Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: Mana Compression Insights
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My call brought Yoo Ara, Choi Seo-yoon, and Shin Young-jun over with puzzled looks on their faces.
"What's up?"
"It's nothing major. I was watching you train, and it felt a bit frustrating."
"Frustrating?"
Yoo Ara made a face like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Yeah, frustrating. There's a better way, but you're deliberately taking the hard path. You're using mana inefficiently too. Like bad fuel efficiency."
At my words, all three gave me strange looks.
"Bad fuel efficiency?"
"Exactly what I said. I get that mana surges through you naturally. But you're trying to harness that surging mana by using spells that deliberately require a ton of mana, right?"
Everyone listened closely to what I was saying. I'd been worried they might get offended by my unsolicited advice, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.
"The problem is your approach is way too inefficient. To get 100 units of power, you need 100 units of mana. But you're using 200 units for just 130 units of power."
They nodded, seeming to agree to some extent.
"You're not wrong, but magic requires sacrificing efficiency to achieve a certain power level, doesn't it?"
Shin Young-jun said, crossing his arms.
"You're right. That just means you've all reached a certain level."
With that, I continued.
"So it's time to start training in mana compression."
"......Ah."
Everyone's faces lit up with surprise at my words.
Mana compression.
An advanced technique used in compression manifestation or synergy spells.
It's something skilled pro wizards use, but given their exceptional genius, it was time for them to learn mana compression even as students.
Choi Seo-yoon was still a bit behind Yoo Ara and Shin Young-jun, though.
I demonstrated for them first.
Woooong.
A magic sphere began forming above my hand. Soon, instead of expanding its volume further, I filled it with mana and slowly began compressing it.
"Wow......"
Choi Seo-yoon let out a soft gasp as she watched the mana compress.
"Mana compression relies on control techniques too, of course, but the most basic foundation is 'imagination.'"
I passed on the fundamental knowledge needed for mana compression.
Since it was a technique I'd been using for a long time, I could explain and teach the specialized knowledge easily.
As some of the world's top geniuses, they absorbed my teachings like sponges.
Of course, mana compression isn't something you master in a day or two.
It could take months at best, but usually years.
They had the talent to make it their own once given the essentials, so I focused on the key points.
I'd come to the training room planning to train together, but somehow it had turned into a master-disciple setup.
Still, their passion for learning was so strong that none of them seemed offended at receiving instruction from a fellow student.
That wrapped up about an hour of explanation.
"That should cover mana compression for now. Start practicing it slowly from today."
"Yeah, I should. Thanks."
"I'll go practice!"
Shin Young-jun and Choi Seo-yoon headed off somewhere to train.
Yoo Ara didn't move right away. She glanced at me for a moment before speaking.
"Could you take a quick look at my manifestation form?"
"Sure."
Yoo Ara nodded at my response and deployed her magic.
Roooar!
A wall of flames erupted from her fingertips.
It was hard to believe this was magic from a student who had just turned nineteen—the mana packed into it was that powerful.
Maybe because I'd just explained mana compression, but I could feel the power of compressed mana in it.
The manifestation itself was excellent.
But.
"It's too much."
"......Too much?"
"Manifestations have a purpose. The purpose of your 'wall' form is to block enemy approaches or defend, right?"
Yoo Ara nodded.
"You could block most spells with half the mana, so there's no need to use this much. You're not planning to smack the enemy with the wall itself."
"......But for defensive magic, isn't sturdiness the most important thing? You have to consider the possibility of it breaking through."
She said that, but her voice lacked her usual confidence.
"If the defense breaks, just manifest a stronger one right after to block it. Reinforce it as needed."
"So stack walls in layers."
"Exactly. Half the mana should block most attacks."
With that, Yoo Ara fell into thought.
"That makes sense."
"I know your mana capacity is leagues above the others, but you should still break the habit of overusing it."
"Yeah, got it."
Yoo Ara manifested her magic again.
