Inter-Grade Battle (1)

After coming out of Mistilteinn’s world and facing the reality of his dormitory room, Lee Dojin lay down on the bed.

World Tree, Nature’s Energy, Transcendent Body. All sorts of amazing things had entered his body, but he was still tired all the same.

Rather, was it natural for his body to be exhausted when such overwhelming things suddenly entered all at once?

Lee Dojin was about to fall asleep just like that.

But something suddenly came out of his body.

Along with a blue-green radiance.

Clearly, a girl who normally couldn’t come out into this world yet was looking down at him from above.

A girl with snow-white hair and green eyes. The girl who smiled brightly, Mistilteinn, held both of Lee Dojin’s hands and interlocked fingers.

“Wow… I can even touch you, master.”

“…Mistilteinn?”

“Heh, you’re surprised.”

Mistilteinn smiled gently as she looked down at Lee Dojin lying on the bed.

“It’s magic. Magic I can use for a very short time. Residual divine power, called the dregs of divine power, was created when the World Tree fused. I gathered that and came out. About 10 minutes, maybe.”

Mistilteinn, who was holding both of Lee Dojin’s hands, raised his upper body.

“We’re sitting on the bed like this, but actually, only you can feel the touch, master. Hmm, in the words of your world, my current state would be…”

“A ghost?”

“Yes! A ghost!”

When Lee Dojin immediately understood her words, Mistilteinn laughed brightly. Lee Dojin found that laughter newly refreshing. Maybe it was because there was an underlying feeling that Mistilteinn’s world wasn’t “reality”.

“Other people won’t be able to see me. They can’t touch me either.”

It meant that Mistilteinn’s current state was a ghost that only Lee Dojin could see and touch.

Mistilteinn approached the window. The dark night sky was visible. Lee Dojin opened the window.

“The real night sky is pretty.”

Is that so.

Lee Dojin’s mind suddenly cleared at those words from Mistilteinn. If she had briefly materialized by condensing residual divine power, it meant that even such incomplete materialization would be impossible until 6 months later.

“Want to go for a walk? A night walk. I’ll show you around the academy.”

If so, he had to show her more. Even a little bit more.

“I’d love to.”

A smile never left Mistilteinn’s snow-white face. That’s why Lee Dojin felt good too. He held her hand. Strangely, he could feel her body temperature. They could feel each other’s touch.

They came out of the dormitory and walked the night streets of the academy. The building where combat department students take theory classes.

The training ground where they train every dawn.

Even the faintly visible school cafeteria and popular eateries on campus. Lee Dojin explained as they walked along the long promenade of Iroaz Academy.

About the places he usually goes to.

Mistilteinn kept making surprised expressions as she listened to those detailed explanations. Opening her eyes wide.

To others, it might have looked like a strange sight of Lee Dojin talking to himself and gesturing, but Lee Dojin didn’t care about such things. Because Mistilteinn was clearly beside him.

The two sat side by side on a bench.

They stared at the night sky for a moment, where dozens of stars and a crescent moon had risen.

“Thank you. I’m sorry for suddenly popping out.”

Lee Dojin shook his head at Mistilteinn’s words.

“No, it’s fine.”

Mistilteinn lifted Lee Dojin’s right hand, which she was still holding with her left hand.

“Heh, it was warm. Your right hand, master.”

Mistilteinn seemed to instinctively sense that the 10-minute time limit was approaching. So she suddenly hugged Lee Dojin.

“Next time I come out, let’s see more things together than today.”

“Sure.”

Mistilteinn’s body began to scatter into green particles. Mistilteinn’s small mouth moved.

“Definitely.”

The magic ended like that.

Even though he could close his eyes right now and enter Mistilteinn’s world to see the girl inside, the intense afterglow didn’t fade.

---

Friday.

The final finale of the first semester was waiting. The event match of the martial arts competition. The <Inter-Grade Martial Arts Competition> was waiting. Battles between the strongest first-year and second-year students.

And battles between the strongest third-year and fourth-year students.

A total of two matches.

And nothing beyond that is conducted. The gap between first-year and fourth-year students was too large on average.

The biggest reason was to prioritize the safety of the students. The main reason was that no one knew what might happen if the schedule became too long.

Unlike the main martial arts competition, many external figures participated as spectators in the event match.

The academy had only suffered direct terrorist attacks three times in total. The problem was that one of them, the <Red Sect> terrorist attack, was just a month ago, and while there were only 3 actual terrorist attacks, if you count the failed attempts, it exceeded 20 times.

The schedule was for the battle between third and fourth-year strongest students to follow after the battle between first and second-year strongest students ended.

The winners of the martial arts competition event match are the two who win in each match.

Lee Dojin’s opponent was already in the waiting room with him. It was Rachel Walker, the strongest second-year student. Unlike Kim Sehan, who was first in the first-year magic department, she had overwhelmingly secured first place and was sitting in the waiting room with a relaxed face.

Rachel stared at Lee Dojin.

“We might not see each other for a while after today.”

Rachel said very plainly.

Lee Dojin nodded at those words.

“That might be the case.”

