The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Unlike its ominous exterior, the interior of the mansion was much cleaner than expected. There wasn’t a speck of dust, and all the furniture and rooms were cleaned as if new. Unlike the outside of the mansion, there was no lightning striking inside. Asel secretly regretted this. Evelyn grimaced at her brother’s strange fondness for lightning.

Crossing the entrance of the mansion, a grand hall appeared. It was a space large enough to hold a party. Asel and Evelyn, who had never been to such a spacious and clean place in their lives, unknowingly felt a bit intimidated. Ena spoke to them in a light voice:

“Get used to it. You’ll be living here from now on.”

The two nodded, but their eyes still couldn’t stay still, as if feeling awkward.

It was a problem that time would solve anyway. Ena left the two as they were and turned her head towards someone coming down the stairs in the center of the hall. It was a woman who looked like she had just become an adult. She opened her brown eyes wide, her hair still dripping as if she had just come out of the shower.

“Oh my, Lady Ena.”
“Hailey.”

Ena called her name. Hailey came down the stairs with quick steps and stood in front of Ena. Due to her height being two heads taller than Ena, it looked like Ena was looking up at her. Ena frowned as if this secretly bothered her, but Hailey tilted her head without showing any sign of concern.

“You’re back earlier than expected? You said it would take at least half a year more.”
“…I found the Corpse Lord faster than expected.”
“Did you kill him?”
“He got away.”
“Ahaha, what a joke.”

Hailey laughed cheerfully and received the hat and cloak Ena handed over.

“How could you let someone get away, Lady Ena? You’re the one who always shoots lightning first or subdues with command magic when you don’t like something. It’s not for nothing that you’re nicknamed the crazy magician who can only shoot lightning.”
“…Hailey.”
“Look at last time too. When Miss Leticia came and started saying something, you immediately cast ‘Shut up’ and chased her away by shooting lightning pew-pew. How could someone like you, Lady Ena, let the Corpse Lord get away? It sounds more believable to say that a demon repented and became a priest—”
[Close it.]
“Mmph?! Mph! Mmmph!!”

Hailey’s mouth, which had been chattering noisily, closed tightly as if sealed. Ena turned to Asel and Evelyn, ignoring Hailey who was jumping up and down while grasping her mouth.

“Let’s go. I’ll introduce you to the empty rooms, so choose the one you like and go in.”
“Mmph?”

Only then did Hailey notice Asel and Evelyn’s presence and tilted her head. She pointed at the two with her hand and fidgeted in front of Ena. It was a gesture asking who they were. Ena answered roughly in a tired voice.

“My disciple and your junior.”
“Mmmmph!!!”

At this calm declaration, Hailey’s eyes widened. Ena took the two up to the second-floor corridor before she could say anything more.

The corridor was also kept very clean, just like the first-floor hall. Warmth was transmitted from the wooden floor, ceiling, and walls, and magic lamps installed here and there gently illuminated the corridor. Asel noticed that the warmth emanating from all directions was a kind of magic and looked around with interested eyes.

Meanwhile, Ena pointed to empty rooms with her finger and said:

“From here to there. They’re all empty rooms. Just choose one each.”
“Any of them?”
“Yes. Any of them.”

Ena nodded in response to Evelyn’s question. Asel and Evelyn hesitated for a moment even at those words, then cautiously grabbed any room and turned the doorknob. The room that unfolded was a very spacious and clean space that the two had never seen or heard of in their lives. The two exclaimed in admiration at the same time and stood in front of their chosen rooms, facing each other.

“What are you doing?”

Ena burst into laughter at this sight. It was more of a laugh when seeing something cute rather than mockery.

Asel and Evelyn looked at each other for a moment like that, then nodded and each went into their rooms.

‘She said to get used to it.’

Let’s not be surprised by things like this anymore. Asel thought this as he walked around the room interior. However, his body trembled with each step he took.

Just because one has made up their mind doesn’t mean a person can change immediately. Having lived his whole life in slums and a closed village, he still needed more time to adapt to a place like this. That’s why Ena decided to give the two time to get used to it.

