I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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As I placed my hand on the memory transfer orb, the information contained within it was sucked into my mind.

However, the strong ego of the chaotic mage that should have been stored inside was absent.

Such things had already been filtered out by the [Perfect Mind (S)], allowing Kim Il-shin to accept only pure enlightenment.

The chaotic mage who left this exam must have wanted a successor with enough mental strength to withstand and overcome their own penetrating ego.

However, Kim Il-shin’s talent was beyond the limits of common sense.

This process unfolded so smoothly that it could hardly be called a trial.

Having absorbed all the insights without any hindrance, Kim Il-shin gradually opened his eyes.

A feeling of overflowing fullness filled his entire being.

Though he wished to savor that feeling for a while longer, the sight that met his eyes as he opened them chilled him to the core.

Lee Yeon-woo, who had come closer without him noticing, was shining with curiosity in her eyes.

“What was that trial from your predecessor? Can you explain how the orb worked?”

Lee Yeon-woo asked incessantly while holding a notepad and pen, her scholarly spirit in full swing.

“What was the enlightenment left by the chaotic mage? You can explain it slowly. I don’t mind if it takes hours…!”

“First, calm down a bit. I think I should answer later.”

While explaining wasn’t an issue, there was something I needed to address first.

Goooooo…

There was a strong energy emanating from the stone tablet beside me.

The source of this energy was at the very center of the stone tablet.

There, mana was continuously expanding without any buffering mechanism in place.

The endless surge of mana was emitting a dangerously unstable wave.

If no action was taken, the power of that concentrated mana would inevitably lead to a massive explosion.

Such an explosion would be gigantic enough to obliterate this ruin without a trace.

“Uh, uh…? Why is this happening all of a sudden…!”

Now aware of the anomaly, Lee Yeon-woo spoke with a trembling voice.

I stopped her as she rushed toward the stone tablet, seemingly ready to do something.

“Step back far away. I know how to resolve this.”

After sending Lee Yeon-woo away, Kim Il-shin approached the stone tablet, where energy was gathering increasingly.

The method to solve this situation lay within the memories he had accepted.

“Is it saying that if I didn’t learn properly, I should just die? Fits the name chaotic mage well.”

Surviving from that stone tablet, which could only be broken using the enlightenment stored within the memory transfer orb, was part of the trial.

Being urged to demonstrate the insights acquired moments before was an exceedingly harsh trial.

“The sea I longed for. I couldn’t endure this without testing it.”

Standing before the stone tablet, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

With that, the mana surged, drawing me into a deep, submerged consciousness.

Thud.

I took a step forward with my left foot, lowering my stance.

The compressed inner energy filled my drawn back right fist.

Kuwoooom!

At the moment it exploded beyond the limits of the body, the energy unleashed transcended mere recollection.

Unlike other martial arts created from a mishmash of intentions, the purpose contained in Il-shin’s Heavenly Destruction was pure destruction itself.

Kim Il-shin accepted it fully, leading to the manifestation of a calamity as the evolved product of Il-shin’s Heavenly Destruction.

Il-shin’s Heavenly Destruction Wave Strike

Kwaaaaaarrr—!!

In an instant, the strike resembling a flash of lightning was accompanied by a delayed wave of energy.

A massive vortex, born from my grip, swallowed the earth, leaving deep imprints.

At the same time, amidst the center of the storm, a bright red aura blossomed, bearing the spirit of destruction, with nothing daring to stand in its way.

Sssss…

In the future, even the highest beings in the sky would eventually succumb before him.

*

“Whew…”

After the towering sand settled, Kim Il-shin looked toward the front where the stone tablet had stood.

However, there was nothing there except for the sand.

It was as if nothing had existed from the start.

The towering stone tablet had been shattered to the point of leaving no trace behind.

This meant that the trial left by the chaotic mage was completely over.

“Ugh…”

As the tense atmosphere faded, a burning pain surged throughout my mana circuits.

This was due to the mana circuits being overworked beyond their limits to unleash the recent attack.

I had to refrain from using them until fully recovered. It would likely take at least half a day to recover.

While it wasn’t on the level of my mana circuits, my muscles were in terrible shape too.

