episode_0008

Unlike its menacing exterior, the interior of the mansion was much cleaner than expected. Not a single speck of dust existed, and all furniture and rooms were wiped clean as if new. Unlike the exterior of the mansion, lightning did not strike inside. Asel secretly regretted that. At the strange taste of the younger sibling who liked lightning, Evelyn crumpled her face.

Stepping past the mansion’s entrance, a grandly sized hall appeared. It was a space ample enough to hold a party. Asel and Evelyn, who had never been to such a spacious and clean place in their lives, unknowingly felt a slight sense of intimidation. Ena said to the two of them in a light voice.

“Get used to it. You’ll be living here from now on.”

The two nodded, but their eyes couldn’t rest, as if still awkward.

In any case, it was a problem time would solve. Ena left the two as they were and turned her head towards someone descending the stairs placed in the center of the hall. It was a woman who looked as if she had just become an adult. Perhaps she had just finished showering, as she had her dripping wet hair down and her brown eyes wide open.

“Oh my, Lady Ena.”

“Hailey.”

Ena called her name. Hailey came down the stairs with quick steps and stood in front of Ena. Because of her height, which was two heads taller than Ena, Ena ended up looking up at her. Ena frowned, perhaps finding it annoying, but Hailey tilted her head without showing any sign of caring.

“You came back earlier than expected? You said it would take another half year.”

“…because I found the Corpse Lord faster than anticipated.”

“Did you kill it?”

“Missed it.”

“Ahahaha, you’re joking.”

Hailey giggled and accepted the hat and cloak Ena handed her.

“How could Lady Ena miss anyone? You’re the one who always shoots lightning or subdues them with Word Magic if you don’t like something. There’s a reason you got the nickname ‘Mad Wizard Who Only Knows How to Shoot Lightning’, you know.”

“…Hailey.”

“Look at last time too. Lady Leticia came and was saying all sorts of things, so you immediately cast ‘Shut Up’ and shot lightning pew-pew to chase her away. Lady Ena missing a Corpse Lord? A story about a demon turning over a new leaf and becoming a cleric would be more believable—”

[Shut up.]

“Mmmmph?! Mph! Mblblbl!!”

Hailey’s mouth, which had been chattering noisily, closed tightly as if sealed. Ena turned her back on Hailey, who was bouncing around clutching her mouth, and turned her head towards Asel and Evelyn.

“Let’s go. I’ll show you the empty rooms, so pick one you like and go in.”

“Mph?”

Only then did Hailey, noticing the presence of Asel and Evelyn, tilt her head. She pointed at the two with her hand and hovered in front of Ena. It was a gesture asking who these kids were. Ena answered casually in a tired voice.

“My disciple and your successor.”

“Mmmmph!!!”

Hailey’s eyes widened at the calm declaration. Ena took the two people up to the 2nd floor corridor before she could chatter any more.

The corridor, like the 1st floor hall, was also kept in a very clean state. Warmth emanated from the wooden floor, ceiling, and walls, and magic lamps installed in various places subtly illuminated the corridor. Asel realized that the warmth emanating from all sides was a kind of magic and looked around with interested eyes.

Meanwhile, Ena pointed to an empty room with her finger and said.

“From here to there. They’re all empty rooms. You can each pick one that’s suitable.”

“Just any?”

“Yes. Just any.”

Ena nodded and replied to Evelyn’s question. Asel and Evelyn hesitated for a moment even at those words, then soon timidly grabbed the doorknob of a random room and turned it. The room that opened up was a very spacious and clean space, a form they had never seen or heard of in their entire lives. The two simultaneously burst into admiration and stood in front of the rooms they had each chosen, facing each other.

“What are you doing?”

At the sight, Ena burst into laughter. It was the sound of laughter one makes when seeing something cute, rather than mockery.

Asel and Evelyn looked at each other like that for a moment, then soon nodded and went into their respective rooms.

‘She told us to get used to it.’

Let’s not be surprised by things like this anymore. Asel thought that way as he walked around inside the room. However, his body trembled slightly with every step he took.

Just because one has made up their mind doesn’t mean they can change immediately. Because he had lived his entire life in a slum and an isolated village, he still needed more time to adapt to a place like this. So, Ena decided to give the two time to get used to it.

