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Episode 13. Mana (2)
Yohan’s eyes widened when he noticed the abnormal speed at which mana was being drawn into Yuri.
“He already sensed mana? And what’s with this insane absorption rate?”
Had he really sensed mana already?
Or was something else going on?
It was too soon to make any assumptions, so Yohan released mana once more.
And the same phenomenon occurred again.
Tsutsutsutsutsu—
The mana was sucked into Yuri at a terrifying speed.
“No doubt about it! This brat really sensed mana!”
With this level of talent, Yuri might not be a genius, but he was certainly gifted.
A moment later—
Hoo—
Yuri took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Yohan, slightly excited, asked,
“How is it? How does it feel to sense mana for the first time?”
Yuri didn’t respond right away.
Seeing his silence, Yohan smiled knowingly.
“Ahh, how can one describe that feeling? That blissful, first sensation… Words can’t do it justice. I understand exactly how you feel, brat.”
Yohan rubbed his nose with his index finger, but Yuri just blinked at him and asked in a dazed tone,
“So, old man… uh… what exactly is mana supposed to feel like?”
“What do you mean, what? It’s what you’re feeling right now.”
“And what is it that I’m supposed to be feeling?”
“Mana!”
“And what does mana feel like?”
“……”
The strangely circular conversation made Yohan’s face stiffen. He snapped,
“Are you trying to mess with me right now?”
“What? No…”
“Then why the hell are you lying, pretending you didn’t feel mana after you clearly did?!”
“When did I ever lie?! I said I didn’t feel anything because I didn’t, what else do you want me to say?!”
“This brat! You sucked up my mana like a vacuum cleaner and now you’re saying you didn’t feel anything?!”
“What are you talking about? When did I—”
“Just now! You were slurping up my mana, you little—!”
“I know nothing of this, good sir.”
“You little… are you really going to keep spouting crap while pretending you don’t know?!”
“Goddamn it! If I had sensed mana, I wouldn’t be getting yelled at for no reason!”
Yuri was fuming.
Yohan, seeing the mix of confusion, guilt, anger, and self-reproach in Yuri’s eyes, froze.
“You…?”
He stared at Yuri for a long moment, then asked carefully,
“You really… didn’t feel anything?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“For real? You’re not lying?”
“I’m not.”
Yuri was confident—what else was he supposed to say?
Yohan, on the other hand, muttered in disbelief,
“Th-this can’t be happening…”
With the amount of mana he’d released, even someone with terrible sensitivity should have felt at least a faint disturbance.
And Yuri had definitely sucked in Yohan’s mana greedily.
For him to not sense anything was bizarre.
But there wasn’t a hint of deceit in Yuri’s face—only honest frustration and self-loathing.
Yohan stammered,
“L-let’s try again. I’ll increase the mana density a bit.”
He released more mana.
Yuri sat cross-legged again and closed his eyes.
Tsutsutsutsutsu—
More mana than before filled the air, and once again, it was drawn toward Yuri.
Yohan asked eagerly,
“Do you feel it now? You do, right?”
“Hmm…”
“Well?”
“Ah!”
Yuri’s eyes flew wide open as if he had realized something.
Yohan grinned—“I knew it!”—and nodded.
“You felt it, didn’t you? You did! Of course you did! There’s no way a human could fail to sense it when I—”
“…I’m hungry.”
“……”
“I just remembered I fainted earlier and never ate.”
Yuri rubbed his stomach with a vacant look.
Yohan stared at him blankly and muttered,
“…So you’re not human after all.”
Then he grabbed his hair in despair.
“This makes no sense… this can’t be happening…”
If Yuri couldn’t sense mana, everything would fall apart.
No matter how strong his body was, physical techniques without mana were just form without substance.
He’d end up destroying himself before achieving anything.
“…It’s over. Everything’s over…”
Yohan muttered in defeat, then glanced at Yuri.
“…How about we call off our deal?”
Experiment or no experiment—what could he teach someone who couldn’t even sense mana?
“You’re hopeless…”
He was about to back away when—thunk—Yuri’s hand landed on his shoulder.
“Old man.”
Yuri smiled brightly—too brightly—and Yohan suddenly had a bad feeling.
“W-What is it?”
“Train me.”
“…Huh?”
“Train me.”
“…Train you in what?”
“Make me, a halfwit, capable of sensing mana. Turn me into someone useful.”
Yohan felt a strange déjà vu—these words sounded familiar.
“If I can’t even do this, how am I supposed to beat that Swordmaster guy? I thought you were gonna teach me some crazy martial art that could defeat him, but this… this is disappointing.”
“……”
“So I was a little slow in sensing mana, and you’re giving up already? Is that all you’ve got, old man?”
