novelraw Chapter 51: Learning Magic
Chapter 51: Learning Magic
As night fell, I stared at the worn, leathery tome resting on the table inside my room at the inn.
Old Decrepit Book of a Senile Old Man
Grade: Uncommon
Type: Magic Tome
An undecipherable collection of scribbles penned by a senile old man. The contents are shrouded in symbols, making it impossible to discern what’s written inside. However, the book’s most surprising feature lies in its incredible resilience—it’s nearly indestructible and can even be used as a blunt weapon in combat.
Durability: ???/???“I wonder how high my Magic Power and Mind need to be to be able to open this thing…” I murmured, brushing my fingers across its uneven cover.
It had been quite some time since I first acquired the book, but even after my stats had increased significantly, I still couldn’t open even the first page. I had considered using Merlin’s possession to temporarily boost the required stats—perhaps then I could glean at least a sliver of its secrets. However, there was no guarantee that it would be enough to obtain anything worthwhile.
No, I can’t afford to waste plausibility on something so uncertain. It would be an entirely different matter if I were overflowing with plausibility or if the outcome were guaranteed, but neither was true at the moment.
Setting that aside, I turned my thoughts to the upcoming fifth scenario. If the rumors were accurate, the boss there was capable of using magic. That meant I needed to be able to respond in kind—at the very least, I had to be able to cast a single spell.
“How about training the Mana Manipulation skill?” I held my chin in thought.
If I could master this skill, it would be more than possible to construct a simple spell like {Mana Bullet}. Since I had possessed Merlin once, my understanding of magic fundamentals was already far above average. That lingering knowledge should be more than enough to help me, especially with the magic power I currently possessed. And if conjuring a spell directly proved too difficult, then I could always fall back to the basics, like reinforcing my body through physical enhancement magic.
Having made up my mind, I sat cross-legged on the bed, closed my eyes, and began to try manipulating my mana. As a God-King in my previous life, mana had always paled in comparison to divine power, so I’d never bothered to study it deeply. That didn’t mean I was entirely ignorant of it, however.
From what I understood, mana could be stored in three primary locations. First, there was the head, which was the ideal place to imagine spells, since it allowed one to visualize incantations most clearly. Second, the heart, where mana coursed through the blood vessels, making it perfect for physical enhancement magic. Finally, there was the inner core—an amalgamation of internal and external mana. This “universal reservoir” offered the greatest flexibility but was also the hardest to access and control.
As someone determined to adapt to any situation, I knew the inner core was the path I had to master, yet it was the hardest to achieve among the three. But no pain, no gain. If I don’t even try it, what qualifications do I have to challenge gods?
Regardless, training the Mana Manipulation skill was the very definition of mundane. I had to focus inward, slowly tracing the flow of mana in my body and attempting to influence its direction and pace, as if trying to move water through a maze of invisible channels. Every twitch and change required immense concentration. At first, the mana simply refused to obey, dispersing the moment I tried to pull it toward my palm.
But I gritted my teeth and tried again.
This time, I pictured it more vividly, like strands of mist flowing through my veins, slowly coalescing around my diaphragm. Gradually, I felt the faintest warmth, like a flickering ember. My heart raced as I guided a small amount into my left hand, feeling the tingle on my fingers as the air around them wavered slightly. Though small, the mana was responding.
Carefully, I willed it to stay in my palm, channeling even more mana into it. Slowly, I visualized it forming into a sphere, like a ball of soft light. It wobbled at first, unstable and misshapen, like jelly clinging to my hand. But after multiple attempts, I finally managed to stabilize it, maintaining a more solid form for several seconds.
I took a deep breath, then opened my eyes. A small, glowing orb of pale-blue mana hovered just above my palm, pulsing faintly. It wasn’t strong and certainly wouldn’t hurt a fly, but it was definitely progress.
Mana Manipulation has leveled up.
“Good… Next is shaping it into an attack.”
I narrowed my focus, trying to compress the orb into something sharper and denser. I pictured it launching like a slingshot, guided by my will. After several tries, the sphere twitched in response, then zipped forward. But it dispersed barely ten centimeters from my palm, dissolving into motes of particles.
“I… failed?” I creased my eyebrows.
