The Impossible Proof
Edga Fix, a commoner wielding mana? The more Elena delved into him, the more fascinating he became. From his talent for creating objects to the way he treated people, and even his unyielding determination to follow his own convictions—she was increasingly convinced that he was no ordinary individual.
‘Still, mana is impossible.’
Yet there was one thing that simply could not be. Just as a worm could never become a dragon no matter how much it writhed, every person had walls they could never cross. For Ed, that wall was “the ability to handle mana.”
“……That would be difficult, I’m afraid. Mana isn’t something just anyone can wield.”
Mana. To handle it, one absolute condition had to be met: a constitution capable of accepting mana. In other words, a body one was born with.
“To manipulate mana, a special physical condition is required. Either you inherit that trait from your parents, or you must be exposed to high concentrations of mana from infancy.”
But Ed met neither requirement. He had not inherited any special constitution from his parents, nor had he been exposed to mana since childhood. The near-zero mana she sensed from his body confirmed it.
“So you should just go to Olin—”
“I already knew that.”
Once again, Ed gave an unexpected answer. He claimed he already knew he lacked the constitution to handle mana.
“As you said, Professor, one must be born with a special constitution to wield mana. If not, the only other way is to somehow acquire it before the age of seven.”
Elena’s eyes widened. From the way he spoke, it seemed Ed already knew everything there was to know about mana. If that was the case, why was he still asking her to teach him?
“……What exactly are you trying to say? You’re not suggesting you somehow learned to handle mana after the fact, are you?”
She asked on a whim. Surprisingly, Ed nodded without hesitation and said something utterly unbelievable.
“Yes. I practiced, and it worked. Of course, I’m still far from proficient. That’s why I need your help, Professor.”
I practiced, and it worked. The statement was so absurd it almost made her laugh. After all, handling mana was no different from controlling a body part that ordinary people could never control. It was like freely manipulating fingernails or hair—parts of the body that could not be moved by muscle alone.
“How could you possibly learn to handle mana just by practicing?”
Therefore, his claim was complete nonsense. No matter how much one trained their finger muscles, they could never freely reshape their nails. No matter how much one tensed the muscles in their head, they could never control their hair at will. Likewise, unless one acquired a mana-accepting constitution before the age of seven, there was no way to handle mana.
“I can do it. Though it does require certain conditions.”
Ed rose to his feet as he spoke. He walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner of Elena’s office, then turned back to face her.
“If I prove right here that I can handle mana, will you accept me as your disciple?”
“……”
……If he could prove he could handle mana, would she take him as a disciple? Elena’s shoulders trembled. Ed’s reckless, almost defiant proposal was so outrageous that laughter burst out of her. Yet even in that moment, a sliver of expectation stirred within her. If it was Edga Fix—the boy who kept surprising her—then perhaps it really was possible.
“Very well. Let’s see what you can do. But if you fail, there will be no sponsorship funding either.”
Elena suppressed her laughter and regarded him with a serious gaze. After all, the notion of a commoner acquiring the ability to handle mana after the fact was not something to be taken lightly. Ed nodded without the slightest hesitation and smiled brightly.
Nobles. To the nobility, mana was a privilege. The greatest distinction between themselves and commoners was whether or not one could use mana. Thus, they instinctively despised commoners. To strengthen their power, they had to interbreed with others who possessed the same “special constitution” and pass down the ability to handle mana to their descendants.
Therefore, had it been any other noble, they might have been furious at Ed’s proposal to demonstrate mana. A commoner using mana was tantamount to challenging their authority.
‘But Elena is different.’
Ed knew this. As someone who had risen from commoner origins herself, she lacked that authoritarian streak. The very fact that she had come to him and apologized despite her high position was proof of how egalitarian her thinking was.
‘If I can just prove myself, she’ll accept me.’
So Ed decided to play his trump card. He would prove that he could use mana. He began performing the Mana Refinement he had spent the past two months perfecting through sheer desperation. Mana particles floating in the air seeped into every part of his body, and a blue haze began to rise around him.
“……How is this possible?”
To Elena, the sight was nothing short of shocking. A person who could accumulate mana in their body through nothing but effort had appeared. Throughout history, there had been only a handful of such individuals. Card, Ranseldorf, Kain, Belderos, and herself—only these five had awakened mana on their own without being nobles.
