NOVEL NEXT Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Leafanel’s Green Key (3)
T h i s was c o p i e d f rom ki n g mt l. o r g
After clearing a path to Spirit Leafanel, I started heading there every day after classes.
Lee Han-wol gave me suspicious looks, but I couldn’t help it.
‘I should take Aiselle to an actual gourmet restaurant someday…’
With that determination, I consistently worked out for several weeks.
[The trait ‘Mana Leakage Syndrome’ has leveled up!]
Finally, I saw some real progress.
[Mana Leakage Syndrome Lv.3]
* Strength: +8%
* Agility: +12%
* Senses: +20%
* Intuition: Uses the user’s ‘mental power’ to activate. Detects mana phenomena within a 24-meter radius. ‘Cognitive Acceleration’ is activated.
Automatically activates in case of perceived danger.
* Mana Circulation Rate in Blood: 2%
Upon checking quickly, I saw that the effects had indeed increased tremendously. Other effects aside, I was most pleased with the slight increase in circulation rate.
[Baek Yu-seol]
* Stats
[Strength: 2-star 49%] [Senses: 2-star 34%]
[Agility: 2-star 33%] [Stamina: 2-star 07%]
[Endurance: 0-star 97%] [Mental Power: 1-star 59%]
[Mana: -]
My stats had increased sharply, nearly reaching mid-2-star levels. Of course, this was not an extraordinary level.
Stella Academy’s first-year students typically had stamina, agility, and other stats above 1-star, with mental power, senses, and mana stats exceeding 3-star.
Some main characters even held multiple stats above 4-star.
Compared to them, my stats were still woefully low. I still had a long way to go.
While mana was the most crucial stat for other students, strength was the most important for me. Yet, I still hadn’t reached even half of 2-star.
I had to put in more effort, breaking bones and shedding blood.
With Spirit Leafanel’s pressure bearing down on me, I drew my Terivon Sword, taking a deep breath as the blade extended.
Buzz!!
Though it hadn’t grown longer, the beam was denser, making it feel slightly more solid and sturdy.
“Huff…!”
Though the pressure in this space was still hard to withstand, perhaps due to my leveled-up Mana Leakage Syndrome, I could now swing my sword.
From above to below.
From left to right.
My swordsmanship lacked a foundation.
No joke, since ‘sword techniques’ were created on the premise of cold steel clashing, learning them had no meaning for me.
I’ll hardly ever engage in sword fights with other swordsmen. What I need to learn is how to use this sword to counter magic.
Unfortunately, there’s no master in this world to teach me such swordsmanship.
While other characters would meet masters later and learn something new, I had to train alone.
It felt discouraging. I still didn’t know what would complement Blink the best. In games, I could just Blink around, stabbing and slashing with a sword or spear. Reality wasn’t that simple.
After an attack missed and I injured my side while fighting a necromancer, I was counterattacked and severely wounded.
Th i s w a s c op i e d f r o m kin gm t l . o r g
‘…In the end, the only thing I need to learn is one thing.’
A simple thrust and slash that accurately pierces the enemy’s vital points. I must constantly practice my sword to do this faster and more precisely.
Swinging the sword under this pressure would undoubtedly be more effective. It’s like those scenes in movies and comics where characters train with sandbags attached to their bodies. The same principle applies here.
Not knowing proper training methods, I just mimicked what I had seen in TV shows.
At that moment.
It felt like a hole had been punched in my lungs.
“Ugh… Cough!”
Mana exploded from my heart, and a strange message appeared.
[You have partially learned a special mana breathing technique.]
[Skill 『Breath of the Spirit』 acquired.]
The world turned yellow and started spinning. I was already struggling with the pressure, and now my senses were overly heightened, making me feel nauseous.
My ears were ringing.
The world seemed distant.
“Ugh…”
My legs kept giving out. If I fell now, I might be crushed under the pressure. Desperately trying to sit down safely, I grabbed at something.
Can’t you hear me? Can’t you? Can’t you? If you can hear me and are ignoring me, I hope so.
“Whoa, what the hell is this!”
Suddenly, the world returned to normal. The dizziness vanished instantly, and my breathing, which had been labored, returned to normal.
“Huff, huff…”
Thi s w as c o p i ed f r om k in g mt l . or g
I heard a clear voice near my ear.
It was unmistakably a ghost’s voice. Just like those I used to hear in the horror dramas I watched as a child.
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r om k i n g m t l . or g
-Oh, did you hear me?
“Huff!”
Moreover, it was the same as the drama! Frantically looking around, I saw nothing.
-Right? You heard me, didn’t you?
“Who are you… Where are you?”
-Here, over here. Look this way.
