I Became a Genius Black Mage at the Holy Academy

Panroa Dormitory, First Floor.

Snore!

The duty knight, as expected, was too deeply asleep to notice anything. 

Roan swiftly passed the duty room and headed to the end of the corridor. 

There was a storage room containing cleaning supplies and simple tools. Normally, students weren’t allowed in since the door was locked.

Click!

Roan easily unlocked the door. He knew there was a key hidden in a nearby locker.

‘Too easy.’

If he were to run into a teacher or a patrolling knight, he could be fined for breaking the rules. 

‘But that’s a minor risk.’

Roan was well aware of the staff’s schedules and where they were likely to be near the dorm. He had memorized the optimal time for this task: 3:17 a.m., having repeated this route countless times for clearances. 

By exiting through the storage room window, he could reach the forest behind the dorm without anyone getting within 100 meters of him.

‘There’s still the possibility of a random encounter with the principal, but… I’m not worried about that.’

The presence of Harden was the only remaining obstacle, but a Holy Spirit could not be avoided just by being cautious, and the event’s occurrence probability was extremely low. 

Avoiding Harden completely would mean giving up on sneaking out at night altogether.

Roan quickly moved through the back mountain of Panroa Dormitory. The eerie atmosphere didn’t bother him. He knew there were no dangerous events at this time.

‘I need to obtain the holy relic within this week.’

He had to quickly build up his stats. The holy relic was an artifact hidden in one of Akerandir’s hidden dungeons. 

According to Roan, it was the easiest to clear and most useful in various situations. However, as it was still a dungeon, he needed to prepare proper offensive spells.

‘Let’s go deeper to avoid detection…’

Though the rugged mountain path left him breathless, Roan continued to push forward.

* * *

Halfway up the cliff, facing away from the academy.

Roan finally stopped, gasping for breath. 

“… This should be far enough.”

He had minimized the risk of getting caught. Roan sat on a suitable rock and began recalling the black magic spells he could use immediately.

‘The easiest to start with is blood magic…’

There were several branches of black magic, but blood magic was the most accessible. 

Unlike other black magic, it could use the caster’s blood as a reagent, making preparation much simpler and more powerful than using no reagents. 

However, this also came with its own set of concerns.

‘How the False Divinity will translate blood magic is crucial.’

This issue applied to all black magic, but it was especially problematic for blood magic. It would be odd for a priest to go around spraying dark red blood.

“Hm. I’ll just have to try it and see.”

Roan decided to test it and think later if it turned out too strange. He took out a dagger and pricked his finger. A sharp pain accompanied the bead of blood forming over the wound. 

The basic step for using blood magic involved blood control to lift a small amount of blood into the air and then the use of the modified Flesh Burst spell from basic healing to multiply the blood.

‘Normally, this wouldn’t be possible…’

Even with the regeneration element left in Flesh Burst, the detached blood wouldn’t multiply on its own. But this was Akerandir.

Plucking a weed from the ground, Roan placed it into the hovering blood. 

Then he cast Flesh Burst.

‘… But can this still be called Flesh Burst?’

It seemed to have evolved far beyond its original form, but still.

Whoosh!

The modified Flesh Burst after being enhanced by False Divinity transformed into a magnificent holy spell that regenerated the blood. 

The weed, soaked in the holy energy of Akerandir, assisted in this process.

Splat!

The drop of blood was initially smaller than a fingernail. Then, it started to grow rapidly and eventually became as large as Roan’s head.

“For now, let’s store this properly…”

Roan then transferred most of the blood, except for what he immediately needed, into the leather water bottle he had bought at the market. 

This completed the basic preparation for using blood magic.

‘The reagent comes from my body, and I can multiply it infinitely with just some weeds?’

Roan found it almost too easy and felt astounded at his success. 

Any ordinary character would have to invest immense effort and money just to multiply the amount of blood, let alone modify the spell.

Even as a black mage, he felt fortunate to be a student at Akerandir!

‘… That’s not right.’

It felt like Stockholm Syndrome—finding happiness in the smallest bits amidst numerous adversities.

Nevertheless, now the real work began.

‘Let’s start with Blood Fragments.’

This basic offensive spell splits blood mixed with mana into small shards for attacking. 

The quality of mana determined the size and number of shards, and the quality of blood affected their destructive power. 

Roan closed his eyes and visualized the magic circle for Blood Fragments. Though his memory was somewhat hazy, it was enough. His innate talent filled in the gaps and enhanced the rest.

‘That boulder should be sufficient.’

