197 – A Hopeless Battle -2-
-Thud..!
Standing alone in the training ground again today, Ruin gritted his teeth as he wiped away the raindrops of sweat.
“Ugh… Damn it.”
He was making little progress.
He hadn’t been able to do anything since he failed to recognize Yuriah at the ball.
Ruin clenched his fists at his rapidly declining state.
“Just hit me. Damn it!”
There was little sign of improvement. There were only three days left until the ranking battles, but his magic hadn’t changed at all.
It was ridiculous that despite all the practice he had done in his life, all he could do was barely hit a scarecrow.
It was urgent.
Both to meet others’ expectations.
And time was absurdly short to block the pouring criticism.
“Dammit… dammit…!”
The situation couldn’t have been more comparative because his peers had accomplished so much.
Mikhail had obtained the weapon, Auror, within a year, and the Crown Prince had reached the level of using both the sword and magic proficiently. Moreover, Yuriah was also developing rapidly as she learned holy magic, while he alone was not just standing still but was sinking into a bottomless quagmire.
It wouldn’t be a lie to say that there was no comparison. Among those who were once called rookies, he was the worst.
-Lately, hasn’t Ruin-sunbae been weird? His personality seems to have become much sharper, and he can’t even use basic magic.
-Ah~ he must not be in good condition. How could Ruin-sunbae be weak? He’s a disciple who received teachings from the Lord of the Tower.
-Is that so?
-Yes! I think Ruin-sunbae is the strongest among the third-years! He’ll definitely show something incredible in this ranking match.
He had nothing prepared to repay the expectations he had been shown so far.
Ruin couldn’t shake off the urgent feeling.
He was afraid of being criticized by everyone. He thought he had to do something.
He desperately needed a way to grow rapidly, no matter the method.
To repay the admiring gazes he had received so far, there was no other way than to prove himself solely with his abilities.
“Damn it!”
-Pewter…
“Dammit…!”
-Pewter…
“sh*t!”
-Pewter.
All that increased was the cursing, compared to the time spent practicing.
Time passed.
One day.
Two days.
Ruin, who hadn’t achieved any results, stood still in the training hall while clenching his fists.
“This isn’t the answer. What do you want me to do?”
Ruin wanted to do many things.
He wanted to apologize to Yuriah and be forgiven for the mistakes he had made that day. He wanted to become close with Yuriah again because he wanted to feel that emotion again, the emotion that made him feel good just by being with her.
However, there were too many obstacles for him to appear before Yuriah in his current pathetic state, and the possibility of her accepting him was nil.
He didn’t have remarkable magic.
He didn’t have a bright future.
He didn’t have the admiring gazes.
If he, who had none of these, approached the dazzling Yuriah, he would surely look wretched. Because the gazes of others and his own wounded pride didn’t allow it, Ruin hesitated.
He didn’t know that Yuriah wasn’t even in the mood to accept his apology.
-Click…
Ruin was biting his nails and appeasing his complicated thoughts in his anxious mind.
‘Isn’t there a way…’
-Click…
‘Isn’t there a way to become strong, even for a day?’
-Click!
‘Just one day to get stronger. I’ll ask for inspiration after that and somehow it will work out. Then I’ll be happy, and Inspiration will gain the honor of the rooftop…’
Luin chewed on his nails as he searched for alternatives and shook his head at the impulsive thought that came to mind.
‘Are you crazy? That’s not real.’
He didn’t want to follow the same path as his friend. No matter how urgent it was, it wasn’t something a person should do. And it was embarrassing.
He had ignored it, but how funny was it to dabble in black magic? He had even made fun of talentless guys using such cowardly methods.
Luin shook his head with a hollow laugh at the impulsive thought, and his fingers began to tremble at the conclusion that didn’t come even after time passed.
‘…’
And at the moment when his impatience reached its peak.
A woman in a white robe began to walk from the entrance of the smoke room with a ‘thudding’ sound.
She seemed to be in her 30s. A woman with glasses and a warm impression.
The woman smiled brightly at Luin and exclaimed.
“Oh my! Student Luin, what are you doing here?”
It was an artificial laugh. It seemed like she was laughing even though she wasn’t happy, and acting partly surprised even though she wasn’t surprised.
Luin hid the nails he had been biting behind his back and said with a cold expression when he saw the woman.
“Professor Shuria.”
Reven Shuria. She was a professor in the Department of Magic and taught spiritual magic.
She was a professor who was popular and well-received by students for her gentle speech, but she was also a professor that Luin disliked.
The magic that Luin pursued was not cunning spiritual magic, but explosive firepower and strength. Moreover, he didn’t like Professor Shuria, who uttered meaningless compliments.
Luin looked at the professor with vigilance.
“What brings you here at this hour? It’s long past the time you should have left work.”
“I came because I left something behind. So what are you doing here, Student Luin? It seems like you’ve been here for a while.”
“Nothing…”
“Surely you’re not reviewing?”
Shuria clapped her hands and cut off Luin’s words. Shuria, who glanced at Luin who was drenched in sweat, chuckled and spoke to Luin in a small voice.
“That’s great, Student Luin.”
Luin, who was annoyed by Shuria’s gaze that saw him as an inferior student, clicked his tongue and refused her compliment.
“Just go your own way.”
Shuria hugged the book tucked into her side and replied to Luin.
“How can I leave a student who is so full of academic zeal! I didn’t know that you were so interested in magic, Student Luin!”
