Abyssal Monarch: Rebirth of the Forsaken

As Jin-Su and Dean Moon rose from the table, the other faculty members nodded polite goodbyes. Only Professor Han watched Jin-Su for a lingering moment, eyes narrowed in silent contemplation. After a beat, he turned away, refocusing on his food without a word.

They moved through the academy's dim corridors in silence, Dean Moon walking a few paces ahead with her usual poise, a faint smile playing at her lips. The low light cast flickering shadows along the walls, echoing the restrained magic that charged the air between them. Glancing over her shoulder, she teased, "Are you going to keep dragging your feet, Jin-Su?"

"Are you going to keep dragging me from one test to another?" he countered, his tone even, betraying none of his thoughts.

"Maybe," she replied with a playful lilt, her eyes glinting with interest. "Or maybe there's something I'm curious to see."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what's your real goal here?"

Dean Moon merely laughed, sidestepping the question as she led him to a seemingly unremarkable classroom. She pushed the door open, revealing a space that was entirely empty, void of the typical desks and chairs. Polished stone floors gleamed under the light, and smooth stone walls lined the room, their bare surfaces somehow giving it an imposing air. The stillness had weight here, as though every corner of the room waited with anticipation.

She turned to him, her smile widening. "Welcome to your Intermediate Magic class," she said, her voice echoing faintly in the hollow room. "Just the two of us today."

Jin-Su looked around, noting the complete lack of equipment or observers. "What level test is this supposed to be?" he asked, calm but curious.

"Let's make it interesting, shall we?" she replied, raising a hand with a slight smirk. With a flick of her wrist, the room transformed, the walls seeming to warp and shift as though they were alive. Stone tiles spiraled outward, rearranging until they formed a vast circular arena. A low hum vibrated through the air as shimmering magical barriers sprang up around them, locking them in place at opposite sides of the arena. Dean Moon rose slightly above the ground, her demeanor shifting from playful to serious.

"This is your final trial for Intermediate Magic," she announced, her tone now edged with a sharp, unspoken challenge. "Pass this, and you'll earn the mark of readiness for advanced studies. So… show me what you're capable of, Jin-Su."

Jin-Su met her gaze, calm yet focused. "Understood."

Dean Moon wasted no time. She initiated with a basic barrage of elemental spells—fireballs, streams of water, bursts of wind—each one testing his reactions. Jin-Su responded with practiced ease, his shield effortlessly absorbing or deflecting every attack. The fireballs splattered against the stone with force, leaving blackened scorch marks across the arena floor, while torrents of water hissed and steamed as they sizzled on impact. Dean Moon observed with keen interest, taking note of how his shield dispersed the magic as if it were merely brushing it aside.

"You're handling these spells like they're nothing," she mused, casting a few complex waves of icy shards toward him. The shards embedded themselves in the floor and walls, each impact cracking the stone, leaving jagged spikes of frozen energy around them. Jin-Su didn't even flinch; he redirected each shard with fluid, precise movements, watching them shatter and scatter into icy fragments that left a bitter chill lingering in the air.

"Not bad, Jin-Su," she remarked, hovering above him. "But I expected someone like you to use more than simple magic. Surely, you have a trick or two?"

"Maybe I do," he replied coolly, holding her gaze. "But this isn't the place for it."

Dean Moon's eyes narrowed in playful suspicion. "Or maybe you're just saving the real show for someone else?" She raised herself higher, casting a levitation spell that allowed her to glide effortlessly across the arena, summoning illusions of herself that flickered around him like shadowy phantoms. Each illusion threw its own barrage of spells—fire, water, earth—but Jin-Su cut through them with a calm, measured wave of his hand. The illusions disintegrated like mist, vanishing before they could even touch him.

Then, in the midst of her attack, Dean Moon shifted to mind magic, casting subtle threads of influence that wove through the air with deceptive grace. Jin-Su sensed the faint tendrils brushing against his mind, designed to cloud his focus, to sow discord in his concentration just as her next wave of elemental spells closed in around him. Dean Moon watched, excitement sparking in her eyes, as she layered mental nudges to disorient him—flickers of false images and intrusive whispers, meant to make him falter.

But something within Jin-Su stirred in response, a quiet, commanding force that rose from the depths of his mind like a calm, unshakable tide. His senses sharpened, narrowing his focus to a single point as the intrusions faded into background noise. The process was seamless, as though his mind instinctively knew how to repel such attacks without his intervention. His shield absorbed her barrage, dispersing each spell with effortless grace.

Dean Moon observed, impressed. He's pushing back without a trace of strain, she thought, awe tinging her curiosity. Just what are you, Jin-Su?

"Interesting," she murmured. "You're steady… unshakable. But let's see how you fare against something a bit more challenging."

She shifted her tactics again, layering her spells, weaving flames with wind to create raging firestorms, channeling water through icy gusts to form deadly spears. The arena became a chaotic battlefield, marked by the remnants of their exchanges. Scorch marks, icy stalagmites, and rivulets of water freezing upon contact littered the space. Still, Jin-Su moved as though in a well-rehearsed dance, his calm expression never faltering.

"Oh, Jin-Su," she called, her voice lilting with both curiosity and excitement. "Are you just going to keep deflecting my spells? Where's the thrill in that?"

