Bae Seong-hyeon and I walked briskly to the front of the classroom. Ha Ye-jin welcomed us with a bright smile.
"You both know how to use blessings, right?"
Though she said "you both," Bae Seong-hyeon and I weren't particularly close. Nevertheless, we nodded.
"Then could you please use the 'Intermediate Strength Enhancement Blessing'?"
"Ah."
"What? Student Do Seon-woo, what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing."
This was bad.
An intermediate blessing. The only blessings I knew how to use were basic ones.
My vision darkened. Perhaps due to nervousness, cold sweat formed on my forehead and my fingertips trembled.
While I was in this state, Bae Seong-hyeon skillfully drew a blessing circle.
It was a flawless 'Intermediate Strength Enhancement Blessing Circle' without a single error. Brilliant light poured out from the blessing circle Bae Seong-hyeon drew, as if showing off his success.
"Student Bae Seong-hyeon drew it very well. Next, student Do Seon-woo, please draw your blessing circle."
Ha Ye-jin urged me on. With trembling fingertips, I drew an intermediate strength enhancement blessing circle.
Naturally, I failed.
The blessing circle lost its light and crumbled into ash. My heart seemed to crumble along with it.
Ha Ye-jin looked at me with a confused and puzzled expression.
"Um, maybe you're nervous? Try again."
"I can't do it."
I gave up. My body was trembling and my heart was collapsing, so I didn't have the confidence to try again.
Ha Ye-jin's face hardened stiffly.
"Why not?"
"Actually, I don't know how to use intermediate or higher blessings."
When I confessed my honest feelings, Ha Ye-jin's hardened expression softened a little.
"Hmm~ I think I understand what you mean. I could call another student instead. But how about trying one more time as a final attempt?"
Last night, I stayed up all night drawing intermediate blessing circles. However, I never succeeded even once. Even if I tried again, the result would be the same.
Nevertheless, Ha Ye-jin told me to try once more. In her eyes, there remained a glimmer of expectation toward me. She seemed to see some possibility in me.
"I understand."
And I decided to live up to Ha Ye-jin's expectations. Even knowing I couldn't possibly succeed, I simply chose to trust Ha Ye-jin vaguely.
I forcibly calmed my trembling heart and carefully drew the blessing circle. At the center of the blessing circle where curves and straight lines were complexly connected, I inserted a 'core' formed with divine power.
Then, brilliant and radiant light began pouring out from the blessing circle.
The light of blessing.
The fact that the light of blessing poured out meant I had succeeded in drawing a complete blessing circle.
"It worked, it worked…!"
However, that was only momentary. The brilliantly shining light of blessing ultimately disappeared. The blessing circle that lost its light remained floating in the air, leaving only an afterimage.
Another failure.
"...I'm sorry."
I hung my head deeply. I felt ashamed. I was embarrassed by myself for having briefly rejoiced thinking I had succeeded. It was devastating.
However, Ha Ye-jin wasn't disappointed. She was actually surprised.
"Student Do Seon-woo, where did you learn how to draw blessing circles? An academy? Or from your parents?"
"Ah, I watched videos."
"Videos? Do you mean online lectures?"
"No, ...YouTube videos."
The children giggled and laughed. Some were mocking, and some were genuinely amused.
They probably thought I was joking, but it was the complete truth without a single lie.
I learned how to draw blessing circles from YouTube. This was because there was no one around me who knew how to handle divine power. I had never attended the trendy divine power academies either.
"You've never attended an academy? And your parents never taught you either?"
"No. The situation was a bit, unfavorable."
"I see. Student Do Seon-woo has some bad habits. Please emit some divine power."
As instructed, I emitted divine power from my fingertips. Ha Ye-jin suddenly grabbed my hand and used my fingers as a brush to draw a blessing circle in the air.
Unlike what I had drawn, it was a perfect blessing circle without anything lacking or insufficient.
"The first habit is direction. Student Do Seon-woo draws blessing circles counterclockwise. Usually they're drawn clockwise."
"What? Oh."
The standard for Voodoo spell circles is to draw them counterclockwise. That habit must have remained.
"And the second habit concerns the process of forming the core. Student Do Seon-woo has a very bad habit…"
Ding dong dang dong…
Before Ha Ye-jin's explanation could reach its conclusion, the bell rang.
"Oh my, we'll continue the parts we couldn't cover today next time. I didn't manage time properly since it was the first class. Sorry!"
Ha Ye-jin said with an apologetic smile. The children got up from their seats as if they had been waiting and stretched.
