Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Mana (3)
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No-Self.
It wasn't a realm one could enter simply by having high powers of concentration.
It was a state of forgetting even oneself and observing the self from an objective perspective.
If one could wield No-Self freely, they could enter the realm of mental imagery.
That would make it possible to train free from spatial constraints through imagination alone.
'And if that matures fully and the spirit aperture opens, one can manifest mental imagery externally.'
This was one path to manifesting an avatar.
Of course, if it were that easy, the world would be overflowing with masters by now.
Even if one somehow reached the stage of No-Self, it took a long time and grueling training to control it at will.
'Of course, there are countless fools who couldn't enter No-Self even if you told them how.'
But Yuri was different.
No one had taught him, yet he had found the method himself and was slipping into No-Self.
Even if it wasn't a deep No-Self, achieving it through his own power was no easy feat.
'What the hell kind of kid is this?'
Not only had he awakened his avatar at just seven years old.
His body was eerily symmetrical.
And on top of that, this prodigious insight that let him comprehend No-Self on his own without guidance.
The more he learned about Yuri, the more it felt like the boy was born solely to master martial arts.
That made it all the more regrettable.
'The heavens stole away the one talent that mattered most. Tsk.'
If only his talent for sensing mana had been even that of an ordinary person, he could have become a second Sword Lord.
Such regrets kept surfacing.
Johan quietly cheered him on in his heart as he continued releasing mana.
Hoping the kid would leap up any moment and shout that he'd succeeded in sensing it.
But contrary to Johan's hopes, Yuri's silence stretched on.
Time passed like that.
One day, two days, three days, four days.
On the 25th day since the passenger ship set sail.
The storm that had raged for so long vanished like a mirage as the scheduled four-week voyage neared its end.
The ship caught a fair wind, but Yuri still couldn't grasp mana.
'I just don't get it. What the hell is mana?'
Even when he blocked out his senses to feel for it, nothing really clicked.
'What am I doing wrong?'
Johan had said that unlike him, Yuri's body was absorbing mana even without his intent.
So shouldn't he feel at least something?
But in reality, Yuri felt nothing.
As Yuri sank into contemplation, Johan's voice drifted in.
"Let's stop."
"Stop what? I can keep going."
"You idiot, who's quitting? I'm saying take a break. Do you know what you look like right now? One poke and you'd drop dead. Tsk."
After first entering No-Self, Yuri had steadily maintained it—not by luck.
Sustaining No-Self for extended periods drained tremendous mental energy, leaving Yuri utterly haggard.
"Eat something, sleep, and clear your head. Focus is good, but excess is worse than moderation. Go get some fresh air."
"...What's with the sudden caregiving?"
"Ha ha, even when I show concern, you bitch about it."
"Got it. I was starving anyway. Gotta grab something to eat."
Muttering that, Yuri stood.
He wobbled briefly from dizziness, steadying himself against the wall.
Tap-.
"Ah!"
Yuri let out a cry as if struck by realization.
'Hungry? Empty stomach?'
Yuri's eyes flashed.
'Right. Empty it out... If I empty it out, that'll do it?'
If sensing the existing stuff wasn't working, just get rid of it.
If the mana around him hit zero.
If he could perceive the difference between when mana was there and when it wasn't.
'This might let me get a feel for what mana is!'
Yuri rushed back to Johan.
"What?"
Johan gave a sullen look at Yuri's sudden move.
Yuri explained what he'd realized.
Johan nodded.
"Oh ho? Certainly... that makes sense."
"Right? That's it?!"
"I think I heard of some place that trains that way to heighten mana sensitivity."
"...You just remembered that now?"
"I've never lacked mana sense, so why would I bother remembering that stuff? That kind of training is for those with poor sensitivity anyway."
"......"
"My sensitivity was already near perfection without such crude methods. Ahem."
"...Annoying."
A talent that reached master level couldn't be ordinary.
So he'd never deeply pondered how those who couldn't sense mana should train.
And while Johan was undoubtedly a master...
'Hmm... Teaching someone is trickier than I thought.'
He excelled at learning and mastering, but teaching others? He was a total beginner.
He could teach theory better than anyone, but everything else lacked finesse.
'They say you fill your gaps by teaching... That rings true.'
Johan gave an awkward inner smile and spoke.
"Shall we start right away then?"
"Of course!"
Yuri swiftly sat in lotus position.
His heart gave a small thud.
'This method... it might work.'
No, it had to work.
With that resolve, Yuri closed his eyes and focused.
Seeing this, Johan immediately manipulated his mana.
Not spreading it around Yuri as usual, but instead absorbing the mana around him to lower its density.
'No need to lower it gradually.'
Extreme changes were easier to notice.
Assuming that, Johan sucked in the mana around Yuri in one go.
Yuri's surroundings turned into a mana vacuum instantly.
And that was the moment.
