What is mana to a mage?
To some, it is still an object of study—something to be endlessly excavated and explored.
To others, it is fuel used to activate magic, and to yet others, it may be a natural law that simply exists.
However, there is one single truth that no mage denies.
That truth is this: a mage must dominate mana.
“Mina. Your mana is far too powerful. It’s extremely free-spirited and irregular. Just the act of you thinking about something causes mana to react in accordance with it.”
Mina listened attentively to Ludger’s words, standing at attention.
Her eyes were wide open, her mouth forming a small triangle—it was quite the sight. Like a rabbit, perhaps.
He almost told her that she didn’t need to listen quite so seriously, but since she herself was taking it sincerely, Ludger continued his explanation without pause.
“For magic to activate simply because it’s affected by your thoughts is the same as a person acting purely on instinct. Humans are rational and social creatures. We don’t blurt out whatever comes to mind—we go through several stages of consideration first. The process by which mages cast magic is the same. But you don’t have that process.”
If you feel cold because the weather turns chilly, flames suddenly erupt around you. Who would envy that?
What if the moment you think it’s hot, mana whips up a blizzard?
Overwhelming mana reacts reflexively, without even a single second of delay, simply by reading its owner’s will.
The power of the magic may be immense, but can one truly call that a great mage?
Someone who cannot control their own magic and is instead dragged along by it?
“Then... what should I do?”
“Basics.”
Ludger answered decisively.
“You need the basics.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy. It was like making a child who could already fly relearn how to crawl.
But to fly properly, one must first know how to walk and run.
Otherwise, one day, they will fall.
“The most fundamental thing all mages learn—how to handle mana. You must learn that. Can you do it?”
“I-I’ll try.”
Her voice was barely audible, but she didn’t say she didn’t want to.
Ludger suddenly handed Mina a water bottle.
Mina opened her eyes wide like a rabbit and looked up at Ludger as if asking what it was.
“It’s a mana suppressor. Drink it, just in case.”
“A suppressor?”
“To tame a beast, you first need to put it in a cage.”
Mina hesitated for a moment, but then accepted it with her tiny hands.
She opened the cap, sniffed it cautiously, then ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) took a sip and scrunched up her face.
“It’s bitter.”
She looked at Ludger as if asking whether she really had to drink all of this.
She looked pitiful enough to remind one of a doll, but—
Ludger was merciless.
“Drink it all. Don’t leave even a single drop.”
“Eeng.”
Mina groaned, but she didn’t refuse.
She squeezed her eyes shut and gulped down the mana suppressor, then hurriedly pulled her lips away from the bottle.
It was unimaginably bitter—so bitter it felt as though every taste bud in her mouth might be destroyed.
She frowned so hard it felt like her facial muscles were about to cramp.
But perhaps because it was medicine given by Ludger, the effects appeared immediately.
Her body began to feel heavier than before, and soon even breathing became difficult.
“Ghk. Ghhk.”
“Control your breathing. This is a kind of phantom pain that occurs as the amount of mana flowing through your body decreases.”
Focusing on Ludger’s words and regulating her breathing, Mina found it easier to breathe.
She lifted her arms. The faint glow of mana that had been leaking from her entire body had diminished.
She still looked like she was glowing because of her white skin and hair, but the self-generated luminescence was gone.
“Hm. I used something fairly strong, but the effect is less than half of what I expected.”
Ludger muttered as he carefully analyzed Mina’s condition.
The suppressor had been made using much stronger ingredients than those he had used on other students in the past.
Normally, even an ordinary mage would be bedridden for days after drinking something like this.
Yet Mina calmly regulated her breathing and quickly shook off the pressure.
The mana glow had weakened, but the mana raging inside her body was still vast.
Her innate mana reserves were simply too enormous—this was the result even after suppressing it as much as possible.
‘It’s truly unbelievable.’
Still, it was enough to dam the wildly surging water with a massive barrier.
Of course, it would only last a few days—but having her drink the suppressor periodically would suffice.
What mattered was what came next.
“Try operating your mana in that state.”
Mina did as she was told.
She focused, then let mana flow onto her palm.
“Create a mana sphere. That much should be possible, right?”
“Yes.”
A bluish sphere of mana rose above Mina’s palm.
If it were another student, the mana would have formed a sphere about the size of a fist—but Mina was different.
The sphere continued to grow and expand, swelling until it reached the size of a two-story house.
Even though it was merely a formed mana sphere, violent energy could be felt surging within it.
The fact that this was the result after drinking a special mana suppressor was astonishing.
“I did it. It’s still a lot smaller than usual, though.”
“Now reduce it.”
“...Huh?”
“Thin out the mana. Reduce its size and dilute its density so that it naturally becomes smaller.”
Mina immediately tried to do as instructed.
However, because she had never properly received such basic training, she instinctively used the method she was used to.
In other words—shrink on your own.
The moment her mana read that intent, it scattered instantly.
It didn’t even take a full second for the massive sphere to vanish, and not a trace of mana remained above Mina’s palm.
“Ah.”
“As you can see, just letting your will slip causes your mana to react this abruptly. You only tried to weaken it, yet everything disappeared.”
Mina nodded, having taken that point seriously herself.
“So concentrate even more. Reduce it, but don’t let it vanish. Don’t just wish for the result—issue a strong command to obtain it.”
Mina tried again.
The sphere that formed above her palm was smaller than before.
Still, it was roughly the size of a large boulder—an imposing sight nonetheless.
Recalling Ludger’s advice, Mina focused intently.
She widened her eyes and applied force, and the mana sphere that looked like a huge rock began to shrink little by little.
