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Skills.
It was easier to think of them as a type of magic.
However, compared to magic in which anyone could use so long as they could feel mana, Skills were unique abilities only for me.
That’s right.
They were only for me.
In the Skill window, there were a total of two Skills.
I clicked on the first one.
Force Circle
Passive
Mana is replaced by strength.
Mana Circles are replaced by the Force Circle.
All spells of the Player are now affected by strength.
All movements of the Player are now affected by strength.
That was all the explanation given to me, but I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
“Replaced mana… with strength?”
Mana, the fundamental essence required for magic.
It was mixed in the air, but it was lighter, burnt more easily, and if any impurities got mixed with it, it would break down and disappear.
A very difficult substance.
It was precious, not because it was rare, but because not everyone could manipulate it.
You needed to be able to handle mana to utilize magic.
It was both the beginning and the end of a magician.
But to substitute this with something else?
Regardless of if you were a low-ranking 1st-class magician or a grand magician with 8th-class magic, mana was the one thing that couldn’t be replaced by anything else.
“What the hell? This doesn’t make any sense…”
I was muttering in my confusion, but quickly snapped out of it to check my Mana Circle.
Mana Circle: for anyone who could feel mana and study it, a circle existed somewhere near their heart.
A type of mana storage area.
Not only that, it was a central function in spellcasting, used to amplify and ignite the mana.
It also increased the amount of mana one could utilize at once, and as you train your magic, the number of circles would also increase.
At the time, the number of mana circles I possessed was four.
It was overwhelmingly stronger than my peers, but since I couldn’t release it, it was the same as having none.
But now,
“It’s gone… All gone…”
My mana circles had all disappeared.
In place of my previously densely-packed circles, a <∞> band with a red glow had appeared.
It was a symbol meaning ‘infinite’.
And in the centre of this ‘circle’, strength was raring to go.
“What the… What is this?”
It was a nonsensical situation.
For my mana circles that I’d spent my heart and soul into cultivating to all suddenly disappear.
A magician without mana circles?
Wait, would I even be a magician at this point?
“Then what about my magic…”
I began panicking. I started getting lightheaded as my heart pounded and a dreadful chill went down my spine.
I choked in fear.
The fear that I wouldn’t be able to use magic for the rest of my life.
“Augh… shit.”
Was there ever a time in my life where I felt this suffocated?
I took a deep breath in to try and calm myself down.
If-
If I couldn’t use magic at all…
Then I was…
“Sigh…”
I shut my eyes, took in a sharp breath, and stretched open my hand.
As I tried to cast like I usually did, something interesting happened.
* * *
First, collect the raw mana scattered about.
Second, empower the collected mana through the mana circle.
Third, process the empowered mana and materialize it.
Then, you could release it.
This was the fundamental called the ‘Rule of Three’, the basis for all magic.
However,
“But… How?”
I had completely flipped the fundamentals on their head.
The spell I had cast was the basic 2nd-circle spell ‘Fireball’.
As soon as I started casting, my mana circle…
No.
Just as my new circle started thrashing about uncontrollably, a burning ball of fire suddenly appeared atop my palm.
“That’s… so fast.”
Collect, Empower, Process.
Through strength alone, I had forcefully charged through these steps which would normally take 10 seconds.
It was easy.
It was as fast as it was easy.
Decreasing one’s casting time would infinitely increase the effectiveness of that magician.
“How in the world…”
Fwhoosh!
At just a glance, you could tell that the Fireball conjured through strength was more powerful than one made through mana.
‘How about other types of magic…?’
I experimented with the other types.
Water, Fire, Earth, Air.
The four fundamental magics responded the same.
They all skipped the three-step operation of collect, empower, process, instead directly materializing the effect.
All at an insane speed.
‘I can use each type of magic the same way…’
It was only that mana was now replaced with strength, and my mana circles with the Force Circle.
Nothing really changed.
Right.
I could still use magic.
Released from the restraints of mana and mana circles, a new type of magic that utilized a different source of power.
It became a magic that only I could use.
“This is… the strength of an artifact.”
I was getting oddly excited.
I turned to look at the other Skill window.
Then.
I saw it.
The Mad Magician
Passive
A method of magic designed by Draka, who had trouble releasing mana.
You can attack enemies by loading magic into your body.
“……”
A new world had opened up to me.
You can attack enemies by imbuing magic into your body.
You are not affected by magic cast by you.
Strength is added to your magic.
Your magic damage will also deal additional physical damage.
“Loading magic into my body to attack?”
This was the reason I needed ‘Strength’ instead of mana.
The reason that the first quest was to punch and kick.
Draka, who couldn’t release magic.
He had fought by imbuing himself with magic in his hands and legs.
“Who would come up with such a thing?”
At that moment, the quest window started flashing.
A new Quest has been created.
“A new Quest?”
I looked into it.
Quest
Demonstration of the method
Using the Force Circle and ‘Strength’, hit a physical target with an attack.
Physical Targets Hit: 0/1
* Reward: Strength +10
A quest to use the Skill to hit something.
“……”
My excited breathing finally returned to normal.
My burning heart also started cooling down.
The future which looked as dark as the void started brightening up just a little bit.
As soon as I regained my composure, I started seeing new things.
‘This method… This is something I’ve never even thought about before.’
To hold the magic in your fist and just punch with it.
‘Could I do it?’
I was not asking trivial questions such as,
Could I become a magician?
Could I become stronger?
Could I become a great magician?
It was questions like, ‘Could I become the strongest magician?’ that used to be hard to even imagine asking.
Of course, the answers to these questions were obvious.
‘I need to do it.’
