Chapter 29

“One year is enough.”

Najin’s ambition brought a laugh from Merlin. She wasn’t displeased by his determination to surpass even the records set by Arthur. After all, it’s better to aim high.

-That’s right. That’s the spirit.

Merlin would have been disappointed if he had whined. She exhaled deeply. Najin had secured basic funds, found a place to stay, and was ready to begin his real journey.

This meant the foundation was laid.

Now was the time, Merlin was certain, not just for surviving day by day, but to look forward and prepare for the future.

-How much do you know about mana?

The one thing the boy lacked.

Knowledge and practice of mana.

It was the perfect time to teach him.

Mana, the energy accumulated within the body.

Najin knew little about mana. No one had taught him about it. He understood it only intuitively, observing others manipulate it.

“I hardly know anything.”

Responding honestly to Merlin’s question about mana, Najin admitted his ignorance. Though he had managed to handle mana and extract Sword Aura, he couldn’t explain the ‘how’ of these processes.

“It’s just intuition.”

Najin had relied solely on his intuition to handle mana. Merlin, having observed him for over ten days, was aware of this.

-True, you’re relying on intuition.

Merlin commented.

-Intuitively handling mana isn’t bad. It’s proof of your innate talent. But relying solely on intuition has clear limits without accurate knowledge.

Basic theory and knowledge.

-Knowing and moving is important in everything – swordsmanship, magic, mana.

Understanding this, Merlin stated, would enable Najin to use mana more broadly and diversely. Najin listened attentively to her. The knowledge she shared was new to him, something no one else had taught him.

-And more importantly…

Najin thought to himself.

Sometimes he almost forgot, but the person currently discussing ‘mana’ with him was none other than the great sorceress Merlin.

A constellation with eleven stars.

A woman known as a grand sorceress in countless heroic tales.

Najin recalled the many titles that described her. The first sorceress to reach the mysteries, the sage who touched the truth, the sage who awakened the essence of mana. Merlin had delved deeper into ‘mana’ and ‘magic’ than anyone in history.

Like Arthur, who made his mark in the history of swordsmanship,

Merlin had written the basics of magic.

‘That person is talking about mana.’

Najin was not going to miss this opportunity to learn from her for free. He focused on every word she spoke.

-Although mages and swordsmen handle mana differently, the basic process of accumulating mana is similar. It’s how you use it that differs.

Swordsmen enhance their bodies and extract Sword Aura with mana, while mages create circles and etch circuits into their souls.

-So, I’ll teach you mana cultivation.

Mana cultivation.

The method of accumulating mana in the body.

-I was planning to start by opening paths in your body to draw in mana, but…

Merlin laughed incredulously.

-You already know how to handle mana?

“In a sense, yes. I do know how to handle it.”

-Right. It’s absurd, but you’ve already opened the paths. Making paths is usually harder, where did you learn that?

It was the same method Arthur used.

Merlin mumbled, and Najin tilted his head. He had only followed what was written in a fairy tale book.

-You followed a few lines from that ridiculous story?

“Yes.”

-Unbelievable, really.

Merlin sighed, tired of being surprised. Regardless of the method, the paths for mana flow were already established in Najin’s body.

What remained was to accumulate mana inside.

Najin had created paths in his body similarly to Arthur. Merlin viewed his body as a perfect blank canvas, ready to be painted. It was still a vast plain, but soon a tower, sturdier and taller than anything else, would be built upon it.

-Shall we start with breathing techniques?

Merlin laid the foundation stone on the vast plain, beginning the construction of the tower.

-Inhale deeply.

“Let the flow settle into your body as you usually do.”

Najin moved as Merlin instructed.

He felt the flow settle into his body.

-Good. You’re doing well with letting the flow settle. But you’re using it briefly and immediately discarding it, right? How should I explain this…

Merlin spoke.

-You’re like someone filling a bucket with water and then immediately spilling it all. It’s fine for that brief use, but there’s no progress… What should I do?

“How should I do it?”

-It’s simple.

She smiled.

-Don’t just spill what you’ve gathered. Let it slowly seep into your body. Can you hold it as long as you can?

Najin had been using mana short-term, instantaneously. But Merlin was suggesting he maintain that state for an extended period.

1 minute, 3 minutes… then 5 minutes.

By the end of 5 minutes, Najin was drenched in cold sweat. His body ached, and his nose stung. When another minute passed, blood dripped from his nose. He was overwhelmed by the pain as if his body was being slashed with a knife.

-Stop.

Merlin warned, and Najin exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“Cough, cough!”

His throat burned.

Blood mixed with his cough. Unable to bear the pain, Najin collapsed on the floor.

-The longer you hold mana in your body, the more it seeps into you. What you just did is the process. It’s excruciating, of course.

“It’s so painful, I feel like I might die…”

Najin barely managed to speak. Merlin chuckled at his voice.

-Of course, it hurts. Normally, mana is not accumulated this way. Usually, you’d absorb spiritual elixirs and focus on retaining the pure mana that enters the body…

If not that, then…

-People usually swallow refined mana from a family’s or group’s secret mana spring or sanctuary, not like this. Accumulating raw mana from the wilderness will utterly destroy your body from the inside.

Najin’s eyes widened in shock.

“So, I’m doing it wrong…”

-No, you don’t have the money for elixirs, nor the background to use sanctuaries or mana springs. This is the best method for you. And you can afford a bit of body damage, right?

What kind of nonsense is that?

Before Najin could respond, Merlin answered first.

-You’re holding Excalibur.

“…Yes?”

-You don’t have a star, so half of Excalibur’s functions might be locked… But you still have its healing power, right?

