Chapter 5: Mana Awakening

Evan and one of his personal knights stood alone in the private training arena.

There were others in the family, like his youngest sister, but from what he remembered, they had little to no interaction.

Thanks to the elite education system of the noble family, even Delian rarely had time to use this place.

In truth, Evan was practically the only one who actually used it.

‘To have such a vast facility all to myself… Nobility really does have its perks.’

He could do whatever he wanted without anyone interfering.

‘I really like the position of this delinquent.’

Evan smiled to himself.

‘Alright then. Time to get started.’

He planned to spend the entire day training his mana sensitivity here.

It was a method he had chosen to deal with the mana poison in his body.

‘The foundation of mana is, without a doubt, sensitivity.’

No matter how much mana one absorbs, without a solid foundation, it’s like building a castle on sand.

If your mana sensitivity is low, you can’t control mana, and without control, mana can’t grow.

That was a simple truth.

Even though this body had been forcefully modified to contain a small amount of mana…

His sensitivity to mana was still nearly nonexistent.

Since his body couldn’t properly sense mana, controlling it was incredibly difficult.

That was the real reason he could only absorb 10% of mana.

Evan turned his head to observe his personal knight.

‘Was his name Alan?’

Short sky-blue hair and deep brown eyes.

His face was overall average, but he gave off a good impression.

‘The problem is… he’s the talkative type. Exhausting to deal with.’

He was about the same height as Evan, which meant he was fairly tall.

Alan, Evan’s personal knight.

But people often spoke of him this way: ‘An unlucky guy tied to a rotten rope.’

Alan was one of the youngest to reach mid-tier Sword Expert level.

He could’ve easily found a better master.

But unfortunately, he had been assigned to serve the family’s infamous good-for-nothing young master.

A young master with no mana.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how bleak that future looked.

Serving Evan brought no honor to a knight.

And yet, even under those circumstances, Alan continued to faithfully carry out his duties.

Evan liked that about him.

Normally, anyone forced to deal with a delinquent like Evan would’ve quit long ago.

Even as a knight, quitting because of Evan would’ve been totally understandable.

But Alan had held firm.

‘He’s one of the few people among my close attendants I can actually trust.’

Evan decided to take this opportunity to assess his close aides one by one.

It was something he absolutely needed to do if he wanted to move forward.

‘I need to clear dungeons, and progress with quests too.’

For that, he needed to secure as many capable allies as possible.

And not just Alan—there were plenty of talented individuals within the Count’s household.

It would be a waste not to make use of them.

‘I’ll choose the ones I can take with me going forward.’

He looked at the closest candidate first—Alan.

Evan raised his wooden sword and called out to him.

“Alan. Draw your sword.”

“Huh? Young Master? What’s going on all of a sudden…?”

Alan stared at Evan, confused.

‘What kind of whim was this?’

He’d seen his fair share of Evan’s reckless antics.

Worried that this might be another disaster waiting to happen, Alan sighed.

“Your body isn’t fully recovered. You should be resting.”

Alan tried to dissuade him.

But Evan spoke firmly.

“Draw your sword.”

“This isn’t a proper duel. Just use your mana to block my attacks. That’s all.”

There were several ways to improve mana sensitivity.

But the most effective method was to spar with someone who had superior control over mana.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The dull sound of wooden swords colliding echoed across the training ground.

Alan deflected the fierce strikes that came flying toward him.

Of course, it was still Evan he was dealing with.

With an untrained, overweight body, Evan swung his sword clumsily.

It was no different from fighting a beginner who had just picked up a wooden sword for the first time.

‘He’ll probably get tired of this soon and give up…’

Alan decided to just go along with the young master’s rhythm.

But—

“Young Master…?”

Alan gradually began to sense something was off.

At first, he thought Evan was just bored.

But for something done out of boredom, this went on far too long.

Evan didn’t stop swinging his sword—not even for a short break.

Alan kept up, continuously channeling mana through his entire body to block the attacks.

As the strange pattern continued, Alan finally spoke.

“Young Master, if you keep this up, your body’s going to be damaged again.”

But again, no answer came.

“…Young Master.”

Alan sighed heavily.

He was someone whose actions were always unpredictable.

Right now, the only option was to match that personality.

‘Come to think of it… It’s been eight years since I last watched Young Master wield a sword.’

Ever since earlier, Alan had been feeling a strange sense of déjà vu—and now he finally understood why.

It was a little different, but even back then, the Young Master had swung his sword with burning determination, and Alan had spent the entire day sparring with him.

He remembered how Evan had pushed himself to the brink, desperately swinging his sword just to earn recognition.

‘No way…’

Alan looked at Evan with eyes filled with sympathy.

As one of the few people who had watched Evan grow up, he understood Evan’s pain better than most.

Of course, it hadn’t been like that from the beginning.

When Alan was first assigned as Evan’s personal knight, he’d had plenty of complaints.

‘A talentless brat with no mana?’

