Chapter 112

【 Black Mist and Violet Current 】

“What the? The sword changed again?”

“Yes, well… I lent it for a while.”

After entrusting the Mistcatcher to Regnil for its weapon skill awakening, I received back an ordinary sword.

A lot had happened over the weekend, but regardless, I had to return to my routine at the academy.

Routine — meaning…

“Anyway, Instructor, what should I do today?”

“What else? You’re still practicing how to handle mana.”

I was continuing my daily lessons in magic under Kara’s tutelage.

“Are you still practicing focusing on the mana inside you?”

“Yes, a little every day.”

“Oh? Then you’ve gotten used to it now?”

“Yes. I’ve gotten used to it, and I can control it a bit, too.”

“Really? Already? Show me.”

Kara stepped closer — very close.

Then, looking quite intrigued, she began to stare at me.

Her gaze was rather burdensome, but I pretended to stay calm.

“How should I show it? I still can’t visualize mana through magic yet…”

“No need for such tedious things. Why? Because I’m a genius magician.”

“Ah… yes, well…”

“Don’t give me that bored look! Hey, I’m giving you private lessons for free, you know? You should look at me with eyes full of… yes, admiration!”

“……”

I gave her a look that mixed awkward amusement with several complicated emotions.

In response, Kara glared up at me with a rather annoyed expression.

“Ugh, seriously. If this weren’t the Protected Zone for Other Races… no, if it weren’t for that weird mana formation of yours… Do you think it’s easy to get one-on-one lessons from me?”

“I know you’re expensive, Instructor. That’s why I didn’t learn from anyone else and paid the hefty price of visiting the Protected Zone for Other Races. You do remember that the second part was something only I could do, right?”

“…That’s true, but… Ugh! Anyway, when you’re learning from me, you should look at me with reverence and awe! Like my other students do!”

“Then maybe I should clap and cheer…”

“Ugh, forget it! You’ll realize how amazing I am soon enough as you keep learning magic anyway.”

Just by looking at Kara’s usual attitude, it would be hard to believe, but despite appearances, she was a great magician who had redefined the very principles of summoning magic in the Empire.

A true genius, worthy of her pride.

‘Still, that pride of hers makes teasing her way too fun.’

I smirked slightly and glanced at Kara.

It wasn’t just me who thought that way — even her actual students often teased her, according to the setting.

‘Well, they all said they genuinely respected her despite that.’

There was a line in the game that said, “If you’re a magician, it’s impossible not to respect Kara Barha.”

Maybe one day, as I learned more magic, I’d genuinely come to respect her too.

But that was something to think about later…

“Instructor, so I just have to control the mana inside me, right?”

“Yeah. I can sense and roughly see the flow of mana. So I can tell how you’re manipulating it within you.”

“Understood. Then…”

With my eyes closed, I focused on the mana gathered near my heart.

I had been practicing perceiving and controlling mana whenever I had free time lately.

Thanks to frequent practice, I could now control a small amount of mana with my will.

“Hmm.”

Kara once explained that magic was like drawing a picture on a canvas, where mana served as the paint and the magical formula as the image.

And the “image” I’d been practicing lately — was the formula for the basic fire spell.

I couldn’t draw it perfectly yet, but I could form something resembling it.

“…Oh, that’s quite fast.”

Kara, who had been silently watching me, soon looked surprised.

“It hasn’t even been a month since I started teaching you, right? And you’re already handling mana like this?”

“Am I progressing that fast?”

“Considering you had zero experience with magic before… yeah, that’s insanely fast.”

Kara tilted her head slightly, as if she couldn’t quite understand it.

“Most of my students have been familiar with mana since childhood. They spend years getting used to it, and by the time they enter the academy, they’re just starting to control it.”

“So… I’ve done in a month what usually takes years.”

“Y-yeah? Hmm… Should I call you a genius? I mean, I was one, so I could handle magic easily since I was young, but you… you’ve got too many clear limitations to be called a genius.”

I roughly understood what she meant.

“When you say limitations…”

“As I said before, you have an affinity for six different elements. But the power cap for each is low, and you can only handle those six — nothing more.”

I nodded.

Indeed, there were too many restrictions to call myself a magical prodigy.

“You’re such a mystery of a student. What are you, really? Hmm, your affinity with mana is clearly high, but usually that would mean no weird restrictions on spellcasting… Did you maybe receive a blessing when you were young?”

“A blessing?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“There are studies that show people who receive nature’s blessing become naturally skilled at manipulating mana.”

“Nature’s blessing, huh…”

I’d seen that before in the game.

It was literally a kind of blessing — a system that granted what was essentially a passive skill.

From what I remembered, beings capable of granting such blessings were the high priests of the Church, dragons, and…

‘…the other races, like elves and dwarves.’

If Kara’s guess was right — if I really had been blessed — then it was most likely from one of the other races.

That meant the body I’d possessed before transmigration had some kind of connection with them.

‘I hope summer break comes soon.’

It seemed I definitely needed to meet the other races in Serenus at least once.

My instincts told me they knew something important.

“Hmmmm… I can’t tell for sure right now. I’ll need to see how you actually use magic first before I can make any guesses.”

