After Returning, My Abilities are Infinite
chapter-29

The Magic Now (1)

“Yoo Ji-yeon.”

“Please call me ‘sister.’”

“How can you still joke around in this situation?”

“The more difficult it is, the more positive we should be.”

Yoo Ji-yeon gave a little laugh as I lie there bleeding. She seemed relaxed.

The attack on the Great Crack was unsuccessful.

To be precise, the team I was leading failed.

Even though I requested for more manpower, the guild did not permit it.

They refused my request because they didn’t want to pay that many hunters for this mission.

As a result, thirty veteran hunters were wiped out.

We could have cleared this crack without any casualty if we had ten more hunters, but the guild chose to get more profit than listen to my words.

“Yoo Ji-yeon, please go out. Leave me here. It would be better if a witch survived, not an analyst. Wouldn’t it be better for public opinion? It would be better than an analyst who failed the attack and drove his hunters to death. Tell them we all fought hard but were wiped out together.”

“I hate you. I told you to call me ‘sister.’”

“Stop kidding. If that monster pops out, you might not be able to escape anymore, too.”

I coughed blood. There’s not much time left. Thanks to that damn Excellent Insight, I can even analyze my body condition.

Two hours.

Then, I will stop breathing.

However, Yoo Ji-yeon seemed to have no intention of listening to me.

She was still smiling brightly.

Before I could say another word-

Qiao-!

A giant snake appeared, breaking through a wall.

It had a man’s arm on its mouth.

It’s the monster that swallowed all my colleagues.

“I don’t like this… leave me alone!”

The torn arm fell to the ground. The snake’s tongue flicked in and out rapidly.

A thick scent of blood filled the narrow space.

Yoo Ji-yeon stood up slowly, with her face calm and relaxed.

She stood proudly in front of the monster, like a soldier.

“It’s a mage’s natural enemy…” I warned her, spitting out blood.

You can’t do this.

I should tell her to run away, but I could not speak anymore.

I helplessly watched her from behind.

“Does it have a magic void? No… magic works, but I can’t use them… I don’t know if something is disrupting the mana sequence, or if it could block all magical skills and traits. Because of it, all our hunters died. The wizards could not support them.”

Yoo Ji-yeon’s fingers were bouncing as she spoke.

She was proud of her magic, but unfortunately, even her skills didn’t work.

Mana didn’t gather in front of this monster, making witches and wizards unable to perform magic.

“Just run away… It hasn’t seen us yet. It’s just attracted to the scent of my blood. Take advantage. Run away while I buy you time. You’ve done everything you could.”

“…”

“Hurry!”

Despite my warning, she did not back down. However, she changed her posture a little and started to cast magic again.

“No. I can’t let anyone die in front of me again.”

Unbelievably, with only a slight change in her gestures, mana began to forgather around her.

“I haven’t told anyone… but I’ve used this in the past. Once,” she said.

Mana began to surround her like a storm. Light purple energies filled the quiet interior.

The foolish snake rushed with its fangs bared toward Yoo Ji-yeon.

“That’s not so scary,” she said.

With Excellent Insight active, I checked Yoo Ji-yeon’s magic.

Unmatched.

It was something unprecedented, something on a different level of unfolding. The skill correction – there was none like this in history.

It was as if it had been learned from another world.

The monster that devoured thirty hunters could not survive the storm.

It slowly began to be torn apart in pieces, until it was dissolved into nothingness.

I swallowed unconsciously.

The greatest mage.

It suits her.

“Let’s go,” she said.

“Yes, sister.”

* * *

“Well, Si-woo?”

“Sorry.”

I was carried away with old thoughts. When I raised my head, Yoo Ji-yeon, much younger than in my memories, was staring at me innocently.

“Oh, okay. You’re supposed to be in class today, but you can leave because you’re in the senior class, right?”

She took the apple in my hand.

“By the way, what do you mean that your magic is not working?” I asked her.

“Right. I need your help.”

She clapped her hands.

“Look at it.”

Yoo Ji-yeon began to gather mana in the usual way she does.

We were in the Academy’s training ground, so there was nothing wrong with using magic during the conversation.

With Yoo Ji-yeon’s stance, I was visually confirming that her mana flow was no different.

Soon, the magic will be formed.

However-

“Ahh!”

Yoo Ji-yeon stumbled backward. The mana she gathered scattered; the magic she was creating dissolved.

“Ouch… Did you see it? It keeps going like this. I use magic like I always do, but now it breaks down before it is finished.”

