‘Wow, look at that?’

Ji Yun-oh, who was watching the training, shook his head as if he couldn’t contend with it.

It was because of Kim Songcheol’s handling of the situation.

He wasn’t as surprised by the casting speed as Moon Gijeong. As a Third Circle Mage, he saw much more than Moon Gijeong did.

‘A mere First Circle Master simplifying a magic formula.’

Kim Songcheol’s casting speed was fast, even in absolute terms.

Rupture, bang.

Magic formations appeared almost as if a pistol was firing continuously.

The secret to that speed was spell simplification.

Surprisingly, spell simplification requires more intuition than a perfect understanding of magic formulas and quick calculation abilities.

It would be somewhat similar to saying it’s made up for by physical skill.

Normally, an experienced mage would simplify magic below their level, but Kim Songcheol simplified magic at his own level.

From Ji Yun-oh’s perspective, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

However, simplification also has its drawbacks.

The power of the magic is weaker than a full cast.

Ji Yun-oh dispelled the Goblin Illusion that had been hit by the attack, but there was a high chance they would get back up again.

‘Still, the response was perfect. The enemies hit once will have their combat power halved, and he bought some time. Dungeons are places where people die for not being able to buy just one or two seconds.’

Even if it was just training, one would normally panic if goblins approached from both sides, but Kim Songcheol fired off three consecutive simplified magic spells in that situation.

It was a moment when he genuinely agreed with Education Director Kim Myeongju’s judgment.

“Clear!”

Seo Gangjin shouted. The last goblin scattered under his sword.

“Clear!”

Oh Songhui also responded as if she had been waiting. All the surging goblins were dealt with. It seemed there were about sixteen of them. A slightly higher number than usual.

It was because Ji Yun-oh had created more illusions after checking Kim Songcheol’s level.

“…”

Moon Gijeong was staring at the back of Kim Songcheol’s head. Then, Kim Songcheol glanced back, and their eyes met.

Moon Gijeong swallowed hard. It was a situation where he wouldn’t have anything to say even if Kim Songcheol protested strongly. Of course, the other teammates would help him, but he honestly lacked confidence.

The confidence to look Kim Songcheol straight in the eye and crush him with ‘it’s nothing to make a fuss about.’

But Kim Songcheol smiled, subtly gave a thumbs-up, and then just turned away.

‘A thumbs-up? What does that mean? He must know I deliberately let monsters through…?’

Moon Gijeong’s mind became complicated.

He couldn’t even begin to guess the meaning of the thumbs-up.

“We will advance.”

Just then, Ji Yun-oh’s command fell. The illusions receded, and a new section appeared.

Team 25A maintained their formation and walked forward. Soon after, more goblins appeared, and Team 25A dealt with them.

This time, Moon Gijeong didn’t let any monsters through either. When Moon Gijeong didn’t let any monsters through, Oh Songhui gave him a meaningful look. But Moon Gijeong was steadfast.

After a few more subtle glances were exchanged, the training ended without incident.

“Good work, everyone.”

Kim Songcheol briefly greeted his teammates.

He looked largely the same as at the beginning of the training.

Moon Gijeong, on the other hand, was pale. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. It was due to using up all his mana.

Training requires facing many monsters in a short period.

It’s a much larger quantity than actual dungeons.

It wasn’t a level where a mere First Circle Mage could casually unleash magic.

However, Kim Songcheol had used far more magic than Moon Gijeong but was perfectly fine.

Far from being pale, thanks to his cardiorespiratory endurance honed over three weeks, his breathing wasn’t even disturbed.

“Ha… Are you alright?”

Moon Gijeong finally asked. He was curious if he was truly alright, or just pretending to be.

“About what?”

Kim Songcheol’s expression showed he didn’t know what was being asked.

“Your mana.”

“Oh, my mana pool is a bit large.”

Only then did Kim Songcheol reply plainly.

Kim Songcheol still had over 70 percent of his mana remaining.

After forming a Circle, the rate at which mana accumulated increased even further, to the point where he wondered if it was alright for so much mana to build up.

The swordsmen, too, belatedly bit their lips, looking back and forth between Moon Gijeong and Kim Songcheol.

Moon Gijeong was actually better off. Park Ji-yun, a former team member, was almost half-dead after training.

Having seen that repeatedly, the fact that Kim Songcheol was so perfectly fine struck the swordsmen profoundly.

“Good work, everyone. Especially Trainee Kim Songcheol, you were excellent for your first training session.”

Ji Yun-oh, who had approached unnoticed, said. Frankly, he wanted to praise him more, but he held back, fearing various counterproductive effects.

“No, it’s thanks to the team members helping me. Oh, if it’s over, can I leave?”

“Is something the matter?”

“Well… there’s a magic exchange meeting.”

He called it a magic exchange meeting for external purposes, but in reality, it was the ’16th Floor Magic Academy.’

He had just received a request to check some magic today. He needed time to practice before the magic academy opened.

“A magic exchange meeting?”

“…It’s just studying magic with trainees from the same lecture hall.”

For a fleeting moment, Moon Gijeong’s eyes sparkled.

At that level, he wouldn’t be exchanging magic with fellow trainees. It would clearly be a one-sided lesson, and Moon Gijeong instinctively felt he wanted to attend that lesson.

