Two Weeks Before Admission: Mana Forging
Two weeks before admission. Mana Forging. The act of embedding mana into both body and mind. That was exactly what I was doing right now. I was activating the mana receptors throughout my body so they could accept and circulate the mana scattered in the atmosphere.
Activating mana receptors to accept atmospheric mana and circulate it through the entire body.
—Gooooooo····
But my Mana Forging was different from the norm. Because I had far fewer innate mana receptors than the average mage, the amount of mana I could accept was inevitably limited. That was why the way I absorbed mana differed from other mages. While normal mages activated the mana receptors in their brains, I operated the core mana stone located at the center of my chest.
A mana stone shaped like Iron Man’s arc reactor glowed brightly, absorbing mana from the air.
—Ziiiiiiiiing·····.
And the amount of mana this massive mana stone could absorb exceeded that of an ordinary mage by more than five times. Unless one was a monster like Elena, no human could possibly compete with a mineral specialized in mana absorption.
“Huu·····.”
At this point, I let out a deep breath. Since I had successfully completed the first stage of drawing mana into my body, it was time to gather my focus and move on to the next step.
Circulate the mana throughout my entire body.
So I drew a certain formula inside my mind’s eye. It was a combination of the ‘Wave’, ‘Transmission’, and ‘Distribution’ formulas. I pictured the formula Elena had taught me, then activated it.
The mana receptors lingering in my brain began carrying that image data toward the core mana stone. The purpose was to deliver the formula I had drawn so the core could operate it.
—Ziiiiiiiiing····
The formula information that reached the core mana stone was interpreted, and the stone began carrying out its instructions. It distributed mana evenly to every mana stone embedded throughout my body.
—Swoooooooo····
Only then could I feel mana flowing through my entire body. Chest, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, stomach, waist, thighs, calves, feet, and so on. Every mana stone planted in those areas accepted the mana, and a blue haze rose from my whole body. The state of ‘Mana Forging’, where mana circulated through the entire body, was now complete.
“······Huh.”
Elena let out a hollow laugh as she watched me. Having witnessed her entire lifetime of common sense being completely shattered right before her eyes, even the Grand Mage Elena couldn’t help but lose her composure.
“This is really… how… acquired mana….”
Originally, this should have been impossible in this world. Mana was the exclusive privilege and power of the nobility. The methods to handle mana, the genes to wield it, the techniques to utilize it—everything was passed down only to their descendants.
“For now, it looks like the first stage was a success.”
But not anymore. Because highly advanced science was indistinguishable from magic, I had stepped right into the heart of their domain using nothing but my own technology.
“Huu… Yeah. Seeing mana flow through your whole body… it really looks like a success.”
“All thanks to you, Master.”
“Thanks to me? You did everything yourself. Oh, and the toxic substances being discharged from the mana stones are being purified nicely too.”
Just as Elena said, toxic materials were currently being expelled from the mana stones embedded throughout my body. The greatest flaw of mana stones had appeared without fail. However, I had designed the system so that all the toxins would gather in the ‘Purification Stone’, and the stone was successfully carrying out its role. Using the ‘Mutual Annihilation’ formula I had discovered while dissecting a Blue Dragon’s body, I was removing the toxic substances.
“Then I’ll move straight to the next stage.”
Next stage. Since I had succeeded in spreading mana throughout my body, it was time to put it to use. I simultaneously recalled the ‘Enhancement’ formula and ‘A1’ in my mind’s eye, then transmitted the command to the core mana stone to activate it.
The mana stone corresponding to A1—that is, the one embedded in my right palm—activated, and my palm began to be reinforced.
Crack!
I slammed my reinforced fist straight into the ground.
Crack—
The marble split, sending cracks spreading outward. My command to ‘reinforce only the right hand’ had succeeded.
“···With that level of power, it should be around upper Sword User rank.”
Elena looked at the cracked floor and assessed the destructive force as roughly that of an upper-tier Sword User. Sword User was the rank right after Sword Runner in the swordsman hierarchy. Most knight-aspirants entering the Imperial Academy usually fell into this category.
