Chapter 13: Sol Lim
“Hello everyone. My name is Jaeyoung Han, your professor for the mana studies class.”
Anyone could tell that the old professor, wearing a white suit, was someone who would be stuck in the lab all day alone.
He was more like a skeleton. Was he related to the necromancer?
“I assume that everyone knows about mana. You are now part of the proud Victoria Academy. I will continue the class expecting that you have background knowledge.”
Those words were inconsiderate of my situation. A teacher should treat students equally, but I guess he wasn’t a truly great teacher.
“I will skip the mana theory and.. We will talk about mana applications.”
With these words, mana started to gather around the skeleton professor’s left arm.
“The application of mana can be divided into two major categories. First is strengthening.”
Whoong Whoong-
The mana that gathered adequately became typified and visible to the other students and surrounded the professor’s left hand.
“Now, this is called mana typification. A mana without form is strengthened and concentrated into this form.”
KWANG!
The skeleton professor reached out a fist towards the steel that was prepared next to the podium, and the steel was easily crushed.
‘Shit, he’s strong.’
It was a skill worthy of the professor of the greatest enhanced individuals in Korea.
“The second is release. We can call it magic, but this expression is a bit more specific.”
After the professor finished his comment, a sphere made of mana appeared on top of his left hand.
“Right now it is a shape that simply shows compression, but if you were to add several processes on top of this, it becomes magic.”
A magic circle appeared on top of the sphere, and turned into an electric energy that seemed as if it would fly off soon.
Spark-
“And this is the magic implementation using a magic circle. Simple magic spells skip the magic circle, but most advanced or more powerful spells require magic circles.”
I also heard an explanation about the concept of magic circles, but I skipped it since it was difficult to understand. It had little to do with me anyways.
“Well, that’s enough for the basic steps. Should we get right into the in-depth process?”
Another mana sphere appeared on top of the professor’s hand. This was more compressed than last time.
“Sometimes, students say this. ‘Professor, why do I need to know all of this even if I’m not a magician?’ You can of course have these thoughts. However, if you use mana on a sword, it’s sword magic, and if you put mana on your fists, then it’s fist magic.”
The professor continued by surrounding the compressed mana ball around his fist and made fist magic.
“How you process mana determines whether it will be magic or simple enhancement. In the end, the basics are the same. The mana management you learn here will definitely be useful in the future.”
The mana disappeared from the professor, then with the professor in the center, a wave of mana appeared like rainfall.
“This is not really magic, but we call this ‘detection.’ It’s a simple skill that places mana close to the ground and disperses it around. It had quite many uses for it being a simple skill. Advanced detection skill can find duplicates or enemies hiding behind walls. This skill that seems simple is actually…”
I tried to listen to the complicated explanation of the professor, but I couldn’t grasp a single word.
I didn’t know why I needed to know equations and calculations to spread mana.
“Now, try it yourself and you will find your weak points. Then, I will personally help you. Now, go on.”
As soon as the professor stopped talking, the TAs who were waiting behind started to pass out an oddly looking bracelet.
“This must be the infamous magic aid.”
“Magic aid?”
“Yes, if you wear this, mana application becomes much easier. Still, your damage weakens so much that you can’t really use it in real battles.”
With the explanation of Young Han Kim who was next to me, I was able to figure out what the bracelet was.
How many hidden features of the game were there? Was this game always so detail-oriented?
“In the beginning, try to use detection without the magic aid. If you use the mana aid afterwards, you will get a sense of where you are lacking.”
The professor clearly said that it was a feeling of drawing the mana inside your body and spreading it all around the surroundings.
Whoong-
The mana dispersed to the surroundings and I felt the contour of the nearby classmates.
‘Hmm, this is doable.’
Since using magic was doable, detection should be a piece of cake.
When I looked around, the other students seemed lost.
Whoong-Whoong
Glance. I made eye contact with some female students.
Alice. She was the student from France who scored first on the written exams.
The only students who were able to use detection on the first try were Alice and I.
Daeun Nam, who scored first in the practicals, was just twisting her hair as if she was bored.
So the detection led both Alice and I to sense each other’s mana waves.
“…”
“…”
With the thinly-opened glare, as if she was not happy with me, I stared back then looked away.
Why was she looking at me like that? What did I do wrong? Was it because I committed the crime of being too handsome?
“Some students have successfully adapted the technique, but I see that most of you have not. Please wear the mana aid and try again.”
“Ooh~ the mana feels lighter!”
“Really?”
YoungHan Kim was applying the mana with awe.
I didn’t really think that I would need to use it, but I just wanted to see what the difference was.
