Mana Control
“From what I have observed, the mana control practiced on Earth—a world that previously lacked mana entirely—is at an exceedingly rudimentary level.”
“Rudimentary?” I asked.
“To draw an analogy with athletics, consider running. Anyone knows how to run.”
I could roughly guess his point.
“However, not everyone knows how to run well,” Chunbae continued. “Proper technique must be realized through deep insight or learned from a master.”
While running was Chunbae’s example, the same logic applied to sports like baseball or soccer. Anyone knew how to kick or throw a ball, but tactical positioning and curving breaking balls remained completely out of reach until someone either figured them out through sheer trial and error or was taught by a veteran.
“Therefore, the manner in which you currently manipulate mana, Han Hye-nim, is exceedingly simplistic. You operate strictly within the bounds of the mana circuits you perceived upon your awakening.”
He was right. Ever since awakening, I had only ever channeled mana through the innate pathways inside my body that I had become aware of on day one.
“Those circuits must be subdivided into finer branches. Your current method incurs far too much waste.”
“Wouldn’t creating more branches cause more loss?”
“Negative. Quite the reverse. At present, your situation is akin to gulping down an entire glass of water when all you need is a single sip.”
“So you’re saying I’m overspending?”
“Something to that effect. Please keep in mind it is merely an analogy, but the essence is that you must break free from such one-dimensional usage.”
I hadn’t fully grasped the concept yet, but the more I listened, the more intrigued I became.
“You must continuously expand by sensing previously undetected mana circuits and subdividing them.”
“How exactly does subdividing and expanding them improve mana efficiency?”
“It yields distinct benefits in three areas. First, as your mana circuits multiply, the absorption of mana becomes smoother, significantly increasing your mana recovery rate.”
“Understood.”
“Second, an increase in mana circuits equates to an increase in capacity. Even with the exact same stat value, the total pool of mana you can store will expand.”
Hmm.
I could see the logic. The more pathways branching through my flesh, the more volume there was to house mana.
“Third, as mentioned before, subdivided mana circuits grant far greater precision, allowing you to expend only the exact amount of mana required for a given task.”
“Got it.”
Hearing it laid out like that fired me up far more than just being told my efficiency would double. My focus sharpened to an absolute razor edge. This was instruction in a realm no hunter on Earth had ever reached.
“First, I shall use divinity to guide the mana flowing within your body. Memorize the newly revealed pathways.”
Chunbae’s power seeped into my body through the bracelet on my wrist. Starting from my forearm, the energy began navigating my flesh. It followed paths I was familiar with, yet constantly deviated into uncharted territory. Like delicate branches splitting from a tree trunk, Chunbae’s power branched outward in intricate fractals.
The sensation was bizarre—as if a dormant sixth sense I never knew existed was suddenly being stimulated. It came with pain, too; after all, it was practically drilling open clogged, calcified channels.
“I shall demonstrate once more. Commit it to memory as best you can.”
It wasn’t just a matter of memorizing where the new pathways were; the sharp, lingering ache made their locations painfully obvious. What Chunbae was truly demonstrating was the most efficient trajectory for mana to travel along those newly awakened routes.
“Would you like to attempt it yourself now?”
I closed my eyes and concentrated. As I took control and moved the mana under my own volition, the dormant sixth sense became even clearer than when Chunbae had guided it. The moment mana surged through the expanded network, it felt as though countless tiny breathing pores were opening all across my skin. Through them, faint traces of atmospheric mana began trickling inward. It wasn't a torrent, but the flow was unmistakable.
“Remember to breathe.”
“Phew.”
With each deep breath, mana rushed in, flooding the freshly opened circuits in my body. The total mana swelling inside me noticeably surpassed what I used to hold. It felt remarkably like physical conditioning. Just as lifting weights makes your muscles punch harder even if your numerical Strength stat stays the same, my Mana stat hadn't changed on paper, yet both my regeneration rate and maximum reserves were expanding.
“Splendid. You follow along far better than I anticipated. You possess quite a decent talent for mana control.”
“You’re not just flattering me, are you?”
“Affirmative. I do not tell lies.”
At that moment, the Corridor of Sacred Blood flashed through my mind.
“Pretty sure you lied to me in that last gate.”
“Ahem. Focus, please. While you performed admirably just now, it is not yet an exact replication, so further practice is required.”
Being a generous master, I decided to let it slide.
“Fair enough. But my absorption rate and total mana definitely increased.”
“That is not all. Would you care to test Incineration? Cast it with greater delicacy and precision, keeping those newly awakened circuits firmly in mind.”
I nodded and focused. Picturing a flame no larger than the palm of my hand, I invoked Incineration.
Fwoosh!
