Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

148 – The Magician

Unlike the combat-type applicants who rebelled against the instructors and were forcibly subjected to etiquette injection because they believed that the world rankings based on gate subjugation records did not prove actual strength, the Seeker-type Awakeners who followed Ito Kei for the Seeker aptitude test were faithfully following his instructions.

In the Awakener community, where Seeker-type Awakeners were often looked down upon, the name Ito Kei was almost idolized and respected among Seekers.

Moreover, Kei’s appearance as a young boy with a handsome face at an elementary school age further fueled his popularity.

“Excuse me, Instructor Kei. Isn’t the treatment of Seekers poor even in the Liberal Clan?”

In the Seeker aptitude test venue, which had somehow turned into a Q&A session about Kei, a national representative applicant asked Kei.

“No. The members of the Liberal Clan tend to respect my suggestions more than their own judgments. Isn’t it the same elsewhere?”

“No, it’s not. Usually, we’re treated like baggage and heavily criticized the moment we make a judgment error.”

However, the Seekers gathered here were unaware of one fact, Ito Kei was a professional who had an immense sense of responsibility towards the Seeker profession.

“If a Seeker makes a judgment error, honestly, they have no excuse even if they get beaten to death on the spot.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Seekers, who don’t directly contribute to combat, must grasp the overall battle situation faster and more perfectly than anyone else and make the best tactical decisions. Each judgment of a Seeker determines the success of the gate subjugation and the survival rate of the team members. If you think you can talk about ‘mistakes’ in front of a team member who lost their life due to your misjudgment, you should quit being a Seeker right now.”

The applicants fell silent at the firm explanation, which was hard to believe coming from an elementary school student.

Then, Kei looked at the applicants with serious eyes and said,

“The Assault Team members go into battle, risking their lives, based on the information we gather and the instructions we give. And the reason Seekers, who have no combat power, can participate in subjugations is that our judgments are recognized as being worth more than one person’s contribution. So, if you’ve been treated like baggage, I think it’s because you acted like baggage.”

After saying this, Kei’s serious expression instantly changed to a gentle smile.

“Of course, it’s my role as an instructor to make sure you are never treated like baggage again.”

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Unlike Byung-tae or Orleans, who made the applicants realize the ‘gap in level’ between them and the instructors through actual combat, Ito Kei used a game of ‘tag’ to confirm the applicants’ qualifications as Seekers.

There was only one rule.

‘Use any means necessary to catch me.’

And Arin, who was also an instructor for the Seeker class along with Kei, proposed a tag game with the opposite rule.

‘Use any means necessary to avoid being caught by me.’

The unique game proposed by the two was a test to confirm the basic abilities of the Seekers and how well they understood their roles.

“Again, this test is not particularly to determine pass or fail. Since you have already entered through the national representative selection, your admission to Icarus is confirmed regardless of your test scores.”

“Then isn’t the test meaningless?”

“The results you show in this test will determine which group you will be assigned to. The better your performance and the higher your rank, the more competent the group you will join.”

The game of tag began with Kei, equipped with mobility assistance equipment, starting first, followed by the Seeker class applicants trying to catch Kei 10 minutes later, and then Arin starting 10 minutes after that to catch the applicants.

The applicants, who were confident at the start of the test, soon realized how brutal this test was the moment they began tracking Ito Kei.

[Did you find him?!]

[No, what about your side?]

[There are traces, but I can’t track him. It’s like he knows our positions and moves accordingly.]

[Is there a GPS in the equipment we received?]

[No way.]

To catch Kei, who was identifying the locations of the approaching applicants with his incredibly powerful sense of smell, the Seeker class applicants used all their Awakening abilities.

From thermal detection that could sense temperature differences of 0.001 degrees to enhanced olfactory abilities like Ito Kei’s, and even psychometry that allowed them to vaguely understand past events at a location by touching traces.

However, even with all these abilities, it was impossible for them to catch Kei, a world-class Seeker, within the short span of 10 minutes.

And so, 10 minutes after the tracking began…

[Beep beep]

Hearing the alarm sound from her wristwatch, Arin launched drones to hunt down the Seeker class applicants scattered throughout Liberty City, tracking Kei.

Soon, the communications of the applicants, who were closely coordinating and focusing on their tracking efforts, began to cut off one by one.

“Got you. Return the communicator and go back to your original position.”

Ana Ramirez, a Seeker from Spain, looked at Arin with an extremely frustrated expression as she placed her hand on Ana’s shoulder.

Ana, who had the Awakening ability to enhance her hearing, had immediately hidden herself upon detecting the faint noise from Arin’s drone hundreds of meters away.

However, her desperate concealment could not overcome Arin’s tracking abilities.

“How did you find me? I hid as soon as I heard the drone noise.”

“Sorry, but my drone’s detection range is farther than what your hearing can sense. I had already found you and used the drone as bait.”

“Damn… Sigh… I lost.”

“Remember, Ana. Right now, I’m the one tracking you, but if it were a monster instead of me, you would be a corpse by now.”

Kei considered three abilities to be the most important for a Seeker.

The ability to identify the enemy’s location and status, the ability to evade enemy tracking, and the ability to make correct tactical decisions based on the gathered information.

In all these aspects, the current applicants were not showing any outstanding performance.

‘There’s so much to teach.’

Hoping that at least one person would show exceptional talent, Arin moved to the next location.

At that moment, Ito Kei, who had been evading the applicants’ tracking using various diversion methods, stopped in his tracks.

He looked towards the entrance of Liberty City with a serious expression and muttered.

“What is this smell?”

Ito Kei, who possessed the incredible ability to identify the nature of all smells and determine the form and abilities of the being emitting the smell just by sniffing, had detected something.

