By Zephyria 
“Heeuk….”
Tom was already on the verge of passing out. Of course, Polargehen didn’t consider Tom’s weak heart.
“Alright! Now, scatter. The starting time is about 10 minutes from now. When the starting time comes, the mark will flash once. You can hide or ambush during that time. Feel free to draw your own starting line. Then, good luck.”
The moment those words ended.
Thud!
It wasn’t like someone signaled, but everyone scattered at once. The place we were in was an open space in the center of the forest, so they showed the cunning of scattering in all directions to avoid overlapping paths.
Of course, I was no exception. I moved as quickly as possible to find a good place to ambush.
“Heueung…!”
I heard Tom’s sobbing voice from behind. But it was an unavoidable situation. He had no choice but to overcome it himself.
I brushed off the slightly bothered feeling and entered the forest.
I killed my presence as much as possible and hid myself among the bushes, and I felt the presence of others killing their noise from here and there.
The forest became quiet in an instant.
Not stopping there, I moved further inside and focused my senses as much as possible to see if there were any presences approaching nearby.
I chuckled slightly at the thrill I felt after a long time.
‘This should be enough.’
I took a suitable spot and looked around. There was still time left until the mission started, so there was no special movement detected in this area.
So, I decided to take some time to plan how to act in the future and analyze the students.
‘The fact that I have a lack of Mana and that there are restrictions on the types of Magic I can use is my biggest weakness right now. And physical abilities that are far behind my past life.’
In this situation, the most difficult person to deal with when fighting properly is Zeon.
Zeon has not only accumulated combat experience for hundreds of years, but also shows an unreasonable difference in Mana holding.
In addition… Hokrun Zebil and Newt Alkabas.
First of all, those two had more Mana than me.
In particular, Newt Alkabas was a girl who was treated as a genius to the extent that she was specially admitted at the age of nineteen. I couldn’t know the exact amount of Mana due to Mana Concealment, but it was clear that she had the most amount after Zeon.
Of course, I also have a lot of combat experience and skill, so if I take advantage of the gap when those two are careless, I have a chance to win even in a head-on confrontation….
Anyway, compared to Zeon, anyone was manageable.
‘In times like these, the outcome is often decided by small differences. So, I have to create a situation that is as favorable to me as possible.’
In order to make good use of my combat experience with an absurdly small amount of Mana, it would be best to use Magic that can be used with a small amount and has good versatility….
‘Ah.’
And I seem to know such Magic.
Rustle.
At that time, I heard the noise of a small, thin branch being stepped on by someone’s foot. I lowered my body a little more and raised my head through the bushes.
Carnation Pink hair in a bob shape that comes over the shoulders and blue eyes reminiscent of the summer sky. The person passing by there was Melicsa Cecil. She wasn’t hiding her presence at all, as if telling me to attack if I dared.
The first target has been decided.
Soon, the mark on her chest quietly flashed, and I moved to snatch the ‘target’ I had set.
Whoong!
The Magic Circle created with Instant Cast caused a very shallow wave in the air.
Whether she keenly noticed the subtle change, Melicsa stopped walking and turned around.
“Which bastard is it!”
It was an animal-like level of senses.
But my Magic was successfully activated faster than she could figure out my location.
Crack….
A hand bone made of a handful of dirt pierced the floor and popped out, grabbing her ankle. Melicsa, who seemed embarrassed by the unexpected, looked down and pulled her foot.
“Ack?! What, what is this! This bone!”
It was a gap.
I quietly and nimbly threw my body forward and reached out my hand. Melicsa, who managed to notice that fleeting movement, leaned back to avoid it. It was a great move. If ‘it wasn’t me,’ the surprise attack would have failed here.
I smiled slightly.
Swaaek!
I, who had been thinking about even the evasion, pulled out Mana in a tangible form and shot it like a bullet. In a situation where the range of motion was extremely limited because she was leaning back to avoid it, she couldn’t avoid the attack even if she knew it.
Kaduk.
When the Mana lump touched the mark, the mark broke easily. It seemed to break on its own if it received more than a certain amount of damage.
“Keuk…!”
Melicsa bit her teeth as she couldn’t avoid it even after seeing it in front of her eyes.
At the same time, the hand bone that was holding her ankle disappeared with a swish.
Netherworld Summoning is a Magic that consumes quite a lot of Mana if you try to ‘maintain a complete form for a long time.’ With my current self, I couldn’t maintain it for a long time. Then, conversely, ‘using it briefly in an incomplete form’ meant that I could do many things with a small amount.