Bae Seong-hyeon, who had been pushed to the background because I monopolized attention, clicked his tongue with a dissatisfied face and left the classroom.
Ha Ye-jin smiled brightly at the children, then turned her head toward me.
"To continue what I was saying earlier, the way student Do Seon-woo forms cores is fundamentally wrong. To be precise, it's not wrong, but there's a problem with the approach."
"What? I don't quite understand."
"Think about it carefully by yourself."
Ha Ye-jin left only mysterious words and left the classroom.
* * *
Walking down the hallway returning to the faculty office, Ha Ye-jin reflected on the class content.
Ha Ye-jin's homeroom class, Charity, had many talented students. Three could be highlighted as representative.
First, Bae Seong-hyeon. Needless to say, he had overwhelming talent. It took him less than 10 seconds to draw an intermediate strength enhancement blessing circle. It wouldn't be wrong to say he had already surpassed student level.
Second was Jeong In-ah. Her ability to analyze blessing circles was extremely excellent. In terms of analytical ability alone, she was comparable to most teachers. However, her practical skills seemed somewhat lacking compared to her theory. That part was disappointing, but she could gradually improve.
Finally third, Do Seon-woo. Perfect score on the diagnostic evaluation. He had an overwhelming intellect in theory, especially religious studies and history, that was second to none. However, he didn't seem accustomed to handling divine power yet.
'No, it wasn't that he wasn't accustomed. Something...'
Actually, Ha Ye-jin couldn't evaluate Do Seon-woo's abilities. There were too many strange things about the blessing circles Do Seon-woo drew. So much so that she wondered if this was even possible by common sense.
"Teacher Ye-jin, what are you thinking about so deeply?"
A colleague teacher called out to Ha Ye-jin, who had been lost in deep thought. Ha Ye-jin was startled and looked around.
It was the faculty office.
She had been so absorbed in deep contemplation that she forgot even her surroundings and had arrived at the faculty office without realizing it.
Ha Ye-jin smiled sheepishly and opened her mouth.
"The class just now was quite impressive."
"Why? Did someone cause trouble?"
"No, it's not that."
Ha Ye-jin thought about something for a moment with her head down.
"Teacher, is it possible for the shape of a blessing circle core to deviate from spherical or ellipsoidal forms?"
"What? I believe that's impossible. Why?"
"This is really just a hypothetical question. What would happen if it deviated from spherical or ellipsoidal forms?"
"Um. I've never thought about it, so I'm not sure. Wouldn't the blessing circle collapse?"
"Right. That would be correct, wouldn't it?"
Ha Ye-jin lowered her head with a dark expression.
"But why did you ask? I'm curious."
When the colleague teacher asked Ha Ye-jin, she showed a bright smile.
"It's nothing important."
"What? Teacher Ye-jin always makes people curious and then doesn't finish talking."
The colleague teacher playfully pretended to be upset. Even during this, Ha Ye-jin was thinking about Do Seon-woo.
Precisely, about the blessing circles Do Seon-woo had drawn.
When creating basic blessing circles, there's no need to construct a core. However, when creating intermediate or higher blessing circles, a core must be constructed.
At this time, if the core's shape deviates from spherical or ellipsoidal forms, the blessing circle loses power and collapses. That was the established theory.
However, the core Do Seon-woo constructed was neither spherical nor ellipsoidal. If anything, it was closer to a cube or rectangular prism shape. The reason Do Seon-woo failed to draw intermediate blessing circles was also due to this.
However, what was puzzling was.
'Despite that, the light of blessing poured out from the blessing circle.'
Though it was really brief, the light of blessing poured out from the blessing circle Do Seon-woo drew. This meant that Do Seon-woo had succeeded in creating a complete blessing circle, even if only momentarily.
With a cubic core that was neither spherical nor ellipsoidal. He had drawn blessing circles in his own way that deviated from orthodox methods.
'What kind of kid is he.'
Ha Ye-jin felt curiosity toward Do Seon-woo. It was curiosity as a teacher, but also curiosity felt as a scholar researching divine power.
* * *
After Ha Ye-jin's class ended, the classroom was unusually noisy. Everyone had swollen expectations and anxiety on their faces. I couldn't understand what made them so excited.
"Why is everyone so excited?"
"Next period is practical class. It's the first practical, so they're excited."
I had just muttered to myself, but Gu Jun-hyeok appeared from somewhere and answered.
He would be by my side, then suddenly disappear without a trace, then appear by my side again at some point.
