Chapter 34
“Damn it.”
Why is there an elephant in the training ground?
No, is that really an elephant?
It seems much fiercer than I thought.
Was Ivory always this intimidating?
If it pokes me… no, if it stomps on me, I’ll die, won’t I?
I got caught up in the whirlpool of thoughts when I saw the animal pulled out from under the hat by Yeonha.
I was that out of it.
“I knew Yeonha had a high magic level, so I expected a big animal to come out of the hat, but…”
I never expected an elephant to come out.
Of course, its appearance didn’t pose any harm.
Since there was enough space for one elephant in the training ground.
Thinking about it, maybe it’s a relief that it wasn’t a dinosaur that came out.
Although who knows if a dinosaur might come out of the hat.
The only problem is…
Pufffff!
“Why is it so violent?”
The fact that the elephant is going crazy.
It’s kicking with its hind legs, swinging its long trunk wildly, and roaring loudly.
But that’s not all.
Whoosh!
“…!”
“Ahh!”
It even lifted a weight training apparatus with its trunk and suddenly hurled it towards us.
In the sudden situation, my eyes widened, and Yeonha screamed.
But the instinct to dodge was silent.
It means it’s not dangerous.
I pulled her close to me just in case she might get hurt, keeping my eyes fixed on the front.
The weight training apparatus was flying towards us.
Right at that moment.
＜The Cradle of Mountain Wind＞
As if met by a gentle tailwind.
The speed at which the apparatus was flying noticeably decreased.
It was Hong Ye-na using magic to stir up the wind and slow down the speed.
“Why so violent? The mana that makes up one’s existence has a rough and fierce temperament because it belongs to the robust category. Although it may look calm on the outside, it reveals a surprising temperament, right?”
“What!? I’m not like that! Gyungwoo, I’m not that kind of person!”
“The witch is just messing around. It’s simply because of a rough temperament due to the mana.”
“But it’s true that temperament is influenced by the nature of mana. Mana encompasses elements like the subconscious, memory, emotions, psyche, and personality, as discussed in magic studies.”
“But do you have to say that now?”
Hong Ye-na, manipulating the wind with a gesture.
She safely lowered the apparatus that had been suspended in the air to the ground.
But that was not enough to put our minds at ease.
Whoosh!
The elephant, in a frenzy, noticed our presence.
Beyond just throwing objects, it was now charging at us.
“We need to restore him to mana quickly, right!?”
“I want to, too. But it’s not easy.”
“Why not just stop the artifact?”
“Once an animal is taken out of the hat, it is considered to exist independently of the artifact, so even if we turn it off, it’s useless. The artifact has stopped responding earlier.”
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“So, what should we do?”
“Although the animal and the hat exist independently, the animal and the person who created it are consciously connected. So, that person needs to sever the conscious link and restore it to mana. The issue is… the sky, did you say?”
“Yes, yes! The sky above.”
“Do you think you can be conscious of the pass?”
“….”
“You who don’t know how to handle mana can’t possibly be conscious of that. Sorry, my mistake. I didn’t know you had such a vast amount of mana.”
“Is there no other way?”
“There are, two. One is to wait until that guy exhausts the mana maintaining his existence. But from what I see… your mana seems quite abundant. It might take quite a while to wait. Allowing him to rampage for that long might result in considerable damage… “
“Uh… I’m sorry. Gyun-woo, I’m sorry.”
“How about killing or subduing the elephant?”
“That elephant isn’t a real living being. So as long as there is mana sustaining its existence, it will continue to revive even if it dies. Subduing… not impossible, but it might be quite a struggle.”
“Ugh… any other options?”
“A method to forcibly sever the pass.”
At that moment, the elephant’s front leg fell above their heads.
Hong Ye-na frowned and formed a contract with the water elemental.
The barrier she erected blocked the front leg in mid-air.
However, unable to overcome its weight, the barrier started to crack.
“What kind of animal is this strong?”
“It’s not a simple animal. It’s a being composed of mana, so it’s stronger than an ordinary animal and has some resistance to magic. Even so… it’s astounding. It seems the wind barrier can’t hold it back. Then, by adding the element of water to strengthen the barrier’s nature and intensity, and attacking with the element of earth to knock it down…”
“So, what’s the method to forcibly sever the pass?”
“It’s simple. Knocking it unconscious.”
“….”
Maintaining the barrier with her outstretched right hand.
And with her left hand, Hong Ye-na gestured into the air.
