episode_0052

“Rachel?”

“Yes.”

“Can you teach me about mana management today?”

I asked that as I headed to the training ground with Rachel.

The reason was because I wanted to develop magical power, the power to use [mana], which is a must-have when immersed in medieval fantasy.

Fortunately, unlike other fantasy works, in this world anyone can operate the mana flowing in the atmosphere.

However, there is a limit to the capacity of the Danjeon that can contain that mana.

Those whose capacity is much larger than others have the talent to become a great wizard or sorceress, those who have the right amount of capacity can use a mix of mana and martial arts like Rachel to make up for their insufficient capacity, and those with less capacity have enough mana to start a bonfire or emit light. It is said that it is safe to say that they are virtually non-existent as they have so little operating power that they cannot even be used in real life.

Since it was explained that way in the mana management theory book, I would also be equipped with the basic power to manipulate mana.

You will have to operate it to find out what its capacity is.

I tried to awaken the dantian and use mana based on what I learned from the theory book, but as expected, it was not easy to awaken.

I guess it’s hard to get a feel for it just by learning it in print.

I asked Rachel in the hope that I would gain some insight if I could at least see a mana operation demonstration with my own eyes.

Because Rachel was a romantic magic swordsman who combined mana with swordsmanship.

The reason she was called the ‘purple’ female knight was not simply because her hair was purple.

Since she mainly battles using purple mana, she naturally earned the nickname the Purple Female Knight.

Mana was used to overcome the limitations of natural strength, and I wanted to learn how to use mana first because I was curious about whether I could also take advantage of that advantage.

In order to turn top-level monsters into food ingredients, you had to either follow a simple path and reach the highest level in martial arts, or take a shortcut using your innate magical power.

Naturally, the latter was easier and faster than the former, which required pushing the limits to the limit.

Of course, there was a condition that the Danjeon capacity had to be innate.

As a side note, the worldview of the original novel was different from that of ordinary fantasy stories in terms of monster levels.

Just as dragons are the strongest monsters in the fantasy world and are located in the middle level, they have a unique monster tier structure. It would be easy to explain this by citing [Slime] as an example of one of the monsters classified as the highest level.

To put it positively, the original work has a unique world view that overturns common sense.

or not.

‘The original author may have been a slime lover.’

According to the Monster Encyclopedia’s explanation, it is difficult to hunt because its soft yet elastic body and tough, smooth exterior deflects all physical attacks, and magic cannot cause any damage except fire properties.

In addition, it is said that its body, which transforms freely, instantly hits the hunter like a wave, suffocating it, then drags it to the center of the body and slowly dissolves it with digestive juices to eat it.

It is said that because the body is translucent, you can see the bizarre sight of human flesh melting.

Apart from that, the overall appearance was a plump round body, just like the general image of modern times.

The funny thing is, unlike other strange monsters, pudding made from slime reigns as a top-class dessert in the highest noble families because it looks cute.

I understand that the population is extremely small and the hunting difficulty is the worst, but since one plate costs the price of a small house, it would not be possible to get on the tea table of a run-down count family.

If I can’t buy it with money, I’ll cook it myself.

Perhaps, the final destination of my gastronomic journey will be [Slime Pudding].

anyway.

Since I started learning late, I desperately needed magical help.

I hoped that the capacity of the Danjeon would at least provide support for the martial arts that I had slowly begun to learn.

Rachel, who had finished preparing for training, answered while holding her wooden sword.

“Mana, do you mean?”

“I thought it would be helpful to have magical powers. But I can’t really get a sense from what I learned from books.”

“Hmm… , I also woke up by accident, so I don’t know how to explain it.”

“By chance?”

“Yes. I came to this realization just before I died. If not, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

ah.

hmm.

It was a very harsh awakening, wasn’t it?

Unfortunately, I was not willing to risk my life for enlightenment, so I had to seek safe learning from my teacher again.

“Can you at least give me a rough idea of how it feels? I think you’ll get a feel for it when you see it actually implemented.”

“… … .”

Rachel’s black pupils turned to me.

It was like that during my first training.

When my student asked me to explain the basics of swordsmanship, he looked at me with the same look in his eyes.

With eyes full of worry.

He then promised the next step, saying, ‘I will organize the contents and let you know tomorrow.’

With an apology for not having much to say.

The look in his eyes was the same as that day, so I thought I should make a promise for tomorrow.

“I understand. I’ll let you know how I feel. However, please listen while taking into account the lack of expressiveness.”

