Chapter 5: Trainee Kim Song-cheol (2)

‘Huh?’

Kim Song-cheol opened his eyes.

It was because the surroundings had become too quiet.

Even Seo I-tae’s voice telling him to ‘inhale and exhale’ could no longer be heard.

“Is there a problem…?”

“Ah, no. There’s no problem at all.”

Seo I-tae’s voice trembled slightly.

The expressions of the other trainees were also unusual.

Although they were trying their best to act fine, the look in their eyes was very different from before.

By this point, Kim Song-cheol had no choice but to notice.

‘I guess I overdid it.’

Kim Song-cheol had also felt the vortex of Mana.

Since he was the one who created it, it made no sense for him not to know.

Furthermore, the materials he had read last night contained no mention of a vortex at all.

It was a phenomenon unique to Kim Song-cheol.

‘But what can I do? I can’t exactly hold back on purpose, can I?’

If he had decided to learn Magic, he had to learn it properly.

It wasn’t something he should worry about others’ opinions for.

“Can I continue?”

“Yes, yes. Please continue.”

Kim Song-cheol closed his eyes again and began the Breathing Method.

Every time he took a breath, it felt as if he was sucking in all the Mana inside the classroom, to exaggerate a bit.

However, just as much Mana was released through his exhalations.

No matter how great Kim Song-cheol was, he couldn’t store all the Mana that entered his body.

‘Still, the efficiency seems pretty good.’

Kim Song-cheol took a portion of the Mana that had entered his lungs and moved it to his heart.

The Breathing Method was the repetition of that task.

That wasn’t the only thing he had to focus on.

He had to keep holding onto the Mana he moved to his heart.

Natural Mana has a diffusive nature, moving from areas of high concentration to low concentration.

If he let go of his tension for even a moment, the Mana he worked so hard to collect might scatter in all directions.

“Inhale… keep your tension.”

Seo I-tae also continued to remind him.

A trainee was practicing right in front of her.

She did not lose sight of what she had to do.

‘The speed of Mana accumulation is incredible. At this rate, he’ll be able to activate a Circle in no time!’

Seo I-tae concentrated on the sensation at her fingertips.

She could feel the Mana moving inside Kim Song-cheol’s body clearly.

‘This should be enough.’

Seo I-tae prepared to wrap up the Breathing Method.

Right now was lecture time, not private training time.

She couldn’t keep focus on only Kim Song-cheol.

“Now, this part is important. We’re going to do the Finishing.”

Finishing is the process of firmly storing the Mana collected through the Breathing Method inside the heart.

It was the final stage of the Breathing Method.

“You’re going to compress the Mana gathered around your heart into a single small point and put it inside. If you slip up here, you might lose the Mana you gathered.”

The Finishing itself wasn’t a very difficult task.

However, failures were frequent at first.

Seo I-tae didn’t think Kim Song-cheol would fail, but she pointed it out because it was an important part.

“Now, first, compress.”

No sooner had she said the word ‘compress’ than the Mana gathered around Kim Song-cheol’s heart constricted terrifyingly into a single point.

Seo I-tae ended up laughing because it was so absurd.

Even though she knew his Mana control was monstrous, she couldn’t get used to it.

“…We’ll place it right in the center of the heart. There will be a comfortable spot. A spot that feels like ‘this is it.’ Try to find it and move it there. That position is different for every person.”

Kim Song-cheol moved the clump of Mana, smaller than a pea, into his heart and carefully let go.

The clump of Mana moved slightly to the left of his heart and settled there, floating.

“Is it done?”

Kim Song-cheol opened his eyes.

“Yes, you did well. At this level, it should be fine for you to practice alone. Please practice the Breathing Method whenever you have time. You’ll grow that much faster.”

“Yes, I understand. Is there anything I need to correct…?”

“….Nothing. You’re doing very well.”

Seo I-tae shook her head.

Once Kim Song-cheol’s instruction ended, the other trainees finally began their Magic practice.

They had been dazed, watching Kim Song-cheol’s training in a trance, before quickly sitting down and closing their eyes.

***

Kim Song-cheol went to the gym in his training suit.

This was because there was a basic physical training curriculum.

There were about 15 trainees in the gym, and they were all Mages.

The vibe was very different from the Swordsmen.

On his way to the gym, he had seen the Swordsman trainees running on the track in the field.

They were running at speeds that completely transcended human limits.

If he were to bump into them, it felt like his life would actually be in danger, and that was no exaggeration.

“Doesn’t that guy look a bit old?”

“He looks really aged. He looks like he’s thirty.”

Kim Song-cheol heard whispering voices.

Though the country had raised the measurement age to 35, Kim Song-cheol was the only one who had entered the Training Academy at that age.

In a place where everyone was around their 20s, a 30-year-old stood out quite a bit.

‘Should I feel good or bad about the comment that I look thirty…’

Kim Song-cheol tried his best to ignore the gazes and voices as he warmed up.

As he was rotating his wrists and ankles, a man approached him.

“I haven’t seen your face before. When did you come in?”

He was a man with an average face and glasses.

Kim Song-cheol had seen him laughing and chatting with other trainees until just a moment ago.

He seemed to be naturally sociable.

“I came in yesterday.”

“I knew you were a new trainee. You must stand out because you’re new.”

The man gestured slightly toward the surroundings.

There were still people glancing at Kim Song-cheol.

‘This guy is considerate. Someone like him should become a Hunter.’

It seemed this male trainee had come over to shield Kim Song-cheol.

Kim Song-cheol found that sentiment quite admirable.

“Well, it’s fine. I actually am thirty-one.”

