Chapter 61: The Reincarnated One Does It All

“……”

Professor Ahn Jung-wan, who had stayed late in the ward to organize research materials, stared blankly at the scene before him.

“Huh!”

Lee Se-hoon, with one hand on the floor, stretched his entire body into a straight line.

Though it looked like a simple trick on the surface, Ahn Jung-wan, who understood the secret, was slightly impressed.

‘To maintain such a posture perfectly without any mana…’

For a student of Babel, supporting their body with one hand would be easy, but maintaining it without any mana and without any shaking at all was a different story.

It required not only a sense of balance and a deep understanding of the body but also the ability to control each muscle perfectly.

‘I thought he was unusual, but I didn’t expect this level…’

As Ahn Jung-wan watched with a curious expression, Lee Se-hoon, who was maintaining the posture, lightly pushed off the floor with his hand.

Thud!

He rose about a meter, spun half a turn, and landed neatly. Lee Se-hoon, who had shown off his physical abilities, looked at Ahn Jung-wan with pride.

“How is it?”

“…It’s clear that there’s no need for further hospitalization. I’ll process the discharge, so just pack your things.”

At first, when Lee Se-hoon said he wanted to be discharged, Ahn Jung-wan thought he was joking, but seeing this evidence, he had nothing to say.

Nodding at Ahn Jung-wan’s permission, Lee Se-hoon bowed slightly.

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me for doing my job. But….”

Professor Ahn Jung-wan, who had been examining Lee Se-hoon’s body, looked curious.

“Didn’t you say you recovered using a recovery skill and a spirit medicine?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what kind of skill it is?”

If it could make someone consume a spirit medicine without side effects while their body was weakened, it couldn’t be an ordinary skill.

After a moment of thought, Lee Se-hoon answered, revealing a deep interest in Ahn Jung-wan’s expression.

“It’s a B-grade skill called ‘Mind and Body Training.’”

Since the Spirit Linked Magic was a skill known only to him and his master, revealing it now would likely cause trouble.

Therefore, Lee Se-hoon chose a known skill with a similar effect, and Ahn Jung-wan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The ‘Mind and Body Training’ skill? You used that to consume the spirit medicine?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Ahn Jung-wan looked incredulous at Lee Se-hoon’s answer.

The B-grade skill ‘Mind and Body Training’ was a physical manipulation skill that involved refining one’s body. Using spirit medicine to recover the body was certainly possible.

But was it easy? Absolutely not. Unlike other skills, ‘Mind and Body Training’ required the user to ‘directly’ control every process.

‘One must have a deep understanding of the body, as well as the components and effects of the spirit medicine. Even a top student in the second year… no, the third year of the Regenerative Therapy Department would find it difficult.’

Recalling the skills of his students, Ahn Jung-wan pondered for a moment before looking at Lee Se-hoon.

“Are you interested in taking the Physical Evolution course?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a class I teach. It would be very helpful for your ‘Mind and Body Training.’”

Lee Se-hoon had an ambiguous expression at Ahn Jung-wan’s suggestion.

‘I’ve already learned enough about Spirit Linked Magic…’

There was no reason or interest to learn this. Deciding to decline, Lee Se-hoon was about to answer when…

“How about being a temporary teaching assistant?”

Ahn Jung-wan, sensing his hesitation, offered another condition.

“…A temporary teaching assistant?”

Assigning a first-year student, especially from the Refinement Department and not the Regenerative Therapy Department, would be a shock to others, but Ahn Jung-wan nodded without hesitation.

“I plan to start a class on spirit medicines soon and want to show the students accurate examples. With your proficiency in ‘Mind and Body Training,’ you should be able to do it without any problems.”

In front of other students, he wanted Lee Se-hoon to consume a spirit medicine and demonstrate the process.

It could be seen as a demonstration or, more cynically, as being used as a test subject.

Despite the risks, Ahn Jung-wan continued.

“The spirit medicines for the class are of the rare grade, five types. As a token of appreciation, I’ll provide items of comparable value. What do you think?”

“Call me whenever you need me.”

For Lee Se-hoon, who could consume spirit medicines with his bare body, it was an excellent condition.

* * *

A small park near the Borshifa dormitory.

