Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 7

7. White Jade Apple

The accommodations were one person per room.

“Wow, this bed is really plush.”

Was it because a thousand years had passed? Or was Delema’s power that great? The room was furnished more luxuriously than any place I had experienced in the past.

“If you’re educated in this kind of environment, you can’t help but get stronger.”

I took out the pure white apple from my pocket.

“I get to eat something like this in this life. It’s good to be from a prestigious family.”

[I know, right? A thousand years ago, you were a guy who didn’t even have money for food until you were 20, let alone elixirs.]

“Still, I grew up pretty well in my own way.”

I was reminded of the days when we struggled together. I was born with good qualities to be chosen by Oberon, but my growth was bound to be slower compared to the children of prestigious families with strong support.

“Well, let’s just walk the path of success from now on.”

Compared to that time, this was truly like heaven.

Crunch!

I bit into the White Jade Apple right away.

[Oh! How is it!]

My brow furrowed involuntarily.

“Why is it so bitter?”

A normal child would have spat it out as soon as they tasted it.

[They say what’s good for you is bitter.]

“Of course. There’s no way I can spit out something this good.”

I chewed and swallowed it, enduring the bitterness. I ate every last bite. It was supposed to help me feel the Aura better, so this was nothing.

[Do you feel anything?]

“I don’t know yet.”

It would take time to absorb the energy of the elixir, so it was natural that I didn’t feel any immediate changes.

[Well, it’ll gradually change. Then let’s keep training hard today.]

“I will.”

I immediately got out of bed and took a stance. My feet were shoulder-width apart, and my arms were forward. I bent my hip and knee joints.

[Move more carefully. Bend your knees a little more. Lower your butt further.]

It wasn’t just a simple strength exercise. I tried to feel every single muscle fiber. It was to feel the sensation of the path the Aura had traveled.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

I was out of breath in an instant. It was because I poured a high level of concentration solely into feeling my muscles, just like when I was circulating Qi [internal energy].

‘Huh?’

Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, my heart started pounding again. The energies absorbed from the black magic card were rapidly moving somewhere.

‘…!’

The destination was my stomach.

Crunch!

The White Jade Apple, not yet fully digested, was crushed by the force of the energy. It was finely divided and divided again, and soon shattered into pieces.

It went on for a while.

‘Huh…’

The energy of the White Jade Apple, broken down as finely as possible, was spreading throughout my body.

‘What on earth is going on?’

I had no time to think about the cause of the sudden increase in the absorption rate of the elixir. I had no choice but to focus on the changes that followed.

‘An elixir is an elixir after all.’

I could feel it. The screams of my body. The outcry of my muscles. It wasn’t quite the sensation of that day, but my muscles were definitely reacting. And it wasn’t just simple muscle pain.

“Hey, Oberon.”

[What’s wrong? Get your posture right. You still have to do it 100 more times.]

“No, I think I finally succeeded?”

[What nonsense are you talking about?]

I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from twitching with joy.

“I’m talking about feeling the Aura in my muscles, not my dantian [energy center]!”

It was a result that even Oberon was surprised by.

[You can feel the Aura? Already?]

“Thanks to the White Jade Apple, my muscles are much more sensitive than usual. I definitely felt a similar sensation to what I felt when I died.”

[Huh! Really? So, my training method wasn’t in vain!]

As everyone in the dormitory fell asleep.

“Jackpot!”

A constellation and a reincarnated person hugged each other and let out a silent scream. That’s what Aura meant to us.

* * *

The first class was held in the auditorium where the test had taken place. Alois had fully recovered and had returned to his playful face.

“From today, we will begin training to feel mana.”

The thirty children’s eyes lit up at his speech. His every word was precious to the children who were finally taking their first steps as wizards.

“Anyone here who could feel mana before coming to the academy?”

About a dozen children raised their hands proudly. Alois nodded slightly.

“That’s quite a few. Then are there any children who have already gathered mana?”

