Chapter 58 – White Wood (３)

And yet, Woo Jimin smiled.

Even knowing it was a grueling fight, Gijun had chosen to charge head-on.

Wasn’t that the man he’d always been?

And that was exactly why she trusted him — this man named Baek Gijun.

One by one, the Fireballs multiplied.

Two. Three.

But now—

“Huh?”

“…Hm?”

Woo Jimin’s and White Wood’s eyes widened simultaneously.

Four Fireballs.

No — that wasn’t the end of it.

Kwaaaaaaah!

“F-Five?”

“…What in the…”

White Wood stepped forward.

An instinctive move he hadn’t even registered.

That was how immense the shock White Wood felt was.

“Th-That… Did you know about this?”

White Wood asked.

“No. I’m seeing it for the first time too…”

“How is that even possible…”

He’d clearly been told Triple-Caster.

And not long ago, either.

Was he saying Gijun had been hiding his power?

No.

That made no sense.

There was no way someone would hide their strength in a life-or-death situation against a low-ranking Magin.

That left only one explanation: he’d achieved this in the time since.

How long had it been?

At most, less than two weeks… in that span of time.

There was only one answer.

He broke through, didn’t he.

That was how he put it.

Broke through.

Superhumans with immense talent always hit a wall at some point — a colossal barrier that stops them cold.

But there are those who refuse to stay stopped.

From that moment on, nothing can block their growth.

It happened to me. It happened to every genius who ever ruled the world.

Baek Gijun.

That man tore down his wall too.

Despite the limit of being a 1st Circle, he forced open the path that stood before him — in his own way.

Of course, Gijun’s case was special.

Instead of increasing his Circle, he increased the number of spells he could cast simultaneously.

A path no one in the world had ever tried, or even thought to try.

Past double, past triple…

‘Quadruple… caster…’

A term so foreign it barely registered.

No — the emergence of something that had never existed in this world.

But something even more shocking happened.

“Huh?”

“What the…”

Fireball had changed shape.

From a sphere into a spear.

“…”

“…”

*

Crack!

The viciously spinning, transformed Fireball tore across the air.

Ssssssssh—!

The Ice Golem lifted its massive Shield.

To block that terrifying mass of flame hurtling straight at it.

BOOM! WHAM WHAM WHAM!

The spear-shaped flame hammered against the Ice Golem’s Shield.

In that instant —

Crack—!

Fissures began to spider across the Shield.

The sheer impact was devastating.

Emily’s mind spun.

‘How is this possible?’

Not three — five.

And not spheres, but spears.

The moment every piece of information she knew was denied…

Crack—CRASH!

The Ice Golem’s Shield shattered.

But that wasn’t all.

CRUNCH—!

With tremendous rotational force, the spear pierced straight through the Ice Golem’s body.

The explosion that followed…

BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM!

…shattered the Ice Golem’s body to pieces.

That single attack hadn’t destroyed the Ice Golem entirely.

But it no longer mattered.

Because fresh fireballs, already fully cast, were already raining down on the Ice Golem.

CRUNCH—KABOOOM!

With a fierce explosion, the Ice Golem was completely destroyed.

‘Hah… hah…’

Emily let out a hollow laugh.

Goosebumps rose on her skin.

Was this the same man who, until recently, was just a 1st Circle mage jumping from one nameless guild to another?

A thrill ran through her.

Which was exactly why she had to win.

By any means necessary.

And right now…

‘Got it.’

Even amid that chaos, Emily finished her casting.

The spell she cast was a 6th-Circle ice spell — Ice Shower.

A magic that binds every ice element in the air with Mana, flash-freezing the entire space in an instant.

Crackle—CRRRRACK!

The mana barrier inside the training ground began to freeze over.

Even the air itself turned to frost.

Hoarfrost crept across Gijun’s body.

Within this field, Gijun’s fire magic wouldn’t be able to muster any real power.

A skill that would freeze even his body, completely neutralizing his greatest weapon — mobility.

Impressive, but that’s as far as you go.

She was genuinely surprised, but defeat never crossed her mind.

Ice Shower was only the beginning.

From here, she had countless spells to press him, one after another.

She began her next casting.

The spell she reached for now was 5th Circle — Ice Thorn.

A magic that spawns ice spikes from the ground, trapping the enemy in place so they can’t even move.

And in this frozen state, those rising spikes would pierce clean through him—

Huh?

Emily’s eyes went wide.

“That was close.”

Because Gijun was already moving.

The frost that had clung to his body was gone without a trace.

In its place, his entire form was wrapped in wind.

Patter—RATTATAT!

The ice crystals that tried endlessly to latch onto him were deflected at the source by the wind swirling around his body.

At the same time, Gijun began casting again.

RUMBLE!

Five Shape-Transformed Fireballs materialized in an instant.

D-damn it…

Emily frantically tried to cancel her casting.

Without pinning his feet, Ice Thorn was useless.

She needed a different spell.

But—

FLASH!

Too late.

The Shape-Transformed Fireballs were already in front of her eyes, roaring with searing flames.

BOOM! BA-BA-BA-BOOM!

After a series of explosions, a message appeared before Emily’s eyes.