Had I gone just a bit further, they could have easily ruptured.

“This is to be expected.”

It was a recoil from using a technique that surpassed my current level.

The unbelievable might of the Il-shin’s Heavenly Destruction Wave Strike I just unleashed was too overwhelming for my still weak body to bear.

However, it was also due to my lack of knowledge about the passing criteria for this trial, which made me overexert myself in case of an unexpected situation.

I could have easily adjusted my usage to avoid putting too much strain on my body.

It was just a bit difficult right now.

“Ugh… that hurts quite a bit.”

The pain arising from something other than training was a rare sensation.

Remembering that the first injury I sustained after acquiring my talent was due to my own power felt oddly ambiguous.

“Should I like this…? I don’t know.”

As Kim Il-shin raised his head with a wry smile, he saw Lee Yeon-woo running towards him from the entrance.

Panting heavily as she reached him, Lee Yeon-woo was the first to ask about his condition.

“Kim Il-shin, are you okay…?”

“Yes, as you can see.”

Even after hearing Kim Il-shin’s reassurances, Lee Yeon-woo didn’t seem relieved, circling around him.

Only after confirming that he had no visible injuries did she let out a sigh of relief.

After that, a barrage of questions followed.

“Was that just now, something you did, Kim Il-shin? The wind and the explosion were going wham bam!”

“That’s right. There was no way to break the stone tablet otherwise.”

“Then, is the method for using that technique the enlightenment left by the chaotic mage?”

“Hmm… it’s similar.”

“Then, then…!”

Just as I was pondering how to interrupt the incessant questions from Lee Yeon-woo, the ground suddenly shook violently.

The earth began to tremble as if an earthquake were occurring.

Simultaneously, ripples began at the tops of the clear sky, spreading throughout the space.

Startled, Lee Yeon-woo lowered her stance and shouted loudly.

“W-what’s happening?! Is the trial not over yet?!”

“No, the trial has definitely ended.”

“Then why is this happening?!”

“That’s—”

At that moment, the tremors suddenly ceased, and the scenery around them changed as if they had teleporting.

The sun had disappeared, casting darkness, the hot heat turned into a cool breeze, the azure sky transformed into a dark ceiling, and the sand beneath them morphed into a stone floor.

They were no longer standing in the middle of a vast desert, but rather inside a giant, dark cave.

The only thing that had not changed was one thing, the passage leading to the outside.

That remained exactly as it was without any alteration.

“I understand what’s happening now.”

Having confirmed that, Kim Il-shin was able to grasp the situation.

But before he could say anything, Lee Yeon-woo spoke up first.

“It seems the mana contained in the stone tablet was sustaining the illusion barrier. But now that it’s gone, the barrier couldn’t hold and collapsed.”

“I thought so too.”

This ruin had been created to test the successor of Il-shin’s Heavenly Destruction and to pass on the enlightenment.

Since Kim Il-shin had passed that process entirely, there was no longer any reason for it to exist.

“Remarkable.”

The cave revealed after the illusion barrier dissipated was astonishing in size.

It looked as if the interior of a colossal mountain had been entirely excavated, and while he surveyed the area, a sudden thought came to him.

“…But why was it a desert?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m curious about why they created a desert here using the illusion barrier.”

During the process of conducting the trial, the environment of a desert was entirely unnecessary.

The existence of the illusion barrier indicated that it had no impact on the trial at all.

“Hmm….”

Contemplating for a moment, Lee Yeon-woo soon provided a sufficiently persuasive answer.

“I once saw a research paper stating that the chaotic mage’s homeland was in Central Asia. Perhaps that’s why…?”

“…That could be it.”

He couldn’t know the exact intent behind it.

It could have been a desire to show the scenery of his homeland to his successor, or it could have been for no reason at all.

What was certain, however, was that the chaotic mage had ultimately passed away without achieving his goals.

That fact was confirmed through the information contained in the memory transfer orb.

It was the reason he had created this ruin to leave his enlightenment behind.

He had been waiting for a successor who would someday break the heavens, continuing the will he had failed in, and Kim Il-shin vowed to fulfill that wish.

After all, his final goal lay beyond the heavens.