The Mana Bullet That Rent the Mountainside
A flat voice pierced straight to his core, and Maness whipped his head around. He was deep in concentration on manifesting his spell, completely defenseless, so he needed to identify the speaker fast. Fortunately, relief washed over him at the sight of the man in his field of vision.
“Conien.”
The heir of the northern nomads stared back with subtle golden eyes. His black hair and tanned skin lent his gaze an air of profound mystery.
“You know my name.”
“...I memorized all my classmates.”
It was because Conien was one of the key players in the original story, but he sure as hell couldn't say that outright.
“You were nearby?”
“The other students are scouting the base of the mountain. More importantly,” Conien nodded toward the mass in front of Maness, “that looks dangerous. You okay?”
At the mention of danger, Maness snapped his gaze back forward. He half-expected a skeleton to have lunged while he was talking, but what Conien pointed out was something else entirely.
“What the...”
Maness blinked at the mana bullet hovering right in front of his palm. The mana swirled like a vortex at its center. Its size was at least ten times what Boltman had shown—and that was conservative.
This must be why. While he'd been focused on manifesting the mana bullet, and even during his chat with Conien, no skeletons had attacked. The pack still hung back, as if spooked by something. As summons sensitive to mana, they must have sensed Maness's output as a threat.
A few skeletons now crept forward tentatively. Maness shifted his arm, aiming the mana bullet at them. Uncontrolled mana continued leaking out, fueling it further. Holding on any longer might make it impossible to rein in.
As long as it doesn't hit Boltman.
Maness visualized the sensation of firing.
Whoosh—
Wind erupted. No, it was more like a typhoon. Just launching the mana bullet sent both young men's hair thrashing wildly.
The shockwave from the condensed mana rippled outward. The bullet barreled forward, engulfing the oncoming skeletons in its path.
“Get down!”
Conien grabbed Maness's staggering head—reeling from the sudden mana drain—and yanked him flat.
BOOM—
A brutal explosion roared, hurling debris everywhere. They pressed flat to the ground, waiting out the choking dust cloud.
“B-Boltman!”
Stunned by the sheer destructive power, Maness first checked on Boltman. Dozens of skeletons clung to him protectively, thankfully. With no injuries confirmed, he sighed in relief and turned to the impact site.
“Incredible.”
“...Yeah.”
Maness had to agree with Conien's awed murmur. The mountainside cratered like a pond, massive trees toppled over it. The ground bore deep gouges from rampaging mana, and the skeletons directly hit were pulverized beyond recognition.
The raw result of unleashing the vast mana from his Mana Well.
Even seeing it was hard to believe. Conien voiced his thoughts.
“To reach this level already... how much effort did that take?”
“Effort?”
Maness had no real answer. Effort? He'd only opened his eyes in this world yesterday.
Clatter—
Before he could sort his thoughts, the shattered bones rattled loudly, reassembling. The newly formed skeleton glared at Maness with a crimson glow unlike any before.
They tensed, wondering if the mana surge had triggered a frenzy. Then a eerie voice emanated from the skeleton.
—No need to fear.
A gloomy tone laced with faint softness.
“The skeleton's master, huh.”
The two students kept their guards up as it approached with bony clacks. As it drew near, their breaths steadied, eyes sharpening.
—Hmm...
It stopped a step away, letting out an intrigued hum at Maness's unflinching poise. Its red gaze swept him slowly, bony hand rising. They braced—mana condensing again, like when he'd formed the bullet. A hand like a beast's claw, ready to shatter the skull.
Poke.
Thankfully, no attack came. The skeleton's thin finger just prodded Maness's chest.
Ignoring their confusion, it nodded as if satisfied.
—Impressive mana. No, 'impressive' doesn't cut it. Explains that mana bullet's power.
Maness waited patiently as the skull muttered to itself. Staring down those glowing eyes up close was ordeal enough.
—Maness, was it? Causing trouble since enrollment.
“...That's me.”
He was used to the delinquent rep by now, so no point denying it.
—Using all that mana inside you like this is dangerous. Magic can hurt people—and sometimes it's a double-edged sword.
“Noted. I haven't mastered mana control yet...”
—Figures. Newbies haven't even learned the 'ma' in magic. And you still manifested a mana bullet?
“I saw Boltman do it over there and tried copying.”