[Energy has been completely depleted.]

“Unbelievable.”

White Wood spoke with his mouth hanging open.

He simply couldn’t close it.

“What do I even call this…”

A phenomenon he couldn’t explain with all the knowledge he possessed.

How long had it been since he last felt this way?

A thrill ran through him, and the goosebumps wouldn’t settle.

Woo Jimin felt the same.

What kind of monster did I…

She hadn’t raised him herself, but still.

She barely held herself back from running over and hugging him like she was his mother.

A treasure trove.

She’d known it, but she realized it all over again.

That man was a treasure — the highest grade of treasure.

A treasure so beautiful it defied description.

A treasure that, without needing anyone else to polish it, was carving itself into its most fitting form.

And then.

“That’s remarkable.”

White Wood murmured.

“What is?”

Woo Jimin stepped up beside him and asked.

White Wood was staring at a screen displaying the battle data.

“This data. Even though he still has Mana Circle Formation Disorder… for him to produce numbers like this.”

White Wood was genuinely stunned, his gaze fixed on Gijun’s readouts for a long moment.

Jimin’s eyes went wide.

“…Huh.”

A gasp escaped her.

His mana reserves…

Gijun’s mana capacity had rocketed to B-Grade.

Last time it was measured, it had been D-Grade.

He’d leaped two ranks in just a few months.

No way.

B-Grade mana.

That rivaled a 6th-Circle mage.

And that wasn’t all.

Destructive power already at A-Grade…

The force his magic output matched a 6th Circle as well.

No—it had just been proven to exceed 6th Circle.

How this fast… Last time his mana reserves were barely at 4th Circle.

4th Circle and 6th Circle.

You might think that’s just two steps apart, but it absolutely was not.

An insurmountable wall stood between them.

It took ten 4th-Circle mages to equal the firepower of a single 5th-Circle mage.

The gap between 5th and 6th Circle was even wider.

Same for 6th and 7th.

Every time a Circle increased, the gap between plateaus grew exponentially…

So what was there to say about the chasm between 4th and 6th?

And yet Gijun had bridged that gap in just a few months.

Jimin was rocked so hard she wanted to deny reality.

The data in front of her was on an entirely different dimension from what she’d measured not long ago.

What kind of training could he possibly be doing?

He hardly even comes to the guild…

That was the most astonishing part.

Gijun almost never visited the guild training grounds.

It was true that many had sent him questioning looks over it.

People who thought a Superhuman who didn’t train was a Superhuman worth nothing.

Jimin would be lying if she said she hadn’t had doubts too.

But now she was certain.

He’s definitely training on his own.

And he didn’t want anyone to know how.

There are plenty of Superhumans like that.

Many Awakened had their own training methods and worked alone.

Gijun must be one of them.

There’s no other explanation.

That he’d reached A-Grade mana and destructive power with only a single Circle…

It was data that flatly contradicted anyone’s doubts that he wasn’t putting in effort.

The only problem was that she couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of training he was doing.

He looks surprised too.

Seeing Jimin’s expression, White Wood thought the same.

Gijun’s growth had already surpassed even Woo Jimin’s expectations — that much was clear.

Interesting. Very interesting.

And now, the Mana Barrier dissolved, and Emily and Jun stepped out.

Emily had already reverted back to her childlike form, running toward White Wood.

“I lost! Teacher! I lost! Uwaaaah!”

With her hands tearing at her hair, Emily was every inch a teenage girl throwing a tantrum.

White Wood patted her head as she fumed.

“It was a fight you were always going to lose.”

“Hueeeng…”

“Don’t let it get to you. A genius grows stronger when they meet another genius.”

“I’m not discouraged! I’m going to win next time, no matter what!”

Emily shot Jun a glare as she said it.

“That won’t be easy. Faster than you can grow, Mr. Baek Gijun will grow faster.”

“…!”

Jun’s eyes widened.

White Wood actually said that much.

“Then… am I never going to beat him?”

“Hmm, who knows?”

Again, White Wood gave no definite answer.

Instead, he only offered this:

“Emily, wouldn’t it be fine if you just grew faster?”

Sincere words.

Going by Woo Jimin’s reaction, Jun’s growth rate was clearly beyond common sense.

That meant how much faster he’d grow from here was completely unpredictable.

So this was the best answer White Wood could give.

Of course, Emily wasn’t the type to be discouraged by that.

If anything, fighting spirit blazed in her eyes.

“…Yeah. You’re right.”

She whipped around and approached Jun.

“Just wait. Five years… no, three years… no! One year! Let’s go at it again in one year!”

“…”

Jun smiled.

“Sure. Anytime you want.”

A single line brimming with confidence.

As if he was ready whenever she challenged him.

It carried the ease that only a victor could exude.

“…Tch. It was fun, though. It’s been a real long time since I got crushed that hard.”

Then White Wood spoke up.

“I hear you’re headed to the battlefield.”

“That’s right. I’ve been getting a lot of stimulation. There are things I want to know, too.”

“I see. Good. I’ll be looking forward to the day we meet on the battlefield.”

“Same here.”

The two clasped hands.