episode_0020

“The origin of magic power. Is it the energy emitted from stars, the vitality possessed by living organisms, or a completely different source of power… It’s too early for stories of this kind, right? Let’s just remember one thing.”

He finished eating the sandwich.

He ate a few nutrition bars and his stomach was full, but in order to build his body, he diligently picked up and ate the sandwiches.

“Magic power is a resource! It is consumed when used, recharged when waited for, and is a resource that causes phenomena when used!”

After finishing eating and cleaning up.

He sat down on the grass near the lake and listened carefully to Professor Liana’s explanation.

“All things contain magic power, and humans also possess magic power. Even ordinary people who have not awakened possess magic power. Then what is the difference between superhumans and ordinary people?”

All things contain magic power.

The weeds growing around me and the water in the lake. The shrubs rooted in various places in the park and the damp earth in the early morning mist.

They are all faint, but if you concentrate, you can feel the magic power.

Professor Liana in front of me also has magic power. There exists a huge magic power that can be dismissed as a mere puddle near the nearby lake.

“The difference is… whether one can actually use magic power!”

And I also have magic power. This is for someone like me who has never used magic power in my life.

“Everyone possesses magic power, but ordinary people cannot use magic power! But superhumans are different.”

Chin – a long finger pointed at my throat.

“In the case of humans, the vast majority form a core that holds and refines magic power near the heart.”

It is a vessel that holds magic power and the center of vital activity.

For humans, the core is located near the heart. It is distinct from the heart but clearly connected to it.

“Can you extract and manipulate the magic power of the core? This is the difference between ordinary people and superhumans!”

Ordinary people, regular people.

Superhumans, special people who surpass regular people.

Can you manipulate magic power? A lot changes with just that difference.

“Now, this is the important part! Focus!”

Clap – Professor Liana clapped her hands and stretched out her arms, capturing attention.

My left hand. From the perspective of Yi Hayul’s student, it’s the right hand, isn’t it? I will let the magic flow here.

Professor Liana’s core. The magical power, which is so massive that it can even be likened to the sea, wriggled and flowed like a babbling brook, flowing through my left hand.

“Do you feel it? If you have sensitivity, you will feel it, and if not, it will just look like bare hands.”

I feel it. Not only the magic surrounding my hand, but also the magic flowing smoothly through my whole body, and the massive magic hidden in the core.

I nodded.

“Next is the right hand!”

The magic from the core flowed out and streamed through my right hand. It was the same procedure as before.

What changed was from the next moment.

– Humming

That sound brushed against my ears. It wasn’t really that sound. It was an auditory hallucination. No, it was a noise produced by spatial perception trembling.

The magic held in my right hand wriggles and gathers. As if increasing its density, it gathers into a specific arrangement.

– Humming!

This time it wasn’t an auditory hallucination. In the spatial perception where colors are distinguishable, the professor Liana’s arm, wrapped from fingertip to forearm with shining blue magic, was felt.

In other words, it’s distinguishable to the naked eye.

“This is Ganggi (剛氣)! A technique that must be learned and used by combat majors… especially by students in the vanguard position. No matter how low-ranking a hero is, if they can hold on to Ganggi, they can survive even when hit by ordinary firearms.”

Guns also exist and are used in this world.

4th grade, 3rd grade, 2nd grade, 1st grade, special grade.

In the dungeons divided into five grades, the 4th-grade dungeon is handled by lower-level heroes and hunters, but a considerable number are handled by soldiers who own firearms.

The monsters appearing in the 4th-grade are at most the lowest 8th rank.

Occasionally, 7th or 6th ranks appear, but mostly it’s the 8th rank.

By the time it’s around the 8th rank, it can be dealt with simply using firearms.

From the 7th rank, it becomes difficult to subdue using firearms. For such cases, some heroes equip themselves with magical tools or are accompanied by a few heroes.

“Ganggi technique. It’s a technique you should use in the future, so please refer to it well, and now back to the opposite side!”

Lowering the right hand wrapped in blue Ganggi and raising the left hand still wrapped in intangible magic.

─

A faint whisper escaped from the open mouth. Despite being the only thing, the magic wrapped around the left hand trembled.

If the strength of the right hand was a simple and repetitive arrangement, the left hand’s magic was entwined in a more complex form.

– Hwaryuk!

The entwined magic flared up into flames for a moment. A sudden change occurred. Professor Liana, who floated the flames above her palm, looked this way and spoke.

“And this is magic. It’s quite different from strength, isn’t it?”

[Yes]

I nodded blankly. From the manipulation of magic to its manifestation, I felt all the sequences, so I felt even more differences.

– Hwaryuk

“But what we’re going to learn today isn’t these things.”

When she clenched her outstretched hand, concealing the flames and strength.

“Today’s learning goal is the manipulation of magic! Let’s leave strength and magic for later and start with simple manipulation step by step!”

