The Legendary Programming Mage

"A favor, you say?"

Mana.

Even though I understood the whole concept of magic being codes, I didn't know a single thing about mana.

What I did know was that if I couldn't control it, I couldn't use magic.

"Can you teach me how to use mana?"

Quincy's eyes lingered briefly before she rested a hand on her chin. "I guess you wouldn't know much about mana control since you never went to a summer camp."

She nodded twice as if confirming something. "I can do that, but you'd still need big bro's help."

She finally turned to face me. "Okay, why don't we do it tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow sounds good."

I already had plans for tonight.

Aside from the obvious—sleeping—I needed to do two more things.

First, study the social workings of this world and confirm if they matched the novel.

And second, figure out what the life-draining thing was all about.

My gaze, lowered for a moment, lifted back to Quincy.

The sound of blaring horns echoed in the distance as the wind picked up again.

"Then we'll meet tomorrow~" Quincy's shy voice carried as she looked me straight in the eye.

I couldn't stop a small smile from forming.

'Such a peculiar girl.'

Nodding once, I replied, "Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Her face instantly brightened.

"Okay, see you later." She waved so enthusiastically I doubted her arms wouldn't ache, all while walking away.

I, of course, returned the gesture with one hand.

And I kept waving for another five minutes because she kept turning back every few steps to wave again.

Once I was alone again, I let out a long breath, wisps of cold air slipping past my lips.

"Better head back home."

I slid my hand back into my pocket and started walking.

I knew it was rude to leave without saying goodbye to Naomi and Melissa, but that was the least of my concerns.

We in the underworld weren't greeters.

Honestly, it was more of a me thing, since I usually found ways to avoid greetings altogether.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

If my memory was correct, this world followed a graded political system.

There were a total of seven continents here, four major and three minor ones.

Out of all of them, the continent I resided in, the Valoria Empire, was the most powerful, with four great Cities.

Like the others, Valoria was ruled by a royal family, the Blackwood Family.

And beneath them were the high rankers.

High rankers weren't exactly nobles.

They were more like individuals, hunters, doctors, or whoever, who made a name for themselves and contributed to the continent.

These merits were counted in points, and the higher your points, the higher your grade in society.

Reaching my apartment building, my gaze fell on my neighbor who was still waiting outside my door.

Without sparing her a second glance, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Here."

The first thing I did was grab the tablet and check the social system.

[Breaking News: Beatrice Solrath, The Apostle of Steel, has become the youngest Grade 2 citizen]

I frowned at the headline. "Beatrice Solrath?"

Who was that?

In the novel, there were a total of five grades of citizens, excluding normal people, of course.

Grade Five were those with low merits, holding little political or social power.

While Grade Two stood nearly at the peak, with authority just beneath the emperor himself.

If this were a medieval fantasy, they would have been Dukes.

That meant reaching this grade was extremely difficult, only the best of the best could achieve it.

Those who made exceptional contributions to the world.

Of course, there was still the First Grade. But only one man in the entire world held that title.

The only SS-rank hunter.

"But how did this Beatrice person become Grade Two?"

And the name Solrath belonged to the royal family of the Holy Nation, the third most powerful continent, the Olthia Empire.

"Does that mean this is Valentina's adopted sister?"

I quickly shook my head.

The main reason the empire even took Valentina in was because they had no child.

If they'd had such an extraordinary child to begin with, I doubted they would have cared about Valentina at all.

'Something's off.'

I sighed and tossed the tablet onto the bed. "I haven't even done anything yet."

And the fact that she made headlines in the Valoria Empire meant she had ties to them.

Only one possibility came to mind.

A professor.

"I'll find out either way, for now…"

I quickly undressed, shut the windows, and slipped under the bedsheet.

Sticking my head out from its edge, I called out:

"System."

Ding!

╔═════════════════════════════╗

║ ⚙ STATUS WINDOW ⚙

╚═════════════════════════════╝

┌───" Character Info "───┐

│ ◈ Name: Allen Vanderbilt

│ ◈ Title: The Legendary Programming Mage

│ ◈ Age: 17

│ ◈ Gender: Male

│ ◈ Race: Human (Pinnacle)

│ ◈ Class: Mage

│ ◈ Affiliation: None

└───────────────────────────┘

┌───" Rank "──────┐

│ ◈ Prospect Rank: 『 ??? 』

│ ◈ Rank: F-rank

│ ◈ Mage Path: 1st Circle

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Energy "──────┐

│ ◈ Energy Perception: 『 Mana 』

│ ◈ Energy Rank Mastery: 『 1 out of 4 』

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Mana Pool "───────────┐

│ ◈ Active Flow — 100/500

│ ▸ A.F < 10% of total (heavy mana usage)

│ ▸ Mana Use for 30+ min (heavy mana usage)

│ ◈ Ascension Reservoir — 100/1000

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Traits "──────────────┐

│ • 『 Pinnacle of Humanity 』

│ • 『 Primordial Corrosion 』

│ • 『 Life Force 』

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Life Force "──────────────┐

│ ◈ Current Life Force: 『 750 days 』

│ ▸ +5% of defeated monster's stats

│ ◈ Draining Speed: 『 0.1% per day 』

│ ▸ +0.01%/min (heavy mana usage)

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Affinities "───┐

│ ◈ Red Flash

└──────────────────────┘

┌───" Spells "───────────┐

│ ◈ Tier 9: Displacement — 0 out of 3

│ ◈ Tier 9: Red Chains — 0 out of 5

└────────────────────────────┘

┌───" Base Stats "──────────┐

│ • Strength — F

│ • Agility — F+

│ • Endurance — F

│ • Stamina — F+

│ • Dexterity — F+

│ • Intelligence — A+

│ • Charm — ???

│ • Luck — ???

└────────────────────────────┘

"Everything is mostly the same as I left it, except…"

My eyes locked on two sections. "Mana Pool and Life Force."

It seemed the new trait I got, "Life Force," had forced the system to adjust its UI.

"Hmm…"

From what I could tell in the Mana Pool section, if my active flow, the mana I could use, dropped to 10% of the total, the system labeled it as heavy mana usage.

The same applied if I used a spell for 30 minutes straight.

I wasn't exactly sure what heavy mana usage implied, but I couldn't imagine a scenario where I cast magic nonstop for half an hour.

My Ascension Reservoir, which I needed to fill to advance, was still there.

And as my gaze naturally drifted lower, I realized what heavy mana usage affected.

More than that, my expression darkened as I sat up abruptly.

"You've got to be kidding me."

---

A/N: How was this chapter, guys? I've been really busy and had to write it on the bus, so I'd like to know what you think of the quality. To me, it feels a bit rough, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.