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“In the recent past, there were several wars, but the major war that can be considered large-scale occurred twice.”
The aged Professor lectured on history in a voice like a sedative.
“The first was the ‘Magic Stone War.’ Unlike modern times, when the technology for processing magic stones was lacking, and people relied solely on natural magic stones, a major war broke out to obtain the depleting magic stones.”
Magic stones were not only the foundation of the superhuman society but also essential for superhumans to exert even greater power.
Naturally, the demand was immense, and relying solely on natural magic stones to meet that demand was unrealistic. Wars between nations were inevitable.
“But as novices know, it was not a nation or organization that ended this war.”
Even the drowsy novices’ eyes sparkled at this moment.
A smile played on the corner of the Professor’s lips.
“Yes. It was the ‘Blue Wings.'”
The ‘Blue Wings.’
They were a party of 20 superhumans, each of different races, nationalities, and social statuses.
Meeting at the topmost level of the black market, the 6th floor ‘Babylon,’ they, with just 20 members, ended the Magic Stone War.
However, it was not through participation in the war or killing anyone.
They simply conquered dungeons.
The dungeons they conquered, though, were different from the usual ones, as they exclusively targeted dungeons with a ‘conquest impossible’ rating.
Thus, as ‘unconquerable’ dungeons fell one by one, the depletion of magic stones was gradually alleviated, leading to the discovery of ancient magic stone processing technology.
In an astonishing turn of events, a global war was ended by a mere dungeon party.
“And all six core members of the ‘Blue Wings’ are alumni of our school.”
As the game centered around ‘Eternity Academy,’ it was natural for the key members of the Blue Wings to be mostly graduates of Eternity Academy.
검성 Jeon Doyoon.
The Witch of the Sword, Noah MacDowell.
The Sage of the Military, William Arcei.
The One, Francis Kyle.
Night King Grace.
Grand Paladin Enok.
Professor No, who wrote the names of the six on the blackboard, turned to the students and spoke.
“Unfortunately, three of them have passed away, and the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. However, one of them is still here at the academy.”
The Witch of the Sword, Noah MacDowell.
She was the only one left, Professor No continued. Hearing his words, I inwardly clicked my tongue.
‘Totally ridiculous.’
Most of Professor No’s words, no. They were completely filled with errors.
First of all, the fact that there were 6 graduates from Eternity Academy was wrong.
‘It’s not 6, it’s 7.’
The most crucial member was missing from Professor No’s explanation.
Without ‘him,’ it was impossible to explain why Korea, which was just a nameless peninsula, had developed so much, or how the Blue Wings, a multi-racial party, could have been formed in the midst of a great war.
That’s why, despite Professor No’s explanations being historical, most of them were stories that were twisted and created by later generations.
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“It is said that the Blue Wings were formed when the Sword Saint, who was drinking at a tavern in Babylon, got drunk and suggested going to a dungeon. No one knew that dungeon would lead to an unconquerable dungeon.”
Like this.
And every time Professor No’s ridiculous stories continued, the students chuckled, finding them amusing.
Of course, the Blue Wings were not as casually formed at a tavern as Professor No claimed, nor were they a party created by the Sword Saint.
From the start, the idea of enemies with different interests during a war coming together amicably at a tavern, teasing each other and throwing a party, was an absurd story.
The Blue Wings were formed out of sheer necessity, a party created by just one oriental person.
‘No Name.’
A graduate of Eternity Academy, but someone who was treated as ‘below average’ within the academy.
He lured the members of the Blue Wings with ‘greed.’
He promised the Sage a chance to satisfy his intellectual curiosity, the Grand Paladin the remnants of the World Tree, and the Sword Saint a sword and honor.
Of course, he, who had no significant wealth and possessed no extraordinary talent, could not possibly provide those things.
However, he knew how to provide them.
He heard of that ‘existence,’ and with his extraordinary intellect, he cleverly manipulated it.
As a result, the War of the Magic Stones ended, Korea flourished, and the Blue Wings each obtained what they desired.
