“Can the void beat rock in terms of matchup?”
“Matchups, huh. They matter. But what matters more than that is…”
Raven’s voice sank low.
He let the severed-wrist-shaped summon he had been holding drop to the floor.
Thud.
A light landing sound.
But the aftermath was anything but light.
The moment the palm touched the floor, pitch-black darkness spread like ink.
The marble floor of the corridor transformed in an instant into a black swamp.
“…the fact that this isn’t the ordinary reality you bastards breathe in.”
Raven grinned.
Shwaaaa—
With a grotesque noise, the air around them settled heavily.
The windows that had been letting in sunlight were covered by an opaque black film, and even the lamps on the ceiling flickered dimly.
Their breath caught in their throats.
A pressure like being plunged into the deep sea, or thrown onto a high mountain where oxygen was scarce, weighed down on their entire bodies.
“This is…!”
The faces of the watching students turned deathly pale.
Some sank to the floor, retching, while terrified screams burst out.
“No way. This is professor-level void?”
Evan muttered in a trembling voice, gripping the handles of his wheelchair tightly.
His eyes shook wide with disbelief.
Justia, too, could not close her mouth.
An absolute void that swallowed even light.
There, instead of the warmth of living things, only the chill of death and silence lingered.
Raven, standing at its center, no longer looked human.
As if he were darkness itself, he looked down at Elvis while cloaked in a black aura.
Wuuung—
Mana flowing from the small palm.
An absolute pressure that crushed space itself.
Above the black ink flowing across the floor, dark currents surged up like shimmering heat haze.
“Kh!”
Elvis hastily chanted a spell.
“Stone Skin! Mana Resistance!”
Wuuung—
A blue membrane covered the entire body of the enormous rock golem.
It was a defensive spell that maximized magic resistance.
Fortunately, Raven’s summon did not seem to have delivered a direct blow yet.
Elvis let out a sigh of relief and immediately issued an attack order.
“Smash it! Rock Crush!”
Kwaaang!
The golem drove its massive fist into the air.
But that was all.
Whoosh— Thud!
The place the golem’s fist struck was not where Raven stood.
It cut through empty air in the wrong direction and slammed straight into an unoccupied corridor wall.
Kwarurung!
The marble wall crumpled like paper, sending fragments flying.
“Wh-what?! Where are you even attacking?!”
Elvis shouted in panic, but the golem merely spun in place like a blinded beast, throwing punches into empty air.
“It can’t get its bearings?”
“In the darkness, sight, hearing, even mana detection become meaningless.”
Raven’s low voice echoed throughout the corridor.
“This is my domain, the ‘Abyss.’”
At that moment, the divided palms seized the golem’s shadow.
Crack— craaack!
The golem’s massive body twisted.
There had been no physical blow, but the instant its shadow was grabbed, an invisible restraint seemed to bind its actual body as well, freezing it in place.
“Grrrgh…!”
Elvis’s face turned ashen.
Raven leisurely walked up to the golem and tapped its forehead with his index finger.
“Nothing but heavy and sluggish.”
Crash.
With a single flick of his finger, the enormous mass of rock collapsed like a sandcastle.
As if the very link of mana had been severed, only a formless heap of earth lay scattered on the floor.
An overwhelming gap.
“You’re saying we have to beat a professor like that to get a badge? Is that even possible?”
Evan muttered blankly as he looked at the heap of dirt sprawled across the floor.
The fear in his eyes had yet to fade.
“No, generally speaking, I heard the professors adjust their level appropriately if they judge you to be qualified.”
Justia crossed her arms and shook her head.
Her gaze followed Raven’s disappearing back.
“This time was meant to be an example. Once a new semester starts, there’s always one idiot who shows off like that. Someone who doesn’t know his place and picks a fight.”
She jerked her chin toward Elvis.
Elvis was sitting in front of the collapsed remains of his golem, overwhelmed by shock.
“Besides, it didn’t even look like that summon was specifically meant for combat, yet he neutralized a golem like that. So that’s what a professor of the void attribute is?”
“Yeah. He even said the main body was somewhere else. That hand was only a part of it.”
Justia’s voice sank low.
Her eyes flashed with wariness, and at the same time, a strange competitive spirit.
“But there’s no need to be scared, Evan. We didn’t come here to face monsters on that level. For now, we need to start by defeating opponents suited to our level, one by one.”
“You’re right. For now.”
Evan nodded and rolled the wheels of his wheelchair.
But his hands were still trembling faintly.
The overwhelming gap Raven had shown them had left a deep afterimage in their minds.
***
I stared blankly at Justia’s profile as she glared holes into her book.
