Border area (1)

late evening. Inside the luxurious office.

An elderly man fixed his gaze on a single document, his eyes shining.

Thereon von Charon Altair.

The owner of the family that represents Altair’s name, and the chairman of Helios Academy.

The owner of a great family, one of the three greatest families, was immersed in untimely contemplation.

‘Kang Yu-jin.’

A new Professor Helios and an apostle chosen by ‘The Most Holy Heaven’.

And, a person who has been rated ‘black’, the highest security level, in all his/her history.

In front of that unusual existence, the old man’s thoughts were deepening.

smart-

“Come in.”

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Just then, the door opened with the sound of a knock that woke me up.

“It’s me, Grandpa.”

As Estelle opened the door and entered, he put down the papers.

Then, as if his expression had hardened, he welcomed her with a benevolent smile.

“Yes. My granddaughter is here. Did you enjoy school?”

“Yes. It was more fun than I thought.”

As Estelle approached her seat, her eyes lingered on the paper Terreon had put down.

When she discovered the name ‘Kang Yu-jin’, her eyes lit up.

“I met a special professor today.”

“Kang Yujin. Are you talking about that professor?”

“Yes.”

“It must have been of interest to him.”

“It was amazing.”

Thereon showed a surprised look inside.

It was very rare for a granddaughter to show such interest in someone.

She was a genius, and no one had ever had the vessel to teach her.

Numerous teachers claimed to be Estelle’s teachers, but did not all of them reveal their wealth in less than a month.

After learning that even the professors had less talent than him, he was a kid who hadn’t shown any interest in them.

‘Your eyes are shining.’

His eyes, which had been cold with indifference, were rarely revived.

Was the meeting with Kang Yoo-jin that impressive?

Terreon was happy about her granddaughter’s change, but at the same time curious.

“What happened today…”

Estelle, whether she knows that or not, slowly unravels what happened at OT today.

Presentation of a curriculum that overturns the subject matter of previous lectures.

The ambition to teach you how to win in war.

And, even the work of mental control that was shown at the end.

“It’s different than any other professor I’ve ever met.”

“Even if I hear it, it is.”

“Why is this person not doing anything?”

“Okay…”

no performance

It must be because the professor’s profile is empty.

However, Thereon already knew that was not true.

‘His history is hidden.’

A hunter named Yujin Kang.

All histories related to him are classified as ‘black’, the highest security level in Helios, and are all kept private.

It is impossible to inquire into his information unless he is a person with great authority like Tereon.

That’s why there is a story that the performance is empty.

“As you have seen, Professor Kang Yoo-jin’s resume is highly secure.”

“Security? If high… red?”

“It’s black grade.”

“·······.”

Black level security.

It is a grade that is assigned only to secrets that have a ripple effect so large that each one determines the fate of the war.

Is it assigned to a mere individual?

Estelle’s round eyes blinked.

“Are all SS-class hunters like that?”

“No… this person is unusual.”

The academy also has SS ranks.

However, none of them were treated as top secret.

400 named kills.

And, the man who killed the “head” that no one had ever achieved, and ended the only world war in history.

‘The grade of SS is also insufficient.’

The criterion for dividing the ranks of hunters is not the strength of oneself.

The rank and number of monsters killed by that person.

It divides the ranks of hunters, among which S-rank or higher is judged by how many high-ranking objects commonly called ‘named’ have been killed.

The number of bosses killed by Kang Yoo-jin is close to 400.

Considering that the SS class average is around 200, it is truly a unique number, and it was a number that was ranked third throughout history.

“The third in history?”

“Yes. And it’s the first time I’ve hunted the boss.”

“He was a great professor after all.”

Thereon looked at his granddaughter in admiration without hesitation.

“The professor seems to like it quite a bit.”

“It’s amazing.”

“Interesting?”

“Yeah.”

She remembered the overwhelming power of mind control that Yujin Kang had shown.

It ate up all the light in the world, and the imagery of fear spread like pitch darkness.

“I’ve never seen anything like that…”

How were the professors she met so far?

Despite claiming to be an expert, wasn’t the depth of her learning inferior to Estelle’s curiosity?

The magic that was said to be a masterpiece of conversion collapsed at Estelle’s gesture, and the skills that were said to be the achievements of a lifetime were things she could acquire with a week’s worth of curiosity.

But what about Yujin Kang?

The perfect and flawless operation of magical power.

Pursuit of extreme efficiency, flawlessness that does not forget the power and purpose of the technology itself.

Seeing the perfection of mental control, which had no chance to penetrate, Estelle felt awe and beauty beyond fear.

She couldn’t help but be fascinated by the level she reached with only her pure skills, without the expedient of ‘supernatural ability’.

“It was beautiful.”

“·······.”

A sentiment imbued with pure admiration.

Seeing her granddaughter’s reaction, Terreon quietly thought.

Yujin Kang is clearly a man with dangerous power.

However, his powers are harmless to humans.

We are lucky that we are not enemies, and that is why we should keep them close even though we know they are dangerous.

No, because he was so dangerous, he had to be kept close to him.

“Estel.”

“Yes. Grandpa.”

“From your point of view, how long do you think it will take you to learn all of his teachings?”

“Well···.”

Concerns that have never exceeded 3 seconds continue.

She was silent for over 10 seconds, then finally shook her head in response.

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

The greatest genius in the history of Altair.

She, who has the talent closest to the Constellation’s seat, gave an answer that she didn’t know.

