Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Exciting Mana Bullet Learning Time
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I headed to the mana training room for my usual morning training.
Well, there was one difference from usual: today, I wasn't alone.
"You're already here? Anyway, thanks so much. It was a bit of an unreasonable request, but you agreed to it."
As I stepped inside the mana training room, I greeted Yoon Seo-rin, who was in the back maintaining her pistol, with a cheerful wave.
"...Asking me to teach you Mana Bullets isn't a big deal."
"Still, it's early in the morning, so you must be tired... Anyway, thanks."
That's right.
For me, who'd imposed the restraint of the Vow of Purity on myself to clear the main story,
I had to avoid the heroines as much as possible because of that constraint.
But to clear the main story, I needed to get stronger faster than I was now,
so I'd had no choice but to ask Yoon Seo-rin to teach me how to make Mana Bullets.
Of course, unlike Yoon Seo-rin's unique S-Rank trait [Mana Bullet Engraving], I didn't have any traits or skills related to Mana Bullets,
so no matter how hard I trained, the best I could hope for was something a bit better than a Mana Bullet spell...
But it was still better than doing nothing, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
'And I need to figure out exactly what situations trigger the Vow of Purity's rejection and how...'
"Alright, let's start with how to make Mana Bullets. You're a mage, so you already know how to control mana, right?"
"Yeah, I've been learning mana control from Sophia bit by bit. Just teach me how to make the Mana Bullets."
"Sophia... Got it."
Yoon Seo-rin gave a subtle expression I couldn't quite read at my words.
She then pocketed the pistol she'd been holding in her subspace pouch and began the explanation slowly.
"The core of a Mana Bullet is simple. Compress mana into a bullet shape and solidify it. If you fail, the mana scatters. If you succeed, you get a Mana Bullet."
As she spoke, Yoon Seo-rin gathered mana at her fingertip.
The mana compressed into a single point, soon forming a small, round sphere.
Then, in an instant, the sphere elongated into the shape of a bullet head and casing, hardening into something like a metal round.
"This is a Mana Bullet that even a mage can make—and only a mage can make. But Mana Bullets made like this have no special effects. They're just condensed mana rounds."
"But thanks to awakening my unique trait, Mana Bullet Engraving, I can engrave effects onto them in this state, adding elemental properties and functions like spells."
Yoon Seo-rin paused her explanation for a moment, staring at the finished bullet as if checking something, then flicked her finger lightly.
At the same time, a blue Mana Bullet sliced through the air and slammed into the far wall of the training room with a boom!
Of course, the wall itself showed no marks thanks to the protective barrier.
But the sheer impact from a Mana Bullet launched with just a finger flick caused the transparent barrier rippling above it to shatter like glass.
"See that? If you, as a mage, can make a perfect Mana Bullet, that's the maximum power you can achieve. Of course, pairing it with a specially made gun designed for Mana Bullets can boost the power up to three times..."
"But since you're aiming to be a magic swordsman, you probably don't need a gun. For now, master compressing mana into bullet form first."
"...Got it."
I nodded and gathered my hands just as Yoon Seo-rin had shown.
Pulling mana from deep within my circle and focusing it at my fingertip, a blue sphere of mana formed.
But it soon scattered into pieces.
"It scattered."
"...I saw."
"Hmph. Try again from the start. You shoved the mana in too fast that time. This time, focus it more slowly into one spot."
...
Something about Yoon Seo-rin's attitude had felt off for a while now,
but judging it wasn't worth worrying about right then, I attempted to create the Mana Bullet again.
Whirr—!
This time, unlike the first try, the sphere held together a bit more firmly.
But the moment I tried to shape it into a bullet, it cracked with a zap and burst apart.
The scattered mana fragments sparkled in the air like debris.
"...Whoa, this is harder than I thought? I figured it'd be like Mana Bullet."
Yoon Seo-rin nodded slightly, as if to say, Of course it is.
"Mana Bullets are classified as 1-Circle magic like Mana Bullets, but that's just because ignorant mages saw that creating them requires a similar amount of mana and assumed they're the same."
"Of course, you've now seen how to make a proper Mana Bullet, so you get the difference."
"...Yeah, it's definitely different. I understood everything you showed me. I'll try again."
I bit my lip and gathered mana at my fingertip once more.
On the third try, the sphere finally held its shape a bit more solidly.
The bullet head was still sloppy... but thankfully, it overall resembled something you could call a bullet.
"...That's pretty good. Now for the next step. To bring out a Mana Bullet's full power, you need acceleration and spin."
"Acceleration and spin...?"
Yoon Seo-rin glanced at the clumsy Mana Bullet hovering at my fingertip, then turned away and began drawing something in the air with her finger as she continued.
