The Academy’s Iljin Episode 1
Prologue
The day the single moon became two.
Those who called themselves the people of the Central Plains appeared. Among them, those called the people of Wulin.
They would cleave the heavens with their swords and split the seas with their fists.
Strength beyond human limits.
An ideology that worshipped the strong.
Existing status collapsed; laws lost their meaning and faded.
Divinity was scorned; standards were overturned.
We could not accept them.
They too did not acknowledge us.
Mages and martial artists could not harmonize. Their paths differed; their pursued methods differed as well.
But before we knew it, we were living together, gradually being colored by them.
Perhaps they thought the same.
Year 1084 of the Rochet Calendar, from the essay of Archmage Pietro Black
* * *
The deepest place among the 17 peaks of the Kaphtis Mountains.
With an unfathomably high altitude and possessing a breathtakingly beautiful mountain scenery, this place had not seen human footsteps for hundreds of years, its natural landscape alive and breathing.
Here and there, bizarre rock formations towered majestically, and straight-stretching trees shot up as if to touch the sky.
And someone was hanging from one of those branches.
Could he have just turned five?
He was a small child with an adorable, youthful appearance who still seemed unable to speak properly.
Afraid that even his breathing might be heard, the child held his breath and gazed down for quite some time. Then, as if he had discovered something, he broke into a broad smile.
“A Hodang!”
Leaping from the tree in one breath, the child grabbed the tail of a tiger more than ten times his own size.
“Caught it!”
Grrr—
Its tail suddenly seized, the tiger bared its fangs and growled low.
It was a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the mountains and rivers, but the child showed no sign of surprise, grinning from ear to ear as he kept kneading the tail.
“Hodang! Hodang!”
Its fur bristling, the tiger soon sprang up like a spring and swung its forepaws.
But the attack did not succeed.
Because the child, holding the tiger’s tail, swung the tiger this way and that.
Kwaaang— Kwaaang—
“Hodang! Toy!”
After a few minutes, the blood-soaked tiger lay sprawled on the ground, twitching weakly as if all its strength had run out.
Sitting down before it, the child opened the tiger’s jaws with a tiny hand. Then, grasping a fang, he yanked it out—pop!
“Toy!”
In agony at having its tooth pulled out while still alive, the tiger struggled with all its might.
Delighted that the tiger he thought dead was moving, the child grabbed its tail again and shook it wildly this way and that.
“Fun!”
What was so amusing? The child tossed the freshly pulled tooth into the air and giggled. Then, grabbing the tiger’s tail again, he dragged it this way and that.
Just then, massive shadows—easily three meters tall—appeared behind the child.
Surprisingly, they were not human.
Sharp eyes, a silver mane flowing with luster, muscles that looked ready to burst, and even a magnificent appearance.
They were the race called werewolves.
“To think handling a human brat would be this hard…….”
“Right? Maybe I should quit this familiar life too…….”
Fearful of being noticed, they approached from behind without breathing and snatched the child in an instant.
“Young Master Baek Iljin! We told you not to come out this far!”
“Do you know how many hours it took to find you?”
The werewolves sighed and lifted Baek Iljin into their embrace.
Baek Iljin’s face was a mess, covered in blood of unknown origin.
“Canis, Vexter!”
“And your face is covered in blood again.”
Canis took out a handkerchief and wiped Baek Iljin’s face.
Then his pure, innocent face, hidden beneath the blood, was revealed.
“What are all these? We told you not to kill innocent animals.”
At Canis’s words, Vexter looked around and stepped back in shock, eyes wide.
Everywhere, the corpses of ferocious beasts lay with their eyes rolled back.
Tigers, bears, snakes, and even the corpses of small-to-medium monsters like orcs and goblins.
“H-heek— what are all these corpses!”
“Toys—!”
Looking into Baek Iljin’s bright, round eyes, Canis realized further words were meaningless and shook his head.
“Haah, Vexter. Let’s clean this up first.”
“The Master will give us an earful…….”
After roughly cleaning up and returning, they tried to gently pull the tiger’s tail from Baek Iljin’s grip.
“Give that here!”
“No! My toy!”
For a five-year-old, his grip was so strong that it was hard to pry open Baek Iljin’s spindly little fingers.
In the end, Vexter gave up on forcibly taking it and held out his hand.
“If you hand it over quickly now, I won’t tell the Master.”
“Ah! No.”
“You’re not supposed to act like this…….”
“No!!”
At Baek Iljin’s stubbornness, Canis and Vexter could do nothing but sigh repeatedly.
“I’m going crazy. The Master will find out soon.”