“Hailey will bring you clothes to change into in a bit. Rest until then, and after you change, come to my room. You’ll see it right away if you come up to the 3rd floor.”

Ena said that and flicked her finger, tac. Then, her body became a streak of pure white lightning and instantly disappeared. Asel gazed idly at the residual scent of lightning she left behind, then soon closed the door and began to look around the room a bit more.

About 5 minutes passed like that, and Asel, finished with his viewing, sighed deeply and plopped down onto the bed.

The feeling of the bed, which he was experiencing for the first time, was not much different from what he had felt in his past life’s memories. Perhaps because of that, the emotions didn’t rush in as much as when he first saw the mansion. Admiration did come out, but that was only for a moment. He looked at the brightly burning magic lamp and sighed deeply.

“…It’s the beginning.”

After accepting Ena’s declaration to become a disciple, he had not yet received proper guidance. He had only heard explanations about mana, magic power, and aura while traveling by carriage. How to form a Magic Core, how to ascend the hierarchy. Types of magic and aptitude, etc. He had only heard simple explanations about these. Since he was told that the detailed contents would be explained after arriving in Wiheim, he suppressed his curiosity while waiting for that time. And now, having arrived in Wiheim and even received a room like this, the realization that he had become a wizard’s disciple began to sink in.

‘Can I do well?’

Asel suddenly thought that way, then shook his head and brushed off the thoughts.

It’s not ‘Can I do well?’ I can do well. Asel recalled all the evaluations he had heard about himself on the way here. Zervil said about him that he was an excellent experimental subject. The reason was his excellent mana sensitivity, control, and affinity. Ena offered the suggestion of becoming a disciple as soon as she recognized his talent, and a monstrous bird named Parnell, whom he met in Wiheim, called him the same kind of monster as Ena. There was not a single negative thing. Everyone only showed interest and admiration for his extreme talent, which they had seen for the first time. The evaluations he had heard in that short time, less than a month, were already like that. There was absolutely no reason to be intimidated.

Of course, he had no intention of acting arrogant. Even overwhelming talent is merely a gem buried in stone forever without humility. Asel lowered his gaze and sighed deeply.

“Knock knock knock.”

Just then, Hailey’s voice was heard from outside the door. Asel uttered “Ah,” got up abruptly from his seat, and opened the door. Beyond the opened door, Hailey, who had brought clothes to change into, stood smiling. She looked down at Asel and waved her hand.

“Hi?”

Hailey greeted him with a cute voice. Asel bowed his head and greeted her back.

“Hello……”

“Yup yup. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yes. Please come in comfortably.”

“Then I’ll intrude~”

Hailey said that and strode into the room. Asel confirmed that she was sitting on the bed, closed the door, and sat down beside her. Then Hailey opened her eyes slyly and looked at Asel.

“Sitting next to me. Is this flirting?”

“What is that?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Hailey chuckled and casually scanned Asel up and down. Asel accepted her gaze without any particular aversion. It wasn’t a negative gaze anyway.

“You’re Lady Ena’s disciple, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then that pretty girl is my successor?”

“…Maybe so?”

“Hehehehe…… My first successor. My first successor.”

Hailey chuckled slyly and wiggled her fingers.

“How hard it was managing this mansion all by myself, finally a newcomer is coming.”

“You manage it alone?”

Asel asked with a surprised expression. The mansion Ena lives in is by no means small in size. The 1st floor alone is packed with all sorts of facilities, and there are two more floors similar to that above. Managing it alone was not just insufficient but impossible. But Hailey chuckled and answered in a nonchalant tone.

“There are quite a few magic tools suitable for mansion management. Plus, I’m quite proficient in Life Magic, so there was no problem!”

“Life Magic?”

“Yeah. Do you not know?”

Asel nodded. Then Hailey smiled and extended her hand towards Asel,

Wooong.

A faint magic power condensed at her fingertips. Hailey poked a dirty part of Asel’s clothes with her brightly glowing hand and muttered. [Clean]

With the manifestation of the magic, a pure white light grew in size and consumed the dirt. The light didn’t stop there, it wrapped around the entire garment and cleanly incinerated the dirty parts. And it only faded away when there was no more dirt to consume. Asel looked down at his clothes, which had become clean as new except for the torn parts here and there, and burst into admiration.

