Chapter 1029: Side Story – Multi-Attribute Mage (1)

Hope City Guild, A+ Rank Hunter Waiting Room.

In a room where two walls were lined with thick books, the red-haired mage quietly clasped her hands together and created a small sphere of wind above her palms.

-Hwi-iing.

“……Hmm.”

No matter when she looked at the perfect sphere of wind, Cha Yuri smiled with satisfaction.

A mage who could gather the mana of wind, which is unstable in form, so precisely was rare in the world.

Since meeting Sung Taekyung… no, Sungchul, her total mana had increased, and her speed in grasping magical concepts had quickened, so in a way, this achievement was natural.

“……”

Even so, for Cha Yuri, who had spent most of her hunter life in dungeons and training grounds, handling such small magic could only feel somewhat boring.

She believed that the achievement of new insights manifested more strongly in urgent or dangerous situations, so she quickly grew tired of minor magic training like this.

Because of that dangerous mindset, even though she had nearly lost her life unnoticed because of it, the mindset she had lived with her whole life didn’t change easily.

Yet, Cha Yuri wasn’t entering dungeons or training grounds and was only using small magic she could practice in her room… simply because the person she loved told her to.

“…Since Sungchul said so, I have to endure this for now.”

For Cha Yuri, nothing was scarier than death except being hated by him, so no matter how shameless she was, she couldn’t ignore Sungchul’s advice.

Until she reached a certain stable period, the magic training room was off-limits. And dungeons were, of course, forbidden for the entire duration of her pregnancy.

Even though she was a mage, she found his attitude of treating her like a fragile porcelain doll, despite her being a woman, somewhat strange… but deep down, Cha Yuri was happy that he cherished her in his own way.

Indeed, she thought deciding to have his child was the right choice, as she caressed her still-flat stomach.

“…I wish I could enter the stable period quickly.”

Since she couldn’t go into dungeons, she wanted to at least unleash her desires to her heart’s content in the training grounds. That’s why Cha Yuri felt this way.

Thinking this, she let the sphere of wind in her hand dissipate and was about to spend time reading again when…

-Hwa-reureuk.

“……Huh?”

From Cha Yuri’s hand, where the wind magic had vanished, a faint, small flame flickered to life.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“So you’re saying you can now handle fire magic too, Cha Yuri-ssi?”

“Mm.”

Cha Yuri, who suddenly entered the representative’s office, explained what had just happened in her waiting room.

Surprised by her words, I immediately asked about the circumstances under which she became able to use fire magic.

“How did you do it? Did you study fire magic separately?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then how….”

“It’s probably… because of the pregnancy.”

“What?”

Hearing that it was because of the pregnancy, I looked at her quizzically, and Cha Yuri continued her explanation.

“Mana follows a person’s inherent nature. The reason a person usually uses only one attribute of magic is because only enough mana for one person flows through their body.”

“Ah, yes. I know that much.”

“But… occasionally, pregnant women who major in magic will manifest a second attribute of magic. This happens due to the influence of the unique mana of the fetus growing inside them.”

“…So that means the baby in your womb, Cha Yuri-ssi, has grown enough to possess unique mana.”

“Mm, that’s right. Usually, they manifest similar attributes by following the mother’s unique mana… but in this case, it seems to be fire magic, likely influenced by your genes.”

…Come to think of it, in my case too, among various types of magic, fire magic was the first to manifest.

It felt like I had confirmed the child in her womb was mine through a strange and peculiar method.

“It’s rare, but not an unheard-of case. There are instances where mana genes passed down from higher ancestors influence the child in the womb. Of course, in this case, it’s highly likely the child inherited Master’s genes, leading to this.”

If a child with unique mana of a different attribute than the mother is born, the mother can temporarily use magic of attributes other than her main one during the pregnancy period.”

“So it’s not a completely unheard-of case.”

“If left unattended, this power appears temporarily and then disappears, but by training the new attribute’s mana during this period, there are cases where people change their main attribute or become able to handle two attributes of magic.”

