My Brother Is a Mage
Mages were basically crazy bastards—no exaggeration. Cheon Ji-hoo insisted he wasn't mad, but everyone else always pointed fingers at him, calling him a lunatic or magic-obsessed freak. After he'd beaten a few of them down with spells, that kind of public opinion died off quick enough.
Anyway, there weren't many papers on why Brainwashing magic triggered a "heat" effect. Brainwashing was taboo, so few used it and even fewer studied it—better to spend time mastering other spells. Magic branched into various schools: elementalism for fire and water, summoner arts focused on spirits and summoning, muscle-magic advocates who claimed a healthy body housed potent mana, and more besides.
Brainwashing fell under mental magic, and Cheon Ji-hoo—who'd learned it in another world—had delved into why it induced arousal. If he could strip that side effect, it'd be an absolute game-changer. Perfect for planting spies in enemy camps. But to cut to the chase: he failed. He couldn't eliminate the arousal, but he did manage to dial down its intensity.
"Hm."
Levitating in midair, Cheon Ji-hoo peered down at the retreating man with a baffled expression. Brainwashing was great and all, but etching it into the hippocampus let residual mana bleed into the cerebral cortex—the seat of higher thought—boosting testosterone production. He didn't know the exact mechanism, but who cared? Leaving fantasy as fantasy was the key to avoiding headaches.
"Brainwashing took hold nicely."
The guy would head back to his group none the wiser. Then, driven by the spell's mild arousal output, he'd hit on men and women alike until he got shunned or killed. A fitting end where no one's unhappy. Cheon Ji-hoo gave a small smile at his wise decision, then cast Teleportation again.
He rematerialized in his cozy bed. He'd cleaned his hands and feet with magic, so now he could just crash, sleep it off, and wake up fresh. No one knew about last night's little mishap. If he'd had more time, he'd have tortured the guy for intel or tried a few other tricks, but an organized group would notice if contact cut out. Plus, full Brainwashing for unconditional obedience risked turning the target into a vegetable, so he'd stopped at memory tweaks.
He'd even slipped in a tracking formula...
"Gotta beef up the defenses when I wake up."
Even if they came knocking, a barrier would keep the house safe. He'd whip up a decent artifact for Cheon Ji-yoon too. Soon as their counseling wrapped, he'd awaken her as well. Coming back to Earth felt busier than ever, but it wasn't a bad feeling. It was all for family.
* * *
"We've accelerated the artificial rift generation, but no rift appeared."
"No rift?"
"Yes. Looks like a failure this time."
The masked man nodded at the failure report. Botched artificial rifts happened often enough. Creating them via cores had its limits, after all.
"The core? You recovered it, right?"
"...Sorry. It seems to have dissolved into the ambient mana."
"Damn it, that was an A-rank core. Big loss."
"Sorry."
"Forget it. We can get another. Dismissed."
"Yes. Um, Leader."
"What?"
"You look extra sexy today."
The man dubbed Leader wondered if his subordinate had lost his mind. Was he really back without a hitch?
"...You must be tired today. Get out. Now."
"...Yes. I'll be waiting in your room."
Was the guy actually insane?
* * *
"Oppa! Get up! It's morning!"
Weekend morning—or close enough; it was nearing noon. Cheon Ji-hoo cracked his eyes at the shrill voice buzzing his ear, then dragged himself out of bed, rumpled and bleary. As he sat there blinking, Cheon Ji-yoon eyed him a moment before combing his hair with her fingers and tying it into a high ponytail.
Ponytail secured.
"Oppa, your hair's so silky."
"Doesn't even need washing."
She recoiled in horror at his words.
"Oppa, how long since you last showered?"
"Dunno."
"...I'll go wash my hands."
"Such a fuss over nothing..."
Cheon Ji-yoon left after tying his hair, and Cheon Ji-hoo yawned as he slid out of bed. He checked himself in the wall mirror—hey, not bad. After swimming in mana veins and fully reconstructing his body, he barely had bodily functions anymore. Sweat vaporized into ambient mana on contact. Food converted straight to mana... so the bathroom was just for dusting off accumulated grime.
Still, Ji-yoon seemed grossed out, so he'd fake a wash now and then. He hit the en-suite bathroom, splashed his face, toweled off, and headed to the living room.
