Chapter 104
“Do you have something on your mind?”
“Huh?”
I paused, catching my breath, and lifted my head.
Thanks to my magic, my body had become much stronger than before.
On a normal day, I would have happily trained with my strengthened body, but this time, I couldn’t focus properly.
My master had accurately pointed out that flaw.
“……”
I steadied my breathing and composed my expression.
Still, Shia’s face lingered in my mind.
I knew there wasn’t much point in worrying.
The decision wasn’t mine to make—it was Shia’s—and it might not even be a big deal.
But I couldn’t help feeling troubled, knowing that Shia was too ordinary to stand out between us.
Because I understood that feeling, I couldn’t stop myself from hoping, just in case…
I shook my head.
“No. It’s just… I’ve been a little worried about something. But it’ll probably be fine.”
My master gazed at me for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright. It’s about time. You should head back.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you again today.”
“Alright.”
After bowing to my master, I gripped my badge and teleported.
I returned to the classroom, packed my bag, and took my seat.
Staring blankly ahead, I soon noticed my classmates returning.
In-ha and Hyun-ho came back as well.
“You got here first.”
“Yeah.”
I smiled and nodded, then asked them about their training as usual.
“How was it?”
“Same as always. Still working on my sub-magic concept~.”
“I finally cleared the level I couldn’t beat last time.”
“Nice. I’m still stuck, though.”
Eventually, Hyun-ho decided on ‘Word Magic’ as his sub-magic.
He was still in the planning stages now.
It seemed like Hyun-ho was focusing on trying out various approaches.
Probably to make his pranks more entertaining when he played them.
That was so like Hyun-ho.
With Word Magic, Hyun-ho could cause all sorts of phenomena, even excluding his favorite puppet magic.
As for In-ha… well, In-ha was exceptional at everything.
Lately, even her martial arts skills had improved, making her genuinely formidable.
It was almost enviable how talented my friends were, growing stronger by the day.
Because of that, I couldn’t afford to stay idle.
Though I’d been overtaken in combat sense ages ago, I couldn’t let myself fall behind in pure magical skill as well.
Pushing aside my earlier concerns, I turned to look at the two of them.
After class, we gathered at Min-hee’s house as usual.
It was a natural meeting to talk about our tiered lessons, so we didn’t call Shia.
Since we only had four classes today, we finished school right after lunch, but I realized I hadn’t had lunch with Shia much lately.
That thought unsettled me again.
Then, Han-soo surprised us with some unexpected news.
“I finally succeeded with my sub-magic.”
Han-soo grinned smugly.
Seeing his confident smile, we widened our eyes in surprise.
The first to react was Hyun-ho.
“Wow! You’ve already made one?”
“Hyun-ho, do you know what it is?”
“Yeah!”
When In-ha asked, Hyun-ho nodded.
Well, their houses were close, and they were childhood friends, after all…
Min-hee, full of excitement, shouted eagerly.
“What is it? Show us!”
Han-soo extended his hand, palm down.
His gaze turned serious.
Soon, magic flowed through him and began to spread.
I was probably the only one who could feel it.
Though it appeared calm on the surface, to me, it felt like a fierce movement.
A light emerged from the floor.
Something radiant peeked up from the ground.
It stretched out a stem, unfurled leaves, and formed a bud…
Then, it bloomed in full.
A clear, gentle light surrounded the flower, making it strikingly beautiful.
“Wow…”
“My sub-magic is Flower Magic.”
Han-soo spoke and then looked slightly embarrassed.
“If my main magic, Tree Magic, handles direct attack and defense, then Flower Magic complements it.
It can help the tree grow, disrupt attacks, or add configurations, like your Written Magic, Eun-ha.”
“Wow. I see.”
No wonder it felt so unusual.
The area around the flower glowed softly, like a lantern.
In-ha stared at the flower quietly before casually remarking.
“It doesn’t suit you.”
Han-soo’s face twisted as it usually did.
While I was puzzled, Min-hee and Hyun-ho burst into laughter at In-ha’s comment.
In-ha had meant it without any particular emotion, but it seemed the two of them strongly agreed.
“Pfft! Totally agree! Han-soo, with something as delicate as a flower? No way!”
“Puh… Ahaha!”
“Ah, shut up!”
Han-soo, unable to deny it, turned red.
But I didn’t understand and tilted my head in confusion.
“Why not? It suits him perfectly.”
Min-hee, Hyun-ho, In-ha, and even Han-soo, who was being teased, all turned to look at me at once.
Han-soo’s expression twisted with a strange mix of emotions.
Why was he reacting like that when I complimented him?
Wiping away tears of laughter, Min-hee asked me.
“Pfft… Haha, why do you think that?”
“Well, Han-soo just seems rough on the outside.
Right?
His tone is blunt, but he’s actually kind and considerate of others.
He doesn’t like fighting, and even his magic isn’t for direct attack.
Plus, trees and flowers go great together, and Han-soo suits trees.
So that’s why I thought so. Isn’t that right?”
Min-hee and Hyun-ho opened their eyes wide in surprise.
The two of them fell silent, lost in thought.
“Come to think of it… that’s true.”
“When I just think about it, it doesn’t seem right, but hearing Eun-ha say it makes me hesitate to say no right away.”
In-ha folded her arms, lost in thought.
She seemed to feel the same way as Min-hee and Hyun-ho.
Then I turned to Han-soo.
Han-soo had his head bowed, his face completely red.
This time, he didn’t seem angry or simply embarrassed… No, he was embarrassed, but… how should I put it?
He looked more shy and self-conscious than anything else.
Or rather… something about him just felt different.
Swirling emotions surrounded him intensely, visible to my senses.
But those emotions quickly faded from my view.
For now, that was the extent of what I could perceive.
