EP.135 The Trials You Must Endure (2)
A Mage’s body flows with Mana.
Being able to efficiently handle the Mana flowing in one’s body is what makes a Mage. A Mage must know how to control their own Mana.
‘Everyone thinks it’s funny.’
It’s something innate from birth.
Something familiar because they were born with it.
That’s why many are mistaken. They think they know how to handle Mana. They believe they can perfectly control their own Mana. And it makes sense.
‘Because it’s the most basic thing.’
Indeed, it’s fundamental.
Having been a path traveled long ago, people often forget the value of the basics. Every time that happens, I would say this.
“The basics are the most important thing.”
It’s an obvious statement.
An obvious fact that is easy to forget.
“The basics are also the hardest thing.”
Thud, I stepped forward.
I could hear Lac’s footsteps following. Lac’s pace had been gradually slowing. It had been that way since we entered the Barrier.
“What’s the basic? It is, as the word says, the foundation. If the foundation is sturdy, the tower built on it won’t collapse.”
A tower built on a weak foundation.
When the storm rages, the tower sinks into the quagmire and collapses. Therefore, it’s a meaningless tower.
Many people had built such towers. Too many to count. I saw those Mages on the Battlefield. They crumbled at the entrance of the Phantom Territory and made excuses.
I recalled those excuses one by one.
“The air quality is too bad, the surrounding Mana is fluctuating…”
“If you’re shaken by trifles, it means your foundation was never solid to begin with.”
“The Mana is too dense, I can’t breathe…”
“If it collapsed because something strange was mixed in, then it was never a strong tower to start with.”
“I can’t control the Mana…”
I stopped walking.
“The basics must be the basics in any situation. That means they must never be shaken.”
I turned around.
Huff, huff…
Through the blizzard, I could see Lac.
Lac was bent over, resting his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. There were veins popping in Lac’s eyes.
“Shall we stop here?”
“…Not yet, I’m okay.”
Lac’s words were stuttered.
His breath was unstable, and the Mana flowing through his body had begun to dissipate.
‘But, he hasn’t collapsed.’
Lac was still standing on his feet.
It meant he could go a little further.
One step, two steps, ten steps like that.
Thud.
On the tenth step, Lac’s legs gave way.
I took a step back and stopped two steps behind where Lac had fallen.
“Grab on.”
I reached out my hand. Lac gripped my hand with his trembling hand and stood up. I took a step back.
“This is your limit right now.”
I picked up the stake that Lac had dropped.
“First, we need to start holding on here.”
A rope was tied around each of Lac’s wrists.
I pulled it taut. I drove the stakes at the ends of the ropes into the ground.
Thwack!
Lac was now fixed in place, arms pulled back. A sturdy rope doesn’t break easily. If this were outside, it would be different… but this was the interior of a blizzard-swept Barrier.
The flow of Mana was tangled.
A place where applying strength to one’s body is difficult.
That’s why this old-fashioned tool was useful. I stood on the stake and said.
“Your limit, maintaining the basics in extreme situations. That’s what I’m going to teach you from now on.”
Lac looked at me with eyes full of blood vessels.
He looked like he didn’t fully understand what I meant. So, I explained.
“Catch the disrupted flow of Mana. Hold onto it, and cast a strengthening spell on your body. Try to break this rope.”
That was the goal I had while staying in the North.
“…Huh?”
Lac’s eyes widened. He looked like he couldn’t believe it. He was probably thinking, ‘Just holding on is tough enough…’
I smiled wryly.
“Just holding on won’t help you. Someday, you’ll have to run around in a place like this… Will you just grit your teeth and hold on then? When beasts come charging at you?”
I shook my head.
“So, you need to move while holding on.”
“Is… that possible?”
“Why is it impossible?”
I shrugged.
“Because I’m right in front of you. A person who can do it.”
“…”
“Do you think I became this way overnight? I worked hard to get here. If you endure through the trials, it’ll eventually work out somehow. Also, you’re in a better position.”
The center of the Phantom Territory.
Everything there was seen as poison to the Mages, and every Mage had fled from that place. Therefore, no one needed the existence of Mages more than there.
That’s where I stayed.
‘Now, Mages trained in what I taught may be okay, but back then it wasn’t.’
When I first set foot in the heart of the Phantom Territory.
I collapsed to the ground, bleeding from my nose due to the saturated Mana. The tower of magical knowledge I had built was utterly useless in the heart of the Phantom Territory.
So, I had to start building from the ground up again.
At that time, the people beside me were all extraordinary beings born with special talents. They had nothing to teach me, and eventually, I had to figure it out through trial and error.
I vomited several times.
I bled multiple times and fainted while trying to control the wild Mana. That’s how I solidified my foundation. So that I wouldn’t collapse under any circumstance.
‘Even if it means standing before the Demon Lord.’
I used such foolish methods, but…
“I had to learn alone, but you don’t.”
Lac didn’t need to.
