Chapter 6: The Hidden Potential

It had already been three days since Evan began training his mana sensitivity.

[Intelligence has increased by 2.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1.]

[Wisdom has increased by 3.]

His intelligence had risen enough to overcome his penalties.

As he cultivated his mana sensitivity, his wisdom had also significantly increased.

Now, he could sense the mana flowing through his body fairly well.

‘Should I give it a try now? With this level of sensitivity, I should be able to touch the mana toxins in my body.’

Evan wiped away the sweat trickling down his face.

Panting heavily, he turned to Alan and said, “This is enough for today.”

With that, he casually put down his wooden sword.

“Young Master…”

Alan looked puzzled.

It was understandable.

Evan had been repeating what seemed like meaningless actions.

Still, he couldn’t openly ask about it.

Even if he did, the wayward young master would just ignore him.

More importantly, Evan’s unpredictable nature made it impossible to go against his mood.

In fact, Alan should be thankful—he was acting more docile than usual today.

Thinking this, Alan began tidying up the training ground.

As Evan watched him, he turned around.

Just as he was about to leave the training grounds, he noticed something far in the distance—

A large crystal tower was being constructed.

It was something he had no memory of.

Pointing toward it, Evan asked, “Alan, what is that?”

“Hm?”

Alan, who was organizing the wooden swords, lifted his head and followed Evan’s gaze.

It was in the direction of the estate’s garden.

There, a tall crystal tower was being erected.

“Oh, that’s the Parsk Crystal Tower. The Commander mentioned recently that one would be installed in the estate. Looks like the Eastern Magic Tower finally approved it.”

“Parsk Crystal Tower?”

Evan furrowed his brows, trying to recall the name.

But nothing came to mind.

Apparently, the body’s original owner had never taken interest in such matters.

Seeing Evan’s reaction, Alan nodded.

“I suppose this might be your first time seeing one, Young Master. That tower is a piece of magitech developed by the Magic Tower. It’s used to detect dimensional rifts nearby and protect facilities. I’ve heard they’re used in many other territories too.”

‘Dimensional rift?’

Luckily, Evan did recall what that was.

They formed in unstable atmospheres where space distorted, allowing monsters to pour out of them—

Or if someone got sucked in, they’d find themselves in a realm full of monsters.

To put it simply—

‘It’s just a gate.’

So this world had dungeons and gates too.

Only, the concepts and response systems differed.

This world focused more on defense and prevention.

The previous world he lived in, however, specialized in attacking and destroying them.

Because the previous world had a developed scientific civilization, information was abundant.

Everyone knew how to clear dungeons and destroy gates.

‘It was vulnerable to danger, but we could fight back against disasters. But here… they only defend.’

There were few methods of sharing information, which made every risk far more dangerous.

They had no choice but to stay on the defensive.

It was the gap created by scientific advancement.

And that gap translated directly into the world’s difficulty level.

But to Evan, none of this was a real penalty.

‘I already have all the information I need. I just have to grow stronger and start conquering things.’

By combining the previous world’s knowledge with this world’s well-developed defense systems, he could make things work to his advantage.

If everyone else was going to stay passive, all the better.

He’d just monopolize everything for himself.

‘Then I better hurry.

Even if I can monopolize things, I can’t do anything with a body like this.’

Evan started walking away.

***

Back in his room, Evan sat on the edge of the bed.

He called for the butler and gave strict instructions not to let anyone enter.

What he was about to do would require complete focus.

Evan opened the system store.

He quickly scanned through the list of items, and when he found what he was looking for, he immediately purchased it.

[You have purchased the skill book: Mana Breathing.]

[1,500,000 merit points have been consumed.]

Mana Breathing.

It was basically the most basic skill for handling mana.

It was also the fastest way to deal with the mana toxins in his body.

The requirements to learn it were: Intelligence 5, Wisdom 5, and Mana 50.

He now met all the conditions.

Evan used the Mana Breathing skill book immediately.

The book transformed into light, which flowed into his head.

[You have acquired the skill: Mana Breathing.]

At last, he had obtained the skill he had longed for.

Evan opened the skill details right away.

<Mana Breathing>[Type: Active]

[Mana Cost: None]

[Cooldown: None]

[Effect: Allows the user to sense mana through regulated breathing.]

[Effect: Increases mana sensitivity while active.]

[Effect: Permanently increases Intelligence by 10.]

[Effect: Permanently increases Wisdom by 10.]

‘When it comes to handling mana, there’s no better early skill than this.’

Of course, the requirements were a bit strict, which was why he had originally planned to acquire it much later.

Surprisingly, the opportunity came faster than expected, and Evan was able to seize it easily.

He immediately sat down in a meditative position.

[Activating Mana Breathing.]

[If your concentration breaks, Mana Breathing will automatically deactivate.]

Slowly focusing his mind, Evan began Mana Breathing.

He started guiding the mana.

Mana flowed along his meridians and spread throughout his body.

He tried to control and circulate the spreading mana.

But the meridians were blocked due to poison, so clearing them came first.

“Hup!”

Evan pushed his mental strength to its limit and forced the mana through the clogged channels.

As he did, pain surged through him, and his face twisted in agony.

[Poison Resistance skill has been activated.]