I stared at Han-soo for a moment, and something clicked in my mind.
‘Could it be…? No, that can’t be.’
But I immediately denied my own thoughts.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
The atmosphere had grown a little tense.
Just then, Han-soo, with an oddly youthful expression, cleared his throat.
Though his face was still faintly red.
“Ahem. Well… anyway, yeah. And, um… it’s a bit embarrassing, but because of this, I talked a lot with Eun-hee Unnie and asked her so many questions.”
“Eun-hee unnie’s sub-magic is similar to this, after all.”
Ah, I remembered Eun-hee unnie’s sub-magic.
Her sub-magic, “Plant Items,” allowed her to grow magical plants imbued with special powers using spirit energy.
Many of these plants could be consumed—whether their fruits, flowers, or seeds—for various effects.
Eun-hee unnie often used this magic for healing and recovery.
It was a support-type sub-magic, much like Han-soo’s.
“That’s true. They are similar.”
Just then, Min-hee, who was wiping away the tears she shed while laughing earlier, shared her own surprising news.
“Well, I have something to say too—I’ve decided to evolve my magic!”
We were taken aback once more.
Min-hee placed her hands on her hips triumphantly.
“You know I love shooting, so I created Shooting Magic, but it kept feeling insufficient.
So I decided to leave the tracking and effects of magic bullets as a sub-feature.
But this is about evolving the magic itself!”
Min-hee’s eyes, previously smiling, turned deep and serious.
“I’m going to create Weapon Manifestation Magic.”
Min-hee wiped the smile off her face.
Her expression and the mood grew heavy.
“I love all kinds of weapons, not just guns.
At first, I’ll mimic the weapons at home to manifest them.
To do that, I’ll need to study them thoroughly, taking them apart and examining them.
Until then, I’ll keep using my Shooting Tracking Magic.
But my brother also uses Shadow Realization Magic, a sub-magic, to manifest weapons, right?
Our house is full of weapons. Guns are especially fun.
I’ll start with the ones we have, and in a few years, I’ll create my own weapons.
Not just guns—I’ll make swords, spears… pretty much every weapon. What do you think? Cool, right?”
As Min-hee explained, I imagined her magic.
Min-hee smiled brightly again.
“It’ll probably be really hard. Manifesting a specific object is extremely difficult.
It’s not just about copying the appearance; if you want to match its power, you have to replicate the structure exactly.
But I have a good memory, so memorizing the structure won’t be a problem!”
That’s true.
Min-hee has an incredible memory.
She could perfectly memorize any weapon’s internal structure after just one look.
Using Clairvoyance Magic might help too.
She could use it to analyze the structure and memorize it completely.
What she’d need next is conceptualization.
Unlike my Illusion Magic, Manifestation Magic requires an incredibly detailed concept.
But with Min-hee’s memory, there’s nothing to worry about.
She’d draw everything precisely in her mind.
I was impressed.
This magic was perfect for Min-hee.
When her memory and physical abilities combined, Weapon Manifestation Magic would surely be incredibly powerful.
The same went for Han-soo’s magic.
Like me, Han-soo’s magic wasn’t focused on offense.
Unlike In-ha, Min-hee, or Hyun-ho, who were attack-type magicians, Han-soo had a neutral affinity, and I leaned towards defense.
Flower Magic suited Han-soo perfectly.
It’s times like these that I realize how amazing these kids are.
When talent and luck come together, it brings them closer to perfection.
The luck accompanying talent helps them find the thing most suited to them—it’s destiny, coincidence, and connection.
My friends belonged to that rare group.
…If Shia felt inferior because of this, it couldn’t be helped.
That thought crossed my mind before I even realized it.
Our main and sub-magics were now decided.
Mine were Illusion Magic, Written Magic, and Space-Time Magic.
In-ha’s were Light Magic and Lightning Magic.
Han-soo’s were Tree Magic and Flower Magic.
Min-hee’s were Weapon Manifestation Magic, Shooting Tracking Magic, and Perception Magic.
Hyun-ho’s were Water Magic and Word Magic.
The pace at which my friends were evolving was almost frightening.
One moment they seemed distant, and the next, they were already on par with me.
Although my friends still believed I had the best magical skills among us, that wasn’t true anymore.
Our abilities were already equal.
The progress wasn’t too fast or too slow.
I had talent too, but I didn’t think it was enough to surpass them.
I let out a sigh, part admiration, part resignation.
Han-soo quickly adapted to his sub-magic at an alarming rate.
Min-hee, using her memory, managed to manifest simple weapons within just a few weeks.
It was around the time autumn was in full swing.
Then, the five of us—In-ha, Han-soo, Min-hee, Hyun-ho, and I—received a summons.
And not just any summons—it was an official one from the high school student council president.
In other words, Senior Ji-hyun.
Although it was an official summons, the method was rather informal—it came through Min-hee.
As we headed to the designated location together, we speculated.
“Why would Ji-hyun oppa summon us officially? What’s going on?”
We shook our heads.
A sense of unease crept in.
We’d only just started to feel more comfortable around Senior Ji-hyun.
Yet now, in this situation, he felt distant and difficult again.
It was understandable, though—it was Ji-hyun oppa, after all.
He could be unbelievably kind to Min-hee and some of the boys, but when needed, he was the coldest person around.
I never expected us to receive an official summons.
A strange curiosity followed my slight unease.
Why summon us so suddenly?
Still, I wasn’t overly nervous.
In the end, it was Ji-hyun oppa who called us.
Was that contradictory?
“Wait, where did he tell us to go again?”
“He said the high school’s fifth training room, you idiot.”
As we pieced things together, Hyun-ho blurted out something silly.
I chuckled softly.
The unease lingering in my chest subsided just a little.