Soon, a massive wall of flames spread out wide, curving around her in a circle.
She'd lowered the intensity but expanded the area.
Seeing this, I quickly formed a magic sphere and fired it at her.
It was just strong enough to barely pierce her flame wall.
Pang!
The magic sphere shot toward the wall Yoo Ara had created.
It collided with the wall, cracking it and trying to break through.
But Yoo Ara calmly manifested a new wall—a sturdier one—reinforcing it.
Kwaaang!
In the end, my magic fizzled out against her wall.
"Good job. That's how you do it."
Yoo Ara stared at me quietly before slowly nodding.
She wore an expressionless face like she was hiding her emotions, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward—she seemed pleased.
"This is definitely easier to manifest and way more efficient on mana. Thanks. I had a little epiphany thanks to you."
Yoo Ara gave me a pleased smile.
"You just need to use manifestations appropriately at the right timings."
As I said that, something flashed through my mind.
'Use manifestations only at the precise necessary timings.'
It somehow felt like advice I needed too.
The biggest obstacle in my counterstrike training right now was maintaining and activating the manifestation.
Even if I couldn't maintain it, if I could use it precisely at the right timing...
Even if perfect control was impossible, maybe I could squeeze out some efficiency?
I quickly ran a mental simulation.
Judging purely by results, it was theoretically possible.
Unlike other wizards, I had the external factor's help, making error-free magic circle manifestation easier for me.
A grin spread across my face.
It felt like light piercing a pitch-black path.
Counterstrike.
I didn't need to complete it perfectly.
If maintaining the manifestation was too hard, I could just use it timed perfectly without maintaining.
And thanks to the comprehension potion's effects, shortcuts and tricks for short-burst counterstrike use flooded my mind.
"Sorry, but I need to go train now."
"Huh?"
Yoo Ara, who had been focused on manifestation training, looked at me.
I backed away slowly as I spoke.
"Keep what I taught you in mind. Practice mana compression steadily too. Anyway, I'm off!"
With that, I hurried away.
Three days had passed since entering the training room.
During that time, I'd been practicing properly activating the counterstrike magic circle.
My goal was maintaining it for at least 0.5 seconds after activation.
The difficulty difference between holding for 5 seconds and 0.5 seconds was night and day, giving me way more mental leeway.
I trained relentlessly in a state of egoless focus.
Activation itself was extremely hard, let alone maintenance, so there wasn't much progress, but having a clear goal was a huge boost.
Then the fifth day arrived.
Contrary to my expectations, counterstrike training wasn't improving at all—it was stuck in place.
Because the magic circle kept slipping during activation.
Suddenly, I started wondering if my fundamental approach to counterstrike was wrong.
I needed to figure out the root cause of failing to maintain the counterstrike manifestation.
The potion-boosted comprehension spun my brain at high speed.
First off, the hardest part of counterstrike is altering the mana flow.
Counterstrike isn't a technique to block magic.
It's a technique to divert mana.
But simultaneously diverting the opponent's mana while shifting the mana flow of my manifested counterstrike was theoretically impossible.
As practice continued, I suddenly pondered what a 'mana' flow really was.
Mana is the flow of nature.
But humans can control the mana flowing through nature with their own power.
That power comes from human 'imagination.'
Imagination.
But 'imagination' controls the flow of one's own mana—it can't control someone else's.
So how does counterstrike alter mana flow in principle?
The original work mentioned that counterstrike required perfect understanding of mana's properties, flow, and structure.
And now, I vaguely grasped what that meant.
You can't control mana created by someone else.
I had to shake off the arrogance of thinking I could control all mana and accept it.
I rechecked the magic circle's contents.
It contained vast information: manifestation and release, flow, energy transfer direction.
It even had formulas to embed the user's will.
I needed to harmonize this complex info into one.
I moved the mana in the counterstrike magic circle again.
No need to force control.
Slowly.
Without rushing.
With full concentration.
Woooong!
