v1c3 (1/2)

Translated by Lei

Proofread by Masadeer

Birth of a Great Disciple

Squeeaal! SQUEAAAAAAL!

“Mommy!”

Thu-thu-thu-thu-thump!

This is when one would use the saying, ‘always be modest.’

I had been quite encouraged by my master’s honeyed praise, that no one in the history of magic had risen to the 2nd Circle this fast before. But upon experiencing the bitter h.e.l.l that started after I got dropped off in a rather thick forest, I started crying. As my tears flowed, I was able to realize the sage’s words of fuuuck.

There weren’t any rabbits I could catch with magic here. Time had pa.s.sed so I was hungry, and for a moment I had lost my sanity.

‘I’m a crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Graaah!’

I could feel an immense bloodl.u.s.t from behind me. It was a slight exaggeration, but there was a boar the size of a bull running towards me like crazy, with its hide slightly roasted by my Fire Ball magic.

There was no use to being a 2nd Circle Mage. I was made to feel with my entire body that circle awakenings and mana levels were not proportionate.

‘Ah, not even a dagger but a club! Gaaah!’

Even as I ran like crazy, I tasted the feeling of being driven to insanity as I looked at the wooden club in my hand. Being a Taekwondo fourth-degree blackbelt or a k.u.mdo 3-dan was no use. With such a miserable weapon, the jet-black boar and its quivering bacon were the essence of horror.

‘I’ll die like this!’

This full-course wilderness adventure, which I was experiencing for the first time in my life! Realizing that I was really going to die by getting hoofstomped by a boar, I looked for a way to survive.

‘I’m saved!’

Just then, perhaps by the grace of the mountain G.o.d, a huge boulder appeared in my view.

Juuump!

I kicked the ground forcefully and flung my body on top of the boulder.

Cras.h.!.+

“Geh!”

At the same time that I jumped, the boar that had almost caught up to me crashed into the boulder due to inertia.

‘A-amazing!’

I felt an incredible vibration under my feet. If I had been rammed by that boar it would have been difficult to even find a shoe in the carnage.

SQUEAL! SQUEAL! SQUEAAAAAAAL!

The valiant Mr. Boar was perfectly fine even after ramming into the rock. It was glaring at me with brown, bloodshot eyes as I s.h.i.+vered all over, atop the rock.

Just like I had thought of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d as meat, I was definitely a meal in its eyes.

‘Isn’t this too much? What kind of 2nd Circle magic is this?’

There were three parts to magic: mana, will, and manifestation. Having trained all three parts perfectly for the 2nd Circle magic Fire Ball, I realized that something was wrong. Master had said that 2nd Circle magic was the beginning of a so-called magician’s training. But my perfectly cast Fire Ball wasn’t enough to blacken the boar’s st.u.r.dy hide and bristles.

‘For my current 2nd Circle mana level, even if I can’t kill that boar, it should have made that pig uncomfortable for at least 8 weeks. But since it got only 2nd degree burns… argh! What in the world is Master hiding from me! Gaaah!’

The answer was clear.

It was definitely the limitations of that short-term magic circle which used Chinese-made crystals, and had started with an insufficient foundation.

Flop.

SQUEAL! SQUEAL!

‘Have- have you ever seen such a s.h.i.+tty b.a.s.t.a.r.d!’

While I had briefly been in thought, the boar had laid down on its belly under the 2 meter boulder. It was strongly radiating the fervent intent to gnaw and chomp on my bones.

‘I have to find a way, a way!’

After a month of harsh training, all that was left of me were muscles and bones, so my state of nutrition couldn’t even be compared to the boar’s stored fat reserves. I had an ominous feeling that I would go crazy from the hunger in a day and fling myself at the boar.

‘Wait, now that I think of it…’

Before dropping me off here, Master had lightly mentioned something. That there was nothing you could do about the size of your mana field, it was limited to what you were destined to have.

‘Even if I’m up to the 2nd Circle, I still don’t have enough mana. Moreover, I’m also simultaneously acc.u.mulating mana in the lower, middle, and upper danjeons that are collectively called the mana field, so of course the mana level I can show is pretty low.’

