16 – Rule 9. The leading chief tests a new power.
The wall-supporting staff.
It is a magical item that stores lightning magic and can release the stored lightning magic when the magic holder wishes.
They are difficult to come by and quite expensive.
Not only are the manufacturing processes complex, but the materials required are hard to procure.
In the outside world, there exists a magical beast known as ‘Thunderbird.’
A dangerous avian beast that stores lightning magic in its horns and releases it as an attack when it feels threatened.
The horns of that Thunderbird are the very material used for the wall-supporting staff.
In other words, the section of the wall-supporting staff that looks like an iron rod is made from the large and hard horn of the Thunderbird, carved and processed.
“Cool.”
I thought, as I admired the radiant beauty of the wall-supporting staff.
Ordinary people are not affected by their own magical power.
Even if I were to store lightning energy into the wall-supporting staff and generate a million volts, standing right in the middle of it, I would come to no harm.
Therefore, the wall-supporting staff proved to be extremely useful in my combat style.
At critical moments, it would enable me to deliver a powerful strike to the enemy.
“I must test it.”
Weekend.
It was a moment when the spring rain drenched the earth.
The downpour drummed noisily against the cobblestones.
Upon arriving at the spacious clearing, the pleasant scent of earth filled my lungs riding on the moist air. Refreshing.
I set down my umbrella beneath a tree and headed for the center of the clearing.
While I planted the handle of the lightning rod into the muddy ground, the pouring rain from the gray sky soaked me through.
I felt a sense of liberation after so long. Apart from the romance of the moment, there was a brief concern that the chill might lead to a cold, but I was robust, so it would be all right.
The elongated metal rod now pointed skyward.
Specifically, towards the horn of Leijo.
I had already filled the lightning rod to its limit with lightning power. At my will, I could unleash it at any time.
I scanned the surroundings.
No one was there.
Just in case the rod attracted a lightning strike, I hid myself behind a distant tree.
“Is this the sensation…?”
I felt a mysterious connection between the lightning rod and myself.
As if an invisible thread were linking us.
It must be the interaction from my own magical energy.
I sensed that pulling on this thread would activate the rod’s effect, and with that certainty, I focused my mind on engraving this connected sensation throughout my body.
“Good, I feel it…”
“What might you be feeling?”
“!”
Oh, damn.
A real shocker.
As I quickly turned around, there was a woman giving me a sly look with squinted eyes and a sly grin.
It was Iseia.
“Iseia…?”
Why was she here?
Had she been following me?
Before I knew it, Sae Ah had placed a red umbrella over my head.
I had been so focused on the sensations deriving from my training that I had noticed it late.
“Senior, you’ll catch a cold if you stand like this.”
I wouldn’t have guessed she would come out of the blue, covertly, and show concern for my health.
‘Come to think of it, she seems to get caught up in things more often after she found out I was watching her.’
Well, she is a prospective villain.
It makes sense for her to be wary of someone who’s keeping an eye on her.
It’s starting to be a nuisance.
“It’s fine. You use it.”
I subtly pushed the umbrella away from me.
“Hm? Senior.”
“Why.”
Sae Ah asked, tilting her head.
“Don’t you think you’re too calm? Knowing that I’d come up behind you? Shouldn’t you at least pretend to be surprised?”
Her tone was playful, but there was no doubt her question was filled with curiosity.
‘I was surprised….’
It’s just a result of my practiced poker face.
My heart nearly dropped.
Chuckling, Sae Ah softly pressed my waist with her index finger.
“If I were an enemy, I could’ve stabbed you by now? Especially, someone like you as discipline chief must be a target.”
“I knew you were following me. I don’t need to be like that with you.”
Actually, I didn’t know, but I guessed that must be the case and lied accordingly.
Sae Ah paused for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
“hehehe… you really are something, senior.”
It was a smile full of implications.
‘So she thinks it’s natural….’
Something has sprung to mind lately.
This girl is a fool.
That’s a conclusion I reached after careful deliberation.
Of course, not a ‘fool’ in the literal sense.
“It means I was much less wise than I had anticipated.
He was a potential villain slated to become a master of the black market, had a knack for business, and built connections well. Naturally, I presumed his intellect would be exceptional.
I assumed he was likely to possess a sly cunning akin to a venomous snake and insightful wisdom.
Just look at those sly narrowed eyes and that crafty smile.
Is he not the embodiment of the cliche of a villain who only appears benevolent but is sinister at heart?
