Chapter 193
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Chicken Game
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A mage must observe phenomena, explore them, and uncover the truth beneath.
That meant their everyday perspective on the world had to be special, too.
Questioning why the forest's colors changed with the seasons, or why the wind blew so fiercely today unlike yesterday.
Wondering why a ripe apple growing on a tree suddenly plops to the ground.
That was the mindset a mage needed.
So they couldn't tremble in fear at the unknown. They had to view the world without prejudice more than anyone else.
Of course, it was no easy task.
But only by overcoming that difficulty could one truly grow as a mage.
For that reason, right now, Jun's mind was working more furiously than ever before.
And it had every reason to.
This place wasn't a normal dimension that existed by right. It was a dimension born from a human's shattered psyche, broken beyond repair.
Nothing operated according to common sense.
Yet even so, Jun was calmly analyzing each phenomenon one by one.
'Not all the mana in this dimension can be controlled by Dermane.'
The mere fact that Jun could cast spells was proof enough.
If he had to put it in metaphor...
'It's like I'm in a fish tank right now.'
No matter how much water was in the tank, no human could arbitrarily control it.
At best, they could shake the tank or toss something inside. That was it.
'And those monsters are the paint he tossed in.'
Put paint in the tank, and when the fish (Jun) bursts it, the water takes on the color Dermane wants.
'But influencing mana that fills such a vast space like this?'
Mana wasn't something that easy to handle.
Even mages imposed all sorts of restrictions when crafting a single spell.
And it wasn't just mages.
Shamans bartered sacrifices to wield mana, while swordsmen had to endure the long, tedious process of absorbing it directly and making it fully their own.
In that context, casually exerting influence over mana that filled an entire dimension—even if it was artificially created? Absurd.
Not even Grandpa Dragon could manage that level of mana dominance.
'No matter how much this mental manifestation ignores various laws, even it has limits.'
If mental manifestation were truly omnipotent, Jun would be dead by now.
But he wasn't. And the fact that it was summoning monsters like that meant...
'He's moving while adhering to constraints, too.'
The moment those broke, this mental manifestation would shatter into pieces like a glass window.
Puuuung—!
Another grotesque sea monster scattered its flesh as it met its end.
The mana's viscosity thickened once more.
'But then this phenomenon I'm experiencing now doesn't add up.'
Every time he cast a spell, his heart creaked in protest.
A little more time like this, and even 1st-circle magic would become a struggle.
Puuuung—!
The flesh of massive fish and sea urchins lunging from both sides exploded.
But the enemies gave no respite, swarming relentlessly.
'Then what if I change my perspective entirely?'
What if the problem wasn't with the mana, but with himself?
Kwududuk—!
The [Shield] he'd barely managed to erect blocked a newly appeared shark-like monster. A moment later, and an entire arm would have ended up in its belly.
'It's possible. I'm human, after all. [Demon God Body] is perfect, but that doesn't mean I, the human wielding it, am.'
[Demon God Body] was indeed remarkable, but the one handling it was still just human.
Like how not every human could swing a colossal hammer capable of slaying a dragon in one blow, even if handed to them.
Gaaaaaaaah—!!!
The siren, burns covering its entire body, shrieked in a voice cracked to the breaking point.
No time to cast spells anymore—he'd defended with the 'Predator,' which had finally recovered from mana overload.
'So what problem could be happening to me?'
A flood of possibilities flashed through his mind in an instant.
Mental attack?
Theoretically possible, but it didn't apply to Jun. He had [Unyielding Will] and [Steadfast Heart].
Those two skills didn't grant full immunity to mental attacks, but at the very least, he'd feel traces of their resistance.
'But you're not that level, Dermane.'
If not that, then poison?
'This has some plausibility.'
He immediately cast a detox spell.
It was info he'd scraped from what Aiden got from Javier during the fight with the venom snake lord, infused with mana.
"Urk."
A huge chunk of his already scarce mana was yanked out.
In that flinch, a shark with a spear-like snout grazed his side.
'No, not poison.'
If it were poison, the spell he'd just cast should have reacted somehow.
'Then what else?'
Not an issue with mana, not hallucinations, not poisoned.
The more he reasoned, the more dead ends appeared everywhere—and in reality, the monsters' numbers were steadily increasing.
'Let's flip our thinking once more.'
No problem with the mana, no problem with himself.
Then.
Then...
'The environment.'
Eureka.
A clue flashed by, triggering [Exceptional Memory].
'Mana poisoning. You bastard. So that's it.'
Mana poisoning.
The phenomenon that occurs when absorbing mana of excessively high concentration.
In other words, the mana purity in this dimension itself was extraordinarily high.
That raised yet another question.
He'd just declared that influencing all the mana spread across this dimension was impossible even for Grandpa Dragon.
But was raising the concentration feasible?
Long story short: yes, it was.
"You're not actually here right now, are you?"
Guuuuuu—
As if responding to Jun's words, the monster's roar echoed through the entire space.
That's right.
Currently, the only one who'd entered this mental manifestation was Jun alone.