Because of this, Gu Jun-hyeok always felt like he was there but not there, not there but there.
"Oh? Next is practical? Where do we do it?"
While Gu Jun-hyeok and I were talking, Jeong In-ah appeared from somewhere and naturally joined the conversation.
"If you go straight back from here, there's a hill. We do it there. I think the name was Eden Hill."
"Really? Let's go then."
Jeong In-ah used her characteristic initiative to drag us out of the classroom.
So the three of us walked to a place called 'Eden Hill' located behind Florence. From the name alone, it smelled like an imitation of 'that garden.'
"But Do Seon-woo, why are you so bad at drawing blessing circles?"
While walking, Gu Jun-hyeok playfully picked a fight. It was a fight that had become so familiar I'd miss it if it weren't there.
"How well do you do it yourself? For learning from YouTube, Seon-woo did pretty well."
"No, but who learns blessings from YouTube? Does that make sense? Weren't you joking to be funny?"
"Hey! Be quiet."
When Gu Jun-hyeok picked fights, Jeong In-ah would step up to defend me. I didn't need to say anything. Our conversations among the three of us were always like this.
After bickering with Gu Jun-hyeok, Jeong In-ah turned her gaze to me and smiled awkwardly.
"If there's anything you don't know, ask me. I'll teach you."
She seemed to think I hadn't had the opportunity to learn blessings due to unfavorable family circumstances.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't wrong, but I somehow felt guilty. It was a strange feeling, as if I had lied to her.
Though my life itself was already full of lies from the beginning.
"But, isn't it 'absurd' for the 12th place to teach the 1st place?"
"I told you to be quiet."
"Ack."
Gu Jun-hyeok emphasized the word 'absurd' in his speech. Jeong In-ah lightly kicked Gu Jun-hyeok's shin as he kept being annoying from the side. I just laughed watching them.
[I realized a few things from the class just now. Two things. It's urgent.]
Then suddenly Legba spoke to me. His tone was urgent.
However, with Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah beside me, I couldn't answer right away.
Looking around, I happened to see a public restroom. Florence's campus was so vast that public restrooms were installed throughout.
"You guys go ahead. I need to use the restroom for a moment."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
I sent Gu Jun-hyeok and Jeong In-ah ahead and entered the restroom alone. It smelled a bit foul, but there was no better place to have a conversation with Loa.
[Right. First, you. You have a bad habit when drawing blessing circles. Fix it.]
"That could be said later. I thought it was something urgent."
[No, it's urgent. Originally, blessing circle cores are spherical or ellipsoidal. But you used a cubic core. Do you know what this means?]
"What? I don't know."
[Spell circles use cubic cores. The habits from when you draw spell circles are completely revealed when you draw blessing circles. If you keep doing this, you'll be discovered soon. Florence teachers aren't stupid.]
I gulped. I never dreamed I had such a habit.
[When drawing blessing circles, construct the core in spherical form. Then you'll succeed at drawing intermediate blessing circles too.]
"Oh, really?"
I tried drawing a blessing circle as a test.
Intermediate strength enhancement blessing circle... At the center of the drawn blessing circle, I inserted a core constructed with divine power. It seemed to shine briefly, then lost its light and collapsed.
It was a failure. Nothing new about that.
"What? It doesn't work."
[How absurd. You're still using a cubic core. Use a 'spherical' core.]
However, no matter how much I tried, only cubic cores were constructed by my hands. I didn't know how to construct spherical cores in the first place.
[Construct a spherical core!]
"What is that?"
[Construct a spherical core!]
"How do you do that?"
Legba sighed.
[You really have no talent for divine power.]
Having drawn only spell circles for 17 years, there was no way I could be good at drawing blessing circles.
[Fine. Learn how to construct spherical cores step by step later. Then next. This is quite important. Listen carefully.]
Legba unnecessarily built suspense to scare me. I made a serious expression and listened carefully to Legba's words. While sitting on a toilet in a corner stall of the restroom.
[During class, there was a smell of blood and sulfur. Very briefly.]
"...What?"
I thought it would be something trivial, but it wasn't. It was shocking news like a bolt from the blue.
Blood and sulfur are the main materials used when Satan worshippers conduct rituals. Therefore, the bodies of Satan worshippers are permeated with the smell of blood and sulfur.
But during class, there was a smell of blood and sulfur.
What this implied was clear.
[It seems Satan worshippers have infiltrated Florence. I don't know the exact reason.]
Satan worshippers had infiltrated Florence.