Like a balloon slowly losing air, when it finally reached the size of a human’s upper body—
Puhng!
The sphere lost its strength and dissipated again.
“Ah...”
Mina sighed in disappointment. This time, the feeling had been better than before.
“Don’t be disappointed. For a second attempt, that was very good.”
“Really?”
“Keep going like this. Your target is a size small enough to fit in your palm.”
It felt almost too small, but Mina saw hope that she could do it, so she resolved to try.
“Don’t forget. No matter how outstanding one’s talent is, what ultimately matters is the basics. And building those basics is a process of endless repetition. Just as people don’t consciously think about breathing, you too must handle mana the same way.”
There is no shortcut when it comes to the basics.
It is a process of imprinting mastery into the body through endless practice.
However, because Mina was a constitution that allowed her to use magic without learning the basics, this was especially difficult for her.
She could already fly—there was no need to walk.
But conversely, if her wings started flying on their own even when she didn’t want them to, that was a problem.
That was why Ludger bound her wings using something called a mana suppressor.
They weren’t completely bound, but at the very least, they would no longer run wild as before.
She continued trying again and again, and it was only after a full five hours had passed that she finally succeeded.
“I-I did it!”
Mina raised her voice louder than usual.
She looked at the tiny mana sphere resting on her palm and smiled brightly.
Her concentration soon wavered and the sphere disappeared, but success was still success.
“Well done.”
Ludger said it honestly.
Five hours. A child with such a small body shouldn’t have had the stamina to endure that.
Yet Mina never stopped. With sheer determination to succeed, she kept trying—and finally achieved it.
Naturally, Ludger had watched the entire process for all five hours without missing a single moment.
“Now that you’ve succeeded once, it won’t be as difficult as before. Don’t forget this sensation and keep practicing. If you become complacent, that sense will dull and rust again.”
“Yes.”
Mina immediately formed another sphere. Still clumsy, it was about the size of a basketball, but she quickly reduced it.
She repeated the process—erasing the small sphere and recreating it over and over.
‘As expected, a genius really is a genius.’
She possessed vast mana, and on top of that, she controlled it with her will.
Because of her unusual constitution, she stood out, but just watching her perform the basics was enough to say she deserved to be called a genius.
Of course, that didn’t mean she could be judged by talent alone.
Without effort, she would never have succeeded.
“The next step is compressing that mana thinly.”
“Compressing?”
“Like this.”
Ludger flattened the mana sphere floating above his palm, transforming it into a thin rectangular plate.
“Don’t reduce the amount of mana. Maintain the total volume and only change the shape.”
Just then, a single leaf drifted down on the wind.
Ludger brought the thin mana plate to the leaf.
Slice.
The leaf was cut effortlessly.
It wasn’t just a thin plate—it had been honed to sharpness.
“You need to be able to do this.”
“Uh...”
Mina looked at him as if asking, Is that even possible?
Ludger met her gaze in silence.
...So it is possible.
Mina’s shoulders slumped.
Thinking about how much she had struggled just to make a fist-sized sphere, this was far beyond that.
“We’ve done enough for today. Rest now. But even if you return to your lodging, don’t forget to practice on your own.”
“Okaay.”
Mina replied in a drawn-out voice, but her tone was clearly more distinct than before.
She didn’t realize it herself, but her heart felt much lighter, filled with energy.
That experience—of controlling mana instead of being controlled by it.
For Mina now, it was more precious than gold, and it would become flesh and blood that allowed her to grow in the future.
Bang!
“Ah. Failed.”
Muttering softly, Mina stared at the mana sphere that had burst like a water balloon as she attempted to compress it again.
It seemed it would still take time to get used to it.
* * *
A small lecture room suitable for one-on-one instruction.
Hermoa Entiro sat facing Ludger there.
This time, it was her lesson.
“Hermoa.”
“Yes! Teacher! I’m here!”
Hermoa answered Ludger’s call with sparkling anticipation.
She was brimming with motivation—naturally so.
In this dull Seorn, she had finally met a true mage worth learning from.
Considering Ludger’s level, it was as if she had stepped onto a red carpet.
If she absorbed all of Ludger’s teachings and grew by leaps and bounds as a mage, she could reach the future she had always dreamed of that much faster.
The life of a successful person!
That was what Hermoa desired most.
“Hermoa Entiro. There isn’t actually much I can teach you.”
But the moment she heard Ludger’s words, Hermoa’s mouth fell open without her realizing it.
“What? Th-What do you mean by that?”
“It concerns your unique constitution. You can feel magic through your skin—more precisely, through your sense of touch. Am I wrong?”
“Th-That is...”
Hermoa glanced around nervously, then nodded.
It was her secret and peculiar constitution—something revealed from their very first meeting.
There was no point hiding it now. Doing so would only disappoint Ludger.
“I haven’t experienced that constitution myself, so I don’t know what it feels like. I also don’t know how you perceive and accept magic through it.”
Hermoa’s magic was likely deeply tied to her constitution.
And so, Ludger couldn’t immediately present her with a clear vision.
“W-Wouldn’t it be enough if you just taught me your magic theory...?”
“No. As an educator, I can’t just gloss over it. That’s why I brought someone new to teach you.”
Who now?
Just as Hermoa wondered, the lecture room door opened and someone walked in.
“Honestly. Even so, you call me in for something like this?”
Dark blue hair that looked cold at a glance.
Contrasting with her pale white skin, she was a beauty so sharp and composed that even another woman would admire her.
Hermoa recognized her instantly and covered her mouth with both hands.
‘F-Flora Lumos, the Duke’s daughter?!’