After using it directly, I liked it more than I thought.
‘The range of application will be quite wide.’
It was a Magic worth researching in the future.
Immediately after, Polargehen’s Mana stored in my mark flowed out and displayed a hologram message.
[Raymond Valentasia has acquired the mark.]
[1 point has been counted.]
[You have a total of 1 point.]
On the other hand, the hologram message displayed next to Melicsa contained the opposite of mine. Subsequently, Melicsa’s broken mark was created again and attached to my chest.
“So, there was a child from the Valentasia family…!”
Melicsa clicked her tongue and strongly stepped on the ground with her foot stretched back, quickly changing her posture to a stable one. As she clenched both fists, blue Mana gathered while scattering light. It was Mana of the Power System.
“One Point.”
Melicsa, who muttered softly, took a breath and punched me.
Melicsa’s transition was faster than I expected. In a state where I hadn’t fully adjusted my posture like now, I didn’t have many options either.
In the end, I bent down to avoid it like crawling, as the best way to protect the mark. Immediately after, a tremendous wind pressure brushed past my head.
Paang!
The surrounding trees fell backward as if they had encountered a typhoon due to the sharp wind pressure shot in the front direction. I, who was lowering my body flat, was also pushed back and drew a long line on the floor because the distance was close.
Her Mana holding wasn’t large, so it ended at this level, but if she had Mana of 5-star or higher, I would have been swept away without any way to avoid it.
And all of that happened in a fleeting moment that didn’t even take a few seconds.
‘Power System….’
Certainly.
One Point is a basic Magic of the Power System with a simple Formula, but since it is the system with the highest condensation intensity, the power of basic Magic is much more outstanding than other systems.
In the future, when engaging in close combat, it would be good to filter and use only the Mana of the Power System.
It seems that other insignificant things can’t be used at will just because I want to use them….
I am the one and only being who uses Black Mana, and this means that I can use all four types of Mana that exist in the world, so I could pick and use them whenever I wanted.
‘Human knowledge is quite helpful.’
I recalled what I had learned in class and waited for the wind pressure to subside.
Teudeudeudeuk….
Soon, as the dust settled, leaves and branches fell from the nearby trees that had been shaken roughly.
Since there was no longer any reason to confront her, I moved my body back greatly and started moving my position.
“Hey, you! Don’t stand there?!”
Melicsa’s loud shout was heard from behind. She was chasing me at a tremendous speed, as if she had no intention of turning a blind eye to me.
If I had Mana of 5-star or higher, I could have used Blink to get out of her sight a little easier and faster….
‘There’s no choice now.’
There was no choice but to use another method.
I gathered red Mana at the tip of my finger.
That was Mana of the Evocation System.
The Mana of the Evocation System, which has the strongest property of wanting to move forward, also has a good condensation intensity, so it is mainly used like bullets. If I condense it very large, it would be the same as the Power System Mana that is shot quickly.
Kiiiiiiing!
I threw the Mana lump that had grown as much as possible at the tree next to me. As the large Mana lump was shot in a straight line, a tremendous roar erupted and a hole was drilled in the tree.
Kigigigigik!
Of course, the tree, unable to withstand the weight, tilted forward, and Melicsa, who was following behind, made a mistake of hesitating for a moment.
“This…!”
I, who had quickly escaped from her sight, continued to move my position while killing my presence. I heard the sound of breaking trees and opening a path from behind, but by that time, Melicsa was in a situation where she could no longer find me.
‘It should be okay if I came this far.’
After moving for a long time, I carefully stopped moving and looked around. I had been moving while killing my presence, but I was cautious because it was after a commotion.
It was then.
…Patsseut.
I heard a sound like electricity sparking nearby, and at that moment, a sense of crisis that was almost instinctive swept down my spine.
I moved my body back greatly, considering that my location would be revealed. Immediately after, my eyes flashed. A powerful lightning bolt struck that spot.
Kwaang!
A tremendous roar that seemed to deafen my ears.
“Keuk…!”
Light flashed here and there for a very short time due to the electricity that swept around. This was really… a lightning strike thrown with the intention of half-killing the opponent.
I quickly looked around with tension.
As the dust that had blurred the surroundings subsided, the shadow of the person who had thrown the lightning bolt appeared on the tree.
Patsseujeuk.
The light of electricity flickered around that person’s body.
The one who threw the lightning bolt at me was… Herman Muller.