Her manifested mana transformed into water, seeping through the cracked barrier.
As a result, the barrier restored itself, turning blue.
In that state, she spoke.
“Fortunately, the pass is connected to a shallow part of the consciousness. Just redirecting the consciousness elsewhere weakens the link of the pass.”
“So, knocking it unconscious. So that Han-ee can’t even be conscious of the pass.”
“By doing so, when the weakened pass automatically severs, this guy will be restored to mana. It’s the most effective method.”
I cut off the connection by making Yeonhaneul faint.
As Hong Ye-na said, there was no other effective way.
And if I chose that method, I had to make Yeonhaneul faint.
Because Hong Ye-na had to face an elephant.
‘…There’s no other way.’
“Gyeonwoo….”
With a military sword hanging on my waist, I placed my hand on it.
I looked at Yeonhaneul.
Her red eyes were shaking.
Soon, she forced a bitter smile as if resigning.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.”
“….”
“I’m fine with just that. I don’t want to bother you because of me.”
“….”
“So please. Make me faint.”
Actually, my heart wouldn’t allow that.
Yeonhaneul was offering herself as a sacrifice.
I…
“….Alright.”
I decided not to break her will.
Since she had made up her mind, I made up mine too.
I drew the military sword.
The navy blade reflected the light shining from Hong Ye-na’s magic behind me, scattering a navy-colored light.
That light fell on her face.
“Sky, it’s been enjoyable all this time.”
“….Huh?”
“Perhaps I will never forget the days spent with you.”
“Huh… hey, Gyeonwoo? Why are you talking as if you’re going to kill me? You’re just going to make me faint, right?”
“You go first. I’ll follow later.”
“Hey, this is a joke, right? That’s what it is, right? Right?”
“I have no choice but to do this to protect our home. I’m sorry.”
“Ah… that’s cruel. I trusted you….”
“I swing down the sword. Close your eyes.”
“How could this…! How?”
It’s a joke.
Pretending to strike Yeonhaneul with the sword, I held her tightly so she couldn’t escape.
Then, I pressed the back of her head with my hand.
“…I wasn’t trying to kill you, you know?”
“Why would I kill you? I was just playing a joke.”
“You’re really… I hate you, I really do.”
Falling for my sword motion, she reflexively shut her eyes tightly under the pale sky.
Realizing the situation, she tried to raise her head from my embrace.
I tightened my grip on the hand pressing against her nape.
“Don’t open your eyes. Keep them shut.”
“…”
“Listen quietly to my voice. Can you hear me?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Focus on that sound. If you can’t concentrate, count the beats of my heart.”
“…”
The key is diverting Yeonha’s consciousness.
There’s no need to knock her out.
To prevent her from focusing on the pass, just redirect her attention elsewhere.
So, I opted for the easiest way to divert her consciousness.
By engulfing her in the shock of betrayal, rendering her unable to focus on the pass.
And I continued to lead her on in that state, pulling her into my chest.
“By making you see an elephant, you keep thinking about it and become conscious of it. So, if I make you shut your eyes so you can’t see the elephant, and increase my heartbeat to shift your thoughts elsewhere…”
I can break the pass.
My prediction was spot-on.
I stroked her head and glanced at her back.
Whoosh…
The form of the elephant was dispersing.
It was being reduced to mana.
Soon, without leaving a trace, the elephant that had been there disappeared as if it were a lie.
Only then did I release the hand that held Yeonha.
Yet, Yeonha, in the same position as before, still had her eyes tightly shut.
I spoke to her.
“The elephant is gone. You can open your eyes now.”
“…”
At my words, Yeonha opened her eyes and raised her head.
Her light blue hair cascaded down, revealing her face.
“Is she angry because of me? Could it be?”
Yeonha’s face was so crimson it seemed on the verge of exploding.
Moisture welled up in her red pupils.
“Haneul, are you okay? I’m sorry, did I go too far with the joke? It was to redirect your consciousness, but…”
“175 beats.”
“Huh?”
“I counted… 175 beats.”
“Oh, um… you counted well.”
“Uh-huh.”
Yeonha once again bowed her head deeply.
And then, he didn’t say anything more.
“Are you crying by any chance?”
Watching that figure, I felt sorry.
I tried to bow to her to apologize, lowering my waist to look up at her face.
“Don’t cry, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize.”
“I don’t want to, don’t look. And don’t apologize. I’m not mad.”