“Soon, Hailey will bring clothes for you to change into. Until then, rest, change clothes, and then come to my room. You’ll see it right away when you go up to the third floor.”

Ena left those words and snapped her fingers. Then her body turned into a snow-white lightning bolt and disappeared in an instant. Asel stared blankly at the remnants of lightning she left behind, then closed the door and started to explore the room a bit more.

After about 5 minutes of exploration, Asel exhaled deeply and sat down on the bed with a thump.

The feeling of the bed, which he was experiencing for the first time, wasn’t much different from what he had felt in his past life memories. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t feel as overwhelmed as when he first saw the mansion. He did feel amazed, but only for a moment. He exhaled deeply as he looked at the brightly burning magic lamp.

“…It’s beginning.”

He had accepted Ena’s declaration to become her disciple but hadn’t received proper guidance yet. He had only heard explanations about magic power, mana, and aura while riding in the carriage.

How to form a magic power core, how to raise one’s rank. Types of magic and aptitudes. He had only heard simple explanations about these. He had suppressed his curiosity, waiting for the detailed content that would be explained after arriving in Wiheim. And now, having arrived in Wiheim and even received a room like this, he was starting to feel the reality of becoming a magician’s disciple.

‘Will I be able to do well?’

Asel suddenly thought this, then shook his head to shake off the thought.

It’s not a question of whether he can do well. He can do well. Asel recalled all the evaluations he had heard about himself on the way here.

Zerville had said he would be an excellent experimental subject. The reason was his excellent mana resonance, control, and affinity. Ena had offered to make him her disciple as soon as she recognized his talent, and Parnin, the monstrous bird he met in Wiheim, had called him a monster just like Ena.

There was nothing negative. Everyone just expressed interest and admiration at the extreme talent they were seeing for the first time.

Those were just the evaluations he had heard in that short time of less than a month. There was no reason to feel intimidated.

Of course, he had no intention of being arrogant. Even overwhelming talent is nothing more than a gem buried in stone forever without humility. Asel took a deep breath, lowering his gaze.

“Knock knock knock.”

At that moment, Hailey’s voice was heard from outside the door. Asel let out an “Ah” and jumped up from his seat to open the door. Beyond the opened door, Hailey was standing with a smile, holding clothes for him to change into. She waved her hand, looking down at Asel.

“Hello?”

Hailey greeted him in a cute voice. Asel bowed his head and greeted her back.

“Hello……”
“Mm-hmm. Can I come in?”
“Ah, yes. Please come in comfortably.”
“Then I’ll excuse myself~”

Saying this, Hailey strode into the room. Asel confirmed that she sat down on the bed, closed the door, and sat down next to her. Then Hailey looked at Asel with her eyes slightly narrowed.

“Sitting next to me. Is this flirting?”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t need to know.”

Hailey smiled slightly and looked Asel up and down. Asel accepted her gaze without any particular resistance. It wasn’t a negative gaze anyway.

“You’re Ena’s disciple, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then that pretty girl is my junior?”
“…I guess so?”
“Hehehe… My first junior. My first junior.”

Hailey laughed mischievously and wiggled her fingers.

“I’ve been struggling so much managing this mansion alone, and finally a newbie is coming.”
“You manage it alone?”

Asel asked with a surprised expression.

Ena’s mansion is not small at all in size. Just the first floor is packed with all kinds of facilities, and there are two more similar floors above. It was not just insufficient but impossible for one person to manage. But Hailey answered in a nonchalant tone, chuckling:

“There are quite a few magical tools suitable for mansion management. Plus, I’m pretty good at life magic, so there was no problem!”
“Life magic?”
“Yes. Don’t you know about it?”

Asel nodded. Then Hailey smiled and reached out her hand towards Asel.

Woong.

