Since you’re probably the most sensitive to mana, you must have sensed it quickly.
“This isn’t supposed to be this easy? It took me a whole week just to manifest Light Magic… and yet…”
“Ughhh?”
Light shimmered above my hand.
Not just any light, but one clearer and larger than the two before me—a beautiful, radiant Light.
“…How?”
Chechil’s voice cracked, full of disbelief.
He looked utterly flustered, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was really such a big deal.
Even when I wielded a sword back in the Helpion Duchy, Butler Apel and Duke Helpion both praised my talent.
But was it truly my talent?
My swordsmanship came from reading in the Akashic Record, and now, this magic I just manifested was thanks to Albatron’s magic.
So many thoughts raced through my mind.
What if I never had access to the Akashic Record—what would my life have been like?
And how much of this “talent” was really mine, forged by the Akashic Record?
If I keep learning swordplay and magic like this, will I be able to escape the dangers facing the Empire?
And what about those foreign forces…
“Young Master, stop. Hold on a second. What exactly are you doing right now?”
“Huh?”
“What’s that above your hand?”
Above my hand?
Snapped out of my thoughts, I looked at the Light magic I had just formed.
It no longer looked like mere Light Magic; the complex intertwining of mana had taken shape as a sword made of light.
A slender hilt the size of a small rod, and above it, a sharp blade about two meters long, glowing pure white.
What should I call this?
A Lightsaber?
“Uh… since when did it take this form? Hahaha.”
Hurriedly, I untied the mana knot, and the sword instantly vanished.
But neither the Elder’s sharp gaze nor the looks from the others eased up.
Soon after, the Elder said,
“You, come with me for a moment.”
He called me to the lab.
Upon arriving, the Elder strode silently toward the underground chamber.
“Stand in the center and try that thing again.”
“Light Magic…?”
“Not that! That sword! Draw it out!”
I tried to brush it off, but no luck.
Hmph. But can I even do it again?
Like in the training grounds earlier, I slowly cast Light Magic, forming a small orb of light above my hand.
Now what?
I wasn’t sure what to do next.
After all, the sword had been formed while my mind was wandering—should I confess it was an accident…?
“Enough! How far do you intend to grow that sword?”
Huh, it just grew as I focused.
Why is this happening?
I stared blankly at the sword appearing before me.
“Ridiculous. Stay still.”
The Elder approached and started tapping my body here and there with his staff.
It didn’t hurt, but it felt… unpleasant.
“…”
But his expression was so serious, I couldn’t say a word.
“You said you wield swords, right?”
“Yes.”
“Show me some skill.”
Without warning, the Elder struck the ground with his staff, gathering mana.
In an instant, the scenery changed.
This place was a vast swamp.
The damp air clung to my skin, and a faint smell of burning tickled my nose.
This sensation was real.
Most of all, the intense fighting spirit and killing intent rising from below the swamp made my skin tingle.
I drew Hellfire and immediately three Lizardmen roared as they charged out.
“Grrrrraaaah!”
The lead Lizardman swung his weapon as it charged.
I quickly blocked with Hellfire, but a sharp blade pierced the air, aiming for the crown of my head.
I threw my body backward almost lying flat, while the Lizardman, mouth agape like a crocodile, flew like an arrow and embedded itself in the ground.
I quickly rolled to avoid a follow-up attack, barely managing to stand.
Dodge, parry, dodge, parry.
The three moved as if one, coordinating seamlessly.
Their moves were no ordinary attacks.
When I evaded one strike, the blade instantly adjusted to target my neck, feet, legs, waist, or abdomen repeatedly.
My incredible reflexes were barely enough to scramble their aim.
Blocking was all I could do.
With such careless defense, nothing would be solved.
How do I kill these things?
No choice.
I must sacrifice flesh to take their bones.
Stopping my evasive movements, I stepped forward deliberately.
One Lizardman lost its head, but I sacrificed my left shoulder.
Another had its thigh pierced by a blade, but I burned it in half.
The last one—
At the moment our blades crossed—
“That’s enough.”
A sudden jolt like a bucket of cold water hit me, and I came back to my senses, back in the lab.
My arms and legs were intact, and there was no pain.
But what was that artificial rush just now?
Sacrifice my body to kill them?
“Elder, just now…”
“Illusion Area, Warrior Heart, Berserk, and a few other things.”
“Mind magic?! Magic that controls a person’s mind is forbidden by law!”
“So? You planning to report me to the Empire?”
Damn.
I just clenched my lips, unable to say anything.
As the Elder said, the Empire and the Portamin Magic Tower had cracked down on mind magic among ordinary people.
The Imperial Society of Magic Studies—a kind of magical vigilante group.
Report the Elder who protected me from mind magic after I was attacked, to the very group trying to kill me?
That would be nonsense.
