Chapter 24
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 024
Chapter Title: Mana Circle
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‘If I could get a magic book related to the fire attribute as a reward, I could spend this winter nice and warm.’
Andy still couldn’t handle any magic other than lightning attribute.
The reason he’d shown off lightning magic to the guards wasn’t to boast about mastering a difficult element. It was simply the only one he could use.
He’d only learned later, through his conversation with Dietrich, that lightning was the trickiest of the natural elements to control.
Anyway.
Andy felt his mind tilting toward accepting the commission.
The rewards were just that tempting.
Acquiring magic items. For someone like him, with no connections or wealth, it was no easy task.
Take down a single magic beast, and he could have the magic item he wanted. It was a rare opportunity indeed.
But it wasn’t something to decide on lightly.
‘I still don’t have a circle... It could get dangerous.’
He had no idea how strong a spider-type magic beast might be.
On top of that, Andy was just a half-baked mage without a circle. The risk of things going south was high.
If he valued safety, giving up would be the smart choice.
But passing up a chance to get a magic item—one that was so hard to come by—was a shame.
“...”
Sitting in his inn room, Andy wrestled with the dilemma, over and over.
His greed for the magic item clashed fiercely with his worry that the beast might be overwhelmingly powerful.
How long did he agonize like that?
The boy finally murmured softly.
“I’ll make a circle first, then decide.”
Once he had a circle, his power would be on a whole different level from now.
Even without one, he’d managed to subdue Kurt, a spirit beast. With a circle, surely he could hunt a magic beast?
It wasn’t guaranteed. He’d never had a circle before, after all.
But once he formed the first one, he’d be able to judge if he had enough strength to take on the beast.
‘I need to form a circle soon.’
Luckily, he was in a perfect spot to focus on magic right now.
His living expenses were covered, and he had no other obligations. He could pour most of his day into magic training.
He’d picked up spells quickly even in the inn’s poor conditions.
Now, with nearly all his time free for practice, his growth would be on another level entirely.
A circle wouldn’t be far off.
“Alright, let’s do it. I’ll focus solely on training until I form the circle.”
Decision made, Andy opened the magic book.
Fwaaah!
A brilliant light poured out from the book.
In the office of the mayor, located within the government building.
“Mayor, here’s the report.”
“Just leave it there.”
The aide set a few sheets of paper on the desk and left. Mayor Dietrich picked them up and began reading slowly.
The documents he’d just received were the investigation results on the mage ‘Andy.’
Checking on visiting mages was a must for him as the city’s mayor.
‘Mages are dangerous, after all.’
A mage wielded power that surpassed entire groups as an individual. Investigating them was only natural to prepare for any contingencies.
That way, he could decide whether to welcome them or keep his guard up.
So, he’d sent someone to look into this Andy character.
And the results were astonishing.
“An orphan, huh. His robes were too plain for a mage—I figured there was a story there.”
According to the refugees from the same village, Andy had been worked like an orphan handyman at the inn. No proper wages, treated like a slave.
Dietrich let out a scoff.
Using a mage like a slave?
‘Those villagers will spend the rest of their lives trembling in fear. How dare commoners leave loose ends with a mage.’
They’d better pray he was the forgiving type. Otherwise, death was inevitable someday.
Dietrich pored over the documents for a while.
Then he murmured softly.
“Talent like that at his age... He’s probably from a prestigious magic family.”
The mayor suspected Andy was a scion of a renowned magic lineage. His talent was just that exceptional.
Mana aptitude was inherited through blood.
That’s why mages married mages, knights married knights.
To bind those with superior traits and produce even greater offspring.
Thus, the older the noble house, the more elite mages and knights it produced.
The longer the bloodline, the denser the mana talent woven into it.
And Andy wielded magic at just twelve.
Most mages didn’t cast their first spell until after coming of age. He was shockingly precocious.
Talent hard to believe without a deep-rooted noble background.
But contrary to expectations, he’d grown up an orphan.
The answer was simple.
“A bastard child, then.”
He’d heard prestigious families sometimes killed or abandoned kids from illicit affairs. Andy was likely one such case.
Discarded in secret, raised as an orphan.
How he’d learned magic remained a mystery.
At any rate, the mayor confirmed the boy had no backing whatsoever.
‘A mage with no support.’
Extremely rare.
Most mages were tied to families or magic towers, making them hard to recruit.
But Andy belonged nowhere—no family, no tower, nothing.
And his talent was no joke.
Already handling magic in his early teens. In a few years, he’d be a full-fledged powerhouse.
