Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Epiphany in the Training Room
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Entering the Training Room and ten minutes in.
We started our individual training sessions, keeping a good distance from each other so we wouldn't get in the way.
Before beginning, I drank the Advanced Comprehension Potion.
Since it was a special item obtained through the Outsider's benefits, it was invisible to others, allowing me to slip it into my mouth without issue.
Gulp.
[The effect of the 'Advanced Comprehension Potion' has been activated.]
[For 7 days, your magical comprehension will increase 7-fold.]
I closed my eyes and felt the changes in my body. So far, I didn't notice anything particularly different.
I'd probably start feeling it once I began training.
First, I recalled the oral formula for the Counter Sphere that Choi Il-hyun had passed down to me.
Manifesting a magic circle using mana.
Woooong...
A blue magic circle filled with complex spell formulas floated above my hand.
Thanks to the Outsider's benefit boosting my spell formula comprehension, manifesting the magic circle was manageable to a certain extent.
But the real problem came next. Activating the magic circle while maintaining its form was incredibly tricky.
I focused my mind and slowly manipulated the flow of mana within the magic circle.
However, as soon as I tried to move the mana inside the magic circle,
its manifested form became distorted and eventually dissipated.
It was disappointing, but this was the expected result. I hadn't thought it would work perfectly on the first try anyway.
With a mindset of taking it slow from the start, I manifested the magic circle again.
And so time passed.
"...But is this really working right?"
I started to feel doubts creeping in.
Even with the potion boosting my comprehension sevenfold,
I wasn't sensing any tangible change.
Still, I didn't give up and dove back into training.
It hadn't been long since I started, so maybe the effect just hadn't kicked in yet.
Precise magic circle manifestation.
Maintaining the manifested form.
Reaching the limit of my capacity and natural dissipation.
Precise magic circle manifestation once more.
Maintaining the manifested form.
Reaching the limit of my capacity and natural dissipation.
I kept failing to maintain the magic circle's form, but I didn't give up and repeated the same training.
In the Training Room, mana and stamina recovery were accelerated to maximize training efficiency, allowing me to focus without rest.
And after about three hours,
I stopped training, feeling frustrated.
"No, why does it feel like nothing's changing?"
I'd spent a whopping 50,000 points, but I couldn't sense any difference in my training speed.
At first, I thought maybe my baseline comprehension was so low that the change wasn't noticeable, but after three straight hours of uninterrupted training, I was convinced.
The potion's effect wasn't manifesting at all.
"This is ridiculous."
Did I get scammed?
The Point Shop scamming me?
I opened the Point Shop and double-checked the 'Advanced Comprehension Potion' I'd bought.
[Advanced Comprehension Potion???]
Description: Increases magical comprehension 7-fold.
*Duration: 7 days
Price: 50,000 points
Magical comprehension...
Shouldn't higher comprehension make training more effective?
Or was I misunderstanding something?
Lost in thought alone, I turned my head and glanced at Lee Seo-jun, who was training in the distance.
Lee Seo-jun seemed to be experimenting with a method to minimize movements to lure the opponent into lowering their guard, then concentrate mana in a specific part of his body for movement and attack.
It was a type of 'Instant Acceleration,' but it wasn't going as well as he'd hoped.
"...That's not how you do it."
Mana is dispersed throughout the body like roots.
Right now, Lee Seo-jun was trying to concentrate mana in both his arms and legs simultaneously for movement and attack.
Forcing mana into multiple areas disrupts the flow, scatters the mind, and prevents precise mana control.
He was being too greedy.
Rather than doing it that way, increasing the rotation speed of his mana would be the right approach...
"...What am I even thinking?"
Recalling my own thoughts, I realized the potion's effect.
Normally, I wouldn't have noticed anything watching Lee Seo-jun's training, but now I instantly spotted the issue and the solution.
Of course, since the training he was doing shared similarities with the 'Instant Acceleration' I could use, I caught on quicker, but grasping it this fast was due to my boosted magical comprehension.
The reason I hadn't noticed the effect in my own training was that what I was doing required mastery, not comprehension.
In simple terms, 'magical comprehension' was the power that explained how to use muscles, but I'd been foolishly just lifting heavy weights and exercising the muscles.
"Now I get it."
How to utilize the boosted comprehension.
As the direction of my training took shape in my mind, a smile crept onto my lips.
But first, there was something I had to do.
I approached Lee Seo-jun and said,
"Think of mana as a single point. Then explode it and increase the rotation speed."
«.
Lee Seo-jun, deep in training, halted his movements and looked at me with puzzled eyes.
"You're concentrating mana in both hands and feet right now. That just makes the mana in your body chaotic and harder to control, so I'm saying prioritize one—set a sequence."
Lee Seo-jun blinked at my words.
"What the... "
I wanted to demonstrate, but I'd only comprehended it, not mastered it yet.
Still, with Lee Seo-jun's talent, a simple explanation should lead to enlightenment.
"If it were me, I'd explode mana from my toes first and use that as a trigger to rotate it up through my upper body."
"...Ah."
It was a curt explanation, but Lee Seo-jun nodded as if enlightened, gripped his sword, and closed his eyes.
Woooong.
Powerful mana emanated from his entire body. It then gathered tightly at his toes.
It wasn't perfectly a 'point' as I'd described, but the compression was so excellent it was practically one.
Seeing this, I was inwardly shocked.