Busy day ahead. First, house barriers. Then, custom artifact for Cheon Ji-yoon.
'She can protect herself till awakening...'
He reached into subspace and pulled out a core—the one from the dawn rift, brimming with mana. One should cover both barrier and artifact.
Plopping down in the living room center, he placed both hands on the core and focused. Cores were simple: compressed mana clumps, twisted and densified into spheres. Even a D-rank held mana rivaling a decent mage. They powered entire massive rifts, after all.
Thus, cores were the era's top energy source. Versatile mana converted to any form of power. Earth's scientists had cracked converting high-output cores to electricity or heat—geniuses uniting worldwide for that pinnacle invention.
'Geniuses, indeed...'
But they hadn't fully unraveled mana. It was more primal: the force upholding everything, past to future. Even he, dubbed Archmage, didn't grasp it fully—nor did ancient dragons who'd lived millennia.
"...Hoo."
Exhaling deeply, Cheon Ji-hoo infused his mana into the core. Not to reinforce it, but to untangle and split the internals. His sharp mana pierced easily, slicing knots. He reshaped it this way and that. As his mana roamed inside, the core divided—soon, smaller black orbs sat in each palm.
"Success."
Splitting an A-rank into two B-ranks, roughly. One for home barrier, one for Ji-yoon's artifact. Barriers temporary for now; upgrade with better materials later.
'Artifact first, then.'
Her safety came first. He stowed one core in subspace, toyed with the other—tossing, catching—while channeling mana. It shrank gradually.
Artifacts were magic tools holding set mana amounts. Some were huge, but hers needed to be portable, sleek, small.
"Hm, this'll do."
The core dwindled to a thin ring, ends slightly gapped. He called to Cheon Ji-yoon emerging from the bathroom for a size check.
"Ji-yoon, come here."
"Oh, sure?"
She tilted her head, approaching. "Hand."
"...?"
She offered her right hand; he slipped the ring onto her middle finger, gauging fit. Fluid shaping was possible but destabilized formulas—fixed form best for ring artifacts.
"Perfect fit."
"What's with the ring?"
"Making it for you. Hold on."
He removed it from her finger and floated it midair. She gawked, plopping down beside him to watch.
Cheon Ji-hoo fetched a crude quill from subspace—tool for etching formulas in artifact crafting.
'Good thing it's in subspace.'
Otherwise, hand-etching hell. Quill in right hand, he swept his left—ring spun, glowing. Bluish magic circles bloomed, encircling and rotating around it. Analysis from the quill, paired with Input for formulas.
"Whoa."
Cheon Ji-yoon gasped. No clue what he was doing, but it screamed awesome. Unreadable runes everywhere, elegant spinning circles—her brother handled this arcane stuff like breathing.
He tweaked the circles, then poised the quill. Blue mana scripted across them—etching mana circuits into the artifact-to-be. Then came the spells.
Obviously Strength Enhancement and Speed Enhancement. She'd adapt easy after two exposures... He tuned output from core to formulas for efficiency.
'Hm, enough mana left for two more minor spells.'
Core had plenty. After those two, room for extras. He pondered, then quill flew—more runes inscribed rapidly. Done, he stowed the quill, clapped—the circles absorbed into the ring.
Flash! It dropped gently to his palm.
"Hand."
She reflexively extended her right; he slid it onto her middle finger.
"If you're in danger, yell 'Help me, Oppa!' and it'll trigger."
"...Why that phrase?"
"Don't like it? Toss it."
"...I'll treasure it."
She stared at the black ring—fashionable, unassuming. But after his demo...
"Oppa, is this a hunter weapon? Made from monster bits?"
"What's that?"
"Stuff hunters use, from monster byproducts."
"Light-years better. Oh, spells last one hour per charge, twelve-hour recharge. Use wisely."
"One hour active, twelve to recharge."
"Right. Memorize it."
It might save your life someday. He skipped saying that—could just worry her.
She admired it a while, then piped up.
"Oppa, let's go out! It's the weekend!"
Hm. He'd planned barriers next, but later was fine. Cheon Ji-hoo nodded, standing.
He had no idea then. How long that weekend would drag.