“……”
“Fine, if you’re going to give up, just say so. I don’t want to waste my time either.”
Yuri had thrown Yohan’s own words right back at him.
Yohan’s face soured as if he’d bitten into dung.
“Well? What’s it going to be?”
Yuri grinned even wider.
“Are you giving up?”
The brighter Yuri’s smile shone, the darker Yohan’s expression became.
“Are you giving up?”
“Grrr!”
Yuri’s relentless taunting finally pushed Yohan to mutter,
“…Damn brat…”
Yuri just smiled benevolently and raised his palm lightly.
“Bounce back.”
“……”
Yohan’s face crumpled even further.
The passenger ship bound for Niger had been sailing smoothly for ten days since departing Chrome Harbor.
Not a single storm or rain shower had struck during that time.
But while the voyage was smooth, Yohan and Yuri were not.
“Why! Why the hell! Can’t you sense it?!”
Yohan roared. Yuri picked his ear nonchalantly.
“If I knew that, would we still be stuck like this?”
“Ugh!”
Yohan clutched his chest in frustration, exhaling loudly.
“It’s hopeless… utterly hopeless…”
This time Yuri snapped,
“What’s hopeless about it?!”
“It’s been ten days! Ten! And there’s been no progress!”
“It’s only been ten days!”
For the past ten days, Yohan had thrown everything he had into helping Yuri sense mana.
But Yuri still couldn’t grasp it.
At first, I thought he was messing with me…
But he wasn’t.
His attitude during training made that obvious.
He truly couldn’t sense it.
“Enough whining, old man. Let’s try again.”
“It’s useless…”
“Ugh! Stop giving up so easily!”
Yuri tried to sound casual, but his eyes betrayed urgency and desperation.
He had always believed in himself, so failing to sense mana was a huge shock.
First came confusion,
then disappointment and self-loathing,
and now—desperation.
His desire to become stronger burned hotter than ever.
He even started pushing Yohan to train harder.
Yohan obliged, though he had his doubts.
Even if we part ways, it’s not like he can run off in the middle of the ocean…
But there were only three weeks left of the voyage.
If he can’t sense mana by then…
Yohan planned to cut his losses.
It wasn’t in his original plan to deal with this kind of issue.
If he can’t sense mana, he’ll die sooner or later anyway.
No point getting attached.
Yohan stared at Yuri.
A person who can’t sense mana…
Even those with no talent could usually sense mana if given external help.
Such people were rare.
But Yuri couldn’t even do that.
And in Yohan’s experience, those who failed to sense mana early on almost never succeeded later.
Still…
He sighed inwardly.
Maybe it is too soon to give up, like he said.
It had only been ten days, after all.
And there was a mystery that nagged at Yohan:
Whenever the mana density passes a certain point, this brat starts sucking in my mana like crazy.
But Yuri’s body showed no signs of retaining any of it.
No mana traces, nothing.
Even in all his years, Yohan had never seen anything like it.
It piqued his curiosity.
There’s definitely something going on here…
Yohan narrowed his eyes at Yuri.
But Yuri, impatient, started tapping the floor.
“Hurry up and release mana already!”
“Am I your mana bank or something? Stop rushing me.”
“Come on!”
“Tch, you brat. So impatient.”
Grumbling, Yohan released mana again.
And so, Yuri’s mana training resumed.
On the fifteenth day of the voyage, storm clouds appeared ahead.
The ship was soon caught in turbulent waves and began to pitch violently.
But Yuri didn’t even notice.
He was completely focused on trying to sense mana.
Why… why can’t I feel it?!
He always brushed off Yohan’s questions with feigned nonchalance, but deep down, no one wanted the answer more than Yuri himself.
His thoughts churned.
Am I… incapable of sensing mana?
If so, what am I supposed to do?
Will my vow to surpass Yohan end before it even begins?
Can I even live long without mana?
The gap between his ideals and reality crushed his chest.
But he pushed those feelings aside and focused harder.
I can do this. Don’t give up.
Yohan had told him: sensing mana wasn’t part of the normal five senses.
People who said they “felt mana on their skin” were clueless idiots.
“The perception of mana lies beyond the physical senses—it’s a sixth sense.”
If he could suppress his five senses, maybe he could better grasp this sixth sense.
The simplest way to suppress the senses was to block them directly—covering the eyes, plugging the ears—but that had limits.
So Yuri chose a different method:
He forgot his senses.
Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste—
He erased all of them from his mind and focused solely on the question:
What is the sixth sense?
Yohan, watching him, blinked in surprise.
Huh?
Blink. Blink.
No matter how many times he looked, he couldn’t deny it.
This crazy brat…
Yohan let out a disbelieving laugh.
He’s entered a state of selflessness (몰아, 沒我)…?
