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Chapter 88: A Man Growing Too Fast (5)

A Man Growing Too Fast (5)

The Magic Crown, a 3rd year senior and one of Shinyoung’s strongest students, was provoking Kang Shin-hyuk. Although the 3rd years seemed to have known this would happen in advance and were acting like it was normal, all of the 1st year C class students felt odd about the scene before them.

“Why is he doing that?”

“What is Kang Shin-hyuk doing?”

“His fiancée?” In the past, it was neatly ignored when people would go against Kang Shin-hyuk, but now it was different. It was the result of his new social life and the power of his allies. As the 1st-years began to gossip and look at them strangely, Nathan coughed as he realized his behavior was strange.

“We’ll start the duel. Come on.” Without any further explanation, he entered the battlefield and beckoned for Kang Shin-hyuk to join him. It was absurd, but it was clear the teacher was going to play along with it, at least for now.

“Baek, do you have any advice?”

“Yeah.” Baek had been sizing Nathan Bodin up from the second he locked onto Kang Shin-hyuk. He nodded, satisfied with Kang Shin-hyuk’s resolve.

“The most irritating thing is that kids trait [Magic Interference]. It allows him to interfere with magic outside of the body, but it can also disperse and neutralize his opponent’s internal magic.”

“You were hit by that?”

“If only I had a plus to my magic rank…” Dispersing the target’s magical power. It was a terrifying ability, although it probably wasn’t effective against opponents who had stronger magical power than him, which was how he took out Baek. It wasn’t a joke when he said if he only had a +, he would’ve been able to win; he had magical power on par with the best 3rd-year magician.

“But you don’t have magic power. The first thing you need to watch out for is gravity magic, which is probably born from his trait. It’s tricky to avoid, as it crushes anything within a certain range instantly. I had no choice but to avoid it by watching the flow of magic.”

“So, it’s avoidable.”

“The second is a tremendous magic fire born purely from his sheer power. It is designed to be used on a large scale, so you don’t need to worry about it in a duel.”

“That would be dangerous.”

“Will you not come out? I understand you’re scared, but it’s class time now. Try to understand the heart of your senior who deliberately set aside time for you.” At that, Gong Joonpyo began to rush Shin-hyuk. Kang Shin-hyuk grabbed a wooden training sword, readying himself mentally. It was a normal duel, so neither of them would be wearing artifacts. That would prove favorable for him.

“I was preparing my mind to face the Magic Crown.” Kang Shin-hyuk retorted at his teacher, who had brought the 3rd year to bully the 1st year. A barrier was activated to prevent them from being hurt.

“I expected you to run away, but I’m glad I won’t need to chase you down.”

“That is fortunate. I don’t want to make a hobby out of being stalked.”

“There’s nothing about you that seems like a Rookie King. Just a bit of martial art skills, but no pedigree or patron…such trash dare touches my fiancée.”

“Does that fiancée know that you call her that?” The question was born of pure curiosity, but Nathan Bodin was struck speechless. Kang Shin-hyuk let out a regretful sigh. It would be more constructive to spend your time finding a different way to approach her instead of trampling on a man she knew.

“If you had a good relationship with Lee Na-hee, you would’ve heard there’s nothing going on between us. Don’t you think you’re being a nuisance to her by calling her your fiancée?”

“Uh…anyway, she will be mine someday! What’s wrong with setting the title a bit in advance?!”

“Wow…” Why were the boys in this school like this when it came to love? No matter how strong they were as superhumans, they weren’t adults yet. That was why they had to be in school, although it seemed to be useless when you looked at this guy.

‘The Knight Crown was better than this. He was wrong in the way he expressed himself, but he didn’t want to cause any harm.’ Of course, he had also been a nuisance to Kang Shin-hyuk and Eleanor. On the other hand, however, this guy treated Lee Na-hee like she was his fiancée from the start and was bothering Kang Shin-hyuk, who just happened to be in the same club.

“Then the duel will start now.”

“Ha!” Nathan created countless arrows in the air without any preparation as soon as the duel started. Even Yuta Mitsui, whom he fought in the rookie matches, couldn’t hold a candle to him. The power in each one of them was enough to eradicate a D-rank monster instantly. No wonder he was the peak of the Magic Department.