“Then why won’t you look at me…”
“That’s… I just don’t want to show it right now. Just let me be like this a little longer.”
“Alright, I understand.”
As if not wanting to show her face, Yeonha kept avoiding me.
I gave up making eye contact and instead gently tapped her shoulder.
I waited for her to calm down.
“Some were struggling to block them, while those ones were shouting from behind, oh my…”
Meanwhile, Hong Ye-na grumbled as she looked at us.
But I was focused on Yeonha, so I didn’t listen properly.
***
While Yeonha was composing her emotions,
I instructed Hong Ye-na to clean up the mess caused by the elephant’s rampage.
“Why do I have to clean up…”
“If you think about it, it was an incident with the witch’s artifact, and earlier, she admitted it was her mistake. So shouldn’t the witch take responsibility and clean up?”
“You’re always quick with your answers. Alright, I’ll clean up then.”
Hong Ye-na didn’t seem pleased.
But perhaps she realized she wasn’t entirely blameless, so she eventually followed my instructions.
With a gesture, she moved the devices that were randomly scattered back to their original positions.
Soon, I asked her,
“So, how was Haneul?”
“…Considering her ability to summon an elephant, the substantial amount of mana within her body, her high mana efficiency to sustain her existence for a long time, her resistance and cohesion against mana to withstand my magic, and her high level of imagination and control to the extent of high materialization rate…”
“…”
Hong Ye-na’s gaze turned to Yeonha, who was waiting for her evaluation with a stern expression.
I could catch a glint in Hong Ye-na’s eyes.
At that moment,
I anticipated what she was about to say.
“Alright, I’ll admit it. You are destined to become a wizard. I’ve seen many people, but I’ve never seen anyone with such talent at your age. Even if it’s influenced by the base monster, to think you’ve inherited such talent, even though the probability of talent being inherited from a different parent is close to 0%… Is it because of the influence of the magic community? Still, to have such talent and belittle even the people of the magic community is remarkable.”
“So…”
“It seems worth teaching you. No, overlooking the talent of someone like you would be akin to ignoring the advancement of magic. I’d rather say I’m eager for it. When you become a famous wizard someday, can I have a hand in it, to teach you, even if just a little?”
As expected, it turned out this way.
In the realm of magic, Hong Ye-na’s strict praise could be considered the highest compliment one could receive.
The rabbit ears of Yeonhaneul, who received that praise, shot up to the sky.
Her red eyes widened, and she responded enthusiastically.
“No! I will ask you! Please be my master! Please teach me magic!”
“Alright, I will pass on all that I know to you.”
Yeonha nodded.
Hong Yena, pleased with her answer, softened her expression.
I, too, felt uplifted.
What brought joy to Yeonhaneul brought joy to me as well.
“Is it settled then? From now on…”
“I said I would take Haneul as my disciple, but when did I say I would take you as my disciple?”
“…”
“If you want to learn magic from me, you must also prove your aptitude.”
“Tsk.”
Trying to be smart, but it didn’t work out.
I clicked my tongue briefly.
Ignoring my reaction, Hong Yena picked up the fallen hat and reactivated it.
“Well, I also wanted to check it out.”
Summoning an animal that matches one’s magical state is quite intriguing, sparking human curiosity.
Moreover, in the game, the Magic Animal Hat only appeared as a background in Hong Yena’s instructional lab and had never been used as an artifact.
As someone deeply immersed in the game in a past life, I was even more intrigued.
“I wonder what will come out…”
I reached into the hat, imbued with a white light.
Mana flowed from my palm, mixing with the light and starting to coalesce.
I swirled my hand around until the sphere grew as large as possible.
At one point, the sphere I held in my hand did not change.
The measurement was complete.
Taking it out of the hat…
“Go! I choose you!”
I couldn’t help but utter that line in a moment of nostalgia.
Of course, only in my mind.
I couldn’t embarrass myself by saying it out loud.
Anyway, as I threw the sphere.
Whoosh!
The concentrated power of light spheres far away exploded.
A dazzling light spread around.
“…”
After a while, as the intensity of the light decreased and my eyes adjusted.
I could see a figure walking out of it.
Thud!
The beast standing on your feet.
The animal that almost resembles a lion was flicking around a mane that seemed to be flourishing around its head.
The creature roared.
Krrrk!
A sound that seemed to shake one to the core.
Upon hearing that sound,
I confirmed the identity of the animal.
“…It’s a lion.”
