As December approached and the cold gradually intensified, the students of the Mage Academy began to wear thicker clothing.
Right now, beside me, Yoon Hayoung was wrapped from head to toe in a black long padded coat like a gimbap and sniffled.
“Ugh. It’s cold. Sunwoo, aren’t you cold?”
Yoon Hayoung looked up at me with curious eyes.
At the moment, I was only wearing a fleece over my school uniform jacket. It was closer to autumn attire than winter wear.
“You know. I don’t really get cold or hot.”
“I mean, I know, but it’s still surprising every time I see it. You’re not secretly sticking hot packs inside your clothes or something?”
Yoon Hayoung looked at me suspiciously.
The image of someone sticking hot packs all over their body made me laugh involuntarily.
“As if.”
Yoon Hayoung and I walked across the Mage Academy campus toward the Manifestation Division’s magic training ground.
Along the way, we passed a few students, all of whom looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
At first, it felt nice, but recently it’s become overwhelming.
As we continued walking, I spotted a familiar face in the distance. It was Choi Seo-yoon, sitting on a bench with a sulky expression.
“…What’s up with her now?”
When I quietly muttered, Yoon Hayoung responded.
“They say she’s feeling down because she didn’t get first place in the final exams.”
“Ah…”
Well, if it’s the first time she lost first place, I guess that would be upsetting.
Lee Seo-jun was like that during the midterms too.
I, who climbed up from the bottom, couldn’t relate to that feeling at all.
“Tsk.”
I didn’t feel like offering any awkward words of comfort, so I just left her be.
Time passed, and we arrived at the Manifestation Division’s training ground.
Lee Hee-young, the instructor of the Manifestation Division, saw me and approached with a bright smile, as if she had been waiting.
“Sunwoo!”
“Hello.”
I bowed my head, and as always, she looked at me with a proud expression.
“I saw your performance in the captain match. I never imagined you’d use such a high-level area magic. Thanks to that, I won the be— oops.”
She cut herself off mid-sentence.
“A bet?”
“It’s nothing. Hoho.”
She looked suspicious, but it didn’t seem related to me, so I let it go.
“Alright, everyone! Go ahead and start your individual training.”
I nodded and entered the training ground.
Inside, the long, straight space resembled a shooting range.
Students were practicing magic at their respective spots.
After the final exams, students undergo self-training instead of regular classes until the break begins.
Since there isn’t much time left, it’s more efficient to refine what we’ve already learned over the year rather than learn something new.
After parting ways with Yoon Hayoung, I headed to my spot.
Next to me, Yoo Ara was training intensely, firing her usual savage fire orbs.
Alright, I guess it’s time to start my own training.
Before beginning, I checked my trait, one of the perks of being an outsider.
━━
[Magic Control (A)]
[Training Progress: 0.1%]
━━
I had reached the A-rank I wanted, but since I hadn’t used magic properly since then, I hadn’t really felt the difference.
Even though I was still at the beginning of A-rank, the fact that I ranked up should mean there was a meaningful change.
I planned to use this self-training time to fully experience that change.
First, I started with the “Manifestation” phase, the first step in Manifestation Division magic.
Wuuuung.
A white point of light gathered above my hand and began to form into a sphere.
So far, it wasn’t much different from before.
Next, I used “Compressed Manifestation.”
While maintaining the spherical form, I increased the amount of mana contained within.
Wuuuung…!
The sphere shook slightly and the once-blue light began to gradually shift to a silvery hue.
The speed of compressed manifestation had clearly improved.
Before, it took quite some time to compress mana and maintain a stable form, but now it was nearly twice as fast.
Reaching A-rank had definitely improved my magic control ability.
I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.
‘I wonder if I can go one step further in manifestation now?’
Feeling the growth sparked ambition within me.
The maximum magic I could compress. My new limit.
Just how far could I go?
[Activating use effect: “Heart of Nature.”]
Thump!
