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I’ve never been fond of knights.

When asked why, I’d say it’s because they’re ignorant, but that was just an excuse.

The real reason was different.

I’d never uttered that reason aloud.

It was a rather old story.

I couldn’t bring myself to admit that during my time living in the back alleys, I had messed with the wrong bumpkin at the “Red Moon Tavern” and got the beating of my life.

Turns out that bumpkin was a 3-star knight.

The practical martial arts I had learned through self-study while ruling the back alleys, unfortunately, didn’t work on him.

I was knocked out in one hit. His punch was so strong that the sensation lingered on my jaw for a while.

I later learned that it was something called a Mana core.

After that day, I searched for that bumpkin knight, seeking revenge, but I never saw him again.

Anyway, mages have Mana Circles, and knights have Mana cores.

This was common knowledge and an unchanging truth.

Knights crudely accumulate mana in their lower abdomen.

They called it a Mana core to sound impressive. To me, it looked more like a Mana Belly.

“Hey, another drink here!”

“I need to fill up my Mana core today!”

I’d seen countless potbellied drunks stroking their bellies and bragging about their Mana cores.

The important thing is that knights “accumulate” mana within their bodies.

If I remember correctly, the Swordmaster had a hundred years’ worth of mana condensed in his Mana core.

Accumulating mana is a very unrefined and ignorant thing to do.

We mages don’t have a single speck of mana in our bodies.

We only have pathways for mana to circulate.

These pathways for mana are called Mana Circles.

Mages resonate with the mana in the atmosphere through their Mana Circles to instantaneously manifest magic. It’s like breathing oxygen through our respiratory system.

Why do it in such a complicated way? Wouldn’t it be easier to just store mana in the body?

That’s because the pure mana in the atmosphere contains high-quality elements.

If you accumulate mana in your body, impurities mix in, and the elements within it gradually break down.

Since converting mana into elements is essential for manifesting magic, it’s naturally impossible to store it within the body.

Of course, those stupid knights didn’t care if the elements in their mana disappeared.

Ignorance is bliss, so they could mindlessly accumulate mana in their bodies without any problems.

They called the mana accumulated in their lower abdomen “Qi,” and from 4-star knights onward, they could release Qi outside their bodies.

If they released Qi through a sword, it would become Sword Qi.

* * *

I had seen countless madmen in the expedition.

The Glutton who stabbed his own temple with a knife to break the “Curse of Circulation,” the White Dragon who replaced his damaged heart with that of a demonic peacock, and Azeta who swallowed three of his fingers to make his Mana Circle go haywire. There are countless others I can think of right now.

But I never thought I’d see someone say something as crazy as…

4-star mage.

How could this be? It was no different from denying that he was a mage.

“That’s it for today’s training. Go and tidy up.”

I approached Dyke, who was wrapping up the apprentices’ training. I needed to confirm something.

“Hey, I have a question.”

Dyke replied without turning his head.

“You still haven’t come to your senses, have you?”

“So you’re saying… you accumulate mana in your core?”

The answer came from an unexpected source.

“That guy is really stupid. Where else would you accumulate it if not in the core?”

It was the kid who got hit by the pebble earlier. I ignored him and continued to stare at Dyke.

“You must know that the efficiency of elemental conversion is terrible with the dirty mana accumulated in the body.”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“You are truly impertinent.”

Dyke’s eyes changed for the first time. If his expression before was that of looking at a bothersome flea, now there was an inexplicable anger in them.

“It seems you have no intention of answering.”

“Ruin Samael. I clearly warned you. This is your last chance.”

Dyke faced me directly. Mana fluctuations slowly emanated from him.

“Alright, that works too.”

“You brat!”

As I leaped backward, Dyke waved his hand.

A Fireball manifested with a simplified hand sign.

He probably thought he was using just enough magic to subdue me, but he was wrong.

As soon as I landed, I firmly planted my foot on the ground.

“Blowing wind, Wind Blow.”

I let myself be carried by the wind and shot forward.

A wind path supported my back.

I gathered wind pressure in my fist with the acceleration and punched forward.

The Fireball shattered upon contact with my wind-infused fist. Dyke’s eyebrows rose slightly. But it wasn’t over yet.

Whirr—

Atmospheric mana gathered through the Mana Circle formed near my heart.

“Blazing flames, Fireball.”

We were only a few steps apart.

The Fireball manifested from my fingertips and shot towards Dyke.

Dyke frowned and quickly formed a hand sign.

“Fire Spear.”

The moment the Fireball and Fire Spear collided,

I felt myself lifted into the air as heat washed over me.

I was the one who got hit.

Boom— I crashed to the ground, my insides churning and blood spilling out.

2nd Circle magic, Fire Spear.

Dyke looked down at me with a disdainful expression.

“You idiot. Do you understand now? I don’t know where you learned such magic, but…”

Dyke shook his head, cutting himself off.

“…There’s no point in telling you. I’ve just wasted my time.”

“Ugh, ptui.”

I spat out blood and then provoked Dyke.

“I don’t think I’m the stupid one here.”

“…”

Dyke’s face once again showed that familiar look of annoyance.

It was an indifferent expression, as if he didn’t even care to be angry.