The information his keen nose had picked up told him that an unknown entity had arrived at the entrance of Liberty City.

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“Excuse me. Is this the place where the entrance exams for the Awakener Academy are being held?”

Jung Yoo-jin, a regular employee of the Liberal Clan who was organizing souvenirs for the general applicants who had passed through the gate this morning, almost screamed at the voice coming from behind her.

She turned around with a startled expression to face the man standing behind her and spoke.

“Yes, this is the right place… but who are you?”

“I’m here to take the entrance exam.”

‘Well, that’s obvious given what he’s wearing,’ thought Jung Yoo-jin as she looked at the man.

The man, dressed in a long cloak reminiscent of a wizard from a fantasy novel, complete with a robe that a Jedi might wear and holding a thick book in one hand, was clearly either an Awakener or someone out of his mind.

However, she was well aware that all 233 general applicants scheduled for today’s exam had already arrived and were undergoing testing.

“I’m sorry, but today’s exam is a closed test for invited individuals only. It’s difficult to accommodate someone who shows up unannounced asking to take the test.”

“Oh, do I need an invitation?”

“Yes. Without an invitation, you cannot enter.”

Despite saying ‘NO’ to an Awakener, she showed no signs of fear.

If he showed any aggressive behavior towards her, the hundreds of hidden security turrets around her would instantly turn him into dust.

However, the man still smiled warmly and said to her,

“I don’t think I need an invitation.”

“As I said, without an invitation…”

“I don’t need one, do I?”

“…No…”

“Then could you help me get inside?”

“Please wait a moment.”

As if under a spell, Jung Yoo-jin deactivated the security system at the entrance of Liberty City.

She then took a photo of the man and asked for his name.

“To take the test, I need to update the registered list. I’ll take a photo, so please tell me your name.”

“Alexander James Orion.”

“Normally, I would need additional personal information…”

“You can fill that in yourself.”

Jung Yoo-jin obediently complied with the man’s request.

She then took out a key card from her pocket and handed it to him.

“Go inside and follow the green arrows on the road.”

“Thank you.”

The man smiled and thanked her before slowly walking down the road.

After some time, Jung Yoo-jin, who had been standing blankly, shook her head and said,

“Huh? Why was I just standing here? Oh, I was organizing the souvenirs for the disqualified applicants.”

With that, she resumed the task she had been doing before the man arrived, completely forgetting that a mysterious man had come and passed through the gate.

As the man headed towards the testing area, a strange geometric shape on his right hand, resembling a magic circle, glowed with a green light.

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“Excuse me? Who are you? How did you get in here? Yoo-jin was supposed to be guarding the gate.”

As the robed man who had just passed through the gate entered the area where the general applicants were undergoing ability tests, an employee organizing equipment blocked his path.

The robed man smiled and said,

“Yoo-jin gave me permission. She said I could take the test too.”

“What? That can’t be… Oh, you’re on the list. An additional participant all of a sudden… This wasn’t planned. Can I report this to my superiors?”

“Hmm… I’d rather you didn’t.”

As Orion’s hand glowed green again, the employee who had been blocking his way wore a dazed expression.

Then, as if brainwashed, he murmured calmly,

“Yes… since you’re on the list… it must be right…”

“Then may I proceed with the test? That equipment looks interesting.”

The equipment Orion pointed to was the massive punching machine that had frustrated many physical enhancement-type applicants that morning.

It was Soo-jeong’s masterpiece, boasting durability close to the defensive power of Ho-chang’s shield ‘Bangdol-i Mk-2’, which could absorb even the destructive force of a super high-output railgun the size of a three-story building and convert it into numerical data.

In front of the enormous power measurement device, which remained unscratched despite the full force of many Awakeners that day, the robed man stopped.

He gently stroked the impact area and said,

“Hmm… interesting. Indeed, this contains technology not permitted on this planet.”

The moment the man lightly pulled his hand back, Byung-tae, who had entered the test room to organize equipment, caught sight of the man.

Just as Byung-tae was about to inquire about his identity, the man slowly brought his fist, surrounded by a red magic circle, to the punching machine.

– KWANG KWANG KWANG KWANG!!! –

With an enormous explosion, the back of the punching machine, which had absorbed all attacks, shattered as if hit by the main cannon of a space battleship.

Sensing the danger of the opponent instinctively, Byung-tae pressed the button on the necklace around his neck with his thumb and shouted as loudly as he could to the surroundings,

“Everyone run awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!”

As Byung-tae’s cry echoed, numerous mechanical parts flew from the air and attached to his body, instantly placing him inside Dog Fight, as he charged towards the robed man.

Unlike when he was playing with the applicants, he now employed his most powerful lethal weapons in the attack.

Missiles and shells launched from Byung-tae’s body amidst the smoke, barely visible, were fired towards the man’s direction.

However, Byung-tae’s attack, which could pulverize even a giant apartment, turned into glass-like bullet fragments with a simple gesture from the man and fell to the ground.

– CHAE CHAE CHAE CHAE CHANG! CLINK! –

In an absurdly ridiculous situation, Byung-tae desperately focused to regain his composure.

With a trembling voice, he pointed at the man and asked,

“Who the hell are you?”

The man, who had been flipping through a thick book in his left hand, smiled at Byung-tae.

Then, with a ‘thud’ as he closed the book, he said,

“Nice to meet you. My name is Alexander James Orion. Those who know me call me Alex.”

“I’m not asking for your name, you know that, right?”

Hearing the murderous tone in Byung-tae’s voice, Alex smiled sardonically.

Then he revealed his identity, which Byung-tae was eager to hear.

“And I’m also a magician.”

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