“Don’t be so prickly. Come here. Now that I understand why your body is like this…”
Elder Tallio tossed out those words and briskly walked back to the lab.
What should I do?
My anger wouldn’t subside.
Was this because I was weak?
Maybe I’d been too complacent, thinking being a Sword Expert High Grade and a First Circle Mage was enough.
I needed more power.
Sigh. Complaining won’t change anything.
No matter how much I argued with that old man, who’s used to bossing people around, nothing would change.
So, grit my teeth and endure.
And get stronger.
If I use the Akashic Record well, I can become strong enough.
Then, I’ll take my revenge on this whole ordeal.
Steeling my resolve, I kept watching the black exit Elder Tallio had taken.
As soon as we got back to the lab, the Elder conjured a blue mannequin in midair and waved his hand.
“This is your body, and this is how mana flows when you cast magic.”
With his words, white dots spread over the mannequin like a galaxy.
Soon, the white dots passed through the mannequin’s crown, using the body as a pathway to disperse everywhere.
“But here’s the strange thing. This is similar to when you wield a sword. Now, do you understand how absurd you really are?”
“Suddenly asking if I understand without context—who would?”
“Have you heard of the Magic Swordsman?”
Out of nowhere?
Of course, I’ve heard of them.
“Yes. It’s a romantic ideal.”
“Exactly. It’s a romance because no one can become a Magic Swordsman.”
“Huh?”
“But I use both magic and swordsmanship.”
“That’s why I said it’s amazing. Normally, Knights accumulate mana in the dantian and circulate it along the meridians to strengthen their physical abilities.
Mages, on the other hand, create a Circle in their heart to commune with the essence of nature.”
So that’s the difference between Knights and Mages.
“The problem is that once a Circle forms in the heart, it sucks in all the mana circulating from the dantian.
The mana no longer returns to the dantian.”
“Then the mana won’t come back to the dantian.”
“Exactly. So once you’ve learned and manifested magic even once, a swordsman cannot manifest Sword Aura.”
“Then what about me?”
When fighting the Lizardmen, my sense of the sword was just as before.
And I could see the aura clearly.
“Look at yourself again carefully. Do you see a Circle or mana in the dantian?”
Hmm.
No.
The mana I took in simply circulated from the external mana in the air, flowing naturally out of my body without stopping anywhere.
“So, I was just endlessly borrowing external mana.”
“The more interesting part is this—what did it feel like when you were under mind magic?”
“Disgusting.”
The answer came out without hesitation.
“Tsk, foolish kid, I wasn’t asking about the feeling.
I’m asking what thoughts and feelings you had the moment you were under mind magic!”
How should I put this?
“I wanted to kill them all. Purely.”
“Exactly. That purity is the problem.
Even under mind magic, you didn’t lose your rationality and fought with clear judgment.
Your body’s state while under mind magic was like this.”
Around the mannequin’s heart appeared a red mana.
The red mana slowly colored the white mana as it stirred through the body.
Then—
Suddenly, the white mana descending from the sky surged hundreds of times, rushing from my head to my heart.
Red mana and white mana fiercely battled near the neck, and the white mana eventually drove out the red.
“Do you know? I’ve never dispelled magic.
But at some point, you broke through the magic and regained your senses.
It’s absurd, except for one assumption.”
“An assumption?”
“What if there is a being… or some great power giving you mana?”
The Elder’s staff pointed exactly at the mannequin’s head.
At the flow of massive white mana.
With this simple experiment, the Elder seemed to have found the Akashic Record.
“What on earth is this? I don’t know exactly, but I have a rough idea.
I’ve thought about where mana comes from and where it goes.”
The Elder’s voice wavered as if asking someone, or perhaps muttering to himself.
Then he fixed his gaze directly on me.
His empty eyes behind the worn hood felt like they pierced right through me.
“Hey, Young Master. Take this.”
With a wave of his hand, he tossed a box containing a letter toward me.
“The lab is closed for now.
I have something to investigate, so write your letters on your own.
As for revisions—minor edits to the message are fine, but excessive changes will earn you a scolding.”
“Investigate, sir…?”
“After looking at your body, I’ve caught something.
A massive flow.
Mana.
I need to grasp that flow.”
Wait, but can I just wait around and work on this without any timeline?
Just write letters without hearing the Elder’s past stories?
What’s the difference between this and a publisher just printing a book?
“How long will you stay in the lab?”
“I don’t know.
Just wait until I come out.”
“I’m not exactly a free person…”
“Tsk.
You ran away from the Empire, didn’t you?
No place to go.
Just write your story and stop whining.”
I felt my body lift into the air.
Before I knew it, I was thrown out of the lab.
Wait a minute, seriously, that old bastard!
I couldn’t help but sigh hollowly outside the closed lab door.