Martial 19

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“Damn it.”

Feeling an intense killing intent, Eugene moved swiftly.

Why does Eugene sense the killing intent and react? Is it because of a sense of justice? Or to protect the students?

No.

The time for the first test is approaching soon.

And he is confident that he will pass that test with excellent scores.

But, if a student dies in this situation?

‘Everything will be delayed, from the test to the classes. Investigating each student one by one will slow everything down, right…?’

If that happens, it means it will take even longer for him to obtain the elixir.

Although Eugene doesn’t show it outwardly, he lives in frustration every day.

A person who once lived in a large house cannot move into a small one.

That was exactly the case with Eugene.

No, Eugene’s situation was even worse.

When he was in the martial world, his inner energy was as abundant as the vast ocean, but now, after using just a few martial arts techniques, it quickly runs out.

That’s why the elixir that can clear his blocked breathing was crucial for Eugene.

‘What kind of bastard is trying to ruin my elixir?’

If someone intends to kill, they should do it when he is not around or after he has taken the elixir.

Why come right before the test?

“……Ugh…….”

Taeje, knowing why Eugene was angry, shook his head.

Huff.

With a swift movement, Eugene, who had been moving quickly along the railing, threw himself through an open window.

‘There he is.’

Entering the girls’ dormitory, Eugene glared at the intruder in the darkness.

“Who are you?!”

“That’s my line, you damn brat.”

Thwack!

Standing in his spot, Eugene gathered his inner energy and unleashed Shaolin’s Hundred-Step Divine Fist at the intruder.

Although he had techniques in his own martial arts that could release punches, his Heaven’s Killing God Technique required an enormous amount of inner energy, so he had to use the techniques of another martial sect for now.

‘Of course, the Hundred-Step Divine Fist wasn’t perfectly executed either.’

Boom!

“Ugh.”

The intruder barely blocked Eugene’s Hundred-Step Divine Fist, being pushed back.

‘A shield…’

Seeing the intruder who had cast a shield spell, Eugene narrowed his eyes.

A high-level mage capable of easily blocking his Hundred-Step Divine Fist.

“There’s an unwelcome guest.”

The intruder looked back and forth between someone in front of him and Eugene behind him.

“Eugene Bedia?”

“Hmm??”

Eugene looked at the female student emerging from the darkness.

“Sophia Dikantel?”

The one standing in front of the assassin was Sophia Dikantel, the granddaughter of the Grand Sword Master.

No way.

Did this intruder infiltrate the academy to kill Sophia Dikantel?

Why on earth?

No, before that, who sent him?

“This is getting complicated… I need to deal with this quickly.”

“Hmph.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been ignored.”

As the assassin moved the magic staff in his hand, Sophia and Eugene attacked the intruder simultaneously.

Srrrrng.

[Heaven’s Killing God Technique: Second Absolute – Hundred Flowers Bow.]

Fwoosh.

Sophia, exuding a presence that seemed capable of cutting through everything, unleashed her swordsmanship on the intruder.

Eugene, using half of his inner energy, conjured his Hundred Flowers Bow.

An arrow made of white flames flew straight towards the assassin.

“Great Shield.”

Crackle! Boom.

‘Great Shield…?’

Seeing the assassin block both his Hundred Flowers Bow and Sophia’s swordsmanship, Eugene furrowed his eyebrows.

Great Shield was a 6th circle magic spell.

‘That means this intruder is at least a 6th circle mage…’

Why would a mage of such high caliber, equivalent to a mid-level mage, attempt to assassinate a student?

No, before that.

‘Damn, I didn’t realize this assassin was a 6th circle mage because he was hiding his presence…’

With his current skills, he couldn’t handle a mid-level 6th circle mage.

“Now it’s my turn… Damn… Is someone coming already…”

The assassin, about to move his staff, sensed someone approaching the dormitory and gritted his teeth.

“I’ll remember you…”

The assassin, exuding killing intent towards Eugene, immediately jumped past him and leapt out the window.

Although he could have used Teleport to escape, the academy had installed coordinate disruptors, making it risky to use Teleport as it could send him to a random location.

“Seems like he put all the girls to sleep with magic.”

Eugene observed the female group 3 members sleeping soundly despite the commotion.

Although the noise wasn’t extremely loud, it was enough to wake someone, but they slept on as if nothing happened.

“Eugene Bedia.”

“Hmm?”

“How did you get here?”

At that moment.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Flash.

“Gasp?!”

Feeling the presence of the approaching supervisors, Eugene’s pupils started to tremble.

He wanted to escape through the window immediately, but seeing the light coming through it, he realized supervisors were waiting below.

‘If I go out like this, I’ll definitely get caught…’

Getting caught would mean expulsion from the academy.

Not just expulsion, but being expelled for sneaking into the girls’ dormitory would be a huge disgrace.

“Why aren’t you answering? How did you get here…?!”

Whoosh!

As the situation became urgent, Eugene grabbed Sophia and quickly lay down on her bed, covering themselves with the blanket.

“What are you doing?!”

Sophia’s voice sharpened, clearly displeased with Eugene’s unexpected action.

“J-just hide me for a moment. Please help me.”

He was so flustered that he stammered.

“Why should I help you?”

“Please…”

At that moment.

Slam.

The supervisors, who had come straight to the third floor from downstairs, flung open the door to dorm 3.

“Hmm? There’s nothing here?”

“That can’t be, I heard a thud from upstairs earlier.”

‘Damn!’

Eugene bit his lower lip under the blanket, trying to reduce his presence as much as possible.

“Seeing the window open, it seems someone…”

Swish.

“Ah, sorry. I accidentally dropped my sword on the floor.”

