MK 028 – The Wonderful World of Magic

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[Now you understand why everyone’s here, right? So, why don’t we talk about the wonderful world of magic this time, kiddo?] (Zeonly)
[Sure. I look forward to it.] (Kunon)

And in that brief exchange, the mood between the two mages suddenly changed.
Oh, rather, it was only Kunon.

He’s been acting comfy and casual all this time but not anymore as he turns his colorless blind silver eyes towards Zeonly.

To the person who’s face obviously shows sarcasm and mockery to the child while waiting for his chance.

It’s a rather displeasing attitude of Zeonly.
But the only one who isn’t aware of it is Kunon who can’t see his face.

[We should be way past the time to the basics. We’re heading straight ahead to the techniques. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?] (Z)
[No. That’s okay.] (K)
[How many formations can you do?] (Z)
[About thirty two.] (K)
[Ha?] (Z)
[If I tried my best, I could go up to thirty three.] (K)
[…Not bad.] (Z)

‘Alright. Now I get it.’ (Z)

This is the moment when Zeonly finally understood why the people from the black tower wanted him to teach Kunon.

‘It seems like they weren’t exaggerating when they talked about this kid’s knowledge when it comes to magic.’

[Well, I said not bad ‘cos I can do fifty myself.] (Z)
[Fifty!? That much!? How!?] (K)
[I’m the one asking the questions here. How were you able to reach thirty… no, how were you able to get past twenty? That isn’t something you should be able to accomplish by yourself. Even the teacher you had before isn’t capable of that.] (Z)
[I cast the base of the magic circle twice and start from there. That’s practically how I use my magic now.] (K)
[…And you’re able to teach yourself how to do that all on your own…? Damn, this kid must be really nuts…] (Z)

Despite his words, Zeonly’s smile had changed this time.

[Alright. I now have some idea what your current level is. Time to show me your skills then.] (Z)
[Before that, can you tell me how you’re able to reach fifty?] (K)

[No. Why should I teach you something you ain’t gonna understand? I don’t like wasting time so just show me what you can do then we’ll discuss whether I’ll teach you or not. Flattery won’t get you anywhere so don’t even try them.] (Z)

[My handsome teacher, please teach me, Zeonly-shishou! This student would be really happy if shishou could show me his magic, the depths of his heart, his bottomless kindness, and his cute and vulnerable side!] (K)

[Ah, stop. You talk too much, it’s annoying. I got it. But for starters, stop calling me shishou. I haven’t accepted you as a pupil yet. Alright. I’ll show you something. It’ll be part of your test though.] (Z)

And after Zeonly said so, a wall made of earth had suddenly risen from the ground.
But before anyone else, it was Kunon who took notice of what happened. Afterall, he’s been watching Zeonly all this time. Rather, the mana around the man.

[I have an Earth Crest and its three stars. People might think that earth is plain and boring but I think otherwise. It holds infinite possibilities… well, anyhow. You can make a bed out of water, right? Make one. I’ll sleep. During that time, use your magic to tear this wall down. That’ll be your exam. Otherwise, we’re done. And there will  never be a next time.]

‘I bet he’ll be able to do this much, though.’

That’s what Zeonly thinks will happen as he slowly succumbs to the comfort of the water bed. 

Even he was surprised and wasn’t able to help himself but yelp upon experiencing the soft and bouncy texture of the waterball beneath him.

It was soft and comfy beyond his imagination.
It felt like all the weight in his body was gone and he’s sinking slowly in the sea of feathers.
While he knows that what he’s laying down onto is made of water, he still finds it weird that he isn’t wet at all.
What’s more, considering the season’s already winter, the water bed’s temperature was adjusted to give him warmth and comfort…

And with the power of the water bed, in combination with Zeonly’s fatigue and lack of sleep from the past few days, Zeonly lost his consciousness to the demon of sleep.
He didn’t even have the will to resist.
 
‘I’ll definitely have one of the mages in the black tower learn how to do this…’

Such is the last thought of Zeonly before he had fallen to sleep.

—

After the wall appeared, Kunon didn’t give Zeonly even a second look as if he isn’t existing anymore. 

His full attention is now on the wall. Kunon touches it and–

‘It feels like this whole thing is made of hardened dirt.’

