Academy – Awakening

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-Tap. Tap.

Blood trickles down Doran’s cheek.

However, Jade’s sword failed to completely cut through its target and stopped right in front of Doran’s nose.

Instead, Jade felt a stinging pain in his limbs.

-Pzzzzzzt.

“Kugh?!”

This was because Jade’s limbs were bound by ropes made of electricity.

A few seconds ago, the moment Jade reached Doran’s eyes,

“Doraaaaan!”

-Whoosh, Crack!

Magic suddenly surged from the floor, instantly binding Jade’s limbs.

“Y-You have this kind of power… Do you know you almost killed me?”

Even the usually composed Doran’s voice and eyes were trembling. He was shocked by the fact that Jade’s unexpected move had almost cost him his life.

Even the instructor next to the arena thought Doran was in danger, as he had already cast Binding magic and Protective Magic in his hands.

“I thought you were crazy when you applied for the duel, but you bet on this? But… I was one step ahead again.”

“Please!”

Jade hurriedly shook his body, but his body, tightly bound by the ropes, didn’t budge.

“Swordsman always think they can win if they just get close to a Wizard. They just fall right into the trap I set on the floor.”

‘I was so close, just a little bit more-‘

Did he have to fail here? Jade couldn’t accept this reality.

“Now it’s my turn?”

-Pzzzzzzt!

Doran’s magic struck Jade’s bound body.

“Kuaaaaaaagh!”

-Thud.

Jade dropped his sword and collapsed, his body paralyzed by the current flowing through him.

“Kuh….”

He quickly checked his condition, but his body, directly hit by the magic and paralyzed, couldn’t move properly.

To make matters worse, his mana was depleted, and he could no longer use Aura.

“Were you excited thinking you could beat me? Let’s get rid of this first.”

-Whoosh.

Doran grabbed the sword Jade dropped and threw it out of the arena.

After that, Doran’s furious venting began.

He inflicted the same torture on the fallen Jade as he had done to Lena before.

-Pzzzzzzt!

“Uaaaaaaagh!!”

“Not knowing your place.”

-Kwa-jijijik!

“Kugh, Krrrk….”

“Why do you keep coming at me!”

Jade screamed continuously from the immense pain surging through his body.

It felt as if his internal organs were being roasted by the flowing current. In this hellish situation, the image of Lena being tortured naturally came to mind.

‘Lena kept enduring this….’

Experiencing it firsthand, he realized how much pain Lena must have gone through. He might be suffering the same fate as her as punishment for letting her be subjected to such things.

As Doran’s torture continued for dozens of seconds, Jade was on the verge of losing his mind.

“Krrrk….”

“Hey, don’t give up. It won’t be fun if it ends like this.”

Doran had no intention of letting him surrender easily, so he gagged Jade’s mouth with a rope made of magic.

“Uueueup!”

“What should I do with this….”

Doran grabbed his chin in front of Jade and pondered, then suddenly remembered something and shouted loudly.

“Lena! Come here.”

Lena had been quietly watching the duel right in front of the arena. She was startled by Doran’s sudden command.

“Y-Yes?”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and come here.”

Hesitating and agonizing, Lena eventually slowly walked towards the arena.

As Lena approached, Doran pulled on the leash around her neck.

“Keeuk?!”

“Lena, take a good look at this bastard. Are you coming to your senses?”

“J-Jade….”

-Drip.

Had she thought that the little hope she had was completely gone?

A tear ran down Lena’s cheek as she called out to Jade.

Doran dragged her all the way onto the arena.

“Don’t you all want to see Lena’s body?”

Despite Doran’s words, the training room was as silent as a graveyard. However, the students’ eyes were overflowing with undisguised desire.

Doran recognized the meaning in their eyes and smiled.

“Haha! You must be curious. Then take a look today. Lena, is that okay?”

“…Yes, Master.”

Now, the only option left for Lena was eternal obedience.

-Chwaak!

Doran tore Lena’s clothes apart mercilessly.

“Eup?!”

In an instant, her hidden, fair skin was revealed.

Jade was watching the scene with blurred vision.

His body wouldn’t move. His eyelids were heavy, and his eyes were gradually closing.

‘Is this really the end….’

Lena was about to be violated in front of his eyes, in front of everyone.

‘I’ve done everything I could.’

Jade thought that he had done his best and that it was enough.

However.

-Thump, Thump.

Something in his chest kept urging him to get up.

A growing warmth helped Jade not to give up.

‘No, I can’t give up.’

The embers in his heart that had been fading were rekindled.

“Ugh….”

When Jade tried to move his arm even a little, his whole body screamed. But he gritted his teeth and got up.

There were so many things he regretted until now.

But he couldn’t do that this time. He had promised Lena that he would save her.

He must not give up until the end. If he stopped here, it would really be over.

‘Surpass your limits.’

-Crack!

Jade bit down hard on the rope gagging his mouth and shattered it.

“Haa, haa….”

Then, staggering towards Lena, he shouted with all his might.

“Doraaan! Get your hands off Lena!”

