I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Kim Seo-hyun kept her eyes on the place where Lee Seo-ha had left.

“Weak.”

That word stung. Could she not help him at all?

‘It wasn’t like this at first.’

It was a level she couldn’t fathom.

Her physical abilities had been far inferior. But at some point, the presence of Lee Seo-ha became so distant that she could no longer reach him.

Kim Seo-hyun’s gaze darkened.

In fact, there was a power that could help Lee Seo-ha right away. If Kim Seo-hyun were to release the seal within the Dragon’s Heart, that would suffice.

‘Thanks to the external technique modeled after Seo-ha’s body, I can endure for now.’

Kim Seo-hyun turned her gaze.

Thump─.

The Dragon’s Heart sensed the presence of something similar to itself. And it was urging her to devour that presence.

Kim Seo-hyun pretended not to notice and turned her head to the path Lee Seo-ha had taken.

Boom!

A mountain collapsed. Light, engulfed by darkness, and hundreds of spells whirled around everywhere.

It was the aftermath of the clash between the Thousand Sorcerer and the Vicious Abomination.

‘Fortunately, it seems it’s not nearby.’

The Thousand Sorcerer sighed in relief and observed the Vicious Abomination.

Fighting the Vicious Abomination right now was not a good choice. The Mines inherently had exceptional regenerative abilities. When it came to a Great Evil, even killing them multiple times wouldn’t result in death. These creatures, akin to immortals, could not be truly killed no matter how many times you destroyed them.

However, if Lee Seo-ha were here, the story would have been different.

Or if the girl blessed with the power of starlight had been present, things would have changed as well. But neither of them were here now. Even if there was a chance to kill the Vicious Abomination, it was far beyond the Thousand Sorcerer’s ability to achieve it now.

For this reason, the Thousand Sorcerer began to consider retreating.

Using energy efficiently was more in line with his nature than wasting effort on a hopeless battle, especially since he couldn’t quite pinpoint where exactly this place was.

Looking around the city, it seemed like somewhere in China, but the mana in the atmosphere was far too pure to be typical.

China had undergone drastic changes due to the constant battles between the Mines and martial artists, as well as the explosions of nuclear weapons. Its mana had transformed massively.

Thus, everything felt suspicious.

Meanwhile, the Vicious Abomination, while fighting the Thousand Sorcerer, kept scanning its surroundings.

‘What is this unknown power…?’

Frowning, he scanned the area. A strange and ominous energy permeated everywhere. From the Great Evil’s perspective, the fact that this energy was unsettling meant that the mana here was unusually fresh.

This wasn’t good.

The Thousand Sorcerer could not kill him. It wasn’t arrogance but an undeniable fact. His power lay not in destruction but in utility. However, if one individual intervened, the situation would change drastically.

Lee Seo-ha.

The boy who had killed Radiant Evil and Daji at the age of 20 was dangerous. His power, which denied everything, was lethal even to the Great Evil. The force, shaped like a dragon, had brought the Abomination close to the thought of death for a moment.

“Are you distracted?”

Mana condensed.

A blinding light burst forth for a moment. The Vicious Abomination clicked its tongue and stepped back.

There was a sun.

And a moon. It was a phenomenon caused by the Thousand Sorcerer’s ability to distort the rules of reality.

“Eclipse.”

The power to engulf all the light in the world descended upon reality.

────!!

The Vicious Abomination’s arm was severed. His legs, body, and head followed. His body disappeared. But one second later, the Vicious Abomination’s body regenerated.

‘Did you think you could kill me with something like that?’

In truth, the Vicious Abomination had just experienced death dozens of times due to a single spell.

Yet, he did not die.

After becoming a Great Evil, the power known as Original Form Retention, granted by an extraterrestrial entity, made the Great Evil practically immortal. Even if crushed and killed dozens of times, they would come back to life.

To kill a Great Evil, you must grind and tear them apart relentlessly, day and night, for five days, until their original form is completely destroyed.