But No Name was the only one who did not get what he wanted.
What he desired, ‘Extinction,’ was never something that a human could attain in the first place.
In the end, he became a specter in search of answers, was subdued by Noah MacDowell, and Eternity Academy surely erased his name from history.
That was why the core of the Blue Wings was reduced from 7 members to 6.
However, remnants of him remained scattered throughout the world, known as ‘No Name,’ but opinions varied, and very few truly understood No Name. Even fewer connected ‘Extinction’s Specter’ and ‘No Name.’
I sat through the error-filled class, glancing around.
Hanseyeon, who was absent due to a fever the day before, was still not in his seat today.
‘I wonder if he won’t be able to come until tomorrow.’
Judging by his condition, although it seemed like a few days of rest would do him good, seeing him wince in pain frequently made me think that he was weaker than I had imagined.
‘He looks perfectly fine.’
As the conversation turned to the Blue Wings, I chuckled watching Eun-ga-ye, whose eyes sparkled like stars.
How could someone press down on Georgh’s core for nearly 20 minutes and still be able to play soccer the next day without any signs of fatigue?
As I continued to gaze at Eun-ga-ye, whose eyes sparkled endlessly, the bell for lunch rang.
The students rushed out, and I got up from my seat.
“Ouch…”
Though my legs, swollen from the aftermath of the Georgh match, screamed in agony, I instinctively went out to buy bread.
I needed supplies for a comfortable afternoon practice.
The sacrifice of cattle for the sake of the tribe.
It’s all part of the big picture.
And that’s what the bread shuttle is for…
***
“Ah…”
A smile blossomed on Amelia’s face as she took a big bite of melon bread.
“Here’s your coffee.”
“Mmm, thank you.”
Amelia, nibbling cutely on the melon bread, took the thermos and sipped on the coffee.
“It seems like there’s no one here now.”
“We should move.”
5 p.m. We had entered the forest of the Eternity Field.
The reason was for the special class, ‘Massu Hunt.’
“Let’s finish off the ground rabbits first.”
“Are there 12 left now?”
“Yes, we only need three more people.”
The class content was simple.
– Hunt 30 ground rabbits.
– Rescue 8 civilians.
In the field, assistant instructors disguised as civilians were hiding all around, and the class involved finding them while also exterminating the ground rabbits.
However, the number of instructors was limited, so if found too late, it would be impossible to fill the 8 civilian quota.
Time was of the essence. But I felt no need to rush or find a reason.
Just following behind Amelia, I suddenly found only 3 civilians left on my part.
If you ask me how it’s done, honestly, I don’t know either.
The kid just walks, and the instructors show up on their own.
‘How did we end up finding this place?’
Quietly surveying the area where we were taking a break, I couldn’t help but be amazed.
From the outside, it was a disguised field covered with bushes and branches, completely invisible, yet Amelia casually walked in as if she knew the way. The look of astonishment on the instructor’s face at that moment was quite something.
It was like following a map to get there.
And that’s not the end of it.
The remaining number of horses and civilians was automatically calculated, so whenever asked, the numbers came out like a calculator.
“How much time is left until the end of class?”
“Until 7 o’clock, so there are 2 hours and 3 minutes left.”
Tick-tock.
Amelia’s long sausage, bought from the store, was skewered on a branch over the fire she built, cooking slowly.
“Let’s take a 30-minute break.”
“We’ve already rested for an hour, shouldn’t we start moving now?”
I silently handed Amelia a nicely cooked long sausage.
“Well, I guess 30 minutes should be fine.”
Amelia, who had devoured a melon bread, took the sausage and changed her attitude as if flipping a hand.
***
“As expected.”
The hill overlooking the field.
Hajinwoo, through the telescope, was observing the islanders while releasing wild rabbits into the field.
He hoped the islanders would realize that ‘hunting’ was not just about catching prey, but also about hiding their presence and approaching the target.
Among the horses, there were not only those who chose to confront head-on.
And indeed, as Hajinwoo expected, the islanders were struggling against the wild rabbits.