A tongue of flame flared to life—measuring the exact size I had envisioned down to the millimeter. Normally, I never fussed over minor discrepancies because achieving flawless accuracy was impossible to begin with. But thanks to the refined control of these subdivided circuits, fine-tuning had become second nature. Consequently, the mana consumed was drastically reduced. Factoring that in alongside the improved regeneration and enlarged capacity...
It easily surpassed the double efficiency Chunbae had promised.
“I need to master this completely before stepping back outside.”
The real challenge was making this second nature so I could execute it subconsciously without thinking. Simply expanding the pathways wasn't the end of the road. Having just learned it, pulling it off instinctively in the chaos of battle was out of the question.
“A wise decision.”
Rather than leaving the subspace, I stayed behind to continuously polish the mana control Chunbae had imparted. Tracing the expanded circuits in my mind, I guided the river of mana over and over again.
“Just now, you lost hold of the expanded pathway.”
Chunbae observed quietly, occasionally stepping in with sharp corrections until the movements became pure instinct. Three days passed like that. By the end of it, I could execute Chunbae's teachings to near perfection.
“Is this good enough?”
“Affirmative. Well done. Further instruction will be provided once more divinity is obtained.”
Filled with deep satisfaction, I stepped out of the subspace. Just by feeding Chunbae a substantial amount of divinity, my mana efficiency had nearly doubled.
I always thought of Chunbae as just an advisor...
I had already known about Minjae’s rapid growth as a mage thanks to Chunbae’s prior tips, but I never imagined I would reap such massive benefits myself. From now on, any gate containing divinity had to be treated as top priority.
Naturally, Chunbae’s tutoring wasn’t reserved for me alone.
“Wait, what? Chunbae is going to teach me magic?”
I had pulled Minjae aside on our way to the training facility with Uncle, and the kid stared back with wide, saucer-like eyes.
“Well, he came from a world with real magic,” I explained. “Technically, it’s less about teaching you new spells and more about how to manipulate mana properly as a spellcaster.”
“Holy crap, for real?!”
“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. He said he needed to absorb divinity before he could do it.”
“No way! You don’t need to apologize at all, Hyung. I’m just crazy grateful!”
Minjae trailed off, mumbling feverishly to himself. “Divinity... divinity, huh? Divinity. We have to find more...”
Looks like Minjae would be scouring the globe for divinity in no time. I didn’t have much else to tell him. It was better for Chunbae to speak to him directly than for me to play telephone, so I handed over the bracelet.
“Instead of just casting skills, subdivide the magic? What does that...”
“It’s like reshaping a spell with a Magic Enhancement skill? Ah, like how I amplify destructive power?”
Leaving Minjae to sink into his hyper-focused trance, I slipped into the adjacent training room to give him space to concentrate.
Next door, Uncle was swinging his spear alongside Yongyong.
“Where’s Minjae?” Uncle asked.
“Just started his lesson. Oh, Uncle, there’s something I wanted to show you.”
“What is it?”
Looking at his thoroughly unenthusiastic expression, I channeled Incineration across the blade of my sword. Since we had fought in separate areas during the last gate, Uncle hadn’t seen this yet.
“W-what the hell?! What is that?!”
“...Flame Breathing!”
A manga technique executed with double mana efficiency? There was no way in hell I could resist. Pulling it off was cool enough, but flaunting it in front of Uncle was far too satisfying to pass up.
“Holy shit, that’s insane!”
As I swung the Windflow Sword, carving trailing arcs of crimson fire through the air, Uncle practically bounced on his heels in excitement.
“Is that from Minseok’s engraving? The description didn’t mention anything like that! Let me try!”
Uncle thrust his hand out eagerly, but of course, this wasn't a skill he could replicate.
“You can’t use it, Uncle. It’s powered by Incineration.”
Watching Uncle’s face sour into pure frustration, I chuckled and swung the flame-cloaked Windflow Sword to my heart’s content.
“Yongyong, breathe fire!” Uncle barked, trying to sweep his spear through the drake’s plume of flame, but there was no way a crude trick like that could hold a candle to my technique.
Grrrr—
You think so too, don’t you, Yongyong?
Lee Shinhee had a small worry weighing on her mind: her role within the Dinosaur Guild.
A Spatial Mage wielding an S+ rank skill who could solo high-grade ogres. A Dragon Knight mounted atop a genuine red dragon. A spellcaster with an A-rank Magic Enhancement skill receiving ancient esoteric arts from the spatial mage. And soon, a renowned Guardian possessing an A+ rank skill would join their ranks. Every single one of them was extraordinary.
Of course, Lee Shinhee was hardly ordinary herself. She was a top-tier healer boasting an A-rank healing skill and a B-rank buff skill. She would never look inadequate anywhere else; any guild in the world would trip over themselves to recruit her.
Still...
