NOVEL NEXT Chapter 299: The New Professor (4)
New Glossary:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15sjwDlJRVSCEUNia-AWeWL-llNJMcO7BiNONqcnNJlc/edit?usp=sharing
The recent significant changes:
Characters
Edna - Flame
The Demonic Black Dragon, Darkest Night of the Thirteenth Month - Thirteenth Onyx Moon
Twelve New Moons - Twelve Divine Moons
Twelfth Moon Bronze - Blue Winter Moon
Eleventh Silver Moon - Silver Autumn Moon
New Moon Flame - Scarlet Summer MoonYeonhong Chunsamwol - Pink Spring Moon
Ben - Ban Di-Yeon (Female)
Grace - Hyejin Macaron
- Halsecoden
- Deok Cheol-Gwang
Hong Eulin - Hong Erin
Celestia - Leafanel
New Moon Space: Fawn Prevernal Moon
New Moon Earth: Dusk Soil Moon
Items
Ragnarok - Teripon
Acantha - Edmary Etemiri
Helmer - Suavitera Lapon
Terms
Mana Leakage Syndrome - Mana Leakage Delay/Mana Leakage Disorder
Delta Augmentation Formula - Alchemical Engineering Cross Technique
Skills
Hyper Jump - Power Jump
The absolute invincible Chelven.
---------
In the early days, the World Tree, Heavenly Spirit Tree, spread across the Primordial Mountain Range, a place befitting its name as the origin of life.
It was home to numerous fairies and divine beasts. It was said, perhaps jokingly, that simply breathing here would extend one’s life, but from a hundred years ago, this place became restricted to outsiders.
"Tsk. Those were dangerous times back then."
The Dwarf King, Geumgang Pal-Jeong. He was 318 years old and believed to have witnessed the entire history of modern magic.
In contrast, Elthman Elwin, who was only 200 years old, was practically a kid, yet he didn’t adopt the respectful tone that elders deserved.
"Reminiscing about the old days? Sounds like something an old geezer would do."
"Watch your mouth, Elthman. You owe me a great debt."
"I’ve repaid you double. When are you going to return my favor?"
Eltman grinned widely, and Geumgang Pal-Jeong’s expression instantly twisted.
Turning his head in the opposite direction, he was greeted by the cheerful smile of Florin.
"Calm yourself, Your Majesty."
"Don’t laugh, Elf King. Just seeing that fake elf smile makes me sick."
"Yes…"
At his blunt words, Florin’s face fell slightly, making Geumgang Pal-Jeong feel a twinge of guilt.
"Argh! Damn it! Not a single one of them is to my liking. Where is Doo Amri? Where is Doo Amri?"
"Your advisor? You sent him away, saying it was dangerous."
"Damn it."
The king stomped his heavy, metal staff on the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that made Florin’s hair flutter.
Deep within the Primordial Mountain Range—The Land of the Dead Giant.
A hundred years ago, the last giant in this world met his end. His body reached skyward, piercing the clouds, so immense that nations could have been built on his frame.
Many coveted this mysterious, magic-infused body, but none could claim it.
As fate would have it, the giant had perished precisely in the place where ‘Dusk Soil Moon’ lay in slumber.
… Boom!!
Shock!
A tremor in the distance made Geumgang Pal-Jeong, Florin, and Elthman halt and look in its direction.
"… Where is the special analysis team?"
Geumgang Pal-Jeong asked gravely, and Elthman replied with a serious expression.
"You know that mages can’t enter here. Instead, the association’s mages have set up an advance camp at the entrance. It seems the Academy built a camp to analyze the 'Awakening,' but who knows if it’ll mean anything."
"Analyze the Awakening? Is there anything more pointless? How do you analyze sleep talking?"
"Nothing is impossible with magic. We just haven’t figured it out yet."
"Ridiculous. If anything were possible, couldn’t we just put that damned Divine Moon back to sleep?"
"That’s why we’re here."
Elthman looked back.
The ground was dry as if a drought had hit. It undulated like waves.
