The carriage shook roughly.
Inside, however, it remained utterly still thanks to the layers of magic applied within.
“Hmm…”
The owner of the carriage, Sergey, looked coldly at the long-distance communication tool that was beginning to lose its light.
“Adolf, my foolish friend.”
Word had it that Adolf had gone to confront the elders of the Magic Tower and demand accountability for recent events.
Of course the elders feigned ignorance. And this only fueled Adolf’s anger.
In reality, there was nothing Adolf could do.
“Tsk, tsk… and that shrewd fellow knows better than anyone.”
Sergey had known Adolf for quite some time.
And yet, Sergey had betrayed him without hesitation. He even framed him as the culprit behind the current situation.
Guilt?
A mere few decades of acquaintance meant little to him.
To Sergey, the rare Mana Body of legends was far more valuable than a friendship of mere decades.
“I thought he had died alongside Damian…”
Someone with that legendary constitution had survived and in complete secrecy.
Sergey had discovered this almost by pure chance.
– Perhaps I’ve brought along someone beyond even my control.
Those were the words from a conversation Sergey had with his old friend and rival, Damian.
They had been attending a meeting at the Mage Association that day.
Damian had looked at a white-haired boy staring blankly at butterflies floating in the garden and made that comment.
He hadn’t realized it then, but even back then, the boy had worn around his neck a choker imbued with Damian’s incantation.
He had seen that face only once, many years ago.
Seeing it again so recently had been a twist of fate.
I nearly didn’t recognize him.
While gathering information on the recent discovery of a hidden field within the Black Forest, he came across a photograph.
Had he paid a little less attention, he might have let it pass without a second thought.
I hadn’t expected him to change so much.
The once white hair had turned black, and the eyes that once seemed lifeless as an undead now gleamed with a sharp intensity.
Did he survive by killing his own master and even going so far as to destroy the Mage Tower, which was as good as his home?
“Damian, you fool. Did you really leave such a treasure behind and just leave?”
Though he said it with disdain, he was sincerely grateful to Damian.
In the end, that treasure had fallen into his own hands.
Although his original plan had been somewhat distorted, ultimately, he was the only one who truly understood its value.
“Mana Body…”
Even now, he couldn’t forget the lingering trace of magical power he had felt at the site of Damian’s Magic Tower collapse.
It was that realization back then that had allowed him to reach the seventh-circle.
If he could achieve that much from a mere trace, what might happen if he actually possessed it?
His heart, which had once been considered as cold and lifeless as any mage’s, beat wildly in his chest. It was throbbing with the vigor of youth.
Now, he only needed to safely slip out of the Founder City in the distance.
It wasn’t a difficult task.
Even the count wouldn’t be able to detain him without proper evidence.
“Adrian. Since he failed, it seems I’ll have to go myself.”
Now that he was outside, stopping by the Black Forest on his way back wouldn’t be a bad idea.
That’s when it happened.
Just as he closed his eyes and felt a sense of ease at the thought,
“……!”
An image flashed through his mind.
It was a view of the [Mental Barrier] connected to him.
Though the details were blurred, it was clear that something had gone wrong with the gemstone that maintained the [Mental Barrier].
It’s already half-destroyed.
On the surface, it may have seemed intact, but it was on the verge of shattering at any moment.
“A thief… in my Magic Tower? Damn it. So Adolf didn’t come by for nothing.”
Sergey too was a seasoned Master of the Magic Tower who had been through countless trials. He sensed immediately that Adolf had brought someone along.
“Tsk, tsk. If you had just run away, you might have managed to keep your life.”
He didn’t know what made them bold enough to try robbing his Magic Tower, but it was all for nothing.
He immediately began focusing on the gemstone he had infused with his magic.
As his consciousness drifted, his vision rapidly pulled away from the carriage.
The world seemed to stretch and elongate, and soon, the landscape of his [Mental Barrier] came into clear view.
[……Haha. The treasure has appeared right before me.]
The treasure he had assumed would be stuck in the Black Forest had walked right into his Magic Tower.
It didn’t even seem right to call this falling into a trap; it was as if he had a trap lying around his home, and a beast had simply walked into his house and gotten caught in it.
As his consciousness nearly filled the chimera’s body entirely—
Now, he could even hear sounds within the [Mental Barrier].
He raised a hand to test it.
Though he couldn’t fully control the chimera’s body yet, the Mana Body he had longed for was right before his eyes.
The treasure spoke.
“You’ve come?”
“…Hmm?”
And with that, a massive ball of energy shot from the treasure’s fingertips.
It was a moment Sergey hadn’t anticipated.
***
Most people become strangely pure in the face of greed.
It doesn’t matter if they’re a mage who has reached the seventh-circle.
And pure-minded people often make many mistakes.
The mistake Sergey made was a simple one.
He hadn’t doubted.
Why had Jun come to this Magic Tower on his own? Why had he activated the [Mental Barrier] inside Sergey’s tower, and why was the gemstone sustaining that [Mental Barrier] now half-destroyed?
If Sergey had paused to consider these questions even once more, he would never have recklessly transferred his consciousness into the chimera. This was a mad move, at best.
But he didn’t notice his mistake until a crimson flash closed in right before his eyes.
Only then—
[How…?]
According to the reports, the boy had only reached the third-circle.
Even if he’d grown stronger in that time, he should have barely reached the fourth-circle at best.
How was he using fifth-circle magic?
That was the only question on his mind.
***
Time goes back.
Jun realized his plan had gone awry the moment the chimera began to change.
“Hoo…”
At the same time, he steeled himself.
To get through this situation, he would have to be ready to sacrifice his life as well.
He let his arms drop to his sides, bringing the thumb and index finger of each hand together.
It was a stance commonly used when taking a deep breath.