Also, Master had said I had completed the 2nd Circle, but he hadn’t told me exactly how much the 2nd Circle mana level was.

‘That evil, pathetic, petty, sicko, old fart b.u.mdalf!’

A stream of curses noisily spewed out within me.

‘It was called multi-chi channeling, right?’

I had memorized Master’s mana channeling method while stuck on a Mana Acc.u.mulation magic circle. I suddenly recalled the multi-chi channeling mantra that Master had carefully translated to Korean, and had explained to me in detail.

“If I can channel the diffused mana collecting in my mana field, then… that grilled pork b.a.s.t.a.r.d will…”

That bull-sized boar had tested the human Kang Hyuk’s willpower. With my willpower blazing fiercely, I closed my eyes.

‘Just wait a bit. I’ll definitely turn you into a roast.’

My anger subsided as I sat down crosslegged.

‘One became two, and it was called yin and yang, and the five elements that compose the world matured within that yin and yang. Each of the five elements became distinct from one another, and…’

As I recited the mantra in my head, my breath stilled on its own, and my breathing became infused with the energy of Mother Nature— I was mana breathing.

Unbelievably enough, Master had drawn mana into the channels in my body with magic. I now filled that channel with the energy of my breathing as I opened it.

This was all to give that boar, who reminded me of my malicious master, a trip to heaven.

I, Kang Hyuk, was such a man.

When being petty, I was incredibly petty. But when I was being generous, my heart was greater than the Pacific Ocean. I was a reckless child capable of both a devil and an angel.

That was me.

* * *

“Huuh…”

Witnessing something that was difficult to believe, despite seeing it with his own eyes, Aidal forgot he was under invisibility magic and exclaimed out loud.

It was a very strange feeling to watch a rare genius who easily grasped multiple concepts just by getting taught one thing. At one point in his life, Aidal had been known as the greatest magic genius on the Kallian Continent. He had never expected to find a genius far more outstanding than even himself in this world. Though it was true that Kang Hyuk’s murky body energy had been cleansed by a magic circle’s mana, it was impossible for the boy to be so outstanding with that alone.

‘That guy… from birth, he has been a child of mana.’

The grand magic Mana Clear, which could only be used by a Mage of the 7th Circle or greater. Those who received the magic would be cleansed of muddied body energy and would gain a body and mana field that could hold pure mana. And as a bonus, thanks to the cleansing of the body, your wisdom would grow, allowing you to live a smooth and easy road as a Mage.

But no matter how important the disciple, Mages did not carelessly cast this magic. The grand magic Mana Clear did not use mana from nature, but with the recipient’s own mana, and was impossible to use otherwise. So quite a lot of mana would be lost. In the worst case scenario, the recipient’s circle could even collapse.

Aidal had used that grand magic on Kang Hyuk for a whole month as he slept.

‘If it’s you, you’ll be able to do it. Don’t lose your willpower. Kang Hyuk, my disciple. There’s not much time left now.’

Kallian Continent, which he wanted to go to but couldn’t.

Even before meeting the ascetic monk, Aidal had wandered the world like crazy in order to return to the Kallian Continent. The Dimensional Travel magic circle consumed an immense amount of pure mana. Therefore, he had gone to place after place, seeking a location where pure mana gathered.

While bearing his immense pain and begging forgiveness from the G.o.ds, he realized something after hearing a single sentence from the dying ascetic monk.

Life and death have no boundaries. That no matter where you are, nothing will change.

There was no way the Kallian Continent would welcome him back anyways, and there wasn’t anything left for him to do there. Therefore, the Earth, which he had suffered to travel through on foot, felt like home to him.

But he absolutely wanted to get his revenge on those who had made a fool out of him. No, as a Mage, it was far too regrettable to let his magic die out. He wanted to go to the Kallian Continent and let each and every person know of the enlightenment he had gained. He would do that through his disciple, the disciple of the Golden-Eyed Reaper Aidal who had challenged the 9th Circle that no one except the dragon had been allowed in all of history.

That’s why Aidal completed the Dimensional Travel magic circle.

