Kapitel 49: Chapter 49: I Must Win
"Sigh."
I started breathing quietly.
I am lost in thought as the clear mana rips through my body.
Is it thanks to the newly acquired Young Dragon's Heart (A)?
'The speed of mana accumulation has become tremendous?'
Accumulating mana.
It's nearly twice as fast as before.
[Trait, Young Dragon's Heart accumulates mana of flames.]
[Trait, Celestial Body (A+) tunes the physique.]
I got up at dawn and began accumulating mana.
After accumulating, I go outside.
[Trait, Celestial Body (A+) finely tunes the physique.]
[Strength increases by +1.]
I started exercising and hanging heavier iron rings than before.
The Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra is a movement technique.
The more I move, the faster the physical enhancement effect accelerates.
"Heuk, haah, haaht!!!"
Ignoring Yoo Eunchae, who lets out a strange sigh beside me, I continue to circle the playground.
Next is deciding what today's lesson will be.
'The kids are learning faster than I thought.'
Is it because I'm their teacher?
It was visible how quickly the kids were growing.
Especially Yoo Eunchae.
Picking up something from somewhere every day, she was growing rapidly day by day.
"Hooh, is it right to overwork a delicate disciple like me?"
She pretends to cry without shedding any tears.
"I'm okay. I can do more."
Nam Hyerin, whose will became clearer after destroying the Namgoong Clan, said beside me.
"But, are you okay?"
"Yes?"
"No, I mean beside you."
I looked beside Nam Hyerin.
Was her name Namgoong Miryeo? She's being dragged around by Nam Hyerin, dripping with snot and drool.
"… Wahh."
Yoo Eunchae was in such a mess that it was admirable.
Yet, she did not give up on running.
"Heh… Huh…"
"Isn't she going to die doing that?"
"She might die soon. What Hyerin experienced is just coming back to her."
"…It really is hellish training."
"Sa-sa-save me…"
"Sister, can you go a little longer?"
"St-stop…"
"I did a bit more than this. That's how I learned the Emperor Sword Form."
"Kehk…"
Namgoong Miryeo collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Nam Hyerin's lips curved and called for help with practiced ease.
"…You seem very used to this."
"She's been like that for the past two weeks…"
"But are you really teaching her the Emperor Sword Form?"
"I guess?"
"Eh? Isn't the master supposed to teach it?"
"No, I've let go of the Emperor Sword Form."
Because the Emperor Sword Form only has meaning when destroying Namgoong.
It's useful even at lower levels of skill, though.
'How long will I remain weak?'
It was the moment I was transitioning to my main martial art, the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique.
"Eh."
"If you want to learn that, go to Nam Hyerin. From now on, she is the Namgoong Clan."
At my words, Yoo Eunchae slowly looked at Nam Hyerin.
"That sounds cool. From now on, Nam Hyerin is the Namgoong Clan!"
"It's not wrong. Since she learned the Namgoong Clan's secret techniques, the Thirteen Strikes of the Lightning Blade and the Emperor Sword Form, as well as the internal arts and the Infinite Steps."
I passed on everything that symbolizes the family as knowledge.
How to integrate that will be Nam Hyerin's lifelong homework.
But I've done my part.
"But I want to learn from the master."
"Why?"
Yoo Eunchae silently pointed at Nam Hyerin.
There, Nam Hyerin was twisting her lips, tormenting Namgoong Miryeo.
"Sister, is this all you can do after talking so big? You said it took me only a month to learn the Emperor Sword Form, so a week should be enough for you."
"Krrrrk."
"Sister, sister. You're not going to give up here, are you? That would mean you're worse than me…"
"Kraaaak!"
Namgoong Miryeo screamed and forced herself up.
"For the first time, I actually feel sorry for Namgoong Miryeo."
"Is that so? Me too."
Nam Hyerin is really vicious.
…Thinking about it, I should have realized something was off when she followed the hellish training without any complaints.
'She's going to be really good at handling kids later on.'
If I'm ever away, I should use her as a temporary instructor.
Having lived three lifetimes, I suppose I've come to see what one might call physiognomy.
If Yoo Eunchae is the epitome of a problem child,
Then Nam Hyerin is,
'She could become an even more malevolent master than me.'
I see that in her.
I possess a particular malice myself, but she… she's even more so…
"But even so, she seems better than the master… The Emperor Sword Form looks really appealing…"
"Eunchae."
"…Yes?"
"Prepare yourself today."
"…"
Though I told Yoo Eunchae to prepare herself, the truth is, I don't have time today.
'It's regrettable.'
Because today is the day the principal had promised.
In exchange for destroying the Namgoong Clan, she had promised to set up a spirit vein.
In fact, the training has been somewhat lukewarm until now.
All those I teach have quite a bit of talent, and they even put in the effort.
'Originally.'
They can't get strong this fast.
It's not that they lack talent.
I am exceptional, but.
It's because effort does not betray.
You might think this is nonsense, but effort almost never betrays.
There must be a clear goal and a vision.
'Precisely, the direction of the effort is important.'
Initially, all of them would have failed to find the right direction.
If there were any possibility, it would be Yoo Eunchae or Seon Woohyeon.
'And they would have grown on their own anyway.'
Yoo Eunchae is a reincarnate.
She might know more about the students than I do.
Seon Woohyeon… I'm not sure yet.
But he's definitely suspicious.
Starting from his actions to the fact that he's learning martial arts in advance.
And at the point where magic is being forced upon Wi Gunak, I strongly felt that he knew about the future.
'There must be many who know the future.'
Fatalism.
Such a word exists.
What is destined cannot be stopped, and what is to begin will start no matter what measures are taken.
'Though there's the butterfly effect.'
Whether they are reincarnated, possessed, or returnees.
