A Core of One's Own
“What are you going to do about my brother's nose? It's crooked.”
“What can I do? It's his own fault for jumping to conclusions and charging at me.”
Knocking Arno down had been strictly self-defense.
Apparently, the sight of Lunia and me training together had looked rather suspicious to him. He had lunged at me, even resorting to magic, so I had simply grabbed a nearby wooden stick and whacked him across the bridge of his nose in a hurry.
For the record, it was Allet, the head butler, who had dragged the unconscious Arno away.
“You know my brother holds a massive grudge, right?”
“Tell him he's welcome to try and beat me with that massive grudge of his.”
“You're terrible.”
Lunia let out a soft chuckle.
“Anyway, putting your brother aside, let's get back to what we were doing.”
Before we knew it, this was already our second day staying at the mana vein.
We repeated the routine of heading out to the vein at dawn to train and returning to the estate at dusk.
Sheryl brought us our meals, so we didn't face any major inconveniences.
“We're almost at the end. I think we can finish it in just one or two more sessions.”
“Yeah.”
I gave Lunia the signal. She nodded and began pouring her mana into my body.
“……Whew.”
Breathing in accordance with the Benheim mana cultivation method, I circulated the mana she channeled into me to every corner of my body.
Soon, I gathered all the circulating mana into my dantian at once.
My stomach felt like it was turning inside out.
Though we practiced the same cultivation method, Lunia was at a much higher tier than I was. Her mana was far purer. And sometimes, pure mana could act as a deadly poison to others.
Accepting someone else's mana into your own body was a perilous endeavor. If you lost control and the mana backflowed through your vessels, your circuits could burn up entirely, leaving you crippled.
Yet, I didn't hesitate for a single second.
Because if it was Lunia's mana, of all people, I was confident I could wield it as if it were my own.
―Flash!
Concentrating with every fiber of my being, I manipulated the mana gathered in my dantian according to the textbook Lunia had written in my memory.
It was a feat that could never be achieved without godlike mana control.
A unique mana cultivation method that Lunia had modified solely for me.
“Whoa……”
Lunia, standing behind me, let out a soft gasp of admiration.
She had sensed the transformation taking place inside my body.
“Ugh.”
I groaned quietly at the sharp pain coursing through my entire body.
It was a tightrope walk where a single misstep could mean death.
But I didn't stop circulating the mana.
To keep Lunia's mana from cooling down, I guided its pure, warm energy through every part of my body.
Once the mana was sufficiently tempered, I guided it to my dantian. I completely separated my own mana from Lunia's, allowing them to coexist.
It was an incredibly difficult task.
But it wasn't impossible.
‘If that little snot-nosed brat could do it...’
If Lunia had accomplished it, then I naturally had to do it too.
I poured all my focus into tuning the mana. Sweat poured off me like rain, evaporating into a faint haze that rose from my shoulders. My mana circuits overheated, accompanied by a sensation as if every joint in my body was being wrung dry.
How much time had passed?
“Haa, haa.”
I let my head drop, utterly exhausted.
But after inspecting my internal state, a triumphant smile spread across my face.
I had succeeded.
Lunia's mana had settled firmly inside my atypical mana core, forming a massive barrier. This barrier acted as a dividing wall, within which two completely separate cores now coexisted.
It was a mana core unlike any other in the world, one that only I could ever use.
‘How typical of you.’
A single mana core containing two nuclei.
A feat that not even the greatest archmage could hope to achieve.
And yet, I had just done it.
“Ha, haha.”
“Are you okay?”
Lunia handed me a water bottle.
I quenched my thirst and looked up at her.
“……Thanks.”
“Huh?”
“It's always thanks to you.”
Lunia tilted her head at my words.
“Always?”
Right, that wasn't something I should be saying to someone I'd only known for a few days in this life.
As I let out a wry smile, Lunia beamed back at me.
It was clearly the innocent smile of a child—
And yet, it overlapped so perfectly with the Lunia in my memories that my chest tightened with a strange emotion.
“Oh, right.”
As we sat in the lingering warmth of the moment, she suddenly spoke up.
“Can I call you big brother?”
I blinked at the sudden question.
“What?”
“You said it yourself before—that you're older than me. Besides, Father even taught you our mana cultivation method, so you're basically a member of the family now, right? So I thought it might be appropriate to call you big brother.”
Her reasoning was perfectly sound.
But it still felt incredibly awkward to me. The idea of a woman who had been my comrade-in-arms for years calling me by such an embarrassing title was hard to stomach.
“No, let's not use that title.”
“Why?”
Lunia asked. After a moment's thought, I came up with a plausible excuse.
“There's only a three-year difference between us. And I'm not even of Benheim blood. If you start calling me your brother, your actual brother is going to be very upset.”
“Ahaha! My brother definitely would. He'd act like he didn't care but pout about it deep down. He might even come back to challenge you to another duel.”
“……That sounds like a hassle.”
“Right? I wouldn't want that either. Then what should I call you?”
“Just call me Raygan.”
“Okay. Raygan. I like it.”
Lunia tested the name, her eyes curving into a lovely crescent as if she liked the sound of it.
“And one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“My name is Lunia, not ‘you.’ You should call me by my name too, Raygan. Do you know that the only time you've actually said my name was when we first met?”
“…….”