“I will retract my words to stay away from him.”

That’s why Terreon decided not to harbor unnecessary vigilance any longer.

The enemy of the enemy has been called a friend since ancient times.

And Yujin Kang’s strength is enough to make her a friend to Altair.

No, he was someone I had to make friends with.

“Keep close to him. Learn if there is anything you can learn, share if you have a friendship to share.”

“Really?”

“then.”

At those words, Estelle’s eyes lit up.

How many years had she seen a face she liked so much?

He was a little disappointed, and even more disgusted with Yujin Kang, but he smiled nonetheless.

‘I’ll have to meet with that professor.’

He quietly planned our next meeting.

*

Late afternoon after the first lecture.

I found a deep forest located north of Helios.

The shadows were so thick that the forest seemed to be swallowed up by the shadows.

This place, where there was almost no light even during the daytime, was a forest of demons where you could feel the stinging demonic energy even in the air you breathed.

The so-called ‘border area’.

Even inside Helios, this is an area where the dimensional walls are thin.

This is the forest that Lana, the owner of the gun shop, was talking about, and it is a forest where outside monsters sometimes break through the wall and invade.

It sounds dangerous when you hear it, but it’s not as dangerous as you think.

This is because most of the invading monsters are low-grade, so they are not very dangerous, and if you control the number of monsters, you can get an unlimited number of samples of living monsters.

Sometimes it seems that the middle and upper level people I killed come over, but I just kill them quickly and don’t try to close the border area.

Since the benefits gained from them are great, Helios also accepts small-scale damage.

“Familiar Air Force.”

The air was gloomy and heavy.

There was always this kind of air around the battlefield.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been breathing in more than half of my life, but I’m more used to this than the clean air I’ve been breathing lately.

The reason I came here was simple.

This is because it is the perfect place to test the newly acquired ability in Helios, ‘magic’.

There are no people, so no one gets hurt, I like it because I have a lot of targets, and I like the academy because it can reduce the number of monsters.

When asked about a suitable place for training, Vincent recommended this place for that reason.

“There aren’t many monsters….”

There are still not many monsters that can be caught.

It must have been around five or six, and they hadn’t attacked yet to see if they were checking their movements.

I quietly closed my eyes and began to reflect on the knowledge of the magic books I had read.

The foundation and foundation of all magic begins with making a ‘circle’.

The circle is a magical ring that rotates around the heart, and the caster manifests magic through the rotating circle as if operating an engine.

The higher the level of magic, the higher the number of circles required, and the faster and stronger the number of circles can be created, the higher the level of magic is classified.

And, I was currently creating a ring spinning in my heart.

‘Concentration.’

It rotates the concentrated mana at high speed and grinds it into a ring.

The spell book said that it would take a initiate even a month to create the first ring.

However, I was so confident in my ability to use magic that I could use it without the help of the Circle.

It gathers the mana that surrounds the whole body into the heart.

Using the condensed inertia, magic power is rotated at high speed, and due to the centrifugal force, magic power forms a loop.

It’s certainly not easy to control the dissipating magic power, but it’s not impossible.

He poured all of his mind into mana management like that.

I was sweating like it was raining and my heart was beating like crazy in the aftermath of the heated mana.

Eventually, the mana stabilized. The centered ring moves smoothly.

Before long, I could feel a ring spinning around my heart.

“under···.”

I felt a sense of fullness that was incomparable to when I had just randomly generated magic.

With a bit of exaggeration, I felt like I could unleash any ability.

In his lifetime, the efficiency of mana management was very poor.

As I forcibly seized the rampant mana and replaced it with a superpower, the mana leaked.

Should I say it feels like pouring water from a bucket into the mouth of a small plastic bottle?

If the mana to use was 10, the efficiency was so low that 8 was discarded.

However, magic using circles was different.

Efficiency has improved to the extent that it can be said that the wasted mana has disappeared compared to before.

It’s not like a bucket, it’s like putting a pump on it and pouring it accurately.

“Did you know this only now…”

If I had known this in my lifetime, I would have taken the chief’s head alive.

Swallowing the rising regret inside, he pulled out two revolvers from his chest.

It was a fixture in the academy, and I borrowed a jar of grievances that had never been used and had been rotting.

Even though it’s low-level, I brought plenty of magic bullets, and I filled the chamber with bullets and channeled magic with my whole body.

-Kreur…

As if they had finished their search, they could feel the monsters gathering around them.

all lower class. To me, they are worse than bugs on the street.

“It’s ridiculous.”

Usually, they are the ones who catch even magic bullets.

Even so, the reason for using magic is because there is something I want to test separately.

Right away, the grafting of circles and mental control.

Mind control has excellent performance, but at the same time, its fuel efficiency is very poor.

That’s because mind control itself is a difficult skill, but it’s because I used my abilities only through pure magical operation without a circle.

It can be said that the performance of a supercar is extracted from the engine of a regular car.

The reason I was able to do that was because my mana management skills were so good that I could handle such a gap.

And now, I am equipped with a new engine called ‘Circle’ along with that management ability.

It finally has an engine suitable for its performance.

How far will the new engine grow my power?

Anticipation rose with the boiling magic power.

“So, you guys should be my target.”

I plan to visit this place for three hours every day from now on.

I got permission to enter right away, and above all, if you are here, you will be able to practice magic to your heart’s content without needing to notice.

“Come on, scumbags.”

The Witchbeast rushed in, and the trigger was pulled.

The hunt has begun.