Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 47
>Chapter Title: You Have to Hurt to Get Strong
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The Fire Mark's reaction had been a long time coming.
‘Indeed...’
What ability would it unleash this time?
Grimoire.
In moments like this, I found myself contemplating the Grimoire once more—an otherworldly artifact.
A transcendent item coveted by all the great magical families. No one knew its origins.
All that was known was that it had been passed down from some ancient era not even recorded in history.
But one thing was certain: its effects operated beyond common sense.
Setting aside what happened with Karahen, even the first activation proved it.
‘True purification.’
It surged through my circuits like a flood, burning away impurities and transforming the mana I held in my body into something purer than anything else.
Normally, after converting natural mana into magical power, there was a process to refine its turbid nature.
Yet the Grimoire's power made that refinement process all but disappear.
Thanks to it, I could wield mana more freely than in my past life, liberated from the impure circuits that had shackled me my entire life.
So this time...
“Huph!”
An intense heat spreading from the Fire Mark forced a groan through my clenched teeth.
It hurt.
It hurt so much I wanted to scream right then and there.
But I welcomed the pain gladly.
Because the transformation that would follow outweighed the agony by far.
Even amid it all, I didn't stop circulating my mana to form the mana body.
‘Not just the circuits—through the whole body.’
This demanded an extreme level of mana control.
If I compared it to a journey, it was like abandoning the proper road and charging through overgrown mountains and forests on horseback.
But this difficulty was on another level.
Riding a horse, you could just barrel through sudden rocks, tree roots, and all sorts of obstacles.
‘This is more like slash-and-burn.’
Burn everything rising from the earth to ash.
Uproot stones you can't burn entirely, sift out gravel and every impurity to prepare the soil.
Once I'd swept mana through my entire body once, next came specific areas.
Starting with...
‘Muscles.’
Inject mana into each and every muscle fiber.
Even after the full-body sweep, the first injection was sluggish, like wetting a sponge already soaked with water.
But mana wasn't water, and muscles weren't sponges full of it.
So I forced it in with all my strength.
“Grgh...!”
Fierce pain.
Different from what the Fire Mark inflicted.
Like wringing a muscle until it couldn't be wrung anymore, then compressing it again.
It was right then that the Fire Mark, which had only provided intense, searing heat, truly stirred.
Tzzzz...
At the same time.
Zzzt, zzzzzzt—!
A ripping sound exploded in my mind.
“...!”
Even for me, it was getting hard to endure.
‘Th, this is insane...!’
It was shredding my muscles.
Like scattering tough jerky along its grain, fiber by fiber, strand by strand!
No, it probably wasn't actually tearing.
Just felt that way.
‘Y, you bastard.’
Is this right?
Mana body training did come with unavoidable pain.
But this was another dimension.
Torture.
‘Yeah, torture...’
My mind went white as I gritted my teeth hard.
My teeth might suffer when I'm past eighty, but I had no choice if I wanted to hold out.
Stopping here would just give me a half-baked mana body, so no other way.
‘Damn...’
A thought suddenly struck me.
‘Do I really... have to... hurt... like this?’
In my past life, there was no choice.
With nothing to my name and nothing I knew, I had to learn whatever I could, hard or easy, painful or not.
Like having no food, so you eat cold soup or hot soup without complaint.
But this life?
Plenty.
I'd diligently gathered a few solid secret arts in my past life, and now swimming in bigger waters meant more opportunities.
But.
—Strive harder.
‘...?’
A voice from somewhere.
‘You... you bastard...’
The Grimoire.
I'd heard it just once, but it was unmistakable.
It ignored all my attempts at conversation before, yet now it read my thoughts and spat out a single line.
The pain hit right after.
Crack!
‘Y, you son of a...’
Normally, I'd finish the muscles, then move to bones and nerves.
But suddenly, mana burrowed into my bones.
I hadn't directed it—why was it moving on its own like this? I had no idea, but no time to ponder.
‘You have to...’
hurt...
to get strong.
I steeled my will.
After that.
“Guh, guuuuh...!”
Suppressed groans filled the training room.
What a goddamn life.
Really.
* * *
“...Hah!”
Long after the Grimoire's voice faded.
I rose from my spot, breathing raggedly.
When the hell had I collapsed?
I hadn't checked exactly, but waking up lying down meant I'd been down.
Anyway.
“This... insane thing...”
Rage boiled up to the top of my head.
The Fire Mark's voice.
If it were human, it'd be a genius who learns ten from one lesson.
I'd only reached stage two of mana body construction—muscles—and it naturally sensed and executed the next stage.
But.
‘I never planned to quit anyway.’
