As Lee Wonwoo had expected, the place Wagner visited immediately after subjugating the Head-Pressing Spirit was the president’s tower.
“Wh-What brings you here?”
The staff member stationed in the tower naturally began to grow wary upon seeing Wagner. It would have been stranger not to be wary of Wagner, who had swaggered in so casually.
Soon, the staff member’s chair jolted.
“Eek! What is that?!”
Because Wagner had pulled something out from his coat.
“Boo!”
The Head-Pressing Spirit’s cold head.
Only after startling the staff member one more time did Wagner head straight for the president’s office.
“I’m here.”
“You should clearly kno......”
Knock! Knock!
“I did knock.”
After seeing the knock directed at the closing door, the president shook his head, thinking he would not live out his natural lifespan.
Thud.
Wagner sat on the brown sofa as if it had always belonged to him and placed the Head-Pressing Spirit’s head on the table.
“It seems the people up above weren’t only spouting nonsense......”
The president flicked his finger toward the Head-Pressing Spirit’s head.
A ray of light that began at his fingertip connected to the head. Soon, it wrapped around the head in layers, then vanished together with it.
“......”
Only after watching until the end did Wagner continue speaking.
“That the magical beasts and monsters sealed in the past are being released.”
Information known only to a very small number.
Of course, there was also an opinion that there should be no major problem since things were different from the past. Still, they could not overlook the fact that the eras and locations where they had been sealed, as well as their names and grades, had been lost to time.
After all, there was no way to prepare in advance for when, where, and how those ancient specters would appear.
“Still, we wrapped this one up well. Thanks to the former president.”
Wagner stretched as if bored, but his insides were complicated.
‘That scared the hell out of me.’
Strictly speaking, Lee Wonwoo had survived because he was Lee Wonwoo. Moreover, because of him, the Head-Pressing Spirit had not come outside, so that too could be called a distinguished achievement.
‘I don’t know how he knew and went there, but he’s always been impossible to pin down.’
Since Wagner had not yet fully grasped Lee Wonwoo’s abilities, he did not bother asking why he had been there.
Crunch!
As if bringing up the main subject, Wagner savagely chewed the refreshments on the table.
“I’ll take charge of a few first-year kids. It doesn’t violate any rules in particular.”
The president’s face was full of reluctance.
“This is not something to decide hastily.”
The Academy had a special system called assigned teachers, which, as the name suggested, assigned teachers to students who stood out or had potential.
“It is not an easy matter for first-years.”
Students selected under the system would receive dedicated training and education from their assigned teacher, and at the end, they would have to carry out missions.
Moreover, most of those missions were not things first-years could handle.
The instructor answered with feigned seriousness.
“You know the sooner, the better. And now is the time to decide. Even just looking at the Head-Pressing Spirit, it wasn’t Category Grade 3. It was Grade 4.”
Grade 4 meant there was a possibility of city-level damage. Because of that, the president stared blankly at Wagner with startled eyes.
“Wait. If that is the case......”
The ancient text had classified the Head-Pressing Spirit as Grade 3, which meant either the record was wrong, or she had grown stronger for some reason.
‘What glory did I think I would see......?’
The president staggered and gripped the windowsill.
“Old man! This is not the time!”
“What did you say?! Old man? How many times have I told you not to call me that? How many times, exactly?!”
“What else am I supposed to call an old man if not an old man?”
After a short scuffle, the president let out a deep sigh. Wagner had been driven outside under pressure.
The president’s low voice filled the desolate office.
“Why is a man who refused even when told to do it suddenly saying he will take charge of first-years, of all people, not second- or third-years? Tsk!”
Of course, the president knew there was a point to it.
If they became Wagner’s disciples, there would be nothing better, and if they underwent the adversity and hardship called missions, their growth would be fast.
“......Until the very end.”
A note had been left where Wagner had been sitting. When the president gestured, the note rose gracefully.
Saaak-!
The note was blank, but when the president infused mana into it once, the name of a student appeared as if burning.
After confirming the name, the president nodded.
“Certainly...... this student might be fine.”
Suddenly, the president recalled the days when he had carefully removed the dust that had settled on the barrier, one grain at a time.
He also recalled the days when he had carefully corrected the spell formula whenever it was even slightly disturbed.
And so, the president nodded.
‘This time, Wagner was right.’
They said a leaky bucket leaked indoors and outdoors, so if it was going to leak anyway, perhaps it would be better to turn it outside and have it leak only outside......
“What am I thinking right now......?”
***
On the night of the day the symbol contest took place, I had a terrible nightmare, as expected. A nightmare where the Head-Pressing Spirit opened her mouth wide and flicked her tongue.
“She really torments me to the end.”
I had grown used to the Head-Pressing Spirit’s appearance, but because it was a dream, it had combined with my imagination and become a nightmare.
That was why I woke from sleep. For now, I was not afraid of falling asleep again and seeing the Head-Pressing Spirit, but.
I suddenly looked at the wall clock.
‘This is awkward.’
