I Studied Mainly Textbooks! Chapter 22

Was there something more difficult than fighting your own self?

Right now, what Goel was doing was not that much different than playing rock paper scissors against himself through a mirror.

He had hit himself ten times already with his own immense strength. However, his stamina seemed to be so strong that he didn’t look fatigued at all.

‘At this rate, I’ll run out of mana first!’

But it was hard to cast an attack magic either. Goel’s punches looked stronger than any of his magic after all.

‘Do I have no choice but to use that…….’

At that moment.

Fwoosh.

Reina, who was supposed to meet up with them later had arrived and attacked Goel from behind. She used her momentum to strike Goel’s head with the sword. It was to knock him out.

Clang!

However, Goel’s amplified reflexes allowed him to block Reina’s attack with his right hand.

“I was wondering since you weren’t coming. Who’s he?”

“A colleague from the magic department… but I think he’s under some sort of curse. His strength is immense! I’ll do something about it so let’s get out of here….”

Fwoosh.

The only kind of attack he seemed to be able to do after he was. .h.i.t on the head was to swing, as Goel swung around once again. However, this time, he swung towards Reina instead of Abel.

Reina raised her sword to block the first. However, unlike Ian, she didn’t completely block it and deflected it at an angle.

Slas.h.!.+

Then she immediately slashed at Goel’s waist. It was a nice and clean follow up.

Abel didn’t know if she used a sword technique like that because she was female, or because that was just the sword technique she learned, but it looked very beautiful.

“Khaaah!”

Goel roared out after he received a wound on his waste. He had already gone crazy, but he looked even more lunatic now.

The wound wasn’t that serious. It seems that Reina couldn’t attack too deeply since Goel was a student after all.

Fwoosh.

However, one can’t be lenient towards their enemy! This time Goel expanded his hand and tried to attack with his claws.

Reina felt a certain sense of danger from this attack. She exerted mana into her sword. The haze of sword qi started appearing. It was a materialized sword qi that only sword experts and above could use.

(T/N: Sword expert is a power level, above should be swordmaster.)

Clang! Screech!

Sharp claws clashed with the sword, and Goel’s claws scratched the sword. The screech was horrible to the ears. It was like the screech of a blackboard.

Thud thud thud.

Goel’s claws (nails) were all chopped off by that strong sword qi.

‘I can’t help it. Abel would be in danger if I don’t afflict a fatal wound!’

Reina resolved to herself. She gripped the handle of the sword in her hand harder than before. She looked as though she was about to behead Goel.

Abel also judged that Reina would be in danger at this rate and started casting a magic that he thought would never cast against a creature before. Abel and Reina did not know each other’s capabilities.

“…Distortion cutter!”

Distortion cutter. This was a magic he had thought up of while he was developing backstab. It was a technique to slice through s.p.a.ce. Since it sliced through s.p.a.ce itself, all matter in that s.p.a.ce would also be sliced.

Originally, he created this magic to split watermelons in the summer. He s.h.i.+vered just thinking about using it on a life form.

Using it on the arm would cut the arm, and using it on the neck would cut the neck. He decided to never use it on something alive since it was too brutal… but there was choice here.

Abel cast his magic lightly above Goel’s heel, also known as the Achilles heel. Goel was his colleague, and he couldn’t bear to slice off his limbs.

Slick.

“Khaaak.”

Goel’s right Achilles heel was severed.

Sway.

His right foot had become useless and Goel swayed. However, he soon used his left foot to regain balance.

‘……!’

Reina was about to deal a fatal strike to Goel, and was very surprised to see Goel’s right foot completely done for after Abel’s strange magic.

Goel jumped towards Abel with one leg like a zombie.

“…Distortion cutter!”

Abel severed the remaining Achilles heel as well.

Thud!

Goel crashed into the ground head first.

However, he still didn’t stop. He put his knees on the ground and ‘stood’ up.

Then he started ‘running’ with his knees. This was just like a horror movie.

“…Distortion cutter.”

Snap.

Abel severed the ligaments in both knees as well.

Thud.

Due to the crippled knees, Goel crashed into the ground head first again.

Abel thought that he wouldn’t be able to move since his lower body was completely done for,

But he started crawling with both of his arms. It looked extremely creepy

“…Distortion cutter!”

In the end, he cut the tendons in the arms as well.

“Khaaaaa!”

Goel roared. However he couldn’t move since his limbs were practically crippled.

Abel went easy on him and didn’t slice them off, but looking at him now, it was not that much different.

“Over here!”

Loki’s voice could be heard around the corner. It was just after Abel completely subdued Goel.

Loki had brought a professor. It seemed as though he went to call for one after taking Ian to the infirmary.

“Professor Lucas!”

Abel shouted with delight seeing a familiar face.

“Huh… what is all this?”

“Goel suddenly attacked. Looking at his state… it seems like he’s affected by some strange magic.”

Lucas observed Goel carefully after hearing Abel’s words.

“Grrrrr.”

His eyes were definitely not normal. His limbs seem to be completely powerless as he was lying on the floor in a very acrobatic position.

“@#$%@%#... Complete Dispel.”

A dispel magic from the 6-circle Lucas made Goel’s eyes turn clear again. However, he fained as soon as he returned normal.

“I will take Goel with me, so you boys should return to your dorms! Also… don’t tell anyone about this matter!”

Emphasized Luas while taking Goel to his arms. He looked very serious unlike his usual kind att.i.tude.

“Yes. I’ll go to the infirmary first! A friend of mine is hurt….”

“Yes. It might still be dangerous so walk in large roads as much as possible.”

After saying that, the professor ran with Goel in his arms.