“You know, I have a lovely name called Lunia. How long are you going to keep calling me ‘hey’ and ‘you’?”
In my past life, I had never once called Lunia by her name.
In the mercenary life, those you grew attached to were always the first to leave.
Perhaps I had been afraid of the inevitable parting that came with growing fond of someone.
But.
“……Alright.”
There was no reason to live in fear in this life too.
“Lunia.”
“Yes!”
Hearing her name, Lunia von Benheim beamed with a radiant smile.
That smile, once again, vividly brought back the Lunia of my memories.
“Ah, you're finally looking me in the eye!”
“Quiet.”
A few days after returning to the annex, Stern, the patriarch, paid me a visit.
“So, Raygan. I heard you've made some progress.”
Having likely heard from Lunia that I had successfully formed a mana core, Stern's eyes were filled with curiosity.
Accompanying Stern was a middle-aged mage I had never seen before. The man scratched his blonde hair vigorously, looking thoroughly displeased with the current situation.
“Brother, no matter the circumstances, passing down our family's unique cultivation method to an outsider mage was far too reckless.”
“Enough, Markel. That matter is already settled.”
At Stern's firm tone, the man—Markel—shut his mouth.
“Now, let us see the results. Since you have formed a mana core, casting magic should be much easier than before.”
“Yes, Patriarch.”
I raised my hand and channeled my rune magic.
While invoking Kenaz, the rune of fire that I could already wield with ease, I drew fresh mana from my newly formed core.
Construct, manifest.
Flash!
Isaz (ᛁ)—the rune that conjures ice.
The two opposing elemental runes harmonized, creating a spectacular display.
It was a trick I had picked up just by watching during my duel with Arno.
“Double casting……”
Stern's eyes narrowed.
Double casting was not a feat a novice who had just formed a mana core could pull off. Furthermore, Isaz was a 3rd-tier rune spell. This meant the mana core had settled perfectly within my body.
Stern nodded in satisfaction, while Markel's brow furrowed even deeper.
“That is enough.”
“Yes.”
“Your magic is remarkably clean. The flow of your mana is astonishingly stable. You have completed it wonderfully.”
“Thank you.”
Just as I was about to bow politely, Stern spoke again.
“However, that mana core of yours seems somewhat different from the one I know.”
As expected of a 7th-tier mage.
One at the absolute pinnacle of the magic world.
Stern had instantly realized that my mana cultivation method differed from the Benheim family's.
“The foundation is similar, but the end result is an entirely different cultivation method. How did this happen?”
“……I apologize. To be honest, I modified the cultivation method slightly.”
When I confessed, Stern fell silent for a moment.
“What on earth are you saying, Brother? Are you telling me this brat altered our centuries-old family cultivation method on a whim?”
Markel looked as if he couldn't believe his ears.
Stern raised a hand to silence him and turned back to me.
“Raygan, why did you alter the cultivation method?”
“I…… well, I tailored it to my own body. Just as there is no single outfit that fits everyone, I believed a mana cultivation method should be adapted to one's individual constitution.”
“Did you do this on your own?”
“I had the help of your daughter.”
“I see. No wonder the mana you drew carried a trace of Lunia's energy.”
Stern's expression grew complex.
Altering and practicing a family's secret technique without permission was a grave offense. On top of that, I was an outsider, not even a direct blood relative.
I had prepared myself for a harsh scolding.
“……I shall let this matter slide.”
But Stern did not punish me.
“Are you…… certain?”
“If you had clumsily tampered with the Benheim method, the outcome would have been very different. I would have destroyed your dantian and core, then banished you from the estate.”
“…….”
“But Raygan, your body is remarkably stable. It fits you so perfectly that it is hard to believe you have only just formed your core.”
It was only natural.
After all, this core had been designed by the woman who knew my body better than anyone else.
“I would like to press you for details, but that would be unseemly of me as your elder. Therefore, I shall ask no further. Keep that cultivation method as your own from now on.”
“Thank you, Patriarch.”
Stern nodded, signaling the end of the conversation. But not everyone was satisfied.
“This makes no sense, Brother!”
Markel interjected, his voice rising in agitation.
“This is an issue that shakes the very foundation of our family! It was bad enough that you taught our exclusive cultivation method to an outsider, but now you are going to stand by and watch this insolent brat alter our secret technique to his own liking?!”
“Markel, I understand your feelings. However, we cannot simply keep dwelling on what has already been done.”
“Brother!”
Markel was calling Stern “Brother.”
This meant he was Stern's sibling—and Lunia's uncle.
The pieces of the puzzle naturally fell into place in my mind.
“The elders will not let this slide either! I cannot accept this!”
After delivering another heated rant, Markel stormed out of the room, unable to contain his fury. Stern turned to me with a troubled expression.
“I apologize. My brother has a rather fiery temperament.”
“No, it's fine.”
There was bound to be plenty of debate within the family regarding how to handle me.
I had already expected that I wouldn't be welcomed with open arms.
And that was especially true for a man like Markel.
I pondered for a moment, then made up my mind and spoke.
“Patriarch, there is something of grave importance I must tell you. Could you spare me a moment of your time?”
“What is it about?”
I looked in the direction Markel had vanished and spoke in a quiet, deliberate voice.
“That man, Markel. He is a black mage.”
I dropped a bombshell.
A massive bomb that would throw the entire Benheim family into absolute chaos.