Chapter 9: What’s This? It Feels Weird…

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In this world, there are basic conditions one must meet to become a mage.

[Stage 1: Feel the flow of mana.]

[Stage 2: Be able to use mana in its raw form.]

[Stage 3: Be able to convert mana into magic through incantations, gestures, or other processes.]

Feeling it, using it, and refining it—these three stages are necessary to become a mage.

Even skilled swordsmen can reach up to Stage 2. They use mana to strengthen specific parts of their body or channel it into their swords to enhance the blade.

But that’s still a distant goal.

For now, Sugar, a complete beginner, had her sights set on Stage 1.

In the middle of the night, in the attic, the two of them had gathered—one to teach, the other to learn. Using a cloth as a makeshift blackboard, Tommy was drawing letters of light as he lectured.

“To put it simply, Stage 1 is realizing that there’s a hidden ingredient inside you. Stage 2 is consuming it raw, and Stage 3 is cooking it before consuming it. Got it?”

“If that’s how you understand it, then sure…”

Sugar nodded vaguely, recalling what she had seen in the original game.

“I have a question. If you reach Stage 2, can you do things like channeling mana into your legs to jump faster?”

“Of course you can.”

“Oh.”

The original game was a turn-based RPG, so she had never seen mages perform such actions in combat. There were systems like weak point attacks and speed gauges, but the basic framework was taking turns to attack.

Reality must be quite different. People probably don’t just stand still and chant spells during a fight.

Feeling a surge of excitement, Sugar set her immediate goal to reach Stage 2.

She didn’t know what methods the cult kidnappers would use, but she knew she stood no chance in a fight. Escaping was her top priority. Knowing how to channel mana into her legs would be a huge help.

“Alright, we’re done with the theory for now. From here on out, I’m going to channel my mana into your body.”

Channeling your mana into my body…?

Immediately, images of how to tease him popped into her head. The thought of his reaction made her body heat up.

What’s this? It’s not like I’m a teenage boy. But still, the moment I get a chance, this happens.

Sugar’s mouth itched to say something, but seeing Tommy’s serious expression as he taught, she clenched her lips shut. Ruining the mood with a joke at a time like this was something only amateurs would do.

Besides, an 11-year-old was putting in so much effort to teach her. Pulling a cheap prank now would make her not just a bad adult, but a completely rotten one.

Unaware of her inner thoughts, Tommy watched Sugar’s body twitch as she held back and thought, “What’s this? It feels weird…”

“Ahem, ahem. Alright. Focus.”

Tommy’s hand touched her back. It was a small hand. Using that as a starting point, she calmed down and focused.

“I’m going to channel my mana into you so you can feel its flow. …Do you feel anything?”

“Hmm… uhh…”

“How about now?”

“Uhh… hmm…”

“What about this?”

“Hmm… uhhhh…!”

“I increased the output.”

“Uhhhhhh!!”

She got smacked on the back.

“Use your words! Words! Stop groaning!”

“But I really don’t know…”

She rubbed her tingling back and made excuses.

“It kind of feels like something… but maybe it’s just because I’m thinking about it that I ‘feel like I’m feeling it.’ People are easily influenced by self-suggestion, you know.”

“What are you talking about… Just say it clearly. Do you feel it or not?”

“Hmm…”

After groaning and pondering for a while, she quickly came to a conclusion.

“I don’t feel it.”

Tommy’s expression twisted.

“That’s weird. You should definitely feel an unpleasant sensation.”

“Really?”

“Think of someone else’s mana as a foreign substance. If the amount injected exceeds a certain limit, it can destroy your body.”

It’s like receiving a blood transfusion with the wrong blood type. To think he used such a risky method—he’s got guts, she thought, watching him with admiration.

‘Wait, I feel like I’ve heard this story somewhere.’

What was it? She definitely remembered hearing something similar.

“—Anyway, if you can pinpoint that foreign sensation flowing through your body, you can awaken your mana flow… or so I thought. If you didn’t feel it, then there’s nothing we can do.”

She was in the middle of trying to recall her memories.

Something about Tommy’s words bothered her. The nuance was strange.

‘…Thought? You thought?’

“…Hey, Tommy. Where did you learn this method?”

Things like the three stages of a mage were common knowledge, but the method he just used was something she had never heard of before. It sounded plausible, but that was it.

Where did an 11-year-old kid learn this?

