Chapter 38: Magic (2)

The sudden unsolicited advice made the atmosphere feel off-balance.

And the content of the advice was even more absurd.

Saying, “That’s not how you use magic”, as if he could handle magic better himself.

Viewers flooded the chat and donation messages, demanding an explanation.

But it wasn’t out of doubt toward Cheon Hwi.

He had already proven his abilities several times before.

No one thought he was just stirring up trouble like before.

Instead, the space filled with questions.

People were curious why Cheon Hwi would say such a thing.

The chat was abuzz with viewers asking how magic should be used.

Society tends to be cold to those who give unsolicited advice without proper understanding.

If you’re going to butt in, your advice had better be accurate and helpful.

Cheon Hwi completely agreed with that notion.

Unhelpful advice is just meddling, and wrong information is nothing but a fool’s nonsense.

So, having spoken up, Cheon Hwi did not avoid the questions.

He faced the flood of real-time questions head-on, and offered a response that satisfied both Seo Ye-rin and the viewers watching.

As always, the answer came in the form of skill.

“The process is too inefficient. It wastes unnecessary energy, and the structure is not only simple—it’s sloppy.”

With a sigh, Cheon Hwi shook his head and reached out his hand.

He stretched his palm toward a blank, white wall of the training room.

What was he planning to do?

Just as Seo Ye-rin tilted her head, puzzled at his action.

“If you’re going to use magic, it should be like this—”

Fwoosh—flames flared up from Cheon Hwi’s palm.

A flawless, pure-white flame gathered into a glowing sphere and burned steadily.

There was no incantation.

He didn’t seem to use a particularly large amount of magical energy.

He simply used magic.

And Seo Ye-rin had no choice but to accept what she was seeing.

She lacked the skill to fully understand the magic Cheon Hwi had just performed.

“It needs to be precise.”

Thunk—the magic fired.

As if kicked by an invisible force, the flame shot out and instantly struck the wall of the training room.

Then came the explosion.

A massive wave of heat erupted.

The blast pushed the air outward, unleashing a powerful gust.

The shockwave and heat rode the wind and swept in all directions.

Seo Ye-rin’s eyes widened in shock at the result.

That level of power was something one might expect from a full-power attack, either her own strongest strike, or from a magic-type S-rank Hunter who had put considerable effort into their spell.

There was no way a spell of that power could be created and launched so easily.

Normally, you’d have to build up magical energy in advance, or stack multiple lines of incantations to generate synergy and amplify the effect.

So how—?

Seo Ye-rin swallowed hard, and her fists clenched tightly.

Perhaps it was the sheer awe of what she’d witnessed, but her damp palms trembled.

She could recognize that a spell had been cast, but she couldn’t grasp the process or the underlying structure.

She didn’t even realize how powerful it was until after it had exploded.

The only thing she’d been able to discern… was that what Cheon Hwi used had definitely been magic.

“H-How… how did you do that…?”

The words spilled from her lips.

Whether such a question was rude had long since slipped from her mind.

Anyone would’ve done the same.

Who could witness that kind of magic and not ask how it was done?

And the man who cast it—he wasn’t even a mage.

He was a martial artist, someone who trained in martial arts, not spells.

Even if he had some magical knowledge, being able to perform something like that was an entirely different matter.

And yet, it was a type of magic even she, an A-rank magic-type Hunter, couldn’t comprehend.

No matter how she thought about it, it made no sense.

It wasn’t just improbable—it was the kind of thing that shouldn’t happen.

Her breath became ragged from the confusion.

Her pupils trembled, and her vision shook.

At that point, her mind gave up trying to understand.

Only confusion remained, and a sense of disbelief clouded Seo Ye-rin’s face.

When she looked toward Cheon Hwi, he tilted his head slightly and swallowed softly.

“Could it be… Earth doesn’t have the concept of circle magic yet?”

What even is that…

Seo Ye-rin barely managed to hold back the words rising to her throat.

It was an act of truly superhuman restraint.

Just a moment ago, when Seo Ye-rin had asked Cheon Hwi to teach her martial arts.

‘No matter how I look at it, she seems more gifted in magic than martial arts.’

Cheon Hwi, who took pride in his ability to discern people’s talents, had been keeping such thoughts to himself.

Each person possesses a different kind of talent.

Even among awakened individuals, talents often split between combat roles—those who fight monsters directly, and production roles—those who research or create things.

Martial arts are no different.

Some martial techniques suit certain people, while others do not, and in many cases, it’s better to dive deeper into the path one is already pursuing, rather than picking up martial arts.

