Chapter 4: Chapter 4: I Bought It Because It Was Cheap (4)

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment after investing nearly three hours in the disguise.

As I was smiling to myself, Carla’s trembling voice came from next to me.

“Master… is that really you? What happened?”

Carla seemed a bit more comfortable now that my appearance had changed. I shrugged my shoulders and replied,

“Ever heard of a Polymorph Potion? It’s something you occasionally find in dungeons.”

“Isn’t that really expensive?”

“Do I look like I’m short on money?”

“…”

Carla rolled her red eyes, seemingly considering her own worth, and cautiously lowered her head.

“Um… won’t the Polymorph Potion be exposed during the entrance exam?”

“What?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I mean, it’s not that I doubt you, Master, but they thoroughly checked for disguised entrances when I enrolled!”

Carla’s eyes were darting around as she gesticulated wildly to make her point.

While I was becoming more comfortable with her, it seemed she hadn’t completely forgotten her own precarious situation.

“Let me clarify. This is my actual appearance. The bald guy earlier was the disguise.”

“Huh? Oh…um…so…”

“Speak freely. Don’t beat around the bush. It’s annoying.”

“Alright! So, how old are you, Master?”

“I’m 20. The perfect age for academy enrollment, right?”

In truth, I didn’t know my exact age in this world, as there was no such thing as an ID here.

However, the protagonist’s age was always set to 20, the minimum age for academy enrollment, when the game would start, and this year was when the original story would begin.

Unless some bizarre twist happened, 20 should be correct.

It was ridiculous that I’ve had so many near-death experiences in the past three years and spent 20,000 gold just for academy enrollment, but it couldn’t be helped.

As the name Hero & Academy (H&A) suggested, the academy was ultimately the focal point of this world.

Considering the looming disasters that lay ahead, building my strength in the academy—a place I knew well—was essential.

“Twenty years old… Enrolling in the academy…”

Carla looked at me with bewildered eyes. According to the original setting, Carla became a slave when her family fell from grace during her fourth year, which was her senior year at the academy.

It must be emotionally complex for her to think that her master was someone four years younger than her and was attempting to enroll in the academy—an institution she never managed to graduate from.

However, I can’t afford to get lost in my thoughts right now. There was still work to be done.

Clap, clap.

I lightly clapped my hands to get Carla’s attention.

“Anyway, you know the Lintblum Breathing Technique, right? Good. Let’s at least cover the basics before we go to sleep tonight.”

“Oh, yes! First, you need to draw mana from the surrounding air and form a ring around your heart… Ah, not just a ring, but a triple helix ring. Then, you have to… resonate the mana filled throughout your body with the external mana…”

Carla, startled, reflexively began to recite the essence of the Lintblum Breathing Technique.

…I had no idea what she was talking about, though.

Initially, I couldn’t even sense or absorb mana from my surroundings. My body was incapable of reacting to mana.

But that was fine, of course. It wasn’t like I bought Carla without having a backup plan.

“Stop.”

“Hup!”

At my command, Carla stopped her explanation and covered her mouth with her hand. I could sense a hint of anxiety in her furtive glances.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like you made a mistake or anything. It’s just that there’s a better way to teach this, isn’t there?”

“A better way… Are you talking about imparting it directly?”

“Exactly, imparting.”

In the game, there was a system where an expert in a specific skill could help another person acquire that skill up to the beginner level.

It was similar here.

If it were a mage, the master could create a mana core for their disciple, and if it were a knight, they could create an Aura Core for them.

However, they could only create the core. Transferring energy or elevating accomplishments was impossible. Filling the core with mana or aura and realizing the true essence of the respective breathing technique was entirely up to the individual.

But because one could forcibly implant a breathing technique and safely navigate the most dangerous and complex phase of core creation, this sort of imparting was fairly common among masters and disciples.

“Um, Master? To impart the technique to you, you must not have learned any breathing techniques yet, right?”

“Huh?”

Ah, did she assume I’d already learned another breathing technique?

Well, that was understandable.

Regardless of the type of stat, the standard human limit for stats was 30. Although various traits and equipment could augment that, the limit still referred to the pure stat.

And my magic power stat was 18.

That was quite a large amount to attribute solely to innate talent.

It wasn’t for nothing that my trait was called ‘Endless Mana.’

Given that I had substantial magical power, one usually couldn’t learn more than one breathing technique unless there was a special case.

