Hoshin-ganggi (1)
The meeting was scheduled for the following morning.
What the hell, this is way too fast…
It was ridiculously quick. The fact that a one-on-one meeting between a commander responsible for an entire unit and a new recruit who had enlisted only a few months ago had been arranged so promptly was almost certainly thanks to Garan. I had never heard the full story, but it seemed Garan enjoyed considerable trust not only within the reconnaissance unit but with Arisha as well.
Maybe even the entire defense force…
His influence felt so substantial that I couldn’t help but think the whole unit held him in high regard. Whenever we moved together inside the base, many people would greet him or approach with friendly familiarity. The fact that members from other squads—beyond just the reconnaissance unit he led—showed such warmth suggested that Garan himself possessed extraordinary personal charisma.
And so I found myself in the commander’s office, sitting across from my direct superior for a private meeting.
“Hah…”
Arisha let out a long breath after hearing my request.
“……”
She stared at me, seemingly at a loss for words. Her gaze was filled with utter disbelief and irritation.
“What did you just say? Did I hear that wrong?”
Her voice was ice-cold. Facing those crimson eyes glaring at me from between her beautiful platinum-blonde hair, I felt tension coil through my body. My back straightened involuntarily, my posture going rigid. The only commander I had ever spoken with in any depth was Rumia, so I was completely thrown by the difference between her and Arisha. If a single look could kill, her glare would have finished me off three times over.
But I steadied my heart and answered her question.
“I want to… learn magic.”
“You want to learn magic?”
She cut me off before I could even finish, her words slicing like a blade honed to a razor’s edge. That was how absurd my request sounded to her. Even though I was the one asking, her reaction was perfectly understandable.
A commander responsible for an entire unit already had an overwhelming amount of work to handle each day. Having assisted Rumia with some of her administrative duties before, I knew exactly how heavy that burden was. The workload for a special operations squad had been enormous, so the paperwork required to run a unit ten times that size had to be beyond imagination.
So if an unidentified new recruit—a former slave soldier who had enlisted only months ago—went straight to the commander and asked to learn magic?
I should probably brace myself for at least ten slaps across the face.
If it had been Rumia, she would have torn into me mercilessly. Or maybe Arisha would send me straight to the brig? I steeled myself inwardly as I met her frigid gaze.
But Arisha simply stared at me in silence, saying nothing.
“You want to become strong enough to survive a fight against a high-ranking monster?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. Wait… huh?”
For a moment, I was confused. How did she know that?
“I heard it from Garan. That you said you wanted to learn magic.”
“Then why…”
Why had she reacted earlier as if she were hearing it for the first time, looking completely dumbfounded?
Arisha immediately cleared up my confusion.
“I just never imagined you would say something like that so boldly right in front of me.”
“……”
“Do you seriously think learning magic will make you stronger? Strong enough to subjugate a high-ranking monster? You?”
It was the same question Garan had asked. The fact that she was asking again even after hearing the general situation suggested I needed to express my intentions more clearly.
“…It will be difficult. In fact, it’s probably impossible for me to use magic. During my aptitude test, my mana manipulation ability was rated at C-rank.”
I was nothing more than an ordinary human with painfully average talent. I could handle mana, but only to the extent of manipulating the mana already inside my body. Anything beyond that was impossible.
Arisha’s brows drew together.
“And yet?”
Knowing full well that I lacked talent, she was asking why I still wanted to learn magic. It was obvious that even if I learned it, I wouldn’t be able to use it properly. Still, I was convinced that learning this would be of great help to me.
“Because this is the path that will allow me to grow further.”
“……”
Arisha said nothing more. She simply stared at me. Our eyes met. They were a vivid crimson that reminded me of blood. Yet those eyes that seemed to pierce straight through me shone like beautiful jewels.
Rubies.
Looking into Arisha’s eyes made me think of gemstones. Her gaze, radiating such exquisite brilliance, seemed to bore into the depths of my heart.
“…Fine. I’ll teach you.”
After about a minute of heavy, oppressive silence, Arisha finally gave her permission.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head deeply in gratitude.
“I’m not agreeing to this because I see any potential in you.”
“Understood.”
I knew better than anyone that I had no talent for magic. Even so, it wasn’t hard to guess why Arisha would carve out time from her impossibly busy schedule to grant my request.
“It’s because Garan asked me to.”
“Yes.”
I nodded as if it were only natural. No matter how many times I thought about it, I could never thank Garan enough. He had looked out for me this entire time, even going so far as to arrange this meeting with Arisha. I understood just how much consideration he was showing me.
So I have to repay him properly.
I renewed my resolve. I would grow stronger, achieve great results, and bring many victories to Garan and his reconnaissance unit.