There was no doubt it was a lion.
Summoning the king of the savannah, a lion.
Could it be that I have a knack for magic?
My lips involuntarily curved upwards.
However.
“Huh?”
I completely confirmed the exposed identity of the animal and twisted my face.
Kwung?
“A rabbit?”
The body was that of a lion, but the head was that of a rabbit.
***
“Well… You’ve summoned a peculiar creature.”
“Hmm… Quite an imaginative creature.”
“No, can something like this come out? Does it mean the artifact is malfunctioning….”
“It just means your magical state couldn’t fully embody a lion.”
A lion with the head of a rabbit.
Or should we say, a rabbit embodying the body of a lion.
As they looked at the creature emerging from the hat, Dong Geon-woo, Hong Ye-eun, and Yeon Ha-neul couldn’t help but be bewildered.
Contrary to their reactions, the indescribable creature made a sound.
Kwung?
“….”
Swishing the lion’s tail.
The rabbit covered in the lion’s mane wiggled its head.
It was a creature that didn’t exude any dignity at all.
Rather, it evoked laughter.
Pffft!
“Oh, don’t laugh. Yeon Ha-neul, I said don’t laugh?”
“S-Sorry! But, it’s just… How can you not laugh at this!”
“I’d rather a rabbit came out, why did something like that come out….”
Yeonnah and Hong Ye-na couldn’t hold back their laughter.
They burst into laughter, whether Dogyeong-woo showed a disgusted reaction or not.
Meanwhile, Hong Ye-na observed the animal Dogyeong-woo had summoned seriously.
“Even though there are flaws in the head, overall, the balance isn’t bad.”
If we just look at the head.
The animal he summoned had a balance ratio fitting for a male lion.
One could see that the abilities related to mana were balanced.
However, compared to a typical male lion, it was slightly smaller in size.
“When it’s said that the size of an animal is closely related to the amount of internal mana, it seems that the internal mana is not that abundant. But is it ambiguous to conclude that it’s on the lower side?”
The amount of internal mana is innate.
The ways to increase it postnatally are limited.
In that sense, Dogyeong-woo’s internal mana level was difficult to reach a high level as a magician.
“Well, since he said he has no intention of switching to a magician, it can’t be considered a problem. It’s not bad to use magic as a support for swordsmanship.”
Hong Ye-na pondered Dogyeong-woo’s potential in this way.
To be honest, it didn’t impress her.
“If he’s going to learn magic to support swordsmanship, not only me but others can teach it too. It’s better for me to focus on one disciple. But if there’s merit in teaching…”
The fur color of that animal is white.
Hong Ye-na noticed that point.
“A white rabbit… No, a white lion.”
The color of an animal’s fur was an indicator of the affinity a person had for certain elements.
Water was considered in the blue spectrum, lightning in the yellow spectrum, flame in the red spectrum, wind in the green spectrum, and earth in the brown spectrum as representative common elements.
And darkness was in the black spectrum as a representative special element, while light was in the white spectrum.
In Dogyeong-woo’s case, he had a high affinity for the light attribute.
“If Ha-neul had an affinity for the dark attribute, does this kid have an affinity for the light attribute?”
Not many people had an affinity for special elements.
However, quite coincidentally, Hong Ye-na had encountered children who had affinities for both light and dark attributes.
This made her ponder.
Because they still had affinities for attributes she hadn’t mastered yet.
Especially to enhance her understanding of the light attribute, she had been traveling across the country.
“If I teach them, maybe I can enhance their understanding of the light and dark attributes. Just from briefly observing Ha-neul, if I say I won’t teach that kid, he might even withdraw his vow to become a disciple…”
With that thought in mind, Hong Ye-na came to a conclusion.
She said to Dogyeong-woo, whose cheek she pinched, “Hey, did you say you want to learn magic to assist swordsmanship?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If that’s the case, I can make time to teach you while teaching Ha-neul. Okay, I’ll teach you. You may be mediocre, but it seems like you have potential.”
“Oh, really? Thank you. I’ll count on you from now on.”
At first, she thought he was a child with the inherent arrogance of a noble family.
But seeing him display tactics to turn Yeonnah’s consciousness, he didn’t seem like a dictatorial person.
So, Hong Ye-na decided to teach him as well.
“Since he has a high affinity for the light attribute, he might become proficient in handling the five common elements. It depends on the effort put in.”
And thus.
Hong Ye-na accepted one disciple and one student.