Chapter 43
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Oral Mana Circuits
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The next day.
Lee Se-hun, visiting Louise's hospital room once more, held out the black plastic bag he had brought.
"Here."
"What's this?"
"Training tool for today."
"Wha..."
Louise's body twitched at Lee Se-hun's nonchalant words, even as she reached out casually to take it.
It wasn't just anything—this was the training tool meant to correct her misaligned mana circuits and let her use magic again. Her lifeline, essentially. No wonder she tensed up.
"What are you waiting for? Take it."
"R-Right."
Swallowing dryly, Louise carefully took the plastic bag and peeked inside.
"...What the hell is this?"
She stared at the glossy cherries, her face twisting in disbelief.
"These are cherries."
"To be precise, Jason cherries. They're expensive thanks to their calming psychological effects and high sugar content..."
"Forget that. Where's the actual training tool?"
Lee Se-hun pointed at the cherries inside the bag in response to her question.
"Right there. That's your training tool."
"..."
Louise shot him a cold glare, like he was some lunatic. He jerked his chin toward the bag.
"I'll explain properly, so come inside and sit down first."
"...Fine."
It didn't inspire much trust, but this was the path she'd chosen.
Stuffing down the creeping doubts, Louise entered the room, with Lee Se-hun following behind.
A whiteboard, desk, and chair sat plainly in the hospital room. The makeshift classroom setup made Lee Se-hun chuckle softly.
'Same as before the regression—she always loved setups like this.'
The Violent Dog placed huge emphasis on environment and atmosphere, whether learning herself or teaching others.
It was the total opposite of his own master, who spouted lessons mid-meal out of nowhere, but Lee Se-hun had always appreciated her dedication.
'Though she'd throw a fit if her achievements didn't match her efforts...'
Shivering at the memory of a 34-hour nonstop lecture, Lee Se-hun snapped back as seated Louise glared at him.
"What're you doing? Let's get started."
"Yeah, yeah. Here we go."
Stepping up to the whiteboard, Lee Se-hun grabbed the marker on top.
"Before we dive into serious training, let's go over the state of your throat."
With a casual flick of his hand, he sketched her throat and the crisscrossing mana circuits inside on the board in seconds.
"Mana circuit misalignment basically means the circuits healed off their original paths like this. The symptom? Excruciating pain when using mana."
"..."
"And the key here..."
He circled the offset mana circuits and looked at Louise.
"...is what kind of mana triggers the pain from the misalignment."
"...What else? Refined mana, obviously."
To use mana properly, it had to go through refinement in the mana circuits.
A grandiose term, but really just a reflexive bodily function—like thinking 'use mana' and it happening naturally, even for kids.
"Right. Misalignment only reacts to refined mana, not raw mana. That's why you don't feel pain even with mana circulating in your body right now."
Lee Se-hun jotted a summary on the board, then grinned at her.
"So, how do we use mana without triggering the misalignment pain? Simple."
Tap tap—
"Refine it right here."
"..."
Louise gaped at him as he tapped the board, pointing at her mouth.
"You're saying that's actually possible?"
Mana output varied hugely by refinement level, especially for spells where the difference was massive.
Mid-tier spells any Elemental Department cadet could cast required four-plus refinements across the full-body circuits. Even basic beginner spells needed at least one.
Doing that in just the mouth? Like firing a missile from a handgun.
"Sigh... Figures. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up..."
"Others couldn't."
Lee Se-hun cut her off calmly.
"But you can."
Violent Dog Louise Valente.
The wizards' nemesis, a terrorist who'd slain countless mages regardless of hero or villain allegiance.
Her monstrous talent could turn even this inefficient method into a weapon.
"...Ahem."
She awkwardly averted her eyes at his confident tone.
"Whatever. Let's hear it. How?"
"First, we temper the mana circuits in your mouth. They're used in casting but so minor they're underdeveloped."
"Hmm. Mouth... so the tongue, then?"
She rolled her tongue experimentally, frowning oddly.
An extremity, so its circuits were practically negligible. How could it match full-body refinement output?
'Not even sure a spell would activate.'
As she prodded her cheek with her tongue...
Her eyes drifted to the cherries.
"So what's the deal with these cherries anyway?"
"Told you—training tool. Time to use 'em."
"These?"
Louise blinked in confusion.
How the hell did cherries temper oral circuits? As she puzzled, Lee Se-hun held out his hand.
"Toss me one."
"O-Okay."
She lobbed a cherry from the bag. He snatched it midair and popped it straight in his mouth.
Chewed for a bit... then stuck out his tongue.
"...Huh?"
The cherry stem emerged, tied in a perfect diamond knot.
"That's the basic form. Manipulate your tongue's circuits precisely to tie it."
"..."