Tommy averted his eyes as if responding to her unease.

“…It’s my personal opinion.”

So, it’s just his brainchild?

.

.

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Although Tommy said it was his personal opinion, it was actually based on knowledge from the grimoire—specifically, the section on torture.

It detailed what happens when mana is channeled into a person and how the effects vary depending on the amount.

If you inject more than a certain amount, it leads to death, but a tiny amount only causes “a sense of foreignness/discomfort in the mana pathways.”

Based on this, he concluded, “The place where you feel the foreignness must be the mana pathway! If you follow that sensation, it’ll be easier to awaken your mana flow!”

To put it simply, it’s like explorers mapping out a dark cave by feeling their way through it.

The dark cave is the mana pathway. The explorers are the foreign mana.

This method is actually used in this world. Of course, safer methods exist, but the core idea is similar.

Though unaware of this fact, Tommy had managed to execute something similar, which was quite impressive.

“So… you tried something on me that hasn’t even been properly verified?”

“W-Well, it’s not like it’s completely unverified…”

“So… you tried some shady human experimentation on me?”

“Sh-Shady?!”

Since almost all the characters in the original game were mages who had at least reached Stage 3, Sugar had no way of knowing whether this method actually existed in the real world.

“I’m impressed. Let’s keep going like this.”

“Stop mocking me…!”

“I’m not mocking you. I’m genuinely praising you. You have to be a bit cunning to survive in this world.”

“Nonsense…”

She seized the opportunity to tease him relentlessly. She figured now was the time to make up for what she couldn’t do earlier.

But then, to soothe Tommy’s sulking, she patted his head and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it happens,” playing both the villain and the healer.

Suddenly, something flashed in her mind. She finally remembered the past memory she had been trying to recall earlier.

“Tommy. I have a question.”

“What is it…? Take your hand off me first…”

Fortunately, he didn’t completely ignore her.

“For example, let’s say there’s a massive energy entity… something so overwhelming in mana that you could almost call it a god.”

“What? A god?”

“It’s just an example. Hypothetical. Anyway, what would happen if an ordinary person got close to something like that?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“If I know this, I think I’ll have a better idea of what to do in the future.”

She had a rough idea, but she wanted to discuss it with someone knowledgeable about magic. Even though she had teased him about his “shady” methods, deep down, she trusted Tommy.

He had caught her when she fell from the tree in that brief moment.

He had explained magic to her in detail.

Even though his method wasn’t verified, he had tried to help her awaken her Stage 1 by applying his own understanding of magical phenomena.

For someone so young, he was more capable than most adults.

With that thought in mind, she looked at Tommy seriously.

“…”

After glaring at Sugar for a moment, he finally spoke.

“Take back what you said earlier. Apologize first.”

-Take it back…! What you just said…!

Sugar, with a strangely twitching lip, reluctantly apologized.

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.

.

“If such a massive mana entity… hypothetically existed, a person would probably be destroyed the moment they touched it.”

“Right?”

“But why? What does that have to do with you?”

“Then, what if there’s a person who can touch that mana entity without being affected? What would happen if you injected another human’s mana into that person?”

“Injected? If they’re unaffected by such a massive mana, then a small amount from an ordinary human should be fine, I guess.”

With that answer, Sugar let out a sigh of relief. Tommy, however, was left even more confused.

“What’s this about? Why are you asking this? Are you saying you’re that kind of person?”

He asked with a hint of mockery, as if it were impossible, but that person was indeed her.

Sugar was a pure mana vessel.

While ordinary people’s bodies would reject foreign mana, Sugar’s body could absorb it. This was due to her unique constitution, where her pure mana could assimilate with other mana.

This was also the reason why the original Sugar didn’t die despite being near the evil god.

In the presence of that ominous shadow, which would normally bring harm to anyone nearby, Sugar’s body adapted and coexisted. It dyed itself in the dark colors and found a small space to breathe.

‘If I can withstand the evil god, a little bit of mana won’t do anything.’

This much isn’t enough.

It’s insufficient.

After finishing her thoughts, Sugar made a decision.

“The method you came up with… it’s a solid method for ordinary cases, right?”

“Probably… Wait, no, answer me. Are you that person in your example?”

Instead of answering, Sugar smiled. Cold sweat was running down her back.

“I think I’ve found a way.”

Namely, filling it to the brim—!