Slowly turning my head toward the voice, I saw something.
Spirit Leafanel was there.
“…Huh?”
Wait.
Seriously?
Did Spirit Leafanel really talk to me?
“What the… A corpse is talking.”
-I’m not dead! You bad human!
“What are you? How are you speaking?”
-I’ve been talking all along? You probably couldn’t hear because you’re deaf.
“No… Then why could I suddenly hear you now?”
-That’s… Maybe it’s because you’re becoming more like me?
“What?”
-Just now, you exhaled the same breath as me. Humans can’t do that. Only divine beasts can.
Now that I think about it… I did receive a skill notification.
[Breath of the Spirit Lv.1]
* Description: Through the breath of a spirit, one can merge with nature. ‘Mana Circulation Rate in Blood’ increases tremendously, but ‘Divine Beast Erosion’ occurs.
* Effects:
First Form: Strength +107%
Second Form: Agility +125%
Third Form: Senses +147%
Fourth Form: Endurance +101%
* Maximum Duration: 15 seconds
* Divine Beast Erosion: 1%
“What is this?”
I had acquired an incredible skill.
Though its duration was short, it temporarily boosted physical stats to around 3- to 4-star levels.
However, the penalty was severe.
Divine Beast Erosion.
That meant I would lose my human body.
Divine beasts can maintain their form with their own mana. But if I, with Mana Leakage Syndrome, lose my body… it would mean ‘death.’
A great skill, but one that shortens my lifespan the more I use it.
-It’s fascinating. You are the second human to breathe the breath of a spirit. Like that person, your presence is very faint. With no mana in your body, it’s like you don’t exist in this world.
“What does that mean…?”
-It’s better not to stay here for long. You are merging with me right now. If this continues, you might become one with me someday. I don’t want that. You wouldn’t like it either.
The influx of information was overwhelming.
‘…I anticipated this, but…’
No mana at all in my body.
That meant I had a faint presence in this world, made of mana. That’s why my lifespan is short.
All objects and beings contain mana. With their own mana as their identity, they can maintain their presence even when mana from the surroundings rushes in.
T h i s w as c o p ie d f r o m k in g m tl .org
But I lack that. If the mana of a meadow surrounds me, I become the meadow. If the mana of the sea surrounds me, I become the sea. My nature is to be swept away by the environment—this is Mana Leakage Syndrome.
I knew this, but experiencing it firsthand felt strange.
‘…Anyway, it’s a good skill to use in emergencies. Let’s think positively.’
In other words, a one-hit kill.
I met Spirit Leafanel’s eyes. Though she remained motionless with her eyes closed, I felt as if she was looking at me.
“So why did you suddenly start talking to me?”
-Um, I have about 1,269 things to say. Where should I start?
T h is w as c op i e d fr o m k i n g m t l . o r g
“Start with what I need to know.”
-Aw, too bad. Then first question! Why were you writhing on the ground?
No one was writhing…
“Exercise.”
-Exercise?
“I can’t use magic. Because of Mana Leakage Syndrome. So, I’m practicing swordsmanship.”
-Then why are you so bad at it?
“…What do you know?”
-I know everything! I once knew someone just like you. That person wielded a sword well. They could even cut through magic and spirits.
“What, what did you say…?”
What? I’ve never heard such a story. There was no mention of a ‘swordsman’ in the game. If they could cut through magic, they must have been highly skilled. Is that even possible?
‘…No, it’s not entirely impossible.’
It’s something I can attest to myself. Even without Blink, I could cut through low-level magic within a month of wielding the Terivon Sword.
Although there may not have been such overpowered equipment in the past, Mana Leakage Syndrome would have existed.
In other words, there might have been someone in history who couldn’t learn magic but trained their physical abilities to the extreme using this condition.
Just because it’s a game doesn’t mean it covers everything. Remembering that, I asked.
“Who was that person? Can I meet them?”
-No. The Progenitor Mage’s twelve disciples killed them.
Th i s w a s co pi ed fr o m k i n g m t l .o r g
“The Progenitor Mage…”
They lived much longer ago than I expected.
-I was close to that person.
“…So?”
-I watched their swordsmanship a lot. They were excellent. You are terrible.
“I know that.”
I didn’t know what she wanted me to do.
-Here, let me make a proposal! I can teach you. That person’s breathing technique, that person’s movements. I recorded it all.
T h i s w a s co p i e d from ki n gm t l.o r g
“…Really?”
-But, there’s a condition.
Of course, there had to be. I didn’t expect to learn for free. But if what this spirit said was true and I could learn it, my growth would be tremendous.
It was like gaining the ‘teacher’ I thought I’d never meet.
