Chapter 8 - The City of Mages (3)

Unlike its ominous exterior, the interior of the mansion was much cleaner than expected. There wasn't a speck of dust, and all furniture and rooms were cleaned as if new. Unlike the outside, lightning didn't strike inside. Acel secretly found that disappointing. Evelyn grimaced at her brother's strange fondness for lightning.

As they passed through the mansion's entrance, a grand hall appeared. It was spacious enough to hold a party. Acel and Evelyn, who had never been to such a wide and clean place in their lives, unconsciously felt a bit intimidated. 

Ena spoke to them in a light voice, "Get used to it. You'll be living here from now on."

The two nodded, but their eyes still couldn't stay still, as if feeling awkward.

It was a problem that time would solve, anyway. Ena left the two as they were and turned her head towards someone coming down the stairs in the center of the hall. It was a woman who looked like she had just become an adult. Her brown eyes were wide open, her hair still dripping wet as if she had just come out of the shower.

"Oh my, Lady Ena."

"Haley," Ena called her name. 

Haley came down the stairs with quick steps and stood in front of Ena. Due to her height being two heads taller than Ena, it looked like Ena was looking up at her. Ena frowned as if this secretly bothered her, but Haley, showing no sign of concern, tilted her head.

"You're back earlier than expected? You said it would take at least half a year more."

"...I found the Corpse Lord faster than expected."

"Did you kill him?"

"He got away."

"Ahaha, what a joke."

Haley giggled as she received the hat, and cloak Ena handed her.

"How could you let someone escape, Lady Ena? You're the one who always shoots lightning first or subdues with word magic when you don't like something. It's not for nothing that you're nicknamed the crazy mage who can only shoot lightning."

"...Haley."

"Look at last time too. When Miss Leticia came and started saying something, you immediately cast 'Silence' and chased her away with pew-pew lightning. How could such a Lady Ena let the Corpse Lord escape? I'd sooner believe a story about a devil repenting and becoming a priest—"

[Silence.]

"Mmph?! Mph! Mmph!"

Haley's mouth, which had been chattering noisily, closed tightly as if sealed. Ena turned to Acel and Evelyn, ignoring Haley who was jumping up and down while clutching her mouth.

"Let's go. I'll show you the empty rooms, and you can choose whichever you like."

"Mmph?"

Only then did Haley notice Acel and Evelyn's presence and tilted her head. She pointed at the two and fidgeted in front of Ena. It was a gesture asking who they were. Ena answered tiredly, "My disciple and your successor."

"Mmph!!!"

At this calm declaration, Haley's eyes widened. Ena took the two up to the second-floor corridor before she could say anything more.

The corridor was also very well-maintained, like the first-floor hall. Warmth emanated from the wooden floors, ceilings, and walls, and magic lamps installed here and there gently illuminated the corridor. Acel, noticing that the warmth emanating from all directions was a kind of magic, looked around with interested eyes.

Meanwhile, Ena pointed to empty rooms with her finger and said, "From here to there. They're all empty rooms. Just choose one each."

"Any of them?"

"Yes. Any of them."

Ena nodded in response to Evelyn's question. Acel and Evelyn hesitated for a moment even at these words, but then timidly grabbed any room and turned the doorknob. The rooms that unfolded were spaces so wide and clean that the two had never seen or heard of in their lives. They both exclaimed in admiration and stood in front of their chosen rooms, looking at each other.

"What are you doing?"

Ena burst into laughter at this sight. It was more of a laugh when seeing something cute rather than mockery.

Acel and Evelyn looked at each other for a moment, then nodded and entered their respective rooms.

She said to get used to it.

Let's not be surprised by things like this anymore. 

Acel thought this as he walked around the room. However, his body flinched with every step he took.

Just because one had made up their mind didn't mean a person could change immediately. Having lived his entire life in the slums and a closed village, he still needed more time to adapt to a place like this. That was why Ena decided to give the two time to get used to it.

"Haley will bring clothes for you to change into soon. Until then, rest, change, and then come to my room. You'll see it right away when you go up to the third floor."

Ena left those words and snapped her fingers. Then her body turned into a streak of white lightning and disappeared instantly. Acel stared blankly at the lingering traces of lightning she left behind, then closed the door and started exploring the room a bit more.

After about 5 minutes of exploration, Acel exhaled deeply and plopped down on the bed.

The feeling of the bed, which he was experiencing for the first time, wasn't much different from what he had felt in his past life memories. Perhaps that was why he didn't feel as overwhelmed as when he first saw the mansion. He did feel admiration, but only for a moment. He exhaled deeply as he looked at the brightly burning magic lamp.

"...This is the beginning."

He had accepted Ena's declaration to become her disciple but had yet to receive proper guidance. He had only heard explanations about magical power, mana, and aura while riding in the carriage.

How to form a magical core, how to increase rank. Types of magic and aptitudes. He had only heard brief explanations about these. He had suppressed his curiosity, waiting for the detailed content that she said she would explain after arriving in Wyheim. And now, having arrived in Wyheim and even received a room, he began to feel the reality of becoming a mage's disciple.

Will I be able to do well?