As soon as I activated Heart of Nature, my depleted mana began recovering rapidly.
I kept accumulating more and more mana into the sphere, refueling what had been drained from focusing on manifestation.
Wuuuuuuung…!
The silvery sphere hovering above my hand trembled slowly.
The efficiency of mana use required for compression had drastically increased.
I could feel it instinctively.
I could manifest a higher-grade spell from here.
Wuuuuuuung…!
“Gasp!”
After about three minutes, a subtle change occurred in the sphere.
The silver glow began to take on a faint golden hue.
Silver mana represents an A-rank mage. And the one that symbolizes S-rank is “gold.”
It took three full minutes to force it into existence, but I had successfully manifested golden magic.
My chest trembled with a sense of accomplishment.
Of course, it was barely gold—so faint it felt wrong to even call it that—but seeing the long-dreamed golden glow in my own hands made my heart race uncontrollably.
I extended my hand toward the target.
Took a deep breath.
And then fired the magic toward the target.
Paaang—!
The softly glowing golden sphere shot forward, tearing through the air.
The recoil pushed my body backward significantly.
Perhaps because I forced a spell beyond my capacity, my right arm throbbed with pain and trembled after the cast.
The fact that just releasing it put this much strain on my body said everything about its destructive power.
I watched as the sphere go forward. The shimmering golden afterglow looked beautiful.
Kwaaang!
The magic struck the target with a massive boom.
At the same time, a message appeared in front of my eyes.
[You’ve successfully manifested faint but golden mana for the first time!]
[Training progress of Magic Control (A) has increased by 3%.]
[Mana has increased by 1.]
[You have earned 3,000 points.]
“…Oh.”
I gained points.
And 3% training progress as a bonus.
Though the reward felt a bit stingy since the gold was so faint, what mattered was that I had grown stronger.
Smiling in satisfaction, I turned my head as I felt someone’s gaze.
“…”
Yoo Ara was staring at me wide-eyed.
After finishing all the day’s school activities, I lay on the dormitory sofa and browsed the news.
[Next year’s list of participants for the Sacred Martial Festival, known as a celebration for promising mages, has been confirmed.]
The news anchor calmly reported on the festival.
Soon, photos of students from each school who would be participating were displayed in a row.
The students from the Korean Mage Academy were placed front and center, making them easy to spot.
As I was watching the news, my smart student planner gave an alert.
[This Thursday: There will be a special elective activity.]
[Students, please select the activity you wish to participate in.]
A special elective activity. Though exams were over and the break was just around the corner, they were doing this again.
If I remembered correctly, this special activity was more of a “trip” than a class or educational program.
For the third-years, it would be their graduation trip, and for the first- and second-years, it would be a final memory before the end of the school year.
━━
- Seoul Magic Arena
- Korea Magic Folk Village
- Seoul Mystery Museum
━━
“Hmm.”
According to the original story, nothing particularly eventful happens on this day.
It’s just briefly used as a setup to drop hints for developments that will come later.
Still, just in case, it’s probably the right call to follow Lee Seo-jun.
I immediately clicked on the message.
[Special Activity, Where?]
I sent a message to Lee Seo-jun.
It might come off as a little short and blunt, but since we’re both guys, it doesn’t really matter.
About ten seconds later, a reply came back.
[Seoul Magic Arena. You?]
“Knew it.”
Seoul Magic Arena.
It’s the same as in the original.
In the first place, magic sports are hugely popular among the public as a form of entertainment, so much so that some students dream of becoming sports mages in the future.
[I’m heading there too]
[lol ok. Wanna be in the same group again?]
[Sure]
After replying, I logged into the school info system and selected “Seoul Magic Arena.”
[Selection completed.]
Once I was done, I stood up. Just as I was about to head to the fridge for a drink, an alert popped up on my smartphone.
[Jinwoo, what are you doing?]
It was Han Se-yeon.
She usually messages around this time, so I wasn’t surprised.