“So it’s a magic like this.”

“How is it, amazing, right? Originally, you know? It could only clean one spot! I modified the spell formula myself to make it such an amazing magic!”

Asel didn’t know much about the magic system yet. But he could definitely tell that modifying a spell formula was not an easy task. Hailey, who had seemed merely bright and innocent in his eyes, began to look a little different.

“Lady Hailey, are you a wizard too?”

“I am a wizard, but I’m a wizard who can only use Life Magic. Still, in the area of daily life, I’m probably the best in Wiheim? Because there isn’t a single person other than me researching this magic!”

Hailey said with a triumphant attitude. Asel said “Oh oh,” expressing admiration, and clapped his hands. Perhaps it was thanks to Hailey’s friendly attitude. Asel also seemed to be getting more comfortable with her.

“Is Life Magic also a magic that requires aptitude in a specific series?”

“No. Anyone who has learned magic can use this. It’s probably one of the easiest magics?”

“I see.”

Asel nodded his head. He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist while thinking about the path of magic power that Hailey had just shown.

‘Magic power moved from the heart to the fingertips. And from there, the spell formula was activated, and the magic manifested externally.’

Since coming to Wiheim, his sense for detecting mana and magic power seemed to have improved significantly. It was due to feeling the magic across the entire city, and interacting with the mana of the forest, which naturally heightened his sensitivity. Asel thought of Hailey’s magic once again and narrowed his eyes.

He recalled the basics of magic he had read in a book. Although it was a book that had been carelessly strewn about in the carriage, the contents of the book, which had once enjoyed great popularity as an introductory text to magic, vividly resurfaced in Asel’s mind.

‘Convert external mana into magic power and store it in the practitioner’s Magic Core. Magic is performed by releasing the magic power stored this way outwards through spell formulas.’

Magic Core. Ultimately, this means that without it, one cannot use magic. This is because magic power cannot be stored in the body, making it impossible to release it outwards through spell formulas. To begin with, it’s generally difficult for someone without a Magic Core to even feel mana itself.

But Asel is feeling mana even at this moment. The faint mana hovering around Hailey and the vast amount of mana swirling around him. The moment he perceives and waves his hand, they move according to his gesture.

‘It feels like I can do it.’

Somehow, he had that intuition.

So, he decided to try it for now.

Asel closed his eyes and focused his mind on the mana circling around him. Hailey tilted her head at his sudden action and placed the clothes she had brought onto the bed.

“Now wear these and you can go to Lady Ena.”

“……”

“Asel?”

Hailey’s words didn’t reach his ears. All of Asel’s five senses and mind were solely focused towards mana.

In a normal case, to feel mana, the help of a knight or wizard who has awakened to mana is needed. They make skin contact with their disciple, show them the new sensation needed to feel mana, and simultaneously leave a trace of it. Then the disciple can build a Magic Core or Aura more easily than before.

Asel skipped that process.

While watching the battle between Zervil and Ena, he had mastered the sensation of being able to feel mana on his own. Furthermore, he understood mana through the books he read on the way to Wiheim, and after arriving in Wiheim, by sensing the magic laid out everywhere, he vaguely gained knowledge about the characteristics of magic power.

Magic power is the refined energy of mana. It is a pure and stable force obtained by cleanly refining mana, which inherently must have some impurities mixed in.

‘But to refine it, a Core is needed.’

It is impossible to convert external mana floating around into magic power without a Core. That was like trying to eliminate all pollution on the continent with a very small purification device. No matter how excellent the purification device’s performance, it was a pointless waste of effort.

Asel’s talent was the same. No matter how outstanding his talent was, changing the mana freely roaming the world as he pleased was within the realm of impossibility. Controlling mana through excellent mana control would be possible, but freely converting mana into magic power without a Core is impossible.

Therefore, ultimately, constructing a Core was the first step. Asel sighed deeply, cleared his distractions, and focused solely on feeling mana again.