“It really is astonishing the more I learn. Starting at Sword User from the beginning? Normally you’d begin as a Sword Runner and have to grind for another four years.”
She was right. According to the setting of El Pandor Runeterra, knight-aspirants normally started at Sword Runner. Only a few exceptionally talented commoners could receive a Sword User evaluation right after learning the sword.
Well, those from prestigious knight families start at Sword Expert, though.
Among the great swordsmen who left their names in history, there were those who received a Sword Expert evaluation from the very start. In the current era, that person was Enya of the prestigious knight family, the Cruel House. She was also a student who would attend the entrance ceremony in two weeks—one of the major NPCs who would lead this age.
“Anyway, with that level of ability, starting as a knight isn’t bad. After all, there are limits to handling formulas….”
I nodded at Elena’s following words. She was right—there were clear limits to the formulas I could use. In fact, I could only use the formulas engraved on my core mana stone. Wave, Transmission, Distribution, Enhancement, Elemental Conversion, Emission. Those six were all I could use.
After all, I copied the Blue Dragon’s mechanism as-is.
The Blue Dragon could only use mana to strengthen its body or fire a breath attack. That was because, instead of hundreds or thousands of mana receptors, it processed all commands through a single core mana stone. Since I had adopted their system exactly, emitting one of the four major elements or strengthening my body was all I could do. As clear as its strengths were, its weaknesses were equally obvious.
“‘For now,’ let’s go with knight.”
But as always, I had no intention of accepting those limits. For now I had no choice but to accept my current situation, but if I upgraded the mana stones and built a new system, I would be able to overcome these restrictions. After all, this was only a prototype.
After successfully completing the mana stone transplant surgery, I began digging out infiltration routes into the lecture halls. Since the entrance ceremony would begin in two weeks and classes would start soon after, I needed to pioneer infiltration routes if I wanted to attend lectures without officially enrolling.
Since I’ve decided on a knight position, I should learn swordsmanship.
The first place I started digging a route for was Lecture Hall 11, where Professor Gracia taught. If it was swordsmanship taught by one of the Empire’s five Sword Masters, it would surely be of great help to me. Since I planned to stick with the knight position for the time being, I intended to attend her classes even if it meant sneaking in.
“Ed, the head professor is calling for you.”
While I was pondering how to modify the ventilation shaft of Lecture Hall 11, James came to tell me that Elena was looking for me. James currently only knew that Elena was sponsoring me. Every day he looked at me with eyes bursting with pride. Probably because I was the only peer among commoners who had come this far.
“Ahem. Sorry for keeping slipping away. It feels like I’m making Father do all the work alone.”
“Kkuk kuk. Go on, hurry. Your dad can handle this much by himself. Don’t worry about me.”
After spending the past few days with Elena, James had taken on nearly all the work needed to open the Academy. Even though there was a lot of work, James’s hands were fast enough to handle it. Still, since I had come as his assistant and hadn’t helped even once, I felt sorry.
“Hurry~ The professor is waiting.”
“···I’ll come back quickly and help.”
I had planned to help James today, but if Elena was calling, there was nothing I could do. Besides, my growth was the most important thing.
“Master, it’s Ed.”
Setting aside my guilt toward James for the moment, I headed to Elena’s office. When I opened the door after receiving permission to enter, Elena greeted me with a smile, fluttering a single letter in her hand.
“Master. You called for me?”
“Hehe, yes. I have good news. First, sit down over there.”
Elena looked unusually cheerful. What kind of news could make her this excited? As I sat on the sofa as instructed, she brought a teacup and poured me some black tea. The fact that she was serving tea meant this would be a long conversation.
While I was guessing what the news might be, Elena sat on the opposite sofa and poured herself a cup as well.
Slurp—
After taking a sip of tea, Elena slid the letter she was holding toward me. She took another sip and spoke.
“Ed. Do you know what the emblem on that letter is?”
The emblem on the letter? Curious, I looked closer and saw it was the imperial family’s crest.
“Um··· Isn’t that the imperial family’s emblem?”
