By Zephyria After hearing Matt Nico’s unintentional boasting, I went to find Douglas Mustang to attend his Mana and Aura class.
Since we had sparring during the exam period, and then spent the next class time presenting, explaining, and elaborating on the exam results, today was the first time we resumed classes in the same manner as before.
Once again, it was a repetition of the sensitive children whose Qi sense had awakened early pouring out aura relentlessly, and the dull but diligent children swinging their swords relentlessly.
However, I had a new guest.
One of the mages I had briefly seen during a previous sparring session was now occupying an extra seat in class.
Professor Douglas Mustang explained that he couldn’t dedicate much time to me as he had other students to look after. He said he would introduce mages one by one during class time, as he was worried I wouldn’t grow properly on my own.
He advised me to not hastily promise anything, but rather to ask only for what I needed and use it as a foundation for my growth. He also told me to call him if I was ever asked to sign anything. My heart pounded at his words.
The mentor’s grace was boundless. I could only nod repeatedly, filled with gratitude.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Young Master Ernhardt! I’m Mage Boulder, whom I introduced myself to before. The students call me Boulder-nim, Mage Boulder, or something along those lines. You can call me whatever you’re comfortable with, Young Master Ernhardt. Just… nothing like ‘Hey, Mage!’ is acceptable.”
“Is… ‘Mage’ your actual name?”
“Uh-huh. Ah, if you’re a student of the Swordsmanship Department, you might not know. Children who awaken early tend to cause a lot of trouble that ordinary people can’t handle, so those showing aptitude for magic are gathered and raised by the Magic Tower from an early age. All mages adopted by the Magic Tower share the same surname, which is ‘Mage.’ I’m from the Second Magic Tower’s protection ward. Calling me ‘Mage’ is more of a title… My name is Boulder. It means ’round stone’.”
Mage Boulder, introduced in this manner, was a mage from the Magic Tower, said to be an incredible Archmage who had reached the 7th Circle in his late forties. It was fascinating and impressive to hear him boast about himself so proudly.
Thinking about it, the name felt strangely familiar. He was one of the mages who had consistently written reports testing what happens when Mana is accumulated in the human body. I remembered reading his name in the reports I had glimpsed in Douglas Mustang’s office.
He was among those who had clung to Douglas’s trousers, begging him after seeing me spar previously, boasting that he was the most desperate.
After making sure I wouldn’t be bothered, I began Breathing and Regulating Energy in front of Mage Boulder.
Once I completed the lesser circulation and greater circulation in the correct stages, Mage Boulder was biting into his handkerchief.
I was momentarily speechless.
Mage Boulder was generally healthy, blessed by Mana, but his face bore the full passage of time. Although his downturned, round eyes gave him a cute appearance, the act of biting a handkerchief with teary eyes was utterly incongruous.
It was another moment of being startled by the unreserved emotional expressions of the people of this land.
“Um… Mage Boulder…?”
“Waaaaaaah! It works?! This actually works!”
He jumped up and tried to embrace me, but I stepped back and evaded him.
Boulder waved his arms in the air and clenched his fists, flailing them around. His punches were clumsy, but they conveyed a deeper emotion than a punch imbued with internal energy, filled with sheer joy.
I stood awkwardly, watching him.
In a way, it looked like a dance performance, and in another, it seemed like he was just punching the sky. He made a commotion in this awkward posture for a while, and I eventually thought he was just an ordinary person.
While I felt his emotional expression was excessive, I attributed it to my unfamiliarity with the culture of this land and didn’t reprimand him.
Some of the exclamations he uttered in his solitary awe were understandable, while others were in a language I didn’t know, but this was common when dealing with mages, so it wasn’t surprising.
I seized upon a word from Boulder’s rambling speech and made it my topic. Only then could I hear a voice that resembled a human’s.
“Is it true that refined Mana is heavier than ambient Mana?”
“No! The weight of Mana depends on how it’s refined, but I was saying that Young Master Ernhardt’s refined Mana is exceptionally heavy. Fireball typically unfolds spells by widening the gaps between Mana to generate heat and sparks through friction, and Iceball by narrowing the gaps to converge the friction to zero, thereby stealing heat and imbuing it with water energy, right? Well, that’s the general theory. There are thirty-two exceptions, but Young Master Ernhardt is in the Swordsmanship Department.”
“Indeed.”
“But whenever we tried to inject Mana into humans or other test subjects with varying densities, it always failed! That’s why finding the appropriate Mana density for the human body was considered so important. We believed the experiments failed because we couldn’t create a suitable Mana density! But Young Master Ernhardt’s Mana density was within the range we experimented with! That completely invalidates the theory that the experiments failed due to Mana density issues!”
“Hmm.”
It was a misunderstanding.
Mage Boulder’s voice was still beast-like, resembling a scream.