However, after doing community service together, frequently chatting via messenger, and spending time together…
I had the impression that Isaiah was simply knowledgeable.
Because knowledge and wisdom are inherently different.
‘It seems…he has become somewhat manageable.’
I’m not exactly the smartest myself.
The only reason I’ve been able to maintain top grades was because my school didn’t just evaluate knowledge, it also significantly considered strength.
No matter how much I stayed up studying, my grades would not have made the upper class if it were not for that.
A smart villain was therefore my biggest concern….
Somehow, I felt that even if Isaiah became my enemy someday, I could just ward him off.
I wonder if that’s so.
I somehow feel at ease.
“Are you perhaps thinking something rude?”
“!”
Isaiah’s unexpected question threw me off guard, bringing tension to my previously relaxed state of mind.
He has an uncanny sharpness for detecting when he’s being insulted.
It’s like the sharpness of a finely crafted blade.
The typical potential villain.
A reminder not to let my guard down.
“Kidding, senior.”
Isaiah laughed cheekily.
He takes it well.
“And it’s just that I happened to see you on my way. I don’t know if you’d call it following you…well, from your perspective, I guess it could seem like stalking.”
“Alright…”
Isaiah laughed heartily.
Whether it’s true or false doesn’t matter. I decided to leave it be.
“It must be a lie.”
From the start, the whole picture was none too rosy.
In plain terms, it was as if a stalker was getting stalked by their very own stalker.
I felt it would be pathetic to dwell on such matters.
“So, what were you doing anyway?”
“Trying out a magic tool.”
“A magic tool? That one over there?”
Se-ah gazed at the wall prop rod that was stuck in the middle of the clear area.
She was impressed.
“Wow, a wall prop rod? You’ve got your hands on something good, senior!”
As Se-ah was well-versed in such matters, it was expected she would recognize it.
“It’s dangerous, so don’t come any closer.”
“Of course, I’ll just stick close behind you, senior!”
…Wait a minute.
“But you have no reason to see this, right?”
“There’s plenty of reason. I’m incredibly bored right now.”
Well, does it matter?
“…Don’t complain if you get hurt.”
“Got it.”
“Cover your ears.”
“Yep!”
Se-ah responded with a smile, covering her ears with her hands while she propped the umbrella’s central rod on her shoulder.
‘Let’s do this.’
I closed my eyes, imagining grasping an invisible thread.
And as I pulled on that thread, I opened my eyes again.
* * *
Se-ah knew the practicality of the wall prop rod.
Despite being a rare magic tool, the wall prop rod was less cost-effective than mass-produced magical grenades.
The usual range of a wall prop rod’s magical discharge was about 2 meters.
Regardless of whether its magic capacity was filled to the brim, it typically spanned around 2 meters.
This could be seen as a quite narrow scope.
As magic gets refined, as its purity increases, as its concentration intensifies, the attack radius increases. It might just be possible to augment the attack range to a significant degree.
However, because this is a congenital part, it is meaningless to bring it up.
If Woojin had such extraordinary magic, he would already have been eying the 5th or 6th level or higher.
Of course, it is a well-known fact that a wall-supporting rod that can store a large amount of magic exerts a stronger force than a magic grenade.
But rather than using such an expensive, rare, and large magic tool, Sia had thought that a magic grenade that can be easily held and thrown with one hand was preferable.
Zap!
A turquoise current stirred on the wall-setting rod.
Soon, the energy is condensed.
“!!”
Kaboom!!!
The deafening explosion accompanied a fierce expansion of the turquoise lightning power.
Stunned, Woojin rapidly twisted his body to shield Sia.
The formidable lightning magic was released in all directions.
Lightning bolts sharply cleaved the air and whipped the distant trees like a whip. Bang! The superheated energy hit in an instant.
Yet, it was incessant. Starting from the wall-supporting rod, the area of lightning spread out in a circular manner, gradually accelerating.
Kaboom!!
The destructive turquoise lightning heated up the air.
The area of lightning that had been spreading gradually faded and completely infiltrated the air while the explosive backscatter from the lightning caused by the wall-supporting rod also instantly became quiet.
Fizzle! The trees surrounding the vacant lot hit by the lightning all turned black like a block of coal and burned.
The trees, unable to stand any longer, crumbled down to ashes.
Silence settled.
The pouring rain stabilized the air.
“Any injuries?”
Woojin asked while looking down at Sia, who was bending her body.
“Sia.”
Startled, Sia stared at Woojin, but soon let out a forced laugh.