After completing the discharge procedures, Lee Se-hoon arrived at a secluded spot and sat on a bench, recalling his conversation with Ahn Jung-wan.

‘Five rare-grade spirit medicines…’

While they might not be as powerful as the hero-grade ‘Yin-Yang Pill’ he had consumed, depending on the type, they could have comparable effects.

Still, considering his current physical abilities were in the lower-middle range of Babel, he saw it as a good opportunity and readily accepted it. However, he also had some doubts.

‘What’s his real intention?’

Before the regression, as a blacksmith who had met many people, Lee Se-hoon could roughly tell what kind of person someone was.

A friendly but not overly familiar person, a polite but scheming person, and a potential client considering whether to entrust a job.

Ahn Jung-wan had given off the vibe of a potential client who was considering.

‘According to Louise, he’s quite well-known in the Askus ward… Why would he assign this to a student?’

There were only two possible reasons he could think of.

Ahn Jung-wan saw him as highly capable, or it was a type of job that couldn’t be entrusted to an ordinary blacksmith.

Unable to easily guess the reason, Lee Se-hoon was deep in thought when…

Crack!

A streetlight suddenly sparked and went out.

The surrounding lights also went out one by one, plunging the area where Lee Se-hoon was sitting into darkness.

Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the area. From a distance, something quickly flew out of the bushes.

Thud!

A dark, unpolished dagger embedded in the tree behind the bench where Lee Se-hoon was sitting.

Though it was hard to see in the dark, the size and the sound of it piercing the air were familiar.

‘That’s…’

The moment Lee Se-hoon recognized it, more daggers started flying from the bushes.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In the blink of an eye, ten daggers were embedded in the tree, causing it to shake and leaves to fall.

Just as the leaves were about to fall on Lee Se-hoon’s head, a thin thread attached to the dagger handles began to absorb mana.

Hum!

White patterns appeared on the daggers as the mana was injected.

The interlocking patterns sharply rotated the injected mana, changing its nature.

A chilling aura that seemed capable of slicing through anything glowed white in the darkness, attached to the thread at the end of the dagger handles.

Swish!

The leaves that passed by were sliced into dozens of pieces.

Crack!

The leaf fragments falling on his head.

Lee Se-hoon’s eyes widened at the sharp white aura that could cut even a falling leaf.

Crack!

As the surrounding lights returned, a girl appeared.

Her brown hair, about to come loose, and the dirty leaves stuck to her stained doctor’s gown.

The dark circles under her eyes and her pale complexion made her look like she was about to collapse, but a confident smile was on her lips.

“Haha…”

The girl, Lea Claudel, who looked somewhat deflated, crossed her arms and looked at Lee Se-hoon.

“So, how is it?”

Lea, who asked for his opinion without any context, made Lee Se-hoon look at her with a puzzled expression before turning to the daggers embedded in the tree.

Hum!

The daggers, which were originally given to him by Seits, a third-year student of the Incantation Department and a lackey of the Inoue family, as a token of reconciliation, had simple enchantments and protective runes.

But after Lea’s work, they had been completely transformed.

[White Light Dagger 白光匕首]

[Grade: Rare] [Quality: Lowest]

A black dagger with a white aura.

Though it was an ordinary weapon, the ‘White Light’ enchantment allowed it to generate a sharp aura.

However, using the White Light would rapidly decrease its durability.

*The ‘White Light’ enchantment is applied.

The double-layered enchantments accelerated and compressed the infused mana, perfectly recreating the aura of the skill ‘White Light Stream’ that Lee Se-hoon had demonstrated.

Lee Se-hoon was slightly impressed by Lea’s ability to perfectly replicate a demonstration with an enchantment.

‘To upgrade an item that was barely high-grade to rare-grade… She’s quite capable.’

Of course, the durability would decrease and the engraved enchantments would be damaged, but considering the upgrade, it was a good deal.

‘No wonder she dominated the enchantment industry in the future…’

While it was somewhat ambiguous before, this confirmed the potential Lea possessed.

“Um, is it bad? I thought I did a good job…”

Lea, feeling deflated by Lee Se-hoon’s silence, mumbled.

