‘Mana, huh?’
Mana.
It’s the power that mages use.
Just as knights utilise Aura in Fantasy Defense, Mana is pretty much exclusive to mages.
Suddenly, I found myself possessed.
And surrounding me were clusters of floating blue Mana particles.
I didn’t understand a lot of things, but what could I do?
I just had to accept it.
‘But wow, there’s a lot floating around.’
Is it because it’s a fantasy world?
There seemed to be more Mana particles than I expected.
As I continued watching the particles, curiosity welled up inside me.
I kind of wanted to touch them.
I mean, I wouldn’t die from touching Mana, right?
So, I reached out toward the particles, and they naturally started sticking to my hand.
There was no solid sensation.
But my palm was full of particles, as if they had been drawn to it like a magnet.
“…That’s amazing.”
Without thinking, I clenched and then opened my fist.
And the particles that had covered my palm were gone.
Moments later—
“…Huh?”
I could see inside my body.
Literally.
I could see the muscles, blood vessels, and even the bones inside me.
It felt like looking at an X-ray of what’s under my skin.
The particles that had stuck to my hands moments ago…
I could see them gathered inside my body, flowing through it.
It was like thin, blue worms wriggling their way through my veins.
‘What the heck is this?’
While I was dumbfounded by the strange sight—
[You have awakened.]
[Two new talents have been granted.]
[The Status Window has been unlocked.]
[You can now use ‘Heart Eye.’]
[‘Heart Eye’ has been automatically activated.]
With these odd messages, something appeared before my eyes.
[Name: Kyle Seltarion (12)]
[Talents: Mana Host, Heart Eye]
[Traits: Blocked Pathway Body, Alcoholic, Weak Mind, Skinny, Lack of Willpower]
“…What the…”
The sudden status window popped up.
After a moment of confusion, I slowly read the contents and began to understand.
First, ‘Heart Eye.’
It seemed like a talent that allowed me to see things like this.
It felt similar to the status window function that’s common in novels.
‘But what the heck is ‘Mana Host?’’
In all my ten years of playing the game, I had never encountered such a talent.
‘Wasn’t ‘Mana Partner’ the limit?’
‘Fantasy Defense.’
As you play the game, you can obtain various talents, and among those related to Mana, ‘Mana Partner’ was the most difficult to acquire and considered the highest-level talent.
But ‘Mana Host’? I had never even heard of it.
Still, I had a gut feeling.
It looked like a very powerful talent.
‘If this is truly a top-tier Mana-related talent… Could this guy actually be a genius? No, that doesn’t seem right.’
Kyle Seltarion.
As far as I know, this guy was just one of the passing side characters.
Not only that, but a disgrace to his family, who eventually spirals into the villain’s dark world— a pretty trashy supporting character.
The Marquis Seltarion family is one that worships swordsmanship.
But Kyle had no talent for swordsmanship.
Did he have any other talents?
As far as I remember, no.
In short, he had no talents whatsoever.
While his other siblings were renowned for their exceptional talents, Kyle spent his childhood as a troublemaker, a black sheep of the family.
‘Well… Looking at his traits, it makes sense.’
A body with blocked pathways.
This was considered one of the worst traits related to the body.
It meant that natural energies like Mana or Aura couldn’t be gathered at all.
These natural energies greatly aid basic life activities.
That’s why Sword Masters and Archmages can live to old ages with white hair.
On top of that, the Blocked Pathway Body trait also reduces the efficiency of nutrient distribution in the body.
‘So that’s why he’s so skinny.’
Without the energy that supports life functions and with poor nutrients absorption, it’s no wonder he was skin and bones.
Most people with this trait would usually die before the age of twenty.
To treat it, you’d need a rare and high-grade elixir, or you’d have to start special body cultivation or Mana training from a young age to counteract the effects.
From the looks of it, this guy never received such treatment.
Since the NPCs in the game don’t know how to treat this trait, it wasn’t surprising.
With a hopeless life like that, it’s no wonder he turned out badly.
‘Still, did this guy really have such talent?’
From what I remembered, definitely not.
This guy lived his life without knowing the first thing about magic. Did something change when I entered his body?
I wasn’t sure yet.
‘But wow, this is fascinating.’
Even when I had the ‘Mana Partner’ talent, I never saw Mana particles like this. In fact, no player who enjoyed this game ever saw floating Mana particles like this.
Maybe reality and the game have merged in some weird way.
‘Well, I guess it’s not a bad thing.’
Being able to see Mana is definitely a good thing.
By simply reaching out toward the particles, Mana was being absorbed into my hand.
‘This is definitely better than Mana Partner.’
‘Mana Host.’
This is an extraordinary talent.
Even with this guy’s crappy traits, Mana was slowly accumulating in his body.