Acel suddenly thought this, then shook his head to clear away the thought.

It wasn’t a question of whether he could do well. He could do well. Acel recalled all the evaluations about himself that he had heard on the way here.

Gerbil had said he would make an excellent experimental subject. The reason was his excellent mana sensitivity, control, and affinity. Ena had immediately offered to make him her disciple upon recognizing his talent, and Parnin, the monstrous bird he met in Wyheim, had called him a monster just like Ena.

There was nothing negative. They all just expressed interest and admiration for his extreme talent that they were seeing for the first time.

Even in that short time of less than a month, the evaluations he had heard were like that. There was no reason to feel intimidated.

Of course, he had no intention of being arrogant. Even overwhelming talent was just a gem buried in stone forever without humility. Acel exhaled deeply, lowering his gaze.

"Knock knock knock."

At that moment, Haley's voice was heard from outside the door. Acel uttered an "Ah" and jumped up from his seat to open the door. Beyond the opened door, Haley was standing with a smile, holding clothes for him to change into. She waved her hand, looking down at Acel.

"Hello?" Haley greeted him in a cute voice. 

Acel bowed his head and greeted her back.

"Hello..."

"Mm-hmm. Can I come in?"

"Ah, yes. Please come in."

"Then excuse me~"

Saying this, Haley strode into the room. Acel confirmed that she sat down on the bed, closed the door, and sat down next to her. Then Haley looked at Acel with narrowed eyes.

"Sitting next to me. Is this flirting?"

"What's that?"

"You don't need to know."

Haley chuckled and looked Acel up and down. Acel accepted her gaze without any particular resistance. It wasn't a negative gaze, anyway.

"You're Ena's disciple, right?"

"Yes."

"Then that pretty girl is my successor?"

"...I guess so?"

"Hehehe... My first successor. My first successor."

Haley laughed mischievously, fidgeting with her hands.

"I've been struggling so much managing this mansion alone, and finally a newbie is coming."

"You manage it alone?" Acel asked with a surprised expression.

Ena's mansion was by no means small. Even just the first floor was packed with all kinds of facilities, and there were two more similar floors above. It was not just insufficient but impossible for one person to manage. 

But Haley chuckled and answered in a nonchalant tone, "There are quite a few magic tools suitable for mansion management. Plus, I'm pretty good at household magic, so there was no problem!"

"Household magic?"

"Yes. Don't you know?"

Acel nodded. Then Haley smiled and reached out her hand towards Acel.

Woong.

A faint magical power condensed at her fingertips. Haley poked the dirty part of Acel's clothes with her brightly glowing hand and muttered.

[Clean]

With the manifestation of magic, a white light grew and devoured the dirt. The light didn't stop there but enveloped the entire garment, neatly incinerating the dirty parts. And only when there was no more dirt to devour did it fade away. Acel looked down at his clothes, which had become as clean as new except for the torn parts here and there, and exclaimed in admiration, "So this is that kind of magic?"

"How amazing, right? Originally, it can only clean one spot at a time! I modified the spell formula myself to make it such an amazing spell!"

Acel still didn't know much about the magic system. But he could clearly tell that modifying a spell formula wasn't an easy task. Haley, who had seemed just cheerful in his eyes, began to look a bit different.

"Are you a mage too, Haley?"

"I am a mage, but one who can only use household magic. But in the household area, I'm probably the best in Wyheim! Because there's no one else researching this magic except me!" Haley said with a proud attitude.

 Acel clapped his hands, letting out an "Ooh" of admiration. Perhaps, thanks to Haley's friendly attitude, Acel seemed to be getting more comfortable with her too.

"Does household magic also require an aptitude to use?"

"No. Anyone who has learned magic can use this. It's probably one of the easiest magics?"

"I see."

Acel nodded. He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist, thinking about the path of magical power movement that Haley had just shown.

'The magical power moved from the heart to the fingertips. And from there, the spell formula activated, and the magic manifested externally.'

After coming to Wyheim, his sense of detecting mana and magical power seemed to have improved dramatically. It was because his sensitivity had naturally increased as he sensed the magic spread throughout the city and communed with the mana of the forest. Acel narrowed his eyes, recalling Haley's magic once again.

He recalled the basics of magic he had read in the book. Although it was a book carelessly scattered in the carriage, the content of the book that had once been very popular as an introduction to magic came vividly to Acel's mind.

Convert external mana into magical power and store it in the mage's magical core. Magic is performed by releasing this stored magical power externally through spell formulas.

Magical core. In the end, it meant one couldn't use magic without it. Because one couldn't store magical power in one’s body, it was impossible to release it externally through spell formulas. To begin with, people who didn't have a magical core usually found it difficult to even sense mana itself.

But Acel was sensing mana even at this moment. The faint mana floating around Haley and the vast amount of mana swirling around himself. The moment he recognized it and waved his hand, they moved following his gesture.

I think I can do it.

Somehow, he had that intuition.

So he decided to try it first.

Acel closed his eyes and concentrated on the mana circling around him. Haley tilted her head at his sudden action and placed the clothes she had brought on the bed.

"Now just put these on and go to Ena."

