MTLNOVEL Chapter 15 - Mana Spinning Around
Chapter 15 – Mana Spinning Around
I groaned on the bed.
I wasn’t being tortured for declaring to Erphs that I wouldn’t become a magician.
The old man had his hand on my chest and was infusing mana into me.
Congenital mana deficiency wasn’t a disease where mana couldn’t be generated in the body.
In a living being’s body, there are pathways through which mana flows like blood vessels, called circuits (回路).
I didn’t have these circuits.
Nob AI kindly explained that because of this, the mana formed in my heart couldn’t circulate through my body and simply evaporated, making it impossible for me to use magic.
The old man was now creating circuits in my body.
‘I’m laying down pathways, so the pain is unavoidable.’
‘I’ll try to endure it….’
Beads of sweat formed on Erphs’ cheeks.
‘Ugh, argh….’
Suddenly, a sharp chest pain hit me.
My breathing abruptly stopped.
The unpleasant feeling of someone squeezing my heart continued for a while.
For a moment, I almost lost consciousness.
Seeing my poor condition, Erphs stopped the procedure.
‘We should end here for today.’
‘Haa, haa, what was that just now….’
‘Laying circuits puts strain on the heart. That pain you just felt is inevitable.’
Cold sweat trickled down.
‘Normal people have between 100 and 150 circuits.’
He said he had only laid down ten so far.
‘We need to place at least 120. Your mana quality is higher than average. It’s not a problem now, but if stone formation occurs later, you could die.’
The number one cause of death for those suffering from congenital mana deficiency.
It’s called stone formation.
Mana that doesn’t circulate in the body can, with extremely rare probability, turn into stone, which can pierce the heart or block blood vessels, causing death.
This was information even Nob AI didn’t know.
If I hadn’t solved the Millennium Problem.
I felt a slight fever thinking I probably wouldn’t have died peacefully.
‘Currently, there are only three magicians in the country, including myself, who can heal congenital mana deficiency. Even for nobles, it’s difficult to get treatment.’
Placing artificial circuits in someone else’s heart consumed considerable mana.
It also required high knowledge of magic and human anatomy, so ordinary magicians couldn’t handle it.
Indeed, even Erphs, who had been full of energy until just now, looked quite fatigued.
‘By the way, if you’re willing, the Red Tower is ready anytime…!!’
‘No, thank you.’
‘I’m prepared to adopt you as my son…!!’
‘I appreciate the thought.’
Damn it, why are you like this.
Still, if my father had been a cheerful and lively grandfather like Erphs instead of Porto.
Life might have been more enjoyable than it is now.
I buttoned up my dress shirt.
The old man finally put on his top too. What is this, a men’s changing room?
‘There’s something I’d like to ask you.’
‘Hmm!?’
‘Do you also know about my sister, Fire Mage?’
He had researched information about me in advance.
‘Are you asking about Haniel’s physical condition?’
‘Yes.’
Erphs seemed to know very well about my second older sister too.
‘I’ll be honest with you. Even I don’t know the exact cause.’
‘……’
Erphs gave the same answer as Nob AI.
After becoming aware of my past life, the first thing I did was read all the books in the mansion’s library.
This was partly to train Nob AI, but the biggest reason was to find a solution for Haniel’s physical condition.
She was practically my only family.
Haniel and I came from the same mother’s womb.
She filled the void left by our deceased mother since I was young.
When I was crying from Felix’s bullying, she was the only one in this mansion who reached out and embraced me.
Although, after she fell ill, she spent most of her time sleeping in bed, making it difficult to even see her.
Now it just feels awkward.
She was someone special to me, so much that my first thought was, ‘Maybe I could cure my sister’s illness using Nob AI.’
‘In that case, do you have any research materials or books related to medicine? The field doesn’t matter. The more the better. If you tell me the price, I’ll compensate you later.’
Though I didn’t have much now, I had Nob AI.
There were seven Millennium Problems in total.
Having solved one, now there were six left, but anyway, I had opportunities to earn easy money anytime.
I had more than enough ability to compensate him.
‘I don’t have any now, but I can get them for you. You seem to be very close to your sister.’
‘She’s the only family I have.’
Erphs said with a kind face.
‘I have no intention of taking money from a young scholar who needs knowledge.’
‘……’
From what I could tell, Erphs was a good-natured old man.
‘Thank you.’
I bowed my head respectfully.
‘You don’t need to be so formal all the time. I’m a mage, not a nobleman.’
That was a bit difficult.
‘I always show proper respect to those who show kindness.’
It was Nob AI controlling my body right now.
And so, the deal with Erphs ended successfully.
‘Is this what it feels like to have mana flowing through my body?’
It was a strange sensation.
I felt vitality overflowing throughout my body.
Although it was still less than what an ordinary person would have, I could feel mana circulating within me.
‘Next time, 20.’
From now on, I would need to visit the Red Magic Tower once a month.
“Starting today, you can use magic too!!”
The more circuits I had in my body, the more magic the AI would be able to use.
***
‘Welcome back, young master. Did your conversation go well?’
‘Yes.’
Dalfi bowed his head respectfully.
‘Welcome, young master. You must be tired.’
Aria was waiting for me too.
‘Professor, you must be tired as well.’
‘Then I will guide you back to the academy.’
Together with Aria, we returned to Tristida Academy.
Dalfi went to retrieve the carriage that had been stored.
Aria greeted me respectfully before leaving.
I sensed an inexplicable wariness in her eyes, different from how she looked at Porto.
It was a bit disconcerting.
When Dalfi returned with the carriage, I asked her.
Of course, with the same attitude as usual.
‘Suddenly the professor is looking at me cautiously like I’m a scary boss. What’s that about?’