"Hup?!"
Yuri's startled face went pale.
"Gahk!"
Snapping out of focus, he clutched his throat and gasped.
At Yuri's reaction, Johan startled and hastily restored the mana.
"What happened?!"
"Gasp!"
Yuri couldn't breathe.
Johan's fingers lightly pressed points on Yuri's chest and back, and only then did Yuri gulp in air desperately.
Thirty seconds later, recovered, Yuri snapped at him angrily.
"You crazy old man?"
"......?"
"I said remove mana, not make me suffocate! You trying to kill me?!"
"What are you talking about? When did I—"
"Just now!"
"You little shit, what nonsense—when did I ever..."
Johan's face hardened as he tried to protest to Yuri.
As if realizing something.
His stiffened expression turned rigid as he said,
"Again... let's try once more."
"Do it right this time, don't kill me for nothing!"
Ignoring Johan's reply, Yuri sat in lotus position.
Johan watched him intently.
'No way...'
Confirming Yuri had entered No-Self, he extended his hand.
Unlike before, this time he adjusted the mana as slowly as possible.
Gradually lowering the density around Yuri.
And right away, Yuri's face twitched.
'He noticed already?!'
A gleam lit Johan's eyes.
He slowly increased the speed of absorption.
Yuri's face changed moment by moment in tandem.
Frustrated, irritated.
Johan was certain now.
'As I thought... this kid could sense mana all along!'
Shock spread across his face simultaneously.
'He's always been sensing it?!'
So used to it that he didn't even realize what he was sensing was mana.
Like how people breathe without noticing.
Only noticing air when it's gone—just like Yuri only noticed when the mana vanished.
Realizing this, Johan's face filled with astonishment.
'This kid...'
He shot Yuri an incredulous look.
'Since what age has he been sensing mana?!'
How long had he been sensing it that he didn't even know it was mana?
'Probably since he could think.'
If that assumption held, Yuri's mana sensitivity was beyond imagination.
As Johan marveled repeatedly, a question arose in his eyes.
'But with that level of sensitivity, he should've noticed when the density increased too.'
Even untrained, Yuri's sensitivity should've picked up the mana flows around him.
In fact, he'd reacted sharply to the density dropping.
But he'd shown zero response to it rising.
Then a thought flashed through Johan's mind.
'Come to think of it, whenever mana density rose, this kid absorbed it like a ghost.'
As if regulating the density around him to stay constant.
From that, Johan formed a hypothesis.
'Maybe that's connected to why he "couldn't sense" it.'
What was happening to Yuri was a phenomenon even Johan had never seen.
Better not to judge hastily—observe more.
As Johan reached that conclusion, Yuri was lost in his own thoughts.
'Why is this happening?'
His chest felt stuffy, breath short.
As if the air around him was slowly vanishing.
'So stifling.'
He took a deep breath, but the stuffiness didn't lift.
If anything, it grew worse as time passed.
Realizing this wasn't mere breathing trouble, Yuri's eyes snapped open.
He looked at Johan, who wore an odd expression, and asked stiffly,
"Old man, don't tell me this is—"
"What you're thinking."
"This... is mana? This stifling feeling?"
"It's not the stuffiness itself that's mana, but..."
"......?"
To Yuri's questioning gaze, Johan explained what he'd figured out.
Hearing it all, Yuri's face went blank.
"I've been... sensing mana already?"
"Yeah."
"But I still don't know what mana feels like!"
"Don't worry. You're not someone who can't sense it, so a little effort and you'll awaken the sensation in no time."
"Really?"
"It'll happen. That much, I guarantee."
Yuri's face brightened at Johan's conviction.
He hadn't shown it, but how much had he suffered inwardly over mana?
His hardened gaze softened, and Yuri grinned in his usual cheeky way for the first time in ages.
"Alright, effort's no big deal! Strip effort from Yuri Holland and you're left with a corpse!"
"All talk, tsk. Quit clowning and let's start now."
"Yeah!"
Yuri nodded and closed his eyes.
Silence resumed.
Yuri focusing to sense mana.
Johan steadily adjusting the mana flow.
No words passed between them, but both poured their utmost into their tasks more fervently than ever.
Mana in the cabin emptied and filled repeatedly, surging wildly.
And at the center of the density shifts was Yuri.
'Ah...!'
There, Yuri grasped one insight.
He'd caught the strange, repeating sensation of it vanishing and reappearing.
'This... is mana?'
It felt somehow familiar.
Yet strangely alien too.
Like discovering a whole new side to a friend you'd seen every day?
'Oh, right. I don't have friends.'
Chuckling idly to himself, Yuri welcomed an old friend anew regardless.
'Anyway, nice to meet you properly!'
And as if in response to his greeting, the mana reacted.
As if asking why it took so long to acknowledge it.
Whoooosh-.
Mana surged even more fiercely around Yuri.