Chapter 22: Growth (1)
Kang Min-Hyuk followed the other students to the Mana Room.
A man stood near the door, taking attendance, and making little check marks as each student entered. Min-Hyuk assumed this was the professor. Once he was satisfied that everyone was present, he said, “From now on, you will be training individually in the Mana Room. To pass, you need a score of 3 or higher. Those who do not pass will need to complete extra training. So, focus.”
The students nodded.
Min-Hyuk entered the empty room before him. There was a large circle drawn on the floor. A Magic Circle?
There were also Mana Stones throughout the room, forming the points of a hexagram. He did not recognize the pattern. One of the stones glowed a soft blue.
Min-Hyuk recalled how the Mana Stones were arranged in the textbook he had just read and moved the stones to match his memory. Then, he sat in the center of the Circle.
To activate the Mana Room, he would need to coax the Circle’s Mana into the Magic Circle. This, in turn, activates the Mana Stones, and that is when the real training begins. By doing this repeatedly, you can train your circle to accumulate more Mana in a shorter amount of time.
Min-Hyuk took a breath to focus. He calmly raised the Circle’s Mana around him, just off the floor. It reacted as he had expected, forming a faint ring in the air, following the Circle’s path.
When the trail of Mana reached one of the Stones, it turned blue. It kept spreading, turning all of the Stones blue.
‘Wow!’ Min-Hyuk thought to himself.
But the blue color did not stop there. It seeped into the floor, walls, and air as well.
Min-Hyuk gasped.
Mana generates oxygen, and too much Mana in a small space can create too much oxygen. Min-Hyuk was dizzy.
Min-Hyuk could tell there was something wrong…
‘The power of the Circle is too weak,’ Min-Hyuk thought. ‘This Mana seems to have no memory of doing this.’
Something occurred to him:
‘Klinssman cannot do this.’
Klinssman’s Circle was not strong enough to even do First Circle Magic.
The professor had said Min-Hyuk would need to get at least a 3 to pass, and Klinssman could not even complete a 1. It must have felt like a curse—to have a body that was not magically inclined in a world where Magic was so advanced and integral to survival.
A cursed body.
Min-Hyuk released the Mana, and the room’s oxygen levels returned to normal as the room lost its blue hue.
To have no ability to do Magic in this world where Magic was so great…
Things were starting to make more sense.
Klinssman had loads of knowledge about Magic, but it was Magic he could not use. So he tied himself to Min-Hyuk, who had little knowledge but great ability…
Min-Hyuk thought about the other students and how they had reacted when he—in Klinssman’s body—had asked questions. They did not seem to like or respect him.
Maybe, just like in Min-Hyuk’s world, admission into the Royal Academy of Magic was difficult, and you had to demonstrate some skill. If this was true and Klinssman had no Magical ability…how did he get into the Department?
Maybe, just like Min-Hyuk, he was the son of somebody rich or famous—or both. That would explain the other student’s disdain for him.
Min-Hyuk’s muddled thoughts drifted until something caught his eye.
The Mana Stones.
After the Mana had returned to where it had started, the Mana Stone had turned from a soft-glowing blue back to a cool, dead red.
Min-Hyuk had seen Stones like this in his own world, but there, they were not used as tools—rather discarded as trash.
***
Mana Stones.
A tool that helped birth an entire Magic civilization.
The Stones come from Monsters—hence Min-Hyuk’s society’s general disregard for them. They can be extracted from a Monster’s body and then divided into two categories, depending on the Stone’s color.
There were red Mana Stones and blue Mana Stones.
Min-Hyuk knew blue Mana Stones could be used to strengthen the power because they are full of Mana. Sometimes blue Mana Stones were used in Min-Hyuk’s world. But the red ones…
They had lower Mana content and were hard to use, so nobody bothered.
But the Stones in front of Min-Hyuk now were all red.
‘This isn’t like the red Mana Stones back home. When the Magic Circle was active, they seemed to behave… more like blue Stones! How the hell did that happen?’
Min-Hyuk pulled out his textbook.
He flipped to a page about the history of Mana Stones. It said:
“In the early days of Magical Society, blue Mana Stones were more highly valued than red Stones. This was because it was believed that red Mana stones contained less Mana than blue Stones. However, in the 300s, this belief changed. Although harder to use initially, red Mana Stones actually contain higher quality Mana than blue Stones; it just returns to Nature when used. Once you know how to use a red Stone, it is far more powerful than a blue one. This is why red Mana Stones now form the center of all advanced Magical civilizations that we know.”
This was shocking news to Min-Hyuk.
Where he came from, a blue mana Stone was worth hundreds more than a red Stone. But the truth was actually the opposite? This bit of knowledge could revolutionize the global economy.
Min-Hyuk’s thoughts raced with possibility.
Then, as always, an unavoidable sleep took over, and Min-Hyuk faded from Klinssman’s world and back to his own.
***
He needed a red Mana Stone.
Getting one was not difficult as red Mana Stones were dismissed in this world.
You could even find them for a bargain.
Min-Hyuk found one with no trouble. When Min-Hyuk told the seller he wanted to buy it, the seller grinned and snatched his money right away, afraid Min-Hyuk might change his mind about the worthless purchase.
Min-Hyuk rented space in a private lab. He intended to have a dedicated lab eventually, but for now, renting would do.
He got to work right away.
He flipped open his textbook to a page that said, “How to process a red Mana Stone.”
It was exactly what he needed.
“A red Mana Stone has a hard shell. Often, when processing goes wrong, this shell cracks, and the Mana contained with the Stone leaks out of the Stone. This is why it is important to process it correctly.”
Instead of cracking the shell, he would need to peel it off the Stone carefully.
Min-Hyuk had read about Mana Lasers and had purchased one for this endeavor.
He carefully pointed it at the red Mana Stone and turned it on…
A pungent smell permeated the room.
He consulted the textbook. Nothing mentioned about a smell…
However, it seemed the laser was doing its job.
After about 10 minutes, the Stone began to give off a soft glow, and Min-Hyuk switched the laser off.
His eyes grew wide.
It worked.
Or at least it looked like it did…
His thoughts began to race, thinking about how this small Stone could change the global economy. This discovery could make him rich.
But that wasn’t important.
What did the textbook say?
The red Mana Stone was the center of all Advanced Magical Civilizations.
This discovery could change the world.