It’s a thin wall that’s rectangular in shape and looks like a board.

It didn’t budge an inch no matter how much Kunon pushed it. He tried hitting it with his cane and it only gave him an idea of how solid it is based on the feedback of the sound it made.
Even when he tried to smash it, there wasn’t even a chip on it.
It’s a plain yet terrifyingly solid wall.
It has a smooth texture despite it’s made of dirt.

As simple as it seems, Kunon can’t help but be amazed by how much mana was contained inside of it.

Normal magic spells require the caster to continuously supply the mana for the magic to manifest. However, this wall, similar to Kunon’s water ball, traps the mana inside of it to maintain its form and exist somehow independently. 

It won’t just suddenly vanish unless the caster dispels it or the mana inside of it becomes empty.

‘Based on the mana inside of it, it’ll probably last until two days.’

For Kunon who can only make his water ball last until half a day, this magic made by Zeonly was enough for him to realize the difference between them. 

Kunon thought that he’d be able to learn from anyone as long as they’re a royal mage.
But after getting familiar with Zeonly’s mana, he now realized that even amongst the kingdom’s cream of the crop, Zeonly is indeed one of a kind.

There’s a reason why he looks down on everyone.
Including Kunon. Zeonly is just that far ahead compared to the child.

[…Alright. I understand…]

Kunon learned a lot just by touching the wall.
The formation of magic circles are so tightly knitted against each other and is condensed with such thick amount of mana thus giving it a firm structure. 

‘I see… It’s normal for mages to condense their mana and knit their formations as tight as this…’

That is one of Kunon’s takeaways from Zeonly’s spells but that is actually a common practice among mages.

‘But it’s a bit inconsistent… This is probably made from forty formations but how is he able to use that much…?’

–Mana comes from crests.
–And crests are magic circles.

Mana manifests from magic circles.
And therefore, a phenomenon manifests in accordance with what’s written in the magic circle.

By rearranging and recreating different magic circles, a mage can use different types of magic.

There have been numerous spells that have been spread around together with its magic circle but these are just what people usually call the ‘base’ of the spell.

It is up to the mages how to develop these spells and make it their own.
That is how Originality takes place.

A formation pertains to the ability of the mage to utilize magic circles in a single spell. That also distinguishes the originality of the spell and how advanced the user is when it comes to application of magic.

It is because the higher the number of the magic circles are, the harder it is to control thus making it more difficult.

In Kunon’s case, he uses the base of the same spell twice and that’s how he was able to overcome the twenty circle wall Zeonly mentioned.

*Sigh*

Kunon can only sigh as he looks at Zeonly buried deep into the waterbed before walking back to the table.

[Let’s have a chat, princess Milika.] (K)
[Eh?] (M)

Milika can’t help but be surprised when Kunon went back to the table. She’s trying her best not to interfere between the two when they decided to talk about magic and hasn’t said anything since.

She’s worried if how Kunon feels about the test but she did not ask.
Afterall, she’s aware that she lacks knowledge when it comes to magic.

‘Seems like Zeonly’s really tired and sleep deprived.’

He’s still asleep. Kunon feels a little bad for him so he didn’t want to wake him up. 

Besides —

[I felt it when I touched it… That wall, I can break it down in an instant.] (Kunon)

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Translator’s Notes:

1. Hi! Hi! In case if anyone’s interested in the tech talk how their magic works, let me explain it more here. A Magic can be used using a magic circle. They don’t draw their magic circles, their crests are the magic circles. So that’s one. Then, they modify their magic circle (crests using mana) to create one spell – that is the base. Let’s say Kunon uses just a plain, no other effect, water ball. The base magic circle is the water ball. What if he wants to change it’s shape? That’s another magic circle, so that is now two magic circles. It is now a formation. The 32 in this chapter is the number of magic circles Kunon can put in a single spell, or his formation.
2. Practical explanation how Kunon bypassed the 20 formation wall — Kunon, somehow, did or didn’t? Kunon uses the base spell twice before he modifies it. What Zeonly expects is one water ball to contain 32 circles/modifications. However, what Kunon does is to stack one water ball to the other and modify one with 16 formations and another 16 to the other one thus a total of 32.
3. I don’t know I will just pray you understand them. lol.

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