The small magic circle floating above my hand blazed brightly.
And after about 0.5 seconds...
The magic circle vanished with the light.
"......I did it."
['Insight of Nature' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
['First Steps in SS-Rank Magic' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 5,000 points acquired.]
['Mana Control Technique (A)' proficiency greatly increases!]
['Enlightenment' effect grants 'Counterstrike (S)'.]
[Counterstrike can grow up to SS-Rank.]
[You become sensitive to mana!]
For a brief moment, I'd succeeded in perfectly activating the magic circle.
And I'd maintained the 0.5-second manifestation as targeted.
Thinking back on all the effort so far made my chest swell and my fingertips tremble.
"Heh."
I wanted to test counterstrike right then, but I held back.
I still couldn't properly handle its 'reflection' power.
Asking someone to shoot magic at me could lead to who-knows-what.
Plus, the magic circle was tiny, making it impractical for real combat yet.
Still, I was more than satisfied with the result.
I'd succeeded in manifesting counterstrike, even if unstable.
Time flew, and it was now the final seventh day in the training room.
With about four hours left before exiting, I was preparing dinner using the cooking tools and ingredients I'd stored in my sub-space.
Takatakata.
"Since it's the last day, use up all the ingredients."
I said to Lee Seo-jun as I chopped vegetables on the cutting board.
Lee Seo-jun nodded and pulled out the food ingredients from his bag.
Over the past seven days, we'd cooked our meals using pre-stocked ingredients at mealtimes.
At first, I'd been too lazy and left it to the others, but their cooking was so abysmal that after I stepped in once, I got forcibly assigned as the cook.
"Sunbae, where'd you learn to cook?"
Choi Seo-yoon, squatting in front of me as I skillfully sliced vegetables with the knife, asked.
"Self-taught."
"Wow, really? Your skills seem pro-level......"
Choi Seo-yoon muttered in awe.
"I used to be even better."
"Used to?"
I was referring to before regression, when I had the A-Rank trait Cooking Master.
I'd refunded it on day one for points, but the knowledge and hand movements from the trait lingered.
Of course, I couldn't tell what flavor a ingredient would yield just by touch like back then.
But I'd memorized enough to produce top-tier amateur results with confidence.
"Cooking skills fade if you don't practice regularly."
"Ah."
Time passed, cooking finished, and mealtime arrived.
We gathered casually and started eating.
"It's the last day already."
Lee Seo-jun spoke up first.
"Feels kinda disappointing. I was just starting to get some insights."
"Me too. Focusing purely on training makes your skills shoot up, you know?"
"It's thanks to Sunwoo mostly."
Lee Seo-jun shot me a glance.
Instead of replying, I stuffed some meat and veggies into my mouth.
Meanwhile, I thought about my upcoming schedule.
Busy tasks awaited once I left the training room.
Things to do with Lee Seo-jun, and personal matters.
Among them, the most concerning was 'Kim Chang-hyun.'
The Seonhyeon family......
It was too suspicious to dismiss as some unmentioned MacGuffin from the novel.
How should I investigate this?
"You guys ever hear of the Seonhyeon family?"
I decided to ask directly.
It was a family that had made a name in the past, and unlike me who knew the world through the novel, they might know more about such things.
"Seonhyeon family? First time hearing it."
"Isn't that the mysterious research family? The one Kim Chang-hyun sunbae was part of."
Lee Seo-jun and Shin Young-jun chatted beside me.
Choi Seo-yoon stayed quiet, seemingly unaware, while Yoo Ara stared at me with an unreadable expression before asking.
"......Why the Seonhyeon family?"
"Just curious. You know anything?"
Yoo Ara shook her head.
"No, not really...... just."
"Just?"
Yoo Ara hesitated, then spoke again.
"I saw my sister looking into it once before."
I furrowed my brow.
"Your sister?"
Yoo Ara's sister was Yoo Ah-yeon, known as the Flame Witch.
......Why would she?