"The principle behind a bullet flying is simple. First, explosive acceleration. The gunpowder explodes, propelling the bullet through the barrel."
"Second, spin. Spiral grooves inside the barrel—rifling—make the bullet rotate at high speed. That stabilizes the trajectory and gives it penetrating power over long distances."
She twirled her finger, drawing a small circle.
"Without a gun, you have to replicate those two things with mana yourself."
In other words, compress mana for explosive propulsion, and simultaneously impart even rotation to the Mana Bullet to stabilize its trajectory. That's the basics."
...
'Hmm... What is she talking about?'
I barely understood half of Yoon Seo-rin's explanation, but I nodded as if I got it and mulled it over.
"Acceleration is mana explosion... Spin is... like, wrapping it with mana threads like spinning a top?"
"The analogy's a bit weird... but yes. Wrap mana threads around the bullet to create a rotation axis. If you fail, it'll fly unstably, and in the worst case, explode in your hand."
"...Won't that blow off my finger? Isn't that too dangerous?"
"Your finger? If your right hand is still attached at all, you'd be lucky. That's why guns made for Mana Bullets are so hard and expensive to make. They guarantee user safety."
"I'll show you slowly one more time."
Yoon Seo-rin finished her eerily emotionless explanation.
Confirming I still looked like I didn't fully get it, she extended her hand and demonstrated again.
Mana condensed bit by bit at her fingertip, soon forming a single Mana Bullet emitting a slightly different silver glow than before.
A faint wind rippled around the bullet as it began spinning rapidly.
"Don't overthink the rotation concept. Just do it like this."
Once the bullet was spinning too fast to see clearly, Yoon Seo-rin flicked her finger lightly to launch it.
Boom—!
The Mana Bullet shot across the training room in the blink of an eye, embedding into the opposite wall. This time, much larger cracks spread across the entire barrier before slowly restoring.
"...That's a properly launched Mana Bullet. Acceleration and spin applied together. The one I showed earlier was about 2-Circle magic level. This is nearly 5-Circle. This is what your Mana Bullets need to be."
I swallowed hard and stared at my fingertip.
Just forming the bullet from raw mana had me breaking a sweat, and now I had to add propulsion and spin too...
"...Yeah, this won't be easy."
"True enough. It's not easy, but it's not impossible. If you master it, you'll have a weapon incomparable to most mages."
"...Got it. One more time."
I took a breath and began gathering mana at my fingertip again.
Mobilizing everything—Barrier Weaving from Professor Chae Yeon-hwa yesterday and my Mana Sensitivity Genius trait—I shaped a small mana sphere into a bullet form.
'Once the bullet shape is complete, next is explosive propulsion for launch... and even rotation...'
"...Done."
The rotation speed was still slow, and the bullet shape unstable overall, but I'd definitely succeeded in creating something worthy of being called a Mana Bullet, just like the one Yoon Seo-rin had shown.
"You've definitely got talent."
Yoon Seo-rin, who'd been watching silently beside me, looked at me with slightly surprised eyes, clearly not expecting success on the first day.
"I'm pretty good, right?"
Grinning with joy at my success, I placed the freshly made Mana Bullet on my finger and waggled it boastfully.
"See? I'm learning swordsmanship too, so I'm like a jack-of-all-trades guy overflowing with talent in every direction. Wait, jack-of-all-trades guy? Or jack-of-all-trades handsome guy since I'm a dude? Anyway."
...
Yoon Seo-rin watched my antics with a blank face, then snorted.
"...You haven't tested firing it yet, have you? The point of making Mana Bullets is to attack enemies. Celebrating success a bit early, aren't you?"
"Firing? That's a piece of cake."
I shrugged, aimed my fingertip at one wall of the mana training room, and launched the Mana Bullet just like I would a Mana Bullet spell.
"Watch this. This cool, beautiful Mana Bullet will shatter the protective barrier..."
But contrary to my expectations of a massive boom and it smashing the barrier like Yoon Seo-rin's...
...?
Only a faint blue afterglow lingered at my fingertip as it deflated like a punctured balloon with a pathetic pffft—scattering and vanishing into the air.
...
...
A chilly silence fell between us.
I coughed awkwardly and looked away.
"Ahem, that was... the test version. Next time, I'll show you a proper launch."
...
Yoon Seo-rin shook her head with a look of disbelief, then began packing her things.
"It's class time. I never expected you'd master it perfectly in one day anyway."
I swallowed my embarrassment and nodded.
"...Yeah, let's go to class."
With that, we left the mana training room side by side and headed down the hallway.
The lingering tingle of mana at my fingertips reminded me I'd succeeded with the Mana Bullet.
But in the end, all that remained in my heart was a hollow bitterness, like my Mana Bullet fizzling out into nothing.
'Fuck, that was so embarrassing...'