One’s Own Path

“Cheon Su-ho. Get ready.”
“Got it, Lee Ro-un!”

At Ro-un’s words, Cheon Su-ho warmed up.
Seeing Cheon Su-ho warming up, Joo Hee-jun trembled as if his training trauma had surfaced.

“Joo Hee-jun.”
“Y-yeah!”
“I was actually planning to tell you a little later, but things turned out this way.”

At Ro-un’s words, Joo Hee-jun forgot he had been trembling and stared at him with a blank face.
Cheon Su-ho, who had been warming up beside them, also fixed his gaze on Ro-un.
Joo Hee-jun’s eyes slowly widened.

“That means, so. Don’t tell me.”
“Lee Ro-un! Are you going to fix Bomb Freak’s trait?”
“I’m not a bomb freak…!”

Joo Hee-jun, who had bristled at Cheon Su-ho’s words, pulled himself together and looked back at Ro-un.

“…Lee Ro-un. So, I mean. Can I really,”
“You’re asking if you can fix your trait? You can. But doing it within three days would be impossible. Just learn the knack for now.”
“R-right? I didn’t think it would be possible within three days either!”

As if. The disappointment was written all over your face.
Still, perhaps because it felt real that his trait could be fixed, faint expectations filled Joo Hee-jun’s face.
Ro-un didn’t miss a single one of Joo Hee-jun’s reactions and spoke with an indifferent face.

“If we think about party balance, that side has the advantage.”
“The student named Kim Jun-tae is a tanker, and Hwang Yu-na is probably a melee dealer who uses a sword. I couldn’t confirm An Mi-ru’s weapon, but seeing as she is wearing a gun holster, she is probably a ranged dealer, Lee Ro-un!”
“That Tae Seong-ho guy is a supporter, but he can also perform a bit of a healer’s role. He’s an herbalist. His main focus is probably doping or debuffs.”
“You know well, Lee Ro-un!”
“Well, I saw his father when I went to the Association.”

His son had awakened as an herbalist, and he had told Ro-un to enter passages and bring back usable herbs or poisonous plants for the growth of his skills.
That herbalist probably raised his skill level a bit thanks to Ro-un.

“Compared to that, our side has one melee dealer, one healer, one quasi-tanker, and one ranged dealer who could become an enemy.”
“Hey! Why am I an enemy!”
“Shouldn’t a bomb that might explode at any time be classified as an enemy rather than an ally?”
“You’re the worst!”

Joo Hee-jun screeched at Cheon Su-ho.

“Stop chatting. Joo Hee-jun, get ready. Hyung, I’m counting on you too.”
[Woof!]

The white puppy in Ro-un’s arms barked bravely.
As expected of my Hyung.
Hyung is the most reliable.
Ro-un inwardly gushed over Hyung and happily ruffled Hyung’s head.

[Pant pant pant pant.]

Ray wagged his tail hard with his eyes narrowed, as if he felt good.

“Um, Lee Ro-un.”
“What?”

When Ro-un glared at Joo Hee-jun for interrupting his peaceful time with his Hyung, the guy opened his mouth while clenching and unclenching the hem of his hood.

“Can I really do it?”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to? What do you lack compared to those guys? Hey, didn’t you hear them? They only have A-rank traits. You have an S-rank trait. What’s the problem?”
“But I, my trait is,”

Seeing the dejected hood, Ro-un grew displeased.
Normally, he would have made more of a fuss over Cheon Su-ho’s ‘bomb freak’ remark from earlier, but he only reacted briefly and quickly drooped.
…It was because of the Bukhan bastards.
Ro-un immediately grasped Joo Hee-jun’s state.

“Unstable? So what. I told you. That can be fixed.”
“Really?”

How many times was he going to make him say the same thing?
Ro-un looked back at Joo Hee-jun with an irritated face.

“Joo Hee-jun. Your problem isn’t your trait.”

At Ro-un’s words, Joo Hee-jun swallowed hard.

“You need to believe in yourself a little more.”
“M-me?”
“Why are you so scared of guys who are nothing special? You’re the great young master of the JU Group, so what do you lack compared to bastards like that, enough to be so cowed?”
“Y-you, youuu, how did you know I’m from the JU Group?”

Not knowing would be idiotic.
In the first place, how many people at our academy do you think personally own equipment with effects like [Mana Recovery Increase], [Casting Speed Reduction], [Mana Increase], and [Attack Power Increase]?
That’s equipment personally made by a production-type master craftsman.

‘A guy who blew up parts of the academy here and there for experiments doesn’t know how much the repair costs are? That’s not money a student from an ordinary family could handle.’

No matter how much older Jiri Academy was than other places and how poorly maintained its buildings were, this was basically a place where ‘awakened’ youths came.
There was no way the laboratories or training halls would be built with cheap materials.