Compliments from someone other than Yulia didn’t make Luin happy. It was as if she was ignoring his talent, and she wasn’t someone who was better at magic than him. Luin, who had just received a compliment from such a person, made an unpleasant expression and let out a sigh.
Shuria didn’t care about Luin’s reaction and began to talk about herself.
“I didn’t know that Student Luin, who never misses second place, would review. Other professors said the same thing. ‘Luin will pass midterms even if he does nothing.’ Especially, I thought that Student Luin was a student who never reviewed on his own during my class.”
“…”
“But I was short-sighted. That’s amazing, Student Luin.”
“If you’re done with the sarcasm, go quickly.”
Luin spoke to Shuria in a sharp voice. It didn’t feel good to hear someone nagging him for not listening properly in class.
Luin, who was upset by Shuria’s words that hid a bitter blade along with sweet talk, wanted to kick the professor out of this space.
However, Shuria didn’t take any offense to Luin’s cold attitude and walked one step closer to the scarecrow that Luin had shot out with a calm smile.
“Oh my…”
With a cloudy voice, Shuria, who had been looking at the scarecrow that Ruin had conjured with magic, looked at Ruin with a regretful smile.
“You really have terrible magic skills. It looks like a fireball, but it can’t even burn the target.”
“…”
“It’s really an easy spell, is there a student in our academy who can’t do such a basic spell? I thought we only had prodigies in our academy….”
“…”
“It’s really strange.”
“I see….”
“Oh! Student Ruin, those words were not for you. I said that to the student who hit this target. You’re so outstanding, Ruin.”
Shuria said in a small voice that Ruin could hear, with a hidden thorn in her words, ‘No way….’
“You’re talented, aren’t you? You’re a student with outstanding talent in the teachings of the Tower Lord, so something like this should be easy for you, right?”
Shuria said, crossing her arms.
“I’ll have the professor take a look at it. No, I should say I want to learn it. I need to learn fire magic from you, Ruin. I’m not good at offensive magic. Isn’t that right, Ruin? Hoho…”
“You’re really pissing me off.”
A cold current flowed.
A cold current flowed between Ruin, who seemed like he would cast a spell at any moment, and Shuria, who was laughing at him.
About 10 minutes passed in an atmosphere like a haystack that could catch fire from a small spark. Shuria began to shake a book she had at her side in front of Ruin’s eyes.
“Excuse me, Student Ruin. Do you want to get stronger quickly?”
“…”
“I know a way. Do you know Hobbs, a student from Class 1, Year 2?”
Ruin stopped his trembling fist and recalled the rumors circulating about the student named Hobbs in his head.
It was a name he had heard before. It was the name of a student named Hobbs who was growing rapidly and making a name for himself.
Ruin clenched his fists, swallowing the curses that had risen to his throat at the name of the rookie who had grown in such a short time as if he had found a shortcut.
Shuria began to smile sinisterly at Ruin’s hesitant face.
“In fact, I tutored Hobbs. I helped him with his magic and gave him extra lessons…. Of course, Hobbs was outstanding and got good results, but I’m sure you know, Ruin. Maybe things would be different if you learned from me? Hoho, am I bragging too much?”
“…”
Shuria smiled coolly and slowly began to reveal her malice.
“Don’t you want to get stronger? Student Ruin?”
Ruin quietly bowed his head and looked at the book that Shuria had handed him.
Ruin gradually began to get sucked in.
Even though he had a hunch about what was in her hand, he didn’t avoid it and kept looking at it.
‘I know.’
It would have been strange if he hadn’t noticed, because he wasn’t an idiot. The reason she was suddenly saying such things and handing him a suspicious book was because she guessed what the book meant. Ruin swallowed hard.
‘Damn it, it’s black magic….’
The path that his close friend had taken. At the same time, the worst kind of magic that he had ignored was right before his eyes as the solution.
He knew he shouldn’t touch it, he knew he shouldn’t be tempted, but Ruin couldn’t control his reason.
‘Just once.’
If he just did it once, no one would know, right? If he just kept his mouth shut, everything he was worried about would be solved. If he just abandoned his conscience once, he could solve his deep worries. The temptation was stirring Ruin’s impatient heart.
Shuria said, turning up the corners of her mouth.
“Once is enough.”
In a gentle whisper.
“If you learn it just once… you can become strong like you were before.”
Luin reached out to the black magic book.
The corners of Shuria’s lips went up as Luin’s fingers slowly moved towards the book.
The moment Luin touched the book.
From Noble mtl dot com
-Crack…
The book began to turn ashen.
Shuria looked at Luin with a vacant smile.
“Oops…? This isn’t supposed to happen?”
Shuria’s cold voice reached Luin’s ears as he panicked.
“I feel bad for you, Student Luin. It seems like a magic book that forcibly awakens potential… no, I mean, that forcibly awakens potential doesn’t work on you. It seems you have absolutely no talent in this area.”
Luin couldn’t come to his senses with the words coming out of Shuria’s mouth.
His heart that had been pounding with tension.
His pride that he had thrown away his conscience for.
Everything was denied.
Everything felt like a lie.
“You’re useless.”
***
A lonely lady’s room.
“A fairy tale book!”
“Just a moment.”
“eeek…”
I looked at the lady who was squeezing the blanket while whining with a small smile.
“Could you please wait a moment? Something interesting just happened.”
I burst out laughing as I felt the ancient magic that I had engraved on Luin activate.
‘You little punk.’
It seemed like something interesting was going to happen after all.
Hahahaha
Neither the black magic likes you ruin