Hyeolbiggaek’s voice was an invisible siege weapon.
When the wave of power, capable of smashing through city gates, struck his body, the horrific pain knocked the breath out of him, leaving no room for even a scream.
‘Is that power greater than Orde Taco’s?’
The conclusion Sing reached was ‘no, it’s not.’
Even as pressure bent his arms and forced him back, Sing always regained his balance.
It was as if he returned to the ‘point’ once more, he aimed his sword again and assumed the initial stance.
Mid-stance.
The fundamental sword stance that protects one’s center.
As he proved that it wasn’t mere coincidence or luck by parrying Hyeolbiggaek’s sonic attacks seven times, the patterns of Hyeolbiggaek’s attacks changed.
The once ferociously howling assault turned into a staccato melody that danced around, pricking him lightly with each beat.
“A sword may be fast, but can it touch the wind’s caress? No matter how hard you swing it, can its sound surpass the wails of wandering spirits? Give up.”
Hyeolbiggaek’s attack, which encapsulated the rush of the wind and the screams of the spirits, was too daunting for even awareness to handle.
[Entering extreme
[Initiating forced concentration check.]
[Concentration]
[Hyper Concentration]
[Sensory Enhancement]
[Intuition]
[Awakening]
[Battle Readiness]
[Domain Expansion]
[Perfect Shot]
[Counterattack]
[Countering high-level sensory disturbance.]
He occupied all directions, instilling rhythm and timing to train his reaction speed, while subtly destabilizing his balance.
This was not so different from Orde Taco’s specialized absorption domain, only differing in ‘attribute.’
“Pretty good. A raw talent not tempered by time is like an undercooked fruit, hard and monotonous as a wooden doll.”
“You’re so relaxed that you can evaluate my skills, which means you can handle this as well.”
As Sing kicked off the ground, the vision magic cast by the students from the Magic Department, who had just finished their long chants, unfolded.
━━━
[Yellow Magic Tower 6th Tier Vision Magic]
[Self-Generation School]
[Sudden Self-Generation]
━━━
Earth Magic is divided between the Self-Generation School which alters terrain and changes the earth, and the Casting School which controls and manipulates metals within the earth.
Sudden Self-Generation is magic that quickly manifests with an ‘anchored structure’ that stores the irregular and rapid growth from the Self-Generation School.
Kugugugugungg!
An enormous prison, unavoidable, shot up and enclosed Hyeolbiggaek in an instant.
━━━
[Red Magic Tower 6th Tier Vision Magic]
[Red Flame School]
[Mana Burn]
━━━
Hyeolbiggaek was hit by an unusual magic from the Red Flame School that completely blocked the use of nature mana, a hallmark of competent individuals.
If he couldn’t move or draw upon nature mana, he had to rely solely on his innate mana.
Even a master could not possess more mana than that of nature itself, it was an exceptional combination technique by Rosgini, well-executed with Sandkooker’s Ground Restraint.
━━━
[Blue Magic 6th Tier Vision Magic]
[Frost of the Poles]
━━━
To add to that, a great deal of mana expenditure forced the chilling aura of extreme frost to burrow into the gaps of the sudden self-generation structure, targeting Hyeolbiggaek.
This cruel chill languished in the atmosphere, freezing the body instantly on contact, leaving no room even for breath.
No matter how skilled they were for second-year students, it was hard to deal with the mana expenditure of 6th tier vision magic, thus all three students turned pale.
Jjjaang!
Especially, the burden was heavy on Sandkooker, who had exhausted seven high-grade mana stones.
‘Both Rosgini and Irene have pushed themselves quite a bit.’
The two had managed to endure thanks to their experiences from roaming volcanic shows, gaining money, consuming potions, and accumulating mana by clearing enemies on the front lines.
None of the three magicians could perform such combinations any longer.
“Finish it!!”
Twice was an impossibility.
Everyone had bought time and Sing had closed the gap, making the coordinated attack possible.
They had to take down Hyeolbiggaek in his weakest state, with the lowest amount of mana usable before that effect ran out.
[Sing Vision Swordsmanship]
[True Extreme – Point of Destruction]
Sing, whose physical body had retreated, surged forward faster than before.
━━━
A rusty sword leaning against a streetlamp
The elongated shadow of a long wait
If it knew the futility, it would sing in the end
To simply go back, to your name.
━━━
“…?!”
All nine of Sing’s forced concentration features were pierced through in an instant.
━━━
Awareness is the moment when life’s journey condenses into one instant, filling the inner world and igniting it.
Even if your four swords manifest as a [Specialized Domain] in the realm of three stages, there’s still the next level remaining.
This is the final test.
