I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Creating martial arts.

This issue was a far more overwhelming challenge than it seemed.

Making martial arts itself was doable. I just needed to piece things together and incorporate the parts that suited me.

However, with the power I possessed now, which was difficult to contain even in the vessel of the “Greatest External Art,” if I aimed to transcend and achieve a higher realm, I must create a new vessel.

It had to be something fitting for me, allowing room for growth while making my body as strong as possible. However, I couldn’t focus solely on durability.

After all, as the stages progressed, durability increased, but other aspects were needed too.

‘The fortunate part is that I have mastered the Black God Martial Arts.’

Black God Martial Arts could adjust all the components of the body: the flow of blood, the strength of bones, the fortification of organs. Most external arts couldn’t do such things, but Black God Martial Arts could. That’s why it was called the greatest external art.

This strength of Black God Martial Arts also gave me an advantage when creating martial arts. It guided me on how to proceed to make the body stronger and what the flow of energy will result in, etc.

‘There’s also Kim Seo-hyun.’

Kim Seo-hyun had a natural talent for creating martial arts. It was not just because her talent was extraordinary and she could become a master of the first order. More importantly, Kim Seo-hyun held within her the entire thousand-year history of the martial world.

Like a library.

Her mind was filled with all martial arts without missing a single one. From The Heavenly Demon Divine Art, created before the Black God Martial Arts, to the Diamond Unmoving Divine Art and Yijinjing of Shaolin, the Purple River Divine Art and Plum Blossom Swordsmanship of the Mount Hua Sect, and the Taiji Swordsmanship of the Wudang Sect.

There was no martial art missing from her knowledge, except for the three martial arts related to Black God Martial Arts—Black Scale, Black Wing, and Black Mirror—that disappeared due to certain events. Other than those, she knew them all.

That’s why I entrusted Kim Seo-hyun with my diagnosis.

-Me? You want me to diagnose you?

-There’s no one else but you.

Fortunately, Kim Seo-hyun agreed willingly. She also said she needed to check the martial arts because we were about to create a martial art that would harmonize all the highest-ranking martial arts.

However, after observing my condition, Kim Seo-hyun seemed startled.

-This… this is strange. Black God Martial Arts is the greatest external art, but right now, Seo-ha, your state is at the level of containing an entire world.

-Is that strange?

-It’s extremely strange. Even transcendent beings can’t do this. They can contain parts of a nation, like the capital of an empire or kingdom, but your world contains an entire realm… and even reflects beyond the world.

The Thousand Sorcerer also examined me after Kim Seo-hyun’s diagnosis.

-Have you ever seen someone else’s inner world?

-No, I haven’t had the opportunity.

-It’s hard to see in the first place. Only a few can open their inner world. In my case, I create mine with absolute spells, so it’s hard to show others. But one thing is clear: other people’s inner worlds are ‘confined.’

-Confined?

-Yes. For example, Daji’s inner world was the capital of the Yin dynasty, right? I don’t know if you remember, Seo-ha, but the sky in Daji’s world didn’t exist. But your inner world is different. Your world, the world you contain, is ‘open.’ I have no idea how far that potential will stretch.

According to Kim Seo-hyun, my potential was far greater than expected.

So Kim Seo-hyun simply said this:

-If external arts are like the pillars or the ground of a house, imagine having an entire world within just a small plot of land. Seo-ha, you’re in a much more dangerous state than you think.

…And so, I decided to give up on creating external arts.

Kim Seo-hyun said I needed to create something that could support the world.

-But I don’t think I can do that. I think it needs to be something other than martial arts.

So, for the past three months, I had been thinking.

‘Do I really need to obsess over martial arts?’

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

And it felt like it might be the answer.

What I had been exploring was something external.

Supporting the world.

And there just happened to be something that could work.

A skill, “Sutr’s Strength (S).”

