I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 418

The summer vacation, long if long, short if short, had come to an end.

It was the second semester of the second year.

A time Baek Yuseol dreaded the most.

Second-year students at Stella spent the majority of their time on field training. Sending 18-year-olds into real-life situations might seem premature, but Stella cadets weren’t called elites in society for nothing.

With just a diploma, a Stella graduate could immediately take on leadership roles in dungeons, Persona Gates, dark mage hunts, and monster subjugation missions.

Elites like that weren’t produced easily. To ensure every graduate reached that level, the curriculum had to be packed tightly.

Fortunately, Baek Yuseol didn’t have to endure tedious classes for long after the semester began.

Thanks to the countless incidents he had already been involved in—and caused—Baek Yuseol was a well-known figure. However, this latest incident was on an entirely different scale.

The involvement of the Twelve Celestial Moons.

This was the first recorded occurrence in history since the advent of the mage era.

While the Celestial Moons had appeared briefly in the distant past, they had never caused an event of such magnitude.

And at the center of this incident, the one who had stopped the Celestial Moons—Baek Yuseol—naturally drew the attention of mages worldwide.

“How did he freeze the whirlpool?”

That was the first question.

Mages never dismissed even the smallest of curiosities. While they were already dying to know how Baek Yuseol controlled teleportation magic, they couldn’t directly intervene thanks to Stella’s protection.

But this time, things had gone too far.

For a teenage mage, not even a graduate yet, to stand against the Twelve Celestial Moons and freeze a massive whirlpool... It was an event so astounding that even a thousand years of history held no parallel.

Knock knock.

And so it began.

During class, someone knocked on the lecture hall door. The professor, though visibly annoyed, instructed someone to open it.

The door swung open, and in walked a mage bearing the emblem of a renowned magic tower.

Most of them were young.

Perhaps the assistant or disciple of some very famous mage.

Sometimes, they whispered quietly to the professor. Other times, they spoke loud enough for the entire class to hear.

But whether they whispered or not, it made no difference. The attention of every student was already fixed on them.

The message was usually the same.

“Can we borrow Baek Yuseol for a moment?”

No professor ever refused. After all, this was on the orders of Altman Altwin himself.

“...Very well.”

This time was no exception.

Stella’s professors were notoriously proud. Having a student taken from their class was an affront to their dignity.

But when the person taking the student was a top-tier mage, they could only accept it as an unavoidable act of nature.

“Cadet Baek Yuseol?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Suppressing his delight, Baek Yuseol stood up with an exaggerated display of annoyance.

The reason for his feigned irritation?

To maintain the image of a "serious elite student" who disliked interruptions to his studies. With so much attention on him, he had to manage his reputation, didn’t he?

It was surprisingly effective.

Most assistants or disciples looked genuinely apologetic toward him.

Once guided to the reception room, there were always highly renowned mages waiting for him—names he had heard at least once.

Most mages treated learning time as sacred and avoided interrupting classes.

But if they called Baek Yuseol out during class, it usually meant they saw themselves as the superior party in the interaction.

Naturally, of course.

Despite the incredible feats Baek Yuseol had displayed, he was just a student. To a famous mage from a giant tower, what was one student compared to them?

To be fair, Baek Yuseol appreciated being pulled out of classes. But he deeply resented being treated as an inferior.

“Hm? Wait a moment, Malen. Didn’t I tell you to wait until the class was over?”

“Well, I thought wasting Great Mage Roberton’s time on a mere student was unwise, so I brought him immediately.”

The assistant, Malen, laughed awkwardly as he explained, but the middle-aged mage, Roberton, bellowed at him.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

“You fool! Is that how a mage should behave? For any mage, time spent learning is sacred and inviolable! How dare you disrupt that time? Can you even call yourself a mage?!”

“But... he’s just a student, after all. While he’s achieved something extraordinary, it’s still...”

Malen glanced nervously at Baek Yuseol.

[Jealousy, envy, resentment.]

Through the blessing of Spring’s Crimson March, Baek Yuseol could see his emotions plainly. Even without the blessing, such feelings would have been easy to discern.

Humans were all the same, after all.