And through a method only he knew, he worked on creating a new method of dimensional travel. In the meantime, he set up an illusion barrier in the Golden Lane, which felt like the Kallian Continent, and fished for a disciple to do the hard work for him.

‘I wonder if that guy is doing well. That blockhead!’

Actually, Kang Hyuk wasn’t his first disciple. About 20 years ago, there was one other guy who had happened to break through the barrier and meet him. But that b.a.s.t.a.r.d was close-minded and wicked. l.u.s.ting for his master’s fortune while learning magic, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had tried to murder him. Aidal had wanted to burn him to death with a Fire Ball, but he had been unable to kill him since the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had fallen to his knees and bashed his forehead on the ground in a kowtow while begging Aidal to spare his life. The fact that he was the first disciple Aidal had gotten on the Earth made him weak. He had only learned up to 3rd Circle attack magic anyways, so he wasn’t much of a danger.

‘Kang Hyuk, you’ll be able to do it. I, your master, only learned the theory for that mana breathing technique, but you’ll definitely be able to make it happen. The merging of your mana field!’

He was old, but Aidal was a Mage to the very marrow of his bones. By researching the internal chi channeling left to him by the ascetic monk, Aidal had conceived a new mana breathing technique.

However, Aidal wasn’t able to use it. Because he was already an 8th Circle Mage, his mana field had stationed itself in the middle danjeon and was far more powerful than the other fields. If he forcefully tried to merge his mana fields now, the disparity in power would make all the other mana fields explode.

That’s why the mana breathing technique that Kang Hyuk was training right now was a new method that no one else had tried before.

It was the beginning of a great path that even the legendary dragon had never challenged.

* * *

‘I did it!’

I was mana breathing as comfortably as when my mother had sung a lullaby for me as a child.

With the multi-chi channeling that had been pa.s.sed down through legend, as the base, the mana channeling had given me a taste of being one with nature.

And with the strengthening of my will, the mana that had gathered in my lower, middle, and upper danjeons was merged, though weakly.

Snooooooore!

Snooooooore!

Having trapped me on top of the boulder, the boar had begun a drawn-out siege. It was happily sleeping with its belly carelessly left out in the open.

‘Jeez! This boar looked down on a human, the lord of all animals! In the name of Kang Hyuk, I shall punish you!’

As I chanted a sentence fit for a Sailor Moon girl who liked to punish evil in the name of justice, I gathered my mana in the middle danjeon, where the circle was.

“My blazing will, my friend, Mana. My rage is your rage. In my name, rain down the purification of fire!”

I focused my mind and recited the magic incantation with a low voice.

Modified by the mana inside me, and my will, the pure shamanistic mana that was diffused in nature was manifested in the world.

That was how magic was used.

The boar’s eyes flashed open. Living while surrounded by nature, animals were sensitive to natural energy. As soon as I drew the nearby mana, the piggy b.a.s.t.a.r.d felt something was wrong and opened its eyes. Having enjoyed a nice rest, the boar’s fatigue had flown away. Thanks to this b.a.s.t.a.r.d I had been stuck wrestling mana for half a day — how pitiful I was.

“Get fried, you piece of c.r.a.p pig! Fire Ball!”

Woosh.

As soon the incantation of ‘Fire Ball’ fell from my mouth, I felt the mana that had gathered in my heart vibrating vigorously.

[T/N: As a reminder, the lower danjeon is in the abdomen, middle is in the heart, and upper is near the crown of the head.]

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-boom!

As the vibrations stopped, a huge lump of fire somehow appeared above the boar’s head.

“Wow!”

Though I was the caster, I was more surprised. It was a huge lump of fire that looked to be a whopping 50 centimeters (~20 inches) in diameter. It was enough to make the magic that I had cast so far look as shabby as gum stuck on the sidewalk.

Ba-baaaaam!

Fwwwoooooshhh.

SQUEAAAAAAAAL!

Have I ever seen a boar get hit by lightning under a clear sky? The boar that had futilely dared to target a human as its meal was struck with divine retribution. It ran into the dark forest like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d struck by lightning.

Craas.h.!.+

SQUEAAAAAL~!