“Oh, that feels interesting.”
Now I gathered mana from the tip of my fingers.
It became easi…no, actually much heavier. Was this a faulty part?
I gathered more mana. Even with the aid, it had gotten harder.
“I think this is faulty..ahhhh!”
From the sudden pain that striked me from the inside, I let out a scream.
Kazam!
I fell off my seat, not being able to endure the pain.
The pain did not subside, so I grabbed onto my chest and rolled on the floor.
I felt an unpleasant metallic taste from inside my mouth, and my nosebleed wet the floor.
Cough! Cough!
I coughed and saw blood on my hands.
Fuck. What is this.
“Hey, you alright? Professor, there is an emergency…”
Young Han Kim was shouting stuff next to me, but I couldn’t understand as my vision faded.
‘What kind of fuckery..’
I couldn’t stay conscious from the pain, but I could tell the cause.
The mana inside me was all tangled. The mana path was so twisted that it was difficult to properly call mana.
And the more I tried to gather mana, the worse the pain became.
I didn’t know what the cause of the pain was, but I knew that by fixing the path, I would no longer be in pain by instinct.
Of course in that process, I would suffer, but I was soon to lose my mind. I could really die.
“Khup!”
I moved mana by force. The mana that was following my orders was now disobeying me.
It was like a ball of mana that was bouncing inside my body and hitting my organs.
“Oook!”
I threw up blood and stomach acid, not being able to withstand the dizziness and pain.
The balls of mana that came up through my throat spilled across the floor. From gagging a couple of times, I felt a little better.
[Clear mentality] always helped me. Even with immense pain as if I was going under surgery without anesthesia, I was able to keep a clear mind.
From being a little more used to the main, I tried to control mana and tweak it.
Snatch the mana that tried to run and replace the inner mana paths back to their original place. It required immense concentration as it required me to control every little miniscule path inside my body.
From this I felt a deeper understanding of mana, and was able to speed up the process.
“Hoo.Hoo. Ssssp. Phew.”
I was finally able to control all the mana. I started to feel alive again.
Eek. The inside of my body was still ruined, but it stopped getting worse.
If I had been more late, I could have died. I think I will live.
Now I was able to look around me.
All the students and professors were looking at me standing, and right in front of me was Young Han Kim and professor Lim Sol.
“You…how did you..”
Professor Lim, who was in a robe, was staring at me with wide eyes.
Her pupils visible under the hood were dilated and her circular mouth was just gaping.
Why was she here?
She usually stays in the lab when there is no class.
Anyways, my head still hurt.
I wished that they would treat me already.
“Uh…uh….”
“Uh?”
“How did you do it–!”
When I replied to her stutter, professor Lim suddenly screamed.
“Khek!”
Then she started shaking me by holding my collar.
“How! How! Did! You!”
“Khuhk, one moment. Please, just..”
“Professor Sol Lim! Let go! There is blood coming out of the student’s mouth! Hey! Let go!”
The old professor fortunately got back to his senses and stopped professor Lim.
Khluk. Blood that was held in my mouth spilled. My head was dizzy again.
“Yes? Haw! What? Blood? Send him to the emergency room now! You are the teacher! What are you doing?”
“The emergency team is already here, let go of him!”
“Oh, okay.”
The professor finally let go of my collar.
‘What the hell is up with her?’
Sol Lim.
A gifted magician. She was recognized globally.
She didn’t have much to do with the main character, but her odd personality and sexy cat face made her an attractive one.
‘Now that I see it, she was just a crazy bitch.’
She was a little cuckoo in the game, but in reality she was just crazy to deal with.
Zweeng-
As in a game world, the emergency medical team was placing their hands on me, with lights emitting. From seeing how just streams of light healed me, it was hard to believe that it was working.
Even now the pain subsided.
“Woah, so cool. Cough cough.”
“Hoyeon, are you okay? You are alive, right?”
“Yeah, thanks for being concerned.”
Young Han Kim looked at me worriedly and asked me a question. I guess friends are good in these times.
“I think that if a friend I just made two days ago were to die, I would get nightmares.”
“….”
The highly-trained medical team of the top academy in the country rapidly finished treatment and started to pack their bags.
“You mana path was severely damaged, but we have taken care of it. You won’t have trouble getting on with your everyday life.”
“Thank you.”
The old professor thanked them for me, who was still catching breath on the ground.
“I think that the cause is that mana aid over there…it might be faulty. We should investigate it.”
“Cough. Khmm..”
As soon as the medical team stopped talking, I heard an awkward cough, and it was coming from professor Sol Lim.
“Well, actually….”
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