Saying that, Professor Liana clenched both hands tightly. Her eyes seemed full of enthusiasm. I nodded my head absentmindedly.

“Well… then, take this first.”

A hand reached out in front of me. On it was a green bead the size of a fist. Quite a bit of magic was contained inside the bead.

“It’s a modified bead processed from ma-jung stone. It’s most commonly used for basic magic manipulation practice.”

I cautiously reached out with both hands and received it. Professor Liana, smiling, sat down opposite me.

“It would be good to use Ha-yul’s magic as well, but for practicing the aspect of ‘manipulation,’ there’s nothing like this modified bead.”

I know what it is. It’s a training device for magic that briefly appeared in the original work.

“The magic within the body is easier to handle because the dominion is established. But this modified bead is different. It’s clearly a magic other than one’s own! Like an unclaimed territory, it’s harder to handle than one’s own magic.”

She stroked the modified bead. The smooth yet cool surface was touched. Professor Liana, smiling, reached out and tapped my back of the hand.

“Now, the first is putting Ha-yul’s magic into the modified bead. The second is using the input magic as a hook to draw out the magic of the modified bead. The third is absorbing the drawn magic.”

Let’s try this three-step process.

After saying that, Professor Liana looks intently in this direction. Perhaps she wants to teach after seeing someone attempt it.

After nodding, she carefully examined the modified sphere with spatial perception. The magic filling the sphere was roiling like water in a bottle.

After concentrating on the modified sphere, she lightly touched the magic in the core.

“The first step shouldn’t take too long like that. You should start by feeling the magic inside your body before manipulating it.”

The magic surged as if suddenly awakened from sleep. The sensation of moving magic for the first time felt complex and difficult to describe.

It felt like a warm, tepid energy entering the heart? Anyway, the magic awakening was successful. She immediately moved on to the next step.

She supported the bottom of the modified sphere with her left hand and covered it with her right hand.

She drew the magic from the core and guided it with her right hand. She coaxed the magic, which seemed to be just waking up and drowsy, and moved it around.

“It seems you have sensed it, so manipulation should be possible in about half a day… … Huh?”

The magic reached her hand. Now it’s time to enter the first process. She somehow manipulated the magic and made the tip of the modified sphere sharp like a thorn.

– Puk

“Ah?”

She plunged it deeply into the modified sphere. The modified sphere didn’t break. More precisely, it wasn’t the modified sphere, but the magic within the modified sphere that she pierced.

The magic penetrated swiftly. She kept charging the magic steadily to prevent it from breaking off, and pushed it even deeper.

Finally, she stopped the pillar of magic that had penetrated to the center of the modified sphere.

Now it’s the second process.

I imagined manipulating the magic like a straw. And now it’s time to demonstrate that function. Concentrating, I sucked in the magic of the modified sphere, hoping the straw would act like a magnet.

– Oooh…

“Huh…”

The magic in the modified sphere trembled. It seemed to hold out for just a moment, then soon lost its strength and was pulled out by my straw.

The magic losing its resistance and being drawn out. Not only being pulled out by the straw, but also the magic spreading into the air through the hole created by the aftermath.

It’s dissatisfying. It’s a waste for the mana dispersing into the empty air.

Everything is as expected. I can take that too. If I have the unique ability of mana affinity, it’s possible, my intuition says so.

I bring all the mana trying to disperse to me. I pull everything around me. With a will filled with greed, mana is drawn out and absorbed by my hands.

“Huh…”

The core is located in the heart.

Just as there are blood vessels extending from the heart to various parts of the body.

There are circuits extending from the core to various parts of the body to transport mana.

I brought all the mana I received with my palm back to the core. The core was small. Professor Liana in front of me had a core that was difficult to discern, but mine was at most the size of a bean.

It’s possible. My intuition told me so. I whispered that I could gather it all, that I could handle it all.

– Thump

My heart thumped loudly. In response, the core also expanded along with the heartbeat, expressing confidence that it could accept at any time.

“It’s done.”

One by one, I carefully bring the mana of the modification spell to the core. Now, I soothe the mana, which feels awkward as if just moving into a new house, and guide it to blend with my original mana.

…….

…

– Tingling

A thrilling sensation ran down my spine. A subtle excitement suddenly arose. It was the feeling I had at the freshman welcome party.

“Phew…”

I exhaled the breath that had filled me up. I exhaled a larger amount than usual. Then, something that had felt stuffy inside became refreshingly cool.

But still, my insides feel dirty. It’s stuffy as if I’ve forcibly stuffed food in. Huh? What was I just doing?

My hazy mind suddenly surged. The spatial perception that had changed into radar mode at some point returned to its original state.

The shimmering surface of the lake in the bright sunlight. The vanished morning mist.

And, Professor Liana sitting in front of me, staring blankly with her mouth open…

“Wow…”

She must have noticed that I came to my senses, as Professor Liana, who had been pouting, sighed.

“So is this why it’s a special case…?”

“?” Along with incomprehensible words.