No backing, overflowing talent, right here in the city.
The mayor muttered.
“The Count might take an interest.”
No, he definitely would. That talent-hungry old man would surely make an offer.
Once Andy made a name for himself, scouts would come.
No telling when that’d be... but Dietrich doubted it was far off.
He spent some time reviewing the report, absorbing every detail on the young mage.
It was late into the night.
For days, Andy holed up in his inn room, not stepping out.
In the shabby space, he spent his days resonating with mana, immersed in magic training.
Suddenly, it hit him.
‘This is comfortable.’
Comfortable. He meant it sincerely.
Meals at set times. Warm bathwater every morning. A small, worn, but cozy room.
Nothing required of him. Just shut himself in and focus on training.
No miscellaneous chores—just pure concentration on magic.
‘A life I couldn’t even dream of before.’
Back in the village as an orphan, he couldn’t devote himself fully to magic. Helping at Gavory’s inn left little time for practice.
He’d finish all the grueling work first, then squeeze in training by cutting sleep short.
But now was different.
No more scrounging for firewood, shivering by the stream doing laundry, or rushing to clean rooms.
He could hole up and dedicate nearly the whole day to magic.
A life of total focus on magic. How long he’d yearned for it.
Deeply content, Andy trained as usual today.
He opened the book.
[Circle Formation]
The final page: Circle Formation.
‘Time to make the circle.’
Thanks to devoting most of his time to practice?
In just days, he’d made huge progress. And at some point, he realized it.
Now was the time for a circle.
‘A circle, huh.’
The boy touched his chest with his hand.
He felt the heartbeat from his heart. Beyond that, the mana energy within, and further still, the presence of his soul.
Andy murmured softly.
“My soul’s growth has hit its limit. To go further... I need a circle.”
The mana circle was a mage’s magic organ.
It elevated a soul at its growth limit to the next stage, amplified its will, and strengthened control over mana.
That was the essence of the mana circle.
Why ordinary mages needed one to cast spells.
Average talents with weak mana sensing couldn’t fully dominate mana without it. The circle amplified the soul’s will to make magic possible.
But Andy wasn’t average, so he’d managed without.
Even a genius like him had limits without a circle, though.
For faster, stronger spells, a circle was essential.
‘If I had a circle...’
He imagined it.
Finally with a circle, instantly completing lightning spells, unleashing them in rapid succession.
Bombarding without pause, overwhelming groups in seconds.
‘With a circle, even Empire soldiers wouldn’t scare me.’
He recalled the Empire cavalry ambush.
Back then, his long cast times let them close in, putting his life in peril.
Without Kurt’s intervention, he’d be dead.
With a circle, though? He’d have blasted them all in a barrage.
Resolved, Andy nodded.
“...Let’s do it. Circle formation.”
He pulled out the Yohan Grass from his pocket.
The three stalks he hadn’t consumed yet.
He popped them all in his mouth and chewed. The boy grimaced at the herb’s bitter tang.
‘Still tastes awful.’
No matter how mana-rich, medicine was always bitter.
Andy swallowed them all, furrowed brow and all.
Forming a circle required massive mana, so he downed his entire stock at once.
Having ingested the herb, Andy closed his eyes and focused his mind.
“Hoo...”
The boy began meditating, exhaling softly.
Soon, his consciousness sank deep, bodily senses fading.
Instead, his soul’s senses awakened.
With terrifying focus, Andy emptied his mind in moments.
He sank deeper. His spiritual senses sharpened to the max. Consciousness plunged into an abyssal void.
And just like that, the boy arrived.
In his inner world.
‘...’
With soul senses, he surveyed his inner world.
In endless darkness, a radiant orb floated loftily. It spread warm light in all directions, asserting its presence.
That was the boy’s soul.
The brilliantly glowing orb. It hadn’t been that big before.
But months had passed, filled with magic training and soul growth. Now it was vastly larger.
Previously fist-sized; now it filled a small room.
And it would grow even more. In the inner world, the soul expanded with magical achievements.
Andy directed his soul senses.
-Woooong!
He commanded the mana from the Yohan Grass, drawing it into his inner world.
In the void holding only the bright orb, tiny mana particles now gathered.
Like a sun in the cosmos, trailed by countless stars.
A mystical, dreamlike scene.
The boy focused his mind.
The crucial part was next.
‘Weave the mana... form the circle.’
He gathered the star-like mana particles, shaping them. Arranging each delicately, he wrapped a ring around the soul.
Circle formation had begun.
With ultimate concentration, the boy forged ahead.