Weak magical power concentrates at her fingertips. Hailey poked the dirty part of Asel’s clothes with her brightly glowing hand and muttered:

[Clean]

With the manifestation of magic, a snow-white light expanded and devoured the filth. The light didn’t stop there, but wrapped around the entire clothing, cleanly incinerating the dirty parts. And only when there was no more filth to devour did it fade away. Asel looked down at his clothes, which had become as clean as new except for the torn parts here and there, and exclaimed in admiration.

“So this is that kind of magic.”
“How is it, amazing right? Originally it can only clean one spot at a time! I modified the magic formula myself to make it such an amazing magic!”

Asel still doesn’t know much about the magic system. But he could clearly tell that modifying a magic formula wasn’t an easy thing to do. Hailey, who had seemed just cheerful in his eyes, started to look a bit different.

“Are you a magician too, Hailey?”
“I am a magician, but one who can only use life magic. Still, I’m probably the best in Wiheim when it comes to life aspects! Because there’s no one else researching this magic except me!”

Hailey said with a proud attitude. Asel let out an “Ooh” of admiration and clapped. Perhaps thanks to Hailey’s friendly attitude, Asel seemed to be getting more comfortable with her too.

“Does life magic also require an aptitude to use?”
“No. Anyone who has learned magic can use this. It’s probably one of the easiest magics?”
“I see.”

Asel nodded. He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist, thinking about the path of magical power movement that Hailey had just shown.

‘The magical power moved from the heart to the fingertips. And from there, the magic formula was activated, and the magic was manifested externally.’

After coming to Wiheim, his sense of detecting mana and magical power seemed to have improved tremendously. It was because his resonance naturally increased as he sensed the magic spread throughout the city and communed with the mana of the forest. Asel recalled Hailey’s magic once again and narrowed his eyes.

He recalled the basics of magic he had read in the book. It was a book that had been carelessly scattered in the carriage, but the content of the book that had once been very popular as an introduction to magic came vividly to Asel’s mind.

‘Convert external mana into magical power and store it in the mage’s magic power core. Magic is performed by releasing this stored magical power externally through magic formulas.’

Magic power core. In the end, it means you can’t use magic without it. Because you can’t store magical power in your body, it’s impossible to release it externally through magic formulas. To begin with, people who don’t have a magic power core usually find it difficult to even sense mana itself.

But Asel is sensing mana even at this moment. The faint mana floating around Hailey and the massive amount of mana swirling around himself. The moment he recognizes it and waves his hand, they move following his gesture.

‘I think I can do it.’

Somehow, he had such an intuition.

So he decided to try it first.

Asel closed his eyes and concentrated his mind on the mana circling around him. Hailey tilted her head at his sudden action and placed the clothes she had brought on the bed.

“Now just put these on and go to Lady Ena.”
“……”
“Asel?”

Hailey’s words didn’t reach his ears. All of Asel’s senses and mind were entirely focused on the mana.

In general cases, to sense mana, you need the help of a knight or magician who has awakened to mana. They make skin contact with their disciple and show them the new sense needed to feel mana while leaving a trace of it. Then the disciple can construct a magic power core or aura more easily than before.

Asel had skipped that process.

He had gained the sense to feel mana on his own while watching the battle between Zerville and Ena. He had also understood mana through the books he read on the way to Wiheim, and after arriving in Wiheim, he had vaguely gained knowledge about the characteristics of magical power by detecting the magic spread throughout the place.

Magical power is the driving force refined from mana. It’s a pure and stable power obtained by cleanly detoxifying mana, which basically has some impurities mixed in.

‘But you need a core to refine it.’

It’s impossible to convert floating external mana into magical power without a core. It would be like trying to eliminate all pollution on the continent with a very small purification device. No matter how excellent the performance of the purification device, it would be a meaningless futile effort.

The same goes for Asel’s talent. No matter how excellent his talent is, it was in the realm of impossibility to freely change the mana that roams the world at will. It might be possible to control mana through excellent mana control, but it’s impossible to freely change mana into magical power without a core.