‘But…’ The duel was advantageous to Shin-hyuk from the start. Now that he had refined his technique of dispersing magic through that divine sword dance, he held a powerful card against wizards that wasn’t subject to interference. That only left one avenue for Nathan to defeat him – gravity magic. He had to be careful of that.

‘My reflexes and speed won’t be enough. If so…’ His eyes flashed golden as he watched the hundreds of magic arrows fly toward him with enough force to smash the battlefield. He rushed forward in a straight line, brandishing the wooden sword.

“Ha.” Nathan Bodin mocked him with a laugh, watching him recklessly charge. No doubt, he was comparing Shin-hyuk with Baek at that moment. Baek had rushed him the exact same way, avoiding all of the magic arrows and even a direct hit from his gravity magic. Of course, Kang Shin-hyuk wasn’t as fast as Baek. He could see that in an instant.

“Ha!” Kang Shin-hyuk’s sword cut through all of the magic arrows in front of him as he rushed for Nathan. Even the arrows nearby that weren’t directly in the way of the sword were extinguished. Dozens more aimed for his back, but Shin-hyuk was prepared for that and dealt with it easily. That was what Nathan had been waiting for.

‘Nowhere to run!’ Nathan Bodin fired off more arrows as he activated the magic he was chanting. It was highly destructive magic that turned the floor into rocky thorns that pierced upward. It took a while to activate, but it did immense damage once it connected. However, the build-up for it was quite noticeable, and as an extension, if you had a good eye, you could avoid it. Therefore, it was common practice to use it after restraining the target. Otherwise, you could purposely force your opponent to move by activating it.

‘You can’t escape in the air!’ The moment Shin-hyuk floated into the air, Nathan activated his gravity magic. Shin-hyuk would get stuck in it, forcibly driven to the rocky thorns below. True to his title, the Magic Crown was chanting two high-ranking magic spells simultaneously to activate at different moments. It was a tremendous ability, but unfortunately, he had no chance to show it off.

“Kh!” This was because Kang Shin-hyuk broke through the thorns rising up from the arena and ran towards him. It was so fast that Nathan couldn’t grasp what had happened. Even though he knew Shin-hyuk had the ability to disperse magic, he couldn’t imagine he would be able to break through top-level magic.

“Crazy, he broke through!”

“The ground spikes of the Magic Crown!”

“It’s too fast. I can’t see his sword…!”

Of course, it wasn’t that simple for Kang Shin-hyuk. If it weren’t for his B+ rank regeneration, he wouldn’t have tried it. He imbued all his spiritual power into his wooden sword, backed by his trait to raise its performance beyond the limit. He backed that up with his muscles powered by his regeneration.

‘I can’t keep this up…but it’s okay!’ Kang Shin-hyuk hit the floor, reducing the distance between him and Nathan to less than one meter. Nathan’s gravitational magic was incredible, but the range was limited to the area specified, so it was hard to readjust at the moment. Nathan tried to disperse Kang Shin-hyuk’s power with his trait [Magic Interference] but soon realized that Shin-hyuk had no magic power.

“Huh?! Kahak!” As Nathan missed his chance to counterattack, Kang Shin-hyuk’s wooden sword fell with enough force to split his skull. Of course, Nathan had the magic barrier to protect his body, but he was still hit in the head with a great force.

“Kh!” The Magic Crown crumpled with a groan, and Kang Shin-hyuk followed up his sword strike with a swift kick that propelled Nathan out of the arena. It wasn’t intentional, but rather he moved instinctively in case he was pretending to be defeated. That appeared not to be the case, however, as he slid outside of the arena.

Only

“…Huh?”

“Yes?” The duel had taken less than a minute. Everyone watching questioned their eyes. He had defeated the Magic Crown, one of the most talented students in Shinyoung, the head of the Magic Department. However, now he was passed out on the ground.

“No, what kind of…!” Gong Joonpyo muttered in thought. He had a similar expression on his face when he watched Do Woojin lose in the previous fight. Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t notice any of it, however, as he watched the fainted Nathan Bodin.

‘What was that? It was clear what he was trying to do…and the movement of his magic was so clear I just moved instinctively.’ Kang Shin-hyuk had yet to realize his own growth, as he had been comparing himself to two high-rankers in Gromas for the past two months.

-Your spiritual power increased to the A+ rank. You’ve learned about the potential abilities hidden in your soul.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he was able to read his opponent’s movements so easily…but he had no way to know that.