‘But they were all young……’
They had all been young. In other words, they had not missed the only window in which mana could be awakened. But Edga Fix was different. He was already eighteen—well past the only age at which mana could be awakened. Physically, it should have been impossible for him to awaken mana.
Yet the blue haze rising around his body was unmistakably the phenomenon that appeared during Mana Refinement. Furthermore, Elena could feel mana accumulating inside him. He had achieved Mana Refinement even after the age of seven.
“How…… How did you perform Mana Refinement? Was your mother perhaps of a special constitution?”
Unable to believe what she was seeing, Elena asked the question even though she already knew the answer. Ed shook his head.
“No. Both my father and mother were commoners.”
“……Or perhaps you awakened mana before the age of seven?”
“No. I awakened it recently.”
“Are you sure you’re not simply unable to remember because you were too young?”
“If I had awakened it back then, I would be holding mana inside my body like you, Professor. But look at me. If I stop concentrating, the mana naturally evaporates.”
As Ed spoke, he ceased the Mana Refinement. The mana stored within him began to slowly dissipate. This proved that his sensory organs for accepting mana had not developed. In other words, Ed had never awakened mana before the age of seven.
“……How is this possible? I can’t…… I can’t believe it even though I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”
Elena muttered as she collapsed into her chair. The shock had been so great that her legs had given out.
‘Well, getting this far was an absolute nightmare.’
Ed, meanwhile, was recalling the past. Specifically, the moment roughly two months ago when he had first possessed the body of “Edga Fix.” He remembered the despair he had felt upon realizing he could not handle mana.
—Why did it have to be a commoner?! Why this body of all things?!
He had thought it a truly cruel fate. At the very least, one needed to be able to handle mana in order to enter the Imperial Academy. Yet he had possessed the body of an ordinary blacksmith’s son. On top of that, he was already eighteen, making it impossible to awaken mana. He had truly become a third-rate extra.
—There has to be a way.
But Ed did not give up. He tried every means possible to learn mana. He had even ground up mana stones and eaten them, only to suffer for several days afterward.
—Wait. What if I use my ability?
After a month of repeated failures, Ed suddenly had an idea. What if he could use his ability to perform Mana Refinement? He opened his status window and checked the skill’s description.
Lv.2 Engineering Insight
Grants complete understanding of all scientific knowledge required to implement any technical mechanism.
The skill “Engineering Insight” helped one understand technical mechanisms. Until now, Ed had only used it when crafting equipment. Whenever villagers brought him “crafting requests,” he would use the skill to instantly grasp the engineering knowledge needed to create the desired item.
—What if I use it on myself?
What if he applied it to himself? Since he was ultimately just an organism composed of countless minerals, what if he granted “Edga Fix” the property of being able to accept mana? Ed immediately put the thought experiment into practice.
—Damn it!
But the result was a complete failure. Simply having the idea was not enough to make it happen. It seemed additional conditions were required for the skill to activate. Ed thought again.
—……!
After pondering for some time, Ed finally found the answer. The answer lay in the level of “Engineering Insight.”
—The level is too low!
The skill level of “Engineering Insight” was insufficient. In other words, the mechanism was too complex for his thought experiment to succeed, so the skill had not activated. Understanding an organism as complex as the human body was far too difficult for a Level 2 Engineering Insight.
—Let’s make the thought more specific.
Ed stood in front of the mirror. Staring at his own reflection, he tried to refine his thinking.
—Grant Edga Fix’s hand the property of containing mana.
Thus, what he attempted was not to grant the property to “Edga Fix” as a whole, but to a specific part of Edga Fix’s body. Yet it still did not work. Even when he limited the scope to his hand, the skill remained silent.
—Grant Edga Fix’s eyes the property of containing mana.
Ed did not give up. Hands, feet, chest, abdomen—he even tried mentioning every part of his body he could think of, down to the most ridiculous, hoping at least one would work.
Whoosh!
After countless thought experiments, Ed finally found the method. The moment he thought, “Grant Edga Fix’s frontal lobe the function of accepting mana for three seconds,” Engineering Insight activated, and he instantly understood the entire process of accepting mana.
“Well then, Professor Elena. Are you feeling more inclined to teach me now?”
And now. Through his efforts, Ed had become capable of accepting mana for twenty seconds. By demonstrating the result to Elena, he had passed her test. Elena rose to her feet and spoke.
“Follow me. From this moment on, you are my unofficial disciple.”