“No, he probably already knows.”
Werewolves, a race notorious for their ferocity.
Among them, they were silver-mane werewolves known for their strong pride, yet to the little one before their eyes, they were nothing but gentle lambs.
“If you keep doing that, no snacks today!”
“……No!”
“If you don’t let go now, we won’t give you any until tomorrow!”
“Really, no give?”
Grabbing Canis’s wrist and burying himself in his embrace, Baek Iljin blinked his wide, round eyes.
His fatal cuteness melted their resolve.
In the end, Canis and Vexter ended up promising him snacks.
‘Hmm, isn’t this cheating?’
Of course, all children are cute, but Baek Iljin’s looks were especially handsome among them.
Even to themselves as werewolves, the word “perfection” sprang to mind.
“Haah…… what do we do?”
“Right, I’m going crazy. Is it normal for human brats to be this active?”
“As if.”
Just then, someone appeared before them with hands clasped behind their back.
He was an old man with the appearance of an immortal sage, and the deep gaze paired with his stylish white beard left a strong impression.
The old man’s name was Baek Myeonghak, Baek Iljin’s grandfather and the master of the Lair.
“M-Master!”
“Is there a problem?”
Upon seeing Baek Myeonghak, Baek Iljin casually threw aside the tiger carcass he had been holding and scurried over to bury himself in his embrace.
“Granpa!”
Baek Myeonghak also smiled warmly and lifted his grandson, who fit snugly in his embrace. Having had his fill of hearty laughter, he put on a deliberately stern voice.
“Iljin, you rascal, didn’t Grandpa tell you not to kill innocent animals?”
“Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? All life is precious in itself.”
“But…… it’s fun…….”
“Did you say it’s fun?”
“Yeah!”
The old man set Baek Iljin down and looked around.
Though they had cleaned up, the bloodstains ground into the earth and clumps of fur scattered here and there told of what had occurred in this place.
Holding both of Baek Iljin’s arms, Baek Myeonghak quietly gazed into his grandson’s eyes.
About five minutes later, a thick, spine-chilling killing intent wafted from Baek Iljin’s pitch-black eyes.
‘Hmm, the symptoms are getting worse.’
Though he was only a five-year-old tyke, the killing intent emanating from Baek Iljin was horrific enough to make even himself—the one once called the Martial God—shake his head.
‘Could it be…’
Baek Myeonghak hurriedly lifted Baek Iljin’s top.
On Baek Iljin’s neck, four crescent-shaped red dots were taking form.
‘They were faint not long ago. To think they’ve already progressed this far……’
Celestial Slaughter Star.
A death incarnate ordained by the heavens to dye this world in blood.
Baek Iljin was a child born with the aura of such a Celestial Slaughter Star.
Perhaps that was why Baek Iljin had been different from ordinary children since he was a baby.
Even if they went down to the mundane world to buy toys children might like, his reaction was lukewarm; even reading him fun books failed to interest him.
Hunting was what he had taken an interest in during all this.
At first, it was simply catching one or two animals.
But as days passed, the severity worsened until now it had reached a point where it could no longer be called hunting.
‘This is not hunting, but slaughter.’
Suppressing his killing spirit with his own energy had reached its limit.
If he tried to control it any further, the child might become a simpleton.
Yet he could not leave it alone either. At this rate, Baek Iljin would become a murderer mad with blood.
‘In the end, must I use it……’
Thinking there was no other way, Baek Myeonghak gazed at Baek Iljin with a troubled expression, then pressed an acupoint to force him into sleep.
“Canis, Vexter, are you there?”
“Yes, Master.”
The werewolf familiars quickly appeared at his call and bowed their heads.
“Bring ‘that’ here.”
“Yes?!”
“Could it be that……?”
After a brief pause, Canis and Vexter nodded heavily and moved their feet.
“Truly complicated.”
Baek Myeonghak gently stroked the cheek of the snoozing Baek Iljin.
Watching his grandson sleep soundly, thoughts of ‘that day’ naturally came to mind, stirring up complicated emotions.
His only friend and rival in this world with whom he had opened his heart—Pietro’s last words and final request.
‘Myeonghak, before my body completely returns to the embrace of nature, could you use my remaining heart to melt this child’s demonic nature? I ask of you.’
In truth, Baek Iljin was not Baek Myeonghak’s biological grandson.
The child of his close friend Pietro’s daughter, Lisialin—that child was Baek Iljin.
Of course, he hadn’t taken in the child merely because of a friend’s request.
‘I am one who has severed ties with the secular world. I cannot take care of that child. I’m sorry.’
