Professor Amillion believed their eyes weren’t deceiving them.
Ryu’s mana flow that encased his body was still clearly visible, and every time he moved, it sprayed off around him.
Thus, Professor Amillion was becoming increasingly astonished.
Compared to other combat magic, teleportation spells weren’t overly complex in terms of calculations or circuit formation.
The catch, however, was that there was no room for error.
With other spells, even if the calculations or mana placement were a bit off, the results would generally turn out similar enough, but with teleportation magic, even the slightest error would prevent the spell from activating at all.
Because of this, Amillion had highly appraised Ryu’s performance during the entrance exam, where he had effortlessly demonstrated teleportation with flawless consecutive calculations in a short time.
‘Could it be…?’
After witnessing a few more of Ryu’s attacks, Amillion corrected the earlier assumption.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t see Ryu moving.
Ryu was moving faster than Amillion could see.
In standard teleportation magic, a magician would first gather mana in the intended position and then instantly transport their body there using that pre-existing mana concentration.
However, Ryu’s teleportation was the exact opposite.
Amillion couldn’t make out how exactly, but in an instant, Ryu would already be at the destination, only for the mana to spread afterward.
It was only natural that Amillion, who could “read” mana flows, wouldn’t be able to predict Ryu’s movements—because Ryu was moving faster than the mana itself.
Hooomph!
The sound of Ryu’s mana-filled fist cut through the air, narrowly grazing Amillion’s ear as they instinctively dodged.
It had been an awfully long time since Amillion had encountered an attack so unpredictable.
“Alright, that’s enough for now!”
“…Huh?!”
Ka-BOOM!
“Aaah…”
“Oh, I-I’m sorry!”
While Amillion called out a quick “pause,” Ryu, startled, swung his next punch wildly and lost his balance, tumbling to the floor.
Amillion reached out quickly to help him up, realizing how heavy he had leaned in with the punch.
Just moments earlier, Amillion had considered hitting Ryu during this “consultation” to see how serious he was about magic as a tool.
But now, their thoughts had completely flipped 180 degrees.
This kid was a genius—no, perhaps even more than a mere genius.
‘This must surely be…’
“Whew. Don’t just stop like that. I was just getting into the rhythm.”
“…Sorry. I think I’ve seen enough of your skills now, Ryu.”
“Hmm…But Professor, you really are good at reading attacks. I didn’t think you’d dodge them all.”
Ryu gave Amillion an impressed look, and Amillion, in turn, was now eyeing Ryu with an entirely different perspective.
Both had revised their opinions of each other, and Amillion found their heart pounding wildly.
Ryu’s ability to calculate and execute his movements so rapidly and perfectly was no longer the most significant matter at hand.
“Uh… Professor?”
Realizing something was strange, Ryu scratched his head and called out to Amillion, who was uncharacteristically lost in deep thought.
“Oh! Yes, today was very… enlightening. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“…Okay. So, does that mean the year-level competition report is done then?”
“That’s correct.”
“Alright then, can I leave now?”
“Umm… Ah, no, you may go. Today isn’t the only day, after all.”
“Hmm?”
Still skeptical, Ryu tipped his head curiously before bidding Amillion farewell and leaving the training hall without hesitation. Amillion stayed behind, still motionless in thought.
“It’s almost certain.”
Amillion tried to calm their racing heart as they closed their eyes, recalling the teleportation spell Ryu had performed moments before.
No warning signs, Ryu’s body teleporting first, followed by the scattering of mana.
Amillion had only seen this type of teleportation magic once before—though not in person, but in books.
‘It was just like Emperor Crescent’s magic.’
While it hadn’t been apparent from the video during Ryu’s entrance exam, witnessing it live sealed the resemblance.
Ryu’s teleportation magic was strikingly similar in function to that of Crescent Emperor, the founding ruler of the Crescent Empire.
‘Even the dark hair…!’
Feeling the excitement grow with each thought, Amillion snapped their eyes open.
Ryu, a black-haired commoner, might be even more remarkable than they had initially imagined.
“Library…!”
With that whispered word, Amillion left the training hall in a rush, heading somewhere in a hurry. Their mind was solely focused on borrowing books about the first emperor’s records before the library closed.
‘Alright, I toned it down some, but that professor really does have good senses.’
