Friday’s first class was the specialty training session.
The students each headed to the classroom corresponding to their specialty. When it was time for specialty training, their steps became noticeably lighter. After all, most students preferred hands-on practice over tedious theory lessons.
Upon arriving at the Manifestation Magic training hall, I greeted Instructor Lee Hee-young politely as usual before moving to my seat.
“Haah!”
“Haa!”
The students’ enthusiasm seemed particularly high today. Was it because the second midterm exam was approaching? Everyone looked determined and focused.
“Hey.”
As I reached my seat, Yoo Ara, who sat next to me, greeted me.
“Oh, hey.”
She glanced at me briefly before turning back to resume her training.
—Fwoosh.
A sphere of fire floated above her palm. She stared at it with an intense gaze, and soon, its magical energy began to strengthen.
“…….”
The sheer determination radiating from her was incredible. Well, I suppose that kind of obsession is what earns someone the title of a genius.
“Hmm…….”
Normally, she would just create massive fireballs and hurl them wildly, but today, she was focusing on refining the details of her spell.
It seemed she had taken my advice from the last special class to heart—focusing on precise manifestation training.
‘I should get started too.’
After some light stretching, I began my own training. Since I had already set my training objective, I focused on increasing my manifestation speed.
Of course, since mana elixirs weren’t allowed here, I had to regulate my mana usage carefully.
“This isn’t going well.”
Just then, I sensed someone approaching from behind. Turning slightly, I saw Instructor Lee Hee-young watching Yoo Ara and me.
“You’re both quite focused on manifestation training today.”
Lee Hee-young had always emphasized the importance of emission and control over raw destructive power. Hearing her comment made me feel oddly guilty.
Judging by Yoo Ara’s expression, she seemed to feel the same way.
“Oh my, why the faces? You’re doing well. You can’t just train emission and control all the time. Balance is the key.”
She smiled.
“Besides, you two are already skilled at emission and control. I think focusing on manifestation for a while would be a good idea.”
I nodded at her words.
“So, what made you suddenly shift your focus to manifestation training?”
She looked intrigued.
Yoo Ara glanced at me before answering.
“Sunwoo advised me to.”
“Hmm… as expected.”
Lee Hee-young looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
“That was good advice. Manifestation magic grows best when trained step by step, but many people overlook that. Mastering manifestation, emission, and control in order is the ideal approach.”
Both Yoo Ara and I nodded.
“Alright, let me observe each of you. Ara, you go first.”
At her instruction, Yoo Ara manifested her magic. A blazing sphere of fire rose above her palm.
In the past, her magic had been nothing more than crude, oversized masses of energy she threw at will. Now, however, it carried a refined precision.
“Well done. You haven’t been focusing on manifestation for long, but I can already see the difference.”
I agreed with her assessment. The fireball was smaller than before, but its condensed mana felt incredibly powerful. This must be what it means for magic to be strong even without compression.
“Now, it’s your turn, Sunwoo.”
When my turn came, I manifested my spell. As always, I used compressed manifestation, executing it at my maximum speed.
Seeing the magic sphere floating above my hand, both Yoo Ara and Lee Hee-young looked slightly surprised.
“Impressive. You’re even using high-level compression techniques. Very good. However…”
Lee Hee-young trailed off.
“…Your manifestation feels rushed.”
“Huh?”
She had struck a nerve.
Studying the magic sphere above my hand, she asked,
“Sunwoo, were you trying to increase your manifestation speed?”
“Yes. I figured it was the fastest way for me to improve right now.”
“Hmm…”
Lee Hee-young listened to my response before speaking again.
“Speeding up manifestation is a difficult task. Especially when it comes to compressed manifestation—it requires more than just talent. It takes an enormous amount of effort.”
She wasn’t wrong. Increasing the speed of high-power magic was a grueling challenge that demanded time and dedication.
“How about this?”
“Sorry?”
“Instead of compressing, focus on refining the details of your manifestation.”
“Refining the details?”
At my puzzled expression, Lee Hee-young turned to Yoo Ara.
“Ara, manifest your magic again.”
“Okay.”
Once more, Yoo Ara conjured a fireball above her palm. The sheer power within it was undeniable.
“Now, look. Ara didn’t need compression to make her magic strong, right?”
“Yes.”
“Where do you think that difference comes from?”
“The details of the manifestation… Oh!”
A realization struck me.
I had been relying too much on technique and had overlooked the fundamentals.
Manifestation details.
The destructive power of a spell changes depending on how realistically it is constructed. For example, when creating an ice spear, its sharpness and clarity—such as the distinct edges and crystalline structure—determine its overall strength.
The spells I used were simple spheres. Unlike spears, arrows, spikes, or swords, a sphere’s structure required little detail, so I had never given it much thought.
“…I was a complete fool.”
Once all my classes were over, I headed straight to the magic training hall. Opening my subspace storage, I took out one of my few remaining mana elixirs and drank it in one go.
Without even taking a moment to feel the surge of mana, I immediately began manifesting my magic.
—Ssshhhh…
A familiar round magic sphere appeared.