“Just watch and follow. That’s all it takes.”
Because I was there.
I had walked the same path first, and I knew the method, so Lac could choose a slightly easier path.
“…”
Lac slowly nodded.
I chuckled and clapped my hands.
“Shall we start?”
I had taught something like this to Mages on the Battlefield a few times. Those who received my teachings commonly expressed this process like this.
“I feel like I’ve been reborn.”
Indeed, it was a very accurate expression.
Recalling their words, I nodded.
‘To be reborn, what should I do first?’
First, I had to face death.
I reached out my hand. I placed my finger on Lac’s forehead. As I did, ashen Mana began to rise above my fingertip.
“One.”
A poorly built foundation.
A tower built on it.
“Two.”
First, I needed to break that.
“Three.”
Even if it means the death of a Mage, it was a necessary process.
Engrave.
Splash!
The Mana that rose above my finger pierced Lac’s mind. It was just a moment’s touch. However, the mark it left in that instant wouldn’t easily disappear.
Gulp!
Lac’s eyes trembled.
Blood flowed freely from his nose, and veins were visibly prominent in his eyes. Lac looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
“Endure.”
I said.
“Endure and remember.”
What I engraved in Lac’s mind.
That was the arrangement of my Mana. A composition that wouldn’t falter in any situation, the answer I found.
“And follow.”
I struck the answer into his head.
All that was left was to follow. I stood in front of a trembling Lac and smiled.
“You have plenty of time. Take it slow.”
The sun had just risen high in the sky.
Lac experienced his first fainting spell just about 10 seconds after that.
2.
A blizzard rampaged through the sacred grounds of the coming-of-age ceremony.
Lac had experienced a blizzard like this once as a child. He felt helpless when he accompanied his father into the sacred grounds.
He couldn’t see a hand in front of his face.
His senses were muddled. His vision was dizzying. It didn’t take long for the young Lac to collapse, frothing at the mouth.
‘That was the first.’
And recently, Lac had a similar experience. It was during the course placement exam. Drawn into the Mana Spring’s realm by a professor, Lac experienced an environment similar to the blizzard of the sacred grounds.
But what he felt then was not helplessness.
At first, he felt powerless, but… when he gritted his teeth and endured for a minute, he felt a sense of accomplishment.
‘That was the second.’
Time passed and now it was the third experience.
This time as well, with a professor.
Gah, hack.
Lac exhaled and opened his eyes.
It seemed he had lost consciousness for a moment. He had given up counting how many times it had been.
Fainting, waking up, and fainting again.
It was a cycle. Although the time he was awake was getting longer with each cycle… he still couldn’t surpass 2 minutes.
‘Compared to the past, this was tremendous growth.’
At the Mana Spring, it was a life-or-death situation just to last 1 minute. But what about now? Enduring for 2 minutes in a similar, no, more intense environment.
‘This is growth. It’s growth, but…’
Lac raised his head.
A long path hidden in the raging blizzard lay ahead. It continued far beyond sight. Lac was only at the entrance of that path.
‘So far.’
Blood vessels were popping in Lac’s eyes.
They were directed towards a woman who seemed unfazed by the path ahead.
“1 minute.”
She counted.
That meant 1 minute had passed since Lac opened his eyes. Her voice was clear even amidst the roaring blizzard. Her breathing was utterly composed.
‘A level of mastery.’
Lac thought with his muddled mind.
‘The place I want to reach. So far away.’
As thoughts flowed, another minute passed. With a thud, Lac’s consciousness briefly cut off. When he opened his eyes again, she was still standing right in front of him.
As if not a single moment had passed.
“How long?”
Lac opened his mouth.
“How long has it been since I fainted?”
“Around 30 minutes?”
Was that so?
Lac bowed his head.
Drips of blood were falling onto the pure white snowfield. The blood flowing was warm, but the blood that had seeped out was cold.
His mind was in chaos.
Lac spoke, piecing together his fragmented thoughts.
“…Professor.”
“Yeah.”
“Something has come to mind.”
“Of course.”
“It’s complicated. It’s hard to understand.”
With a hazy mind, Lac spoke.
Mid-sentence, his consciousness broke again. Regaining focus, he opened his mouth once more while Rania was still attentively listening to him.
“What is this?”
“It’s the answer. The answer I’ve found.”
She smiled.
“In situations like this, you’ll start to see things vaguely. People typically only realize things when they are right in front of them.”
Lac saw what was floating in his mind.
‘Array, intertwined patterns.’
Something complex.
His brain instinctively rejected it. No, it wasn’t instinct. It was everything Lac had built thus far that wanted to reject it.
‘That’s wrong.’
Only thoughts like that filled his mind.
That was a wrong answer. It contradicted everything Lac had learned. To accept that, Lac must break down all the common sense he had.
‘The answer.’
But Professor Rania asserted it.
“That is indeed the answer.”
“…”
Lac looked at Rania.
In the blizzard, she was the only one maintaining a clear form. In the murky vision, Lac saw her vividly.
