Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Memory (2)
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……‘Mana Body’. A body through which mana flows, literally.
One chalkboard. White chalk. Deep, dark black eyes.
In a tiny classroom, a lesson prepared solely for me.
……The foundation of Mana Body is ‘One Belt Four Lines’.
One Belt Four Lines.
The most widespread method of forming a Mana Body.
I’ve heard it so often my ears might as well have calluses.
……First, the One Belt refers to the largest circuit running from the brain down to the groin. It must never be severed—the thickest, strongest circuit. That’s why it’s called a ‘belt’.
Theia traced a line from the head to the groin on the human anatomical diagram projected on the board. She laid the chalk flat horizontally, drawing it extra thick.
……From this belt, four lines branch off to the right arm, left arm, right leg, and left leg.
Then she extended four lines along the arms and legs.
……That’s the Four Lines.
One Belt runs from the head to the groin; the Four Lines extend from the belt to the fingertips and toes.
One Belt Four Lines ultimately refers to the paths mana flows through the human body—the layout of the circuits.
……In this world, almost no Mana Bodies exist besides One Belt Four Lines. But you, Sion… your body would die the instant you tried to learn it, right?
It was impossible for me. The ‘belt’ of One Belt Four Lines inevitably pierces the dantian, and the cancer cells would surely metastasize along it.
……Don’t lose heart. Lift your head.
When was this, exactly?
Probably right after my third round of chemotherapy.
She’d come to find me as I woke from the anesthesia and declared herself my master.
……There is a way. It’s an ancient Mana Body. These days, it barely even qualifies as one.
In modern times, Mana Body means One Belt Four Lines. But if you go far back—to ancient eras—other Mana Bodies do exist.
……It’s called ‘Body Integration’.
Body Integration.
You accept mana into your body, then let it naturally seep in without any special process.
To put it very simply, it’s like smoking meat.
……I ran some experiments on monkeys. Even wrote a paper on it. Take a look.
Monkeys.
The Mana Body used literally by ‘beasts’.
I opened my eyes. Snapping out of the reminiscence, I surveyed my surroundings.
A lake ringed by sparse foliage, with hardly a soul in sight. No one to watch me—or even if there were, it wouldn’t matter. The rest area behind the old building.
I’d come straight here after College Board ended.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
My master’s teachings.
Forgotten amid the harsh grind of reality, yet the moment I became aware of her again, it ignited in my mind, sending tremors through my soul.
Thanks to the Notebook, perhaps.
I stripped off my clothes first. Folded my Endex uniform and underwear neatly atop a rock.
Mana Body training soaks the whole body in sweat and waste.
Splash—
I waded into the lake.
“Urghhh.”
Still early spring—the water brutally cold, but tolerable.
I settled into lotus position, keeping only my head above the surface.
“Huu……”
What I was attempting now was ‘Body Integration’.
One of Theia Esil’s lessons passed down to me.
Put simply, it was like smoking meat—but actually quite different. Body Integration was more like leaving meat out on a summer day and waiting for it to ‘cook itself’.
No fire, no frying pan, nothing at all.
No wonder the method had vanished.
For Body Integration to evolve into a viable Mana Body, my master had said it needed an ‘engine’ to pump mana from the dantian.
Just as the heart pumps blood to circulate through the body—an engine to pump dantian mana out to the fingertips and toes.
Back then, my master had told me, “You’ll have to devise the algorithm yourself—” She’d added that it would be incredibly difficult.
The me from before regression never invented it before dying.
Not anymore.
I already knew that supposedly impossible algorithm.
No—everyone knew it.
What was it?
The metaphor I’d just used.
“Heart.”
I placed my hand on my chest.
My attempt was straightforward.
First: How well does the Notebook know me?
Second: How much of my body can it remember?
In other words—could it remember the heart’s function and transplant it to my dantian?
Make my dantian pulse on its own, like my heart.
Of course, tampering with the dantian was frightening. A perfectly natural fear for a cancer patient.
But the cancer cells in my dantian never breached the dantian membrane. One Belt Four Lines pierced it, but Body Integration didn’t—so at least metastasis wasn’t a worry.
“……”
I sat in lotus position wordlessly. Closed my eyes.
Slowly circulated the mana within my body. When the energy crept up to touch my heart, I murmured my intent.
“……Remember.”
My heart quivered. My dantian shuddered violently. Thud-thud-thud-crack— veins bursting throughout my body with a racket.
I gritted my teeth. Maintained my breathing rhythm to hold steady.
And then, as I braced myself against the pain—
Suddenly, atop my tightly shut eyelids, the Notebook materialized.
[63 / 100]
■ Diary
■ Memory
└Perion
└Untitled
Last 24 hours capacity: +30
An Untitled file had been added, and the capacity shot up to 53 in an instant.
Did that ‘Untitled’ mean my heart?
A strange sensation, but no time to dwell.
I channeled the mana holding the heart’s memory toward my dantian.
The mechanism was simple.
Just like summoning the barber clippers’ function at the salon—transplant the heart’s function into the dantian, and done.
……I hoped it would work.
——.
Something squirmed.
I snapped my eyes open. Placed a hand on my abdomen.
——.
It moved, but I couldn’t feel it clearly.
Unlike the chest, the belly had thick fat padding it?
——.
Fortunately, the third time.
No doubt about it.
A pulsation.