Sutr was a fire giant from Norse mythology. In this world, he was known as a giant god and shares a similar bloodline with Kim Ara’s ancestors. He was defeated by Odin and was currently sealed somewhere, but even Odin, who was considered part of the gods, felt threatened by his power.

I looked at the grade.

S-grade.

It frequently appeared in my status window, and, to be more precise, any main character-level figure usually had one. But in reality, it was a talent that’s extremely rare and hard to obtain.

It’s the kind of talent that might emerge in one of the spiritually advanced cities in the world.

Polishing it could raise its grade to the very highest level.

However, this talent was not something a giant god should possess.

‘In other words, just having immense strength is enough to be S-grade.’

I shifted my thinking.

What if I transplanted Sutr’s body into mine?

-…Master?

After all, my body was already that of a dragon.

Even if the power of a giant god was added, I had already drifted far from being human, so I thought it wouldn’t matter much.

I scanned my status window.

Special stat: Dragon (龍).

This power of transforming into the Dragon Race was a force I gained through the talent “Black Heaven Dragon Blood (S+),” despite having no prior connection to dragons.

So, wasn’t there a way to acquire the power of a giant god?

[“Sutr’s Skin (S)” - 200,000P]

[“Sutr’s Bones (S)” - 200,000P]

[“Sutr’s Heart (S)” - 350,000P]

[“Sutr’s Blood (S)” - 200,000P]

But I couldn’t purchase the heart.

[Warning: If you transplant “Sutr’s Heart (S)” for 350,000P, the power of “Infinite Black Flame (Ex)” may be weakened.]

Because of this warning.

The world expanded from my heart rejected the giant’s heart.

‘It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped.’

I purchased other items, and the response came immediately.

[“Sutr's Strength (S),” “Sutr's Skin (S),” “Sutr's Bones (S),” and “Sutr's Blood (S)” have combined to form “Illusion of the Flame Giant (S+).”]

[“Illusion of the Flame Giant (S+)” has combined with “Black Heaven Dragon Blood (S+),” activating “Giant Dragon Blood of the Black Flame Heaven (S++).”]

[The special stat Struggle has been changed to Giant.]

[The power of the Giant and the Dragon have been balanced.]

[Name: Lee Seo-ha]

Alias: The Savior.

Special Stats:

Giant: 75.

Dragon: 75.

Conceptual Stat:

Alchemy: 75.

Absolute Stat:

Black: 2.

◈Talents:

“Reading (-),” “Heavenly (?),” “Eternal Existence (S+),” “Sword Demon (S+),” “Giant Dragon of the Black Flame Heaven (S++),” “Infinite Vitality (S),” “Apostle Transformation (S),” “Golden Hands (S),” “Talent of the Great Master (S)”

◈Skills:

“Infinite Black Flame Star (Ex),” “Seven-Colored Eyes (?),” “Black Flame God Sword (S+),” “Origin of Martial Arts (S),” “Yin-Yang Divine Arts (S),” “Illusory Flame God Step (S),” “Mind of Yang (S),” “Extreme Flame Demon Sword (A),” “Lecture (D+)”

◈Body Constitution:

“Infinite Heaven Defying Body (S+)”

With this, my body had become stronger. However, this was only a temporary fix.

Ultimately, I needed to make my body stronger.

‘I’ll create external martial arts.’

But there wasn’t enough time. The new special stat, Giant, and the talent “Giant Dragon of the Black Flame Heaven (S++)” were more unruly than I had anticipated, taking up more time than expected to control.

‘In the end, external martial arts…’

I couldn’t create them. I managed to strengthen the external martial art, Black God Martial Arts, a bit more, but that was the limit. Actually, can this even be called strengthening? I merely invested most of the power into durability, making my body tougher, but that was about it.

The downside didn’t stop there.

The special stat, Giant, and the talent, “Giant Dragon of the Black Flame Heaven (S++),” gave me another gift.

It was my height.

My height, which had already surpassed 180 cm, suddenly shot up to 190 cm. I had already given up on being human, but I didn’t want to grow this tall.