At Lee Dojin’s resolute answer, Rachel scratched her blonde hair.

“Hmm, I should somehow find a dungeon during the vacation and send a party request.”

“Why?”

“When I see Student Dojin, it makes me live life diligently. I usually just enjoy Netflix in my room during vacations, and there’s a high chance I’ll do the same this vacation.”

“That doesn’t seem like a bad way to waste time.”

Rachel looked at Lee Dojin and chuckled.

“When ‘not bad’ and ‘waste of time’ are put together, it creates a huge contradiction.”

“Well, if you call me, I’ll go once or twice.”

“I like that, I like it. I’m more interested in Student Dojin than you might think.”

“I know.”

Rachel’s eyes widened at Lee Dojin’s answer that he knew.

“What?”

“You always comment on posts with my nicknames. ‘How noble’, was it? I couldn’t help but recognize it because it’s the same as what you always say.”

“…Gasp.”

Rachel covered her mouth with both hands. Lee Dojin thought this person was exaggerating to tease him again, but Rachel was genuinely very surprised.

“I didn’t know you were the type to even check comments on such sites. Well, with that level of fame, it’s understandable to get celebrity disease.”

But the reason for her surprise was not because the person in question had caught her silly comments, but because that person monitored the posts frequently enough to discover several of her comments.

“I just saw them a few times.”

“Yes, well, that could be the case.”

Lee Dojin somehow felt like he had lost even before the martial arts match.

And soon, an announcement echoed in the waiting room. It was announcing Lee Dojin and Rachel’s martial arts match.

Lee Dojin and Rachel, who looked at each other once more, stood up simultaneously.

---

External figures were allowed to enter for the inter-grade battle. Even the entry of those external figures went through primary screening and selection.

Arena A, which accommodates the maximum number of people within Iroaz Academy.

Numerous figures from the hunter world were seated in the audience. They were all influential figures in the hunter world.

And among them were those who received the attention of those veteran figures.

Hunters with value beyond SS-rank.

They were the <Ten Venerables>. In the audience were Spear King Lee Jigwang and Fist King Kang Taejin, who had come without fail today as well to watch Lee Dojin’s battle.

And there were also Ten Venerables who showed themselves for the first time today for this event match.

They were Bright King Han Yurim and Sword Emperor So Daecheol. Han Yurim, an attribute type with light attribute, was a woman with a strange atmosphere who had pale blonde hair.

Sword Emperor So Daecheol twitched his thick eyebrows.

So Daecheol, the master of <Changheon> guild, which ranked 5th in South Korea’s guild rankings.

He was currently in a very bad mood.

‘He allowed it himself?’

So Daecheol had applied for a viewing ticket to Iroaz Academy to watch this event match.

The reason was, of course, to imprint the face and martial arts of Lee Dojin, whom he had to crush, in his eyes. And he received a rejection notice in good form.

How dare they not allow the entry of himself, a Ten Venerable swordsman. He inquired to hear the reason. The coming answer was due to ‘conflict with an in-school student’.

Seeing that answer, So Daecheol understood the whole situation. The incident at the beginning of the semester when he sent many A-rank hunters to capture Lee Dojin. It was obvious that he had been branded as a conflict factor by Iroaz Academy because of that incident.

So Daecheol was in a state of anger to the tips of his hair because of that answer. But then, he had to be engulfed in even greater anger when that rejection suddenly changed to permission. When his secretary inquired why the viewing rejection suddenly changed to permission, the answer that came back was outrageous.

‘He said the person himself allowed it.’

The person himself.

The conflict counterpart himself, which meant that Lee Dojin had allowed So Daecheol’s entry to the academy.

That intention was very obvious and clear.

What are you going to do even if you see?

Confidence that there would be no problem in dealing with him even if he became somewhat aware of his fighting style.

That underlying meaning was in the permission Lee Dojin had granted.

Lee Dojin and Rachel went up onto the martial arts arena.

“Wooooah!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The students’ thunderous cheers struck the ears of both Lee Dojin, standing on the left, and Rachel, standing on the right.

The Sword Emperor emitted killing intent. It was killing intent directed solely at Lee Dojin, the target of his purpose.

Lee Dojin faced that clearly purposeful killing intent head-on.

Although So Daecheol was sitting at the edge of the audience seats, Lee Dojin clearly sensed his presence.

Killing intent also burst out from Lee Dojin’s entire body. That killing intent blended with Nature’s Energy. Literally tyrannical killing intent slashed the Sword Emperor So Daecheol’s killing intent in mid-air.

And it enveloped So Daecheol’s entire body just like that.

“……!”

So Daecheol, whose guts suddenly chilled, opened his eyes wide and raised fierce killing intent towards Lee Dojin again.

‘Did I─.’

Did I, Sword Emperor So Daecheol, get scared by such a youngster? Just from the killing intent he emitted?

He couldn’t believe that fact. No, he didn’t want to believe it. Therefore, So Daecheol tried to conceal the sensation he felt for that instant.

‘I’ll kill you. Lee Dojin.’

There was only one way left to recover his crumpled self-esteem.