Waking up about an hour earlier than the time I had originally intended was a frightening thing.
If I slept awkwardly, I would be even more tired, and I might oversleep, so I eventually sat at the edge of the bed and looked out the window.
The sun had not risen yet, but beyond the horizon, it was slowly growing brighter.
If one did not pay close attention, there was not much difference, and if one considered it insignificant, it would not catch the eye.
However, to me, it was an alluring sight.
“It feels like I’m looking at myself.”
Because even after I lit the spark of Samadhi True Fire, the mana that had divided had not returned.
It had originally been one sky, but as time passed, it showed different appearances.
Likewise, even if my mana had the same origin, it possessed different properties.
“......Ha.”
Suddenly, I thought it would be a shame to spend time like this.
‘Let’s try again.’
Rather than waiting for the time to come because my body’s caliber did not match, it suited my temperament more to clash with it and raise my caliber that way.
So I closed my eyes and held the will of flame with the thought of trying it first.
THOOM!
The two streams of mana that had been circulating along different paths began clashing head-on again.
It felt as if dozens of wild bulls were staging a chaotic war inside my blood vessels.
HISSSSS-!
The heat of war showed no sign of cooling, and it reached the point where the mana perished together, as if dying heroically in battle.
Accordingly, the temperature inside my body rose rapidly, making it feel as if lava was flowing through me.
“......”
But I was different from yesterday. Not even a small groan leaked out.
‘I can’t be the same as yesterday.’
Drip!
My boiling blood surged backward and flowed down my chin.
At first, I wondered if I was strange, but then I suddenly remembered that Red Boy had breathed fire from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
‘So that was real.’
It was strangely fascinating, but I wiped the corner of my mouth somewhat roughly.
‘A man, bleeding like a mess?’
This was the one thing I could not tolerate.
My sleeve was not dyed red with blood. It was scorched black.
My pajamas, soaked with sweat from the rise in body temperature, clung stickily to my skin.
It felt unpleasant, and my wrist stung. Still, it was fine.
“......Done.”
A crimson flame, precarious as candlelight, swayed on my palm and comforted me.
At this achievement that could not be ignored, I rode the momentum and held a new will.
“Samadhi True Fire: Fireball.”
I judged that a sphere would be the easiest thing to control.
FLARE!
I held the fireball, which had gathered in a swirl, outside the window.
‘Huh?’
At the same time, a crimson ray that began at the end of the horizon slowly dyed the world.
Light was never pushed back by darkness. It maintained its momentum and continued dyeing the world. The world that had cooled cold was heating up.
“......It’s already this late.”
It felt as if only a few minutes had passed, but it seemed an hour had already gone by.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Suddenly, the sound of knocking at the door reached me as if waking me.
‘Who is it at this hour?’
Rather than being interrupted, the timing was actually good. My mana was already on the verge of being exhausted, and I could no longer maintain Samadhi True Fire.
Flash!
As I rose from my seat and clenched my fist, the fireball scattered and vanished.
“......?”
I opened the front door, but I thought someone had built a wall in front of it.
There was only one person around me who could give off this much weight.
“Brother, what did you do so early in the morning to sweat like that......?”
“Something happened.”
“From the morning...... If that is your morning routine, it is nothing but hot-blooded.”
What the hell was this damned muscle fanatic saying?
I had no idea what was happening when Jio suddenly made a meaningful expression and blew rough snorts like a bull.
Since I did not want to suffer a headache from the morning, I changed the topic.
“So what is it?”
“I was just slightly curious about yesterday. Of course, I swear I will not ask first until you tell me first.”
Watching him, I snorted.
‘Well, he was like that yesterday too.’
Jio was probably dying of curiosity. Yesterday, I had been tired, so we had simply passed over it.
I had been planning to roughly sort things out and tell him anyway, but seeing his current state made that feeling vanish completely.
“That’s too bad...... I was actually going to tell you if you asked, since yesterday must’ve been bothering you.”
Jio’s truly refined facial muscles clearly revealed his panic.
“Mm, mm, I see. Do not mind it. I will wait until you tell me first...... absolutely!”
At the end of his words, Jio kicked the ground hard. As if it had been waiting for that moment, a shadow spread like a swamp centered around me.
“This is not something I......”
Rather, Jio was even more surprised.
To begin with, I had not thought he had done it.
“I know. Let’s get out of this first......?”
However, the shadow followed the direction I moved in. A moment later, as if the shadow were a swamp, I began gradually sinking even though my feet were on the ground.
‘If I pull with Attraction.’
It was not as if there was no way to get out. If I applied Kubanda’s special ability, it would not be too difficult.
‘How flashy. Very flashy.’
I gave up on that thought. Because I had a guess as to who owned the mana residing in the shadow.
“To smile even in this situation...... Just how far ahead do you intend to go?!”
“Stay still. Nothing will happen.”
Yesterday, I had seen Instructor Wagner heading toward the president’s tower. Perhaps this matter was an extension of that.
In any case, it was certain that something I did not know about was happening to me.