The First Circle
The sound of footsteps echoed steadily through the vast chamber—thud, thud, thud. Bagan paced from one end of the room to the other without pause, lost in a single, consuming thought.
How the hell do I make a circle?
His fingers pressed against both temples, as if trying to jump-start his brain. Until recently, he had lived in a world where the very word “magic” didn’t exist. Even though this new reality had become familiar, true insight didn’t come overnight.
Mana was easier to manipulate than he’d expected. He tried channeling it straight toward his heart, then attempted to bind it there the way Barret had described. Both efforts failed. He could hold it in place for a while, but the moment his concentration slipped, the mana scattered back to where it came from.
It was like falling asleep while scrolling on your phone—your grip loosens, and the device slips from your hand. Even when he reached a state of unconsciousness, he still couldn’t bind the mana to his heart.
Frustrated, Bagan kept pacing the room, searching for a solution.
Maybe it works exactly like the game.
Fantasy of Pangea was a single-player RPG that let players raise their characters in countless ways to save the world. No matter the path, the game always provided a foundation for growth—including for mages.
Mage characters could level up by hunting monsters, but true magical growth required reading, research, and personal enlightenment. You had to experience various aspects of magic, ponder them deeply, and reach your own realizations.
So it really does come down to books.
By this point, Bagan was ready to give up. He tried to console himself with the thought that even if he succeeded in forming a circle, it probably wouldn’t make much difference anyway.
Is this something I can’t do alone?
Then it hit him—like a hammer to the skull. A memory surfaced.
It would be better if you awakened magic on your own.
Those were Palamus’s exact words. In other words, there was nothing stopping him. After all, the master of magic himself had said so. It was possible to form a circle through personal insight without relying on books. Theoretically, at least, there was no reason it couldn’t be done.
But how?
Bagan stopped pacing and sat down on the bed. He crossed his legs in a meditative pose.
Let’s focus.
The method Barret had taught him had already failed once. But if it didn’t work the first time, he’d try a second. If that failed, he’d try a third. Eventually, something would click.
With that mindset, he gathered the mana spread throughout his body and directed it toward his heart.
That’s a lot.
He had slain well over a thousand monsters by now. A mountain made from specks of dust. Or rather, a mountain made from things that weren’t even dust.
Now what?
This was where he hit a wall. Moving the mana to his heart was possible, but he had no idea what came next. According to Barret, binding was the key—but she hadn’t explained how to actually do it.
I know it’s important, damn it.
The frustration was unbearable. Watching himself flounder at the very first hurdle—the 1st Circle that defined a mage—made him feel utterly pathetic.
“Ugh!”
Bagan gave up and tried to send the mana back where it came from.
Thump. Thump.
The moment he released control of the mana inside his heart, it naturally spread throughout his body. That made sense—the heart’s job was to circulate blood, after all.
“Huh?”
But something felt off. There was too much mana to fit entirely within his heart, so a small amount remained on the outside. Even after he released control, that leftover mana didn’t move anywhere.
Now that I think about it, when I spread mana across my whole body to store it, the excess didn’t move either.
That was right. The mana flowing through his bloodstream moved, but once he had accumulated a large amount, some of it simply stayed still. And right now, the mana near his heart wasn’t moving at all.
Bagan took control of that stationary mana and shaped it into a ring. The surprisingly convincing form gave him his first real clue.
So circles revolve around the heart.
The mana injected into the heart naturally spread throughout the body with every beat. That was why a circle couldn’t form inside the heart itself.
I’ve been such an idiot.
All this time, he had been doing everything wrong without realizing something so basic. Bagan focused on the ring of mana orbiting his heart and pondered what he needed to do to turn it into a true circle.
It has to spin.
Like a wheel trapped in an endless rut, it had to revolve around the heart without ever leaving its orbit. That was how it maintained the purity of the mana and allowed for greater storage. That was the very purpose of a circle.
Bagan began rotating the ring. He was already used to handling mana, so accelerating the spin wasn’t difficult. As the mana began to whirl, the idle mana scattered throughout his body was drawn in, starting with whatever was closest. The newly absorbed mana pushed the previous mana forward, creating a self-sustaining rotation.