For an ordinary mage, even taking a single step would be challenging.
‘The terrain has a mind of its own.’
What was just flat land moments ago had turned into a hill as tall as a 60-story building, and a mountain that had previously obstructed their view had now transformed into a deep crater.
Though they were used to the terrain shifting with Dusk Soil Moon’s moods, it was still hard to adapt.
"Don’t be nervous."
Noticing Elthman’s tense expression, Geumgang Pal-Jeong gave him a light pat on the shoulder as he passed.
"We already went through this once a hundred years ago."
"That’s… True."
This was not the first time Dusk Soil Moon had ‘stirred.’
Over a thousand years, it has had countless sleep-talking episodes, and each time, the fairies worked together to put it back to sleep with magic.
However, the disturbances have grown more intense over time, and a hundred years ago, a disaster occurred that required the intervention of three Class 9 mages who had been in seclusion.
Elthman raised his head and gazed far away... Towards the towering ‘mountain peak.’
It was said that the Primordial Mountain Range was originally divided into four regions, but a hundred years ago, an additional branch appeared.
The corpse of the giant was so colossal that it essentially became part of the mountain range.
Now, with trees thriving on it, it truly resembled a mountain, but Geumgang Pal-Jeong and Elthman Elwin, who once confronted the giant, could see the image of an old friend in that place.
"Prepare yourselves.”
He reached into a small backpack and pulled out a massive stone slab, almost the size of a house.
Thud-!
It was a feat possible only with a special backpack equipped with spatial expansion magic.
Elthman went a step further and summoned three large stone slabs with just a simple hand gesture. The slabs they brought were varied in size and color, but each bore a powerful ‘Seal of Restraint.’
Each stone was strong enough to seal a divine beast on its own, and they had brought nine of them.
"Elf King, let’s begin.”
"...Understood."
Florin clasped her hands together in prayer, and branches from the World Tree sprouted from the ground, linking the stones together. As the stones floated into the air, the once-blue sky began to darken, with an immense wave of magic impacting the natural order and momentarily blocking out the sunlight.
Red, blue, yellow, green… One by one, lights flickered on the stones, and the branches of the World Tree that connected them began to blaze.
"Ugh…"
Florin let out a groan of pain, but unfortunately, there was no room to spare any concern for her.
"Elthman.”
"I know."
At Geumgang’s cue, Elthman rose into the sky and initiated the sealing ritual.
The nine stone slabs spread widely across the sky, covering the entire region in a massive magic circle.
Rumble...!!
The tremors intensified, but there was no time to delay. A moment’s hesitation here, and the disaster from a hundred years ago would begin anew.
Yet, Geumgang Pal-Jeong harbored doubts.
Was it truly right to seal it this way as a temporary measure?
No matter how much humans tried to seal it repeatedly, Dusk Soil Moon continued to struggle and awaken with even greater force.
Would it still be possible to put Dusk Soil Moon to sleep in this same way even a hundred years from now?
The fundamental question lingered in his mind, but Elthman brushed it off with a smile.
‘There's no need to worry about that, my king.’
Elthman said as if simply putting Dusk Soil Moon to sleep now would solve everything.
‘When the time comes, everything will be resolved.’
Was he just optimistic? Or did he have another solution in mind?
‘I don’t know.’
Geumgang Pal-Jeong looked up at Elthman, who was in mid-air, holding a complex magic circle in his hands.
‘A suspicious man.’
A man whose thoughts he could not read. His instincts warned him that Elthman was more dangerous than the currently raging Dusk Soil Moon.
But for now, cooperation was necessary. Elthman Elwin, after all, was the Class 9 mage who had founded Stella Academy, the most influential institution in the world of magic over the past few decades.
If Elthman Elwin desired something, no matter what it was, it would surely come to pass.
He possessed... enough influence and power to do so.
‘I can only hope he won’t.’
——-
The second semester focused heavily on practical training, which meant significantly less time spent on indoor classes.