“So, should I keep practicing?”

“Of course. Keep at it like you have been. At this rate, you might be able to cast a spell before the month’s over.”

As expected of a magical genius, Kara’s prediction was spot on.

* * *

A few weeks later — when May was about to end.

Whoosh―

“See? What did I tell you? I said you’d be able to use magic soon.”

“Teacher, is this… did it work?”

I stared blankly at the flame flickering above my palm.

It was a small flame—smaller than my fist.

But the size didn’t matter.

What mattered was that I had succeeded in manifesting magic for the first time.

“Phew, urgh.”

However, the flame soon vanished.

It was partly because my mana was consumed faster than I expected, and partly because maintaining the mana formula was harder than I thought.

When I staggered a bit, Kara quickly rushed over.

“You okay?”

“Mm… just… feeling a little dizzy.”

“That’s normal at first. You don’t know how to control your mana consumption yet, so the mana inside your body runs out quickly. But you’ll get the hang of it as you practice, so don’t worry.”

“So it’s something I can improve with practice?”

“That’s right. Maybe not as much as before, but you’ll still need plenty of practice. You managed to handle mana quickly because your body’s affinity with it is high, but using magic… that takes real talent, effort, and luck.”

“I see.”

I replied and refocused on the mana within me.

There was still a bit left, so I could probably practice a few more times.

But more importantly, since I had succeeded in activating a fire spell…

“Teacher.”

“What is it?”

“Um, that spell that cloaks a weapon in flames…”

“Master the basic fire spell first.”

Kara shook her head firmly.

“You have to perfect the basics before moving on to applied magic. I recommend focusing on the basic fire spell for now.”

“Understood.”

If Kara said so, then that was that.

There was no reason to rush, so I could take my time.

“By the way, how does it feel, using magic for the first time? Does the genius magician, Kara Barha, finally look a bit amazing to you?”

“Heh, yes. You finally seem a little amazing now.”

I wasn’t just saying that.

Now that I’d used magic myself, I could truly tell.

Just how incredible Kara was—to freely command all sorts of summoning spells.

A few days passed after I first manifested fire magic.

It was the weekend, and as usual, I was spending it with Lisa.

Whoosh―

“Oh, so you finally learned to use magic?”

“Yeah, I picked it up recently.”

I answered while focusing on the small flame before me.

‘Control mana consumption as much as possible. Always keep the total amount of mana left in the body in mind when casting.’

Magic was both simple and complex.

Casting itself was easy, but to use it properly, there were countless things to consider.

And if I were to dig deeper into the phenomenon that was magic itself… well, that was definitely not an area I should step into.

‘Focus. Maintaining the mana formula also requires concentration.’

While training, I suddenly thought about how incredible the swordsmen of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family were.

How could they maintain such flame magic while fighting?

It didn’t seem possible without an extraordinary level of focus.

“Mmm, hmmm, ugh…”

As I practiced fire magic inside the Disciplinary Committee room, Lisa was watching me with a slightly displeased look.

But I was too absorbed in the magic to notice her reaction right away.

“…Tch.”

A moment later, Lisa suddenly came up behind me and hugged me tightly.

“Noona?”

“You’ve been ignoring me too much lately.”

“Me? Why would I ignore you…”

“You’re always practicing magic nonstop. It feels like the time you spend just focusing on me keeps getting shorter.”

“Hey, that’s not true.”

I stopped the magic and turned to hug Lisa back.

She buried her face in my chest for a moment before looking up at me with a faintly sulky expression.

“You’re learning fire magic because you’re trying to copy Sara’s swordsmanship, right?”

“Well… that’s my short-term goal, yeah…”

“Then why don’t you practice my swordsmanship?”

“…Huh?”

“You can use Blood Energy, can’t you? Why aren’t you training with that?”

“Ah, that’s…”

If I said I’d just been too focused on magic lately and forgot about it, Lisa would definitely pout.

But I couldn’t lie to her either, so I scratched my head and trailed off.

“Gideon, I have a lot I can teach you too. I can show you my swordsmanship in more detail, and teach you how to properly make use of your Blood Energy. So pay some attention to me too, okay?”

“It’s not like I’ve ever ignored you, Noona.”

“…That’s not a lie, huh.”

“How could I lie to you?”

I smiled faintly and placed a gentle kiss on Lisa’s forehead.

She looked a little brighter than before.

“But since we’re on the topic… Noona, I tried using Blood Energy again recently, but it didn’t feel quite the same as the first time.”

“Ah, that’s because you need to drink blood.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. Since you were just fooling around last time, I looked into it more. Apparently, when someone bitten by a vampire uses Blood Energy, they need to drink blood.”

“Huh? So I need to drink blood now?”

“If you want to use Blood Energy, yes.”

Lisa nodded as she continued her explanation.

“You can drink animal blood, but human blood works best. Still, I can’t exactly let you drink from someone else, so…”

With that, Lisa unbuttoned a few of the top buttons of her blouse.

Then, revealing the nape of her neck and part of her shoulder, she said in her usual calm tone—without the slightest hint of embarrassment:

“Drink mine instead.”

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