Magic Academy's Genius Blinker Chapter 3: Chapter 1.2

Thud!!

While tumbling ahead in chaos, the location I had just touched down was deluged by innumerable magical strikes and blades in under two seconds.

Had those landed on me, my entire body would've vanished without a trace.

With a swift look back, I bolted forward once more as the chasers recoiled in surprise.

"What is that kid? How did he move?"

"... I don't know! Get him right now!"

Soon enough, the pursuers tailed me tightly again.

The ground was treacherous, littered with boulders, foliage, and airborne rocks drifting overhead, all howling that a flawed Flash would bring nothing but doom.

I was fully aware of that.

Their pace outstripped mine, boosted by enchanted boots.

This was Baek Yu-Seol's tutorial stage.

Those players lacking true command over Flash couldn't advance and kept dying repeatedly.

Truth be told, 99% of Baek Yu-Seol players flunked this tutorial, while the rare 1% who scraped through then crumbled against the dreaded hurdles of 'Flash Range Control' and 'Continuous Activation'.

[Flash]

Shoo!

Like drawn by a magnet, my form effortlessly navigated the jagged landscape along the unending slope.

Its velocity fell short of anticipation.

The gap between mouse-guided maneuvers and real-life motion stretched vast as sky and soil.

Cooldowns forced me to dash on foot, and after charging across the icy, slick trail for over 30 minutes, exhaustion gripped me.

"Huh, huh! How fast is he!"

"Using Flash in this terrain? He's crazy."

"Damn it! What are you mages doing?"

"I'm already tired so I'm out!"

"Shoot an arrow!"

Second Checkpoint: Dodge flying arrows and magic attacks using Flash.

A wind-infused arrow pursued me in a sinuous arc, demanding perfect Flash timing to evade; one slip meant instant demise.

All at once, a new alert floated before me.

[The skill 'Mana Accumulation Retardation' is being applied.]

[The derived skills of 'Mana Accumulation Retardation', 'Sixth Sense' and 'Cognitive Acceleration' are applied.]

[TN:- Cognitive function includes conscious intellectual activity, such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering. In simple words, 'Cognitive Acceleration' increases the ability to make an efficient counterattack in the shortest possible time.]

The surrounding world sharpened into crystal clarity.

That familiar sensation returned.

Every projectile hurtling from the rear registered faintly in my senses.

As though antennae sprouted from my spine.

All existence obeyed universal laws.

Put differently, 'mana' permeated everything, and the accursed 'Mana Accumulation Retardation' physique—leaking mana ceaselessly—sensed every motion driven by it.

In plain terms, while I couldn't gather mana for spells inside me, my sixth sense caught every mana flux, no matter the scale.

The shaft aiming for my midsection, the lance plotting my back along my predicted route, plus the broad blaze spell erupting in a three-meter circle around me.

Dodging it all felt possible, and within 0.3 seconds, I triggered Flash flawlessly to slip past the coordinated assault.

Thud! Gwang!

Arrow barrages crashed onto the ground I'd just cleared.

My pulse thundered wildly. A split-second lag would've ended me.

"There are seven enemies. Two of them fell behind."

No wonder fatigue weighed them down, trudging in bulky armor up the peaks while I leaped via Flash.

Yet I was spent too.

The biting chill seared through my flimsy garb, scaling the slick inclines proved grueling, but chaining Flash activations taxed me most.

A lone error spelled death.

Absolute concentration was mandatory, and vertigo burrowed further into my mind per use.

"He's right in front of us!"

"He's tired!"

About 100 meters separated me from the hunters.

Wheee!!

Cliffs.

A razor-edged, frost-shrouded precipice loomed at the trail's terminus.

Drifting rocks swirled amid the gap from wall to abyss, spaced roughly five to six meters apart; flawless [Flash] 'Range Control' was my sole path across.

Breaching this chasm would bring patrolling wizards into view for potential salvation, wrapping up the tutorial.

However... leaping it required nailing 'Flash Cancel' in just 0.1 seconds.

A single mistake would mean my instant death.

Easy to state, yet successful players had mostly triumphed through pure luck after hundreds upon hundreds of attempts.

Put differently, its difficulty surpassed anything a person could comprehend.

More than 20 floating stones at the very least, with death striking upon any failure midway.

But... truthfully speaking.

While scaling the mountain, I had already mastered most of the distance control feel.

Brief bursts of Flash let me breeze through certain tricky spots.

Yet the issue lay in how the chasers stuck far closer than anticipated.

Narrow though it was, the cliff stretched out long.

Amid such conditions, crossing to the opposite side using Flash—with its three-second cooldown—seemed utterly impossible.

'

Even now, the gap between us kept narrowing.

No time remained for deep thought.

My optimal path to survival.

Most likely.

Only one choice appeared viable.

Strangely, the notion of slaying foes brought zero discomfort.

Perhaps due to their role as my parents' enemies in the storyline?

I simply felt confident of success.

That route struck me as far safer.

Were this a game, the system would block any assault on those pursuers.

But here in reality, no outlaw rigidly obeyed game system dictates.

Far from fretting, I softly caressed the dagger strapped to my waist.

"Hah! Heuk! It's a cliff!"

"Damn, where the hell did he disappear to!"

My pursuers had hounded me right to the cliff's edge.

Whether I could pull it off? That doubt got cast aside. My full grasp of the scenario still eluded me, but one certainty burned bright.

"If I don't strike now, death awaits me."

My one bit of dagger experience came solely from cutting up vegetables...

Knife handling stayed straightforward.

Blitz in faster than they could react, then drive it into a fatal spot.

From my hiding spot behind the rock, I rolled out just enough to glimpse their spots.

"The bastard's over there! Seize and slaughter him fast!"

Target range: 8.70 meters.

I zeroed in on the archer bellowing orders, bow trained straight at me.

[Flash]

"...Huh?"

Puuk!

Straight into him the dagger plunged.