To learn a new breathing technique, one would have to dispose of all the mana accumulated through the existing technique.

So, from Carla’s perspective, it was only natural to assume I’d already learned something and to be puzzled by the situation.

Of course, she was mistaken.

“It’s fine. This is just my innate magical power, so don’t worry and proceed.”

“You mean, this is natural-born magical power…?”

“You’re not doubting me this time, are you?”

“No, no! I’ve never doubted you, Master! But this is really…”

Unable to continue her words, Carla hesitated.

I chuckled at her expression and took off my shirt, exposing my back.

Although the slave inscription fundamentally prevented a slave from harming their master, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Is there anything else needed? If not, proceed with [safely imparting the Lintblum Breathing Technique].”

“Eh… Yes!”

Carla hesitated for a moment, but soon placed her hand on my back with an enthusiastic voice.

Her touch was both gentle and warm.

Swoosh–

But not long after, starting from that warmth, a cold energy began to pour out.

“Ugh!”

The inside of my body felt so cold.

Mana from Carla started to spread from my back, filling my body like ripples spreading across a lake—quietly yet definitively.

The mana filled my core, extended to my fingertips and toes, but avoided my head as it rose.

How much time had passed as Carla began to channel her mana into me? At some point, Carla’s mana started to bounce back instead of pouring into me.

This meant that my body was now filled with her mana.

I shivered involuntarily, feeling as if my entire body up to my shoulders had been dipped in icy water.

Oom–

Carla’s mana, which filled my body, started to vibrate quickly.

It felt like the flapping of a bumblebee’s wings… or perhaps the reverberations of a struck tuning fork.

Ooom–

The vibrations intensified, eventually resonating with my flesh itself.

Ooom. Ooom. Ooom–

Something was being inscribed into my heart, diaphragm, and each individual cell.

Even without my conscious effort, my breathing started to follow a certain pattern, and my heartbeat began to align with a specific rhythm.

The cold energy that filled my entire body, except for my head, began to contract and eventually started to form small circles near my heart.

And as these small circles gathered, they completed a single loop.

Thump.

My breathing, heartbeat, and the mana loop became interconnected.

At the same time, lines of mana emanated from the core of my chest.

Those cold lines gave me no time to adapt, circulating throughout my body as if they were veins.

So, this was the mana circuit? If so, the loop forming at my heart must be the mana core.

The mana circuit, which used my body as a canvas to draw intricate shapes, completed the picture as it returned to the core.

At that moment…

“Ah!”

A sudden feeling of refreshment filled my entire body, coupled with an indescribable sense of exhilaration.

I surrendered to this sensation, and I began to inhale and exhale instinctively.

Whoom….

While Carla’s mana was more potent when she was in direct control, my will could now move it instead.

What previously felt like a simple, cold energy now seemed like a living organism, down to each particle.

I coaxed and guided it, allowing it to pass through the complicated mana circuit and the core of my heart.

Slowly but surely, step by step, I continued.

Finally, when it completed a full circle around the mana circuit and returned to the core, I could instinctively feel it.

The mana Carla had injected into me had entirely become my own.

“Sigh…”

The moment I exhaled the breath I had been holding, an alert sounded as if it had been waiting.

Ding!

【You have learned the Genius's Mana Breathing Technique, a cure for your mana-insensitive constitution.】

【Special Experience Fulfilled!】

【Negative Trait ‘Mana Sensory Inability (S)’ has been removed.】

Yes! This is it!

The reason why mastering the Lintblum Mana Breathing Technique removed the Mana Sensory Inability was simple.

It was because the Lintblum technique was developed by the progenitor of the Lindelheit family, who was born with Mana Sensory Inability, to cure his own condition.

Originally, you could acquire the technique in the form of a skill book by defeating Carla after she became a mini-boss.

But if Carla herself was fine, there’s no reason not to simply inherit it directly from her.

Trying to contain my excitement, I muttered quietly to myself for a final confirmation.

Status Window

Name: Yandel

Title: Lost Foreigner

Basic Abilities

Strength: 11

Endurance: 10

Agility: 12

Talent: 14

Mana Power: 18

Traits

Endless Mana (A)

Elemental Affinity (B)

Exceptional Memory (B)

Clumsy Weapon Skill (E)

Lintblum Mana Core (C)

“Wow…”

Mana Sensory Inability had definitely been removed.

…And one of Carla’s functions has now decreased.

What was left was knowledge about magic and…

Maybe this body of mine that had never been used before.