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Chapter 11
Scratch, scrape.
The sound of a pen gliding over paper.
“E means flow, A means breath. =∝ means proportional, ^2 means squared.”
As the words filled my notebook and textbook, the knowledge was absorbed into my head as well.
“If you square the breath and add flow, then it becomes proportional to….”
I wrote down and organized all the vast material on magic at incredible speed, line after line.
And finally—
“Done.”
Notebooks crammed with writing, underlines across the textbook, and countless little annotations.
Before my eyes lay what could only be called a nearly perfect compilation of fundamental magical theories and formulas.
“This bastard’s head really is something else.”
Just a glance or two was all it took to perfectly memorize the entire textbook.
Of course, the speed was just a bonus.
“Good, I’ve memorized the basics now.”
I had laid down the foundations of magical study at an impressive pace.
But.
There was a problem. A small—no, a very tiny problem.
“What the hell is this supposed to mean?”
I looked at my own notebook again.
No matter how many times I read through what I’d written, I couldn’t understand a damn thing.
What do I mean by that?
I mean—
“So flow and breath are proportional… but so what?”
I had memorized and organized everything myself, yet I couldn’t grasp the meaning.
“Wasn’t I… supposed to be a genius?”
If I were a genius, wouldn’t memorization and understanding come together?
What kind of nonsense was this—knowing the formulas by heart, but not understanding them?
“…….”
Damn it.
A curse almost slipped out, but I barely held it back and shook my head.
Right. I had misunderstood.
I wasn’t Camon Baird. I was Kang Hyun-su, who had possessed his body.
The intelligence, talent, and aptitude belonged to Camon Baird. But the soul inside was mine.
So—
“Memorization belongs to the body, but understanding belongs to the soul… something like that?”
The absurdity of the situation left me feeling utterly empty and defeated.
“There’s no hope. None. Shit, then what the hell am I supposed to do now!”
“Eek!”
…Huh?
Oh, right. I was in the library.
As I realized the scene I had just caused, I turned my head to apologize.
“Huh?”
The person startled by my outburst—the one sneaking glances at me—looked oddly familiar.
‘Wait, do I even know anyone here?’
Oh. That guy.
‘Br… Bren, wasn’t it?’
The one who’d torn out a page of his notes for me during class.
‘That notebook. It was neatly organized and easy to understand.’
It had helped me quite a bit, actually.
Sure enough, a true model student. The kind who spends extra hours studying at the library.
Back in Korea, someone like him would’ve been snatched up by a professor and turned into a graduate school slave by now…
Graduate school slave?
My eyes narrowed.
‘No, wait. What am I even thinking about this kid for…’
Just then, Bren, who had been glancing nervously at me, met my gaze—then slammed his forehead on the desk like he was having a seizure.
“Eeek!”
Before I realized it, I was already walking toward him.
“Hey, Bren. Studying?”
“Ahhh!”
Wow. What a reaction.
Makes me want to sponsor him or something.
“C-Camon! H-Hi! I-I was just…”
“Ah. Studying hard, huh?”
“Y-Yeah! Exams are soon, so… but, um, what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here? Is it strange for me to be in the library?”
“O-Of course it’s stra—”
“Hm?”
“N-No! Not strange at all! J-Just a sec.”
Rustle, rustle.
He hurriedly dug through his bag and pulled something out.
“H-Here, Camon! Here you go.”
“What’s this?”
“M-My notebook. Isn’t this why you came here? Y-you said last time you didn’t have yours…”
“Did I?”
“Y-Yeah! Here!”
Flap flap.
I casually opened the notebook he handed over.
It was filled with detailed explanations of magical formulas and dungeonology. A true A-grade—no, S-grade—set of notes.
I could even sort of understand what was written, just from skimming it.
‘This kid…’
A slightly round face, big shiny eyes, cheeks trembling nervously.
I liked him.
Really… liked him.
“T-that’s all of my dungeonology notes. Last time I really didn’t have it on me. S-so now you’re good, right?”
“Hm.”
I barely held back a grin.
“Yeah. Thanks. Seriously, thank you.”
“Huh?”
“But hey, Bren.”
I naturally sat down beside him and draped an arm over his shoulder.
“W-What are you doing…?”
“Shh. Quiet. We’re in a library, remember? We have to be considerate of others.”
My arm tightened around him, and Bren started trembling like crazy.
“Bren, we’re friends, right?”
“F…Friends?”
“Yeah. Friends. Friends help each other out when they’re in need, right?”
Hearing that, Bren’s face crumpled, and he hurriedly pulled something out of his pocket.