“Lee Ro-un. Is JU Group not one of the companies representing Korea? One known even in the world.”
“That’s right. To be precise, it should be within the top 100 companies.”
“Amazing, Bomb Freak!”

Cheon Su-ho, who had learned Joo Hee-jun’s background, spoke simply.

“W-well. That’s right.”

Joo Hee-jun awkwardly received Cheon Su-ho’s praise and rolled his eyes here and there.
Was he not going to react to ‘Bomb Freak’ this time?

“Enough of that crap.”
“That crap…!”
“Joo Hee-jun. You need to change the way you think first.”
“…What?”

Joo Hee-jun let out a hollow sound as if he was dumbfounded.

“The mana your sensitivity can handle is not something as mere as S-rank.”
“Lee Ro-un.”
“Joo Hee-jun. You have a talent far greater than you think. You will become an Archmage in the future.”

Joo Hee-jun, who had been about to argue, stopped when he met Ro-un’s serious face.
Lee Ro-un truly, sincerely thought his talent was amazing.

‘Until now, the only person who said that to me was Mother.’

His family saw him as a ‘straggler’ or a ‘loser.’
Only Hee-jun’s mother encouraged him to the end, telling him not to give up and that he could do it.

“I know too. I know…! But every time I try to use magic, mana won’t follow my will! I kept researching too! I worked hard every single day! Even so, the mana won’t move!”
“So what?”
“What?”
“The mana doesn’t move according to your will? Are you sure? Can you really not move even a single speck?”

Joo Hee-jun opened his mouth as if he had heard something completely unexpected, then immediately argued back.

“T-that’s not true, but magic has to be used with an exact amount, an exact formula, and an exact method….”
“Says who?”
“What?”
“Magic is a formula? Then why does the result change depending on the user or the terrain? Why do variables keep appearing? Why do new magic and discoveries keep happening?”
“Huh?”

What a dumb sound to make.
How could a magician who investigated phenomena and manipulated nature with magic have such a rigid mind?

“Joo Hee-jun. The textbooks are not absolute. Facts discovered until now could be proven false a hundred years later. There is nothing absolute in the world.”
“U-uhh. But my tutor….”
“Is that person more talented than you?”
“Huh…?”

Ro-un looked straight into Joo Hee-jun’s eyes and spoke.

“Hey. Do you really think your trait is S-rank?”

Joo Hee-jun’s gaze turned toward Cheon Su-ho beside Ro-un.
That guy’s trait had evolved recently.

“Why are you absolutely following the words of people who aren’t even as talented as you? Don’t use other people’s words as your guidebook. You have your own path.”
“My own path?”
“Your trait cannot be followed by following other people’s guidelines.”

S-rank trait <Lord of Unstable Mana>
Among traits, most traits with “Lord” attached to them were classified as SS-rank traits.
The SS-rank Awakener representing Northern Europe, ‘Lord of Thunder,’ was an Awakener who received his SS-rank trait <Lord of Thunder> directly as his title, and he was a powerful Awakener who freely wielded a spear made of thunder.

‘That was why the fans made a fuss about whether they should call him Zeus, or whether they should call him Odin based on where he was from.’

Perhaps thanks to the handsome appearance of the ‘Lord of Thunder,’ he had many obsessive fans.
In any case, the controversy ended in an instant when that Awakener said, “No matter what you call me, I am myself. I hope my fans will not fight over something trivial,” but that was not what mattered right now.

‘Joo Hee-jun’s trait could aim as high as SS-rank.’

Lee Ro-un had already personally experienced a case where a trait evolved, and had also watched one with his own eyes.
There was no reason Joo Hee-jun’s trait couldn’t do the same.
In fact, in the near future, a Russian Awakener with a trait similar to Joo Hee-jun’s would have his trait evolve after going berserk and become SS-rank.
In other words, an unstable “Lord” trait had the possibility of evolving to SS-rank.

“Joo Hee-jun. Your trait is more amazing than you think. Move as your mana sensitivity leads you. Don’t try to control it delicately. Your mana becomes even more unstable because you pay attention to that crap.”
“Lee Ro-un….”

Joo Hee-jun’s insides churned.
Lee Ro-un. Why do you believe in me so much?

“Then did Bomb Freak waste money and time on useless things?”
“Yeah.”
“Heeey!”

The mood shattered loudly.

‘I was finally feeling moved!’

Joo Hee-jun, who had been listening quietly, flared up at the two’s conversation.

“Why? What? Did I say something wrong? It’s true you wasted money and time on useless things.”
“Still! Still! How can you say it like that?!”
“Everything you do is useless, so don’t waste money and time on that crap and just do as I tell you.”

Because Joo Hee-jun had wasted money and time on useless things, he had moved even farther away from the direction his trait was showing him.
It seemed he only realized the direction he should go right before going berserk, but by then it was already far too late.
When Ro-un was recalling Lee Ro-un’s end, something touched his cheek.