This fact had been confirmed through a certain returnee who had killed two of the nine Great Evils in that very manner.

However, the Thousand Sorcerer could not pull off such a feat.

This was merely a technique used to buy time for an escape.

Although Eclipse wasn’t a power meant to be used so trivially, there was no other option when dealing with such an entity.

“……!!”

Strange.

A strange sensation washed over the Thousand Sorcerer. The Vicious Abomination felt it too. Rather than focusing on the Thousand Sorcerer before him, he looked elsewhere. His transcendent intuition warned him that his life was in danger.

At the same time, a voice echoed from all directions.

“Come play with me!!”

It was a voice full of excitement.

A black aura spread. It was an overwhelming, arrogant energy, as if proclaiming that everything but itself was wrong.

“What the!”

Damn it!

The Thousand Sorcerer and the Vicious Abomination both recoiled in shock and retreated.

That energy opposed all other existences, both the Abomination and the Sorcerer alike.

“Hah. So, you really are from another place.”

With a confident smile, an absolute beauty appeared. Dressed in black robes adorned with a golden dragon engraving, her hair was loosely tied with a golden hairpin, the strands falling past her waist.

She was the one who had struck terror across the martial world, forcing them to bring forth the most unspeakable horrors.

The Heavenly Demon had arrived.

“But you seem to know something about my power. Hey, Demon. What, got nothing to say? Well, whatever, it probably doesn’t matter.”

Her demeanor was casual.

She smirked, clearly amused by the situation, her lips curling upward in a sinister grin.

“For now, we can just play and have some fun.”

She cast a chilling glance at both the Thousand Sorcerer and the Vicious Abomination.

“Come play with me.”

When I arrived, the situation had already escalated into a three-way battle.

The Thousand Sorcerer was orchestrating the battlefield, while the Vicious Abomination and the Heavenly Demon were fighting each other, keeping the Thousand Sorcerer in check.

‘This is seriously intense.’

-Wow, look at that crazy woman. Laughing in this situation like she’s having fun.

-The former master was a natural-born battle maniac. She was so arrogant that she thought no one but her existed in the martial world.

‘……?’

-If you were to compare her to the world her master originally lived in, you’d say she thought of everyone else as either NPCs or insects.

-Yeah, she’s incredibly arrogant. She treats everything other than herself as either pets or less. You could call her the incarnation of narcissism.

Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven both unleashed a flood of harsh criticism.

I was focusing on the battle.

‘Sure, she’s strong…….’

The power she wielded was overwhelming. Seeing how she utilized the Energy of Defying Heaven like that, each of her hand movements made me ponder the mysteries of martial arts.

But, what should I say?

I didn’t feel anything absolutely overwhelming. It didn’t seem like I would necessarily lose if I fought her.

The longer I watched the battle,

the more it felt like there were still incomplete parts or that she wasn’t handling the Energy of Defying Heaven properly.

“Phew.”

I steadied my breath.

[「Infinite Black Flame Star (Ex)」observes the stars.]

The stars within my body began to rotate.

‘Only one chance.’

My inner world, the realm of my mind, started to expand toward the surroundings. The three-way battle paused for a moment.

“Huh?”

The first to notice my presence was the Heavenly Demon.

The peerless beauty gazed at me with curious eyes.

-You’re alive!!

The Vicious Abomination, who had been barely holding on defensively, looked at me in shock.

The Thousand Sorcerer, without saying a word, turned toward me.

“What the? How is a guy that good-looking? Hey, wanna play with me for a bit? I’m all worked up from the battle right now, so……”

The Heavenly Demon was looking at me while speaking, then she paused.

Her eyes began to tremble.

Blackness started to cover the world.

The star holding the Energy of Defying Heaven within me began to spin wildly.

And everything started to differentiate.

First, I thought of the place where I had left a mark.

I had marked the location where Kim Seo-hyun was. The Boundary was a strong power, but since I had only obtained it recently, it was still weak and had a narrow range.