And just like that, it rammed into a huge tree, leaving behind it’s woeful death throes.

“Puhahahahaha! That’s right! This is how it should be!”

Standing atop the boulder and looking at the sky, I burst out with vigorous laughter.

The destructive power of a 2nd Circle magic. Moreover, it was a great achievement that I had won by merging the little mana I had.

I was a rare genius sent down from the heavens.

“Huh?”

Stagger.

But suddenly, the sky whirled and spun above me.

Trickle.

Something burst out from my nose and trickled down.

‘D-d.a.m.n it…’

My delight was short-lived. Due to the immense fatigue that crashed into my entire body, I lost consciousness right then and there.

‘Ah~ my boar…’

The afterimage of the Fire Ball roasted boar barbeque came to my mind, and then—

* * *

Cras.h.!.+

“Tsk, tsk.”

He had thought it might happen, but a problem had indeed occurred. While happily cheering atop the rock Aidal had made through Stone Edge magic, Kang Hyuk had fallen two meters onto the dirt floor and had pa.s.sed out.

And in that moment, Aidal had canceled his invisibility magic and appeared while clicking his tongue.

“You stupid rascal. To be so happy after forcefully merging mana the size of an Orc’s tail. Huhu. How does it feel, the hot taste of mana exhaustion?”

The state of mana exhaustion which you would experience one or two times while living as a Mage. It was a state that occurred when you used mana that exceeded the amount you had. At low circles, it didn’t have that much of an effect, but in the upper circles, this condition could induce a mana collapse and kill you.

“Your first experience with it is always that harsh. Heh.”

Aidal didn’t spare his unconscious, mana exhausted, s.h.i.+vering disciple a friendly explanation or advice.

His eyes fell upon the boar, which was steaming as it cooked.

“That looks quite tasty. Kuku.”

* * *

“Th-that meat!”

I was in stabbing pain, as if I had been knocked out by someone’s club. But even while half asleep within that pain, a fragrant smell burrowed into my nose, stimulating amylase and maltase secretion and waking me up.

That sweet and rich smell, which could wake the dead.

The very first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was the ceiling of the room I was living in and a large, plump piece of meat.

Om nom.

Without even answering my cry, the person called my master was munching noisily as he ripped into a hind leg.

‘No matter how you look at it, that’s the smell of pork. Ah~ it’s definitely the charcoal grilled pork that I had long ago.’

The fact that my nose couldn’t be deceived, when even a dog’s could was a well-known fact amongst the members of my household. With my hunting dog level sense of smell, I was able to precisely judge the meat.

‘The saying that the disciple reaps and the master sows fits this situation perfectly.’

The great magical achievement I had risked my life to produce was being eaten all alone by Master b.u.mdalf. Without permission, he was monopolizing and abusing the meat I had caught.

“Ma-master, does that meat happen to be the meat that I’m thinking of?”

“Munch! Oh? Nomnom! I dunno. Perhaps because the G.o.ds knew my body lacked energy these days, a boar roast was presented before me, can you believe it? I was so moved, my eyes were filled with tears, just like when I was fifteen and saw the panties of the female Mage I liked.”

Even when making a comparison, this Master b.u.mdalf used vulgar a.n.a.logies that seriously lowered the value of a person.

True to his name, b.u.mdalf, he was at the height of indecency.

“Did that boar not have any traces of having been hit by a Fire Ball, by any chance?”

“A Fire Ball? I dunno about such a thing. Only that when I saw it, it had roasted to perfection. Kyaa! I’ve never seen such a tasty fellow! How could the meat be this tender, it’s killer with sorghum wine, absolutely killer.”

Driiiip.

Without knowing it, saliva dripped from my mouth.

By my estimation, I had starved for at least a day. No matter what, I had to claim owners.h.i.+p of this boar meat and overcome this crisis.

“Master, it is presumptuous of me to say so, but that boar meat is certainly the one I caught with my Fire Ball. Please stop eating now and cede it to your disciple— this one humbly tells you that this is the best way to prevent the relations.h.i.+p between a master and his disciple from souring.”

I mixed in respectful words as I claimed what was mine.