Chapter 48

Dorara Korajin.

Magic Arts Deputy.

Inherent trait: Inferiority Complex.

Specialty magic: Wind.

As the Magic Arts Deputy, he handles various types of wind magic and, with enough time, can also manage extensive wind magic.

His razor-sharp wind magic is so keen it can easily slice through wood.

But.

“What the hell are you?”

There’s a thing called affinities in the world.

After I got punched in the side, Dorara, all heated up, continuously cast wind magic on me.

Blade-like gusts hit me repeatedly, and while Dorara laughed confidently about his victory,

In reality, he couldn’t leave a single scratch on my body.

My secret.

Steel Skin.

This was as if it was the ultimate counter to Dorara’s wind magic.

My skin is immune to slashing!

“Did you even pay attention during the group match?”

Well, to be fair, there’s no way this guy’s eyes would see anything other than Sharine.

He’s been spreading rumors behind her back just to take her down. Why would he notice anyone else, right?

That’s all the more reason to teach him a lesson.

A guy who can’t admit he’s lacking and only puts others down is no help at all.

As I charged at him, Dorara freaked out and conjured wind.

Then he quickly lifted himself into the air and soared over the rooftop of the sky garden.

No matter how much I am, I have no way to catch someone flying away.

Recognizing this fact, Dorara finally let out a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he remembered the humiliation he just faced and lit up with determination.

“I should’ve figured it out the moment you started hanging out with that b*tch, Sharine.”

Once he secured his safety, Dorara’s mouth began to open again.

Winds started swirling around him.

The staff in his hand began shining with light.

Even if he looks that pathetic, he’s still the Magic Arts Deputy.

Sure, there’s a huge difference between the Deputy and the Top Student, but he’s still ahead of many other mages.

His amount of magical power easily overpowers other magicians.

Seeing this, I unconsciously got into a starting stance.

Both hands on the ground, raising one leg slightly off the ground.

Dorara, noticing my actions, had a look of disbelief.

Thud!

I pierced through Dorara’s disbelief and kicked the ground, starting to dash.

Finally, the moment my foot touched the fence…

BOOM!

My body soared over the sky garden’s fence and into the air.

The sky garden floats far above the ground.

If I fell like this, it would be practically suicide.

“You crazy freak!?”

Dorara shouted in shock.

And his bewilderment created a huge opening.

My arm pulled back.

Simultaneously, a magic seal activated on my steel skin.

The activated magic seal: Explosion.

“If you thought you’d be safe in mid-air…”

I’ll have to show you that’s a huge mistake.

BOOOOM!

With the explosion of the magic seal in my palm, my body jumped up once more through the sky.

The distance between Dorara and me quickly closed.

Attempting to hastily cast a spell again, Dorara realized it was too late.

At the moment a magician allows close combat… there’s no escape left.

Smack!

My fist slammed mercilessly into Dorara’s jaw.

“Gah!”

Dorara got hit in the jaw, and a few of his teeth flew out.

His mind momentarily blanked out from the punch, causing the spell lifting him into the air to unravel.

Still, even as the Magic Arts Deputy, his resilience was impressive.

Dorara flailed around, trying to avoid falling, even half-conscious.

“W- wait, save me!”

He yelled with a ghostly pale face.

His inability to focus left him unable to cast a single spell.

He’s done for.

Just as Dorara thought that…

Thud!

My hand grabbed his nape.

And then, from my other hand, I caused an explosion, sending us both back to the sky garden.

Crash!

As I slammed Dorara onto the ground, he tumbled and rolled away until he stopped.

Perhaps because he had just nearly fallen to his death, his eyes were completely glazed over.

Thud-

“Huf!”

As I made a sound while walking, Dorara panicked and shot up.

He looked at me with a face full of cold sweat.

Had I not saved him just now, Dorara would’ve been dead.

Knowing that I held his life in my hands deeply instilled fear in him.

“You were quite the loudmouth earlier.”

