The door to Room 3-A creaked open as Jin-Su entered the Senior Mana Mastery classroom, his eyes adjusting to the soft ambient light reflecting off the high walls. Polished stone floors shimmered under the glow of enchanted orbs that lined the room, casting a warm, steady illumination. The room exuded a sense of solemnity and purpose—a place where power was honed and discipline enforced. Unlike his previous class, this space carried an atmosphere of intense reverence, as if the very walls respected the power they contained. And another important point.
"Where are all the students?"
As Jin-Su took in the ambiance, a single chair appeared out of thin air before the professor's desk, materializing precisely from Professor Han's mana. Though Jin-Su sensed it was a deliberate move, he didn't let it faze him.
Professor Han looked up with his usual cheery expression and nodded for him to sit. Jin-Su took his seat calmly, meeting the professor's gaze. But as Han waved his hand to summon a rune-etched tablet, his demeanor began to shift. The tablet pulsed faintly with ancient magic, runes glowing along its edges as he scrolled through it. His tone moved from jovial to scrutinizing, and his eyes turned sharp as he reviewed Jin-Su's profile.
"Hmm… Martial ability—above average. Magic—below average. Spirit… above average. Mana display... minimal. Written knowledge—decent…" His gaze narrowed as if reading something particularly perplexing.
The silence that followed grew tense as Professor Han's face morphed into quiet yet intense frustration. "And yet, here you are, outperforming the entire class on the first day. Beating one of the academy's strongest students as if it were nothing." His voice lowered, growing more suspicious. "Care to explain?"
Jin-Su's expression remained impassive. "I trained hard over the last month." Memories flickered through his mind, recalling how, in his past life, and presumably this one too, with his family's sacrifices and unwavering support, he'd barely scraped by to enter the academy.
Professor Han's eye twitched, clearly unsatisfied with such a simple answer. "Improved?" he repeated, his voice a dangerous whisper. "You expect me to believe that in one month, you went from 'barely average' to mastering techniques that even upperclassmen struggle with? Who do you think you're fooling?"
Han's lips twisted into a tight line, setting down the tablet as he studied Jin-Su's unmoving face. "Interesting. But you see, Jin-Su, mana isn't just a skill. It's an essence embedded within each of us—like blood in our veins. Disrupt that flow, and things become... difficult. Painful, even."
With a subtle shift of his hand, Han manipulated the mana around Jin-Su, intending to create discomfort... pain even. But Jin-Su remained unfazed, observing the professor's efforts with barely a reaction. Han's expression grew darker as he probed deeper, feeling for any sign of a response. Instead, his own mana brushed against something vast within Jin-Su—a mana presence so deep it seemed like an endless ocean, dark and unfathomable.
Han pulled back, his expression a mix of surprise and growing unease. "What… are you?" he whispered, genuine disbelief seeping into his voice. "That depth of mana… it's beyond human comprehension. Not even the oldest high elves, hah! I doubt even the dragons of old possess such reserves."
Jin-Su met his gaze, unblinking.
Han's bewilderment quickly morphed into frustration. "Fine. Let's test the truth of this 'training' of yours." With a sharp gesture, he summoned a mana barrier around Jin-Su, its edges lined with spinning crystalline shards and rotating blades.
Jin-Su responded by creating a basic mana barrier around himself, an almost skin-tight shield that glowed faintly around his body. As Han's spells struck, the shards shattered against the barrier's surface, dissolving into harmless motes of light.
Anger flared in Han's eyes as he pulled his hand back, summoning a denser sphere of mana, swirling with concentrated energy. He hurled it directly at Jin-Su.
The sphere collided with Jin-Su's barrier… and simply poofed, dispersing in a cloud of glittering dust that vanished into the air.
Professor Han's face turned red, his hand lowering as he muttered under his breath. "It's not that I'm just useless against you—it's as if my spells don't even exist in your presence." His eyes took on a defeated yet intrigued glint as he examined Jin-Su, frustration ebbing into grudging respect. "You could have erased me without a trace… yet you didn't. It's clear you're not here to disrupt order… but I wouldn't count on you being 'good,' either."
With a sigh, Professor Han reached into his coat and withdrew the gold plate he had given Jin-Su earlier, looking at it for a long moment.
"No, you don't belong in this class," he muttered, returning the gold plate and producing a shimmering purple one in its place. "You'll be taking your Mana Mastery classes even higher—on the top floors."
Jin, suddenly remembered a thought he had when he entered the room. How is he both in the bottom room and this middle room at the same time. So he checked him out.
Stats:
Strength: 45 / 80
Agility: 60 / 85
Endurance: 52 / 80
Intelligence: 92 / 100
Willpower: 88 / 95
Charisma: 75 / 90
Abilities(Shortened):
Arcane Architect – Capable of conjuring intricate mana constructs for offense, defense, and manipulation.
Elemental Conductor – Commands elemental forces with precision and power.
Essence Sight – An advanced mana-sensing skill to perceive and assess latent mana and its flow within others.
Titles:
Grandmaster of the Arcane Fabric
Weaver of Enchanted Realms
One Who Bested an Immortal
Talent of The Long Past
At that moment, the door creaked open, and Dean Moon walked in. Her long, dark hair framed her face in soft waves, and her emerald-green eyes sparkled with amusement as she took in the scene. The delicate lines of her dress accentuated her elegance, each motion she made smooth and deliberate.
"Ah, Professor Han, I hope I'm not interrupting…" she murmured, her tone light as she glanced from Han to Jin-Su. "Though I think you've just wrapped up, haven't you?" Her lips curled into a playful smile as her gaze settled on Jin-Su. "If you'd allow it, Professor, I'd like to take this... exceptional student under my guidance."
Professor Han's expression shifted between bemusement and resignation, his demeanor briefly flickering between his usual cheer and a wary caution as he looked from Jin-Su to Dean Moon. "Exceptional? Exceptional would be underselling it, Dean Moon… and I believe you figured that out even before me." He chuckled, then sighed as he handed Jin-Su the purple plate. "Take him away from here, please. Also, Jin-Su," Han added with a knowing smile, "you'll be on a higher floor from now. Maybe you'll even have a classmate—a genuine prodigy, though nothing like…" His voice trailed, as if struggling to find the right word, "…a human… like you. Unless you blast past that class too."
Dean Moon laughed, her tone a melodic tease as she gestured for Jin-Su to join her. "Come along, Jin-Su," she said with a glint in her eye. "Your new class awaits. But we will have a little detour first."