Then the hands went down in droves. Only three were still holding their hands up. It was me, of course, and a girl named McDuff and Ariel.

“Oh! What star are you at now?”

McDuff shouted triumphantly.

“I’m just at 1 star now!”

He hadn’t been able to gather mana from the Origin, but he had been diligently gathering mana elsewhere. But soon McDuff’s face crumpled.

“I think I’ll be able to become a 2-star soon.”

Following a girl named Ariel.

“…I think I’m a 2-star too.”

My words followed.

[Why are you reducing it? You’re a 3-star.]

‘It’s not good to stand out too much from the beginning.’

I didn’t want to show off a significant difference from the children. This was an educational institution where children of similar skills gathered.

“Wow, you guys are amazing…”

Alois looked at the three of us with wide eyes for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to the children who couldn’t raise their hands.

“Don’t worry, the rest of you! If you listen to my class diligently, you’ll be able to catch up quickly. You’ll be able to easily build up to 2 stars!”

Only then did the children’s worried expressions brighten up.

“Then let’s start the first class. Today’s class will be conducted by pitting you against each other.”

As the children tilted their heads at the absurd sound that followed.

“After all, there’s nothing like competition for education.”

Alois gave a mischievous smile.

[What is he up to again?]

‘Let’s see.’

He divided the children into two sides.

15 on the left, 15 on the right.

A total of 30 children stood facing each other. Alois crossed between them and continued the class.

“Yesterday, you all forcibly felt the presence of mana through my mana. Right?”

“Yes!”

Alois smiled contentedly as he watched the children answer energetically.

“But that’s a very ignorant method. Mana injected by others can be dangerous. Today, based on yesterday’s experience, we will take a step further.”

He called out the two children at the very end of each side.

“Bella, Gamp. Come forward.”

Alois stretched out his hands towards the two children who came out without knowing why.

Woong!

A thick stream of mana stretched out from his hand and clung to the wrists of the two children. In the blink of an eye, the two children were connected by a strand of mana.

“Now, you two will have a mana tug-of-war. The method is the same as a normal tug-of-war. Only the rope is made of mana.”

Before Alois’s explanation was even finished. Gamp pulled his arm first.

“Ugh!”

But it was Gamp who fell over. The moment he used his strength, the mana wrapped around his arm pulled his body forward instead.

“Tsk! If you don’t feel the mana and just use your strength, you’ll end up like that. Mana doesn’t listen to those who don’t resonate with it. In other words, the person who handles mana better wins the game.”

Alois picked up the fallen Gamp and continued his explanation.

“Feel the mana. Listen to what the mana is saying. Since I’ve already created the shape, it’ll be much easier than feeling it in nature.”

“Yes!”

The children nodded, not knowing what it meant.

At that moment, the children in the opposite camp became noisy.

[Why is that troublemaker acting up again?]

The source of the commotion was McDuff.

“Switch places with me!”

He was pushing the children one by one and moving his position. Due to Delema’s tyranny, the children had no choice but to give up their seats.

‘That guy is acting up again.’

The place where his steps stopped was exactly opposite me. The guy smirking. He moved his position to stick with me.

[That idiot is digging his own grave. Doesn’t he know you almost knocked Alois out yesterday?]

He had no way of knowing that I had almost put Alois in a mana backflow phenomenon. In other words, today was the day to educate the young brat as a life senior.

* * *

“Next! You two come forward!”

The order passed quickly. All the children didn’t have great skills in handling mana, so the child who resonated with Alois’s mana rope even a little earlier won.

Of course, there were some who fell in an unsightly manner.

“Kkuek!”

The main character was Drew. Unfortunately, he faced Ariel, the girl who had created the water stream yesterday.

‘Did she receive early education or something?’

As soon as the mana tug-of-war started, Ariel pulled the blue rope. It was similar to the action Gamp had done, but the result was completely different. It was no coincidence that Drew’s body leaned forward.

[It’s your turn now.]

Finally, it was the turn of me and McDuff, who were standing at the very end. He headed towards Alois with a triumphant step.

“You can never beat me.”

The guy who provokes me on purpose.

“Do you know why? Because my talent is much better than yours. You’re just a cursed guy from birth.”

It wasn’t worth answering. When I looked at Alois, he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Save the family feud for somewhere else, then let’s start.”

Blue mana tied our wrists together.

‘I said you shouldn’t just pull.’

Feel the mana. I was about to try to resonate, recalling Alois’s words.

Wooo!

The vibration of mana is transmitted through the wrist. The blue mana rope began to fluctuate.

[What. Did you already succeed?]

No. It wasn’t me who did it. I haven’t controlled mana yet. That means.

‘…I think McDuff did this?’

The corners of his mouth were curled up.

‘Look at this guy.’

I hurriedly tried to resonate with the mana. Not just pulling, but controlling the flow of mana. Thanks to the White Jade Apple, it was much easier than when I pulled out Alois’s mana yesterday.

Paang-!

The mana rope between the two stretched taut. He was definitely a great talent as a descendant of Delema.

‘But it won’t work for me, who even ate the White Jade Apple.’

I felt it more clearly than yesterday. The flow of mana stretched taut seemed visible. The mana, well-refined by Alois, was easier to understand.

“Eek!”

McDuff is just pulling mana. It was too easy to defeat such an ignorant opponent.

Woong!

I let go of the mana I was pulling slightly. Then, the mana rope fluctuates greatly once again.

McDuff falls backward with a scream. It was a natural and obvious principle.

[Good job! You little rascal!]

The other children chuckled at the ridiculous sight. The situation didn’t last long thanks to McDuff glaring with a red face.

“Oh! Did you intentionally let the mana flow just now?”

Alois’s eyes lit up. He showed clear mana control yesterday and today. It was hard to think of it as a coincidence.

But McDuff shouts loudly.

“It must be because I can’t feel the mana better than me, so my strength ran out! Intentionally let go, what intentionally let go!”

Alois seemed annoyed by the screaming guy, so he paused for a moment.

“McDuff Delema. Using informal speech to the instructor. 1 penalty point. You know that if you accumulate 10 penalty points, you will be expelled from the academy, right?”

McDuff’s face contorted at Alois’s words. Alois didn’t even look at him and fixed his eyes on me.

“Ian. You let it go on purpose, right?”

“Yes. I thought it was important to feel the opponent’s flow rather than just pulling ignorantly.”

When I uttered the word ‘ignorantly’, I didn’t forget to glance at McDuff.

“Hoo. You read the flow of the opponent’s power beyond simply feeling the mana. Very well done, Ian.”

He praised it as if it were a great thing, but it was only natural for me, like breathing. In my days as a knight, it was basic to take advantage of the opponent’s strength. I just applied it a little to mana.

[Still, experience doesn’t go anywhere, huh?]

‘I don’t have the experience to roll around with that kind of brat.’

Feeling mana. The first class was successful.

* * *

Back in the dormitory, I was still devoted to strength training. After finishing 500 sit-ups.

Hoo-! Hoo-!

I was doing push-ups.

[So, do you feel anything today?]

“I definitely feel it.”

While doing strength training, I drew in Aura. The Aura training method was too easy for me. Of course, the problem was that I couldn’t feel the Aura itself before.

But, was it thanks to the White Jade Apple? Now, the detailed sensation of the muscles catches something. A small energy that is too subtle to even know if it is energy. It was similar to mana, but a little different.

“Finally, this hard work is paying off!”

But it was an energy that was too familiar to me. Even if the amount was only a grain, I could recognize it.

It was Aura.

[Aura is essential in this harsh world!]

“How about a person who uses Aura without a dantian! Am I cool?”

When I made a sound out of excitement.

Knock! Knock!

I had no choice but to quickly cover my mouth. Someone was knocking on the door.