Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Im Sol
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"Hello. I am Han Jae-young, the professor in charge of your A-Class Mana Studies course."
A professor who looked like he'd spent his whole life holed up in some research lab, dressed in a pristine suit, stood at the podium.
At his age, he was practically a skeleton. Was he a former necromancer or something?
"No cadet here is unfamiliar with mana, I assume? You're all proud freshmen of Victoria Academy, so I'll proceed under the judgment that you have the basic background knowledge."
He wasn't showing any consideration for someone like me who'd enrolled without that background knowledge. A real teacher should look at all students equally, but he didn't seem like one.
"We'll skip the basic concepts of mana... and talk about mana operation instead, shall we?"
With those words, mana began gathering in the skeleton professor's left arm.
"Mana operation can be broadly divided into two categories. First: reinforcement."
Whummm-
The mana gathered to a certain degree and took tangible form, visible to everyone, enveloping the professor's left hand.
"This is called mana materialization. It strengthens and condenses formless mana to give it shape."
Bam!
The skeleton professor thrust his fist straight at a piece of steel prepared beside the podium, crumpling it effortlessly.
'Whoa, that's insanely strong.'
It was the skill befitting a professor at Korea's top Awakener academy.
He could jump into active duty anytime without issue. That was a Victoria Academy professor for you.
"The second is emission. It can be called magic, but it's a bit more encompassing."
As he finished speaking, a sphere made of mana formed above the professor's left hand.
"Right now, it's just mana compressed into a shape on my hand, but adding various processes to this state turns it into magic."
A small magic circle drew itself over the mana sphere on his hand, transforming it into something crackling with electricity ready to burst forth.
Crackle-
"This is magic implementation using a magic circle. Simple spells often omit the circle, but large-scale or advanced magic usually requires one."
He went on about concepts related to magic circles, but it was too complicated, so I tuned it out. It had nothing to do with me anyway.
"Well, let's say we've covered the basics with that. Shall we move straight into advanced material?"
Once again, a mana sphere formed above the professor's hand. But this one contained far more compressed mana than the previous.
"Sometimes cadets say things like, 'Professor, I'm not a mage, so why do I need this class?' Of course, you might think that. But the truth is, mana on a sword is sword aura, and mana on a fist is fist aura."
As he continued, he enveloped his fist with the compressed mana sphere, forming fist aura.
"Whether it becomes magic or simple reinforcement depends on how you process the mana. The fundamentals are the same. The mana operation you'll learn here will definitely come in handy."
The mana vanished from the professor's hand, and mana waves began rippling from him across the floor like falling water droplets.
"This isn't exactly magic—it's usually called 'detection' in the field. It's simply spreading mana close to the ground and letting it expand outward. For such a simple technique, it's incredibly useful. At a high level, it can even find hidden or wall-covered enemies. This seemingly easy skill is actually..."
I tried to follow the professor's complex explanation, but not a word got through.
I had no idea why mana perception and calculations were needed just to spread mana around.
"Try it once, and you'll know your weak points. Then I'll help individually. Give it a go for now."
As soon as the professor finished, the teaching assistants waiting at the back began distributing strangely shaped bracelets to the cadets.
"Isn't that the famous Victoria mana auxiliary device?"
"Mana auxiliary device?"
"Yeah, they say wearing it makes mana operation way easier. Downside is it weakens your output too much for real combat."
Thanks to Kim Young-han's explanation from the seat next to me, I figured out what the bracelet was.
How many game settings were there that I didn't know about? Was this game that detailed?
"First, try detection without the mana auxiliary. Then put it on and draw up your mana—you'll get a sense of what's lacking."
The professor had said it was the sensation of drawing mana from inside your body and spreading it outward.
Whumm-
Mana spread around me, letting me feel the outlines of nearby cadets.
'Hmm, this much is doable.'
I'd handled spellcasting fine, so detection should be no problem.
Looking around, the other students still seemed lost.
Whumm-
Swish. My eyes met a girl's.
Elise. The top French-descent student.
She and I were the only ones who'd pulled off detection on the first try.
Nam Da-eun, the practical skills topper, seemed uninterested in class, twirling the end of her hair.
That was why Elise's and my detections had picked up each other's mana waves.
"..."
"..."
Was she upset about something? Her narrowed eyes gave me nothing to say, so I just stared back before looking away.
What did I do wrong? If being handsome was a crime, life imprisonment or whatever?
"Some students have succeeded, but most are still struggling. Put on the mana auxiliary in front of you and try the exercise again."
"Whoa, my mana really feels lighter."
"Yeah?"
Kim Young-han next to me, now wearing the bracelet, was marveling as he operated his mana.
I didn't think I needed it, but since they gave it out, I'd try. There had to be a difference.
As I held the bracelet to my arm, it wrapped around my wrist on its own, filling me with a sensation of something pouring into my body.