━━━
It felt as though his soul was being extracted; his senses warped, and in an instant, the surroundings of Sing transformed dramatically.
A mercilessly dense metallic prison unfolded.
A barren land where even a handful of mana could not be squeezed out.
The center of a frost bomb where the chill would freeze even a single snowflake, exploding forth.
Yes.
This was the focal point of the combined attack from the three magicians who had imprisoned Hyeolbiggaek until just the moment before.
Without the manifestation of nature mana, Hyeolbiggaek swapped places with Sing using only his internal mana.
━━━
A small miracle is not enough.
Achieve a grand miracle.
Can you keep pace with the speed of will?
━━━
Sing realized.
The point he obtained by surpassing Orde Taco.
That alone is insufficient to surpass Hyeolbiggaek’s test.
‘The center axis of the point has been forcibly shifted.’
No matter how many times he unfolded the point, it would only take him back to the battlefield prison created by the magicians.
Then, he too had to bring forth the next level.
Demon Minion Box Cat.
The second realization gained after surpassing the second trial, the new transformation of [Shifting Space].
[Step 2 of the Point]
[Transformation – Shifting Space]
Sing emerged from the prison.
The technique he performed was a close-range teleportation that ‘folded’ the domain like paper and touched other points to jump across.
All martial arts and magic, transformations are mediated by internal strength or mana.
That mana exists in the ‘domain’ where it’s tightly interwoven.
Highly compressed mana can become a swift single cut, the perfect arrow, or an unwavering point.
If so, forcing the movement of mana would also force the opponent’s domain and technique to move in tandem.
‘Is it really this far with just one imitation?’
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
He had to push away another’s will, one that was etched in space to be that of a Domain, pressing it with his own will.
Other’s is difficult.
But what of his own?
Sing’s self-reflection and understanding of loneliness met the minimum conditions to unleash the new usage of domain in practice.
“Huh, Hyeolbiggaek is out of the prison!!”
“Did Sing also lose?!”
“Now we’re done for; we’re all going to die!”
Ziang coldly responded to the students who screamed in horror.
“You’re not going to die, you fools.”
“Huh…?”
“Don’t you get it yet? If Hyeolbiggaek had set his mind, we’d have all died ages ago. This was a
Ziang, who was somewhat of a strong entity like Sing, realized this was a test.
And thus she felt more humiliation.
“Not an assassin but a bard and swordsman. I’ve been surpassed by an even higher technique of an assassin’s [Silent Step].”
Hyeolbiggaek, far beyond anyone’s grasp, and Sing, who followed him at terrifying speed, were only visible to Ziang as their backs.
“Who are you? Why did you test us?”
Hyeolbiggaek replied with a face soaked in steady sorrow.
“Ticket-test Senior Examiner.”
“Ticket… test? The test you take to qualify for the entrance exam? Why would someone like you, a strong entity with a professor rank, do this, what are you lacking?”
“Because I didn’t want to be a professor.”
Hyeolbiggaek pointed at Sing, who had become a bloody mess in an instant.
“Not all teachings are merciful and kind. Just as animals that learn ruthlessness before compassion cannot be tamed, so too can’t humans be.”
Professor Bronze.
Professor Sadako.
Was there someone with even more character than those professors?
Ziang was speechless, overwhelmed by shock.
Regardless of whether she froze or not, Hyeolbiggaek didn’t even give her a glance.
Only Sing had passed her exam.
“All perilous areas in the continent, along with those comparable dangers, have at least one [Examiner] assigned. The purpose of an examiner is to discover new students. And to prevent the futile deaths of the academy alumni. Anyone who fails the test cannot set foot in that area.”
“…What awaits ahead?”
“The implementer of the fourth stage of domain. Foolish seekers hoping to realize the dream of slaying dragons by absorbing remnants of dragons. They will show no mercy like I did, and you will undoubtedly die. So go back.”
Ziang opened her mouth to argue but strangely couldn’t produce a sound.
It wasn’t due to any magical influence.
Ziang realized.
It was the fear that left her voiceless.
Her faltering strength had led her to understand just how strong Hyeolbiggaek’s ability was.
“Go back. I will fulfill Oknodie’s request alone.”
“If we work together, we can capture a Senior Examiner.”
Irene glared at Sing, unable to comprehend, but as soon as Sing pulled out his sword, a strike propelled across space and struck Irene’s abdomen.
Seeing Irene fall, her eyes wide in disbelief, shocked the students.
“Take them away. It’s too soon for you.”
Only Sing remained in the rescue party.
He was certainly one human.
Because golems are not people.
“…What are those?”
After the students left, three Guard Golems, which had become quite conspicuous, stood blankly, receiving the gazes of Senior Examiner Hyeolbiggaek and Sing.