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator – Jreaming
Proofreader – Artethrax
Join our discord for updates on releases!
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* * *
With Fireball in one hand and Iceball in the other, I stood in front of the scarecrow.
This scarecrow with its weird nose and eyes that weren’t even manufactured properly looked as if it were mocking me.
Because of this, I didn’t hesitate to recreate my punching form and strike the scarecrow.
“Left hand!”
Kaboom!
The Fireball held in my left had exploded the scarecrow’s head off and burnt it as soon as it made contact.
“Right Hand!”
Ching!
The Iceball in my right hand froze over the burning scarecrow.
And then,
Crash!
The frozen scarecrow broke into a million pieces as I struck it with my empowered fist.
‘Wow.’
Upon seeing this unbelievable strength, I took a step back.
Quest has been completed.
Rewards will be given.
Strength has increased by 10.
The scarecrow that was mocking me just a second ago had ceased to exist.
Only branches scorched with burn marks were scattered along the floor.
“I destroyed a scarecrow…”
It was only a scarecrow, but why was I so moved?
I knew.
Because for some, it was just an ordinary scarecrow
But for me, it was an entity that was too strong for me to even touch.
An annoying creature that was always outside my magic’s range, always mocking me.
I had dreamt of it for the 6 years I had been in the academy.
That one day, I would use my magic to knock that scarecrow over.
Till now, I had time and time again been stopped by the ‘Release’ step of the casting.
But today, that dream was made real.
With nothing but this fist.
“This is… the magic of Draka.”
I stared blankly at the destroyed scarecrow remains.
I quickly pinched myself and rubbed my eyes.
It was not a dream.
It wasn’t a hallucination either.
All of this was real.
I collapsed to the ground and exclaimed,
“Woah.”
I laid down face up on the hard dirt.
“…It’s pretty.”
The moon that shone through the dark night sky looked more beautiful than ever before.
Even the hard dirt ground felt like a soft bed.
Laying like this, my body started to feel the exhaustion.
The exhaustion of today’s exercise, coupled with the sorrow of the past six years, came crashing down on me like a waterfall.
My eyes became heavier.
I needed to wake up.
I needed to…
…whatever.
Zzzzzzz…
* * *
After waking up, I became famous for another reason.
“What the? Is he seriously sleeping here?”
“It looked like he trained here till early morning. Sheesh. I think he’s asleep.”
“Shouldn’t we wake him up?”
“……”
I must’ve been crazy.
No matter how tired I was, to sleep on the dirt like this…
“No way… Is he dead?”
“There’s no way. He was fine even after getting hit by Lightning B- Woah! Ruin! You startled me.”
However, I opened my eyes like nothing was wrong.
Then, I casually stood up, stretching and cracking my neck.
“Why are you all gathered here? First time seeing someone sleep outside?”
“Yea, it’s my first time seeing a noble sleep outside in the dirt when such a good dorm is only 100 meters away.”
“……”
Damn.
Couldn’t argue with that.
“Ruin, did you get drunk?”
“What do you mean drunk? I was so tired that I fell asleep instantly.”
It looked like there were about 10 people here spectating me.
From them looking at me like I was a rare animal, embarrassment finally came over me.
I wanted to go hide in a hole.
However, I tried to act nonchalantly while grabbing my stuff and started heading towards the dorm.
“That’s amazing… in more ways than one.”
“By the way, that broken scarecrow… Did Ruin do that?”
“There’s literally no way.”
Their gossip crept into my ears, but who cares if they talk about me?
Strangely, the small smile on my lips refused to leave.
How long ago was it since I’d woken up so refreshed like this?
To give an answer, this would be the first time since entering the academy.
As I entered my dorm room, my roommate, Jason, questioned me while he was brushing his teeth.
“Yo, Ruin. Did you sleep out somewhere yesterday?”
Well, I guess I did ‘sleep out’side.
I shrugged my shoulders instead of answering him.
Jason narrowed his eyes at my answer.
“What? Wait. Did you go outside the academy grounds? Or… Oh shit! Did you go meet a girl? Till this morning???”
Jason Damon.
The eldest son of the Damon house, who garnered their immense wealth through casting and mining metals.
To me, who had a hard time calling anyone in the academy a ‘friend’, he was nice.
A crazy bastard that would jump the academy fences to go enjoy wine and women when he was bored.
They sometimes say you’re more comfortable with a person of the complete opposite personality.
Jason and I were pretty comfortable in that sense.
“It’s nothing like that!”
“This bastard! You finally woke up after getting hit by that lightning. ‘No~ I can’t die like this! All those days I wasted reading through only books! I need to become a real man!’”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“So, sir Ruin, how does it feel to finally become a man?”
“……”
I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
“I’m going to wash up.”
I went into the bathroom with my towel.
Jason was muttering something about,
‘That’s right. You should clean yourself. Rub Rub.’
He was definitely insane.
Whoosh!
I floated in the bathtub filled with warm water.
“Ah. right.”
While floating, I remembered that I forgot to check the Quest after waking up.
“Quest.”
I was still not used to this half-transparent window that appears in front of my eyes.
I would get used to it, right?
There was not much of a difference in the Quest than from yesterday.
Well, to pick out a specific difference…
Repeatable Quest
Body Training I
Since you have become a Player connected to Draka, Destroyer of Worlds, you need to train your body in preparation for your increase in strength.
Punch: 0/200
Kick: 0/200
Spin Kick: 0/200
* Reward: Strength +10.
“……”
The reward was still the same ‘Strength +10’, but the training requirements doubled.
“Sigh… This is going to be tiring.”
However, the smile on my face wasn’t fading anytime soon.