Jan 20, 2024
Table Of Contents
I didn’t know what to say and turned my head while biting my tongue. Although I was still happy about succeeding in magic, I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact with Cain, thinking that he would reach a favorability of 50 soon.
The favorability is increasing by 10 at once. Even the Hunter, whose raised favorability at fast speed, did not develop a crush towards me so fast. Besides, Cain didn’t seem to like me in that way. It was hard to imagine him being in heat over me.
Perhaps Cain’s feelings towards me could be… favor toward a test subject? Pride toward your student as a mentor? It didn’t seem to be anything like that. Moreover, Cain had never formed a close relationship with anyone before. He hadn’t spent a long time with anyone, and it seemed like he had never formed a deep connection with anyone. So, it might be that he unexpectedly developed impulsive affection for me like a duckling imprinting on its mother?
If this situation continues, choosing Cain might have been a good decision. It would be better if the favorability increased a bit more slowly, but it was fine as long as there was no danger of being attacked.
“Ahem, well. This forest is full of earth mana, making it vulnerable to fire. So, if you learn fire magic, it will be easier for you to attack.”
Cain said awkwardly, rubbing his neck. The cheeks, ear tips, and around his neck were stained red. I pretended not to see the color as I practiced the fire magic a few more times. Whether the flame appeared or not, with each practice, the success rate gradually increased. Cain applauded from the side.
We continued practicing magic while walking. The path on the mountain was well laid out. When I looked excited, Cain explained.
“Knights come to hunt monsters, and magicians, well, they’re like wandering around to get experimental materials or improve their skills. That’s why they’ve paved the way.”
“But why isn’t there anyone around now?”
“There might be many. It’s just that there’s no one around here. The Studdle Mountains are very large and wide. You could encounter someone eventually.”
We continued practicing magic, and I learned to create a large flame using the same magic and explode it like a bomb. Of course, it didn’t go well. Seeing the flame streaming down from my wand, I sighed. Cain patted my back.
“Hey, it’s amazing for you to do this much with your mana amount.”
“Is it comfort or an insult?”
“Want to take a break?” Cain said while casually whistling, which was so amusing that it lifted my mood a bit.
We sat on a flat rock. Cain pulled out a water bottle from the air and handed it to me. Since I was quite thirsty, I took the water bottle without saying a word and drank.
“I’m not teaching you to perform impressive magic. The goal is for you to handle your mana better and get used to it. So, there’s no need to be impatient, and you don’t have to lose confidence over this.”
He said breaking the glass at his feet, the long blades of grass swayed in all directions.
“Magicians who enter the Tower usually have some talent, but they come in because they love magic too much. Even if they fail several times, there’s no reason to be discouraged. They’ll use and study that magic for the rest of their lives anyway. They enjoy recording failure factors and trying different things on the next attempt.”
Now Cain began to wrap the blade of grass into a circle, tying a knot.
“But you keep wanting to prove something. You’re not even that fond of magic nor do you have big ambitions, but you get disappointed and discouraged when the spell doesn’t work. Why is that?”
Well… Maybe it’s because I’m a quick and achievement-oriented Korean. Scratching my cheek with a foolish expression, Cain chuckled and placed the neatly tied grass on my right index finger.
“Now, every time you hold the wand, look at the grass tied to your index finger. Move it so that the grass tip sways smoothly up and down. If the grass bends or falls too fast, it means you swung the wand too hard.”
His words were rough and coarse, but the content was very affectionate and kind.
“…I’ll do that.”
I replied while looking at the long grass hanging over my index finger. Somehow, my fingers with the grass ring felt ticklish. At that moment, we heard footsteps approaching. I tensed up and turned my head sharply.
“Someone seems to be there!”
“Yeah.”
Cain didn’t move. He just looked lazily in the direction of the sound, sitting on the rock.
Is that a knight? A magician? Excited to meet someone on this mountain, I stood up from my seat. Soon, the owner of the footsteps revealed himself. He was… a humanoid creature covered in scales, about half the height of my waist. No, was it even human? He walked on two legs, held a spear made of wood, but his eyes were bright red, and his skin was green.