The very next day, I finished morning roll call and ate my meal. The moment I finished washing up, I headed straight back to the commander’s office I had visited the day before.
Knock. Knock.
“Fourth Reconnaissance Unit soldier Han Jungwoo reporting.”
“Come in.”
After the quiet knock and my announcement, a voice came from inside the office. The moment permission was granted, I stepped into the room.
Arisha was seated at her desk, dressed in a perfectly neat uniform. Even though it was early morning, she had already completed every part of her attire.
…She really is different.
She was nothing like Rumia, who had always needed to be dragged out of bed every morning and still barely managed to get everything together. Arisha was the very model of a commander—the kind of exemplary figure responsible for the lives of countless soldiers.
I glanced at her desk. The mountain of documents that had been piled up yesterday was now completely gone. It seemed she had handled all the necessary work in advance to make time for me. The impression she gave was one of extreme diligence and meticulous planning.
“We’ll begin immediately. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
I bowed my head once more.
The magic lesson began right away. She used the blackboard normally reserved for meetings between squad leaders and the commander, scribbling away with chalk as she explained.
“There are three main elements required for magic: mana, formulas, and sense. You manipulate the mana inside your body, calculate and construct the formula, then inject mana into that constructed formula to manifest the spell. To put it simply, mana is the fuel and the formula is the device.”
Mana manipulation. Formula calculation. When mana is injected as fuel, the formula created according to the caster’s will activates. These two processes combine to produce the result known as magic.
“You already know how many types of magic there are, right?”
“Yes. I understand there are basically seven primary types.”
“Correct. The seven attributes of yin-yang and the five elements form the most fundamental foundation. According to ancient texts, there were other attributes in the distant past… more varied kinds of magic existed, but that information remains unconfirmed today. Though perhaps the Supremes… might already be using them.”
The nine individuals known as Supremes—designated by Central Command as the pinnacle of the allied forces—were said to possess power that transcended human limits. However, aside from the few who operated publicly, almost nothing concrete was known about the Supremes’ capabilities. Because they always worked alone or with carefully selected personnel, actually encountering one was extremely difficult.
They aren’t the kind of people you can just run into anyway.
My own unit had only been called a special operations squad in name. In reality, I had been nothing more than a former slave soldier relegated to menial chores for other units. There was no way I would have ever met a Supreme.
Bringing my wandering thoughts back under control, I refocused on Arisha’s explanation. It would be rude to let my mind drift while my superior was taking time out of her schedule just for me.
“In any case, among these seven attributes, there are so many different kinds of magic that the number of possible formulas is practically infinite.”
That was why I had heard that mages usually specialized in just one attribute they were most familiar with. Similar attributes tended to require similar formulas.
A circular formula spun into existence at Arisha’s fingertips, rotating smoothly. The space around it began to ripple. I felt a gentle breeze brush across my cheek.
“Wind… Is that your attribute, Commander?”
“Yes.”
Arisha continued.
“Why do you think the number of mages within the allied forces is so ridiculously low compared to regular soldiers?”
I recalled the three elements of magic she had explained moments ago. Mana, formulas, and sense.
“Is it… because of the sense?”
“Exactly. That sense is the problem. You understand why without me needing to explain it, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Since I had just told her my mana manipulation aptitude had been rated C, I knew this part very well. Circulating the mana in one’s heart through the body’s meridians to strengthen the physical body was the most basic technique every soldier on the front lines had to learn. However, releasing mana outside the body and manipulating it was impossible for ordinary humans.
Inside the body, there were pathways called meridians that served as ‘roads.’ Accelerating the natural flow along those roads was one thing. But once mana was released outside the body, without any ‘roads’ to guide it, the energy simply scattered into the air. Therefore, an innate sense was required— one that allowed a person to control mana exactly as they wished even without those pathways.
“That’s why they developed guns loaded with magic.”
Although their rate of fire was lower, the invention of firearms capable of delivering overwhelming destructive power had allowed the allied forces to make significant progress in their fight against the monsters.
“……”
I recalled the small gust of wind Arisha had created with her magic just moments ago. If this had been before I died, I wouldn’t have been able to see it. But now…
I saw it clearly.
I had watched as mana was injected into the rotating formula at her fingertips.
It felt like focusing on the tips of my fingers…
The old me would never have been able to do this. But what I was using now was Cheonmyeong, an energy that possessed properties similar to mana. I could manipulate it as freely as if I were grasping and shaking the flow of energy inside my body, just as clearly as if it were visible to the naked eye.
“So… huh?”
Arisha suddenly froze mid-sentence.
She had noticed the energy I released from my fingertips continuing to ripple and hold its shape without dissipating. What I had attempted on a whim—simply trying to imitate what she had done—had somehow succeeded.
“…It actually works?”