So, I was willing to accept whatever proposal came.
-Save me.
…Except for such an impossible proposal.
“How can I save you? Should I try CPR? Oh, you don’t have a heart, so that won’t work. What a shame.”
-Don’t mock me, you bad human.
“Then what should I do?”
-I can’t move an inch from here, and no one can understand me. I’m half-dead.
“And?”
-A heart. Find me a heart.
Hearing the expected answer, I felt deeply dejected. It was an impossible condition.
Even Leafanel, on the verge of becoming a spirit, had such tremendous power. How could I obtain another spirit’s heart?
“Sorry, but that’s impossible.”
-A divine beast’s pure heart would suffice…
“If you use such a heart, you’ll lose most of your power.”
Leafanel’s voice grew faint.
-…That’s okay. It’s better than being trapped here in eternal loneliness…
Th i s was c o p i ed from ki n gm t l . o r g
Her voice stirred a strange feeling in me.
Eternal loneliness. Imagining her spending endless years here alone made me feel heavy-hearted.
“Well, if it’s just an ordinary divine beast’s heart… it’s not entirely impossible.”
-Really?
“Yeah.”
After all, I was training here to prepare for the upcoming Familiar Contract Ceremony. There, I would meet many divine beasts.
Whether they were hostile, friendly, or neutral, it was uncertain whether I could find a heart suitable for Leafanel among the many divine beasts…
‘It’s much more feasible than finding a spirit’s heart.’
If it could fill the one missing part for me, it was worth the effort.
“I’ll try to get it. As soon as possible.”
-Thank you! I’ll be waiting!
Leafanel smiled brightly at my words. It was astounding she could smile so purely after living for at least several centuries.
I thought that anew.
-Oh, I have something to give you. A token of our promise.
“A token?”
-Yeah! Check the pillar I’m standing on.
Dragging my heavy legs under the pressure, I approached the pillar where Leafanel stood. There hung a necklace intertwined with flowers and grass.
Thi s w a s c o pi ed fro m k i ng m t l . o rg
“What’s this?”
-A token that shows you’re my friend.
“Really? What use is it? Can I get a discount at a luxury department store?”
-You can become my friend.
“…Uh, sure.”
I had never heard of such an item in the game. Whether it would be useful or not, I wasn’t sure, but it would surely come in handy somewhere. At the very least, I could use it as kindling when there’s no wood… Wait.
‘A token from a spirit?’
Spirits were extraordinary beings within the world. Since it was a token from such a spirit, even if it was an ordinary necklace, it would certainly have some use somewhere.
…No, I was certain.
This necklace would be crucial for something in the future.
Late at night.
Stella Academy, Alterisha’s lab.
It used to be more like a trash dump than a storage room. But thanks to Baek Yu-seol’s frequent visits and cleaning, it had now become a proper environment for research.
Tick, tick.
Although it was almost 3 a.m., Alterisha was still working. The presentation was tomorrow.
The Random Aeration Cross Formula.
Three hundred years ago, an alchemist had said, “I discovered an amazing formula to solve this equation, but I won’t write it down because I urgently need to use the restroom.” They died in the restroom, making the formula famous.
If the formula were true, it would be an astounding discovery that could turn the alchemy world upside down.
But over the next three hundred years, countless alchemists tried and failed, leading everyone to believe it was impossible.
This unsolved formula had been declared ‘impossible.’
But then.
The formula.
“…Ah!”
Had been solved.
In the deep night when everyone else was asleep, in a small lab, Alterisha finally solved it.
Thud.
Having completed the verification perfectly, Alterisha slid down to the floor.
“I did it…”
Her mind was blank.
This wasn’t a dream, right? Pulling her cheek hurt so much that tears trickled down.
She glanced at the student sleeping in the corner.
The boy who had come by every day to help her solve this formula.
The boy who had made the impossible possible, Baek Yu-seol.
She wanted to wake him up and boast, but she didn’t. He looked exhausted.
She… simply added another name to the authorship of the thesis.
[Co-author, Baek Yu-seol]
No matter how she thought about it, the completion of this paper was thanks to Baek Yu-seol. It wouldn’t have been possible without him, so it was only right for his name to be there.
“Hoo…”
She took a deep breath.
Thinking about the presentation made her nervous and scared, but she would challenge it nonetheless.
Because there was a boy who worked so hard for her, someone everyone else ignored and gave up on.
She hugged the paper preciously.
‘Random Aeration Cross Formula.’
Many scientists had dreamed that the moment alchemy and magitech, once believed to be incompatible, came together, a new era would begin.
So tomorrow.
The world would have to prepare for a new era.
End of Chapter