But now was neither the time to ask to join, nor did he have the face to do so.

Moon Gijeong’s eyes slowly dulled again.

“Normally, I’d give you points for improvement… but you may go. There aren’t any, really.”

“Ah, yes. Everyone, good work. You all worked hard.”

Kim Songcheol bowed once more to the trainees and the instructor and exited the training ground.

“Ha…”

Ji Yun-oh let out a small, almost inaudible sigh as he watched Kim Songcheol disappear out the door.

When he turned his head back to the trainees, his gaze had become quite sharp.

Oh Songhui immediately avoided his eyes and bowed her head.

Instructor Ji Yun-oh would surely know the fact that she had tried to put Kim Songcheol in a difficult position.

From the start, she had done it knowing she would be scolded.

All that remained was to endure Ji Yun-oh’s anger, which would surely lash out fiercely.

However.

“Either do it properly, or don’t do it at all. It would be best to choose one of the two.”

The words that came from Ji Yun-oh’s mouth were unexpected.

Not only Oh Songhui, but Seo Gangjin and Moon Gijeong also just blinked their eyes.

At first, they didn’t understand what he meant, and only after a few seconds of their brains working at full capacity did they grasp it.

It meant either genuinely making Kim Songcheol’s life difficult, or accepting him as a teammate.

It was natural that they didn’t understand these words immediately.

It meant condoning ostracism, and this was not the kind of thing Ji Yun-oh would normally say.

“Tsk.”

Ji Yun-oh’s small click of the tongue echoed in the empty training ground.

For some reason, Moon Gijeong felt it sounded like he was being criticized.

“Training concluded. You are dismissed.”

He waved his hand and left the training ground.

Three trainees remained.

“Instructor’s words just now, did he mean it’s okay to ostracize him?”

Oh Songhui said.

“Seems like it? What’s going on?”

Seo Gangjin tilted his head and replied.

There was no way they would understand Ji Yun-oh’s feelings one hundred percent. They didn’t know the full story.

Ji Yun-oh was displeased that there was no significant gain from forcing Kim Songcheol into the team.

Kim Songcheol wasn’t getting any practice in dealing with uncooperative hunters.

Like this, only the excluded team members were left in a difficult situation.

“Anyway, why did you only do it once and then stop? You kept making eye contact with me, didn’t you?”

Oh Songhui pressed Moon Gijeong.

According to their agreement, he should have continued to let monsters pass to trouble Kim Songcheol.

However, Moon Gijeong unilaterally stopped his actions.

“…It’s no use trying.”

Moon Gijeong replied with difficulty.

“What are you talking about? If I let them through and you let them through, there’d be at least five or six goblins cornered.”

“That’s why I said it’s no use.”

Moon Gijeong is a Mage, and the only Mage among these three.

His perspective on Swordsmen and Kim Songcheol was bound to be different.

“Fast casting? I’ll give you that. I saw it too. It was fast. But how can you continuously cast five or six spells, let alone two or three?”

It was a valid point.

There’s a limit to continuous casting with just one circle. That’s a physical aspect, separate from Magic Thread power.

“It’s not just fast… if the casting is that fast, it means his understanding of magic formulas is immense, so he must be capable of other things too.”

“Like what?”

“Magic Formula Illusion.”

If Moon Gijeong had noticed Spell Simplification, he would have listed a few more things, but at his current level, one was all he had.

“At that level, he could just use Magic Formula Illusion to turn a Hawk straight barrier 360 degrees. Or he could just use continuous casting to employ the triangular defense method.”

The Hawk straight barrier, as a 1st Circle Magic, simply creates a rectangular transparent wall.

However, using Magic Formula Illusion, it’s possible to curve it around, or arrange three of them in a triangle to block all directions.

Of course, as a 1st Circle Magic, it wouldn’t last long, but it would be absurd to just watch until it broke.

After all, the stated purpose was joint training.

“I’m telling you, letting goblins through won’t even scratch him. You all saw it, didn’t you? He was perfectly fine after the training. It’s 1st Circle, but it’s not 1st Circle. You have to see it as almost a 3rd Circle Mage only using 1st Circle Magic.”

“Is it really that much…?”

As Moon Gijeong spoke firmly, Oh Songhui also took a step back.

Moon Gijeong was the leader, but he was far from charismatic.

He always managed the team by gathering and coordinating the team members’ opinions, so it was difficult to disregard Moon Gijeong’s strong opinion now.

When Moon Gijeong came on strong, he was usually right.

“As your leader, I have something to say.”

Oh Songhui and Seo Gangjin quietly waited for Moon Gijeong’s next words.

“We have to go into a dungeon anyway, don’t we? You know that even F-rank dungeons sometimes have fatalities, right? Going into an F-rank dungeon is just as life-threatening. I feel bad for Ji-yoon, but we have to accept a teammate of that caliber. That’s the right thing to do.”

Seo Gangjin scratched his cheek, half-agreeing with Moon Gijeong, muttering, ‘Is that so?’

“So, should we even kneel?”

Oh Songhui asked, her tone half-resigned.

“We probably don’t need to go that far. He didn’t seem to have much interest in us, to begin with.”

Moon Gijeong said, seemingly regretting. It was a regret about a relationship that had started on the wrong foot.