“That’s right. The imperial family’s emblem. It’s a fresh official document that just arrived from the imperial palace. Want to read it?”
The recipient, Edgar Fix, is hereby permitted to enroll as a student of the Imperial Academy.
All rights and privileges of a formal student shall be granted, provided the following conditions are met.
····An official document from the imperial family. Had Elena pulled some strings for me? With a faint sense of anticipation, I unfolded the letter. Inside were densely packed lines of text. To summarize the content, it said that it was acceptable to accept me as an Academy student.
“···Master. This is·····.”
“Yes. You can enroll here too.”
···Jackpot. This was an absolute jackpot. A commoner being allowed to act as an Academy student. A privilege that had never once been granted in history was being exceptionally applied to me alone. It meant I wouldn’t have to squeeze through ventilation shafts and struggle to sneak into classes anymore!
“···Thank you. To be honest, there were a lot of things I wanted to learn here.”
“Hehe. I could tell. You said you wanted to stay at the Academy, that you wanted to take me as your master. And above all, to resolve those nightmares you keep having… building strength here would be the best way.”
“······.”
Hmm. It seemed Elena really did feel a sense of kinship with me. The fact that she was paying so much attention to the nightmare story I had casually brought up as a temporary excuse proved it.
“···It’s just a dream. Thank you for caring.”
“No. I know exactly how you feel. That feeling of being chased by dreams. An emotion only I can understand. Something only you and I can share.”
···An emotion only the two of us can share? The nuance of that statement was a bit strange. It wasn’t like she was saying ‘Only I can understand you,’ right? Her hidden event flag shouldn’t trigger already.
“Ahem. Anyway, thank you so much. It couldn’t have been easy to get a commoner like me enrolled here.”
Noticing something odd in Elena’s eyes, I quickly changed the subject under the pretense of expressing gratitude. Elena leaned back into the sofa, picking up her teacup.
“Mm. There were quite a few things I had to take care of. Some deals were involved too. But well, getting you enrolled here was the most important thing.”
Elena took another sip of tea, set the cup down on the table, and continued.
“However, there are a few conditions attached. You probably noticed when you read the letter?”
“····Yes.”
The conditions for remaining a student. Of course I knew them after reading it. The reason I could become an Academy student was because of Elena’s promise to create the first human blacksmith to receive the title of ‘Creator’. For that reason, I had to prove my ability. The method of proof was to create one piece of equipment per month and submit it to the faculty. It would then be reviewed by three examiners dispatched from the imperial family. If I passed, I could maintain my student status. If I failed, I would be expelled immediately.
“···Yeah. I don’t think you’ll fail the test. You’ll manage it just fine.”
And yet Elena had pushed for my admission despite all these cumbersome conditions. It was because she trusted me that much.
“Of course. Who do you think your disciple is?”
I responded to her trust with confidence. Elena chuckled and said,
“Hehe, it feels almost too much to be treated as a master when I haven’t even taught you anything. Anyway, Ed, you will be allowed to observe classes under the pretext of studying for equipment production. Your seat will be assigned at the discretion of each professor, so there may be some discrimination.”
Discrimination. I had already prepared myself for that. There was no way the haughty nobles would leave a commoner mixed among them alone.
“It doesn’t matter. Just being able to attend classes is more than enough.”
“···Hehe. Good. And as you know, the entrance ceremony is scheduled in two weeks. You will be participating as well.”
“Yes.”
“And after the entrance ceremony, there will be the ‘Class Determination Battle.’ You will be participating in that too.”
The Class Determination Battle. It was a ranking match held every quarter. In this battle, Academy students dueled under unlimited rules, and based on the results, they were assigned to classes ranging from S to E rank.
And it’s definitely better to be assigned to a higher class.
The Imperial Academy had a systematic system of discrimination. Students in S-class could take all lectures, but those below could only attend lectures corresponding to their own rank.
“So, my dear disciple. You can get good grades, right?”
For that reason, I had to bet everything on the Class Determination Battle. Because to prepare for the ‘Doom’ scenario, I absolutely needed to attend every possible lecture.
“Yes, of course. I’ll make sure to get an S-rank.”