undoubtedly enhance his chances during the upcoming Familiar Contract Ceremony.

‘But before I train…’

With great effort, Baek Yu-Seol lifted his foot and took a step.

One step at a time, he advanced until he reached the place where Divine Spirit Leafanel lay in eternal slumber. Extending his hand, he grasped the slender branch hanging beneath her wrist.

[Obtained hidden artifact, 'Vengeance Branch.']

‘Yes!’

At last, he had secured the treasure he sought… the ultimate hidden artifact, tailor-made to face the eighth episode’s boss, Maizen Tyren.

[Vengeance Branch]

[Grade: High]

[Description: Grudges never fade with time; they only grow stronger.]

[Special Function:]

[▶ Vengeance Branch]

[A. Vengeance]

[1. Inflicts the ‘vengeance’ debuff on the target upon initial contact.]

[2. Upon second contact, the ‘Vengeance’ explodes, dealing damage. It inflicts significant additional damage to those with the dark attribute.]

[3. The damage of the vengeance accumulates each day and can be stored for up to 3 months.]

[4. Damage may be halved against targets with a risk level of 6 or higher.]

[(Usable once)]

"As expected..."

Even as his body strained under the divine pressure, Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but smile.

Although it might not seem like much for a high-grade artifact, it was truly extraordinary.

With a perfect accumulation of vengeance over three months, he could bring down Maizen Tyren, who would awaken as a dark mage, in a single strike.

It was a shame that he could only use it once, but if such a scam artifact could be used multiple times, then there would be significant issues.

‘Now that I have obtained the artifact, it's about time to…’

Baek Yu-Seol carefully placed the branch and intentionally laid it down on the ground. It was to fully experience the pressure throughout his body.

He had no intention of doing anything particularly special. He simply started basic bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, and squats. The efficiency of those exercises would multiply in this place.

"Ughhh...!"

Enduring the excruciating pain as if his bones and muscles were about to snap, he began the training.

***

At the heart of the Aether Continent, a massive tree stood tall: the Primordial World Tree, known as the Heavenly Spirit Tree.

As the heart of the continent, the backbone of the world, and the source of life, this world tree was surrounded by the Primordial Mountain Range where the fairies gathered and established their territory. It became the Kingdom of Elves, the Cradle of the Heavenly Spirit Tree.

And a ways from the Cradle of the Heavenly Spirit Tree, on the highest peak of the Primordial Mountain Range, stood an empty fortress. Time had worn its stones, yet it blended so seamlessly with the surrounding forest that it seemed less like a man-made structure and more like a tree grown from the earth itself.

At the top of that ancient fortress stood someone. There was a space there, engulfed in darkness. Faint sunlight seeped through the cracks of small windows, making for a truly eerie sight.

Despite the angle where the sun could not possibly reach, the sunlight somehow managed to illuminate the interior of the fortress, as if searching for someone.

As if stimulated by the dazzling light, the woman lying there like a sculpture raised her head. Then, snow-white hair resembling the snowflakes of the Frozen White Mountain Range cascaded down her neck.

As she opened her golden eyes, they sparkled like starlight. If someone were to see those eyes, they might lose their senses, completely drawn in by the beauty that seemed too overwhelming for any sentient being to handle.

High Elf King, Florin.

Still sluggish from sleep and plagued by low blood pressure, Florin rubbed her temples and stared blankly at the dim window. But a sudden ripple brushed across her senses, jolting her awake.

‘This presence…!’

Her long-time friend, the thousand-year old divine spirit, Leafanel, had been sleeping in the secret garden. Someone had entered that place.

'No one should be able to go there now, so who on earth...?'

Setting aside how they managed to use the key that was thought to have disappeared, she became even more curious about who had used it. She hurriedly approached the door and spoke.

"Is anyone out there?"

— Yes, Your Majesty.

Although the attendant replied, she quickly regained her composure and lowered her head deeply.

"... No, please go back to your duties."

Leafanel was currently in an extremely vulnerable state. She couldn’t entrust matters related to Leafanel to anyone else, even if they were a loyal servant willing to sacrifice their life for her. However, she herself was confined to this narrow space and was unable to take a single step outside.

Her cursed existence earned her a dreadful name: The Face of Death. Any who laid eyes upon her, even for a moment, would succumb to madness or illness, withering away in mere months.

‘I have to endure.’ 

For decades, she had lived in isolation, hidden away to protect others from her curse. Though she could step outside briefly, shrouded in enchanted masks and robes, her limit was one hour. Any longer, and the curse would take root.

Yet now, with Leafanel’s sanctuary breached, even her carefully built resolve wavered.

She restrained herself from going out as much as possible, but she couldn't just stay still over such a matter. She didn't want to witness innocent people looking at her face and succumbing to madness and death.

Besides, she would inevitably have to reveal her face as the king during the upcoming World Tree's Birth Festival. At that time, she would go out and see for herself.

So until that day came, she decided to wait patiently.

Determined, Florin gazed out of the window, where the warm sunlight caressed her cheek.

There were reasons she lived in such a dark and remote place. It was to avoid any chance of someone accidentally seeing her face while she slept or went about her daily life.

"Sigh..."

Florin leaned against the wall with a melancholic expression. Her last outing was eight years ago. It had always been like that.

Every time she ventured outside, fate never left her alone. She wasn’t born like this. It happened at some point, as if a curse had been cast upon her.

‘Will I ever walk freely under the sky again?’

She didn't know why nor how to solve it. So she calmly accepted her fate and endured each day, simply hoping for the day when she could be free.