True.
Sure, pain made me think that briefly, but who am I? A tenacious Troubleshooter.
Endurance? Second to none. I don't know the word quit.
Just needed a bit to mentally prepare.
“Whew.”
Enough idle thoughts.
I subtly clenched my fist.
‘The mana body...’
Success.
No, more than that.
The mana bodies my comrades and I built during the war.
We were confident no better method existed to manifest Ether's rigid body with mana.
That confidence shattered spectacularly.
Crunch.
Just the power in this clenched fist—hard to believe it came from this small frame.
For a test, I pulled a random item from my subspace.
A walnut from academy cafeteria food.
Crack!
It crumbled powerlessly in seconds.
The shell shattered like an eggshell.
‘Not usually this strong...’
Same for Ether's rigid body.
Rigid body only modifies the physical form.
Learning it exponentially boosts physical abilities, but perfection requires relentless training and practice.
Yet even without training, this level?
‘A whole other...’
No, several dimensions higher.
Of course, you can't fill your belly with one bite.
Throb.
I gently shook my sore fist.
‘Overload's inevitable.’
Durability rose overall, output too, but durability hasn't caught up fully yet.
‘Gotta be careful for a while.’
But at this level...
‘Rigid body alone, I won't lose to knights.’
Depends on their training, but base specs? Top-tier.
Add bodily maturity and proper physical training...
“Heh.”
A mage punching knights.
Not a dream anymore.
Of course, against knights at body reconstruction stage, no chance.
Body reconstruction turns humans into virtual monsters or beasts.
Anyway.
‘Alright, let's...’
While I was at it, I stood and ran a few tests.
First.
‘Regeneration.’
Drew my dagger and lightly cut my palm.
Crimson blood trickling down the blade.
If a legendary vampire were here, it'd swallow hard, but I ignored the blood.
The cut it flowed from.
‘How many minutes?’
Normally, a shallow wound like this heals in five minutes fast, ten at most.
But.
‘...!’
My eyes widened soon after.
Sss.
The wound closed like time-lapse footage.
No, not just the wound.
The pooled blood on my palm reversed, flowing back into the cut like time rewinding.
Right after.
Pristine palm.
‘...Hah!’
Nothing to say but astonishment.
‘Not some troll...’
No, not even troll level.
Trolls regrow even if cleanly decapitated, as long as you reattach the stump.
They self-repair even with hearts pulverized.
Impossible for a human.
‘Unless it's Damian.’
In his past life, called Blandoga's monster.
His healing magic defied common sense.
But I had the Light of Healing manual, so combining it with this regeneration wouldn't match his, but close enough.
‘Got an unexpected big weapon.’
More lifesaver than weapon.
Either way, another card in hand—worth welcoming.
By the way.
“Hmm, what's this.”
I'd been feeling an odd sense since earlier, furrowing my brow.
Sealed training room.
No one entered, yet mana not mine lingered in the space.
When did it start? Right after I cut my palm.
‘So faint most wouldn't notice...’
Thanks to the mana body?
My hypersensitive senses caught it clearly.
Tiny, faint mana I'd overlook if ignoring it.
No intruder in the training room.
‘Not familiar mana either.’
Eyes narrowed, I scanned around, then closely examined where the mana presence came from.
Right at my feet.
On the cleanly swept stone floor for academy students.
Sweat scattered from my writhing in pain dried in spots, and atop it, a shallow pool of blood from moments ago.
So.
The mana presence was...
‘This blood droplet.’
Why?
I tilted my head.
Mad mages claim human blood holds mana, but that's wrong.
Mana isn't material—how could it infuse blood?
It dwells in the heart, so not impossible, but strictly, mana resides in the core overlaid on the heart.
Yet mana in a blood droplet?
And not just that.
‘Feels... familiar...’
Somehow, similar to the mana I hold in quality.
‘No, more precisely...’
I can control it.
Like mana emitted from my core for spellcasting.
Curious, I focused my mind.
A vivid blue spark jumped from the perfectly round blood droplet right then.
Pzzzt...!
“...”
Faint light you'd miss without focus, but I saw it clearly.
That's...
‘Definitely.’
One phenomenon when spell manifestation fails.
Just to check, I pricked my fingertip lightly.
Just one or two drops beaded on the dagger blade.
‘Lowest mana cost, smallest scale spell... let's see...’
Right, glow spell's perfect.
As I concentrated.
Sss...
The blood droplet vaporized with faint blue light.
The change came right after.
Pop!
A rising glow orb.
Size of a match flame, but...
‘It worked?’
Size aside, the phenomenon was utterly incomprehensible.