Before long, the ring was spinning on its own without any further effort from Bagan.
This is it!
He nearly shouted in pure joy. But the elation didn’t last long. The ring, spinning in a single direction, had absorbed every bit of available mana and come to a stop.
Huh?
At first he didn’t understand, but the reason quickly became clear.
It sucked in all the mana before it could spread out.
In other words, the ring had run out of fuel to keep itself spinning automatically. Yet Bagan could sense that there was still an enormous amount of mana left unabsorbed.
How do I pull in the rest?
While pondering this, he tilted the ring’s angle slightly and spun it again. Just as he hoped, it began absorbing more mana and continued rotating.
Ah, so it only pulls in mana that lies in a straight line within its rotational radius?
If that was the case, he needed to change the angle while it was spinning. By making tiny adjustments, Bagan made the circle’s path completely unpredictable. The ring now twisted and turned on its own in response to mana flowing in from every direction.
The ring orbiting near his heart gradually moved in increasingly erratic patterns, greedily devouring every speck of mana spread throughout his body. After observing it for a long time, Bagan finally felt certain.
It’s done.
He had formed his first circle. From now on, he could gain mana without absorbing monsters and wield class-specific magic using refined mana.
“Grease.”
Thinking of a slippery ice rink, Bagan cast the spell on the floor of his room. On the surface, nothing about the room had changed. He immediately jumped off the bed and stepped onto the floor.
“Whoa!”
Thud!
Even with his exceptional sense of balance, the floor became impossible to stand on. Bagan crashed down hard.
“Ow, ow, ow…”
He quickly canceled the spell. It was enough to know that he could use a 1st-class spell like Grease.
“Lord Bagan, are you alright?”
Barret, who had been waiting outside, called out.
“Yeah, it’s nothing.”
It really was nothing. Forming a circle turned out to be far simpler than he’d imagined. He had simply been doing it the stupid way all along.
“Wait! Wait!”
Bagan looked visibly desperate. A blazing spell hurtled toward him as Barret attacked with fierce determination.
“What’s the matter? Weren’t you acting all smug after becoming a mage? And with only a single circle, no less.”
The 1st Circle that Barret dismissed so casually was actually quite difficult to achieve. Bagan couldn’t simply ignore her words.
“Boost!”
Rather than attacking her with magic, he used spells that enhanced his body or created variables that might throw her off balance. Boost was a spell that required divine power and proper incantation to show its full potential, but since it was classified as 1st Circle, he had no choice but to use it.
“Whoa!”
Boom!
If he didn’t use it, he wouldn’t be able to dodge her terrifyingly fast Blaze Bomb.
“I’ve never seen a mage as nimble as you, Lord Bagan.”
It didn’t sound like a compliment. It was clearly sarcasm.
“How about this?”
Without even chanting, she formed dozens of Fire Bolts in the air. She could even use multi-casting.
“Damn it!”
Bagan barely held back a curse as he rushed toward her, eyes locked on the incoming Fire Bolts. And then—
Whoosh! Whooshwhooshwhoosh!
Starting with one, the bolts flew at him like a barrage of divine arrows. Bagan kept moving toward her without stopping. Just before the Fire Bolts made contact with his body—
“Water!”
Imagining a vast ocean, he scattered water through the air.
Splash! Splash! Splashsplashsplash!
The countless arrows of flame vanished the moment they touched the water. Not a single one pierced through. It was a perfectly executed counter using elemental affinity.
Now that he had closed the distance, Bagan prepared a devastating punch and reinforced his body.
“Strength.”
Like Boost, this was an enhancement spell that became far more effective with divine power. But Bagan refused to waste even the slightest bit of reinforcement.
Because—
Thud!
Sssssss.
“Aaaah! Hot!”
His fist was burning against her fire-attribute barrier. As Bagan rolled on the ground clutching his hand, Barret formed a Fireball and spoke.
“Shall we continue?”
“N-no.”
“No?”
“…ma’am?”