With each time I loosened my wrist, Dorara flinched.

Yet, it seemed like he still had the fighting spirit as he desperately groped the ground.

Then, late to react, he noticed something missing.

“Looking for this?”

As I showed him the staff I was holding, his face hardened even more.

When dealing with mages, the most important thing is to take away their staff.

It’s the very basics.

Once the staff is gone, Dorara’s magic accuracy will plummet horribly.

This means, at this moment, he’s essentially just an average person who’s done a little training.

Smack-

Therefore, I tossed the staff back to him.

Looking at the staff thrown in front of him, he slowly lifted his head.

His expression screamed he couldn’t quite comprehend the situation.

Of course, there’s no reason to return a weapon to someone I’ve already defeated.

“Let’s continue this.”

I decided to become an even more incomprehensible existence for Dorara.

“Wouldn’t it be a waste to just end it here with the Magic Arts Deputy?”

Finally realizing the madness in my eyes, Dorara understood my intentions.

Whether or not he lost his fighting spirit, I didn’t care.

I simply sought to learn how to fight against mages, so I instigated him again.

If it ends only like this, I won’t be satisfied.

“Y- you psycho!”

Dorara mumbled as if he were facing the ungraspable.

But at that point, I was already prepared to leap.

“There’s still plenty of lunch time left!”

And the skies echoed with Dorara’s screams.

* * *

Whispers and gasps echoed from the children around.

However, I didn’t change my expression even a bit amidst their chatter.

What I held in my hands was none other than the disheveled Dorara Korajin.

The Magic Arts Deputy.

This was the very building of the Magic Arts.

Since I’m shorter than the average boy, I was currently dragging Dorara along the ground.

Thanks to that, all eyes were on me, and the kids looked bewildered.

“What’s that?”

“Dorara’s being dragged off in a total mess.”

“That’s him, right? The one who came first in the group match?”

“Hanon, right?”

The murmurs of the Magic Arts children grew louder.

I pierced through their gazes and entered Dorara’s classroom.

Then I tossed him down onto the floor.

Dorara rolled across the ground.

His eyes rolled back, refusing to snap back into reality.

I took a deep breath, feeling the gazes of the many Magic Arts kids focused on me.

Second-year, second semester, Act 4 is about to begin.

Dorara’s efforts would soon see the rumors about Sharine spread further, leading to her being ostracized in the Magic Arts.

This detail wasn’t particularly important to the story.

Simply a factor to draw the capricious Sharine into our team.

Act 4 would go much smoother with the help of Sharine.

This means, it doesn’t matter whether I solve the problem of Sharine being ostracized quickly or slowly.

“I never knew Magic Arts fell to this level.”

The moment I spoke, the looks of the Magic Arts kids changed in unison.

All the kids here took pride in magic.

Even if they were ranked last at Jerion Academy, once they stepped outside, their excellence would be recognized.

This place is a haven for raw talent, filled only with abilities.

So, their pride is sky-high.

There’s no area in magic as pure as that of talent.

“The Magic Arts Deputy told me that the reason I got first in the group match was thanks to Sharine.”

Of course, the Deputy was too busy slandering Sharine to say anything like that.

But the kids noticed my lack of self-control and assumed Dorara said that for sure.

“Shut it.”

As I cursed, I stared at the dumbfounded faces of the Magic Arts students.

“Even if anyone else took his place, I still would’ve come in first in the group match.”

“Hah?”

“What are you saying?”

The kids shot icy glares at me.

Among all the kids here, many were jealous of Sharine.

Sharine showed even those judged as talents their peak which they could never reach.

Of course, they wouldn’t be able to suppress the inferiority complex brewing in their hearts.

Yet, apart from this jealousy…

Deep down, they acknowledged Sharine’s abilities.

Sharine crushed every single student in the Magic Arts, coming out on top.

