15 – Talent
“Thomas, you’ve done your homework, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I’m confident.”
“Oh, shall we see?”
The elven teacher grins at my confident response.
The first day was a wasted one due to the strange potion, so the real first lesson took place the next day.
Now, a week has passed.
The lesson started outdoors today.
The homework was to achieve visualization without any buffs.
I struggled a bit during the past week, but ended up being successful.
Once I knew how to do it, it didn’t take long to reduce the time it took.
I raised my right hand as though holding a bead.
“I’m done.”
It only took 2 seconds.
Seliana looked suspicious but that soon changed to amazement.
Elves can inherently discern lies to some extent.
She must be surprised that what I said was true.
“Sir, I didn’t think you’d actually succeed… The speed of it is truly remarkable.”
“Did you ask me to do something impossible?”
As I asked, seemingly perplexed,
“It’s also important in learning to know failure. It was an assignment given for that purpose, but you’ve surpassed common sense,”
Celiana said, as if she was the one taken aback.
“So, what’s next? Are you going to teach me real magic now?”
“What you’ve learned until now was casting. Today, I will teach you how to activate it. Do you have a medium?”
“Yes.”
I pat the right pocket of my pants, where a 500 Won coin resides.
“The theory is simple. Magic within your body is the ember, the medium is the fuse, and the magic outside your body is the bomb.”
Seeing my puzzled look, Celiana greeted with a bright smile.
“It’s easiest to learn hands-on. First, be conscious of the magic within you.”
“How do you become conscious of magic?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
We both chuckled simultaneously. If a third person saw us, they would find it quite amusing.
“Blinking or breathing isn’t something you are normally conscious of, but once you aware of it, you begin to feel it, right? Magic is the same.”
The moment I heard her words, I became acutely aware of my own breathing and blinking, which was somewhat uncomfortable. But, at least I had a better understanding of what she was referring to.
“Hmm…”
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t grasp what I was supposed to be conscious of.
“I don’t feel anything like magic.”
“Strange. As an Anderson man, you should have more magic than most women. It should be harder to not feel it.”
Had I not disclosed my situation to this teacher?
As I was contemplating how to approach this issue, Celiana took hold of my wrist.
“Excuse me for a moment, please don’t resist.”
I felt a tingling sensation emanating from her palm, it started to flow up my arm.
Naturally, my will wanted to resist her magic, but I reminded myself of her instruction not to, and let it spread.
Her magic swept through my entire body before retracting back to her.
“This can’t be… Your magic is at the level of a common male.”
“And how much is… that?”
She asked cautiously.
“This is the minimum amount of magic needed to sustain life. You can’t use magic with this. No, you shouldn’t use it.”
“What happens if I use it?”
“You might experience extreme fatigue or even death in the worst case.”
From Noble mtl dot com
I was disappointed.
“So, I can’t use magic.”
“The magical energy in your body acts like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. But you need a basic amount to cultivate it.”
It finally dawned on me that I couldn’t use it.
I have the gift, but I can’t use it. Wasn’t this like having a high-performance smartphone but not being able to use it due to a lack of battery?
“However, there is not entirely no way.”
She took off a fist-sized leather pouch attached to her waist and opened it.
The pouch had a large opening disproportionate to its size.
She began to search inside the pouch with her hand. But something was strange.
Her hand, almost up to the elbow, went into the bag that appeared to be less than 20 centimeters.
“Huh?”
I couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
What she pulled out of the fist-sized pouch was a crystal ball the size of a human head.
The ball seemed to contain a universe within it, with countless stars cascading against a deep purple background.
“It’s a magical crystal ball often used for communication. These objects carry magic themselves.”
She offered the crystal to me.
As soon as I took it, I could feel it.
“So this is magic.”
The energy that I had vividly felt when she grabbed my wrist earlier, was now gently radiating from the crystal and seeping into my palms.
‘So this is magic too.’
I remembered the sensation I felt earlier.
“You felt it right away.”
Celian’s comment broke my meditation.
“Most men with little magic can’t feel external magic well, but you’re Anderson…”
Feeling embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head and laughed off lightly.
“hahahaha… I was always told that I had a strange constitution since I was a child~”
Why on earth did Maria insist on teaching me magic when I don’t have any power?
That was the first doubt.
Celianana attempted to change the atmosphere and clapped her hands.
“Then, shall we follow my instructions and hold the crystal ball?”
