Chapter 21: Attribute Tutoring (2)
Chapter 21: Attribute Tutoring (2)
“A-alright! I’ll do it! I’ll do it, so please stop playing with my belly…!”
Carla placed her hand on my chest, her eyes welling with tears.
Rustle.
I felt the touch of her slender fingers through the thin fabric of my clothes.
For a moment, I enjoyed the ticklish sensation of Carla’s warmth. However, after fumbling with my chest for quite a while, Carla began tilting her head from side to side.
“Huh? Uh… Hmm…?”
“What is it? Is there a problem?”
“No. It’s not exactly a problem, but…”
Carla stopped her fidgeting and pressed her palm firmly against me.
“It’s too good.”
“…My body?”
I knew it. Carla was actually a pervert. That’s why she could come up with things like a ‘cock kiss.’
As I nodded as if I finally understood, Carla shook her head in a panic.
“N-no! That’s not it! Not your body, your core! I meant your core is too good!”
“Gasp! To think you’re a pervert who gets more excited by a core than a person. I’ll have to set aside some time for proper sex education one of these days.”
“It’s not like that…!”
Did I tease her too much? I could feel Carla’s thighs trembling beneath the back of my head, and it wasn’t a normal tremor.
How should I put it? It felt like when I used to steal my classmate’s shoe bag in elementary school and run away; at first, they’d chase me, but eventually, they’d just slump to the ground.
At this rate, she might move past whimpering and start sobbing. I gently stroked Carla’s side and changed the subject.
“Well, I’m joking. You said the core is too good? What do you mean by that?”
“…It’s just so precise.”
She tried her best not to show it, but her voice was thick with a sense of injustice.
However, if I teased her again, the conversation would never progress, so I let it slide and prompted her to continue.
“Precise? Are you trying to say you did a good job transmitting it to me?”
“Of course, it’s true that I pushed myself a bit to create a core for you because I wanted to look good in your eyes, Master.”
That was true. Normally, when a Mana Core is first transmitted, it starts at Rank D or E.
While there are differences in how much one can eventually grow, everyone starts at the bottom.
However, the Lintblum Core Carla gave me started at Rank C.
Her claim that she pushed herself wasn’t an exaggeration.
“But that only means I made the core a bit larger and sturdier. The structure of the core… and the efficiency derived from it is a completely different matter.”
“Uh… I don’t really get it even when you put it like that.”
“Let me use an easy analogy. Imagine there are identical twins. They look the same, have the same height and weight, and the same strength.”
Carla continued her explanation, throwing punches into the air.
“But the skills they’ve learned are different. One has studied musical instruments for ten years, while the other has worked as a miner for ten years. If the two were to fight, who would win?”
“The miner, obviously. Even if all physical conditions are equal, the miner would know how to use their strength better.”
“Exactly! Even with the same core, if you know how to handle it properly, you can manipulate mana more efficiently! That’s exactly how you feel right now, Master.”
“…But I haven’t done anything?”
“That’s why it’s so strange. Did you happen to touch the core while circulating your mana?”
“No way. I didn’t want to risk causing a problem by messing with it.”
It’s not like my heart would explode if the core broke. Instead, I’d just end up with a body that could never form a core again.
I had finally fixed my Mana Insensitivity Constitution by buying Carla; I couldn’t afford to become a core-cripple.
“My goodness… To think it was just formed in this shape by luck… No, if that were the case, it wouldn’t have maintained its form until now.”
“So, it’s a good thing, right?”
“Of course! ‘Good’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is on par with my father, who was an Archmage. How on earth… Ah, that is… what I just said was… I mean…”
Carla began to ramble, cutting herself off.
She likely thought it was a slip of the tongue to compare me to her father, whom she believed to be a cultist.
I should find an opportunity later to tell her that the Lindelheit family’s cultist allegations were a frame-up.
Originally, I kept that as a bargaining chip in case she ever broke the Slave Imprint on her own… but looking at Carla now, it doesn’t seem like that will be necessary.
Looking up from below, I lightly tapped Carla’s heavy breasts, which partially obscured my vision.
“Hyat! M-Master…?”
“It’s fine. You were just using him as an example, right? I’m not going to get mad over something like that.”
“Thank you…”
“Anyway, I get that my core is precisely structured. So, what does that feel like specifically?”
“Hmm. The Lintblum Breathing Technique involves weaving small rings together to create one large ring, right?”
“Right.”
Even now, if I focus just a little on my heart, I can clearly feel the presence of the core, so I could understand that much immediately.
“But usually, the size of each small ring is inconsistent, and there are countless cases where the large ring is crooked. Even I managed to shape the large ring somehow, but I couldn’t perfectly correct the smaller rings.”
“Heh… I think I see what you’re getting at now.”
The size of the core I felt near my heart was subtle. It felt exactly like a Rank C—no more, no less.
However, looking closely, the components of the core were at a level that could hardly be called Rank C.
Every single small ring was identical in size, and the large ring they formed was a perfect circle.
It was a form so devoid of human touch, it looked as if it had been stamped out by a machine.
…A form devoid of human touch?
Something bothered me, so I urged Carla on.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing. Since there’s no problem, let’s get back to what we were doing.”
“Ah, yes. From now on, I will resonate with your core and lead your mana, so please remember the feeling well.”
Carla’s hand rested on my heart. A faint coolness radiated from it. And then.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of a heartbeat echoed in my ears.
No, this wasn’t the sound of my heart.
It was merely an illusion created by the core surrounding my heart, radiating a vivid presence.
And then, another sound came from outside, not from within me.
Thud. Thud.