“Cadet Baek Yuseol... I owe you an apology. I am truly sorry for wasting your valuable time.”

“No, it’s fine,” Baek Yuseol replied with a grin.

Roberton’s favorability was already soaring past +100.

Not only had he spared Baek Yuseol from an annoying class, but he also carried himself as a mage of integrity, treating Baek Yuseol as an equal rather than a subordinate.

That attitude was something Baek Yuseol deeply appreciated.

“Honestly, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t annoyed about being frequently called out during class recently... But knowing it’s the respected Great Mage Roberton, I’m actually grateful.”

“Haha! It’s a relief to hear you say that. Tell me, do you know who I am?”

“Of course. You’re one of the rare grand mages researching the unknown field of 'chemical magic.' I’ve memorized all your papers.”

“Haha, you flatter me.”

“I’ve always been interested in alchemy. I believe the study of chemical magic has significant ties to alchemy.”

Alchemy was one of the few subjects Baek Yuseol genuinely enjoyed. While he found most magic incomprehensible and avoided studying it, alchemy was the one field he dedicated himself to without relying on the Sparrow Glasses.

This was Baek Yuseol’s recent daily life.

Even after classes, he had little time for training.

Mages from various industries constantly sought him out. On occasion, he was even invited to symposiums and magic debates attended by high-ranking mages, causing him to skip entire classes.

And each time, Baek Yuseol delivered results.

While he couldn’t reveal the secrets behind freezing the whirlpool or his teleportation magic, he always provided clear answers to the questions mages posed on discussion topics.

As a month passed, Baek Yuseol’s reputation grew.

Though still without an official mage certification, he had received an honorary Mage Medal from the association. This allowed him access to high-level seminars and exhibitions, where he was treated as a distinguished guest wherever he went.

...Baek Yuseol found himself uncomfortably fond of this new life.

It was a busy but satisfying routine.

Yet his training time dwindled, and somewhere in the world, events unfolded that he remained unaware of.

And most importantly.

“This... isn’t my power.”

A profound sense of self-reflection filled Baek Yuseol’s heart.

The Sparrow Glasses were incredible.

They were essentially a portable computer containing records of magic far beyond the current era’s level.

But why?

Why had such advanced glasses been handed to him so easily?

Where did their power come from?

The glasses held every secret of the world—records of the past without distortion and countless future possibilities.

He remembered an incident from a month ago.

The moment when the Sparrow Glasses suddenly synchronized with his vision.

As he stared blankly at the glasses inside a carriage returning to Stella after a seminar, Baek Yuseol muttered quietly.

“Synchronization.”

[.......]

Nothing happened.

Back then, he could see everything clearly, as if he were wearing the glasses, even though he wasn’t.

At that time, the system had mentioned something about him having a certain "trait."

Baek Yuseol still remembered it.

The [???] trait that had synchronized with the Sparrow Glasses. However, no matter how hard he searched through his status, no such unique trait was listed.

Occasionally.

Baek Yuseol would encounter certain magic spells and feel an odd familiarity.

Déjà vu, they called it.

The sensation of something completely new feeling like an experience he had already lived.

It didn’t happen often.

But on rare occasions, when he encountered a particular spell, he almost instinctively understood it—without the help of the Sparrow Glasses.

Of course, those attempts always ended in failure.

He could comprehend the structure of the magic, but he didn’t know the equations to unravel it.

But what if Baek Yuseol had known those equations? What if he, like other students, hadn’t dozed off during lectures and instead studied diligently?

If he had memorized the formulas for those spells, he would have undoubtedly decoded them just by observing.

That, however, was no small feat.

Even for a grand mage, deciphering a complex spell required sitting down with a pen and drafting equations for minutes on end.

“Ugh...”

Baek Yuseol pressed his forehead and closed his eyes. Lately, he had been feeling particularly tired, likely due to a lack of sleep.

“Is there any point in running around like this?”

He didn’t want to miss the opportunities given to him. Becoming a high-ranking mage would certainly be beneficial for his future, but that wasn’t the real reason for his efforts.

Someday, in the distant—or perhaps near—future, a major event would occur.