Maness clarified quickly to avoid pre-enrollment magic training rumors.
—Copied it just from watching?
The skull's gaze scanned him again. The standoff turning familiar, Maness stepped back.
—Ever thought about learning necromancy?
“Hey now, is that how you recruit?”
A sly voice cut in. Metaph emerged from the brush, his signature eye-smile giving an uncanny vibe. The illusion professor from mana control class.
“Poaching apprentices on day one?”
—...None of your business.
“Fair enough. But what about this?”
To the skeleton master—now bristling at the intruder—Metaph pulled a glowing blue orb from his pocket. The one Maness had found midway up the mountain.
“That's...”
“Iris gave it to me on the way. Oh, don't worry—no point deduction.”
Metaph whistled, surveying the devastation with mock surprise.
“But what's all this? Did Professor Zentina's skeleton get swept up by a freshman's spell?”
—Butt out. This isn't your class anyway.
“Huge mana surge like that? As a professor responsible for safety, how could I not come?”
—Since when do professors care about safety?
The skeleton's voice sharpened with sarcasm. Knowing this was the line for teasing senior profs, Metaph got to the point.
“Iris said she and Maness found this orb purely by luck.”
—So what?
Anyone with eyes could find a dumb orb.
“You can't see from behind your skeleton, Professor, but this place has special wards.”
Metaph tossed the orb to Maness, who caught it. It still pulsed with mana—faint, flickering like lucid dream awareness.
“Maness?”
“Yes.”
“Answer well here. It's for Professor Zentina too.”
The skeleton eyed them both at the mention. Clearly tangled in something; Maness swallowed dryly.
“Did you find this orb purely by luck?”
Trick question. From the flow, Metaph wasn't here for the explosion—but the orb's origin.
Playing dumb now would backfire.
“...I sensed the mana.”
“Knew it. You do have talent.”
—Don't call sensing mana 'talent.'
Zentina finally interjected.
“No offense meant. Right now, Iris might even be better at sensory stuff like mana detection. She felt a faint trace holding it.”
—So what good is faint mana sensing...
The skeleton paused. Then its jaw dropped wide.
—You... infused it with illusion attribute?
“Sharp as ever.”
Illusion. Even Maness, familiar with this world from the original, knew little of it. Few specialists like Metaph, scant mentions, and mages avoided it.
—Talent for illusions...
“So, giving up on him as your apprentice?”
—What does that have to do with anything?
“...Pardon?”
A tiny crack fissured Metaph's perpetual grin.
—Affinity is innate. Doesn't make it your path.
“Even for illusion?”
—He has vast mana reserves anyway. Talent to shine anywhere, not just illusion magic.
As their aura clashed like sparks, Maness pieced it together. Mana quantity made sense from the Mana Well, but illusion affinity? Hard to swallow.
“Professor?”
“Yes?”
Slipping between their standoff, Maness drew Metaph's usual demeanor back.
“In morning mana control, my mana had no color.”
“Ah, that bugged you.”
Metaph clapped sharply.
“Natural. Illusion has no form.”
No form. Abstract.
“Looks like pure magic to the eye—transparent hue—but totally different. Pure has a faint color; illusion lacks form entirely.”
“But the mana bullet Maness just made looked vivid.”
Conien, who'd listened quietly, spoke up. His knowledge-seeking nature couldn't stay silent.
“Mana bullet's pure magic. Like a water mage casting fireball—no water mixed in.”
Spells had innate properties; mages had affinities. That summed it.
“Anyway, this isn't mana control class. We've assessed enough—back to the main lesson.”
—I'm not done...
“You can talk necromancy in your class, Professor Zentina. You released skeletons with Almond's okay—so stick to that.”
—And you?
“I got permission too. To check on a student.”
The airtight reply ground the skeleton's teeth with a menacing grind. Terrifying, even under control.
“Take Boltman too.”
Metaph swung his staff, levitating the prone Boltman, then draped him gently over Maness's shoulders with a gesture.
“Shall we wrap up class?”
*
Conien volunteered to help Metaph clean up. Maness offered too, but couldn't leave fainted Boltman, so he descended piggybacking him.
The sight left quite the impression on the students.
—
—
Too exhausted to explain, and they wouldn't listen anyway. Maness dumped Boltman in front of Class 2 and headed off.
The Pictri Trading heir's notoriety solidified further.