Lick, lick!

“Hyung.”
[Woof!]

Ray burrowed into Ro-un’s arms.
Now I understood.
Whenever I recalled the future before my regression, Hyung had deliberately licked me to make me come back to my senses.

“Thank you, Hyung. I only have you!”
[Wooof!]

As expected, our Hyung is the best.
Ro-un roughly stroked Hyung’s head and continued speaking.

“Joo Hee-jun, your potential is not inferior to SS-rank Awakener Isabella, so move as your trait leads you. That will become the best grimoire for you.”
“Me, with ‘Witch of Gravity’ Isabella?”
“Don’t cram yourself into a fixed frame. Expand your frame. Use this world as your canvas and paint with your mana. Add color. You need to start from there.”
“Gulp.”

Joo Hee-jun swallowed hard.

“There are styles of painting in the world. If the world has a Renaissance style, then your magic simply suits Romanticism or Realism more. Rather, your magic may open a new school of magic.”
“Lee Ro-un. You are quite good at metaphors!”

Cheon Su-ho chimed in beside him.
Ro-un ignored him and continued explaining.

“It can be rough. It doesn’t have to be clean.”

Ro-un looked at the nervous Joo Hee-jun and declared.

“In the world, there are paintings as precise as photographs, but there are also abstract and rough paintings.”
“Abstract and rough.”

Joo Hee-jun muttered Ro-un’s words with a dazed face.

“Since you seem to have a rough understanding of it now, let’s start training.”

The academy had training grounds.
Students in the prime of their youthful energy tended to use the training grounds most often among the academy facilities.
However, at Jiri Academy, there were not many students who trained voluntarily.

But today.
The Jiri Academy training grounds, which should have been quiet, were crowded with people.

“Ah! Don’t push.”
“I can’t see.”
“Who stepped on my foot!”
“Move! I can’t see!”
“Aaah! My, my hair! My hair!”

The students complained of pain in the crowd that had gathered.
Since they were all Awakeners, it did not lead to major injuries, but with a crowd that seemed to include the entire student body, the few remaining teachers had to step forward and calm the students down.
The reason the academy students gathered at the training grounds like this today was simple.

‘Lee Ro-un is having a match with the Bukhan guys!’

It was because of that one sentence.
It was because the students who had been taken by the Bukhan students spread the word that Lee Ro-un had come to save them and that the guys from another academy had beaten them.

‘They said Cheon Su-ho got promoted to A-rank this time, right?’
‘Huh? If it’s four-on-four, aren’t they short on people?’
‘I heard the president got a puppy recently, and he’s going out with that puppy.’
‘As expected of the president. Even his pet isn’t ordinary.’
‘But Joo Hee-jun? If they go with him, wouldn’t it be three-on-five instead of four-on-four?’

Even the news that they would spar four-on-four spread among the students.
If it were only that much, there would be no reason for them to come to the training grounds, but there was a decisive reason that brought the entire student body here.

‘Lee Ro-un is treating Joo Hee-jun’s trait!’
‘Whaaaaat?!’
‘R-really?’
‘Can the president even fix traits?’
‘For some reason, I feel like the president can do it.’
‘I’m going to watch!’
‘Me too!’

As a result of the rumor spreading like this, the entire student body swarmed into the training grounds where the four were training.
Traits.
What was the reason they had been pushed into Jiri Academy?
It was all because of useless, ambiguous, or somehow lacking traits.
On top of that, there was already a suspicious circumstance surrounding Lee Ro-un.

‘They say Lee Ro-un fixed Cheon Su-ho’s <Mana Disability>!’

Around that time, there was something Cheon Su-ho often said.

‘If not for Lee Ro-un, I would not have been able to overcome <Mana Disability>.’

Back then, they had half-doubted it and let it pass.
Because there was not a single healer in the world who could fix traits.
Even the Saintess of Europe, who had the same trait as Lee Ro-un, had never fixed a trait before.
But this time, he had openly stepped forward saying he would fix Joo Hee-jun’s trait.
There was no way the students called trash-tier would not come running.

“Kids. The student council president has willingly allowed observation. Please calm down.”

As if they had come to cheer at a large stadium, the students sat all around the special glass wall that showed the inside of the training grounds and stared hard through the glass wall.
The glass, which applied the principle of a magic mirror, was made so that those outside could see inside, but those inside could not see outside.
It was partly meant for them to watch and learn from other people’s training, and it also had the purpose of letting those outside intervene in case of an emergency.

“Can he fix traits?”
“Isn’t fixing traits something even the Saintess of Europe can’t do?”
“It is the president, after all”
“Ah. True.”

The Jiri students stared at the three people and one spirit standing in the training grounds.