"You can use mana in your mouth to assist, but that's tough at first, so use your teeth. And..."
He sketched tongue movements on the board matter-of-factly. Louise closed her eyes tightly at his earnest explanation.
'I'm the crazy one for getting mixed up with this actual madman.'
* * *
After passing on the cherry-knotting method, Lee Se-hun added a few more exercises.
"The factory inside the factory, the green factory manager draws pictures well, the green miso drawing, and the factory you factory..."
Crunch
"Gah?!"
Speaking two tongue-twisters at once on the spot.
"More malice in it!"
"Quit making me do this weird shit, you psycho!!!"
Screaming at full volume while channeling mana and emotion.
"Don't slur!"
"Tho thtrong tho thpeak with a casting twig in yer mouth."
Training with a rod that twisted your mouth for casting practice.
Absurd routines that'd look like nonsense to anyone else—but Lee Se-hun taught with unwavering seriousness, and Louise followed along, grumbling all the way.
"Hot..."
"Better than blisters. Just eat it."
They devoured over a hundred Jason cherries a day—at 1,000 won each—leaving her tongue and lips perpetually chapped and scarred from chewing.
Her throat grew hoarse from overuse, but they didn't stop.
A week of nonstop training, day and night.
"Done...!"
A perfect hexagon formed on Louise's tongue.
Made from cherry stems, flawlessly tight and even. Lee Se-hun clapped.
"Whoa, you nailed it. Impressive."
"Told you—this is nothing!"
"Mm-hmm. Excellent."
He'd figured it'd take a month. Completing it in a week? Genuine admiration.
'Maybe 'cause she made the method herself. She adapts fast.'
He'd worried about two weeks' worth of lessons, but this pace worked fine.
As he watched contentedly...
"Gaaah!!"
Louise clawed her hair and screamed, staring at the knot.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! This bullshit is all the progress we've made!!"
Her tongue moved with finesse now. Tough sentences flowed flawlessly.
Pronunciation leaped forward—her recordings sounded announcer-quality.
Incredible growth in a week... but
'What does this have to do with magic?!'
No link to circuit correction whatsoever.
Vain efforts wasted. Crushing self-loathing at her freakish talent for it.
"Grrrrraaah!!!"
Overwhelmed, she gripped the hard-won hexagon and raised her fist high.
Panting... then sighed deeply, lowering it.
"Haaa..."
No point smashing her labor. She slumped into the chair, drained.
"Sorry... My head's been fuzzy lately."
"Eh, happens."
"Let's keep training. What's next?"
Munching cherries with a defeated look. Lee Se-hun smirked faintly.
"This one's for refining the mana needed for incantation magic."
"Sure. Incantation... incantation magic?"
Expecting another knot, her eyes bulged. He gathered mana at her reaction.
"I'll show you first. Watch close."
Unrefined mana pooled in his mouth. Once enough built up, he activated his tongue circuits and flicked.
Swoosh—
The mana scattered and clumped.
She thought it was just oral-circuit refinement, but no.
Hum—
"<Sphere>"
Incantation magic needed two things.
Minimal mana as a spell formula nexus. And strong will to manifest it as magic—'mental image,' precisely.
The clearer the envisioned form, the exponentially stronger the spell.
'Show it perfectly first... Sphere should do.'
Image locked: mana coalesced into formula, drawing body mana.
Formula ready, he parted his lips.
"<Deform>"
Shwish—
The floating sphere twisted like a corkscrew, elongating into a slender spiral spear. Flawless, like the first.
Lee Se-hun's lip quirked.
'Nice.'
Usually eight-out-of-ten were unstable. This twisted perfectly.
Feeling lucky, he went bolder.
"[Attribute Confer]"
Flames bloomed on the spiral spear.
"[Rotation Confer]"
The spear spun viciously, buzzing like a hornet.
As the menacing spell took shape, Lee Se-hun realized something was off.
'Why's it working so well?'
40% success... 30%... 10%... even 5% shattered.
Air shivered faintly as the evolving spell—meant to cancel on fail—kept going.
Vrrr!
The ferocious spinning flame spear.
Wary, he opened the window and glanced skyward.
"[Acceleration Confer]"
Thwump—!
The launched spear rocketed upward ferociously, gleaming like it could shatter everything.
Bracing for cataclysm, he barked the cancel.
"[Fix Release]"
Pfsssh—Pop!
A pathetic spark winked out midair.
"What was that?"
"Dunno. From the training room?"
Just a faint pop no passerby would notice. But Lee Se-hun was stunned by the pitiful power.
'H-How...?'
Like disassembling a 300 kph truck instead of braking.
Pre-regression, he'd never once succeeded at incantation magic. Staring blankly skyward...
You have acquired the skill 'Incantation: Confer (C)'.
Another pre-regression skill restored.