Clink.
A few silver coins rattled together.
“T-this is all I have right now…”
What the—money?
Though, honestly, that’d be kind of nice to pocket. No—focus!
“Tsk.”
“N-not that?”
I barely stopped myself from taking the coins and gently pushed his hand away.
“What do you take me for… That’s not it, Bren.”
“Huh? N-not it? Then what do you…”
He looked more anxious than ever, unsure of what I wanted.
I gave him a small smile.
“Teach me magic.”
“…Huh?”
Bren’s eyes widened.
“M-magic?”
“Yeah.”
“M-me?”
“Yeah.”
“T-teach you?”
“That’s right.”
With a bright grin, I squeezed his shoulder.
“So? You can do that for me, right?”
And just like that—I gained a very good “friend.”
A very good friend indeed.
“Then if you plug this into the equation and calculate it like this…”
I couldn’t help smiling as Bren explained enthusiastically from the front.
What a great find.
A perfect… slave—I mean, friend. Hahaha.
“Um, Camon?”
“Yeah?”
“A-am I explaining it right?”
“Of course.”
Thanks to him, I was finally understanding things properly.
Going through the basics step by step, Bren’s explanations made everything clear.
‘Yep. Private tutoring is way more efficient than self-study.’
But there was just one problem…
“So then you apply the formula, gather the mana, and—”
“Wait, Bren.”
“H-huh?”
“When you say ‘gather the mana,’ what exactly does that mean?”
“Huh? What do you mean? Y-you know, you have to transform the surrounding mana using the formula, rotate the circle, and apply E to A…”
“No, not that. I get the formula and the transformation. I mean… literally. How do you gather mana?”
“…Huh?”
That was the part I couldn’t grasp. The most fundamental thing.
And without understanding this, all the memorized formulas were meaningless.
“How do you gather mana?”
“M-mana?”
“Yeah.”
“H-how do you… gather it?”
He stared at me, startled, like I had just asked the dumbest possible question.
Why was he looking at me like that? Was this not something you were supposed to ask?
“…Okay. Look. Watch closely.”
Step, step.
He came closer, then began swinging his arms back and forth.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“See?”
“…See what?”
“The mana! Look! It’s swirling around my arms as I move them.”
…What?
Mana?
“Focus. Can’t you see it? As I wave my arms, the mana’s flowing. Look closer.”
“Haha. Y-yeah. I totally see it. Mana’s going crazy.”
“Now, if I breathe it in slowly… like inhaling air…”
Bren’s body gave off a faint glow as he continued.
“See that? The mana’s being absorbed into my body. You see it, right?”
“…Uh, yeah. I see it.”
Goddamn it.
All I saw was a guy flailing his arms.
“Now, apply the formula and rotate the circle…”
A glow spread from his hands.
Pop!
Then, with a strange sound, a small flame appeared in his palm.
“See? That’s how you absorb mana, rotate the circle inside, and apply the formula to create fire.”
So that’s how magic works, huh.
But… I couldn’t see a damn thing called mana.
“……”
Forget it.
I mean, all you have to do is sense the stuff around you, pull it in, and release it, right?
Who cares if I can’t see it.
‘Let’s just try it.’
Nothing to lose. Who says you have to literally see it to use it?
“I’ll give it a shot.”
“O-okay.”
I closed my eyes.
“Slowly breathe, sense the mana around you,” Bren guided.
I focused, breathing steadily.
‘Bren’s hands lit up earlier. Which means there must be mana here, too.’
Concentrate, Kang Hyun-su.
Sink deeper. Feel the energy. Become one with your surroundings.
“Fuu… huuuh… haaa.”
At that moment—
Tingle.
Huh?
I thought I felt something.
A tickling sensation around my arms and legs.
‘Is this… mana?’
Whatever it was, I pulled it in.
Carefully. Slowly.
The tingling spread through my body.
‘Got it.’
I could feel it inside me.
I gathered the energy into my fingertips.
And with confidence, I shouted the spell.
“Fireball!”
“C-Camon? What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
I opened my eyes. Nothing was there.
No fireball.
‘What? Why not?’
Was my focus off?
Again!
“Huuh! F-Fire…ball!”
“……”
“……”
Nothing happened. At all.
Why? Why wasn’t it working?
I definitely felt that energy!
So why!?
“Hey, Bren.”
I looked at him blankly.
“M-mana… It’s supposed to feel tingly and itchy, right? Like someone touching you?”
“……”
At my words, Bren hung his head in silence.
And from that reaction, I immediately realized.
‘So… no, huh.’
Then what the hell did I just feel?