——.
My dantian was beating.
With every breath, pumping like a heart.
A perfectly instinctive, unconscious motion.
“……It worked.”
Sensing a rush of achievement, I flopped backward.
Splash—!
I surrendered to the lake. Refreshing water washed over my feverish body.
I floated aimlessly, staring blankly up at the sky.
“It actually worked.”
In the sunset glow, my master’s face from long ago flickered into view.
Theia Esil.
I’d received so much from her. She’d saved my life several times, lent me huge sums two or three times over—and I never paid her back before dying.
She never even sent a single reminder.
Not that I ever planned to repay her.
Anyway.
“Something happened, but……”
Before regression, I’d grown close to her in no time. We’d bonded instantly.
Simple logic: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
You despised Libra just as much as I did.
“But you’re not here now.”
Yet that couldn’t happen anymore.
Our bond couldn’t play out the same way.
Confronting Libra in the exact ‘same’ manner would only lead to the exact ‘same’ end.
Just like how you failed to topple Libra and lost.
“Won’t be from here on out, either.”
I closed my eyes quietly.
“I’m ready for it.”
Fully prepared.
This serene lake—no, the entire world—
Now held only me.
The next day, Tuesday morning.
Today was elective liberal arts day. Liberal arts meant a bit more leeway, but no room for complacency. Needed at least an A to stay competitive for admissions.
“……Ugh, so tired.”
Maybe from completing Body Integration yesterday. I was drowsy as hell.
I stared blankly up at the classroom nameplate.
[Elective Liberal Arts: Latynel I]
Latynel.
Before regression, a high-end liberal arts course I’d sooner die than take. I’d wanted to murder the nobles who bragged about studying and savoring it.
“Huh? What’s this!”
Suddenly, a bubbly voice rang out.
I turned to see Rae. Her hair dyed blue, she pointed at me with eyes gone round.
“Sion, why’re you here……Huh?”
I entered the classroom without a word.
“Hey, ignoring me?!”
Thirty-seven students had chosen Latynel. Out of 120 seniors, just thirty-seven.
The lecture hall was packed with elegant, polished noble offspring at a glance.
“Elri! Sion’s here too……!”
And sure enough, Elise Petra was among them.
She held a vocab book in one hand and glanced my way. Her expression twisted faintly, but she shook her head pityingly without a fuss—as if I wasn’t worth engaging.
I plopped down in an empty seat.
At ten sharp, the instructor entered.
“Greetings~ seniors. Welcome to Latynel.”
Latynel I. The teacher for this aristocratic subject was a refined middle-aged woman named Beaache.
Her voice was so elegant, she seemed like she’d answer directions in ten languages if asked in the common tongue.
“Latynel—as you all know—is the ancient language of our continent.”
Latynel had been a dead language for thousands of years, yet nobles remained captivated by its difficulty and ancient mystique.
The so-called ‘high-class refinement’.
An exclusive, luxurious fashion denied to most commoners.
“Of course, it’s no longer in common use. But precisely for that reason, we must learn it. Latynel is the root of every language on the continent.”
The reason I’d deliberately chosen this class for noble posturing was obvious: nobles loved it.
In other words, it wasn’t merely a dead language.
It was the common tongue of ‘noble houses across every nation on the continent’.
“I trust you chose this class knowing that.”
But trouble brewed from day one.
“On that note…… Did everyone bring their Latynel textbooks~?”
The textbook.
“Teacher. Looks like one person didn’t~”
Someone pointed me out. The amused tone gave it away.
Rae Hilton. Elise sat beside her.
“Well, these things happen. Please bring it next class~”
The lady smiled.
Sorry, but I absolutely couldn’t.
Your assigned Latynel textbook cost 1,000 ren a pop.
What, gold leaf on every page?
“Everyone. When you think Latynel, what image comes to mind? The ancient empire? The tongue of the mightiest nation? The romantic era when fairies, spirits, and humans frolicked together? Or……just a difficult language?”
I nodded.
Just difficult.
“Latynel is difficult. I won’t deny it. Extremely so. The main reason? Its words inflect in such diverse, refined ways.”
Masterfully packaging the fact that it had no roots or standards.
“Starting today, every Sunday, we’ll embark on a journey to learn Latynel. Grading: midterms and finals at 30% each. Homework and class participation at 20% each.”
Everyone scrambled for their notes. Click-click-click— like loading rifle rounds with notebooks, pencils, and whatnot.
I unfurled my mental Notebook.
“And if I find a student who’s exemplary—brimming with talent……”
Beaache’s expression turned grave.
“I’ll award an invitation to the ‘Sermones Aeterini’.”
The air went rigid.
Snap—! Elise snapped her pencil in shock.
Sermo-what now?
“Well then, shall we open to the first page?”
Beaache smiled brightly and launched into the lesson proper.
“The first chapter’s title is Kaedeius Radeoman. It means ‘The Emperor’s Man’……”
Scribble-scribble— the sound of note-taking buzzed like white noise in my ears.
I tried jotting my own notes into the airborne Notebook.
“……Latynel’s elegance shines from here on.”
My eyes kept drooping.
“Kedsa means ‘to love’, edaos means ‘to love each other’, but……”
Oh crap.
Shouldn’t have picked a liberal arts elective.
“Anobal is a suffix meaning ‘one born to ~’……”
Way too sleepy.
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