Definitely a teacher-worthy academy professor.
While calling it a “consultation,” luring him to the training hall and suddenly challenging him to a sparring match might’ve been strange, but Ryu just went with it.
He’d encountered countless people with unpredictable behavior over the years, so it wasn’t anything unusual.
Plus, it wasn’t bad to gauge the academy professor’s abilities.
Thus, Ryu entered the training match with the intention of giving a proper effort but allowing Amillion to get a taste of his skill… only to not land a single hit.
‘Ugh, painful.’
He ended up falling awkwardly, leaving a bruise on his elbow.
Amillion, fitting the title of “The Penetrating Seer,” seemed to have a master-level skill in reading opponents’ movements.
True, they hadn’t seen through Ryu’s internal teleportation, but their instincts were sharp.
Even with his toned-down attacks, Amillion had evaded them by instinct alone, which had left Ryu genuinely impressed.
‘Surely, they didn’t catch on, did they?’
Ryu was slightly uneasy about Amillion’s sharp senses but quickly shrugged off the worry.
Today, he had intentionally made his mana flow more obvious than usual—certainly too subtle for even Amillion to notice anything suspicious.
Even Erica had once praised his “disguised teleportation” as flawless.
“Hmm.”
With night falling, the academy grounds were practically deserted.
Definitely easier to sneak around at night.
Just the thought of exploring the academy under the dark sky gave him a peculiar urge to revisit the chancellor’s secret storage, which he’d once raided years ago.
‘Oh, did they relocate it?’
Rumors floated around that after that incident, they’d moved its location, though Ryu wasn’t entirely sure.
‘Still…’
Although he left during the post-school hours when everyone was usually gone, it was strange how practically no one else was around during his walk from the lecture hall to his dormitory.
There was only one person he had passed leaving the lecture hall—after which, his route toward the dormitory remained bizarrely devoid of any other academy students.
Ryu figured students in any ordinary school would be expected to be more active after classes ended, but he surmised perhaps the noble-dominated academy preferred a quieter, more secluded lifestyle.
Perhaps everyone just went back to their personal estates afterward.
‘Hmm.’
Indeed, the world was full of inexplicable things.
It was easier not to bother trying to understand and simply let these moments slide.
As Ryu approached his dormitory, considering teleporting into his room directly, he resisted the temptation.
No harm in being cautious.
‘Today felt long.’
He decided to indulge in a half-bath tonight before turning in.
“What… what is that?”
“Oh no…”
“A student?”
“That seems to be the case…”
Two figures draped in white robes stood stock-still, their attention locked onto a student walking into the dormitory.
At a glance, it might appear as a typical student simply heading back to their quarters after class—but these two knew better than anyone just how absurd this action truly was.
“H-he went through?”
“Yes… he did…”
“No, how could this be…”
“…”
The two watched silently as the student not only walked through their carefully constructed barrier without a single hitch but then casually strolled out again, breaking through the same barrier without any resistance.
Even other students, or the academy’s professors, couldn’t bypass their barrier and were consistently redirected back. They had been confident that this trial was finally a success.
“Well… another failure?”
“It seems so. Hmm, we’ll have to try recombining it from scratch.”
“Yet it worked flawlessly until now… What’s going on?”
“Haaa….”
The white-robed duo observed Ryu’s dormitory building from afar. Their leader retracted an invisible barrier hovering in the academy, leaving no detectable mana residue, even to someone like Professor Amillion.
“This was supposed to be the final version.”
“Looks like we need to report back to the elder again.”
“Agreed… Though the mood is already bad enough.”
The barrier they were testing was crucial to their upcoming operation.
A boundary combined with both illusion and control magics, designed to naturally deter intruders without drawing unnecessary suspicion.
The principle was simple:
When someone approached the barrier, it emitted mana that was a 99% match to the intruder’s, subtly infiltrating their system and subtly guiding the person away using subconscious control.
When they’d first designed it, they noticed exceptions with students who had rarely used mana before, leading to multiple recalibrations they believed had finally perfected the spell. Until now.
“Haa… Let’s head back.”
“Hold on—could that student just be an anomaly?”
“Stop dreaming. Back to work.”
“Yes….”
With a faint whoosh, the white-robed pair vanished on the spot.
