Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Path Forward
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***
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. I'm about to manifest an immense amount of mana. I'll be releasing enough power to likely startle you. This physical contact... I hope you won't misunderstand it.”
“...Yes. I understand."
Even as I answered, I had to struggle to control myself, to keep my voice from trembling.
I understood why Kalli had come so close to me, why she pressed her body against mine as if embracing me.
So that I could feel the mana more easily... she had simply closed the distance between us.
“Then I’ll begin right away.”
And yet, her breath, like a whisper in my ear, felt overwhelmingly loud.
The sensation was so intense it threatened to shatter my focus in an instant....
“......Yes.”
Still, I forced out a reply, steadying my wavering heart.
To keep any stray thoughts at bay, I bit down hard on my lip, using the pain to fix my gaze on the blade of my spear.
Swoosh…!
From Kalli's body, her hand overlapping mine, I saw a cerulean mana begin to bloom.
And in that moment.
I experienced a strange sensation as all my previous thoughts vanished in an instant.
“......”
Mouth agape, I could only stand in awe at the sheer vastness of the mana emanating from where our bodies touched.
The mana that now filled my vision was like an ocean contained within these walls.
Its total volume was simply incalculable.
Even thinking of Kalli as a wall I had to overcome during my training now seemed to expose how little I had truly seen of her.
The wall I had thought Kalli to be was nothing more than the base of a castle wall shrouded in fog.
‘...This is.’
Kalli's mana, manifested with intent.
Yet even now, it didn't feel like her full power. My vision was already completely dyed in blue, as if I were in another world.
...It felt as if the entire training hall had been swallowed by Kalli. Moreover, as I registered that I was pressed so close to her, my own body began to hum with a faint surge of mana, as if in resonance.
My mana was far too feeble to resist this colossal force.
As if to defend against being eroded by another's mana, the energy throughout my body reacted instinctively, trying to envelop me.
Ssk.
But I gently suppressed that instinct.
This was not mana to be resisted or opposed, and I could see that even if I tried, my own mana wouldn't be able to stand against Kalli's in the slightest.
'If Kalli wanted to….'
I would be unable to refuse whatever she might do to me right here, right now.
“...”
Even the simple act of breathing felt completely different.
An alien sensation, as if I were inhaling Kalli's mana in this space supersaturated with it.
“Your mana is likely reacting inside you, but for now, focus on calming it down.”
As Kalli’s soft voice reached my ear, I concentrated just as she said.
'Calm down.'
I slowly inhaled and exhaled, as if pacifying my own rebellious mana.
I could feel my body gradually acclimating to Kalli’s mana as it seeped into me.
“Good. Just like that. Breathing slowly and getting used to the mana is the best way.”
...Her voice, like a mother soothing a child, suddenly made me feel a sense of transcendence.
The moments I had faced her as an instructor in the classroom, or the times we had spoken privately, all felt like a fleeting dream.
Everything I had felt while looking at her in those moments now seemed like a lie.
‘To what extent must she be able to control her aura...’
...to be able to hide such immense power so casually?
What’s more, I felt that even this mana couldn't be called her true form, and I sensed how vast the difference between us was.
A difference so overwhelming it felt insulting to even call it a difference.
And I instinctively knew that Kalli could become even stronger than this.
…
About a minute passed as I acclimated to Kalli’s mana.
In that time, I also came to understand why she was pressed so close against me.
Without my even realizing it, my body was trembling.
And Kalli was pressing against me as if to support me.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. I’m going to stay this close for a little while longer. I hope you can bear with it, even if it's uncomfortable.”
At Kalli’s whispered words, I numbly nodded my head.
And rather than discomfort, I felt a sense of comfort, even stability.
It felt like I was floating in the ocean. I had surrendered my all to the sea that was Kalli.
My thoughts, my body, everything else....
“It must be difficult for you to speak right now, Cadet, since you’re directly experiencing another’s mana. But this state will allow you to focus more completely. For now, just concentrate on how I manipulate my mana.”