“Yeah. It’s about time he showed up.”
Cain vigorously slapped my buttocks.
“Go, Mana vessel!”
Am I some kind of Pokémon? I gave Cain a bewildered look, and the lizard-like humanoid in front made a hissing sound. He aimed his spear at me and suddenly rushed forward.
“Ah! What is that thing?”
“It’s a Kobold. Usually, they travel in groups, but this one is alone. Perfect. Now, use the magic you just learned. It’s a real battle. Practical experience.”
“What?!”
Cain chuckled and clenched his fist at me. It seemed to mean ‘fight,’ but I felt overwhelmed. I looked ahead again. The Kobold was almost in front of me by now. Trembling with my hand holding the wand, I shook it in a circular motion.
“Flam… No, Flama, Flama! Ignis!”
However, the wand remained silent. The sharp tip of the spear was charging towards me.
“[Ignis].”
A clear voice came from behind. As Cain chanted the spell, flames engulfed the Kobold’s body. The spear fell, and the Kobold hissed in pain before disappearing into ashes.
And, I…
My legs gave out, and I couldn’t stand any longer. With the wand barely in my grip, I sprawled on the ground, watching the spear rolling around in front of me. At that moment, Cain’s hand gently rested on my head.
“Remember what I said earlier. Mana Vessel?”
“To not lose confidence…”
“You were startled because it jumped out suddenly. Get up, let’s go further in. The Kobold’s habitat is right in front of us.”
I mustered the strength to stand and followed Cain. His face showed no fear—obviously. He was a great magician with no equal on this continent. But I was terrified. It felt too real, like a monster straight out of a game trying to kill me. How could I calmly use magic, especially a spell I just learned today, to counterattack?
I had faced someone in a fight before. In elementary school, a bigger guy made fun of me because I came from a divorced family. so I fought back. Sure, I got hit more, but I also busted his nose. However, that was an honest physical brawl of fists and kicks between children. It wasn’t a fight between a human and a monster, a fight to kill each other.
I felt a lump in my throat as I walked, my legs eventually stopped. Cain turned to look at me.
“I want to go back”
“What?”
I turned and started walking quickly. Cain called him from behind. “Hey!”, but I steeled myself and kept walking. But soon I hit my forehead on something. It was Cain’s chest, Cain who blocked my path by teleportation or something, was with an unsmiling expression on his face.
“Are you that scared?”
“…yes”
Cain lowered his face to my eye level at my response. I was myself in those red eyes. A pathetic and scared face, I couldn’t look in his eyes anymore so I turned my head. Cain grabbed the my chin and returned it to its original position.
In response to my answer, Cain bent down, bringing his face to my eye level. I could see myself reflected in his red eyes. It was a pathetic face, the face of someone scared and hesitant. Unable to withstand those eyes any longer, I turned my head away, but Cain’s hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to face him again.
“I understand why you’re scared. It’s natural to feel terrified when faced with real monsters. But listen, Mana Vessel. If you run away now, you’ll keep being scared of monsters in the future. And every time you encounter something as terrifying as a monster, you’ll run away again because that’s your survival strategy.”
A usually serious and soft voice flowed gently into my ears. And what he said wasn’t wrong. The reason I met Cain in the first place was because I ran away from Khan,Alan, and Hunter. Because I ran away from the system of this game. I ran away to avoid the mature content, furthermore, I didn’t want to fall in love with a man.
“You’ve probably lived a similar life until now. When a problem arises, you avoid problems, run away, and find another way. Of course, you’ve made some determined efforts in your own way.”
My stomach churned uncomfortably. I felt like crying, getting angry, and shutting Cain’s mouth. I didn’t want to hear what he would say next, but at the same time, I was madly curious about what he would say.
“But how did you feel every time you turned your back on an obstacle?”
Cain’s hand, which had been holding my chin, slowly moved up and gently cupped one of my cheeks.