The teacher gladly accepted the disciple’s request.

Not only did she give her father’s secret honey water to relieve her student’s hangover, but Rachel, who had given away the special part of the Green Lizard’s grilled tongue, also willingly accepted the student’s request, which may have been a bit unreasonable.

These days, it seems like there are no truly kind teachers.

**

“Like this… I feel like something is stirring inside… .”

“Like this… After collecting it in the heart… .”

“Like this… After putting it on your shoulder… .”

“Like this… Gather it at your elbows… … .”

“Like this… At the tip of your finger you want to use… Send it… .”

phut!

Purple flames rose from Rachel’s hands.

“You can use your mana like this.”

… .

… … .

kind… … .

… … … It is the Master.

How about it? It’s easy, right?

Rachel’s lesson ended like that, with the pouty-haired Uncle Bob drawing a photo-realistic landscape in an instant and asking a question as if he was giving it a try.

The progress has been so fast since morning, sir.

I should have protested, but I knew that Rachel, who had never been taught or taught by anyone, was doing her best, so I silently shook my ass and stood up.

Actions rather than words.

Practice rather than practice

It would be a contradictory wish for Rachel, who grew up through self-study rather than learning, to fluently explain what she accidentally learned at the crossroads of life and death.

More than anything.

There was definitely something that resonated with me more than when I learned it through writing.

Thanks to Rachel’s demonstration, the thick fog that made the visibility less than 1 meter lightened somewhat, making it feel like my field of vision was widened.

To put it a little more dramatically, I could feel the mana rising from Rachel’s dantian flowing through my bloodstream.

I felt like I had some sense of it.

Seeing is worth seeing.

Since ancient times, our ancestors must have left behind such words because they realized long ago that seeing something once is more effective than hearing it a hundred times.

The teacher, who must have done his best despite his limited ability to express himself, worked with a serious attitude so that his efforts would not be in vain.

I touched the area near the danjeon with my hand.

I don’t know why, but I feel like I have a pulse.

And then, I felt something swirling around.

“If you give me time, I will refine the content a bit more and teach you.”

Rachel said that, but it didn’t make sense to me as I had already started concentrating.

Feeling the pulsation of the Danjeon, I try to pull it up, following what Rachel did.

“Like this… Raise it.”

Keep it in your heart.

The heartbeat speeds up momentarily.

“Then… Put it on your shoulder… .”

Divide the pulsation gathered in one place into both shoulders.

The heartbeat gradually slows down.

“Gather it into both elbows… … .”

I concentrated on the tips of my fingers trying to smoke, but it felt like something was blocking it, and the pulsation gathered in my elbow seemed to gradually loosen up.

Then, the pulsation seemed to return to my shoulder again.

Eventually, the pulsation felt in my left elbow stopped.

I chewed my molars.

I gave strength to my hands.

It gave strength to my stomach.

For some reason, it felt like it had to be that way.

“… … .”

My whole body started shaking.

As if I had a chill, it was a vibration that started from deep inside, and the weakening pulsation burst into a violent cry again.

Then, I felt as if something gathered in my right elbow was flowing down to my fingertips along a thin blood vessel.

It was as if a thunderous thunderbolt had stretched out a thin stem.

and.

Pot… .

Crackling… .

Black sparks began to fly over the palm of my hand.

It was a luminescence closer to an electric current than a flame, and the spark that once created a thick beam of light was soon extinguished.

At the same time, I felt as if my suppressed breathing was released and my entire body lost strength, and I had to lean on my knees and struggle for breath.

“Heo Eok… , heo… .”

Before I knew it, my whole body was wet.

After taking a deep breath, I raised my upper body.

“… … .”

I saw Master’s dumbfounded face.

I had to say this while scratching the back of my head, feeling as if I had somehow easily(?) achieved the realization that Rachel learned only at the moment of death.

It was like an excuse.

“Haha… … , I really didn’t know this would happen… .”

After a while.

There was something in Rachel’s eyes that I had never seen before.

It was similar to the look in Ariel’s eyes when she was asked to recommend a novel.

Joy… excitement… ?

same… ?

And that evening.

Rachel, who went to Ariel’s party, wore a red dress.

It was a dress with narrow shoulders and clearly showing off the curves of the body.

It was a feminine appearance that I had never seen before.

Is “ strange…? ?”

Rachel asked, smoothing out her red dress as if embarrassed, and I conveyed my exact sentiment.

“It suits you well.”

Called.