“…”

“Why would it do that? I think you can help me… Si-woo?”

I was speechless. The Traveler was, too.

[Did you see that? That’s pretty amazing.]

I couldn’t believe what I just saw.

It is. Her power is really blooming.

A fundamental power that makes Yoo Ji-yeon special amongst all wizards.

It’s clearly building up.

[It’s not polished yet, but… she’s a genius. No one in this world could match that.]

“Wait a minute… wait a minute. I need to think about it,” I told her.

I need time to clear my head. I tried to sit somewhere, ignoring Yoo Ji-yeon’s confused face.

I need to write down notes.

But then…

[You’ve witnessed a great talent.]

[You have witnessed one of the qualities that correspond to the origin of this world.]

[Your soul rating rises.]

[The rating of Akashic Records rises.]

Notification windows began popping up one by one.

[You have witnessed a magical talent of the highest rank among mankind.]

[By capturing the scene directly, the story becomes clearer in the Akashic Records.]

[You will now be able to link and communicate with entities who use magic.]

[You acquired the talent: Total Mana Control]

* * *

It took a long time to clear my mind.

I had to explain things to Yoo Ji-yeon and analyze the ability I suddenly gained.

I met with her again three days later, a Saturday.

Seniors also have weekend breaks, on top of not being required to attend the weekday classes.

I’ll spend this weekend hiking up a mountain instead of resting.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“A place where you can get your sense of magic back.”

After a long time pondering about it, I decided that it’s best not to simply tell Yoo Ji-yeon the answer.

I would not be able to explain it well, and in the past, Yoo Ji-yeon developed it without a teacher in the first place. It might be counterproductive if I tried to teach her.

But I can stimulate her to grow faster.

Since I also gained magic, it was a place that I’d like to train in. It wasn’t a suitable place to go alone, but with the two of us, it should be good.

I also need to train the new ability I received.

As I watched Yoo Ji-yeon breathing heavily as we hiked, I checked my status window.

There, under several descriptions, a new characteristic was shining brightly.

[Total Mana Control]

[Rating: F]

[This is a skill that only users of the Akashic Records can have.]

[Legendary power that could be fully realized once the user has mastered all information.]

[*It is not limited to any property.]

[*If desired, you can change the mana form to the preferred attribute, or interfere with an opponent’s mana.]

[*You can now browse the records of magic users in the Akashic Records.]

It’s a ridiculous power.

The more I use it, the more it would grow.

The mana I could use is not limited to a single attribute or virtue. In addition, I can control it to have certain properties or interfere with my opponent’s magic.

It’s really ridiculous. It’s like a scam.

With this, sooner or later, I would have more magical skills than the cadets of the Magic Department.

“How much farther?”

Yoo Ji-yeon asked. She looked exhausted.

“Almost there,” I told her with a smile.

We arrived at the destination after 40 minutes.

Yoo Ji-yeon looked annoyed for some reason.

* * *

“Where are we?”

We have been climbing for about an hour.

It was a secluded place, far from the usual tourist trail.

The person who gave me this location found this place by chance. He told me that the monsters inside weren’t very strong.

It was just the right level of cracking for Ji-yeon and me.

There was one more thing the guy told me.

It was the best place for wizards.

“Si-woo, there’s nothing here. Are we looking for wild ginseng?”

Her eyes were wide open with confusion. I moved forward.

The man told me he marked the place with a sign that only I can recognize…

I found it. In a place where grass grew densely, there’s a circle marked with six black stones and two white stones.

[View Information is activated.]

A circle made of tiny stones. As soon as I pressed my hand in the middle of the circle, the soil collapsed, and a staircase was revealed.

The person who told me about this place was wrong.

From the very beginning, I thought his story was strange.

This place is not a crack.

“What’s this?” Yoo Ji-yeon looks worried.

“Let’s go in.”

[Name: Orc Shaman Village]

Only

[The orcs who escaped when their crack was destroyed built a remote place to stay. Eventually, they have formed a large village. Orcs are monsters with conquest instincts and will attack nearby villages once they determined that they have enough power.]

[All inhabitants are shaman orcs who use magic.]

It’s not a crack.

It was a <Dungeon>.

And.

[*The mana inside the village boasts ten times the concentration than the outside. Ideal as a training place for wizards]

[*Large number of items made by orcs can be found inside. There are also many herbs and elixirs that can be found.]

It was a dungeon filled with treasures.