Most lessons took place in labs, training rooms, outdoor areas, and the Stella Dome, a setup that Baek Yu-Seol found rather bothersome.
In theoretical classes, he could simply sit and study quietly. They were his only moments of rest.
Thus, during the rare theory sessions, he made the most of his time.
“Snore…”
“… You, in the back row. Surely, you’re not sleeping right now?”
He made the most of it by taking a nap.
The professors noticed and gave him disapproving looks, but what could he do?
He understood little of the class anyway. Besides, the major episodes of the second semester of the first year had mostly passed, so he only needed to stay alert for a few immediate concerns, which allowed him to relax a bit.
“Were you asleep again in class?”
“Uh…”
After class, Eisel approached him. He hadn't realized she was in the same class since he had been asleep most of the time.
“Lately, I've been really tired.”
“Take care of your health while you’re at it. I have no idea what you’re up to these days, though.”
“Not much…”
He wasn’t doing anything special—just repeating training day after day.
“What about the LOS finals?”
At the moment, the Flame team faced a significant issue. After bragging about defeating Ga Yu-Rin, they had somehow made it to the finals.
Why was that a problem?
“Well... honestly, it’s kind of a hassle now.”
The Flame team hadn’t planned on advancing to the LOS finals in the first place. Even Flame, who had started LOS just to avoid Jeremy’s expectations, wasn’t too invested.
Eisel, who had enjoyed it as a hobby, was also inclined to focus more on studying again. So, in reality, no one on the team was hoping to advance.
“Well then…”
“We’ll just have to forfeit.”
Of course, forfeiting wouldn’t come without penalties. The moment they withdrew from the finals, they’d be barred from ever participating in preliminaries at Stella again, and if they entered the professional arena, they’d face a suspension for several years.
But did it really matter?
They didn’t plan on continuing LOS anyway.
“Still… It feels kind of wrong.”
“Why?”
“Maybe to us it’s just a sport for fun, but to others, it’s serious.”
That was true.
On Earth, many people were passionate about sports and dedicated themselves entirely. This world was no different.
Although this world involved magic warriors and monsters, possibly making the sports culture seem less serious, they couldn’t ignore the earnest dedication others had for it.
Moreover, in the original story, it was fated that ‘the character Flame’ would advance to the finals and win.
‘If that doesn’t happen, what will change?’
This was a main episode, where the premise was ‘Flame must win.’ Any other outcome wasn’t supposed to exist.
While several main episodes had already changed, he wondered if failing to win just one LOS tournament could significantly alter the course. But still, he felt a bit uneasy.
‘Well... How much could the future really change from something this minor?’
With these thoughts, Baek Yu-Seol moved to the next class with Eisel.
This time, they were taking ‘Understanding Dark Magic and How to Counter It,’ a class so popular that around 200 students packed the room due to the sudden resignation of multiple professors.
“You’re taking this class too?”
“Yeah. It’s a required course this semester.”
“Is it? I can’t even remember what's required anymore.”
“You should try to pay attention. It’ll definitely be helpful.”
Yawning widely, Baek Yu-Seol entered the lecture hall. The students were unusually energetic.
“Hey. Did you see?”
“Unbelievably young…”
“She looks younger than us!”
“Is she really the new professor?”
“How can she look that young? Isn’t she a class 9 mage?”
“No way. Wouldn’t that make her on par with the principal?”
Something felt wrong.
The term ‘new professor’ itself was strange. There was no precedent for a professor joining mid-term like this.
A sense of unease crept up from his chest. Pushing through the crowd, Baek Yu-Seol forced his way forward to get a look at the professor’s face.
And then—
He met her gaze.
“… No way.”
It was the first time he’d seen her face, but he recognized her instantly.
The oldest witch and queen of witches.
Scarlet.
Seeing her smiling and waving in his direction, he broke into a cold sweat.
He realized that things had gone terribly wrong.
-------
Note: Can’t wait to read ahead? Subscribe to the patreon to get access to more than 60 chapters ahead of release, and other exciting benefits.
https://www.patreon.com/FlashGenius