At her following words, I gave a slight nod.
And then, a change began to occur.
Following the slowly rotating mana, the blue tide that filled the space began to shift dramatically.
…!
The mana, which had been a brilliant cerulean, slowly began to take on a crimson hue.
Saaaaaah…….
Soon, tens, then hundreds of currents seized control of the mana-filled training hall.
The vivid crimson mana resonated loudly, soon transforming into a massive flow.
It was truly...
like a great sea.
When the crimson sea surged in one spot, the surrounding waves would stir, following its lead to form a single, unified current.
As I watched the crimson mana rotate in a great circle centered on the training hall, I slowly found myself being drawn in.
'Focus.'
For Kalli to resort to physical contact like this must not have been an easy decision.
Therefore, I could not let this opportunity pass.
I watched the infinite flow of mana, its currents multiplying from tens and hundreds until they seemed to surpass the thousands.
I simply took in the countless streams, as if entrusting my consciousness to them.
And from Kalli’s body, still pressed against mine, I could feel how the vast, emanating mana created such a flow.
What kind of current it formed, where that current was headed, and what it was trying to draw.
...And then, I slowly began to see it too.
Why the crimson mana formed so many currents, and why the other mana joined in, creating one massive flow....
It was a form of ‘circulation.’
It endlessly headed somewhere, yet the end of its flow was not fixed.
The circular current, as if its beginning and end were connected, was rotating and circulating infinitely.
The reason so many streams of mana cooperated with the flow was all because of this circulation.
A single current creating tens of thousands of currents, and those tens of thousands of currents becoming one great current—an infinite circulation.
'...The beginning and the end coexist.'
It was a truly unbelievable principle.
And I could feel that concept... slowly being injected into my mind.
All idle thoughts vanished as I became immersed, as if drawn into the loop of circulation.
The countless currents drawing a crimson circle created a spectacle that would overwhelm anyone who saw it.
Beautiful, wondrous, and mystical.
No other words could properly describe the mystery I was feeling.
And at the same time, I could feel the power contained within this aura.
Because it circulates infinitely, the connecting forces amplify each other endlessly.
The vast, spreading energy could at any moment be condensed into a single force, gathering with even greater strength.
And at the same time, it was possible to release that condensed power, unfurling it into tens of thousands of strands…….
“...”
My thoughts suddenly stopped.
A creaking sensation ran through my body.
Simultaneously, the crimson aura that filled the space began to fade, as if disappearing.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. It’s… alright now. It’s really alright now.”
At her urgent voice, I blinked my eyes open, but I couldn't understand.
‘....What’s alright?’
The fact that such an ecstatic energy had vanished in an instant felt like a great loss.
More than the strange, creaking sensation in my body, the fact that I could no longer see the near-infinite circulation was so…….
It was truly, truly a shame.
Ssk.
The sensation of her hand gently stroking my hair seemed to awaken my dazed mind.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. You mustn’t try to think any further.”
Her intensely cold voice snapped me fully back to reality, and only then could I grasp the situation.
“Hah... Hah...”
My body’s signals forced me to gasp for breath.
...My heart was pounding like crazy, and my mind felt completely empty.
As if my thoughts were only now catching up with the supplied oxygen, I finally realized my condition.
I had thought only a brief moment had passed, but my body felt unnaturally heavy.
As if my entire body was covered in sandbags....
It was my body, but it didn't feel like my own.
And in my field of vision, I saw Kalli, who had carefully caught me.
She was biting her lip as she looked at me, an expression that seemed to say she was sorry, but I didn't know why she would look that way.
“Why... are you looking at me... like that.”
“......”
“A moment... ago, I... definitely saw... the path. In the flow you showed me...”
As I continued to speak, my vision was strangely blurry.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. You don’t have to say any more. So... just focus on resting for now.”
At her faintly trembling voice, I had no choice but to accept.
It felt like I shouldn't... do anything else right now.