The First Circle
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jeron’s Magic Missiles burst in midair.
Drawing upon the wind-attribute mana had been a success. However, it was difficult to gauge exactly how much mana constituted the "12.25 units" described in the magic book.
Even so, Count Hanes placed great significance on the fact that Jeron had managed to control the wind mana at all.
"It is only natural to fail at first, as one cannot yet gauge the limits of their own mana. How could anyone expect to succeed on the very first try? Even this is proof of your natural genius."
The Count was genuinely impressed.
According to him, even separating the attributes of mana so quickly was usually a grueling, tedious process.
Normally, it took several months just to reach this stage.
Once a mage succeeded in quantifying their mana, they had officially taken their first step into magic.
That was the Count's perspective, but Jeron felt only frustration when the magic failed to manifest cleanly.
He looked back down at the magic book.
...The absolute value of mana varies from person to person. The value of 12.25 presented in this text is an average calculated from a sample of 1,000 1st Circle mages. Some may fall below this average, while others may far exceed it.
Jeron adjusted his expectations upward.
If he had initially tried to manifest the spell using a little over one-tenth of his total mana, he now dialed it down to about one-fifteenth.
Boom!
The magic manifested much more clearly than before.
Though he still failed to hit the scarecrow, the output was far closer to the target value.
Jeron realized that his 1st Circle mana capacity was at least fifty percent higher than the average.
He gradually adjusted the ratio.
One-sixteenth, one-seventeenth... until he approached one-twentieth.
Crash!
As an explosion erupted in the air, the Count jumped to his feet in shock.
"Could it be... have you already mastered the control of your mana output?"
"No, that is still beyond me. I simply drew as much mana as I could out of frustration."
It was a lie.
Jeron had already found the optimal value.
He had feigned failure on purpose because the Count was looking far too startled.
With just a day of practice, he felt he would get a firm grasp of what the value of '1' unit of mana felt like.
Once he succeeded in that, the next step was to push the magic forward with mana so it could reach the target.
During this process, the slightest mistake could cause the spell to collide with the surrounding air currents and dissipate mid-flight.
Magic was like a hand grenade; if it hit an obstacle along its path, it would detonate prematurely. This was why mathematical calculations were so critical.
Hitting a stationary target already required immense effort, to say nothing of a moving one.
Mages had to predict the trajectory of a moving target and cast their spells ahead of it. Calculating the target's movement made the process exponentially more complex.
Clap, clap, clap!
The Count clapped his hands.
"Do not push yourself too hard. Now that you are a proper mage, I must explain how mana depletion affects the human body."
Mana depletion.
It was a fatal condition for mages. Once the mana inside the body was completely exhausted, they would lose consciousness immediately.
For this reason, during the wars of the Unified Empire era, mages were always assigned dedicated guard units.
Today, however, mages rarely participated in warfare, and such concepts had long been forgotten.
"...You must look after your own body. Even if you succeed in casting spells, it is best not to get carried away. It is common for beginners to grow arrogant and meet a swift end. Especially since you lack any defensive spells, you must always use magic with the utmost caution."
The Count offered Jeron various pieces of advice.
From this conversation, Jeron gathered a few more facts.
Currently, the highest-ranking mage on the Karen Continent was at the 4th Circle, and there was only one such person in existence.
Tower Master Calburn was regarded as the supreme authority on magic, followed by the elders of the Magic Tower who were at the 3rd Circle.
Most of the disciples in the Magic Tower were only at the 1st or 2nd Circle.
"During the Magocracy Era, 4th and 5th Circle mages were common. They say the greatest mage on the continent was at the 7th Circle, which is unimaginable to us today. At that level, a single person could dictate the course of an entire war."
The Count continued his lecture on the history of magic.
By the time the lesson ended, it was past nine in the evening.
"Count Hanes, I truly do not know how to thank you."
"Haha, think nothing of it. As you have experienced today, this discipline is absurdly difficult. You must become a true scholar to use it properly. Once you move on to the 2nd Circle, magic ceases to exist in one dimension and enters the second. That is the realm of true geniuses."
By 'second dimension,' he meant quadratic equations.
The 3rd Circle would likely involve cubic equations, and the formulas would only grow more complex at the 4th Circle.
The reason magic was considered the domain of geniuses was that mathematics itself was not highly developed in this world.
Mages had to perform these complex calculations entirely in their heads, which made it easy to see just how brilliant one had to be.
Jeron set a new goal for himself.
Standard Mathematics.
Mathematical Analysis.
These were the math textbooks he had struggled with during his school days.