After completing the magic circle, he aimed at a sizable boulder that should withstand the destructive power of Blood Fragments. 

As he infused it with dark mana.

Woooong!

False Divinity fragmented the magic circle into symbols and hieroglyphs, just like it did with Flesh Burst. 

The result was something beyond Roan’s understanding.

‘It looks incredibly complicated, but…?’

It was so intricate that Roan wondered if this could truly be the translated form of Blood Fragments.

But as the blood rapidly reconfigured according to the completed black magic.

“????”

Roan found himself unable to proceed. He was completely bewildered.

 The number of shards was overwhelming—easily hundreds. 

Roan had never handled this many shards at once. If he had known how to use Blood Fragments this way, he would have opted for higher-level spells instead of basic ones.

But this was not even the most crucial part.

“… Judgment of Holy Blood?”

Roan muttered the name of the holy spell he remembered.

‘I expected the color to change because of False Divinity, but…’

He had thought it would turn white or something less conspicuous, a transformation he could explain away as a basic holy spell. 

But each shard glowed with a dazzling golden light.

Roan remembered seeing a similar spell when he played God and Devil. This spell was ‘Judgment of Holy Blood.’

‘No way.’

It seemed too unbelievable. 

Judgment of Holy Blood was a highly advanced spell from the past, one of the ‘Holy Blood’ series. It was used by high-ranking officials like archbishops and cardinals.

Roan recognized the ‘Judgment of Holy Blood’ because he had barely witnessed a cardinal use it in a past episode.

‘That skill was insanely overpowered.’

In the lore, ancient holy spells were much more powerful than current ones, and the power of the Judgment of Holy Blood was truly jaw-dropping.

So, the basic black magic spell, Blood Shard, had transformed into the Judgment of Holy Blood.

“… It might just be for show.”

But Roan decided to stay calm.

From his experience, False Divinity had a knack for dressing up insignificant black magic to look grandiose. It might just be that it looked flashy with the golden light, but in reality, it could still be a basic Blood Shard.

─────!!!!

“….”

However, after the spell flew, Roan kept his mouth shut. 

There was one good news and one bad news.

‘At least it’s not the Judgment of Holy Blood.’

The good news was that the splendid appearance was just False Divinity’s bluff. 

If it were truly the Judgment of Holy Blood, the ground would have been obliterated. 

Still, it was much stronger than a typical Blood Shard.

That was because Roan’s mana and blood were of far higher quality than he had anticipated.

‘And the bad news…’

Roan looked around at the aftermath of his spell in a daze. 

The large boulder he had targeted had been pulverized into dust. The surroundings looked like they had been hit by an explosion. 

The destructive power was so great that someone surely must have noticed. 

That was the bad news.

‘Better run away!’

Feeling an instinctive sense of danger, Roan immediately prepared to leave the mountain. 

He had just come to practice some black magic for a simple dungeon run, but now it was a disaster!

‘This damn power never helps at all!’

Wooooong!

As Roan cursed harshly, False Divinity vibrated, feeling wronged. 

It had translated the spell into something extraordinary, yet the master was complaining. 

And the strength of the Blood Shard was due to the master, not False Divinity!

Nonetheless, Roan had to hurry. 

Even though he had chosen a spot that shouldn’t have been noticeable from the academy, the chaos he caused would have been felt by someone.

‘And if that someone is like Professor Kaina…’

The mere thought made him shiver. 

He had no choice but to leave the area as quickly as possible.

Just as Roan was about to head down in a hurry,

“───!”

He was startled out of his wits. 

Out of the darkness where there had been nothing,

“That’s quite a flashy spell you used there.”

A hazy figure appeared, soon revealing itself to be Harden!

‘Talk about bad luck!’

Roan was so shocked he couldn’t even scream, but he quickly regained his composure. 

This was Roan’s natural inclination; he didn’t need to try hard in such situations.

“What do you mean by spell?”

“… Isn’t that a bit too shameless?”

When Roan responded innocently as if he had no idea what Harden was talking about, Harden pointed over his shoulder with his chin. 

There lay the mess created by the Blood Shard.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk and saw lightning strike. I was heading back quickly because it seemed dangerous.”

“Oh, is that so? Lightning out of nowhere, huh? Must have been quite the scare. Let me take you to Professor Kaina.”

“… I apologize. I was just doing some light training.”

Roan quickly confessed.

To think he could deceive Harden.

It would be easier to use black magic in front of Professor Kaina and claim it as a newly developed holy spell.