I finally understood how he felt about his role as an instructor.

“Don’t bother coming to class. I’ll take that as a yes.”

With those words, Dyke disappeared over the ridge.

“Ha.”

Dyke might not know…

But I had already confirmed everything I needed to.

Dyke was no different from the apprentices.

The power of his magic was pathetic.

A Fire Spear cast by a normal 4th Circle mage wouldn’t have ended like that.

And he didn’t even realize it.

* * *

Drip— Drip drip—

It was late at night, and raindrops were starting to fall.

I was alone in the training grounds, lost in thought for a while.

Pitter-patter— Pitter-patter—

The sound of the raindrops grew stronger.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a heavy touch on my shoulder.

“Yo!”

The chubby kid with glasses had his hand on my shoulder. He was one of the three I had noticed earlier. But I couldn’t figure out what this eerie feeling was.

…What’s with this fatty?

Suddenly, I felt something heavy in my front pocket. It was a piece of dried jerky.

I looked at the chubby kid, wondering what this was about, and he shushed me, placing his thick index finger on my lips. It was salty.

The corner of the chubby kid’s mouth lifted slightly. It was a fleeting smile.

“You did well today.”

When the chubby kid looked up at the rain falling from the sky, his face seemed to blur.

Swooosh—

The rain intensified.

The chubby kid, who had been patting my shoulder affectionately, slowly walked past me. I watched his plump back through the pouring rain.

I suddenly noticed that his shoes were pink. By the time I realized it, his left hand was raised next to the back of his head.

It looked like he was waving goodbye. Exactly three fingers were extended.

Thumb, index, and pinky.

For some reason, I felt really pissed off.

* * *

I entered the dormitory to escape the rain.

A musty smell hit my nose as soon as I opened the old door.

The noisy chatter upstairs indicated that the training was over and they were having fun.

There was no one on the first floor.

I started looking around for something.

‘There should be at least some basic books in the apprentices’ dormitory.’

After wandering around for a while, I found a pile of old books in a secluded room.

‘There it is.’

I picked up the most worn-out book.

『Theory and Practice of Hand Sign Magic – Basic』

Author: Gaysek Parkunon

Background: First Tower Master of the Yellow Magic Tower, Former Vice Chairman of the Magic Tower Federation.

Published by: Magic Tower Federation

=====

[Chapter 1. History of Mana core and Basics of Hand Sign Magic]

— The importance of Mana core to mages has only been emphasized for a few decades.

— Mages of the past did not accumulate mana in their bodies. They used Mana Circles to manifest magic as follows:

— [Mana Circle] – [Mana Sensing] – [Mana Resonance] – [Elemental Conversion] – [Incantation] – [Magic Manifestation]

— Incantation using Mana Circles requires extreme concentration. Although powerful, it is structurally vulnerable in actual combat.

— The development of Hand Signs changed the foundation of magic. By simply performing pre-calculated Hand Signs, one can easily cast magic using the mana within their body.

— [Mana core] – [Hand Sign] – [Magic Manifestation]

— Hand Signs have enabled mages to engage in close combat and have led them to play an excellent supporting role for knights.

……(Omitted)……

=======

“Just as expected.”

It wasn’t just Instructor Dyke.

The discomfort I felt couldn’t be dismissed as simply Samael’s downfall.

The source of that discomfort was in this book.

The feeling that the current head of the family was denying Samael’s magic was not a mistake.

In a world where Mana core and Hand Sign Magic had become the norm, magic had regressed over 300 years.

[Gaysek Parkunon]

The author of the book suddenly caught my eye.

‘The Parkunon family.’

I knew of them.

They were the only magic family that hadn’t sent a single direct descendant to the expedition.

‘What a load of nonsense.’

The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

Mages playing a supporting role for knights?

If the members of the Crazy Mage Squad had heard this, they would have probably foamed at the mouth and beaten the author to death.

The values that mages had built up over thousands of years…

Shattered in just 300 years.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted to save the idiotic mages of the present.

I already knew that such a sense of justice was useless.

But what made me angry…

Was that the apprentices using hand signs kept reminding me of the Crazy Mage Squad from the past.

“Idiots.”

I slowly rotated my circle, checking my condition. It seemed I needed to create another circle quickly.

* * *

The next day.

I attended Instructor Dyke’s class again.

Dyke glared at me for a moment with a dumbfounded look, but when I remained silent and just observed the class, he continued without any further interference.

Of course, I had a plan.

It just wasn’t aimed at Dyke. That stubborn instructor was not someone I could reason with.

‘There’s a better way.’

Instead, I stared at the apprentices throughout the class.

I focused my gaze on one of them, constantly smirking.

“Hey.”

During break time,

As expected, the kid with the red forehead approached me.

“Aren’t you going to look away? You think you’re invincible because the instructor is going easy on you, huh?”

I knew it.

This kid didn’t grasp the power of the magic I displayed when I attacked the instructor.

I raised my middle finger and wagged it.

“You crazy bastard. Do you really want to die? You stay behind after class.”

“Alright.”

I cheered inwardly.

As they say, teaching is most effective when it’s tailored to the student’s level.

Come to think of it, I think I made subordinates around this age in my past life too.

————