“…Two attributes?”

Hearing Eunbyul’s additional explanation, Cha Yuri looked at me with sparkling eyes.

She seemed quite interested at the prospect of potentially being able to use multi-attribute magic.

Generally, being able to use more than one type of magic is a symbol of an elite mage, and simply having two usable attributes greatly increases one’s utility.

Especially if it was fire magic, which synergizes well with wind magic.

“Sungchul-ah.”

“Yes, Cha Yuri-ssi.”

“The fact that the baby in my womb has unique mana means it has acquired the most basic fetal functions, I think.”

“Well, usually that would be the case.”

“Of course, I think it might be a bit early in my case. Usually, unique mana starts flowing around two months into the pregnancy, but the day you and I… that was only a month ago.

The stable period Sungchul mentioned hasn’t started yet, but couldn’t the fact that unique mana is flowing be interpreted as having effectively entered the stable period? Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m thinking of going into dungeons, but still….”

“You want to ask for permission to use the training grounds, at least, because you want to train fire magic, right?”

“…………Mm.”

As expected, I knew she’d say that. Cha Yuri is quite the workaholic in her own way.

The fact that the usually quiet Cha Yuri attempted such a lengthy persuasion showed how much she was eyeing the new magic.

Honestly, I’d prefer she started using it from the second month, but according to Eunbyul, the remaining time Cha Yuri could train fire magic would be at most about nine months. As a husband, I couldn’t stand in the way of my wife’s desire to reach higher levels as a mage.

“Alright, Cha Yuri-ssi. I’ll allow you to use the training grounds starting today.”

“Really?!”

“However, for the next month, only for 2 hours a day. You’ll need to focus more on theoretical studies of fire magic at first, so 2 hours a day should be plenty.”

“Mm-hmm. That’s more than enough!”

“Obviously, it’s dangerous, so overly powerful or mana-intensive spells… Ah.”

“Huh?”

“On second thought, it would be better if I taught you myself. My work is almost done for today, so let’s head to the training grounds right now.”

It would be faster to show her what she could and couldn’t do than to explain it.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

As the saying goes, ‘Pull out a Tauren’s horn in one go,’ since things turned out this way, I decided I would take charge of Cha Yuri’s fire magic lessons for a while.

My awakened ability, which I used most often in actual combat after swordsmanship, was fire magic. Besides, I had learned from Hwayoung Sunbae, who was also a fire magic user, so I had some knowledge about teaching it.

“First, shall we try creating a fireball from your hand? You said you realized something while handling wind magic in the room earlier, so you should be able to start easily.”

“Mm.”

Cha Yuri listened obediently, focusing on creating a small fireball in her hand.

-Hwi-iing. Hwing.

“Ugh, ughhh….”

“It’s okay to take your time. It’s a different power than what you usually use, so it’s natural that it takes time.”

-Hwi-iing, hwi-iing….

“Ughhh…! Come on…!”

-Hwi-iiiiing!!

“Ah, seriously!”

No matter how hard she tried to force the magic, what flowed between Cha Yuri’s hands was merely the flow of wind created by mana.

As I leaned in to offer some advice, the moment I placed my hand over hers, a small flame sparked and flickered.

“Don’t rush. First, focus on gathering mana in your hand…”

-Ta-dak!

“Ah, it worked!”

“…Ooh!”

I was a bit skeptical when I only heard about it, but seeing it now, it seemed the claim that she could really use fire magic wasn’t a lie.

Even though it was just a tiny flame that flickered briefly, it was certain that Cha Yuri now had the potential to gain fire magic as her second attribute.

…However, Cha Yuri, who had actually produced the small flame, looked up at me with a suspicious gaze.

“……Hmm.”

“What’s wrong, Cha Yuri-ssi?”

“…That just now, you didn’t make that, did you?”

“What?”

“…That flame just now, because I was doing so poorly, didn’t you pretend to hold my hand and create it yourself?”

…No, what is this nonsense now.