Chapter 4: I Bought Her Because She Was Cheap (4)
Chapter 4: I Bought Her Because She Was Cheap (4)
Three hours of character customization was well worth the effort.
As I stood there with a satisfied smirk, I heard Carla’s trembling voice from beside me.
“Master…? That appearance, what on earth…?”
Perhaps it was thanks to my changed looks, but her voice sounded a bit more relaxed. I shrugged.
“You know what a Polymorph Potion is, right? The kind occasionally found in dungeons.”
“…Aren’t those incredibly expensive?”
“Do I look like someone who’s short on cash?”
“…….”
Carla’s red eyes darted back and forth. Then, as if remembering her own price tag, she cautiously shook her head.
“Um… but won’t a Polymorph Potion be discovered during the entrance exam…?”
“What?”
“Hieek! No, I mean, it’s not that I’m looking down on you, Master… It’s just that when I entered, they checked everything to make sure no one was using a disguise to sneak in!”
Carla rambled on, her eyes rolling and her hands gesturing wildly as she made excuses.
She might be feeling a bit more comfortable, but it seemed she hadn't completely forgotten her situation.
“…Let me just tell you now, this is my original appearance. That bald look from before was the disguise.”
“Huh? Oh… then. Um. That is….”
“Just speak plainly. It’s frustrating when you hesitate like that.”
“Yes, sir! Then, Master, how old are you?”
“Twenty. The perfect age to enter the Academy, don’t you think?”
In truth, I didn’t know the exact age of this body. It wasn't like there were resident registration cards in this world.
However, at the start of the game, the protagonist’s age was always twenty—the minimum age for Academy admission—and this year was when the original story began.
Unless some strange setting had been added, twenty should be correct.
It was a bit absurd that after nearly dying several times over the last three years, all I was doing with 20,000 gold was entering the Academy…
But it couldn't be helped.
As the name H&A—Hero & Academy—suggested, the Academy was the center of this world.
Considering the calamities to come, it was essential to build strength at the Academy, the place I knew best.
“Twenty… entering the Academy….”
Carla looked at me with confused eyes.
According to the lore, Carla had been a fourth-year—the highest grade—when her family fell and she was sold into slavery.
Her master was four years younger than her, and he was about to enter the very Academy she had failed to graduate from. Her feelings were bound to be complicated.
However, now was not the time for sentimentality. There was still work to be done.
Clap, clap.
I clapped my hands lightly to get her attention.
“Anyway, you know the Lindblum Breathing Technique, right? Good. Let’s at least get the basics down before we go to sleep tonight.”
“Ah. Yes! Then, first, you must gather the mana from the air and create a ring in your heart… Oh, it can’t be just any ring; it has to be a ring twisted into a triple helix. And then… you have to vibrate the mana filling your entire body to create a state of resonance between your body and the external mana….”
Startled, Carla reflexively began reciting the essentials of the Lindblum Breathing Technique.
…I didn't understand a word of it.
To begin with, I couldn't feel or absorb the surrounding mana on my own. I had a Mana-Insensitive Constitution.
But of course, that was fine. I wouldn't have bought Carla without a plan.
“Stop.”
“Hup!”
At my command, Carla cut her explanation short and covered her mouth with her hands.
The way she kept glancing at me betrayed a hint of anxiety.
“It’s okay. It’s not like you did anything wrong. It’s just that there’s a better way than explaining it with words, isn’t there?”
“A better way… do you perhaps mean Transmission?”
“Yeah, that.”
Transmission.
In the game, it was a system where an expert in a specific skill could help someone else acquire that skill at an introductory level.
It was a similar concept here.
For mages, a master would create a Mana Core for their disciple; for knights, they would create an Aura Core.
Of course, they only created the core. It was impossible to transfer energy or increase one's level of achievement.
Accumulating mana or aura in the core and realizing the true essence of the breathing technique was entirely up to the individual.
However, because it allowed one to forcibly imprint the breathing technique onto the body and safely bypass the most dangerous and complex stage of core creation, it was said to be quite common between masters and disciples.
“Um… Master? For me to perform a Transmission, you must not have learned any other breathing techniques.”
“Hmm?”
Ah, did she assume I had already learned a different one?
Well, that made sense.
Regardless of the type, the typical human limit for any stat was 30.
Of course, it could go higher with various traits or equipment, but that was the limit for pure stats.
And my Magic stat was 18.
It was far too high to be considered just natural talent.
There was a reason my trait was named Endless Mana.
With such a significant amount of mana, one would normally only be able to learn one breathing technique, barring special circumstances.