Soon, I looked at my body again, and I could naturally see inside.
In the middle of what looked like veins, there were thick black obstructions blocking the flow.
As the blue, worm-like Mana approached the black barriers—
Crackle!
With a faint sound, the Mana vanished without a trace.
The Blocked Pathway Body.
I could now roughly understand how the characteristic was being applied.
Between the blood vessels, a strange barrier was blocking the flow of energy.
That must be the effect of this characteristic.
The only fortunate thing was that the black barriers didn’t block the flow of blood.
Well, if they had blocked blood circulation, I wouldn’t have lived to be twelve years old.
‘So now, I need to break through those barriers.’
I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was the only thing I could do for now.
It seemed I had some talent for being a mage, but to become one, I first needed to form a magic circle in my heart.
To do that, I had to deal with those black barriers blocking the paths.
The first target was the barrier blocking the area near my right wrist.
I needed to break through that barrier to open a passage to the heart.
After gathering the floating mana particles in the room for a while, I focused on the mana inside my body.
‘If only I could move the mana inside me by my will…’
I wasn’t sure if it would work, but if I left it alone, the mana would just flow until it hit the black barriers and disappear, so I had to gather as much as possible.
The NPCs in the game said they could move mana or aura by their will.
Could I do that too?
Since I didn’t know how, the only way was to try.
‘Move, according to my will.’
Twitch!
At the moment I strongly wished for it, the mana seemed to understand my thoughts and began to move.
‘Good. Gather together.’
Wriggle.
As I focused harder, the mana particles naturally gathered together, transforming from a writhing worm-like shape into something more spherical.
A smile crept onto my face for some reason.
The process turned out to be more fun than I had expected.
The idea of controlling this mysterious force called mana according to my will—it was a strange but exhilarating feeling, tickling my chest. Since I could see immediate results, the process was quite enjoyable.
The process of absorbing the mana floating around the room and gathering it inside continued.
Thanks to the Mana Host talent, the process was easier than expected.
Soon, the ball of mana started to grow larger.
‘This is probably the limit.’
It seemed like it would be difficult to gather more mana beyond this point. But with this much, I should be able to manage.
After checking the sizable sphere of mana, I changed its shape.
The writhing mana transformed into the shape of a cone with a sharp point at the tip.
Now it was time for an experiment.
The experiment to see whether this cone of mana, gathered to the limit, could pierce the black barrier near my right wrist.
‘Pierce!’
At the moment I strongly willed it, the cone began moving quickly through my blood vessels.
After a moment.
Crack!
The cone deformed pathetically.
But it didn’t matter.
The sharp tip of the cone had made a small hole in the thick barrier wrapping around the blood vessels.
If there were no results, I would have stopped, but since this method worked, all I needed was time and effort.
I had plenty of both.
While Kyle was said to be weak-willed, that referred to him, not me. Just because I was in his body didn’t mean I shared his lack of willpower.
I had lived thirty-six years with quite a bit of effort, after all.
Since talents and characteristics could change depending on one’s actions, I believed I could gradually change the unfortunate characteristics that clung to him as well.
When I looked out the window, I saw that the sun had already passed its peak.
It seemed about two hours had passed.
‘Wow.’
I don’t think I’ve ever focused so much on a game that I lost track of time like this.
Grrrr.
My stomach growled.
Maybe I was too focused.
Well, that’s what maids are for.
“Hey.”
A reply came immediately.
“Yes… did you call for me, young master?”
Her voice sounded somewhat frightened.
Considering Kyle’s past behaviour, it wasn’t surprising.
“Bring me some food. Not just porridge this time, mix in something else too.”
One meal of recovery was enough.
The white porridge had been quite tasty, so the other dishes should be even better.
“Ah… yes, I understand.”
From outside the door, I could hear a voice sounding surprised. It wasn’t strange, considering I had spent the last three days surviving only on wine.
Good grief.
Who knew that simply eating a meal could surprise someone?
After a moment of waiting, someone knocked on the door.
“Young master, may I come in?”
This was a voice I recognized from Kyle’s memories.
‘Was her name Erciel?’
She was probably one of the maids who served Kyle.
“Yeah. Come in.”
At my words, a maid with black hair entered my room. She looked to be about ten years old.
She was quite cute.
After delivering the food, she gave a polite bow.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Mm.”
At that moment, as our eyes met.
[Insight is activated.]
[The opponent is of a lower rank. Insight pierces into the essence of the person.]
A message appeared, and soon something floated above her head.
[Erciel (10)]
[Talent: Eternal Friend of Spirits, Housekeeping]
[Traits: Cold, Diligent]
[Affection: 30]
‘…Huh?’
Could it be that I could see not only my information but others’ as well?
The Insight ability.
This was turning out to be much more convenient than I thought.
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