He had heard from Ena what a Core was, but he had not yet heard how to make it.

But Asel instinctively realized what he had to do.

It was a sensation like blinking one’s eyes. An action one could do naturally without learning it. Before, he only didn’t know because he hadn’t tried to do it, but now it’s different. He tried, perceived, and understood.

He goes through the perception. He holds the mana circling around him in place. He changes the direction of the fixed mana and slowly sends it flowing towards his body. There was no resistance in that process. Only the pleasure and refreshing sensation of accepting what needed to be accepted was present.

Wooong.

The formless mana passes through the skin and settles in the blood vessels and nervous system throughout the body. Just like that, it travels along the bloodstream and electrical signals, passing through the heart and brain.

Mana circulates through the entire body once. Impurities that had been gnawing at his entire body are expelled through sweat. Dead blood flows back up from his mouth. But there was no pain. Asel continued to focus all his senses on mana even as he spat the blood onto the floor. In this way, he simply passes through the process that requires the most caution when creating a Magic Core.

Two rotations. He found the optimal space for mana to settle.

The heart. He concentrates all the mana in that organ that beats and spreads blood throughout the body. Originally, a mana rejection reaction should have occurred in the body during that process, but Asel’s body did not cause any rejection reaction. As if something he already possessed was flowing, the mana moved docilely without running wild.

The moved mana all gathered in the heart. Asel adjusted the mana gathered in that way into a suitable form. The inside was empty, and the outside was the shape of a solid sphere. The mana instantly completed that form according to Asel’s will.

……Did I succeed?

The moment Asel sighed deeply and entertained that thought, the constructed Magic Core deeply rooted itself in Asel’s body and inner self. Not only had the construction of the Core been finished, but stabilization and settling had also been completed.

The next moment, the mana circling around Asel began to rush towards his Core like crazy. It was as if it were being sucked in.

The mana was entirely converted into magic power during the process of moving towards Asel’s Core. Asel didn’t even need to pay attention. The mana changed its nature on its own and became pure magic power, settling deep within the Core.

A few minutes passed like that, and Asel, feeling that his Core was filled with magic power, sighed deeply.

“Huu……”

Mana faintly clings to the exhaled breath. It is a part of the mana that couldn’t enter the Core coming out. It seemed the total amount of magic power wasn’t high enough yet to contain all the surrounding mana. Since he had just created it for the first time, it was a natural outcome, if anything. There was no reason to be disappointed.

Asel thought that way and slowly opened his closed eyes.

“…H-huh.”

Three pairs of eyes and Asel’s gaze met head-on. Asel gasped in surprise, and seeing him like that, the three people showed their respective reactions.

“……”

“…Because it’s absurd.”

“Why, what’s wrong? Is something strange with my younger sibling? Are they hurt?”

Ena was silent. Hailey let out a scoffing laugh, and Evelyn was stomping her feet and frantically rolling her eyes with an anxious gaze.

Asel quietly looked at them, then opened his mouth towards Ena, who was standing with a serious expression.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

Ena, who had kept her mouth shut for a long time even at Asel’s question, bent her knees and sat down, met his eyes, and continued speaking.

“When Hailey suddenly came looking for me, I wondered what was going on… You’ve done something preposterous in just that short time.”

“……”

“Do you even know how dangerous it is to forge a Magic Core by yourself? If you mess up, you could die by bleeding uncontrollably from every hole in your body. There are also many cases where people become invalids because they can’t control the rejection reaction. I don’t want to lose my disciple like that.”

“…I apologize.”

“Alright. From now on, until you become a proper wizard, when you attempt things like this, even if you are sure you can do it, ask me before you do. That way I can guarantee your safety.”

Ena said, placing her hand on Asel’s cheek.

“Even so… I have to give praise where it’s due.”

“……”

“You made it well. For a Magic Core of a wizard who has just obtained a rank, there is not a single sign of instability.”

Ena smiled sweetly and lightly stroked Asel’s head.

“Well done.”

“…Thank you.”

“Mhm.”

Asel wore an awkward smile at Ena’s warm gaze looking at him.

“I think I’ll have to change the lesson plan a bit.”

Her eyes were full of unconcealable favor and enjoyment.