He met her eyes, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. "I thought this was about surviving your tests, not putting on a show."

She chuckled, creating a towering pillar of molten rock that burst forth from the ground, radiating waves of heat and light. Flames crackled along its edges, sending sparks into the air. Following this, she sent tendrils of ice that snaked around it, freezing sections of the molten rock, creating a stark contrast of searing heat and piercing cold. Despite the chaotic magic, Jin-Su simply raised his hand, his defenses absorbing the intensity with effortless grace, dispersing the heat and ice into harmless streams of energy.

Dean Moon's eyes sparkled with excitement. "No wonder they've got their eyes on you," she thought, a thrill of admiration running through her as she pushed the boundaries of her power, unleashing a series of powerful attacks.

Finally, she paused, observing him with a look that blended awe and approval. "Fine," she said, voice tinged with challenge. "If you won't give me a show, then I'll give you one." She threw her arms wide, her magic flaring. Flames and water twisted together, forming scalding steam that filled the air, scattering ice shards across the space. Dean Moon followed up by reshaping the ground, transforming it into a treacherous field of spikes and fissures.

And then, in one fluid movement, Jin-Su raised his hand. Blue lightning crackled at his fingertips, dark and deep as an ocean storm. He summoned it, shaping it into a bow—a weapon of pure energy that hummed with power, each pulse sending faint shocks through the air. He pulled back, conjuring a long, jagged arrow of lightning, its colors shifting from vibrant blue to darker shades, electricity arcing from its edges.

He released the arrow, and it shot forward with a resounding crack, a bright streak of blue illuminating the arena. The arrow struck her defenses with relentless force, shattering each shield—earth, fire, water, wind—all disintegrating under the arrow's might. The arena was lit in a dazzling flash as each layer peeled away, revealing Dean Moon's final shield—a translucent, glowing barrier.

The arrow slowed as it touched her shield, and fought against it. Dean Moon used a lot of her power to resist the arrow. Sparks splashed everywhere as the arrow fought against the shield. It started to crack. The shield was starting to falter.Dean Moon peaked at MC to see what he was doing. He was standing back. Observing. The shield finally broke and dissipated. The arrow as soon as it shattered the shield at last dissipating in a final burst of blue sparks then faded. Dean Moon inhaled, absorbing the sheer power of what she'd witnessed. "It was a message," she realized, a reminder of his control. He could have broken through, much more easily then what he used. Yet he held back and used the precise amount needed to break the shield. Not only did he calculated the amount of power needed to break the shield, but also the amount she would use to keep the shield up.

Message was received.

The arena was silent, marred by the remnants of their exchange—scorched ground, fractured ice, molten rock cooling in the air, and lingering mist. Dean Moon slowly descended, reaching into her robes and withdrawing a purple plate. With a look of reluctant admiration, she handed it to Jin-Su, her eyes reflecting an unspoken respect.

As his hand closed around the plate, it resonated with a faint hum, joining in tune with the others he'd collected. The plates began to glow, pulsing as they converged, coalescing into a single form that hovered over his chest. A dragon's head materialized, intricate and majestic, its scales a deep violet that glinted like polished amethyst. Smoke curled from its jaws, as though it held a restrained power within. The eyes gleamed, dark and alive, following the gaze of anyone who dared look upon them.

The insignia seemed to growl, asserting itself over his tricolored badge, consuming it in a flash of light before claiming its place on his chest. The dragon head looked almost alive, exuding a steady stream of faint smoke from its nostrils. Its gaze roamed the room, locking onto Dean Moon for an instant—a silent acknowledgment of the power they had just shared.

Dean Moon took him in with a smirk, her slightly flushed face lending her features a soft glow. Dust from the arena flecked her robe, and her hair framed her face in gentle, slightly disheveled waves, giving her a more earthy charm. Meanwhile Jin-Su just stood there like a statue. Not even a single speck of dust on him. As if nothing happened. Not a single sign of exhaustion. "Well, Jin-Su, I think I'm done for today. Unlike you, I can't play all day long unfortunately." she said, her voice light with a playful weariness. "A bit more and I might actually break." She stretched languidly, her arms reaching upward, her posture accentuating every curve of her form with effortless grace.

She let her arms fall, her gaze resting on him with a hint of amusement. "Meet me in my office tomorrow. I have something… interesting to show you." Her words lingered, the slightest hint of mischief in her voice. "You're dismissed for today."

Jin-Su maintained his calm demeanor, unaffected by her tone, his expression as unreadable as ever. With a final glance, Dean Moon turned, her stride light and measured, her form swaying as she disappeared into the shadows of the hallway.

Black tendrils covered Jin-Su for a moment. Rejuvenating him to his full capacity, healing his non existing injury.

Jin-Su glanced at the clock on the far wall, noting the time: 2 p.m. He blinked, surprised at how quickly the hours had passed. The weight of the morning's intense battle seemed to settle over him, grounding him as he left the now-quiet arena.

I wonder where I can find Kang-Woo. He thought as he walked the crowded hallway. The students nearby were curious about MC.

"What is that Insignia?" 

"A dragon?"

"Wasn't he a multicolor just a while ago?"

Before he could walk any farther and create a bit of distance, he is approached by Professor Han with a few students behind along with him.