Seeing her lack of confidence, it seemed she hadn’t fully overcome her slump, but this was still impressive.

“No.”

Lee Se-hoon stood up, looking at Lea with a satisfied smile.

“It’s excellent. Honestly, it exceeded my expectations.”

“…Really?”

“Who would have thought you could perfectly replicate what I showed you as an enchantment? At this level, it’s understandable that you didn’t have time to contact me.”

“Cough… Right? That aura was so difficult to create. I broke over a hundred knives experimenting with other blades.”

Lea, emboldened by Lee Se-hoon’s praise, shrugged and shared her struggles.

Impressed by her enthusiasm, Lee Se-hoon collected the daggers embedded in the tree and looked at her calmly.

“At this level, we can attempt mass-producing sword auras. Let’s try it when we have time.”

“Sure. That’s… Wait, mass-producing sword auras? Is that possible?”

A long-standing challenge in the hero industry, attempted by many companies and researchers but always ending in failure and losses.

Lea looked surprised at her junior’s casual statement, and Lee Se-hoon replied nonchalantly.

“Why not? It’s already half-done.”

“…What?”

“Exactly. This.”

Lea didn’t seem to realize the potential of the enchantment she created, but Lee Se-hoon understood it well.

‘There are still improvements to be made, but with a bit more compression, we can start mass production.’

The ‘Starlight’ series, the first mass-produced sword auras introduced by Galaxy Company before the regression.

The White Light Dagger was essentially a prototype of the legendary series that turned Lea Claudel, an unknown enchanter, into a ‘Maestro.’

“Mass-producing sword auras with my enchantment… If commercialized, the royalties…”

Though her mind was foggy from days of sleepless nights, the potential for astronomical profits was clear.

As Lea imagined the money, her eyes widened, and Lee Se-hoon, standing beside her, clapped his hands in front of her face.

Clap!

“Ah!”

“Snap out of it. At this level, it’s far from enough.”

“Ah, right. Huh… Right.”

The power of the aura was still weak, and there were many issues with durability and the enchantment’s weaknesses.

Realizing the premature nature of the discussion, Lea pushed aside the distracting thoughts and calmed herself.

“So, what’s the favor you mentioned in the text?”

Lea, switching gears like flipping a switch, prompted Lee Se-hoon, who promptly got to the point.

“I’m planning to create a weapon and need to engrave enchantments to achieve the desired performance. Can you help?”

“Sure, I’d be happy to. What kind of material and enchantments are we talking about?”

The same enchantment could have numerous variables depending on the material and effects. Given the temperamental nature of the person in front of him, it was likely to be a challenging task.

‘Considering the selection competition for the Ivory Tower’s special students, it’s a bit tight, but this is actually a good opportunity.’

Lea seemed to have overcome her slump somewhat by creating the White Light enchantment. Pushing her to the limit might help her fully recover.

Impressed by Lea’s enthusiasm, Lee Se-hoon looked at her with a proud expression.

“I want to engrave ‘Erosion Enhancement’ and ‘Mana Amplification’ on the Dreamer.”

“…D-Dreamer?”

Lee Se-hoon’s words made Lea’s eyes tremble.

The Dreamer, infused with the power of illusion, was a difficult material to handle, especially in the enchantment industry, where it was notorious.

A slight mistake or distraction could cause the power of illusion to erase the entire enchantment.

‘And both Erosion Enhancement and Mana Amplification. One is hard enough, but both together…’

Could she really do it? Doubt crept in, but Lea quickly pushed it aside.

‘No, I must do it!’

She refused to be dragged down by this frustrating slump any longer. Determined to succeed, Lea looked at Lee Se-hoon.

“Alright, I’ll try….”

“And I also need to use Nanhua Wu, so I need to engrave ‘Spatial Separation’ and ‘Designated Imprint’ enchantments.”

“…Nanhua Wu? The Vermilion Bird’s feather?”

A rare material that couldn’t be obtained even with money, known for its tendency to burn and reset the enchantment process.

Engraving the Spatial Separation and Designated Imprint enchantments, which took hours to complete, on such a vicious material was a daunting task.

“Can you do it?”

Lea, looking at her junior’s smiling face, rolled her eyes before answering.

“Can’t we find someone else…?”