She couldn’t shake the nagging anxiety that she contributed next to nothing during the Dinosaur Guild’s gate expeditions. It wasn’t that she literally stood by and watched; she always cast her buffs before battle commenced. A B-rank buff skill was exceedingly rare, and it certainly helped Han Hye and Choi Cheol-gi run wild with greater ease. And on rare occasions, when teammates sustained minor scrapes, she cast her healing spells.
The problem is, those moments are so few and far between.
To be blunt, she had cast buff skills far more often than healing skills. That was simply how seldom the Dinosaur Guild members got hurt. Even when they did, it was usually trivial scratches. The contrast became glaringly obvious when looking at other hunters. Typical hunters usually required a considerable interval between gate raids, simply because they almost always emerged nursing injuries of varying severity.
“A full recovery will take two to three weeks. The blade cut down to the bone.”
A healer’s skill was fundamentally not a total cure. Even if a bone fractured or flesh was sliced deep, healing magic acted more like emergency triage to get someone moving again. Most hunters spent the weeks following a gate subjugation focused on complete recovery through continuous healing spells and recovery potions, followed by arduous physical rehabilitation.
Yet the Dinosaur Guild experienced none of that.
Their baseline stats were disproportionately high for their levels to begin with, thanks to Han Hye generously sharing elixirs harvested from his farm. They never suffered severe injuries, and minor scratches were patched up in a matter of days under an A-rank healing skill.
While it was true that they tackled challenging gates, Han Hye’s unprecedented growth record was also made possible by their complete lack of injuries, eliminating any downtime between expeditions.
Lee Shinhee possessed abilities coveted by all, yet ironically, being part of the world’s most capable team left her with few chances to shine. To outsiders, it sounded like a luxury problem, but what truly troubled Lee Shinhee was how much she received compared to what she actually contributed. Elixirs, specialized gear to boost healing efficiency, sword-and-shield manuals, semi-elixirs... She couldn’t help feeling self-conscious and indebted.
“Well, you really don’t need to worry about that.”
When Lee Shinhee confided her worries after a post-training cooldown, Han Hye waved his hands in immediate protest.
“Honestly, the reason we can run wild like that isn’t just our stats—it’s because of you, Shinhee-ssi.”
“Because of me?”
“Knowing we have an A-rank healer watching our backs allows us to fight aggressively, even if it means risking an injury. Paradoxically, that’s why we get hurt less.”
In Han Hye’s experience, seizing the initiative and going on the attack was almost always the cleaner way to control a battlefield. Back in his porter days, he had seen plenty of hunters get pushed back and slaughtered simply because fear of injury made them hesitate.
“I suppose that makes sense,” Lee Shinhee admitted with a nod.
To be honest, the main reason she had been throwing herself into sword-and-shield training recently was because she felt guilty. She was investing massive amounts of time into self-improvement for the same reason. And since she rarely used her healing skills in gates, she even volunteered at hospitals during off-days to keep grinding her skill proficiency.
“Besides, you were incredible during the discharge gate,” Han Hye added. “Same during the Trial of Mana.”
That was undeniable. She hadn’t just healed guildmates; she had showered countless other hunters with healing spells. Lee Shinhee had become a trending topic during the gate defense precisely because of her relentless, unyielding healing support.
“We’re going to need you even more going forward. We’ll get stronger, sure, but the gates are only going to get much harder.”
Han Hye spoke with utter seriousness. Thinking back to the impending Erosion of Mana and the bizarre God he had witnessed, letting his guard down was impossible. A wall was waiting for them down the road. Even the pioneer teams of each nation were struggling; word had already spread that gates past Level 50 operated on an entirely different plane of difficulty.
And then there’s the mana density.
Due to the permanently open gate in Australia, Chunbae had warned that global atmospheric mana concentration would continue to climb. An accelerating crisis. Everything had been smooth sailing so far, but mountains of troubles loomed on the horizon.
“Getting harder... Yes, that’s definitely true.”
Of course, Han Hye couldn’t divulge the deepest details.
“So don’t worry about nothing. We’re all deeply grateful to you, and you’re fulfilling your role wonderfully.”
“Thank you. That really helps.”
As Lee Shinhee walked away with a brightened smile, Han Hye couldn’t help pondering with a wry grin.
Should I deliberately get hurt in the next gate? Man, being a guild leader is tough.
No matter how well things were going, everyone had their own worries. Compared to other guilds, it was a luxury problem, but it was real nonetheless. Just as he was lost in thought, his phone buzzed. It was Seo Seung-yeon.
"Han Hye-ssi? The announcement for the Guild Conference just dropped. Have you seen it?"
“No. What happened?”
"The location was finalized, and just as expected, the Chinese pulled some dirty tricks. And the worst part is, we can't even demand they change it."
What’s this about?
Han Hye leaned in, listening intently.