The sight of the islanders chasing the wild rabbits, sweating profusely as they ran around, unfolded throughout the field.
“It’s impossible to catch all the wild rabbits.”
“Well…”
Hajinwoo muttered in response to the assistant’s words.
Smoke had been rising steadily from the forest he had been staring at for a while now.
The assistant, turning his gaze to where Hajinwoo was looking, expressed disbelief.
“Well, that’s a bit extreme. Suicidal.”
The open field illuminated by the telescope.
Ihaesol and Amelia were laying out a mat and sharing food amicably near the bonfire.
“Is that even allowed?”
“Isn’t there a rule that forbids eating during training?”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Hajinwoo, though inwardly puzzled by their actions, held his tongue.
‘Sometimes you have to do something silly.’
And it was Ihaesol who, even after doing so, would end up with unexpected results.
***
The ‘wild rabbit’ belonged to a particularly weak category even among 2-star horses.
Its attacks were monotonous, making it difficult to lose when encountered.
But hunting a wild rabbit was not as easy as it sounded.
Hop!
The wild rabbit leaped up to a height of 3 meters and hung lifelessly from a tree branch.
“Where did this one go?”
“Hah! Just went there, and they’ve already escaped.”
Under the branches, the wilderness folk search around as they disappear.
And a moment later.
Swoosh.
The ground rabbit, who had descended to the ground, perked its ears to the ground.
“Squeak.”
This little one, with deteriorated ‘eyes’, had lost its vision but had developed its hearing and senses dramatically.
Due to this, it could hear every sound within a radius of 500m.
Even its jumping ability when fleeing was remarkable, making hunting the ground rabbit within that range no easy task.
“Squeak.”
Concluding that all the wilderness folk had vanished, the ground rabbit lay on the ground to rest. And then.
Rustle rustle.
“!”
Startled by the sound of bushes rustling, the ground rabbit leaped up in surprise.
Phew!
A magic missile flew towards the creature.
Dodging the magic missile in mid-air, the creature sprung up.
However, a single raindrop was falling above its head.
Thud—
The oddly contorted ground rabbit managed to avoid even this. However, at that moment of thought, the raindrop changed direction and pierced the creature’s waist.
Thwack!
Approaching the fallen ground rabbit through the bushes, a man and a woman drew near.
“Is there one left?”
“Yes, conveniently right there.”
As they put the fallen ground rabbit in a net, Amelia pointed in the direction of the forest.
Although she couldn’t detect magic perfectly, with scan magic, it was quite possible to locate magical creatures nearby.
If a 2nd-grade magical creature was being careless, it could easily be caught even with a simple scan.
“Let’s go.”
Amelia took the hand that Heaesol offered. She looked surprised.
“How fascinating.”
Indeed, when Heaesol held her hand, her presence vanished as if it were a lie.
She couldn’t even begin to guess how to manipulate magic to erase someone’s presence like that.
But since he hadn’t asked her, she was left to wonder.
***
Late evening with the earth spider laying its web.
As the clock struck past 7 in the evening, the students who had taken the ‘Magical Creature Hunting’ special class gathered on the field.
“5 minutes left.”
Glancing at the clock, the instructor announced the remaining time.
Although the closing time of 7 p.m. had passed, there were still quite a few students who hadn’t arrived yet.
“Are they tardy?”
Hajinwoo, who was sitting on a rock, stood up from his spot.
Although not all students had gathered, the class had to end on time.
However, the one Hajinwoo was secretly hoping for, Haesol, had not shown up even with 5 minutes left.
Well, maybe she was planning to fill up the time until the last minute…
“3 minutes remaining.”
Hajinwoo, who was walking towards where the students were, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Beyond the darkening bushes.
The students who had not shown themselves until time was up came running frantically.
And Hajinwoo slightly opened his mouth.
“Ah…”
At the very back of the students.
Two people were leisurely walking towards them.
Haesol and Amelia.
Inside the large net they were dragging behind them, there were countless ground rabbits packed together.