37

It was the third day after defeating the members of the Ur Thieves’ Guild. Though it was still early before dawn, Lara and Sasha were already absorbed in circulating manna, sitting on a piece of leather. Id told Sasha.

“Something’s hiding in the forest, targeting our mules. Benjamin is still sleeping, and Lara seems to be undergoing a crucial moment in her manna circulation, please stop your manna circulation and protect them.”

Sasha opened his eyes, sorting out his breathing.

“All right. Leave Benjamin and Lara to me. Are you going to attack it first?”

Nodding silently, Id carefully moved to the woods, killing the sound of his footsteps. When he approached five meters in front of the suspected hiding place of that something, a huge shadow jumped out of the forest and attacked Id. Although Id could not identify its exact appearance as it was still dark, it was a monster that was twice his size. The giant club it held looked like a toy in it’s massive hand. Id swung his sword horizontally, dodging the club by a hair’s breadth. Id’s Aura Blade flashed in the dark, and the monster’s right arm was severed. Id, who took a few steps back, looked closely at the opponent.

As the moon moved out from behind the clouds, Id could see a troll well over three meters tall with dark green skin. Id, who had heard that severed body parts of trolls could regenerate, jumped high into the air, lifting his sword over his head. Id’s blue Aura Blade dug into the middle of the monster’s forehead before the troll swung its left hand. As the monster’s body slowly receded, Id kicked the troll’s chest, pulling out his sword stuck in its brain. When the giant body collapsed with an enormous sound, Benjamin, who had already approached the troll, said to Id, putting the troll’s blood in a large leather bag.

“Trolls’ blood is the most important ingredient in making magic potions. If we sell it in Scandia City, we’ll make a lot of money. Since you caught it, I’ll give you seventy percent of the sales price.”

“I don’t need money. Rather, could you make me some magic potions?”

“All right. We can make more than a hundred bottles of potion with this amount of blood, but it’ll take too much time. Let’s stop by the Wizard Tower in Scandia City. We can sell the troll’s blood, leaving enough to make ten bottles of magic potion, and I’ll make the potions for you there.”

“I only need three bottles of potions so that Sasha, Lara and I can carry a bottle each for emergency use.”

“You are a man of no greed. Let’s check the situation of the Scandia Wizard Tower first and decide how many bottles of potions I’ll make.”

Lara was still deeply immersed in meditation with manna circulation, even though the surroundings were tumultuous. Having finished meditation long after sunrise, Lara told the others.

“I have something to tell you.”

As Lara spoke for the first time in a long time, the other three showed particular interest.

“I’ve concentrated on the manna circulation for several days to build up a manna hall quickly, but something strange happened to me. Instead of creating a manna hall in my lower abdomen, I think I engraved the third and fourth magic circle on my heart.”

Benjamin immediately responded to Lara’s words.

“Let me take a look at your condition.”

As Lara nodded, the mage recited a spell.

“Magic Force Examination.”

Examining the magic circles carved on Lara’s heart, Benjamin was so surprised that he could not shut his mouth for a while.

“I’ve never seen or heard of such a case before. How did this happen? On Lara’s heart, the third and fourth magic circles were carved at the same time. I’ve never heard of two magic circles being engraved simultaneously. It’s impossible even in the theories of magic. When mages add a circle, they are required to learn all of the spells necessary for that circle. It usually takes several years for mages to learn every required magic and become experts of the circle. Only after mastering all the spells of the circle level, is a mage considered ready to move on to the next circle. I don’t understand how Lara jumped past the third circle and became a four-circle mage. Tell me in detail about what happened to you for the past few days.”

Lara explained what happened during her manna circulation.

“I started learning magic from my mother when I was seven years old, and I carved the second circle on my heart after two years. At that time, my mother was so happy that I was born with a magical gift, but after that, I couldn’t develop a third circle for nearly nine years. I learned all three and four-circle spells from my mother theoretically. Still, I could use only rudimentary magic since I had failed to engrave the third magic circle on my heart. So I gradually lost interest in magic. When I started circulating manna according to the method Id taught me, for some reason, I kept thinking about the magic learned from my mother while meditating. I’ve been thinking about magic theories as Id advised, even if mixed thoughts come to mind during manna circulation, not to try to force them out, but let it flow naturally in my mind. As time went by, the memory of the magic theories I learned from my mother became clearer. This morning, the manna suddenly gathered at my heart during the manna circulation, and new magic circles appeared.”

Benjamin looked confused.

“Let’s take time to study how two circles appeared at once. I think learning the magic of new circles will be the priority. You won’t be able to learn all the spells of the three circles and four circles in a short period, so let’s start with a few helpful spells for your journey. From what I’ve examined, you seem to have a particular talent for magic based on the characteristics of the wind. Can you cast Magic Arrow?”

Magic Arrow was one of the few spells Lara could confidently use. However, the two-circle Magic Arrow was not strong enough to be used in an actual fight. Lara tried to recite the spell for the three-circle Magic Arrow with Benjamin’s help. Several transparent arrows flew toward and struck a large tree. Having checked the traces on the wood, Lara was pleased since it was at a completely different level compared to the two circle version of the spell. From the next day, Lara focused on learning Magic Cutter and Magic Missile, the four-circle spells with wind properties. She decided to learn other spells later and practice only those two spells while getting help and guidance from Benjamin. Lara showed exceptional talent for magic with wind properties, but her talent for other magic was mediocre. Benjamin told Lara.

“I don’t think you need to learn various four-circle magic as you are training in swordsmanship, too. Instead, I’ll teach you two five-circle spells, Healing and Detoxication. Even if these spells are estimated to belong to the five-circle level, some four-circle mages also use them, though not to full effect. If you succeed in learning them, it’ll be more helpful than carrying potions. It won’t be easy now, but as you have already gone through such an unusual process, I don’t think learning these spells will be impossible for you. If you use two five-circle spells, it’ll also help you create the fifth circle sooner. Though I’m a six-circle-master mage, I can also use a few seven-circle spells. So, even if it’s hard, don’t give up and keep trying.”

Lara, who had devoted herself to practicing magic for several days, asked Id, who was cleaning a boar’s legs to grill, one day.

“Now, it might be hard for me to build up a manna hall and become a swordmaster, am I right?”

Lara thought Id’s face reflecting the bonfire’s light was beautiful while looking at him, absorbed in his thoughts for a while.

“Are you asking me if it’s possible to master both magic and swordsmanship at the same time? Of course, I don’t think it will be easy. Though I don’t know much about magic, according to Benjamin’s explanation, I understand that magic is basically a work of reprocessing, rearranging and shaping nature’s manna force through highly sophisticated calculation. On the other hand, the method of manna circulation, which I created, is a procedure of purifying and concentrating manna to build up a manna hall, and consequently, increasing the amount of manna in the human body. By doing so, you can enhance the functioning of each body organ and send concentrated manna to the sword to create an Aura Blade. Ultimately, its goal is to strengthen the Aura Blade so that it can further develop into an Aura Beam. What do you think is the most important factor in this process?”

Lara pondered for a while at Id's question, but she couldn’t fathom the question's intent at all. As Lara shook her head, Id continued.