[Poison immunity has increased by 30%.]

[Poison Resistance skill proficiency has increased!]

Just from clearing the blocked meridians, the toxic substances already began to spread.

Evan gritted his teeth and endured it.

‘Still manageable.’

Pushing himself further, he continued clearing the meridians with mana.

***

After a grueling struggle, he finally succeeded in forming a full mana circulation loop throughout his body.

But at the same time, Evan’s body became poisoned.

He paused the Mana Breathing.

He took out a basic antidote potion from his inventory.

Touching the body meant disturbing the poison stored within it.

Gulp.

Evan downed the lowest-grade detox potion in one go.

Working together with the Poison Resistance skill, the antidote began neutralizing the toxins.

[Poison Resistance skill proficiency has increased!]

[Poison Resistance skill proficiency has increased!]

[Poison Resistance skill level has increased from F to E.]

The skill level rose instantly.

Evan calmed himself again and resumed Mana Breathing.

‘Now that I’ve established the mana circulation loop, it’s time to deal with the mana toxins stored deep inside.’

“Khrrrk!”

As he carefully manipulated the mana and disturbed the mana toxins inside him, unbearable pain surged through him.

It felt like someone was slicing him up from the inside.

But Evan didn’t stop.

He kept stirring up the mana toxins.

Eventually, the mana and poison began to separate.

‘Good. It’s working.’

Evan focused intensely on sensing the mana and controlling it delicately.

The mana obediently followed his flow.

And it began to be absorbed into his body.

[Mana has been absorbed.]

[Intelligence has increased by 1.]

[Mana has increased by 70.]

A substantial amount of mana was absorbed into his body.

But he couldn’t absorb it all.

This body wasn’t attuned to mana.

It was more like forcefully cramming mana into it, so there was a limit.

Out of 100% of the mana, he could only absorb about 30%.

The remaining 70% turned back into mana toxins and accumulated inside his body again.

Evan felt a pang of disappointment but decided to be content with this much.

‘The fact that I can absorb mana with this body at all is already amazing…’

There was another benefit as well.

[The penalty to your Intelligence stat has been reduced.]

[The penalty to your Strength stat has been reduced.]

By neutralizing some of the mana toxins, the negative modifiers to his stats had slightly decreased.

And the areas where the toxins were detoxified now looked a bit sunken, as if the fat had melted away.

It might’ve just been his imagination, but his body felt a bit lighter too.

‘Good. At this rate…’

‘Even this bloated body will slim down in no time, and my mana pool will increase dramatically.’

Evan pushed himself harder, focusing on detoxifying more mana toxins.

Time passed steadily.

Evan repeatedly absorbed mana, got poisoned, and detoxified himself.

He made good progress in purging the mana toxins.

But with that came another problem.

“Cough! Khh!”

Suddenly coughing up blood, warning messages popped up in front of Evan’s eyes.

[Warning! You’ve entered a state of exhaustion from excessive mana usage.]

[From now on, mana consumption will increase fivefold. (12:00:00)]

[Warning! Excessive mana usage may cause mana reflux.]

[Warning! Poisoned state has worsened.]

His body was breaking down.

Just handling mana was already a heavy burden.

On top of that, dealing with the toxins had overstrained him.

Now, his body was completely overheated.

‘I pushed myself to the limit. It seems using mana twice a day is the safe limit…’

Evan roughly wiped the blood from his lips and got up.

***

Clyd sat in the study, resting his chin on his hand.

Several problems had been cropping up lately.

But one in particular had been oddly on his mind.

“Lord, the eldest young master has begun sparring in the training ground with his bodyguard.”

That was what Alburton had reported.

After coming back from the brink of death, Evan had started behaving strangely.

‘Was this madness from facing death?’

‘Or had brushing with death rekindled a longing for the sword he had once given up?’

So many questions remained unanswered.

But one thing was certain—Evan had been consistently practicing swordsmanship every day without fail.

Though, to be fair, it was mostly just Evan swinging his sword alone.

Still, considering the way his son had lived as a scoundrel, this was a massive change.

‘He still hasn’t given up? What a stubborn fool…’

It was reckless, but Clyde didn’t entirely dislike it.

Better to live like a human being than a beast.

He let go of his thoughts.

When it came to Evan, only frustration remained.

Even if he worried, it wouldn’t change the boy’s fate.

To the other factions, Evan would always be a fatal weakness.

Given that, Clyde couldn’t afford to grow attached to his son.

He had to prepare for the worst.

Clyde turned his attention back to the reports from the other territories.

“Hmm…”

But then, his expression darkened again due to another headache.

Lately, there had been frequent reports of monster attacks in the forest.

The signs were ominous.

Dimensional rift activity.

If a dimensional rift truly opened, major damage would be unavoidable.

To prepare, he had mobilized guilds, mercenaries, and knights.

He had even gone to great expense to bring in magical crystals from the Parsk Tower.

But despite all the preparations, the anxiety didn’t go away.

No one could predict with certainty something as devastating as a natural disaster that transcended human limits.

Hoping it would all pass safely, Clyde began signing documents again.

But then, his eyes stopped at one particular report.

It was from the knight captain.

Apparently, Evan had recently begun attending the knights’ training sessions.