When that happened, he wanted to have enough influence to ensure his words mattered.

Until now, it hadn’t been feasible, so he had lived as an ordinary student. But with the opportunities now available, building that influence was an easy task for Baek Yuseol.

“...Better than doing nothing, I guess.”

By the time he arrived back at Stella Academy, the sun was beginning to set. It wasn’t too late yet, so heading to the dorms for a quick shower and then to the training grounds sounded like a good plan.

Recently, his skill with the blessing of Silver Eleventh Moon had improved significantly. He was slowly gaining the ability to control teleportation.

If he could achieve perfect control of his teleportation, Baek Yuseol’s power would no longer fit within the typical classification system for mages.

He would become something else entirely... perhaps even—

“A sword master?”

The thought crossed his mind as a joke, and he chuckled. It was childish and ridiculous.

A sword master? What an outdated term.

“Come to think of it, classifications are just as silly.”

After all, "sword master" was a term that had once existed. To Baek Yuseol, the difference between a ninth-class mage and a sword master seemed negligible.

Dragging himself back to the dorm, Baek Yuseol quickly finished his shower, changed into workout clothes, and grabbed a metal training staff from the display rack. The lightweight wooden swords at Stella’s training grounds no longer satisfied him.

Shouldering the staff, he was about to leave the dormitory when he noticed someone waiting at the entrance.

It was Hong Biyeon.

“Oh, hey.”

There was no reason for her to come all the way to the male dormitory’s exit unless it was for him, so he didn’t bother asking, What brings you here?

“It’s hard to see your face these days.”

Hong Biyeon seemed more mature than she had a month ago. Although they still met briefly once a week to lower her fever, those encounters were always rushed and chaotic.

Now, with time to observe her properly, she exuded a particularly refined aura.

“I’ve been busy lately.”

“I know.”

“Judging by your face, this isn’t just a casual visit.”

“You’re sharp.”

“I’ve always been sharp.”

Hong Biyeon twitched her eyebrow slightly at that but then broke into a soft smile.

“I don’t know if it’s okay to bother such a busy celebrity, but here. Take this.”

She stepped closer and handed him an elegant red envelope. Turning it over in his hands, Baek Yuseol tilted his head.

“A love letter? You could just tell me.”

“It’s not!”

“Geez, no need to shout.”

Hong Biyeon glared at him briefly, then tapped the envelope.

“It’s an invitation to the Adolevit Ball.”

“A ball? Oh, right, they do have those.”

“You’ve never been to one, have you?”

“...Of course not.”

It seemed like an odd question to Baek Yuseol, but it was clearly important to Hong Biyeon.

“Actually, I wanted to invite you before you got busy, but the timing didn’t work out. If you’re too busy, it’s fine if you don’t come.”

Baek Yuseol opened the envelope and checked the date.

“October...?”

Unfortunately, the date of the ball coincided with three other scheduled events, making it an exceptionally busy day.

“Not busy at all. Completely free that day.”

Sliding the invitation back into the envelope, he smiled. Hong Biyeon’s lips curled slightly upward.

“Good. Dress appropriately. Don’t embarrass me as my guest.”

“Isn’t my uniform stylish enough?”

“...If you show up in that uniform, I’ll have you thrown out immediately.”

“I was joking. Geez, no need to glare.”

Hong Biyeon glared fiercely at him to emphasize her point before turning and walking away.

Fidgeting with the envelope, Baek Yuseol let out a long sigh.

“...It was supposed to be an important seminar, but oh well. It doesn’t matter.”

After all, everything he worked so hard for was to protect people like her.

If their roles were reversed...

“It’d be meaningless. Yeah, I’ll go to the ball.”

As he headed to the training grounds, Baek Yuseol pondered.

In the past, the idea of dressing up for an event would have felt cumbersome. But now, it was different.

A ball was a ball, after all. There was a small part of him that wanted to look good—especially in front of Hong Biyeon. He didn’t want to seem unimpressive to her.

“For once... I’ll spend some money.”

Not knowing what qualified as stylish attire, Baek Yuseol’s solution was simple: buy something expensive. That was his way.