The Flame of Mana

"I suppose it's about time I headed back…"

Stepping out of the gate, I stretched until my spine popped. Two weeks had passed since I'd parted ways with Hati. I'd spent every one of them roaming gate after gate, focused on collecting elixirs and leveling up. Of course, I hadn't done anything idiotic like diving into an S-Rank gate again.

Is it because I haven't had an elixir in a while? My whole body feels like it's screaming for one.

It occurred to me that this might be a side effect of the elixir addiction I'd developed through my Mana's special effect. I hadn't let a single elixir touch my lips since founding the kingdom, so a reaction like this was entirely plausible.

"Guess I'd better hurry back and try one, then."

The way my physical abilities had climbed at the mere thought of drinking an elixir — probably just my imagination.

I arrived at the royal castle, but the usual bustle was nowhere to be heard.

The kids… I wonder if they're doing all right?

The first thing I'd done after parting with Hati was send the entire 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Knight Orders into the Tower of Trials. Yu-jin, Hyuk, and Baek-hwa had all gone in as well, which left me as the castle's sole occupant. As for Baek-rim and Won-ae, they'd already broken past level 100, so I'd assigned them separate tasks of their own.

"Well then. Let's dig in."

I plopped down onto the floor of the largest training ground inside the castle walls and pulled every elixir I'd stockpiled out of my inventory.

"Master…, even I have never seen this many elixirs in one place."

"Th-that's true…"

Laid out in rows like that, there was no denying it — the pile was enormous. Then again, I had swept every gate across the whole kingdom, so perhaps it was only natural.

Every gate holds at least one elixir, after all.

That one might be common grade, or rare — who knew, it might even be hero grade. Which was exactly why most people never got attached to elixirs. Selling a single common one earned you less than hunting down one more monster.

No need to check what each one does, either.

Thanks to Balancing, whatever an elixir's original effect, it all funneled into the same outcome for me: mana, and nothing but mana. Even elixirs meant to raise strength or stamina ended up boosting my mana instead.

"Let's start with the common ones."

"If you eat all of that, Master, I'd say you could go days without a proper meal."

"No kidding."

I answered Gleipnir and began cramming elixirs into my mouth.

By now, common-grade elixirs barely moved the needle at all. At first it took five of them to gain a single point; then six, then seven, then eight. The cutoff line kept creeping higher and higher. In the end, my total mana had risen by a mere 15.

And here I thought the common ones might at least net me one special ability…

Unfortunately, no such luck. I moved straight on to the rare-grade elixirs.

Two rare elixirs bought me a full 5 mana — which meant I had reached 350.

"Huh?"

But the phenomenon I'd been waiting for never came. Before my regression, my mana had only barely crossed 500 — and yet I'd gained a special ability back at 350.

"So why not this time…"

As I stood there flustered, Gleipnir spoke up.

"Master, might it be because you haven't undergone Body Reconstruction?"

Body Reconstruction?

Before my regression, I had already completed my third Body Reconstruction by this point. And in all the time after that, I never once managed another — not until the day I finally reached 500.

"Then I'll just keep eating the rest for now."

"Yes, Master."

If Body Reconstruction was truly the reason, the outcome would be identical no matter what number I hit. In that case, the smart play was to keep stacking my mana as high as it would go. Putting Gleipnir to work as well, I burned through the remaining elixirs at speed.

And the result:

I had reached 500 mana. In my first life the number had climbed a little higher than this — but the 500 mark had been the last time I ever unlocked a special ability from it. And now, here I was, standing at that exact ceiling once again.

"And this should be what smashes through it."

So saying, I looked down at the fruit resting in my palm. It blazed a brilliant orange, tongues of fire licking across its skin — and yet not a trace of heat touched my hand.

"So this is what a Legendary-grade elixir looks like…"

Before my regression, a Legendary-grade elixir had been nothing but a pie in the sky — something I could only gaze at from afar. Having one sitting in my hand right now felt genuinely surreal.

"Judging by what I can sense, Master, it seems close to a lesser divine authority."

"You think so?"

I answered, marveling as Gleipnir studied the Fruit of Flames. I couldn't fathom how a Legendary-grade elixir carried power on the level of a divine authority, but I stared at the thing with eyes gone bright.