‘……My friend, do you know who this child’s father is?’
‘……?’
‘Cheon Subaek.’
‘What did you just……say?’
‘Your last disciple, the one you expelled—Cheon Subaek—is precisely this child’s father.’
Hearing those words, Baek Myeonghak put his resolve to sever ties with the secular world behind him and had no choice but to accept Baek Iljin.
‘They say karma goes in circles.’
Just then, Canis and Vexter, having gone to the Lair and returned, held out a wrapped bundle before Baek Myeonghak.
“Master!”
“Here it is!”
“Thank you.”
Having received the bundle, Baek Myeonghak called out to Canis and Vexter in a low voice.
“Canis, Vexter.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Please speak.”
“From now on, not even a single ant may enter this vicinity. Do you understand?”
“By your command.”
Baek Myeonghak unwrapped the cloth and took out the box inside.
At the mana flowing out through the seal, he let out a brief groan.
‘A Dragon Heart……’
Moreover, the heart of an ancient dragon that had lived five thousand years—he couldn’t even gauge whether he himself could accept it.
‘Let alone this young child……’
Yet he wasn’t without something to believe in.
Half of Baek Iljin’s body was human, but the other half was dragon, same as Pietro.
‘Rather, the odds might be even higher.’
Baek Myeonghak removed Baek Iljin’s top, placed a finger on his abdomen, and drew a straight line.
Shortly after, a red line appeared along where his finger had traced, and the abdomen opened.
Taking the Dragon Heart from the box, Baek Myeonghak immediately placed it into Baek Iljin’s stomach.
At a glance, it seemed a savage process, but it was an act done through meticulous calculation.
The Dragon Heart began sending roots throughout the body to find its place.
‘From here on is what matters.’
Baek Myeonghak sent his internal energy to seize the roots of the Dragon Heart.
In an instant, his internal energy burrowed into Baek Iljin’s body and roughly bound the roots coming from the Dragon Heart.
But the roots’ resistance was no less formidable.
Shaking off his internal energy, the roots quickly burrowed into Baek Iljin’s dantian to hide before they could be caught again.
‘Hoo……’
Sweat beaded on Baek Myeonghak’s nose.
Perhaps because he was handling a large amount of internal energy after a long time, he even felt his dantian grow sore.
Fortunately, Baek Myeonghak managed to catch one fleeing root and let out a sigh of relief.
‘Good. Now I must send it beneath the spots on his neck.’
In one breath, Baek Myeonghak pulled the root up and planted it beneath Baek Iljin’s neck.
Then, the crescent-shaped spots on his neck gradually faded until they completely disappeared.
“Huu……”
The moment Baek Myeonghak removed his hands from Baek Iljin’s body, Canis and Vexter rushed over.
“Did you succeed?”
Baek Myeonghak nodded. The droplets of sweat running down his chin showed how arduous the work had been.
“How many hours was I at this?”
“W-well, I’m not sure, but at least over ten hours…….”
“I see.”
Canis swallowed dryly and asked Baek Myeonghak.
“Then the young master won’t act so erratically from now on, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“F-finally……!”
Thinking their hardships were over, Canis and Vexter embraced each other and cheered.
Just then, Canis’s pupils shook at the sight of something.
“Uh……? The young master……”
“What’s wrong with the young master?”
Canis silently pointed at Baek Iljin.
There, Baek Iljin suddenly convulsed all over, made strange sounds, and was rising from where he lay.
Grrr—
His pupils had elongated vertically, and black scales covered his skin, making him resemble a reptile.
“Master, is this really alright?”
“The young master has changed!”
Canis and Vexter made a fuss, but Baek Myeonghak waved his hand dismissively as if it were nothing and approached to observe Baek Iljin’s condition closely.
“It is because he has obtained excessive energy for his body’s level. If I merely seal the rampaging energy, he will return to normal.”
So saying, Baek Myeonghak reached out to Baek Iljin.
Tap— tap—
Restraining both of Baek Iljin’s arms, Baek Myeonghak began patting his upper body and infusing his energy.
With each pat, the scales that had sprouted on his upper body returned to human skin.
“Oh, it’s returning.”
“As expected, Master……”
Finally, even his feet returned to normal, and Baek Iljin lost strength and collapsed on the spot.
“Y-young master!”
“Ah, no!”
Fortunately, Baek Myeonghak snatched him up before his head hit the ground and carried Baek Iljin on his back.
Snore— snore—
“Mnya, Granpa—”
Feeling the small breath on his back, Baek Myeonghak smiled warmly.
‘To think I had tried to eliminate such a child with my own hands…….’