The healing power provided by Excalibur.

Najin understood what she meant. He had already benefited greatly from this healing power while escaping the Underground City.

-It won’t heal external injuries immediately, but it should rapidly heal internal ones. Arthur did, after all.

Merlin was teaching Najin the mana cultivation method Arthur had used. A brute force method, painfully accumulated by an Arthur who had nothing, a raw and absurd approach.

-Torn and healed, torn and healed. In this process, the body is reconfigured to optimally contain mana. Thinking back, it’s absurd… but it’s incredibly efficient.

“It’s incredibly painful.”

-Endure the pain. What can you do?

That’s how we all learned.

Merlin mumbled, continuing her speech.

-Training is supposed to be tough and hard. If it’s easy, is it even training? That’s just taking the easy way out.

Najin frowned.

“Such an old-fashioned view…”

-What did you say?

Groaning, Najin rolled over. After a few minutes, he could move enough. Leaning against the wall, he slowly regulated his breathing.

“So, I just keep doing this?”

-Do it briefly every morning. It’s important to be consistent over time with this kind of thing.

And, Merlin added.

-Accumulating mana alone won’t make you strong, right?

Najin caught what she meant.

“Go outside and move your body?”

-Yes. It’ll help the mana seep in faster.

“Just breathing makes my body ache everywhere.”

-Pain is part of training, isn’t it? If it doesn’t hurt, is it even training?

Such crap…

“Ugh.”

Grunting, Najin forced himself to stand up. His legs trembled, but he followed Merlin’s advice and moved his body.

Arthur must have trained like this, too.

And Najin had to surpass Arthur.

Reminding himself of his goal, Najin pushed his body further. Holding his sword, he stepped outside the inn and found an empty lot to practice in. As he swung his sword, Najin’s expression turned contemplative.

He was reminded of the past.

Back in the Underground City, he would go to the open field every morning to swing his sword. There, his master, always with a bottle of liquor, would give advice.

“The sword is not swung that way.”

“Watch the tip of the blade.”

“Don’t just swing randomly. Focus on your posture, pay attention to your breathing.”

Offen’s voice echoed in Najin’s ears.

Even though he had no master to watch and advise him here, Najin diligently practiced, recalling Offen’s teachings.

Swoosh.

In the empty lot, only the sound of Najin’s sword cutting through the air was heard.

It was on the fourth day that Najin felt a change.

Following Merlin’s instructions, drawing mana every day, and enduring the nauseating training, Najin noticed changes in his body.

He felt lighter and moved faster than usual.

The speed of his sword swings visibly increased, and each step he took was filled with power. Even without actively drawing the flow to enhance his body, Najin marveled at how much faster he had become compared to a few days ago.

“The effects are quite noticeable.”

He could see the growth. Four days of spitting blood and tearing his body apart had paid off. With renewed vigor, Najin swung his sword even more earnestly.

“Phew…”

After finishing his training, Najin washed away the sweat with stored water. While cleaning himself, he glanced at a mirror. Should he have disguised his appearance? The members of the sect might recognize him.

While Najin pondered this,

Merlin, looking at Najin’s reflected upper body in the mirror, thought of something entirely different. Scattered across Najin’s body were numerous small scars, with a long, sword-like scar on his shoulder.

Tiny scars.

Among them, the cracked muscles stood out.

These were muscles grown from real combat, something those who rest on their talent could not achieve. Observing them, Merlin secretly admired them.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

To be honest, she had been worried.

Najin possessed extraordinary talent and growth rate. And like most geniuses, Merlin thought he had reached this point without a proper foundation.

But what about the actual situation?

His foundation was solid enough. Najin’s body, toughened by harsh training, pleased Merlin. With a proper training method, the effects were immediately apparent.

With both conditions and foundation set.

The boy was just waiting to leap forward.

Merlin pondered as she gauged Najin’s skyrocketing growth curve. She could teach him how to handle mana and basic training, but…

-Swordsmanship is the issue.

Swordsmanship. That was the problem.

Merlin was a mage through and through. She had seen the swordsmanship of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but she didn’t have the martial prowess to teach it.

The boy was a swordsman, not a mage.

A swordsman destined to wield Excalibur.

Just accumulating and handling mana wouldn’t be enough to reach the Sword Seeker level. Understanding the sword and grasping the nuances of swordsmanship was necessary to reach that level.

“I have something in mind for that.”

Changing clothes after wiping off the moisture, Najin spoke.

“I’ve been back and forth to the guild lately, haven’t I?”

Najin was still not recognized as a proper mercenary. To gain minimum credentials for proper quests, he had been doing odd jobs given by the guild for the past three days.

Thanks to clearing a horde of goblins, he scored big. Last night, the guild colored his badge black. He had become a Black ranked mercenary, earning the right to take on proper quests.

“There’s still not much I can take on.”

Arriving at the guild, Najin said,

“But now I can take personal quests.”

Quests not from the guild but individuals.

One such quest caught Najin’s attention. Not very lucrative, so others seldom chose it, but to Najin, it was appealing.

[Wanted: Porter to move monster corpses.]

A simple job, following a hunt to carry bodies. What mattered was the information about the person who posted the quest.

[Sword Expert from the Order of the Sword.]

[Mid-rank priest Volkman.]

The Order of the Sword. A group dedicated solely to the way of the sword, where individuals devoted their lives to honing their swordsmanship.

In other words,

“People skilled in swordsmanship.”

Najin smiled.

He reached for the request and grabbed it. The quest form didn’t mention Volkman teaching swordsmanship, but…

That’s none of my concern.

I’ll find a way to mimic what I see.