“Fortunately, none.”
Seah raised herself up and surveyed her surroundings.
“Wow….”
An admiring exclamation slipped from Seah, tinged with a sneer.
The landscape around her had been utterly transformed into devastation.
The spring rain hadn’t yet succeeded in dousing the flames that clung to the trees.
It was an unbelievable scene.
Szzt!
A teal current flowed along the wall reinforcement rod, lingering like an afterglow.
Woojin and Seah simply stared at it.
“It seems to have adequate practicality, but…”
Woojin couldn’t continue his thought.
‘What are we going to do about all this…?’
Looking around, the situation was just perplexing.
Meanwhile, one of Seah’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Practicality, huh…”
Was this really the time to be concerned about practicality?
This was not the power of the wall reinforcement rod that Seah knew.
It was far beyond what was once considered normal, far beyond.
How refined must the magic be?
How concentrated must it be?
How exceptional must the magic be for the wall reinforcement rod to exhibit such formidable power?
This was not the realm of genius.
It was beyond genius, somewhere else entirely.
With such outstanding magic, it was inevitable that the efficiency of magic, the power of magic, everything related to magic was on a different level from others.
Woojin seemed to grasp why he, despite being a fourth-tier mage, could hold his own against fifth-tier opponents.
But, no matter what, the idea that someone with such immense magical power was still classified as fourth-tier was incomprehensible.
This alone posed a staggering question.
Yet there was Woojin, casually bringing up ‘practicality’.
Seah felt it was simply absurd.
“Senior.”
“Why?”
“By any chance, do you know what the typical power level of the Lightning Rod is?”
“Isn’t that unusual? It’s a rare magical tool, right?”
When an unexpected answer came, Se-Ah swallowed a quick breath.
Could it be he has grown so accustomed to this as normal…?
To anyone’s eye, this situation was far from ordinary.
“…Is this, by any chance, not normal?”
Considering Se-Ah’s question again, Woo-Jin, sensing the implication, asked cautiously.
Se-Ah nodded.
“It seems so.”
“Hmm… Thanks for letting me know.”
Woo-Jin, deep in thought, went to retrieve the Lightning Rod.
“Ah. Senior, it’s still ra…!”
“Don’t come. You might get electrocuted.”
Se-Ah stopped herself midway from wanting to cover Woo-Jin with an umbrella.
The rain was pouring down.
Approaching the Lightning Rod now carried the risk of electrocution.
Woo-Jin pulled the rod up from the ground, held the handle, and admired it. Along the metal shaft, a threatening teal current still flowed, hissing menacingly.
‘…Incredible.’
The power displayed by the Lightning Rod moments ago had far exceeded Woo-Jin’s expectations.
He first thought it was due to the rarity of the magical tool.
But, if it was as Se-Ah said, it had to be because of his own magical power.
It seemed that the effect of refining his magical practice from a young age was becoming evident through the Lightning Rod.
Realizing that the time he invested was not in vain filled him with satisfaction.
Woo-Jin nodded in contentment and secured the Lightning Rod to his belt. On one side hung a three-section staff, and now the Lightning Rod claimed its place on the other.
Then, a red umbrella was placed above his head.
“Senior, you’ll really catch a cold.”
Woo-Jin turned to look at Se-Ah.
“…Junior, should I buy you some spicy rice cakes?”
“Is this hush money?”
With a sly smile, Seah looked around at the surrounding devastation.
Startled, Woojin shook his head slightly before continuing calmly.
“Of course not. Since we’ve met, I’m just doing what’s expected as your senior. It’s only right when your junior offers you an umbrella and worries you might catch a cold. What kind of senior wouldn’t be moved by that?”
His words flowed smoothly.
“If that’s the case, I’ll gratefully accept.”
Seah grinned broadly.
That night.
After making thorough preparations, Woojin returned to clean up the chaotic site where the wall had been tested.
“Huh?”
Surprisingly, the place had already been tidied up.
Later, Woojin learned from the local residents that people dressed in black had come and gone, carrying equipment.
From Noble mtl dot com
……
─ “Senior, aren’t you going to catch a cold standing out there?”
“Cough! Cough!”
He had caught it.
A severe case of the flu at that.
“Oh, I feel like dying…”
Whiiiiir.
[ Deputy Head of the Crime Unit ]
Despite his smartphone vibrating, Woojin couldn’t move due to the high fever.
The vibration lasted a while before stopping, and ‘2 missed calls’ appeared on the screen.