"All right then. Here goes."

"Yes, Master. There's nothing to worry about."

Before eating, I released Gleipnir from my body, then bit into the fruit.

"Kahk!"

The instant my teeth broke the skin, my heart ignited — heat roaring through my chest as if the organ itself had caught fire. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I forced the whole fruit down, gulp after gulping swallow. And the moment the last of it vanished down my throat, an agony beyond anything that had come before slammed into my heart.

Breathe! I have to breathe!

I barked at myself as my consciousness threatened to dissolve. And at the same time, I began to breathe.

"Hoo, hah, hoo, hah."

I drew breath as hard and deep as I could, reaching for the mana suspended in the air. If anyone ever tries to tell you elixirs are the fast, easy road to power, send them to me. Easy, my ass — it's a goddamn war.

I have to take in every last drop of this mana.

Slowly, I absorbed the mana drifting through the air. At the same time, I attuned it to my own mana and sent it streaming toward my heart.

"Kahk!"

Inside my heart, the fruit's power and the mana from the air collided head-on. The backlash made me vomit blood.

Erode the fruit's power with the mana in the air.

The fruit's strength was refusing to take root in my body. To break that resistance, I was threading my own mana deep into its core, bit by bit.

Keep going, keep going — just like this…

Repeating the words to myself like a mantra, I kept my mana moving.

"Nghaaaaaah!"

"Kyaaaaaah!"

The screams echoing through the chamber simply would not stop. Ren, a demon of the Lust lineage, slipped carefully inside. What awaited within was a scene that suited the name of Lust perfectly — men and women alike, stripped of every last stitch of clothing, devouring one another without shame.

"Lady Lust."

Ren knelt down in Lust's presence. Of all things, Lust despised being interrupted mid-meal — and Ren had known that full well, and entered anyway.

"Ren. If you're coming in like this, something urgent must be happening."

Lust's hand slid down along Ren's cheek, caught the chin, and tilted Ren's face upward.

"So speak. If this isn't important, then even you will have to pay for disturbing my meal."

With those words, Lust let her demonic energy pour out. The people who had been writhing so earnestly only moments before couldn't withstand it and collapsed where they lay.

"Forgive me."

"It's quite all right. I am a magnanimous one, after all."

Lust smiled sweetly and released Ren's chin. Ever since Ren's older brother — the Sword Demon Ken — had died, Lust had been like this, throwing around powers she had once held carefully in check.

Proof of just how dearly Lady Lust cherished my brother.

Ren thought so, and kept it unspoken. Ren wanted Lust's favor too — just not badly enough to wade through fire and water for it the way Ken had.

"So? What is it?"

"Yes. We've located the one who killed my brother."

"Is it true?!"

A single sentence, and Lust's entire face lit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up. She had doted on the Sword Demon — and so she wanted, desperately, to make the one who defeated him her own. Every failed attempt had only sharpened her irritation further.

"Where?! Tell me where!"

"P-please calm yourself first…"

This was how worked up Lust got every time that subject came up. Granted, usually in the worst way — but the reaction before Ren's eyes now seemed brimming with nothing but rapture.

"North Korea. That is the last place his trail leads."

The instant the words left Ren's mouth, Lust went silent. She knew, too. Knew that the place had become untouchable, inviolable territory. Knew it was not somewhere she could go, no matter how desperately she wanted to.

"I'm sorry…"

That was all Ren could offer. Lust gave no reaction after that. She simply bit at her own nails, over and over, as if grinding her fury down to nothing.

"Nngh!"

I had no idea how much time had passed. All I knew was that in a desperate struggle to survive, I had never once stopped dragging mana in from the air and slamming it against the fruit's power lodged in my heart. And then, at some point, the agony finally began to ebb.

"Master — it is done."

At Gleipnir's words, I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was hair — enough of it to curtain my entire face. It must have shot out at absurd speed thanks to all the elixirs.

"How long has it been?"

"A little over a week now, Master."

"Really?"

That was shorter than I'd expected. And right then, as if it had been waiting for me, the system ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠messages unfolded before my eyes.

Those messages were identical to the ones from my first life. What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mattered was what came next.

When I finished reading, there was only one reaction possible.

"Whoa…"

"Whoa…"