He had laughed at the idea of protecting someone so hopeless.

He’d even considered quitting the position more than once.

But after a certain incident, all of those thoughts disappeared.

“I’m afraid this is your limit.”

Those were the words of the Knight Commander.

Alan had hit a wall at the intermediate level of Sword Expert.

No matter how many dozens or hundreds of times he tried, he couldn’t surpass that barrier.

He, who had once basked in praise and taken pride in his talent, experienced true despair for the first time.

That was when he happened to watch Evan train with his sword.

‘He doesn’t even have mana… and yet he’s so desperate.’

For some reason, he saw a reflection of himself in the Young Master.

Evan knew that no amount of effort would change anything—and yet, he kept going with everything he had.

Eventually, the strain began to break him.

He gained weight, and his personality deteriorated until he became a complete delinquent.

Unrecognized by his family and by everyone else, the vicious cycle continued.

Putting himself in Evan’s shoes—

‘Would he have handled it any differently?’

Honestly, he doubted it.

Watching Evan suffer made Alan feel grateful for the talent he’d once taken for granted.

And from that moment on, no matter what outrageous behavior Evan showed, Alan could only feel pity for him.

Before he knew it, the years had passed, and they were still together.

‘Are you still holding on to something? They say people become honest after brushing with death.’

It was a good thing the Young Master had regained his strength.

But Alan feared that he would once again hit a wall and fall into despair.

‘His eyes have come alive again but… huh?’

The moment Alan met Evan’s gaze, he instinctively tensed.

That strange sense of déjà vu hit him again.

But this time, he realized he had been mistaken.

This wasn’t nostalgia.

This was the feeling of facing an enemy on the battlefield.

It wasn’t the gaze of the Evan he once knew.

And ever since earlier, Alan noticed that his breathing had subtly quickened.

It was so faint that he wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t paid close attention—but it bothered him.

And maybe it was just his imagination,

but Evan’s wooden sword kept striking at oddly difficult angles, making them nearly impossible to block.

Evan swung his wooden sword while trying to sense Alan’s mana.

But it wasn’t easy.

His body felt like it was weighed down by iron, and his arms refused to move freely.

Even though every movement was clearly drawn out in his mind, his body didn’t follow at all.

‘So this is what it feels like when your mind and body are out of sync.’

The disconnect was frustrating, and once again, he felt suffocated by how poor this body’s condition was.

‘No… my goal is just to sense mana.’

Evan calmed his breathing and focused all his senses on feeling the flow of mana.

Time passed, and he slowly began to notice his sensitivity increasing.

***

And then—

[INT has increased by 5.]

[Achievement “Extreme Mana Perception” unlocked.]

[As an achievement reward, WIS has been granted.]

[As an achievement reward, MANA has increased by 20.]

The message he had desperately longed for finally appeared before his eyes.

But the achievement itself was unexpected.

‘Extreme Mana Perception?’

He remembered now.

That was an achievement he’d earned long ago when he was briefly trapped inside a gate.

While fighting enemies, he’d been forced to sense their mana under extreme circumstances.

It had been etched into his memory.

The reward, Wisdom, affected mana sensitivity, control, and conversion.

The higher the stat, the faster one could master mana.

‘An unexpected bonus.’

Because this body came with so many penalties, forcing himself into this intense state had effectively recreated the conditions of that achievement.

‘Looks like I can push the plan ahead a bit sooner than expected.’

With that thought, Evan lowered his sword.

He panted heavily and wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand.

“That’s enough for today. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

“Y-Young Master…?”

Alan stood frozen, a complex and thoughtful expression on his face.

He clearly had a lot to say.

Of course, Evan, just like his past self, ignored him and walked away without a word.

As he returned to his room, Evan opened his status window.

<Status Window> – HP: 550/550 – MP: 47/47 – STR: 5 (-6) – AGI: 2 (-40) – INT: 7 (-18) – END: 5 (-7) – WIS: 1

‘At this pace, it’ll take about three days, give or take.’

Looking over his stats, Evan recalled a certain item from the shop.

‘The requirement was MP over 50, and both INT and WIS over 5, right?’

It was an item that allowed for more precise control over mana.

Originally, his plan had been to gradually build up mana sensitivity, then slowly poke at the mana toxins accumulated in his body.

But now that he had gained Wisdom, a new path had opened.

He no longer needed to take the long way—he could go straight for the shortcut.

And so, Evan returned to his room, leaving Alan alone in the training ground.

Still lingering in the arena, Alan mulled over what he had just seen.

The Young Master, once capricious and reckless, had clearly changed.

There was something unsettling about the aura he emitted when he swung his wooden sword.

‘Something about him is different…’

But he couldn’t be sure just yet.

It was still just his personal opinion, filled with subjectivity.

Maybe he had simply been flustered by Evan’s sudden change and was overthinking it.

With his mind in turmoil, Alan cleaned up the wooden swords and immediately followed after Evan.