So, I had to adjust.

This process took up a lot of time.

“Hm, this isn’t bad. If before you looked a bit delicate, now you still look delicate but with an incredible sense of masculinity.”

“…Really?”

I couldn’t tell him about my appearance.

In my past life and this one, I had always looked delicate. My friends often joked that I looked like a gigolo. So, this didn’t feel bad.

I changed into new martial robes and, while snacking on the sweets that the Thousand Sorcerer had brought, we waited for him. Despite being a mage, he was the highest-ranked among us and could move freely, making it easier for him to gather information.

“Hm…”

I gazed out from the cave entrance toward the mountains, evaluating my strength. Perhaps because I had gained the body of a Giant, my hands were itching. I wanted to test just how strong I had become.

‘I feel like I could pull out a mountain and throw it.’

Kim Ara managed to do that during her awakening. There were various triggering events, but the biggest factor was her being a hybrid of the Giant race. Not just any Giant, but one with the bloodline of the King of Giants, so it was expected.

‘The problem is, my body hasn’t finished adjusting yet.’

It would be embarrassing if my body went into overload. However, a temptation arose. How could I not know my own body? I needed to personally experience the limits to understand them.

As I pondered this, Kim Seo-hyun sat beside me, smiling.

Perhaps it was because we had been here for a while, but Kim Seo-hyun’s hair had grown quite long, long enough to cover her shoulders completely.

“It feels nice being here.”

“…It’s not bad.”

The air here was fresh. The water tasted great. The problem was the lack of cola. I had stored a lot of it in a subspace, so I had enough for now, but if this lifestyle continued, I might have to live without cola.

“I miss it too. Mint chocolate, DejaVu, Sol’s Eye… I can’t imagine living without McCol.”

“….”

I didn’t say anything, just quietly averted my eyes.

Sometimes you could curse with your eyes.

Slowly, Kim Seo-hyun moved closer to me, blushing, and leaned her head on my chest.

“…I like this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I liked the old, delicate Seo-ha too, but now, I feel even more comfortable. Maybe it’s because you’ve changed more to my taste.”

With a giggle, Kim Seo-hyun embraced me. The problem was that she was hugging me in such a way that from a distance, it might seem like we were doing something inappropriate.

Fortunately(?), not long after, the Thousand Sorcerer teleported in with a flash, appearing right in front of us.

“We’re in trouble.”

“In trouble?”

“Yes. You know that The Heavenly Demon has placed a bounty on us, right?”

“Yes.”

The Heavenly Demon had placed a bounty on us. The bounty on Kim Seo-hyun and the Thousand Sorcerer was enormous, but the one on me was astronomical. Just reporting my location would give someone enough money to buy a castle.

“The Heavenly Demon has been searching everywhere. Instead of targeting the sects or the Demonic Cult first, they’re prioritizing finding you. Thanks to that, the pressure that the Demonic Cult usually exerts on both the righteous and the unorthodox factions has eased. Now, the righteous and unorthodox factions have joined forces. While it hasn’t been explicitly stated, it seems the imperial palace is also lending their support.”

“So?”

“Seo-hyun, no matter what, you can’t be that close to another man in front of your father…”

“Seo-ha isn’t another man anymore, is he?”

“…Raising a daughter is pointless. Anyway, it looks like a major war is about to break out.”

“…Do we have a chance?”

“The righteous faction seems to be confident in something. Given that both the imperial palace and the unorthodox faction are mobilizing, there must be something.”

“Hm…”

I closed my eyes in thought.

At that moment, I could feel Kim Seo-hyun’s soft body even more… No, that’s not the point.

‘If a war breaks out.’

The Great Evil would run rampant. Humanity’s negative emotions would be fuel for the Great Evil. He would definitely try to grow his power. The problem was that The Heavenly Demon was obsessed with capturing me.

‘We’ll have to face him sooner or later.’

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to confront him now.

“Let’s go.”

And so, we headed to the battlefield.