If one wanted to learn a different technique, they would have to expel all the mana accumulated through the previous one.
So, from Carla’s perspective, it was only natural to assume I had already learned something and feel confused.
Of course, she was completely mistaken.
“It’s fine. This is just innate mana, so don’t worry about it and just try.”
“What? This is your innate mana…?”
“You’re not doubting me again, are you?”
“A-Ah, no! I would never doubt you, Master! But this is truly….”
Carla couldn't finish her sentence, her mouth just hanging open.
I chuckled at the sight, pulled off my shirt, and turned my back to her.
The Slave Imprint fundamentally prevented a slave from harming their master, but…
Just in case, it was probably best to give a direct order.
“Nothing else bothering you, right? Then, [Give me a safe Transmission of the Lindblum Breathing Technique.]”
“Oh… Yes!”
Carla hesitated for a moment, but soon placed her hands on my back, her voice filled with resolve.
Her touch was soft and warm.
Sshhh—
But before long, a cold sensation began to pour out from that warmth.
“Kh!”
It was a bizarre sensation, as if someone had turned on a cold water tap inside my body.
Carla’s mana spread from my back like ripples on a lake, quietly but surely filling my entire body.
It filled the center of my body, then the extremities like my fingertips and toes, but the mana rose while carefully avoiding my head.
How much time passed as Carla continued to pour her mana into me?
At some point, Carla’s mana stopped entering and began to bounce back.
It meant my body was full.
Just as I began to shiver involuntarily, feeling as if I were submerged up to my shoulders in a cold bath—
Vrrr—
The mana filling my body began to vibrate rapidly.
It felt like the fluttering of a hummingbird’s wings… or a struck tuning fork.
Vrrrrr—
The vibration intensified until it began to resonate with my very flesh.
Vroom, vroom, vroom—
Something was being imprinted into my heart, my diaphragm, and every single cell.
Even without conscious effort, my breathing began to follow a specific pattern, and my heartbeat began to sync with a regular cycle.
The coldness that had filled my entire body—except for my head—began to contract, eventually forming small, twisted circles near my heart.
And as those small circles gathered to complete a single ring—
Thump.
My breath, my heartbeat, and the ring of mana became one.
Simultaneously, a line of mana extended from the center of my chest.
That cold line began to circulate through every corner of my body before I even had a chance to adjust. It was like a blood vessel.
So this was the Mana Circuit. Then the ring in my heart must be the Mana Core.
Using my body as a canvas, the Mana Circuit completed a masterpiece by returning to the core after drawing a complex diagram.
In that moment.
“Haaah!”
A refreshing sensation and an unknown sense of exhilaration flooded my entire body.
Surrendering to it, I inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, following my instincts.
Vrrr….
The mana moved more weakly than when Carla was directing it, but now it moved according to my will.
What had felt like simple coldness until now now felt like a living creature, down to every single particle.
I coaxed and soothed it, guiding it through the core in my heart and through the winding Mana Circuit.
Slowly but steadily. I repeated the process, moving forward one step at a time.
And finally, the moment it completed a full circuit and returned to the core.
I could feel it instinctively.
The mana Carla had injected had become entirely mine.
“Phew….”
As I exhaled the breath I had been holding, a notification rang out as if it had been waiting.
Ding!
【You have learned the Mana Breathing Technique of a genius who suffered from a Mana-Insensitive Constitution.】
【Special Experience Requirement Met!】
【The negative trait ‘Mana Insensitivity (S)’ has been removed.】
Yes! This is it!
The reason Mana Insensitivity disappears upon learning the Lindblum Mana Breathing Technique is simple.
It’s because the progenitor of the Lindelheit family, who was born with Mana Insensitivity, created the Lindblum technique specifically to cure his own condition.
Normally, it was a technique obtained in the form of a skill book after defeating Carla once she became a mid-boss.
But if Carla herself was in perfect condition, I could just have it transmitted to me.
Calming my racing heart, I quietly muttered to myself for a final confirmation.
‘Status Window.’
======================
Name: Yandel
Title: Lost Stranger
Basic Stats
Strength: 11
Endurance: 10
Agility: 12
Dexterity: 14
Magic: 18
Traits
Endless Mana (A)
Elemental Affinity (B)
Excellent Memory (B)
Crude Weapon Skill (E)
Lindblum Mana Core (C)
====================
“Ooh….”
Mana Insensitivity was definitely gone.
…And Carla’s list of uses had decreased by one.
Now, all that remained was her knowledge of magic.
And that body she’d never used.