With mana compression like that, he could probably handle compressed manifestation techniques even with manifestation-type magic.
And then.
Paat—!
Like the Big Bang of the universe, the mana concentrated in one point erupted in a powerful explosion.
With a sound tearing through the air, his body shot forward at tremendous speed.
The speed was slightly slower than Instant Acceleration.
But since the mana flow rotated rapidly, he could chain into the next action immediately.
Instant Acceleration focused on 'speed' itself, while Lee Seo-jun's emphasized 'ambush'?
His sword then spewed forth a blade of dark energy and slashed through the air.
I watched Lee Seo-jun with eyes still wide in shock.
There were mistakes and instability in the final attack, but to show that level of application after just a simple explanation...
'...He's insane.'
Even called the greatest genius in history, nailing it on the first try felt a bit unfair.
A thought crossed my mind.
Wouldn't it be an easier way to reach the story's end by abandoning my own training and growth, and dumping it all on Lee Seo-jun?
'...Should I just quit everything and let Lee Seo-jun raise me?'
No matter how I thought about it, that seemed like the better option.
If I gave him every elixir or new item I got, he'd become much stronger than in the original.
I was seriously pondering this when Lee Seo-jun approached me with a beaming smile.
"Sun-woo. Thanks. Feels like I just broke through a wall."
"...Glad to hear it."
['Magic Guide' achievement unlocked.]
[Obtained 2,000 points as reward.]
I suddenly earned points.
My mood lifted as I stared at the message window, and Lee Seo-jun looked at me with a shy expression.
"Actually, this technique—I got the hint from that movement you showed in the last final exam."
I'd half-expected that. It was quite similar to Instant Acceleration.
Even so, copying a specialty of Pure Shin, an S-Rank wizard, and Ren so easily felt off.
"Oh, by the way, you've been practicing magic circle manifestation earlier. What spell are you working on?"
Lee Seo-jun asked with a curious face.
"Support and manifestation synergy."
"Synergy?"
Interest sparked in Lee Seo-jun's eyes.
"Wasn't that heavy rain formation spell from the final exam also a synergy?"
"It's similar to synergy."
"Wow. Already working on new creative magic?"
I wasn't sure what misunderstanding he had, but Lee Seo-jun looked surprised.
"It's not creative magic this time. Just practicing something I recently learned."
"Oh, that new theory you said you picked up?"
I nodded.
"Yeah."
"What spell? You can tell me now, right?"
I hesitated briefly before saying,
"Counter Sphere."
Lee Seo-jun's eyes widened at my words.
"...Counter Sphere? You mean the one I know?"
The Counter Sphere was one of the spells that elevated Guild Chairman Kim Jin-cheol to the top.
It was already famous among certain wizards, and since Lee Seo-jun was Kim Jin-cheol's direct disciple, he naturally knew it.
"Yeah. The world's strongest defensive spell used by the World Wizards' Association Chairman."
"...How do you know that? Oh, Choi Il-hyun told you, right?"
"Yeah."
As I nodded, Lee Seo-jun fell into thought.
"That's not something just anyone can learn... Well, with your talent, you could master Counter Sphere too."
...What was he saying?
"So, how much can you handle it now?"
"I only learned the oral formula, so I can't even manifest the form properly yet."
I manifested the Counter Sphere.
As the magic circle floated above my palm, surprise filled Lee Seo-jun's face.
"What? That looks pretty good. You can already handle it this much?"
"What do you mean 'this much'? I'm not even at a quarter of a quarter of a quarter."
"Hey, manifesting the magic circle is the hardest part. I can't even do something similar."
Lee Seo-jun looked at me enviously.
"Anyway, that's where I'm stuck. I know the theory inside out, but my control can't keep up, you know?"
This was a part that even boosted comprehension couldn't easily solve.
Control ability in spellcasting relies on magical understanding, but effort plays an even bigger role.
"I'd love to give advice, but support magic is unfamiliar territory for me too."
Lee Seo-jun looked apologetic.
I chuckled and patted his arm.
"It's fine. Train hard. I'm heading back."
"Yeah, sure."
After parting with Lee Seo-jun, I prepared to resume my own training.
Then, curiosity struck—were the others training well?—so I looked around.
They weren't too far, so I spotted them easily.
To the left, Shin Young-jun was practicing concentrating mana when swinging or thrusting with his spear.
To the right, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ah-ra seemed to be doing cooperative training together, conversing while experimenting with various spell forms.
I stood still and watched their training intently.
I only meant to watch briefly, but as I observed, principles of magic, flaws, and improvements popped into my head, so I kept watching.
And after about twenty minutes,
"...Ah, that's not how you do it."
It wasn't the time to help others, but seeing them train wrongly right in front of me triggered my instinct to coach.
I sighed deeply.
Was it really okay to do this when I should focus on myself?
But time in the Training Room lasted seven days.
Investing one or two hours of my time could make everyone's seven days more efficient and valuable.
To see this world to its end, my growth alone had limits, so efficiency-wise, sparing an hour or two for them made sense.
I headed toward Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ah-ra, deep in magic research, and Shin Young-jun.
Sensing my approach, they stopped training and looked at me.
"Kim Sun-woo?"
"Sunbae, want to join our cooperative training?"
Yoo Ah-ra and Choi Seo-yoon welcomed me. I shook my head and gestured.
"For now, all of you gather here."