Jan 20, 2024
Table Of Contents
I didn’t know what to say and turned my head while biting my tongue. Although I was still happy about succeeding in magic, I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact with Cain, thinking that he would reach a favorability of 50 soon.
The favorability is increasing by 10 at once. Even the Hunter, whose raised favorability at fast speed, did not develop a crush towards me so fast. Besides, Cain didn’t seem to like me in that way. It was hard to imagine him being in heat over me.
Perhaps Cain’s feelings towards me could be… favor toward a test subject? Pride toward your student as a mentor? It didn’t seem to be anything like that. Moreover, Cain had never formed a close relationship with anyone before. He hadn’t spent a long time with anyone, and it seemed like he had never formed a deep connection with anyone. So, it might be that he unexpectedly developed impulsive affection for me like a duckling imprinting on its mother?
If this situation continues, choosing Cain might have been a good decision. It would be better if the favorability increased a bit more slowly, but it was fine as long as there was no danger of being attacked.
“Ahem, well. This forest is full of earth mana, making it vulnerable to fire. So, if you learn fire magic, it will be easier for you to attack.”
Cain said awkwardly, rubbing his neck. The cheeks, ear tips, and around his neck were stained red. I pretended not to see the color as I practiced the fire magic a few more times. Whether the flame appeared or not, with each practice, the success rate gradually increased. Cain applauded from the side.
We continued practicing magic while walking. The path on the mountain was well laid out. When I looked excited, Cain explained.
“Knights come to hunt monsters, and magicians, well, they’re like wandering around to get experimental materials or improve their skills. That’s why they’ve paved the way.”
“But why isn’t there anyone around now?”
“There might be many. It’s just that there’s no one around here. The Studdle Mountains are very large and wide. You could encounter someone eventually.”
We continued practicing magic, and I learned to create a large flame using the same magic and explode it like a bomb. Of course, it didn’t go well. Seeing the flame streaming down from my wand, I sighed. Cain patted my back.
“Hey, it’s amazing for you to do this much with your mana amount.”
“Is it comfort or an insult?”
“Want to take a break?” Cain said while casually whistling, which was so amusing that it lifted my mood a bit.
We sat on a flat rock. Cain pulled out a water bottle from the air and handed it to me. Since I was quite thirsty, I took the water bottle without saying a word and drank.
“I’m not teaching you to perform impressive magic. The goal is for you to handle your mana better and get used to it. So, there’s no need to be impatient, and you don’t have to lose confidence over this.”
He said breaking the glass at his feet, the long blades of grass swayed in all directions.
“Magicians who enter the Tower usually have some talent, but they come in because they love magic too much. Even if they fail several times, there’s no reason to be discouraged. They’ll use and study that magic for the rest of their lives anyway. They enjoy recording failure factors and trying different things on the next attempt.”
Now Cain began to wrap the blade of grass into a circle, tying a knot.
“But you keep wanting to prove something. You’re not even that fond of magic nor do you have big ambitions, but you get disappointed and discouraged when the spell doesn’t work. Why is that?”
Well… Maybe it’s because I’m a quick and achievement-oriented Korean. Scratching my cheek with a foolish expression, Cain chuckled and placed the neatly tied grass on my right index finger.
“Now, every time you hold the wand, look at the grass tied to your index finger. Move it so that the grass tip sways smoothly up and down. If the grass bends or falls too fast, it means you swung the wand too hard.”
His words were rough and coarse, but the content was very affectionate and kind.
“…I’ll do that.”
I replied while looking at the long grass hanging over my index finger. Somehow, my fingers with the grass ring felt ticklish. At that moment, we heard footsteps approaching. I tensed up and turned my head sharply.
“Someone seems to be there!”
“Yeah.”
Cain didn’t move. He just looked lazily in the direction of the sound, sitting on the rock.
Is that a knight? A magician? Excited to meet someone on this mountain, I stood up from my seat. Soon, the owner of the footsteps revealed himself. He was… a humanoid creature covered in scales, about half the height of my waist. No, was it even human? He walked on two legs, held a spear made of wood, but his eyes were bright red, and his skin was green.