"Whoa, that's a weird feeling."
This time, I drew mana up from my fingertips.
It was definitely easier... no, wait. It felt heavier instead. Was it defective?
I drew more mana. Weirdly, with the auxiliary on, it was harder.
"No, this feels defective... Gah!"
Sudden excruciating pain from inside my body made me groan.
Crash!
I couldn't endure it and fell from my chair.
The unrelenting pain had me clutching my chest and rolling on the floor.
A nasty metallic taste filled my mouth, and nosebleed soaked the ground.
Cough! Cough!
Covering my mouth to cough, blood stained my hand.
Fuck. What the hell is this?
"Hey! You okay? Professor! Incident here...!"
Kim Young-han was shouting something beside me, but my shaking vision made it hard to hear.
'What kind of bullshit...'
The pain hit without warning, keeping me from thinking straight, but I knew the cause.
My internal mana was in chaos. The mana circuits were tangled beyond repair, making it hard to even muster mana.
And every time I tried to draw it up, the pain intensified.
I didn't know the pain's exact source, but fixing the mana circuits would end it—I knew instinctively.
Of course, it'd hurt like hell in the process, and my mind was fading. If this kept up, I might actually die.
"Ngh...!"
I forced the unresponsive mana to move. Mana that once obeyed my will now resisted desperately.
It was like a mana ball bouncing wildly inside me, pummeling from within.
"Urk!"
Unable to bear the dizziness and pain, I vomited bile and blood.
Lumps climbed my throat and spilled onto the floor. Dry-heaving until nothing came up made it a bit better.
Clear Mentality always came through. It kept my mind steady amid pain like surgery without anesthesia.
Tolerating the now somewhat familiar agony, I tuned and controlled the mana.
I seized the mana trying to bolt everywhere, carefully realigning the circuits and pathways inside me. Controlling every tiny circuit in my body required intense focus.
Through it all, my understanding of mana deepened, speeding up the recovery.
"Huff... huff. Hiss. Hoo."
I finally succeeded in controlling all the mana. Vitality returned to my near-death body.
Hiss. My insides were still a mess, but it wasn't worsening.
A little later, and it might've been fatal. I'd survived, at least.
Now I could finally look around.
All the students and the professor were standing, staring at me. Right in front were Kim Young-han and Professor Im Sol.
"You... how..."
Professor Im Sol, wrapped in her robe, stared at me with wide eyes.
Her shock showed in her dilated pupils peeking from her hood and her gaping mouth flapping wordlessly.
Why was Professor Im Sol here?
She was supposed to be holed up in her lab when not teaching.
Anyway, my head still hurt.
I wished they'd hurry up and heal me.
"Uh... uh..."
"Uh?"
"Uh... how did you do iiiit—!!!"
She'd been mumbling to herself, so I played along, and she suddenly shrieked.
"Kek!"
Then she grabbed my collar and started shaking me.
"How! How did you do it—!"
"Guh, wait. Please, just wait..."
"Professor Im Sol! Let go! There's blood from his mouth! Hey! Let him go!"
Fortunately, the old professor snapped to and stopped Im Sol from shaking my neck.
Cough. Pooled blood poured from my mouth. My head spun again.
"What? Eek! Blood?! Get him to the infirmary now! You're a professor—what are you doing!"
"No, the medical team's already here—just let the kid go!"
"Ah, got it."
Only then did Professor Im Sol release my collar.
'What the fuck is her problem all of a sudden...'
Im Sol.
A genius mage born with innate magical talent. Renowned not just in Korea but worldwide.
She had little connection to the protagonist, but her absent-minded personality and actions, combined with her cat-like face exuding decadent charm, made her quite appealing.
'Now I see she's just a crazy bitch.'
She was a bit unhinged, which was her charm in the game, but in reality, she was straight-up insane.
Vrrr-
True to the game world, the medical team shone light from their hands onto me. Hard to believe mere light eased the pain, but that was reality.
The agony was receding in real time.
"Whoa, that's really amazing. Cough cough."
"Ho-yeon, you okay? You're alive, right?"
"Yeah, thanks for worrying, man."
Kim Young-han looked at me worriedly and spoke up. Having a friend was nice in times like this.
"If a friend I made two days ago died, it'd give me nightmares."
"..."
True to the high-level academy's medical staff, the treatment ended quickly, and they packed up to withdraw.
"Severe mana circuit damage, but it's all healed now. No issues with daily life."
"Thank you."
The old professor thanked them on my behalf as I lay there catching my breath.
"The cause was probably that mana auxiliary... Might be defective. You should investigate it."
"Ahem. Cough..."
No sooner had the medics finished than awkward coughs sounded. Looking over, Professor Im Sol was flushing red and fake-coughing.
"Well, actually..."