In Cheon Hwi’s view, Seo Ye-rin belonged to that category.

If he taught her martial arts, she would probably learn it well, but she was already far down the path of magic, and he couldn’t help but think, is it really necessary at this point?

Besides, there was nothing wrong with the magical path she’d walked.

She had become an A-rank Hunter in her early twenties, and in the near future, she was expected to reach S-rank.

Unlike Choa’s situation, Seo Ye-rin had no reason to stray from the path she’d walked so well just to start learning martial arts.

That’s why he declined.

He was planning to teach her something else—in other words, magic.

‘But to think she doesn’t even know what circle magic is?’

Still, he hadn’t expected this.

If she could use magic, then at her level, she should’ve been able to produce the kind of attack he’d just demonstrated.

Why had she been so shocked by a spell she herself should be capable of?

The answer was simple.

Just like martial arts, magic on Earth lacked a proper, structured system.

Well… that just made it look like I was flexing for no reason.

Feeling awkward, Cheon Hwi glanced sideways at the chat window with an embarrassed expression.

– Circle magic, you say?

– The Great Hero can use magic too??

– Wait, wasn’t he a martial artist? lol

– Is he just gonna do everything by himself? lol

It seemed their guesses were spot on.

Cheon Hwi let out a quiet sigh and drew forth his magical energy.

Though he was more proficient in sorcery than in magic, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use magic at all.

Since the disciplines were quite similar to begin with, it hadn’t been particularly difficult for him to learn.

Influenced by the Mugeuk Ilwon Divine Art, jet-black magical energy surged behind him.

As it rippled, the magic gathered into circles, each one forming a ring.

Ten rings overlapped in a pattern resembling a Venn diagram, floating behind Cheon Hwi’s back.

It was the magical system of the Western mages he often encountered in the Central Plains.

Circle Magic—its symbol, the mana circles.

Seo Ye-rin’s eyes went wide at the sight.

A gasp of disbelief slipped through her parting lips.

“Th-this is…?!”

It was something that rendered her previous white flame spell utterly trivial.

As she stared at the magical rings Cheon Hwi had conjured, fear filled her eyes.

When confronted with the unknown—something beyond understanding, humans feel two primary emotions, curiosity and fear.

Curiosity drives progress, but sometimes becomes a trap that costs one their life.

Fear, on the other hand, serves as a safety mechanism to preserve life, but if one fails to overcome it, it can consume them entirely.

What Seo Ye-rin felt now was clearly dominated by fear.

Cheon Hwi’s magic wasn’t something she could merely be curious about, it was far too incomprehensible for that.

She couldn’t read its structure.

Even attempting to analyze it felt terrifying.

The moment she dared to approach it with a hint of courage, a stabbing headache screamed at her to stop immediately.

Circle Magic.

If martial artists had martial arts techniques, then mages had this.

Realizing that truth, Seo Ye-rin trembled.

“Ahh…”

While Seo Ye-rin sat overwhelmed by Cheon Hwi’s magic, her eyes trembling as she swallowed hard.

“Our conversation took a bit of a detour,”

Cheon Hwi said with a soft smile as he dispersed all the magical rings.

Then, gently, he reached out toward Seo Ye-rin, whose expression was still dazed from the lingering impact.

“Since Seo Ye-rin Sojeo is already learning magic, as repayment for helping Choa Sojeo, I shall teach you magic instead of martial arts.”

Up until the very moment those words were spoken.

Seo Ye-rin hadn’t even noticed the hand extended toward her.

Suddenly jolting as she came to her senses, she hastily grabbed Cheon Hwi’s hand.
Her reaction was incredibly swift.

As if afraid he might change his mind and pull his hand away, it wasn’t so much a handshake as it was a snatch.

Of course, Cheon Hwi didn’t mind.

Back in the martial world, it wasn’t unusual for people to react this strongly when offered the chance to learn something.

“Well then, now that the duel is over, I’ll end the broadcast here.”

– Huh??

– Wait, why are you attacking us with that announcement??

– No, Great Hero, please wait, let’s talk this through!

– KAAA!! KAAAAAH!!! KAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Viewers, caught off guard by the sudden declaration of stream termination,
screamed in protest.

But as always, Cheon Hwi ended the broadcast without hesitation.

Since Seo Ye-rin was an important asset to the Association, he couldn’t just reveal her level or training process to the public.

In truth, the training wasn’t anything particularly special.

After all, what to do on the first day of any lesson is usually already decided.

“Come at me with everything you’ve got. Let’s see what you can do.”