“Yeah. It’s about time he showed up.”
Cain vigorously slapped my buttocks.
“Go, Mana vessel!”
Am I some kind of Pokémon? I gave Cain a bewildered look, and the lizard-like humanoid in front made a hissing sound. He aimed his spear at me and suddenly rushed forward.
“Ah! What is that thing?”
“It’s a Kobold. Usually, they travel in groups, but this one is alone. Perfect. Now, use the magic you just learned. It’s a real battle. Practical experience.”
“What?!”
Cain chuckled and clenched his fist at me. It seemed to mean ‘fight,’ but I felt overwhelmed. I looked ahead again. The Kobold was almost in front of me by now. Trembling with my hand holding the wand, I shook it in a circular motion.
“Flam… No, Flama, Flama! Ignis!”
However, the wand remained silent. The sharp tip of the spear was charging towards me.
“[Ignis].”
A clear voice came from behind. As Cain chanted the spell, flames engulfed the Kobold’s body. The spear fell, and the Kobold hissed in pain before disappearing into ashes.
And, I…
My legs gave out, and I couldn’t stand any longer. With the wand barely in my grip, I sprawled on the ground, watching the spear rolling around in front of me. At that moment, Cain’s hand gently rested on my head.
“Remember what I said earlier. Mana Vessel?”
“To not lose confidence…”
“You were startled because it jumped out suddenly. Get up, let’s go further in. The Kobold’s habitat is right in front of us.”
I mustered the strength to stand and followed Cain. His face showed no fear—obviously. He was a great magician with no equal on this continent. But I was terrified. It felt too real, like a monster straight out of a game trying to kill me. How could I calmly use magic, especially a spell I just learned today, to counterattack?
I had faced someone in a fight before. In elementary school, a bigger guy made fun of me because I came from a divorced family. so I fought back. Sure, I got hit more, but I also busted his nose. However, that was an honest physical brawl of fists and kicks between children. It wasn’t a fight between a human and a monster, a fight to kill each other.
I felt a lump in my throat as I walked, my legs eventually stopped. Cain turned to look at me.
“I want to go back”
“What?”
I turned and started walking quickly. Cain called him from behind. “Hey!”, but I steeled myself and kept walking. But soon I hit my forehead on something. It was Cain’s chest, Cain who blocked my path by teleportation or something, was with an unsmiling expression on his face.
“Are you that scared?”
“…yes”
Cain lowered his face to my eye level at my response. I was myself in those red eyes. A pathetic and scared face, I couldn’t look in his eyes anymore so I turned my head. Cain grabbed the my chin and returned it to its original position.
In response to my answer, Cain bent down, bringing his face to my eye level. I could see myself reflected in his red eyes. It was a pathetic face, the face of someone scared and hesitant. Unable to withstand those eyes any longer, I turned my head away, but Cain’s hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to face him again.
“I understand why you’re scared. It’s natural to feel terrified when faced with real monsters. But listen, Mana Vessel. If you run away now, you’ll keep being scared of monsters in the future. And every time you encounter something as terrifying as a monster, you’ll run away again because that’s your survival strategy.”
A usually serious and soft voice flowed gently into my ears. And what he said wasn’t wrong. The reason I met Cain in the first place was because I ran away from Khan,Alan, and Hunter. Because I ran away from the system of this game. I ran away to avoid the mature content, furthermore, I didn’t want to fall in love with a man.
“You’ve probably lived a similar life until now. When a problem arises, you avoid problems, run away, and find another way. Of course, you’ve made some determined efforts in your own way.”
My stomach churned uncomfortably. I felt like crying, getting angry, and shutting Cain’s mouth. I didn’t want to hear what he would say next, but at the same time, I was madly curious about what he would say.
“But how did you feel every time you turned your back on an obstacle?”
Cain’s hand, which had been holding my chin, slowly moved up and gently cupped one of my cheeks.