The 'gods' have the power to discern them, and no matter what they do, they will try to bind them even more.
The choice to change the future from the beginning.
That will probably tighten around our necks later on.
Thinking this, I soon arrived at the place.
A space where a single white square box lay alone.
It seemed to be 50m in length and width.
A building so foolishly sturdy and simple.
However, thinking about the purpose of this building, it seems fitting.
I entered inside the square box.
"Hello, hello. Our Han Seojin, the head professor. You came early? Did you come early because you wanted to see me?"
"…"
"No, even if it's me, looking at me with an expression as if looking at food waste kind of hurts…"
Then don't act so cutesy.
Is someone older than me acting cutesy like that?
I'm over fifty years old.
And the principal is well over that age, too.
Yet, she was acting all cutesy without acting her age.
When I sent her a disdainful look, the principal flinched.
"Why, why look at me with those eyes."
"Let's just go set up the spirit vein."
"Su-suddenly using formal language? I like it, but."
"Aren't you going?"
"…Let's go quickly."
We went inside.
A square white box revealed itself inside.
"To install the spirit vein, several conditions are necessary."
"The Five Elements and the Four Classical Elements. The Eight Directions and Geomancy. There are other things, but."
"Eh?"
"The most important thing is the World Tree. Or something sacred that can be compared to it."
"What don't you know?"
"I've traveled quite a bit."
Saying so, I looked around.
The principal had hidden a World Tree… or something sacred.
I can't feel it nearby.
'Spatial severance. Perhaps it connects to that and blocks everything else.'
An astonishing sense of perception.
Even I am amazed.
If one trains their Unique Trait to the extreme, the endpoint could very well be the principal. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that.
'I might need to bring back skills from my past life as the Blue-Eyed Martial Emperor to stand a chance.'
That's how perfect the principal's defenses were.
In other words, those below her who come here wouldn't know where the spirit veins are connected.
However.
"There's one problem."
When installing a spirit vein, various issues arise.
The spirit vein activates its unique characteristic called eternal essence.
The principal acts with the innocence of a young child, but…
'Because she's a transcendent.'
The principal is transcendent.
Becoming a transcendent while only maintaining the innocence of a child?
Not even a passing dog would believe that.
The principal is someone I can trust and, at the same time, someone I can't trust the most.
'If the principal and I were to face off.'
I would definitely win.
It's possible if I use the secret weapon I haven't revealed yet.
But the backlash would nearly kill me, and the problem would be either recuperating for a while or moving on to the next life.
Gulp gulp.
Swallowing what might be my last cola, I looked at the principal.
"Then, I'll bring the spirit vein first."
The principal clasped her hands together. A gesture of prayer.
At the same time, the space around began to flicker.
Creak.
Space splits. Everything around starts to melt.
'Incredible.'
Space refracts.
Everything here was like that. Yet, the area around me and the principal remained unrefracted.
Evidence of her tremendous control ability.
'Her offensive power must be incredible, too. Being able to split space itself or catch by refracting coordinates.'
If I were to do it, the immense mana consumption would make it quicker just to give up.
However, Unique Traits drastically reduce mana consumption.
I felt it when using Eternal Heavenly Glacier and Eternal Moonlight.
"Rift in time and space. Coordinate designation. Space connection."
Crackle crackle.
As space splits, something emitting a green light briefly reveals itself.
'A sphere?'
Now, as I neared acquiring my Heavenly Eyes, my eyes caught it in a glance.
And the moment I saw it, I realized.
That it was playing a role similar to the World Tree, holding onto the Spirit Veins here.
'Interesting.'
Just once.
Though I only saw a part of it, my Heavenly Eyes saw most of its functions.
'Circulation. It's capturing mana, turning it into a path.'
There were other things, but none as important as those two.
That's enough.
I can study it later and create something similar.
'It will consume a considerable amount of resources, though.'
While I was lost in thought, I felt an enormous amount of magical power flowing into this building.
[Magic power increases by +1.]
[Magic power increases by +1.]
The divine of the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra was awakening, greedily absorbing the magical power around it.
[The Heavenly Body begins to tune the physique.]
At the same time, the Celestial Body greedily devours the mana and evenly distributes it throughout the body.
[Strength increases by +1.]
[Stamina increases by +1.]
[Agility increases by +1.]
'Not bad at all.'
While thinking this, something like blue water began to rise slowly.
"Phew. It's tough."
"Is it finished?"
"Well, yes. In about 30 minutes, this place will be filled with water. But, it will probably disappear within a day."
"That's something I can handle, so it's okay…"
"But why do you keep speaking formally? Ah, you must have been scared by my power."
"…How about we fight in six months?"
"Haha. You think you can catch up to here in just six months? Even for you, that's impossible."
The principal hummed in a good mood.
"Then, I'm busy so I'll be off."
Swoosh~.
As the principal said those words, the space in front of her split open with a whoosh.
And then, the principal threw herself into it.
'I was curious about what she would do.'
I looked at the place where the principal disappeared with incredulous eyes.
'Is she just pretending to disappear while watching?'
The feeling of being watched.
It's very faint.
If it were the students, they would think the principal really went away.
'Well, it's okay to show this much.'
Originally,
I would have used Eternity and collapsed from exhaustion.
That's why I had once considered fighting the principal.
'It's probably better not to fight her if possible.'
But she was a transcendent being.
She could suddenly decide to dissect my body and kidnap me.
Though that was the worst-case scenario.
I've had some similar experiences, after all.
I quietly closed my eyes.
What comes to mind is what the green light showed me.
'It's a simple matter.'
The circulation of magic power. And it possessed the ability to grasp.
What it gave me was a bolt of inspiration like lightning.
Many names came to mind, but one name was most appealing.
'Rotating Power. How about that.'
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein