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#021. Bookstore Veronica (2)
“The match is decided solely by one’s ability to handle mana. The number of circles doesn’t matter.”
Woof─
The gray mass of mana moved.
The void between the old man and the boy.
It was a position much closer to the boy than to the old man.
“I think I’m ahead in both skill and number of circles. There’s a difference in the amount of time we’ve lived. I think it would be fair if we put the positions of the spheres here. What do you think?”
Ray nodded.
The circle was thought to refer to a ring.
But a doubt arose.
‘You don’t seem to know that I don’t have a ring, since you spoke in a guessing tone.’
So, that means that in general, the opponent’s ring is not detected.
It’s just that you’re a special case of being able to see the colors of mana.
While his thoughts continued, the old man pointed to the wall clock with his finger.
“It starts when the second hand reaches the next hour and the minute hand moves on. Is that okay?”
“great.”
Ray straightened his posture.
I focused all my attention on the gray mana.
Tick, tick.
A strange air flowed.
The second hand continued to advance.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Then the moment the minute hand moved.
Ray pulled the gray mana straight towards him.
Woof─!
Mana moved at incredible speed.
And it settled on the palm of my hand.
“I think I won the first game.”
Not the boy’s palm.
On the old man’s palm.
“… … .”
Ray was taken aback.
I didn’t even feel like I had caught the mana.
That meant the old man had lost all his mana in an instant.
“Then can I ask a question first?”
“yes.”
The old man asked the question right away, as if he had been thinking about it in advance.
“I’d like to ask where you’re from. It feels different from other kids.”
I thought about lying, but then shook my head.
It was a fair fight with an agreement.
Also, lies don’t work well with this type of person.
“I’m from sector 50.”
“Sector 50. Are you saying you came alone?”
“One question at a time.”
The old man burst into laughter again at Ray’s sharp appearance.
“Yeah. I was wrong. There are strict rules.”
“Let’s move on to the next game.”
Gray mana moved.
Again, I was positioned between the two.
“The beginning is the same. When the next minute hand moves.”
“yes.”
Tick. Tick. Tick!
Woof─!
This time, the gray mana was sucked into the old man’s palm again.
There was a difference.
This time, Ray could vaguely feel that he had caught Mana.
‘This isn’t enough. It needs to be much faster. Or we can use another method.’
The old man’s speed was beyond imagination.
If things continued like this, it could end with only information about himself being revealed.
While Ray was thinking about a strategy, the old man continued speaking.
“Then the second question. Who taught you magic? I guess you stopped learning it halfway through.”
“I didn’t learn it from anyone. I learned it on my own.”
The old man narrowed his eyes.
I looked into Ray’s eyes as if trying to gauge his inner thoughts.
It didn’t seem like he was lying.
If that was acting, then it was a great thing in its own right.
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The old man smiled.
“You surprised me twice today. I don’t think all the surprises I’ve felt in my life combined will be as great as the one I felt today.”
“Is it rare? For someone to learn magic on their own?”
“If you win the game, I’ll answer. That’s a question too.”
Gray mana has settled into place.
The two held their breath and focused on the clock hands.
Tick. Tick. Tick!
Woof─!
Gray mana rushed toward the old man’s palm.
But something strange happened.
The mana around the old man’s face rippled wildly.
“… … !”
An old man whose concentration was momentarily lost.
The boy took the opportunity and took control of the gray mana.
“this.”
The old man felt the gray mana on the boy’s palm, a mass of mana made up of the element of maintenance from his perspective, and his face looked defeated.
“It looks like you’ve changed your strategy.”
“Because there was no rule saying not to interrupt.”
“Veronica was just trying to play the game honestly. Okay. Ask whatever questions you want.”
The old man didn’t seem offended by Ray’s sudden behavior.
Rather, he had a faint smile on his face as if he was satisfied.
Ray thought about it for a moment.
I had to get as much information as possible out of each question, because I didn’t know how many more opportunities there would be in the future.
Ray, who had made his decision, opened his mouth.
“What kind of substance is mana?”
“Manara.”
The corners of the old man’s mouth went up.
“Grandpa Graham. There’s a kid who wants to meet you. He’s the kid who helped me guard the bookstore… .”
At first, I didn’t think much of it.
Since you said you helped me, I thought I could grant you one favor.
I was just listless.
He was just an old sick man waiting for the day to die.
I still have regrets about life because of things I haven’t done, but that’s because I couldn’t do anything about it on my own.
But now it was different.
‘What kind of substance is mana? I’ve taught magic to many children, but this is the first time I’ve been asked such a direct question.’
It was not ordinary.
My heart danced with greater excitement and joy than ever before in my life.
“Do you want to know about Mana?”
“yes.”
The old man, with a smile that could not be hidden, began to explain calmly.
“Mana is the most fundamental element that makes up all things in the world. Although we cannot see it or touch it, it exists all around us.”
“It is a well-known fact that we cannot see with our eyes.”
Strictly speaking, it was a question.
The old man also recognized that fact, but he answered as if he didn’t know.
“You can observe the secondary phenomena that follow the movement of mana. For example, lightning, fire, or hail. However, you cannot see mana itself.”
The old man took a deep breath.
“But it is possible to feel it. Only a very small number of people are born with a natural sense of mana. However, not everyone who feels mana can use magic. The talent to feel mana and the talent to handle it are separate areas.”
Ray’s questions continued.
“Does the talent to manipulate mana refer to how well one can move mana?”
The old man nodded.
“Yes. To be exact, it refers to the ability to separate the individual elements that make up mana and mix them in the right proportions. It is also said that the more one knows oneself, the more talented one is as a magician. In a sense, magic can be said to be a discipline that explores one’s inner self. There is even such a proverb.”
Continued breathing.
“Mana waves to those who are honest with themselves.”
Ray repeated the sentence.
As if trying to engrave it into my memory so I don’t forget.
“Mana waves to those who are honest with themselves… .”
It sounded like this.
“The more honest you are with your emotions, the better you can handle mana.”
One who is honest with himself.
There is room for interpretation, but it probably means being true to one’s feelings.
From experience, mana is definitely easier to handle when you feel the associated emotions.
The old man’s explanation continued for quite a while after that.
“I think this should be enough to answer one question. Are you satisfied?”
“Yes, thank you for letting me know.”
The next game followed.
Ray used the same strategy, but this time it didn’t work.
“I would like to ask why you left Sector 50 and came up to Sector 49.”
“If I had stayed there, I would have died.”
The old man let out a ‘hmm’ sound and didn’t ask any deeper.
In the next game, Ray shook the mana around the old man’s face much more strongly than before.
Thanks to that, we were able to win.
“I won this time.”
“Okay. What’s the next question?”
“I want to know about the rings that wizards wear on their chests.”
The old man stroked his chin.
“Ring? You mean a circle. Hmm. From what you’ve asked, it seems like you haven’t built a circle yet. Well, Veronica said you used the mana in the air.”
“… … .”
I ended up passing on some information here.
But there was nothing I could do.
‘The loop’ was one of the homework assignments that had to be solved.
“Circle, yes, you can think of the ring as a vessel that holds mana. The mana in the air flows into the ring that is created and is stored. It is automatically purified once. It fills up when used. It fills up again when used. The distribution of the elements of the mana contained at this time varies depending on the person’s constitution.”
Refined. It was a word I didn’t know the meaning of, but I could guess it from the context.
“After purification, does it become easier to handle than the mana in the air?”
“Yes. So if you have a circle, you can use the same magic faster and with less mana. But there is another reason why refining is important.”
Ray’s upper body leaning forward more and more.
The old man raised the corners of his mouth when he saw that sight.
“What is the real reason why purification is important?”
I was thinking of deliberately taking the time to answer to tease him, but I quickly changed my mind.
Perhaps, the conversation with the boy right now might be the most meaningful time in his life.
There wasn’t much time given.
It was too much of a waste of time to waste on such a prank.
“Mana in the air is in its raw state. It’s okay to use it a few times, but if you use it continuously, you’ll get mana poisoning.”
“Mana addiction?”
“To put it simply, it means that you have a mental disorder. You may become someone who cannot control your anger for even a moment. You may become so depressed that you give up on life. You may not be able to stop laughing for even a moment. The symptoms are very diverse.”
Ray was speechless.
Then what about the mana that has been waiting for so long?
“How long does ‘continuously’ mean?”
“It depends on the magic, but usually, the reaction doesn’t come right away when you use the mana in the air. It’s hazy and drowsy. It’s not a completely appropriate metaphor, but you could say that it has a similar effect to drugs.”
The old man added.
If mana addiction accumulates, permanent mental abnormality will occur.
“Haven’t you ever felt that way? If there were no circle, you would have been using the mana that was waiting. I told Veronica about it, but I think it was because I was in a hurry last time…”
The old man’s words were not heard.
Countless moments of using magic flashed through Ray’s mind.
There has never been anything wrong.
Even now, my mind is still sane.
Then suddenly a memory came to mind.
The moment the red mana of the ring connected to Cedric’s heart.
At that moment, Cedric clearly showed that he could not control his anger.
‘ah.’
A flash of enlightenment occurred.
Mana was closely associated with each specific emotion.
For example, if you feel angry, it becomes easier to handle red mana.
‘The opposite is also possible.’
Like Cedric, whose rage was amplified by the red mana of the ring.
Does emotion come first?
Mana comes first.
Like the chicken and the egg, the exact causal relationship could not be determined.
However, what was clear was that emotions and mana affected each other, and the more unrefined mana you used, the more you were consumed by that emotion.
Thinking about it that way, it also made sense why he had never suffered from mana addiction.
It can’t be helped.
Because he was a human who had been unable to feel emotions his entire life, and only recently had his restrictions loosened up a little.
Suddenly a thought occurred to me.
I asked the question right away to clear up the doubt.
“If there was someone who could use the mana in the air without getting mana addicted, that person would have a huge advantage.”
The old man laughed heartily.
“The idea is definitely not ordinary.”
He soon narrowed his eyes, looked deeply thoughtful, and then said:
“I’ve never actually seen that happen. But if someone could do it, it would be a huge advantage, as you say. Unlike wizards who only use the mana of the circle for safety, there would be no limit to the amount of mana available.”
A moment of silence.
Soon a conclusion was reached.
“Yes. In effect, the mana is infinite.”