To have her denied meant they too were being denied, being further below her.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“You mock the top student? If it wasn’t for Sharine’s magic, we wouldn’t have even had that time!”

“What do you know to say such nonsense?”

No surprise, the atmosphere shifted to one that was actually defending Sharine.

They must’ve thought that if they couldn’t deny her, they couldn’t deny themselves either.

So, they began to rally behind Sharine.

As I observed those kids, a smirk crept onto my face.

It was a clear mockery.

“That was all calculated. If someone else had taken the spot, I would’ve built a team in another way and prepared accordingly.”

“It wasn’t important just because it was Sharine. You’re all clueless.”

The Magic Arts kids held a tendency to look down on Martial Arts students unknowingly.

So, my words, “clueless,” caused their heads to turn towards me in unison.

“You just talk without thinking.”

“What do you know about magic?”

“You’re seriously rude.”

As the kids began to escalate their words, I remained completely unfazed.

Simultaneously, I pointed at the corner where Dorara was still slumped.

“But in the end, you’re all just below him, stuck in a corner.”

The kids’ eyes lit up with anger.

And they all turned their glares towards Dorara, annoyance brewing.

They could not comprehend why he got himself beaten up and tarnished their pride.

As a result, more and more began to look disdainfully at Dorara.

There were thoughts flashing in their eyes that, if it were them, they wouldn’t have faced such a fate.

“I’m not even the Top Student in Martial Arts. The moment the Deputy got beaten by me, you’re all worthless too, aren’t you?”

An ominous aura of aggression surrounded me, as if every kid was about to leap at me.

Even amidst this atmosphere, I shrugged my shoulders indifferently.

“Well, what can I expect from a bunch of dummies unable to read the flow of a group match?”

Kids pulled out their staffs one after another, unwilling to tolerate any more provocation.

“…Hanon?”

Just then, the main character arrived.

The top student of Magic Arts.

Sharine Sazarith.

She looked at me with a puzzled expression, clearly trying to understand the situation.

“Sharine!”

“What the heck? Why are you teaming up with that guy?”

“C’mon, does the top student think this is a joke?”

“If it were Sharine instead of Dorara, you’d’ve been dead by now!”

As soon as Sharine appeared, the kids’ voices grew louder.

Sharine displayed evident bewilderment at their reactions.

I met Sharine’s gaze amidst the fervent reactions from the kids around us.

“There’s barely a rank difference between top student and deputy. What’s the big deal?”

I didn’t stop talking.

Their eyes ignited even further.

Ding dong ding dong-

In that moment, a bell announcing lunch’s end rang out.

Hearing this, I moved towards the direction of the kids surrounding me.

Despite the tense atmosphere from the kids, they couldn’t intervene when I burningly glared at them.

It was only natural since I was the one who put Dorara in this mess.

“Hanon.”

“Sharine, don’t hang out with that loser.”

“How did you end up coming first carrying that trash? If it weren’t for Sharine, you’d have been nothing!”

“Don’t even associate yourself with him.”

Sharine called out my name, but I could see the girls from the Magic Arts flocking towards her, chattering earnestly.

Going forward, the subject of their scorn would likely shift from Sharine to me.

Sharine would soon be elevated among the Magic Arts students.

To protect their pride, they’d have to make her an idol.

To accomplish that, they were purposely poking at the strange rivalry between the Magic Arts and Martial Arts.

No matter how much they disliked their representative, they wouldn’t stand idly by while said representative is disrespected by someone in the opposing camp.

Such a psychology ruled the Magic Arts kids.

Thus, I’d end up being the one criticized in the days to come instead of Sharine.

By extension, Dorara, who got beaten by me, would face that criticism as well.

I was used to being blamed because of Isabel’s stuff.

Now, it was simply a matter of more people joining in on the bashing.

‘I’ve paid the debt of aiding with the magic seal all this time.’

The debt I’d accrued from aiding with the magic seals and group matches.

Having cleared that debt, I walked out of the building of Magic Arts.