At the same time, he canceled the magic that had been helping him breathe the entire time.
――And then, he took in a deep deliberate breath.
“Hrrrnnngh—!”
Hot air traveled down his throat and windpipe, scraping his nerves as it filled his lungs.
“……!!!”
He almost let out the breath he’d been struggling to hold.
Unlike the brief gasp he’d taken earlier, this deep breath felt like it was melting his mouth, throat, and lungs.
With a breath this deep, his lungs were likely already beyond functioning properly.
His brain screamed at him, asking if he’d lost his mind.
He was seized with the urge to collapse onto the ground and twist his body in pain.
But [Steadfast Will] and [Unwavering Heart] barely held that impulse back. Giving in now would be fatal.
“Hooooo…!!”
He barely endured the pain and exhaled slowly.
And then—
“Hrrrrngh!!”
He drew in an even deeper breath than before.
Ah.
It was close.
He nearly lost consciousness.
His whole body turned red and his blood felt like it was boiling over and evaporating.
And yet, Jun lifted one corner of his mouth in a slight smile.
I endured it. That’s enough.
But it was too soon to let his guard down.
“Hooooooo!!”
The real trial was just beginning.
“Hrrrrnnngh――!!”
He took an even bigger breath than before, much deeper.
Some part of his brain seemed to short-circuit. He couldn’t feel any pain. But his body was honest.
His knees wobbled.
It wasn’t because his strength was giving out; his body was literally dying in real-time.
His magic circuits were burning black.
And that wasn’t all. His four magic circles spun wildly, struggling to withstand the torrent of fire-attribute magical power surging in from outside, as though they would soon melt away.
His face had once been flushed red. Now it was dark, as if charred.
“Hooooooo――!”
But.
The trial, I’ve overcome it.
When he exhaled again, his face was not twisted in pain.
Instead, a faint thrill of exhilaration flickered across his expression.
The charred magic circuits gradually began to stabilize.
His four magic circles that were now pulsing evenly were tinged a satisfying shade of red.
It worked.
[Mental Barrier].
A miracle only mages who had reached a certain level of mastery could achieve.
But even here, everything was constructed of magical power.
If Sergey comes here in person…
Jun wouldn’t have even attempted this.
However, Sergey had entrusted his magical power to something like an artifact gem.
There was no way it had any authority to retain dominance over the magical power here.
And with Sergey absent, Jun’s [Mana Body] had been arrogantly demanding, from the start, that he reminds the magical power of who its master was.
Magical power was him, and he was magical power.
The [Mana Body] declared this boldly.
Could it be possible?
The question surfaced.
From a mage’s perspective, it was undeniably impossible.
However.
His master had once said:
– Arrogant, insolent, and boundless talent.
Indeed.
He could barely hide his disgust at the true nature of [Mana Body].
[Mana Body] was the despair and ruin of all mages.
Of course it would be.
Mages were those who manipulated the magical power that permeated nature.
However, the [Mana Body] held dominance over all magical power (mana) in this world.
And so—
Every mage could be nothing more than a lamb in the face of [Mana Body].
Without the permission of the [Mana Body], they wouldn’t even be able to use magic.
And now, in this very moment—
Jun had seized control over the magical power that made up Sergey’s [Mental Barrier].
I can’t wield it exactly as I please.
More precisely, he hadn’t transformed the magical power into his own. Instead, he had approached Sergey’s magical power.
It sounded like wordplay, but the difference between the two was greater than one might think.
Right now, the magical power surging through his body was threatening to run wild.
If he relaxed even a little, he could end up like Adrian, with his whole body consumed in flames, burned to death.
But even so, the result was satisfying.
It was insane, but I pulled it off in the end.
He chanted the spell.
He crafted the magic pattern.
He drew the image.
――And then.
He unleashed it.
The most powerful fifth-circle spell he had produced in his days as “Lee Jeong-jun”.
[Flare]
A single stream of flame shot like a laser, piercing through the chimera’s chest.
***
When he was young, there had been a fire at his home.
Jun didn’t particularly want to recall those memories in vivid detail, yet he poured the impression of the flames he had felt back then into this [Flare].
It turns out, an image doesn’t have to be new every time.
During the Forest Guardian raid, Jun had once cast [Fireball] to draw the Fairy Queen’s attention.
Despite being a mere third-circle spell, it had caused enough of a threat to make the Fairy Queen feel compelled to flee.
What was the difference that made it so effective?
What had amplified the power of [Fireball] to such an extent?
He had pondered this question for a long time, but there was no mage around who could offer him guidance.
For now, he believed the only way to strike that monster was by relying on the same image he had embedded back then.
“……”
Unlike [Ice Spear], [Flare] went straight through the Chimera’s chest and came out the other side.
Soon after that, the light faded away and the chimera just stood there and stared at Jun with its chest impaled.
Their eyes met. Its face and gaze seemed like an endless abyss, drawing him in.
Time felt as if it had frozen.
But right after the anomaly occurred, time resumed its flow once more.
Thud—
Something bright red trickled down from the chimera’s chest.
Perhaps it was its innards.
The creature began to melt away slowly from its core. It dissolved beyond recognition.
[Ah… no, no…!!]
A voice sounded, but it wasn’t the chimera’s; it was an unfamiliar voice.
Sergey.
The greedy Sergey who had transferred his mind into the body of the Chimera cried out in despair.
Yet even that voice didn’t last long.
The chimera was crumbling too quickly for that.
“……”
But Jun remained silent and simply watched the scene unfold.
Even now, he felt as though his entire body might melt away.
The price was coming to him for daring to attempt fifth-circle magic that was far beyond his limits while drawing close to the magical power of this [Mental Barrier].
And yet, strangely enough.
“……Ah.”
A moment of enlightenment came to him, even in this dire situation.
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