“Huh?”

The man asked back as if he had misheard.

“Thirty-one. My age.”

“Ah, I heard they expanded the age range this time, but someone really did enter even over the age of 30?”

The man blinked his eyes before calling his friends over.

“Say hello. He’s thirty-one.”

“What? Isn’t he the first since the founding of the Training Academy?”

“Probably?”

“Ah, hello.”

“Hello.”

About six or seven people came over and bowed their heads one by one.

Kim Song-cheol, who didn’t expect to receive a group introduction suddenly, accepted the greetings awkwardly.

“Then what should we call him? Uncle?”

“Hey, isn’t Uncle a bit much?”

“I’m 19, though?”

“Just call me Uncle.”

Unable to watch any longer, Kim Song-cheol cut in.

Titles were important yet unimportant.

He didn’t care what they called him, but his conscience pricked too much at the thought of hearing a 19-year-old call him Big Brother.

One relief was that the men naturally unified the title to Big Brother on their own.

It was thanks to the man who first spoke to him quickly calling him ‘Big Brother.’

“Now, then.”

Just then, the Instructor entered the gym.

He wasn’t as bulky as Go Jung-in, but he was a sturdy male Instructor.

From the way he walked in, he looked like a former elite athlete or an officer from some special forces unit.

When the Instructor entered, the trainees roughly stood in line.

Kim Song-cheol took a spot at the back.

“First, we’ll start by doing a light 20 laps.”

‘Light?’

The feeling that something was wrong hit Kim Song-cheol hard.

This gym was exceptionally large, unlike normal gyms.

20 laps here?

It seemed like it would be almost 5km.

Would it be possible with the stamina of someone who sat at a desk all day handling Excel?

‘I don’t think it’s possible…’

“Now, depart.”

The Instructor’s command was given.

Starting from the front, they began to run around the gym, and Kim Song-cheol followed at the very back.

He ran reasonably well for the first and second laps.

But from the third lap, sweat began to pour, and from the fourth lap, he was out of breath.

‘Ah, this isn’t it. This isn’t right.’

The trainees running ahead were full of energy.

They showed off the steel-like stamina of their teens and 20s without reservation.

Since they had even entered earlier and been doing physical training, they were incomparable to Kim Song-cheol.

Kim Song-cheol began to fall behind more and more.

He was the slowest trainee and, at the same time, the trainee who looked to be struggling the most.

“Hang in there, Uncle!”

“Fighting!”

The distance gradually widened until there was eventually a full lap difference.

The trainees he had met earlier passed by while giving him encouragement.

Of course, it didn’t reach Kim Song-cheol’s ears well.

He was out of his mind just trying to run the track.

“Hey, hey, I just heard some crazy news.”

Compared to Kim Song-cheol, the other trainees had energy to spare.

They could even gossip while running.

“What news?”

“A friend of a kid who took the Magic class in the same room as that person over there told me. They said that person is insane.”

“In what way?”

“He just felt Mana on his own after looking at the lecture materials, and then he started the Breathing Method immediately during class. It wasn’t breathing; it was like a vacuum…”

“He felt Mana on his own? It took me two weeks.”

“That’s what they say. Probably not a lie.”

“Really? Then how high is his Mana Affinity?”

“If he’s at the level of coming to the Training Academy over the age of 30, wouldn’t it be incredibly high?”

“Like… 60?”

“Hey, no way it’s that high, right?”

While Kim Song-cheol was blocked by the massive wall called running, rumors about him were already spreading beyond that wall.

To skip to the conclusion, Kim Song-cheol was excluded from the rest of the physical training class.

He somehow completed the running, but he didn’t have any stamina left to continue the activities afterward.

After the ‘light jog,’ what was permitted for Kim Song-cheol was just lying down and breathing.

If the Instructor had stuck to a more traditional teaching method just a bit more, today might have been the day of Kim Song-cheol’s funeral.

After catching his breath for a long time, Kim Song-cheol barely sat up and watched the trainees’ activities.

They were doing things similar to CrossFit, and just watching them made him feel like his life span was decreasing.

‘I have to do it. I have to do it too. To enter a Dungeon.’

Kim Song-cheol envied the youth’s stamina and pulled himself together.

Just because he was a Mage didn’t mean he could just stand still.

A Dungeon was a place where no one knew what danger would pop out or how.

Stamina isn’t national power; stamina is one’s lifeline.

He had to raise it somehow.

“Trainee Kim Song-cheol.”

The Instructor walked over to Kim Song-cheol’s side.

It was about halfway through the training time.

In his hands were two small pink dumbbells.

“Yes?”

Kim Song-cheol stood up clumsily. Having rested, he had recovered that much strength.

“Pick these up.”

“Yes.”

Kim Song-cheol stood up and took the pink dumbbells.

“Are they heavy?”

“No. They’re not heavy.”

“Your physical strength is better than expected?”

The Instructor said, slightly holding back a laugh.

He wasn’t belittling or ignoring him; it was more like light humor.

This Instructor seemed like he would have a fairly pleasant personality if met in a private setting.

“Ah, I can at least lift this much.”

“Then follow me from now on and we’ll do some light exercise.”

The Instructor didn’t miss out on taking care of the excluded trainee.

Taking care of him meant, of course, physical training.

He made him do movements that were familiar yet strangely difficult.

The pink dumbbells that were light at first strangely became heavier and heavier.

“Are they heavy?”

The Instructor threw the question once more.

“Ugh…! They’re heavy now.”

Kim Song-cheol, who had looked down on them for being pink dumbbells, paid the price dearly.