Dermane's main body was outside in the other dimension, ceaselessly sucking in sea mana.
That was why the concentration rose every time he killed those monsters crawling up from the abyss.
Those monsters were the sea mana Dermane absorbed, warped by his psyche.
"Haha, hahahaha."
Jun burst into laughter as he neared the truth.
Unbelievable.
Worried about too much mana?
How ridiculous could it get?
It had to be.
For an ordinary mage, this situation would be utterly bewildering.
"Mana overflowing excessively?"
But wasn't that something he dealt with every day?
Jun knew this phenomenon better than anyone... and a solution had just occurred to him.
Mana poisoning phenomenon.
What was the way to resolve it?
Obviously, just dissipate the mana.
In other words, blast it out.
But right now, even manifesting a single spell was a chore.
Telling him to expend mana in this state? Truly ironic.
'Focus on the process, not the result.'
He wasn't suffering mana poisoning from casting spells.
He was getting poisoned because he mishandled the mana.
'I thought I absorbed 10 units like usual, but the concentration was different. Actually, it was 13 units.'
That's why manifesting spells was so hard.
So the solution was simple.
'Just reduce the amount of mana I absorb.'
To do that, he needed to sense mana more delicately.
[Utterance: Reducing the influence of 'Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim' by 5%.]
He deactivated the utterance he'd paused during the mutation.
Starting at 5%.
"Hoo..."
Then 7%. Upped it to 10% once more.
At the same time, he focused on [Bright Eyes].
'Yes. Now I see it clearly. The mana concentration has definitely risen.'
As the owner of [Demon God Body], Jun could visually perceive flows of blue mana.
At first, the dark space made it hard to distinguish, but feeling it closely now, the difference was obvious.
'You idiot. No wonder it strained my heart.'
[Fireball]
A blood-red fireball erupted with fiery sparks.
[Volcanic Tornado]
A crimson storm of flames swept away a school of small monster fish.
[Flame Rage]
A blazing spiral fireball spewed a stream of fire, creating waves of flame against the pouring enemies.
Beyond that, Jun erected walls of fire, pouring out mana without restraint.
"Huff, huff..."
Blue lines glowed vividly on his skin.
The overheating that had barely improved was worsening again.
'But that's what battle is.'
Were there perfect victories without a scratch?
Theoretically, he had a way to take it down, but Jun wasn't in an overwhelmingly advantageous position.
The opponent was a near-7th-level raid monster.
In the game, it required specialized underwater combat characters to barely clear.
And he was facing it solo.
'No room for carelessness.'
Pour out everything he had.
[Utterance: Reducing the influence of 'Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim' by 25%.]
"Hooo...!"
His heart pounded madly.
Mana raced through his circuits along his blood.
The blue lines had turned violet, and a metallic tang rose in his mouth.
Yet he didn't stop the spells.
He wasn't the only one suffering.
Guuuuuuuuuuu—!!!
Dermane was drawing mana from the sea nonstop to maintain this space.
An astronomical amount—and sustaining it long-term was an immense burden.
'And unlike me, you can't use tricks.'
Why else would he stick to fire-attribute magic?
Every fire spell he manifested carried the 'greed flame' property.
'Burn brighter, burn even more!!'
Fire was greedy.
Following Jun's psyche, the manifested fire magic refused to extinguish, illuminating the dark space relentlessly.
Thus began the chicken game.
Jun's greed-flame spells absorbed the continuously added mana, growing larger.
In retaliation, the number of monsters rising from the abyss multiplied exponentially.
Then, the change came from Jun's side.
'Ah...'
Magic pushed to its limits.
In that process, a new ring began settling into his heart.
When a warrior reaches level 8, they use intent to manifest the truth built within their inner self into reality.
What about a mage?
Unlike warriors, mages manifest their psyche at the 7th circle.
This stemmed from the difference in how they wielded mana.
A mage didn't solidify truths dwelling within. They comprehended truths from the external world—the world's truths.
And now, knocking on the door of the 6th circle.
Jun began to grasp the difference between the 5th and 6th circles.
'Restructuring the knowledge I've built up so far.'
In architectural terms.
The mental domain shown by Sergey, the 7th-circle tower master of Volcanic Mage Tower, was a completed building.
Conversely, what Jun needed at the 5th circle was securing materials for the building he'd erect next.
'That's why I couldn't advance to the next stage back then.'
Ordinary mages would enter the 6th circle immediately upon enlightenment.
They focused solely on their field of study. Once a certain level of knowledge and insight accumulated, they naturally ascended.
'But I was different.'
The magical knowledge Jun had amassed had scattered gaps, all self-resolved.
Naturally, that made the foundation unstable.
Yet he'd been able to challenge the 6th-circle wall before because of his broad knowledge—and because [Demon God Body] could realize it, creating a sort of 'error.'
But now, having restructured his magic, things were different.
He'd learned enchantment from Shylock and refined his knowledge by applying it to his existing spells.
However, lacking real combat application, pieces were still missing.
Now, pushing himself to the limit and unleashing spells, those missing pieces filled in.