Pure Breathing

Pure mana.

The influence it had on a mage couldn't be summed up with a simple "it's good."

Pure mana was the standard that defined a mage's limit.

In other words, the purer the mana inside your body, the higher the realm you could hope to reach.

The Archmage — the only one on the entire continent.

The mana in her circles was 92% pure.

"Of course, she was an exception......"

Forging new circles from pure mana had been nothing more than a fanciful theory.

Because filtering concentrated impurities out of circles that had already been formed was practically impossible.

Which meant you had to start well if you ever wanted to end well.

It was a theory that had stood as gospel across nearly a thousand years of history.

And yet the system was shattering that gospel to pieces.

To think that with the skill called Pure Breathing, I could even purify the impure mana I'd already built my circles with.

That meant my ceiling could, in effect, disappear.

If I leveled up the passive skill, the range I could purify might someday reach 100%.

And the way to raise the skill's level was harvesting higher-grade crops.

"So if I raise the grade of the Mana Land — that is, as I reach 3rd Circle, 4th Circle — my power grows exponentially."

My hands had started trembling.

This was straight-up cheating.

I was standing there in a daze when someone's voice cut through the rain, calling my name.

"Ji-on! What are you doing out here!"

It was Dad, holding a shopping basket in one hand. He'd finished collecting the paperwork from the farm households and was on his way back from grocery shopping.

"Ah, Dad. I was harvesting the lettuce — I didn't want it to spoil."

"All by yourself? What's your mother doing?"

"Making scallion pancakes. I asked her to, because I wanted some."

"Aigoo. It's so cold your lips have gone blue. Did you pull up all the lettuce?"

"Yes."

"You've worked hard. Let's move it all quickly and head inside."

Dad started helping me carry the lettuce into the cold storage, and I hurried along with him.

Only after all five hundred heads were stowed away could we finally go inside.

Ah — well, I brought two heads in with us. With about ten leaves per head, that meant I'd get to eat around twenty leaves this time.

We shook the rain off at the entryway. Water pooled at our feet.

Inside the warm house, a delicious smell was already drifting through the air.

"Honey, I'm home."

Dad propped his folded umbrella by the door and headed into the kitchen, humming a little tune.

"Wipe your hands first! Right now!"

"Okay, okay. I'll just set this down — the groceries, look what I bought!"

He got thoroughly scolded by Mom and banished to the bathroom, of course.

I pulled off my rain poncho, hung it at the entryway, and darted to the bathroom just as fast to avoid dripping everywhere.

"What did you buy?"

"Pork belly and this and that. I was oddly craving meat today — I suppose it's because it's the day our Ji-on harvests his lettuce."

Dad said that, sneaking glances toward the kitchen.

"I also picked up some makgeolli and soju for drinking with Grandpa later. Mom doesn't get a single drop."

"You're asking me to decide that?"

If Mom decided she wanted to drink, it was obvious neither Grandpa nor Dad would be able to stop her.

Then again, it had only been three days since Mom's hangover, so she apparently wasn't in any mood for alcohol yet.

Thank goodness for small mercies.

"Wrapped in lettuce leaves, this is going to be incredible."

"Right? Oh, seasoned lettuce salad would be great too."

Seasoned lettuce salad?

Maybe I should have brought in one more head......

"I'll make the seasoning and dress some for you tomorrow, then."

"Sounds great."

I washed up roughly, changed out of my damp clothes, and headed to the kitchen. On the table sat thick-cut scallion pancakes and slabs of pork belly, grilled golden and flecked with cracked pepper.

Mom called Grandpa in from the living room, where he'd been watching TV.

"Dinner's ready!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let me finish this one bit."

"Kkirruk, kyu. (This is very important.)"

Bong-gu sat next to Grandpa on the sofa, belly exposed, chirping away.

On the TV was a honey badger documentary. The star, a male badger, was courting a female.

"Kkyu!! (I'm learning!!)"

His eyes went wide, and he locked onto the screen.

I grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him over to the table.

"Important? What's important about that. Come eat your dinner. We're having lettuce tonight."

"......Kkyu? (......Lettuce?)"

He'd been sulking something fierce, but at the word lettuce, his head shot up. He looked almost pitiful.

I patted his head. Soft, fluffy white fur brushed against my fingertips.

"Fine, just eat. You can make ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠friends without watching that stuff."

That's what I said to him, but I knew the truth.

Lately, Seo Bong-gu had been terribly lonely.

So I'd looked into it for his sake, and it turned out honey badgers weren't a common species at all — especially not one that could be found in Korea.

I had no idea how one had appeared right in front of me, but there was no guarantee another of his kind ever would.

Besides, this guy enjoyed some seriously dangerous games.

Last time, he'd dragged home a bear claiming it was his "friend" and wrecked the house.

"......"

I quietly folded away my plan to find him a friend.

"Kkyut! (Delicious!)"

"There you go, eat up."

Eat well, sleep well, work hard — that's all it takes. Life — well, honey badger life — what more could there be?

I deliberately looked away.