“Sure.”
I followed her instructions, first practicing the visualization repeatedly, and then focusing my consciousness on the magical power of the crystal.
It transcends into my body through a five-hundred-won coin, and I can feel it resonating with the magic in the air.
At some point, a transparent sphere was floating above my hand. It felt like a definite reality, not an illusion.
“That’s the Metan, the most common level one attack magic. Try firing it on that prepared log.”
I fired it on the short log set up in the practice field.
-Thunk!
The log was pierced about three centimetres deep and the Metan disappeared.
‘A minimum concussion if it hits the head.’
It certainly appeared much stronger than stone-throwing.
“You’re surprisingly powerful for a first-timer. The more you master it, the more power you get, and you can also increase the number of simultaneous shots.”
I caught the knack after trying it once.
‘Somewhat feels like I could do multiple at once.’
I started casting as soon as she finished talking. And then, activation.
After about three seconds, three metans were spinning above my hand.
‘I imagined five…’
The power contained in the crystal was less than I thought and had already shown its limits.
However, Celianana looked astonished.
“You immediately triple-casted…”
“Ha ha ha…”
I awkwardly laughed and fired the metans sequentially.
-Thunk, thunk, thunk
The metans buried themselves precisely where the first one hit.
The hole in the log was now big enough to fit my fist.
“Your control is also amazing…”
Being from Korea, I was normally quite good at shooting things accurately.
“The magic is lacking. Is your Lord fair?”
“Indeed, that’s the question.”
I handed the crystal orb back to her.
The fact that I had to keep lugging around this heavy thing simply to use magic, honestly, I wasn’t eager to that extent.
Though I had been transported to a foreign land, fortunately, I became a noble.
The likelihood of danger wasn’t exceptionally high. The servants accompanying me seemed strong as well.
“Does that conclude our magic lesson then?”
I won’t be able to attend college if I can’t learn magic.
Though, quite honestly, I didn’t particularly want to go, so this might actually be a good thing.
“No, there are numerous objects with a higher magic capacity than this crystal orb. With the Duke’s wealth, obtaining such wouldn’t be difficult.”
“But that wouldn’t be due to my own abilities, would it? Wouldn’t it be of no use for university admissions?”
“Most colleges put more emphasis on research rather than practical experience. Even with minimal magic, you would still manage.”
Despite my frantic efforts to avoid going to college, it seemed futile.
And for some reason, Celianna suddenly began to regard me with sparkling eyes.
“In the magical research department where I teach, it’s entirely possible. In fact, I would rather you come. I can even write you a recommendation!”
The ominous feeling that she was trying to turn me into a graduate student was not lost on me.
‘Wait a minute, she was a professor…?’
It was impressive for a noble to have a college professor as a private tutor.
“I… I’ll think about it.”
Upon my reluctant reply, she clapped her hands cheerfully.
“Alright then, let’s learn shield and grab magic next. With Dark Energy, they’re known as the basic Trio.”
From then on, she overran the class time, taking immense pleasure in teaching me.
————————–
Nightfall on a deserted alleyway.
A man was stealthily moving, hiding in the shadows.
He is John, the courier for the royal road.
Everyone who knew him, called him John for so long, no one knew whether that was his real or assumed name.
The only certainty was his trustworthy skill in carrying out confidential tasks, and ensuring anonymity.
His primary clients were the wealthy and nobles.
Being an elite assassin and spy meant his service charge was extremely high.
The client he was scheduled to meet was of nobility.
The butler from the prestigious House of Hex, a family of wizards.
“The item?”
John inquires in a hushed tone.
“Here it is.”
A plump woman dressed as a housemaid hands over a sheathed sword she had carried on her hip.
John could immediately sense that the sword he received was extraordinary.
A substantial magic power could be felt and intricate spells had been enchanted onto it.
John unsheathes the sword slightly to examine the blade.
A fake blade with no edge. But the material was clearly not ordinary iron.
“The
destination is the Central Theater on Royal Road. Replace it with a prop in the warehouse there.”
The butler from the Hex Family talks to John in a condescending tone, blurting out orders.
“Understood.”
John accepts the sword from her, disregards her attitude, and turns around.
As John’s figure disappears into the shadows, the maid clicks her tongue in displeasure.
“For such an inferior man…”
She was irked that a common man would speak rudely to her, a woman of nobility.
Yet, she couldn’t outright curse him.
Because he was quite useful to her lord.