At that moment.

Jade’s anger and his will to save Lena reached their peak.

-Kwaaaaaaaang!

An explosive force began to surge from Jade.

The wind swirled around him, creating a vortex, and Jade’s black hair and clothes fluttered wildly in the wind.

Suddenly, the storm subsided in an instant.

-Drip.

Soon after, a pure white light began to flow from Jade’s body.

Shwaaaaaaㅡ

Was this what it was like when the priests of the Holy Kingdom gathered to perform a miracle?

In the face of holiness and brilliance, everyone stopped talking or acting and stared blankly at the scene.

The sacred light slowly rotated around Jade, then was sucked back into his body and disappeared in an instant.

Along with this, Jade’s right eye, which had been golden, was now blue.

It was the moment when Jade fully awakened as a Hero.

“W-What is this….”

-Thud.

Meanwhile, Doran was so surprised by the sublime and sacred process that he fell on his butt.

He felt that Jade’s appearance was unusual.

Also, he was sure that something would happen if he left it like this.

“You had something else hidden? You’re really persistent. Just fall already!”

Doran fired magic indiscriminately as if he was fed up.

-Swaeaeaeaeak!

Numerous magic spells flew towards Jade.

At that moment, something began to appear in Jade’s right eye, which had turned blue.

“Ugh?!”

Jade’s vision became dizzy from the sudden flood of information. In addition, he felt pain in his eyes.

But soon the pain subsided, and the blurry shapes became clearer.

What came into his clear vision was a blue wave covering the whole world.

“Could it be… this is mana?”

Surprisingly, Jade was now ‘seeing’ the flow of mana.

He could even see the structure that made up the magic flying towards him.

‘With this power….’

He couldn’t use his sword because Doran had thrown it away.

But it didn’t matter.

Jade began to gather mana in his hand.

-Wooowoong.

The energy in his body quickly gathered the surrounding mana, creating Aura in his hand.

His arm creaked and didn’t move well.

But he didn’t even need to swing it hard.

With his dangling arm, he simply put his hand where his eyes and intuition told him to.

-Pasasak.

The moment Jade’s hand touched it, the magic crumbled like sand.

-Pasak.

-Pasak.

-Pasasak.

As Jade waved his arm a few times, all the magic that had once been terrifying collapsed in an instant.

This was something that even Wizards with higher levels than Doran could not easily do.

“N-No way. How?”

Doran shouted at the unbelievable sight unfolding before his eyes.

“He must be cheating! Instructor, disqualify him immediately!”

“Shut up.”

Jade instantly reached Doran and lifted him up by the collar.

“Doran, you lost. Surrender now.”

“Ugh, you lowly commoner!”

Doran tried to swing his hand as if struggling.

But.

-Swish.

The Aura in Jade’s other hand cut off Doran’s wrist.

“Ugh, Uaaaaaaagh! My hand!”

“This is revenge for Lena and me. Should I do the same to the other hand?”

“Haaaaaagh! I, I understand. I’ll surrender. I surrender!”

-Thud.

“Kuaaaaagh! Get me to a priest right now, quickly!”

When Jade released the hand holding his collar, Doran collapsed to the floor, clutching his wrist and screaming continuously.

“….”

Silence flowed in the training room at the shocking scene that had unfolded in an instant.

Soon, the instructor, who was the first to come to his senses, declared.

“The winner of this duel… is Jade.”

As the duel ended with the instructor’s declaration, Doran screamed and was carried to the infirmary.

““Waaaaaaa!””

Seeing the miracle Jade had achieved, the surrounding area erupted in wild cheers.

He, who had been a student close to failing, had won against Doran, a 5-Star Mage.

“Is this even possible?”

“He must have been hiding his strength until now!”

“But is it even possible for magic to disappear like that?”

Hearing the cheers, Jade finally began to realize that he had won against Doran.

“Did I win?”

He couldn’t believe what he had just done, so he clenched and unclenched the hand that had shattered the magic.

It wasn’t a win according to plan, but it was enough because he had somehow won.

Meanwhile, some students quickly approached the arena.

“J-Jade! I’ve always been cheering for you!”

“I knew you could beat Doran!”

The students who praised Jade were those who had usually ignored him. They were changing their attitude due to the unexpected result and were sucking up to him, watching his every move.

‘You disgusting bastards.’

They were the ones who had driven us into hell instead of offering a helping hand when we needed it.

Unlike himself, who always tried to give people even small help.

But there was something more important now than such trivial things.

Where was Lena?

Jade raised his head and began to look for Lena. And he found her standing in one corner of the arena.

“M-Mana!”

Lena, realizing that the contract had been terminated, was looking at her body with surprised eyes. And she immediately ran towards Jade.

“Jade!”

“Haha….”

Until now, whenever Jade tried to move forward, the cold wall of reality always blocked him.

Every time, he ended up giving up and being frustrated.

But this time, he had overcome the wall.

After much effort, he had saved Lena.

“I did it. I did it….”

-Thud.

Jade, who had reached his limit, lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.