A bottle of alcohol had already appeared on the table.

"Father-in-law, have a drink with me."

"Ho ho. It's been a while since you poured me one, Seo's son-in-law."

Mom glared at the two of them clinking their glasses back and forth, her expression sour. I quickly poured some cola into her glass.

"Dad bought some soda too."

"......Right. How nice for me."

It sounded absolutely nothing like "how nice," but I'll just assume I misheard.

Mom stared at the makgeolli bottle with a conflicted look. The milky white alcohol swayed inside. Cold droplets beaded on the glass.

Gulp.

I hesitated for a moment, then held out a lettuce leaf to her.

"Mom, you remember the lettuce I planted yesterday, right?"

"Mm, this is it, isn't it?"

"And you know the crops I grow always come with special effects?"

Mom nodded. Of course she knew — the Muscle Strengthening Sweet Potatoes were famous for selling out the moment the agricultural co-op put them on display.

"This lettuce has a special effect too."

"What is it?"

"......It erases hangovers."

Twitch. Mom's fingers trembled.

"What I mean is, you don't need to worry about the thing you've been worrying about."

Eat it, and your hangover vanishes within ten minutes. So if you eat it while drinking? No hangover at all.

Dad and Grandpa turned to look at me with reproachful eyes.

"If you say things like that......"

Their drinking supply had been hanging by a thread as it was. If the liquor whale Kim Mi-suk joined in, there was definitely not going to be enough.

But the heavens were not on their side. Lady Kim Mi-suk — my mother — reached her hand toward the alcohol.

"Then maybe I'll have just one glass."

It was the signal to begin.

The next morning.

The sky was so clear you'd never guess it had rained. I slipped carefully out of the house.

The smell of alcohol permeated every room.

Dad had ended up going out for more alcohol last night, after all. As the drinking session stretched on, I'd managed to slip away under the pretext of school. Dad and Grandpa were kept hostage all night — but all three of us had eaten the hangover-curing lettuce, so this morning shouldn't be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠painful for anyone.

I'd have loved to see their faces when they woke, but sadly, I had work to do.

Leaving my family behind, I headed for the front gate.

"T-take me with you!"

Bong-gu came sprinting out, panting and shouting.

"What's wrong?"

"The smell is bad......"

Apparently the stale alcohol stench lingering in the house was getting to him.

I scooped him up, set him on my shoulder, and opened the gate. It was just past five in the morning. I was skipping my workout today — I had other plans.

I was eager to try out the new skill right away. I also wanted to see whether it worked the way I expected.

Somewhere out of sight of prying eyes, where I could wield and focus my mana freely. There was exactly one such place.

I stepped inside the vinyl greenhouse that housed the Mana Land near our house, spread an empty fertilizer sack on the ground, and sat down.

"Ssshh— haaah—"

I breathed in and out, over and over. Bong-gu, who had been watching me curiously from the side, settled himself onto the ground however he could and started sniffing at the air.

"What's this?"

"Feeling the mana while you breathe."

"Mana?"

"Yeah, you've used it before, so you know the drill."

Bong-gu nodded. "Hard to do."

"It's supposed to be hard."

I nudged him aside, crossed my legs again, rested my hands comfortably on my knees, and closed my eyes.

"Ssshh—"

Inhaling, I drew in the mana scattered through the air.

"Hooo—"

An involuntary sigh of admiration escaped me.

"It's perfect."

Even without me making any effort to filter out the impurities, the mana filtered itself. All I had to do was breathe in as much as I wanted.

At this rate, completing my 2nd Circle wasn't far off.

But there was one more task I absolutely had to accomplish first: purifying the circles I'd already built. Doing the very thing conventional theory declared impossible.

I closed my eyes again and focused on the circles wrapped around my heart — the rings formed by mana spinning at high speed. I could almost see their color.

Mana was colorless by nature. But when it was artificially compressed into parts of the body and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formed into circles, each took on its own hue. And the purer the mana a circle was made from, the more it held a single, unbroken color.

Right now, my circle was white, threaded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with patches of yellow and blue. The circles I'd built in my past life had been mixed so finely with color that they'd looked nearly dark gray.

That was why I'd never dreamed of becoming a mage above the 4th Circle. I'd known it was impossible.

"For now, this is actually on the pure side."

But the circles I held now could grow even purer. At present, I could purify 25% of the impurities in them.

For a mage, purer mana meant the same thing as flexible muscles for an athlete — a wider range of control, freer and more instantaneous responses. Without a master to guide my mana absorption, this kind of physical foundation was the only thing that could carry my growth further.

One percent filtered out so far. With a cap of 25%, there was still a very long way to go.

One percent, from last evening until dawn. That worked out to roughly 1% purified per twelve hours.

"At this rate, purifying the full 25% will take about two weeks."

......Slower than I'd hoped. Much slower.

"Ah! If I use that method, though—"

Grin—

A good idea came to me. As long as you get to Seoul, it doesn't matter which road you take — and if you're going anyway, a KTX beats a national flower bus every time.

"......Maybe I'll get a little crafty."