I couldn’t alter its form into a different shape yet, but I could focus on its clarity.
I pushed my imagination to its limits.
A sharper, clearer circle. A perfect sphere. Instead of a hazy glow of magical energy, I visualized a solid, tangible orb.
As time passed, the sphere’s structure became increasingly defined.
Of course, even the most powerful S-rank mages struggle to achieve perfect clarity in manifestation. But what mattered was how much effort I put into refining the details.
—Woooong!
The swirling mana responded to my imagination. As it condensed into a single point, the sphere’s glow intensified.
“…Hoo.”
I took a deep breath.
It had been a long time since I had focused this much on the details of manifestation—probably not since I first learned magic.
No wonder it felt so unfamiliar.
—Wooooong!
Was imagination always this exhausting?
A brief headache pulsed in my temples. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to focus on manifestation once more.
A perfectly round magic sphere, glowing with clarity.
I stared at it in a daze.
“…It’s done.”
[Achievement unlocked: ‘Enlightenment in Magic.’]
[Reward: 3,000 points.]
[Magic Control (B) proficiency increased by 20%.]
A floating message window appeared before my eyes.
A sense of accomplishment swelled within me, filling every corner of my being.
A satisfied smile formed at my lips, but I immediately started over from the beginning.
The next goal: refining the details of my magic while mastering compressed manifestation.
—Ssshhhhh!
Having just practiced it, manifesting a highly defined magic sphere was now a quick task.
Next came mana compression. As I began, an immense concentration of mana condensed into the vividly clear magic sphere.
Compression time: approximately five seconds.
That should be enough. I extended my hand and released the spell toward my target.
—PAAANG!
A deafening boom echoed through the training hall as the magic sphere shot from my hand.
Waves of powerful mana vibrated through the structure.
The spell raced toward its mark.
—KWOAAAAANG!
A thunderous explosion shattered the target completely.
“…”
I stared blankly at the obliterated remains.
I hadn’t even compressed the magic for that long, yet the destructive power had skyrocketed.
The compression time remained unchanged, but the difference in clarity had massively amplified the spell’s power.
After finishing my personal training, I returned to the dormitory.
After a refreshing shower, I threw myself onto the couch.
“…Heh.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle..
The joy of growth—it had been a while since I last felt it.
I’d made a major breakthrough, which meant I would likely hit another bottleneck soon. But if I kept up my training, my magic rank would eventually rise.
“When will I reach A-rank, I wonder…”
Currently, my Magic Control was at B-rank.
Yesterday and today’s experiences had significantly boosted my proficiency.
There was nothing like enlightenment to accelerate progress.
━━
[Magic Control (B)] [Proficiency: 63%]
━━
“Sixty-three percent…”
I had finally passed the halfway mark.
At this pace, reaching A-rank within a year or two wasn’t out of the question.
Whether I would gain another moment of enlightenment like today, though, was uncertain.
All I could do was hope.
“…Hah.”
I grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and took a deep gulp.
A sense of bliss washed over me.
The joy of progress combined with the pleasure of alcohol—pure heaven.
“I still need to work on my Light Attribute too…”
I really had a mountain of things to do.
Physical training, magic practice, mana refinement, elemental mastery…
On top of that, I had to keep an eye on upcoming incidents and the movements of villains.
“…Ugh.”
Taking another sip of beer, I reached for the remote and turned on the TV.
「Recently, the numbers of demon attacks has been rapidly increasing. In particular, Seoul has reported 16 vampire-related incidents just this month. The Mage Association has announced plans to reinforce surveillance, but casualties from demonic activity continue to rise.」
Problems everywhere.
As I absentmindedly watched the news, an alert chimed from my smart student notebook.
[Sunwoo, how have you been?]
“…What’s this?”
It was from Jang Ye.
Why was she suddenly reaching out?
We hadn’t talked in a while.
[I’ve been well. How about you, senior?]
I responded formally, trying to gauge her intentions.
[I just wanted to check in. Haha.]
“What a blatant lie…”
Just then, another message arrived.
[Sunwoo, you’re pretty close with Seo-jun, right?]
[We just get along okay.]
[Really? I always see you two together, so I was curious. Haha.]
The conversation remained meaningless and twisting.
She definitely had a reason for reaching out, but whether she was being cautious or hesitant, she kept circling around it.
About ten minutes into our back-and-forth, a particular message caught my attention.
[Lol, I was so shocked during the midterm exams. There was some weird barrier around my third-year exam room.]
“So that’s what this is about.”
Through Seong jin and Lee Seo-jun’s conversation, I had already learned that the demons mistakenly believed the one who dispelled the barrier was the so-called “Child of Prophecy.”
They were undoubtedly scrambling to identify which 18-year-old had been inside the barrier.
[What’s funny is, Seo-jun was in there too! Isn’t that such a crazy coincidence? Haha.]
[Haha, yeah. That is surprising.]
What a load of nonsense.
Keeping my response short, I waited.
As expected, another message quickly followed.
[By any chance, do you know who else was inside the barrier?]
There it was—her true motive.
Without hesitation, I typed my reply.
[Hmm, I’m not sure.]
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