I understood he was trying hard to explain something, but it was difficult to fully comprehend. I tried to understand his actions by assuming he must have gained some great enlightenment from watching me perform Breathing and Regulating Energy.
When I nodded a couple of times, he made more beast-like sounds. When he asked how I knew this, I replied, as I had told Douglas before, that I knew it naturally from birth and acted accordingly.
After a brief discussion, our first goal was set: to find a way to advance the Great Expansive Divine Skill of Azure Sky that I possessed by one level.
Mage Boulder called this act “upgrading.” He added that mages dedicate their lives to experimenting and researching existing things in various ways to make them better.
Seeing his gleeful face as he promised to find a way with all his might filled me with a bitter feeling.
Yes, I couldn’t be entirely happy.
I had been so focused on simply inheriting and manifesting what had been passed down for tens, even hundreds, of years with this body that even though I had resolved to adopt a new mindset, I felt hollow.
I couldn’t even understand why I was lamenting so much when learning a new sword form and developing my existing internal energy cultivation method weren’t that different.
Perhaps it was also because my teacher wasn’t a martial artist.
Receiving tutelage from a high-level reclusive master was considered an extraordinary stroke of luck even in the Central Plains. It was common knowledge, heard even in marketplace rumors, that even masters from different sects, if they took a liking to a lower-level martial artist, would bestow a word of teaching, leading to enlightenment.
This was an honorable thing.
Masters of high caliber, who paid attention to the disciples of their acquaintances, sometimes influenced the rapid growth of famous Rising Stars.
However, no one would show their sect’s internal energy cultivation method to a renowned master and ask them to fix this and that.
The method of managing internal energy was a secret passed down through generations in sects and noble families alike. Even if it wasn’t transmitted solely through a single lineage, leaking the mind method itself was considered a grave offense.
If such a thing were done, one would be guilty of the crime of betrayal of master and sect and would have no grounds to complain if sent to the punishment cave.
It was difficult to definitively say which was right and which was wrong among the resolve to live this new life entirely as my own, the desire to become a better person than before, the lingering attachments from my previous life that I hadn’t let go of, and the rules entangled in my heart.
As if sensing my inner turmoil, Mage Boulder cautiously asked, “Ah, do you perhaps need a contract stating that you won’t conduct human experiments?”
“Um… Yes, well, that seems necessary too.”
He had clearly misjudged, but I didn’t take it negatively, having read several fairy tales about suspicious mages conducting dangerous experiments.
Hearing his words, my mind suddenly cleared.
I now had someone who would meticulously consider how to handle my mind method from my perspective.
“And, it would probably be best to get permission from Professor Douglas Mustang before discussing this. I’m a bit afraid of changing things so drastically, as I’ve used a single mind method for such a long time.”
“Ah, right! Yes, that’s understandable. But I’m not saying this because I want Young Master Ernhardt to go wrong. It’s just that you have a Mana cultivation method with significant potential for development, and you don’t seem afraid to show it to others, so I thought perhaps you could contribute more to the world’s progress—”
“I will ask the Professor.”
“Uh-huh, yes…”
At last, my mind felt at ease.
Professor Douglas Mustang, as expected, did not grant permission immediately. He stated it would be best to decide after receiving a written report detailing specific methods for upgrading the Great Expansive Divine Skill of Azure Sky. He added that a crucial clause in the contract must specify that I, Michael Ernhardt, would not be obligated to circulate aura if I refused or did not fully understand.
Even after class ended, I sat in Professor Mustang’s office for over three hours, listening to their heated discussions. By then, I wondered if the initial hesitation I felt wasn’t about wanting to preserve the origin of my internal energy, but merely my intuition working hard, which made me feel a bit awkward.
Listening to Professor Mustang, who was entirely on my side, assert his points with quiet conviction, saying “this won’t do, and that won’t do,” I felt as though I had clearly stuck my head into a tiger’s mouth and pulled it back out.
Regarding this matter, Professor Mustang said he would consult with more mages and inform me after receiving the report and contract, so I thanked him politely and left.
❖ ❖ ❖
On Friday, after the beginner Swordsmanship class, Prince Rubel and Princess Lucilla came together, inviting me to have lunch and then practice Flying Dagger.
I was flustered as we hadn’t made plans for lunch together, but Shayden, as if he had been forewarned, handled them skillfully, so I went along with it, thinking it was for the best.
Since Benjamin, Rubel, and I were mostly silent, Princess Lucilla and Shayden led most of the conversation.
I found myself marveling again at how they could continuously eat in such an elegant manner while conversing, a feat I thought was only possible during multi-course meals. Shayden ate with a more refined, formal posture than usual, and even to my eyes, which hadn’t meticulously learned etiquette, his bearing seemed noble, making it truly remarkable how it rivaled the Princess’s own etiquette.