“If you accept this…”
Lac struggled to force the words out.
“If you engrave this in your body and make it your own…”
Lac asked.
“What will happen?”
What can I do?
At that question, Rania smiled.
“You will be able to do many things.”
She said.
The woman who stood at the pinnacle of the realm Lac aimed for, the woman who was far away said.
“You will never allow your Mana to falter, no matter what situation you find yourself in. You’ll be able to fully control what you have. Perfect control enables perfect calculations.”
She wiggled her fingers.
Tick, flames erupted amidst the swirling blizzard.
“Your spells will never falter in any situation.”
Lac lost consciousness. After waiting for him to wake up, Rania continued speaking. A flame was still flickering on her fingertips.
“The power of your spells will rise significantly too. Even a simple Ignite can be maintained for 30 minutes in a blizzard.”
She waved her hand to extinguish the fire.
Then she flicked her fingers again. A greater flame than before sprang to life above her fingertip.
“The power of the spells, their accuracy, their intricacy—all of that will rise. And that’s not all.”
She spread her arms wide.
Amidst the blizzard, she was smiling.
“You can fight anywhere. You can use all your strength anywhere. No location will be unfavorable to you.”
She strolled through the blizzard.
Lac, unable to walk himself, watched her as if he were strolling outside the sacred grounds. Her steps were no different from those outside.
“Don’t you want to see what’s inside?”
He was curious.
“Don’t you want to see it with your own eyes?”
He wanted to see.
Lac nodded absentmindedly. Seeing Lac’s gaze, Rania chuckled. She exhaled lightly and spoke.
“How about it?”
She asked.
“Isn’t it enticing?”
It was enticing. Very much so.
“Then do it.”
Her firm tones echoed in Lac’s ears.
Lac closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze had changed from before.
Click.
Lac gritted his teeth. Two minutes had passed, but he hadn’t fainted. Lac’s heart was pounding fiercely.
Thump, thump.
Hearing the sound of his racing heart.
He heard something break.
He heard the sound of what he had built crashing down.
Ptooey!
Lac spat blood from his mouth.
What he spat was blood, but what he discarded were idle thoughts. Lac emptied his mind. In his now-albino mind, only one thing emerged.
The arrangement of Mana.
He fumbled for what had been engraved in his mind. Even fumbling was laborious. But it was not impossible. Like a blind man searching for a path in the darkness, he fumbled for it.
Tick, tick.
Cracks appeared in Lac’s Mana arrangement.
New things began to settle among the shattered and crumbling arrays. The shedding progressed at a very slow pace. Very small at first, but slowly, surely.
He fainted several times.
He stood up several times.
Lac continuously held onto the flow.
In the end, what Lac was confident in was perseverance. Even the raging blizzard could not cool Lac’s burning spirit.
The Warrior of the North was tempered steel.
Ever-burning, unquenchable iron.
Steel hardens the more it is tempered. The Warrior of the North is just like steel. Through trials, Lac grows.
Drip.
Around dusk, Lac succeeded in breaking the rope from his right arm. It was an unexpected result for Rania.
3.
“…”
I watched Lac silently.
Having cut the rope from his right arm, Lac collapsed as if fainting. He was completely exhausted.
“I didn’t see this coming.”
I licked my lips in surprise. It was an unexpected speed, an unexpected result.
‘I thought it would take at least three days…’
The Mages from the battlefield took about a month.
I thought it might take Lac three days since he was talented, but… I was expecting it to be tight.
‘But to think he broke one side in just a day…’
I chuckled.
“Impressive, really.”
It was an outcome that exceeded my expectations.
In a good way.
“Ugh.”
Carrying the collapsed Lac on my back, I left the sacred grounds. I laid him down in a spot where the blizzard had settled and set a small fire beside him.
“Haah…”
I exhaled briefly and turned my head.
My gaze was directed towards the inside of the sacred grounds. Entering the internal area provided me with a rough sense of it.
‘This isn’t the Mana Spring.’
It resembled the Mana Spring, but it wasn’t the same.
It was similar in that saturated Mana hovered in the air. The difference was in the state of the Mana.
‘It was hostile. Very much so.’
The Mana was sharp. The Mana mixed in with the swirling blizzard rejected intruders. As if it was trying to protect something.
“Hmmm…”
I stroked my chin.
This place was made to protect something. If so, what could be worth defending to the extent of barraging it with Mana comparable to that of the Mana Spring?
“I’m a bit curious.”
Curiosity arose.
I glared slyly at the fainting Lac and stepped into the interior of the sacred grounds.
‘If I’m curious, I can just go see.’
The moment I stepped forward, an even fiercer blizzard welcomed me. It was like the very essence of trying to drive away the uninvited guest…
“Whoa.”
But that only fueled my desire to challenge it.
“Heh, heh heh.”
I began to hum a little tune as I walked into the blizzard. The cold wind felt quite nice.