"..."

"Acel?"

Haley's words didn't reach his ears. All of Acel's senses and mind were entirely focused on the mana.

In general cases, to sense mana, one needed the help of a knight or mage who had awakened to mana. They made skin contact with their disciple and showed them the new sense needed to feel mana while simultaneously leaving a trace of it. Then the disciple could build a magical core or aura more easily than before.

Acel had skipped that process.

He had learned to sense mana on his own by watching the battle between Gerbil and Ena. He had also understood mana through the books he read on the way to Wyheim, and after arriving in Wyheim, he had vaguely gained knowledge about the characteristics of magical power by detecting the magic spread throughout the place.

Magical power was the driving force refined from mana. It was a pure and stable power obtained by cleanly detoxifying mana, which inherently had some impurities mixed in.

But you need a core to refine it.

It was impossible to convert external floating mana into magical power without a core. It would be like trying to eliminate all pollution on the continent with a very small purification device. No matter how excellent the performance of the purification device, it would be a meaningless and futile act.

The same went for Acel's talent. No matter how excellent his talent was, freely changing the mana that roamed the world was in the realm of impossibility. He might be able to control mana through his excellent mana control ability, but it was impossible to freely change mana into magical power without a core.

So, in the end, building a core was the first step. Acel exhaled deeply, cleared his mind, and focused again only on sensing mana.

He had heard from Ena what a core was, but he hadn't yet heard how to create one.

But Acel instinctively realized how he should do it.

It was like the sensation of blinking. An action that could be done naturally without learning. He just didn't know until now because he hadn't tried to do it, but now it was different. He tried, recognized, and understood.

He went through recognition. He held the mana circling around in place. He changed the direction of the fixed mana and slowly let it flow towards his body. There was no resistance in this process. Only the pleasure and refreshing feeling of accepting what should be accepted.

Woong.

The formless mana passed through the skin and settled in all the blood vessels and nervous system throughout the body. It proceeded through the heart and brain, riding the blood flow and electrical signals.

The mana rotated once through the entire body. Impurities that were gnawing at the whole body were excreted as sweat. Dead blood refluxed from the mouth. But there was no pain. Acel continued to focus all his senses on the mana even as he spat blood onto the floor. He simply passes through the most crucial process to be careful of when creating a magical core.

Two rotations. The mana found the optimal space to settle.

The heart. He concentrated all the mana on that organ that beat and spread blood throughout the body. Originally, the body should had shown a mana rejection reaction during this process, but Acel's body showed no rejection at all. As if it was something he originally had flowing, the mana moved docilely without rampaging.

All the moved mana gathered in the heart. Acel then adjusted the gathered mana into an appropriate form. A sphere shape, empty inside and solid outside. The mana instantly completed that form following Acel's will.

...Did it succeed?

The moment Acel had such a thought while exhaling deeply, the constructed magical core took deep root in Acel's body and inner self. Not only had he finished constructing the core, but he had also completed its stabilization and settlement.

The next moment, the mana that had been circling around Acel began to advance madly towards his core. It looked as if it was being sucked in.

In the process of advancing towards Acel's core, the mana was entirely converted into magical power. Acel didn't even need to pay attention. The mana changed its nature on its own, becoming pure magical power and settling deep within the core.

After a few minutes passed like this, Acel felt his core fill with magical power and exhaled deeply.

"Phew..."

Mana faintly clung to his exhaled breath. Some of the mana that couldn't enter the core was coming out. It seemed that his total magical power wasn't high enough yet to contain all the surrounding mana. It was natural, considering he had just created it for the first time. There was no reason to be disappointed.

Acel thought this as he slowly opened his eyes.

"...Huh."

Three pairs of eyes met Acel's gaze head-on. Acel inhaled in surprise, and seeing him, the three people showed their respective reactions.

"..."

"...I'm speechless."

"W-what's wrong? Is something wrong with my brother? Are you in pain?"

Ena remained silent. Haley let out a hollow laugh, and Evelyn was rolling her eyes anxiously, stamping her feet.

Acel looked at them quietly, then opened his mouth towards Ena, who was standing with a serious expression.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

Even after Acel's question, Ena kept her mouth shut for a while longer. Then, bending her knees to meet his eyes, she continued speaking, "Haley suddenly came to find me, and I wondered what was going on... In that short time, you've done something outrageous."

"..."

"Do you know how dangerous it is to form a magical core on your own? If you're not careful, you could die spewing blood from every orifice in your body. Many also become crippled because they can't control the rejection reaction. I don't want to lose my disciple like that."

"...I'm sorry."

"Yes. From now on, until you become a proper mage, even if you feel confident you can do something like this, ask me first. That's how I can ensure your safety," Ena said, placing her hand on Acel's cheek.

"But... I should praise what deserves praise."

"..."

"You made it well. There's no sign of instability at all for a magical core of a mage who has just gained rank."

Ena smiled gently and lightly stroked Acel's head.

"Well done."

"...Thank you."

"Mm."

Acel gave an awkward smile at Ena's warm gaze.

"I'll have to change the lesson content a bit."

Her eyes were filled with undisguisable goodwill and joy.