The reason Bagan was suddenly speaking politely was simple. They had made a bet on this spar. If Bagan won, they would leave the cave together to hunt griffons and wyverns. If he lost, he would speak to her respectfully for an entire day.
“Please stand up. I will heal you.”
“Y-you can use healing magic too?”
“You can drop the polite speech. You only made that bet because you wanted a reason to spar, didn’t you?”
“A-are you sure it’s okay?”
“It doesn’t matter. Besides, I’m not in a very good mood.”
Bagan sulked a little at the mention of her bad mood.
“Healing.”
Paying him no mind, she used healing magic to treat the burns on his fist. Watching his hand slowly recover, Bagan asked,
“Is there any weapon in the mansion?”
“Why are you looking for a weapon?”
“I want to learn swordsmanship too.”
“You’ve only just started learning magic, and now you want to learn the sword as well?”
“W-well… yeah. Why?”
“I believe it’s better to focus on one thing. Being good at everything is only possible for someone like Lord Palamus.”
Bagan felt irritated every time she praised Palamus.
“I guess so. He is the exalted dragon, after all.”
“And then you’ll get crushed by his Dragon Fear again and start gasping for breath.”
“Last time it was sudden, so I couldn’t—”
“Lord Palamus knows everything that happens inside this mansion. So please refrain from speaking ill of him even in private.”
“I mean, I never actually badmouthed him…”
When Bagan made an excuse and headed back toward the mansion, she followed. As she walked behind him, she added,
“There is one sword.”
“Really? Where?”
“I saw it while cleaning Lord Palamus’s room. But lately he doesn’t allow anyone inside, so…”
“Then we can’t get it, right?”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because if Lord Palamus is deeply focused on something, we shouldn’t disturb him.”
Bagan cleanly gave up on the sword in Palamus’s room.
After the spar, Bagan finished bathing and eating before returning to his room. Lying on the bed, he recalled what Barret had said earlier.
He knows everything that happens in the mansion.
It didn’t sound like something she had said lightly. She had also known about him learning magic from her the last time they met. Although he hadn’t seen Palamus since, now that he had formed his circle, he could instinctively feel it—the overwhelming presence living on the floor above his own room.
When that presence began to press down on him like a weight, Bagan thought,
When will it be?
He had no way of knowing when Palamus would carry out his plan, and the uncertainty was starting to make him anxious.
I’m still nowhere near strong enough to win.
The real reason he had challenged Barret today wasn’t just the bet—it was to gauge his own ability. And he couldn’t even defeat a 7th Circle mage. In truth, victory had been impossible. Even if he had used his traits, it would have been difficult.
Yet his true opponent was Palamus, the Gold Dragon known as the strongest of all.
Feels pretty bad to run into the final boss right from the first stage.
How much more effort would he need to escape death? Bagan lamented his cruel fate.
I have to get stronger.
He tempered himself even further. He repeated over and over that he could never let himself grow complacent. He had to prepare for a decisive battle whose timing he could not predict. With that resolve, Bagan chose sleep in order to face the even busier day ahead.
At that same moment, Palamus was researching the black magic he would use on the day of the decisive battle. His long study had finally reached its conclusion.
Is it complete?
The magic circle he had painstakingly completed after so much time was black magic for soul swapping. Black magic was originally a product of the demons. It had been created by the demons born from Lucifer, the lord of Hell, and his subordinates. They had used it to devastate the lives of the continent’s inhabitants.
Yet black magic had its merits. It was worth researching. It was close to taboo. The reason Palamus had turned to black magic was precisely because it transcended ethics.
In the laws of mana he himself had created, there was no path to his own survival.
Please forgive me for having no other choice, my old friend.
From the moment of his birth, Palamus had struggled against the very concept of life. It was his duty. It was his reason for existing. Even when his lifespan was exhausted, he still had to live.
Soul Change. With this… I must carry out the plan soon.
Palamus looked forward to the future that was drawing near. But at that moment, the exhaustion outweighed even the joy of completing the magic circle. He collapsed onto the desk where he had been sitting and, for the first time in a long while, allowed himself to rest.