So in the end, constructing a core was the first step. Asel exhaled deeply, erased distracting thoughts, and focused again only on sensing mana.

He had heard from Ena what a core is, but he hadn’t yet heard how to create it.

But Asel instinctively realized how he should do it.

It was like the sensation of blinking. An action that can be done naturally without learning. He just didn’t know until now because he hadn’t tried to do it, but now it’s different. He tried, recognized, and understood.

He goes through cognition. He holds the circling mana in place. He changes the direction of the fixed mana and slowly flows it towards his physical body. There was no resistance in this process. Only the pleasure and refreshing feeling of accepting what should be accepted were present.

Woong.

The formless mana passes through the skin and settles in all the blood vessels and nervous system throughout the body. It advances through the bloodstream and electrical signals, passing through the heart and brain.

The mana rotates once through the entire body. Impurities that were gnawing at the whole body are excreted as sweat. Dead blood refluxes from the mouth. But there was no pain. Asel continued to focus all his senses on mana even while spitting blood onto the floor. In this way, he simply passes through the most cautious process when creating a magic power core.

Two rotations. The mana found the optimal space to settle.

The heart. He concentrates all the mana on that organ that beats and spreads blood throughout the body. Originally, the body’s mana rejection reaction should have occurred during this process, but Asel’s body showed no rejection at all. As if it was something he originally had flowing, the mana moved docilely without rampaging.

The moved mana all gathered in the heart. Asel then tuned the gathered mana into an appropriate form. Empty inside, a solid sphere shape outside. The mana instantly completed that form following Asel’s will.

…Did I succeed?

The moment Asel had such a thought while exhaling deeply, the constructed magic power core took deep root in Asel’s body and inner being. He had not only finished constructing the core but also completed its stabilization and settlement.

The next moment, the mana circling around Asel began to advance madly towards his core. It looked as if it was being sucked in.

In the process of advancing towards Asel’s core, the mana was completely converted into magical power. Asel didn’t even need to pay attention. The mana changed its nature on its own and settled deep in the core as pure magical power.

After a few minutes passed like that, Asel exhaled deeply, feeling that the core was filled with magical power.

“Whew……”

Mana faintly clings to his exhaled breath. Some of the mana that couldn’t enter the core is coming out. It seemed that the total amount of magical power wasn’t high enough yet to contain all the surrounding mana. Since he had just created it for the first time, this was natural if anything. There was no reason to be disappointed.

Asel thought this as he slowly opened his eyes.

“…Huk.”

Three pairs of eyes met Asel’s gaze head-on. Asel gasped in surprise, and seeing him, the three people showed their respective reactions.

“……”
“…I’m speechless.”
“Wh-What’s wrong? Is something wrong with my brother? Is he in pain?”

Ena remained silent. Hailey let out a hollow laugh, and Evelyn was rolling her eyes anxiously while stomping her feet.

Asel stared at them for a while, then opened his mouth towards Ena, who was standing with a serious expression.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

To Asel’s question, Ena, who had kept her mouth shut for a long time, knelt down to meet his eyes and continued speaking.

“Hailey suddenly came to find me, and I wondered what was going on… In that short time, you’ve done something outrageous.”
“……”
“Do you know how dangerous it is to create a magic power core alone? If you make a mistake, you could die spewing blood crazily from every hole in your body. Many cases become crippled because they can’t control the rejection reaction. I don’t want to lose my disciple like that.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Yes. From now on, until you become a proper magician, even if you feel confident you can do it, ask me before doing such things. That’s how I can ensure your safety.”

Ena said, placing her hand on Asel’s cheek.

“Still… I should praise what deserves praise.”
“……”
“You made it well. There’s no sign of instability at all for it to be the magic power core of a magician who has just gained rank.”

Ena smiled gently and lightly stroked Asel’s head.

“Well done.”
“…Thank you.”
“Mm.”

Asel gave an awkward smile at Ena’s warm gaze looking at him.

“I’ll have to change the lesson content a bit.”

Her eyes were full of undisguised goodwill and joy.