[Just resting. You?]
[Me too. I’ve been working until now and just taking a short break.]
“Hmm.”
I was thinking about how to respond when another message came in.
[By any chance, have you heard from my father?]
Han Dae-hyeon? Still no direct contact.
He said he’d reach out after our last meal. I don’t know what someone who’s ill does all day, but he must be busy.
Or maybe he just forgot about me.
[No, nothing yet.]
[I see. I was just curious. My dad seemed interested in you.]
Interested in me, huh.
So Han Dae-hyeon hasn’t forgotten about me.
Then suddenly, I had something I wanted to ask Han Se-yeon.
[By the way, is it possible for you to make a potion that’s about ten times more effective than the mana elixir you made last time?]
To use the power of causality, I need mana.
But right now, I can’t use the power due to a shortage of mana—so I needed a way to get more.
Maybe Han Se-yeon could solve that part for me.
[Ten times..? Why ten?]
[I have something coming up that will require a large amount of mana.]
[Ten times is tough. I might be able to make something about five times stronger if I make it really condensed, but the side effects would be way worse. It could even leave lasting damage.]
“…Hmm. So it’s not possible, huh?”
I expected that, but hearing it directly still left me disappointed.
Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t be able to use it with those kinds of side effects.
[Okay, got it. Can’t be helped.]
“…I guess I’ll have to rely on a magic tool?”
From what I remember, there are a few artifacts that help with mana supply.
In fact, Jaun owns two relics—the “Mana Core” and “Poseidon”—that are designed specifically to supply mana.
But those belong to Jaun.
With my current power, I can’t get my hands on them.
“Ugh. Who knows.”
A solution will come eventually.
Thursday, 10 a.m.—Special Elective Activity Day at the Magic Academy.
Nearly 400 students were gathered at the front gate, their faces full of excitement.
There are about 450 students total, but roughly 50 third-years who have already secured graduation didn’t participate.
Kim Chang-hyun was one of them.
“Ah, I’m really looking forward to today’s match. I heard we’re watching a champion’s match. Do you watch matches too?”
As we waited for the rest of our group, Lee Seo-jun asked me.
Magic Matches.
As the name suggests, they’re magical combat matches between mages—basically magical MMA.
The key difference from the “Underground Arena” I watched with Han Se-yeon during the first semester is that the underground fights were dangerous enough to cost your life.
Magic Matches, on the other hand, are official and legal events held under strict and safe rules, so they’re suitable for all ages to watch.
“…I watch sometimes. Usually just when I’m flipping through channels and catch it.”
“Yeah, most people are like that. I only watch occasionally too, but man, they’re really cool.”
“They are cool.”
I nodded.
At that moment, a male and female student approached from the distance.
Famous faces in the academy: Choi Seo-yoon and Jeon Min-gi.
“Senior!”
Choi Seo-yoon smiled brightly and bowed slightly to me.
After her defeat during finals, she seemed down for a while, but she appears to have bounced back and returned to her usual cheerful self.
“Alright, since everyone’s here, let’s get going.”
Following the teacher’s direction, we stepped into the portal gate.
In an instant, our vision flashed—and a massive circular arena came into view.
“Wow.”
Staring at the enormous structure, the students looked up in awe.
It resembled the Colosseum, but redesigned with a far more modern—no, futuristic aesthetic.
“Hey, hey! That’s Champion Won Hyukjin’s poster!”
Someone pointed at a giant poster plastered on the arena’s outer wall.
Champion Won Hyukjin.
A mage nearing S-rank, unheard of for a sports player, and currently undefeated.
“Who’s the opponent next to him? A rookie?”
“Yeah, I heard it’s their first match today.”
I looked up at the poster with the other students.
A familiar face.
I hadn’t seen that face in almost ten months.
He used to be skinny, but now he looked a bit healthier.
Liang Liang.
Champion of the Underground Arena—and a future villain who would one day join Jaun.
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