‘I’m not sure. She gave me 200,000 credits to give to you, young master. Perhaps she just wanted to make a good impression?’
Oh, money.
But, how should I put it.
‘Tsk.’
It was certainly a large sum, but it felt like pocket change.
Maybe because I almost had 100 million credits earlier.
‘Let’s split it in half.’
‘Is that really okay?’
‘Of course, of course.’
And so we returned to the mansion.
***
Erphs looked at the remaining refreshments.
For someone who had avoided sugar and carbohydrates his entire life, eating sweets was an unusual occurrence.
Considering Esther was only 15 years old, he had prepared the snacks with care.
Yet the boy hadn’t eaten a single bite of the sweets.
I should have brought egg whites and potatoes instead.
Not one to like wasting food, he stuffed all the remaining snacks into his mouth.
‘What a waste of talent.’
Esther Tristida had naturally assumed that magic would be his dream.
And for good reason—until now, there had never been a boy with such talent.
Though it wasn’t publicly known yet, Esther had accomplished something in that short time.
‘Young Master Esther has dismantled the barrier of the Necronomicon.’
‘The young master spent only a week interpreting the magical formula. Considering the time it takes for letters to go back and forth, it could have been much shorter.’
‘It was such a complex barrier that not only demons but even our heritage-class magicians couldn’t solve it.’
The Book of the Dead kept in the Lion’s Swamp.
The Necronomicon is a grimoire containing forbidden knowledge about reviving the dead.
One of the worst relics, containing ominous curses capable of contaminating an entire region with poisonous energy.
It possessed the strange ability to make corpses breathe again simply by existing.
Until now, it had been sealed in the Lion’s Swamp, but when it was discovered that demons had infiltrated the kingdom and were attempting to steal it,
The kingdom quickly mobilized the Steel Lion Knights to recover the Necronomicon.
However, the barrier sealing the Necronomicon was special.
One could tell by looking at the magical formula that composed the barrier.
It was different from the magic our magicians had been studying until now.
‘Ancient magic, I see.’
It was magic used by ancestors in the distant past.
A relic of the past, forgotten in modern times.
If one were to ask why no one remembers it now, the answer was simple.
Compared to modern magic, ancient magic was primitive.
In Erphs’ opinion, ancient magic was inefficient, crude, difficult, and inelegant.
Having never gone through the process of efficiency and optimization, it was heavy, rough, and complex.
A miraculous piece of garbage where the results were maggots compared to the effort put in.
Yet, paradoxically, this made it difficult to interpret.
He stared at the magical formula of the barrier, which was close to a mess.
‘A genius who can solve something this difficult in such a short time doesn’t want to become a magician…’
Erphs looked at the answer to the Hellfire Reproduction.
He was impressed by the boy’s skill.
The answer Esther provided was absolutely perfect.
Both the Millennium Problem and the method to interpret and destroy the barrier.
All were beautiful.
Though he was 70 years old this year, he couldn’t remember seeing such a beautiful magical formula in his life.
It was truly a realm of ‘truth,’ composed of rationality and reason.
Erphs was bewitched by the demon of magic.
‘…’
Why did he say he wouldn’t become a magician?
The tower master activated the communication device.
‘Aria.’
‘Yes. Did you call me….’
‘Were you sleeping?’
‘No. I just got off work….’
Aria answered with a voice drenched in fatigue.
‘Esther Tristida says he won’t walk the path of a magician.’
He was someone who could bring about a revolution in the magical world.
‘I cannot understand it.’
Aria softly confessed.
‘I can understand.’
‘What?’
‘According to what I heard from his maid, Young Master Esther Tristida has a grand and important goal.’
A grand and important goal, I wonder what that could be.
Erphs clenched his fist and asked.
‘What is it?’
‘The maid and I only know that fact alone.’
It was a poor play on words.
Erphs was about to scold her with a crumpled expression, but closed his lips at Aria’s following explanation.
‘How could a mere ordinary person read the thoughts of a genius?’
‘….’
Erphs recalled his conversation with Esther.
– ‘To me, magic is merely a means. The successor test I’m currently taking is the same. Everything is just a means to me.’
‘….’
Erphs swallowed.
‘Master Erphs. I fear Esther because I cannot understand him.’
Like death, disease, the universe, the deep sea.
People fear the unknown that they cannot control.
This was fear driven by instinct.
To Aria, Esther Tristida was such an existence.
He was a genius who solved the barrier of the Necronomicon and the Millennium Problem at once.
Has there ever been a magician in this world who achieved such feats at the young age of 15?
No, there hasn’t.
Aria was certain there wouldn’t be one in the future either.
If such a one-of-a-kind genius were to harbor ill intentions.
What kind of calamity would befall us?
‘This is just a hypothesis, but if Young Master Esther’s great purpose were to the Kingdom of Justina….’
‘Enough.’
Erphs stopped Aria.
‘That’s excessive speculation.’
Nevertheless, Aria couldn’t hide her anxious feelings.
‘He was persecuted by his family. Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have negative thoughts. Before being a genius, he is a human. With terrorist groups like ‘Wonderland’ existing, I can’t be 100% certain.’
Erphs closed his eyes.
It was likely true that he too couldn’t read Esther’s thoughts.
All he could read in that moment was his feelings for his sister.
‘Aria.’
‘Yes.’
‘Call the priests and doctors I know to the magic tower tomorrow. I need to discuss Haniel Tristida’s physical condition.’
Though I’m not sure about Esther.
If his sister were to die, even by the slightest chance…
‘I understand.’
The possibility of unimaginable, terrible events occurring would increase.
Such a thought suddenly crossed his mind.