However, if I made a mark with my own power, I could move to that mark if it was within a reasonable distance.

The Boundary captured the location of the marked place.

“You…….”

Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon looked at me.

I paused, meeting her gaze.

‘What’s going on?’

Her eyes looked strange.

As if she had met someone of the same kind among non-humans.

“How is this possible, Demon? Isn’t it said that those with the Energy of Defying Heaven and the power of starlight cannot coexist?”

The Heavenly Demon suddenly muttered to herself.

It sounded like she was talking to something else, like Black Heaven or Eternal Heaven.

I looked at the Vicious Abomination. He was calmly surveying his surroundings.

‘I want to kill that thing.’

“That will be difficult,”

The Thousand Sorcerer replied.

“That being is unusual. It uses the same power as you, but its nature is different. If things go south, it might even team up with the Vicious Abomination.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes. It moves according to its own whims. Its nature is like that of a child. It must have what it wants, whether through tantrums or violence.”

I regretfully looked at the Vicious Abomination.

It’s hard for me to even join this fight, given that I can only use one technique.

‘I need to get stronger first.’

With the power of the Boundary, we crossed the space.

Feeling something pass through, we suddenly appeared in front of Kim Seo-hyun.

“Grandpa! You did it!”

“Yes, now let’s escape quickly.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already set the coordinates.”

Thunk.

The Thousand Sorcerer placed his staff on the ground. Instantly, various magic circles formed around us, enveloping us.

Whirr-.

I felt a strange sense of floating, and before we knew it, we had moved to a secluded mountain.

“Phew, we should be safe here for now,”

The Thousand Sorcerer said, exhaling deeply.

“But it’s not completely secure, so let’s keep moving. By the way, do you know where we are?”

“We’re in the Martial World,”

Kim Seo-hyun said in a calm voice.

“……The Martial World?”

“Yes, it’s the place you think it is, Grandpa. But we’re in the past.”

“The past…?”

The Thousand Sorcerer frowned, his face contorted with disgust as if he were looking at something vile.

“There’s a lot to do.”

“Yes, but first, we need to establish a base.”

“A base?”

The Thousand Sorcerer looked at me.

“Yes. It seems we’ll be here for quite some time.”

I wasn’t sure.

It didn’t feel like things would end so soon.

It felt like several of Kim Seo-hyun’s secrets would be revealed in this Martial World.

‘But before that.’

I needed to create the ultimate external martial art.

A body capable of enduring the power I held. That was the top priority.

“A base, huh… not a bad idea. If that Heavenly Demon shows up, it might be destroyed quickly, but we’ll need a decent base to deal with the Vicious Abomination…”

“So, what are you planning to do with the base?”

“…Training.”

“Training?”

I thought back to the path I had run so far.

It had been nothing but an endless sprint, gasping for breath. Growth, growth, growth. There hadn’t been a single moment to catch my breath.

‘The opponents were strong.’

There had been no time to rest.

But no matter how things turned out, I was now in an extremely dangerous situation. Each time I used my power, my body was pushed to the brink of destruction.

‘I need to catch my breath.’

If I had built a house called growth until now.

Now, I needed to erect the pillars to support my inner self. Pillars in the form of external martial arts.

“My current condition is pretty serious.”

“…So much mana that even most wizards wouldn’t collapse like this…”

The Thousand Sorcerer immediately understood my condition.

“Indeed. Looking at your current situation, it seems you need time to catch your breath. But we can’t afford too much time.”

The Thousand Sorcerer turned his uneasy gaze toward the area where the three-way battle with the Heavenly Demon and the Vicious Abomination had taken place.

“For some reason, the Heavenly Demon’s eyes changed the moment she saw you. I’m not sure of her exact nature, but it seems unlikely she’ll give up easily.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m setting a limit of three months.”

“Well, alright then. Let’s go with your plan.”

Thus began the training in isolation.

Three months passed.