Another vibration was transmitted through the hand touching my chest.
Carla’s core, boasting a much clearer momentum than mine, was pulsating in response to my own.
It was as if they were exchanging a conversation.
The alternating vibrations grew shorter in interval until they eventually overlapped into a single, perfect pulse.
My core, which was supposed to resonate with external mana, began to resonate with Carla’s core instead.
Whirrr—
By the time I could no longer distinguish which pulse was mine and which was Carla’s.
The refreshing mana flowing from Carla’s hand entered my body.
Another person’s mana, which normally should have repelled and pushed back, blended naturally as if it had been one from the beginning.
It then took my mana, which had only been moving along the mana circuits, and led it outside the circuits… to the tip of my index finger.
“It’s true that mana is most stable when moving along the mana circuits. However, that doesn’t mean it must only move through them.”
As I stared blankly at my glowing blue fingertip, Carla continued her explanation in a low voice.
“Later on, you’ll be able to resonate your core with the surrounding mana to draw magic circles externally, but that will be difficult for now. In the beginning, it will be easier to draw magic circles using the mana concentrated at your fingertips.”
“If I draw a magic circle like this, will the magic fire? Oh, I had to recite an incantation too, right?”
“That’s only the external part. You’ll only be able to manifest magic after going through a slightly more complex process internally.”
“…I’ve read a few basic magic books before. Are you talking about the Imagination, Will, Intuition, and Formula mentioned there?”
When I recited the contents I had memorized in their entirety thanks to my Excellent Memory trait, a hint of laughter entered Carla’s voice.
“That’s right! You know it well. The four major elements that constitute magic are Imagination, Will, Intuition, and Formula.”
“I guess mana isn’t included, even though it’s magic?”
“A mage’s will is their mana. So, when you see phrases in magic books telling you to do something with ‘will,’ it’s actually telling you to pour in stronger mana.”
So that’s what it meant.
If limbs move by muscle, mana moves by will.
Naturally, if you pull up mana strongly, you harbor a strong will.
“Since we’re at it, I’ll explain the stages of magical manifestation in more detail. To be honest, magic books aren’t designed for self-study, no matter how basic they are. It must have been very difficult for you to read them alone, Master.”
“…No wonder I didn’t understand a single thing.”
I wasn’t just stupid.
When I muttered that in a relieved voice, Carla giggled.
“But you have me now, don’t you? It’s a bit awkward to say it myself, but I really am a very competent slave.”
“I suppose so. An Intermediate Magician is considered an elite among mages.”
For reference, High Magicians are treated more like siege weapons than individuals. In fact, high-level magic possesses that kind of power.
“Hehe… Anyway, back to the main point. We were talking about the order of magical manifestation, right?”
First, imagine the desired phenomenon, overlay that imagination with will, and then calibrate the result with intuition and formula.
That was the order of manifestation Carla described.
“The simpler the magic, the smaller the proportion of intuition and formula. Since it’s simple, there isn’t much to calibrate.”
For example, the Clean magic that Carla often used.
It’s a spell that washes away dirt, but what exactly is the criteria for ‘dirt’?
If it’s waste matter, where is the line between waste that needs to be removed and necessary dead skin cells?
If you use Clean incorrectly, you could end up peeling off your entire layer of skin.
Besides that, you might try to wipe a spilled drink off your clothes and end up drying out the moisture in your eyeballs as well.
Controlling these parts that are difficult to explain one by one with words is what ‘intuition’ does.
“Formula is a bit easier to understand. It’s about controlling range or direction.”
“Like how you don’t get hurt by your own magic?”
“Ah, that’s the realm of intuition. Formula is what ensures you don’t get caught in the aftereffects caused by your own magic.”
Perhaps because I had already seen Carla use Prominence Flare once, I felt like I understood the sensation.
When I nodded silently, Carla, thinking I was ready, smiled brightly.
“Then let’s try it ourselves! What would be good? Shall we start with something standard like Tinder? I can put out a small ember if something goes wrong.”
“…Even if you suddenly tell me to try it, I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s not hard. I told you earlier, didn’t I? In basic magic, imagination and will are more important than intuition and formula. First, imagine an ember.”
An ember… I had built campfires often. Thanks to my Excellent Memory trait, it wasn’t difficult to recall the sparks scattering over a campfire.
“Don’t worry about the mana; I’m moving it. Just remember the movement and desire it strongly.”
An ember. A small spark that could grow into a great fire at any time as long as wood was provided…
I kept repeating it to myself.
“Are you ready? Then, finally, draw a circle with the finger where the mana is concentrated.”
Swish.
The blue light remained like an afterimage in the air, forming a slightly distorted circle.
“Now, inside that circle of mana, just recite the chant while wishing for an ember to be born. Anything is fine for the content, as long as it’s easy to visualize and serves as a signal that the magic is starting.”
It should feel similar to when I give Carla a command through the Slave Imprint.
“Ignite. [Tinder].”
Whoosh.
Using the final activation word as a signal, a small ember bloomed within the blue circle.
It was only about the size of a match flame and flickered unstably, but… it was magic nonetheless.
The first magic I had ever used. A mysterious power that only existed in this world.
“Whoa…”
I stared blankly at the small ember I had created as if possessed, but only for a moment.
Ding!
【 You have learned Basic Magic: Tinder (F). 】
【 You have learned magic for the first time. You have acquired the Trait: Crude Magic (F). 】
At the same time the familiar notification sound rang out.
Fwoosh!
The flickering of the ember, which looked like it would go out at any moment, stopped.
Then, it began to burn with an orange light that was significantly more vivid than before.
…I knew something felt off.
So this was the cause.