‘Huh?!’

Eugene’s eyes widened as Sophia unexpectedly made an excuse for him.

He thought she would expose him by pulling off the blanket, but she was helping him instead.

“Did you also open the window?”

“Yes, it got a bit warm while I was practicing my swordsmanship…”

“I see… I thought someone had intruded. Since the other students haven’t woken up, it seems you moved quietly. Anyway, go to sleep soon. We have training tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Creak.

Thud.

After speaking with Sophia, the supervisor closed the dormitory door and left.

“Phew…”

As the door closed, Eugene let out a deep sigh of relief.

How many years had it been since he felt this tense?

Even in the martial world, he had rarely been this tense; it had been a long time.

Rustle.

“Now get out of my bed.”

“Oh? Ah… right, thanks.”

With a smile, Eugene got up from Sophia’s bed.

Although he didn’t know why she helped him, he was grateful since she had indeed helped him.

“Now tell me why you came to the girls’ dormitory. If you don’t, I’ll go out and report you right now.”

Sophia questioned Eugene sharply.

Sophia knew that any intrusion into another dormitory, regardless of the reason, meant expulsion.

“I ended up here while chasing that assassin.”

“Did the assassin also intrude into the boys’ dormitory?”

“No, that’s not it. I just couldn’t sleep, so I was looking out the window when I saw someone passing over the building and decided to follow.”

“You could have ignored it. There was no need to follow him in.”

“I sensed the killing intent and came in. That guy almost made me lose something precious.”

He was referring to the elixir he sought.

However, Eugene’s words caused a significant misunderstanding for Sophia.

“Something precious…?”

Seeing Sophia stammer, Eugene tilted his head in confusion.

He was talking about the elixir, so why was Sophia looking so uncomfortable?

‘Oh, maybe she’s also after the elixir.’

“It’s something really important to me. It will open up my breathing.”

Sophia lowered her head deeply at Eugene’s words.

“How… how can you say that in front of the person involved…”

“Huh? It’s nothing to hide… It might not mean much to others, but to me, it’s the top priority.”

Sophia’s face turned red, hidden in the darkness.

Why was she misunderstanding so much?

It was because Sophia had spoken with the intruder before Eugene arrived.

She learned from the intruder himself that his goal was to assassinate her.

So, when Eugene said he stopped the assassin to protect something precious, Sophia misunderstood completely.

‘The assassin’s target is to kill me, and he stopped the assassin to protect something precious… Am I… precious to him…?’

Sophia’s mind was in a whirl.

“Is your motive also the background?”

“Background?”

Eugene tilted his head at Sophia’s question.

Did the elixir have a background?

‘Oh, maybe she meant the process of its creation?’

“Background doesn’t matter. Knowing the background wouldn’t do me any good anyway. What matters to me is the thing itself, not the background.”

He was only talking about the elixir.

How it was made didn’t matter to him.

As long as it worked, that was all that mattered.

However, Sophia took it completely differently.

Most of the men who approached her did so because of her grandfather, the Grand Sword Master.

They thought they might gain something from her grandfather by getting close to her.

But Eugene said her background, her grandfather, didn’t matter.

It might seem like he was disregarding her grandfather, but that wasn’t what was important to her.

“Anyway, you’re saying my grandfather isn’t your goal, but that I am important on my own…?”

“Looks like the supervisors have all left.”

Eugene peeked out the window and looked satisfied.

The light that had been shining through the window had long since disappeared, but he waited a while longer to be sure.

“So, have some misunderstandings been cleared up?”

“Uh… huh??”

“I didn’t come here to steal or harm anyone. I’m not that kind of person. I came because I was really afraid that assassin would make me lose something important.”

“I… I understand… So please, stop…”

‘What a strange girl.’

Eugene found it odd that Sophia kept turning her head away whenever he spoke.

“Well then… I’ll be going now.”

“…Already?”

“Hm?”

“Oh… no, I mean… there might still be supervisors outside, are you leaving already?”

“It’s fine. They’ve all gone.”

“Anyway, thanks for covering for me today. I’ll repay you.”

Whoosh!

Eugene immediately leapt out the window, moved along the third-floor railing, and headed back to his dormitory.

***

The next day.

After finishing breakfast, all the students gathered in the training room where the sparring arena was located.

Today was the last day of sparring, with Group 5 from the boys’ side and Group 3, who advanced by default, needing to spar.

On the girls’ side, Group 3, which included Sophia Dikantel, would spar against Group 2, who had also advanced by default.

“I prayed to the heavens to let me fight you again… Hehehe.”

Antonio, standing in the sparring arena, gave Eugene a wicked smile.

Since Eugene had humiliated him in front of his father and other brothers, it was now his turn to humiliate Eugene.

“Not knowing your place after getting beaten once is foolish… Tsk tsk.”

Even though they had different mothers, they were still brothers, and yet Antonio burned with such a vengeful spirit.

Antonio was truly pitiful.

“What did you say, you bastard?! How dare a worm like you…?!”

Whoosh!

Enraged by Eugene’s words, Antonio was about to hurl insults at him when he suddenly turned his head, sensing an intense killing intent from behind.

“What… what is this…?”

“What’s wrong, leader?”

“No, I just felt a killing intent from behind…”

The killing intent had certainly come from where the female students were standing.

“Oh, come on, that can’t be. Who would be crazy enough to direct killing intent at Antonio of the Bedia family?”

Group 3’s member stuck close to Antonio like a bat, fawning over him.

“Prepare.”

Swoosh.

“Begin.”

With Deiker’s start signal, the sparring between Group 3 and Group 5 began.

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