It had already been three hours.
She had been turning pages without the slightest movement otherwise.
Only the sound of her quill moving and paper turning filled the silence.
‘Haaam….’
Unable to withstand the drowsiness pouring over me, I nodded off.
Since I couldn’t read, I couldn’t even study. All I could do was stay by her side.
And even that was not easy.
Using my body and exercising were nothing, but sitting still like this and watching an addict of the written word was torture on another level.
In my head, I had already spun the sangmo dozens of times over.
“Mr. Taesan, are you sleeping?”
“U-uhh…”
Startled, I raised my head to find Justia resting her chin on her hand and staring at me.
“No, I was just… meditating for a moment.”
“Meditating, sure. You were about to drool.”
She snickered and turned her gaze back to the book.
“Ah, apparently spirits can use field magic once they reach intermediate rank, just like what we saw today.”
“Field magic?”
It was a term I had never heard before.
“Like how Elvis got beaten by the professor today. It completely changes the attributes of a certain space and creates an environment disadvantageous to the opponent. Professor Raven has the void attribute, so he laid down a field that blocks light and sound.”
Her eyes sparkled as she continued explaining.
“If we end up fighting someone who uses a water spirit, that person will probably turn the arena into an underwater field. Then your destructive power would be cut in half, Mr. Taesan.”
“Underwater, huh…”
I didn’t know who Elvis was, nor had I personally seen that impressive field magic.
But judging by how she was talking about it nonstop, it must have been quite a shock.
“It seemed like Evan was aiming to find a way to counter you, Mr. Taesan.”
Justia tapped the corner of the book with the tip of her quill.
“The way he asked questions in class today was no ordinary thing. He learned that shockwaves are less effective when fighting underwater.”
“That guy’s more persistent than I thought.”
“That’s why we need to prepare too. Either we make it so you can perform properly underwater, Mr. Taesan, or we find a way to nullify field magic entirely.”
She buried herself back in the book.
“Now then, Mr. Taesan, you should study a little too, shouldn’t you? You can’t live forever as an illiterate who can’t even read.”
The book Justia suddenly pushed toward me was the summon matchup chart Yurika had given me.
The colorful pictures and squiggly letters danced dizzily before my eyes.
‘…I’d rather have another bout with Evan.’
Swallowing a deep sigh, I obediently took the book.
Justia rolled her pen over the map with a serious expression.
“Underwater combat… If Evan really decides to fill the field with water, your shockwaves will lose half their power, Mr. Taesan. Your speed will slow because of the water resistance too. And needless to say, you won’t be able to breathe.”
“Then he’ll just rain down ranged attacks like he’s tossing feed to a fish. Against me, while I’m too busy holding my breath.”
At my reply, Justia frowned and nodded.
“That’s right. No matter how fast you are, Mr. Taesan, there are clear limits underwater.”
That was when the closed door burst open and a lively voice cut in.
“My lady! Have some of this while you work. You too, Lord Taesan!”
Yurika barged in with her arms full of bread and drinks.
A sweet, savory smell instantly filled the room.
“Thanks, Yurika. Good timing.”
Justia set her pen down for a moment and picked up a bag of snacks.
“I was just running low on sugar.”
“Thanks for the food.”
“So, what are you worrying about? Why do you both look so serious?”
Yurika plopped into the chair across from me and munched noisily on a snack.
“It looks like Evan might challenge us to an underwater battle next time. Because Mr. Taesan won’t be able to use his strength properly underwater.”
At Justia’s explanation, Yurika tilted her head.
“Hmmm, underwater, huh. It’s definitely a natural enemy for ordinary animal-type summons.”
Yurika sucked on her finger and continued.
“But does Lord Taesan have to be the one to fight? Battles are tag matches where you fight with six summons, aren’t they?”
At her words, Justia’s eyes went round.
“That’s right. We have Whisper for aerial combat, and Mr. Taesan for ground combat. All we have to do is summon another one needed for underwater combat!”
Justia clapped her hands and her eyes lit up.
She wore the expression of someone who had realized she had been worrying like a fool.
“I was too focused on Mr. Taesan’s weaknesses. If Evan challenges us to underwater combat, we can just send out someone advantageous underwater, or prepare a summon that can neutralize the field entirely.”
“But you only summoned Whisper recently. Can you summon again so soon? I heard the mana consumption is severe.”
“Well, not exactly. Still, summoning four additional summons before the Grand Finals is definitely possible.”
She began revising the plan, drawing circles on the map with her pen.
“Good. Then our next goal is decided. A water-attribute counter, or a field-control-type summon.”