Meanwhile, Cain was watching this scene from the summit of the hill behind the academy. He was looking through a binocular artifact.

‘It’s a magic I’ve never heard or seen before!’

Cain couldn’t hide his shock at Abel’s insane skills.

Goel was powerful enough to send an ordinary swordsmans.h.i.+p department student flying with a single palm… but he was defeated without being able to do a single thing to Abel.

‘If he’s that good…….’

It was impossible for now. He had to become better. At his current speed, he would be able to use even stronger magic in the Supremenomicon very soon! He resolved to take care of Abel with a perfect plan later.

There were zero people that survived after he hated on them. It was like that until now, and it will be like that in the future… probably….

Lucas called for an emergency meeting in the academy. There were 6 highest professors sat around a round table. Lucas, who called for the meeting, spoke up first.

“I think this is a berserker curse.”

“Are you sure?”

Headmaster Gauss, who sat opposite to him, asked back.

“When I heard the story from the students at the scene… this is very similar to the ‘Anhel’ incident 30 years ago.”

“……!”

Hearing Lucas say that, the remaining 5 professors all shook. If he was right, then this may affect the entire empire not to mention the academy.

“But, aren’t the students at the scene all safe? And there’s no life-threatening danger to this student called Goel. It might be a simple ‘mana backfire’. You cannot judge this lightly.”

“As far as I’m aware, there is a heavily injured swordsmans.h.i.+p student. He supposedly became like that after a single hit, and no matter how hard a mage’s mana backfire is, they cannot injure someone who has learned swordsmans.h.i.+p that easily. We need to notify the empire.”

“We cannot be sure with just that. If it is indeed the same curse as the one 30 years ago, it would have been impossible for a student to capture him alive. How can a magic department student subdue him without a single injury? Let’s wrap it up with an internal investigation.”

“You are too naïve! Do not repeat the same mistake of 30 years ago, Gauss! If you cannot notify the empire… We have to seek from Duke Tardema at least.”

“No! I know that you are from Northanc, but… don’t make this any bigger. The person in question will wake up soon so we’ll find out the truth……. Just watch out for rumors in the next few days! Dismissed.”

Gauss hurriedly ended the meeting. He left with the other 4 professors.

Slam!

Lucas seemed to be very angered by the naïve att.i.tudes of the others and slammed his fist on the table.

‘You’re a complete politician now, Gauss… The other professors are also blinded by peace…….’

The 30 years of peace had become poison instead.

Lucas returned to his office and took out a communication orb. When he inserted mana, the orb became transparent and a familiar voice could be heard.

[What happened?]

It was Kyle’s voice.

“He decided to end it with an internal investigation. I am ashamed….”

[Don’t be. You can’t be sure either. We can only hope that you were wrong… For now, I will send ‘Anhel’ to the academy. The person in question should know the best, no? He’ll help.]

“Yes. In any case, I apologize. I should have watched over Abel until the very end, but they were going back to the dorms… I was too naïve.”

[Tis fine. Whatever happened, Abel is safe. You just focus on whether this incident is indeed related to black magic or not. If you were right… haha, it seems like I have rested for too long. I thought I ended it once and for all 30 years ago…….]

“Even if it is indeed black magic, we cannot exclude the possibility that this was an individual’s doing. If that organization had indeed revived and is behind this, we need to cut their roots before they grow. I will contact you immediately once there are any results.”

If his predictions were indeed real, this meant that black magic was resurfacing already.

30 years. They had grown in power in the dark for 30 whole years. And… they now started their activities.

A room for 6 in the infirmary. The only one injured seemed to be Ian as the remaining 5 beds were all empty.

Ian, who was wrapped in bandages around the abdomen, could be seen. Although he received recovery magic, he still didn’t regain his consciousness.

3 of his friends were by his side. All of them seemed to be badly shocked by this incident and stayed completely silent.

Abel seemed to be the most shocked out of all of them.

‘F*ck! I’m such an idiot! Why did I blank out….’

A moment of hesitation made Ian injured. He felt a tremendous sense of guilt.

He felt that his days at the academy was futile. He only thought that he would be able to go home after learning magic. There was no hurry either. He just needed to return before he became old.

He had overlooked the fact that this world was very different to the one he used to live in. This was a world of sword and magic. It wouldn’t be strange if someone died by a sword somewhere.

‘I need to grow my strength!’

Not simply to return home. Now, he needed to be able to protect himself, and the ones around him.

To do that, he urgently needed 3 things. Mindset, magic training, and gathering mana.

First is his mindset. He cannot panic like he did today. This world is similar to a warzone. After all, there was an empire vs empire war 30 years ago.

‘If they’re not on my side, I need to boldly cast attacks.’

He couldn’t be lenient like he was today. The moment he felt a shred of mercy, his life would be in danger. He had to have the resolve to take a life if it came down to it.

Although Goel was the only one in this incident, let’s say someone was waiting for him to ambush him. Or, let’s say Goel was hiding his strength. No one would know what would happen if Abel didn’t take care of him properly.

Second is the training in magic. Abel didn’t like his current magic level. Although his achievements in spatial magic and ancient magic was very high, he was only as good as the test said he was in regards to others.

‘If I knew recovery magic… if I could cast dispel magic…!’

He would have been able to treat Ian, and there would be no need to destroy Goel’s limbs either.

He needed to find a way very quickly. He needed to solve the disadvantages of the room of spirit and time. That was the only way he, who had mediocre talent in magic at best, could become stronger quickly.

Lastly, mana gathering.

What good was fast casting. He couldn’t spam his magic because of his lack of mana. White mana was extremely slow in its gathering. He had to find a way to increase the rate at which he gathered mana.