“Why do you keep trying to hide it? That really is an impressive spell. I haven’t seen anything like it for over a thousand years…”

Harden floated around, examining everything in his spirit form, making ‘hoo— hoo—‘ noises. 

Then, he landed in front of Roan, clicking his tongue.

“Tsk. If you continue a few more simple training sessions, there won’t be anything left of Akerandir.”

“… I’m sorry.”

Roan bowed his head again.

From Harden’s perspective, it must have seemed like some black mage was wrecking his holy grounds.

… It wasn’t intentional, honestly.

“Enough. It’s a good thing I hastily set up a barrier, thinking it was an attack. I told you not to do anything noticeable, but you couldn’t resist even for a moment…”

Harden’s scolding was justifiable, but Roan felt wronged.

‘I didn’t mean for it to come to this!’

He had merely intended to use a basic black magic spell to acquire a modest artifact.

He shuddered to think what might happen if he used high-level black magic in the future.

Meanwhile, Harden was calming his own startled heart.

‘Good grief. I thought he was just an amusing little fellow, but…’

When Roan first used the blood fragment spell, Harden had come running himself instead of summoning his subordinates or holy knights.

The aura he felt was unusual.

To prevent the situation from escalating, he had set up a barrier, only to find this.

A novice black mage using something that resembled an ancient holy spell.

Moreover, to learn that the original spell was merely a modified blood fragment sent chills down his spine for the first time in millennia.

… Although he had no actual skin to get goosebumps.

In any case, Harden grasped the situation immediately.

‘A talent emerging once in millennia combined with a suspiciously powerful ability…’

Even for a seasoned authority, casually altering basic spells was no easy task.

If it were, why would scholars bother studying and researching centuries-old records?

They’d just create new spells themselves.

But here was an individual doing this in a single night.

This transcendent talent, combined with an enigmatic ability even Harden found hard to gauge, resulted in the absurd recreation of an ancient holy spell’s appearance and partial divinity.

‘… He might even surpass me in my prime.’

As much as he hated to admit it, Harden couldn’t help but acknowledge the thought.

A prodigy black mage from a ruined noble family with such an ability? It seemed almost divine.

Thus, Harden decided to observe Roan’s talents further.

… It would have been better if this talent was in holy magic rather than black magic.

“Hmm.”

As Harden glanced around and then back at Roan, Roan couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt each time, causing him to flinch. 

To the ancient spirit, it was rather endearing.

“Well, since I had such an interesting spectacle, I suppose I should give you something in return. Take this.”

He then pulled out a thick wallet from his robes.

‘Can a spirit even carry a wallet?’

Roan had a fleeting thought but quickly dismissed it. 

If he could wear clothes, there was no reason he couldn’t carry a wallet. 

Besides, the alternative of Harden walking around naked was not something Roan wanted to consider.

“Here you go.”

With a jingling sound, Harden placed a coin in Roan’s hand.

“Thank you…?”

Roan bowed politely and appeared puzzled.

Jingling? A coin?

“Isn’t this an Imperial gold coin?”

Even Roan could see it was a shiny gold coin.

Harden smiled and asked, “Yes, it’s an Imperial gold coin. Why? Is it not enough? Do you want another one?”

‘He’s doing this on purpose!’

Knowing full well that only Dalants were used at the academy, Harden had given him an Imperial gold coin. He probably wanted to see a frustrated student trembling with helplessness.

“Thank you very much.”

Roan, however, seemed genuinely pleased. He bowed even deeper.

“… Huh? Why?”

Harden was understandably baffled. He could tell Roan was sincerely grateful, which confused him further. 

Had this kid not been to the commercial district yet?

But Roan simply smiled and said nothing.

‘Anyway, I have plenty of Dalants!’

Roan thought. 

After all, he had 10,000 Dalants. He had spent a bit in the commercial district, but that was just a drop in the ocean. Thus, a gold coin he could use after graduation was much more valuable.

Harden was unaware of those circumstances. He felt an inexplicable unease but nodded.

“Well, as long as you’re thankful. I’ll keep the barrier up a bit longer, so do what you need to do. Just don’t forget to return to the dormitory in due time.”

“Yes. Thank you, Principal.”

This was an unexpected gain. 

Harden disappeared as smoothly as he had appeared, and Roan bowed deeply after him.

‘He’s a true educator!’

Such consideration for a student regardless of their background or major; what a benevolent human being. 

Despite his appearance, there was a reason he remained a revered spirit.

Roan returned to the dormitory, McGodall Dorm, just as the eastern sky began to brighten.