What I had attempted was clearly beyond the current level of my Mana Manipulation skill. In truth, I was already crossing into the territory of learning an actual offensive spell. Creating a proper spell from raw mana required more than just control and imagination. If I had succeeded with just this much effort, I would have been considered a once-in-a-century magic prodigy, and I was definitely not that.
Without someone to teach me magic, learning magic was like being a blind man trying to feel an elephant. I could sense fragments, understand vague outlines, but I had no real grasp of the whole. Even after trying for more than two hours, there was no noticeable progress beyond what I had already achieved.
This is a no-go. We’ve agreed to challenge the fifth scenario the day after tomorrow, and at this rate, I won’t be able to learn even a simple spell like {Mana Bullet} in that short window. Forget mastering it—I couldn’t even shape it into a stable projectile, let alone fire it accurately or quickly under pressure.
Not to mention that learning a spell and mastering it for battle were two entirely different things. Any single mistake would be fatal. If I couldn’t deploy a spell instantly, it would be nothing more than dead weight. Worse, trying to use an unrefined spell might backfire and put me at risk.
This was truly an impossible undertaking.Top of Form At least, if I were to do it the normal way.
I exhaled slowly, coming to a decision. If I wanted to master an offensive magic spell in a matter of two days, then the only way to do it was through using plausibility. After all, no matter how much knowledge I’d inherited during my possession of Merlin, my current stats, skill level, and familiarity simply couldn’t support it. Of course, I didn’t mean using Fabled Vessel. No. What I meant was something far cheaper than that.
“Grant Plausibility.”
You have used Grant Plausibility.
You have acquired a deeper comprehension of manipulating mana.
Mana Manipulation has leveled up.
Mana Sense has leveled up.
Your Mind has increased by 3.
Your Magic Power has increased by 4.
A total of 39 Plausibility has been consumed.
Grant Plausibility was a signature skill that could enhance my powers and comprehension permanently by expending plausibility. Using it toward a specific goal—like finally learning an offensive spell—cost far less than using Fabled Vessel.
I closed my eyes and felt a new understanding in my mana control. The reason I had failed to transform the mana sphere into a projectile before was that I hadn’t anchored the stored mana in my core; without that stable reservoir, the conjuration failed.
Opening my eyes, I focused on the empty space before me. I gathered mana in my palm almost effortlessly—no more wobbling or jittering. Instead, the mana responded smoothly, coalescing into a near-perfect sphere of pale-blue light. Pleased, I raised the orb, compressed it slightly, and let it rest there. The circle of energy felt denser now, solid enough to hold its shape for several heartbeats.
“Next… {Mana Bullet}.”
I channeled my intent into the mana, reshaping the sphere into a streamlined, high-density projectile. The glow intensified, and I felt the spell’s structure snap into place in my mind. I folded three fingers, and the orb slid to the tip of my forefinger.
Taking a deep breath, I extended my arm and released the mana sphere. It shot forward with blistering precision, streaking across the room and embedding itself into the far wall with a solid thump, leaving behind a four-centimeter-wide hole.
You have acquired a skill: [Basic Neutral Magic Lv.1].
You have learned a spell: {Mana Bullet}.
[Basic Neutral Magic]
Rank: Uncommon
Type: Active
A foundational magic skill that allows the user to manipulate raw mana and convert it into simple, non-elemental spells. Mastery of this skill is required to unlock higher-tier neutral or elemental spells.
{Mana Bullet}
Rank: Common
Mana Cost: 5 MP
Fires a condensed orb of mana at a target. Deals weak non-elemental magic damage.
“Success!” I exclaimed, raising both of my hands in excitement.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Grant Plausibility—at least, not in such a short amount of time. Unfortunately, unless I wanted to riddle the room with holes and pay a hefty repair fee, I had no choice but to hold off on firing more mana bullets.
In any case, having finally learned an offensive spell, I now had the magic firepower I needed. Tomorrow, I’d refine this spell at the training center and prepare myself for whatever the fifth scenario had in store.
With that in mind, I sank into the bed, feeling the fatigue washing over me in waves. The moment my head hit the pillow, the drowsiness took hold, and soon after, my eyes closed, and I drifted into the land of dreams.
As a tribute to the Goddess of Imagination, Istellia, 100 Soul Coins have been deducted from your balance.