Since mathematics was essential for magic, he would have to search for these textbooks whenever he scavenged on Earth.
Forming the circles themselves did not seem to be the main issue.
If he continued to train steadily on Earth, he could easily reach the 4th Circle within a few years.
However, mathematics was the real barrier.
Jeron had been quite good at math in his youth, but he had forgotten most of it with the passage of time.
Fortunately, his current physical body was young, meaning his brain was still flexible.
It looks like I'll have to study again, of all things.
But there was hope.
The engineer Kang and his daughter, Kang Yu-jung, who inherited his genes, were bound to be math wizards. If he ever hit a wall, he could simply ask them for help.
Since it was late, Jeron bid the Count farewell.
"I will take my leave for today. Thank you for your hard work."
"Take this with you."
The Count handed him a thick book.
The 1st Circle manual was as thick as a college textbook.
It appeared the Count had begun transcribing it by hand immediately after receiving Jeron's request a few days ago.
A magic book was absolutely necessary to manifest spells.
Though he was tempted to ask about the 2nd Circle as well, Jeron had only just entered the 1st Circle. He could worry about that later.
"I will head back for tonight and return in a few days."
"Yes, do that. I am quite tired today and must retire early."
The Count looked five years older than he had that evening.
Count Hanes collapsed onto his bed after drinking a glass of water.
His body was exhausted, but sleep did not come easily.
The damn weather was the problem.
As a mage, he could have used water-attribute mana to create ice, but he was simply too tired to bother.
Old age was draining his energy, and even using magic was becoming a strain.
He recalled the day's lesson.
"What an extraordinary young man."
Baron Jeron Farrow was a mage of undeniable talent.
It had been less than a year since he began practicing mana cultivation, yet he had already formed his 1st Circle.
Though the Count was exhausted from guiding him, he hadn't felt the fatigue at the time. This had to be how a master felt when looking at a prized disciple.
Although their relationship had begun as a mere trade of goods, a genuine bond was forming between them.
They also shared the common bond of walking the path of mana.
While nobles were bound by contracts, they were still human. They had emotions, and even in a relationship built on mutual benefit, it was only natural to favor certain people over others.
For the Count, Jeron Farrow was that kind of young man.
"What a pity. If only he had been born during the Magocracy Era, he could have become a Great Mage."
The problem was that too many mages had roamed the world during that era. It was widely accepted in academic circles that mana had existed since the birth of the planet, and its total amount was finite.
Because too many mages had consumed mana, the ambient mana on the Karen Continent had become incredibly thin.
To think such a genius mage would appear in an era like this.
"Still, since Jeron Farrow is a noble, he won't have many occasions to use brute force directly. Even knowing 1st Circle magic will be of great help in battle."
Count Hanes drifted off to sleep, his mind filled with these thoughts.
Upon returning to the inn, Jeron received an update on what Kang Yu-jung had done in his absence.
She had spent the entire evening organizing the merchant group's ledgers and completely restructuring their cash flow.
Not only that, but she had also designed new sales and promotional strategies, and had even established connections with major merchants.
It was baffling how she had managed to build a network when she didn't even know the language of the Karen Continent.
The words she had spoken to Jeron seemed entirely genuine.
"Helping you develop the territory sounds like fun. Proving my worth that way would be meaningful."
She had been starved for work.
Now that she was unleashed on the Karen Continent, she was displaying her full capabilities.
Was this the effect of modern education?
She had completely turned the merchant group upside down—in a good way, of course.
Having lived in the twenty-first century, Kang Yu-jung possessed entirely different values and strategies compared to the locals.
Even Jeron suffered from somewhat rigid thinking at times, but Kang Yu-jung complemented him perfectly.
He absolutely had to rescue the elder Kang from the industrial complex.
Until recently, Jeron had prioritized his own survival above all else, resolved to avoid the industrial complex entirely if it proved too dangerous. But the situation had changed.
What if the elder Kang joined the territory?
The threshing and milling machines Kang Yu-jung had casually mentioned could actually become a reality.
With the father designing and the daughter assisting, they could easily build superior machinery.
Once that happened, they could import wheat, process it in the territory, and sell it for double the price.
Perfectly threshed and finely ground flour would be treated as a luxury good, becoming a specialty of the Farrow territory in its own right.
The blueprint for developing his territory was steadily taking shape.
Once workshops and specialized blacksmiths were established, various machines could be built.
Using these machines, they could continuously expand their local specialties.
What did they need most at this point?
Trading rights.
Jeron naturally thought of Leila's younger sister, Lady Seira.
"She should have arrived in the capital by now. I wonder how she is doing?"