Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 15 (Part 2)

Following the instructors, they moved behind the building. A wide, single-story building appeared. It was out of sight from the barracks, library, and central building where they had classes.

‘Is that the training room? Are we going in there?’

Contrary to Rodin’s expectation, the instructors kept moving.

They went around the building that seemed to be the training room and reached another new building. It was also a low, single-story building but much smaller.

‘Ah, the first building was the aura training room. This is the magic training room.’

“Stand in place!”

Rodin and Cory stood in place as commanded.

The trainer pointed to the building in front of them.

“The building in front of you is the magic training room. The large building behind is the aura training room. Why did we come here first instead of the aura training room?”

The trainer asked the question and looked at Rodin and Cory.

‘Because there are fewer mages.’

Rodin knew the answer but didn’t speak up. He just kept his mouth shut and looked at the trainer.

“Because there are far fewer people with magic talent. So we came here first to proceed quickly.”

“Oh, right.”

Cory knew there were fewer mages than knights. If he had thought calmly, he could have answered the trainer’s question.

But standing in front of the trainer made his mind go blank. Even though he knew the answer, he couldn’t think of it.

“The paper we distributed to each barracks yesterday explains how to test your talent. You’ve memorized it, right?”

“Yes!”

Even those who normally hated studying had memorized the training method to the point of exhaustion yesterday. As if it were a mysterious spell that could make them knights or mages, they studied like crazy, losing sleep over it.

Cory was among them. He stayed up all night studying, hating it, but finally succeeded in memorizing the complex characters.

“Instructors, take charge.”

“Yes, sir.”

Under the instructors’ guidance, Rodin and Cory were led to the training room.

‘They said there are only five. It’s really small.’

Professions that mainly used magic included mages, Spirit summoners, and Familiar summoners, but even together, they were fewer than a fraction of the knights. There was no need to make many magic training rooms.

“The time given to each individual is one hour. Enter.”

“Yes.”

The training room was an enclosed space on all sides. It wasn’t dark thanks to the magic lights on the ceiling, but it still felt slightly claustrophobic.

Rodin sat down with his eyes closed in the small room, just big enough for an adult to lie down.

‘They said one hour, right?’

Although he closed his eyes, he didn’t start the magic training. He just pretended to gather magic while taking long breaths.

After a little over 30 minutes, he just daydreamed. When he felt there was a little less than half the time left, he started the magic training in earnest.

He recited the runes in sync with his breathing. The surrounding mana began to hover around him, approaching as if interested. The mana seemed to gather slightly around him.

The dense mana entered his body through his breathing. The mana that entered his body moved down to his abdomen and began to change slightly with the vibrations of the runes.

‘Is it now?’

The mana, which had become magic power, surged upward. The magic reached his heart, enveloped it, and began to churn violently.

‘It’s hard to control.’

He tried to calm the magic forcibly, but soon stopped.

Had other trainees controlled the magic that was hard for him to manage? Probably not. They likely finished their training with the magic still unstable.

‘Then I should leave it as it is.’

It was unstable, but it didn’t matter. The amount of magic was too small anyway.

It was the lowest of the low-level magic training methods. Moreover, this was his first time properly using the training method. The amount of magic was insignificant to the point of being trivial.

Rodin let the unstable magic be and calculated the time. About five minutes had passed.

‘Thirty minutes were wasted at the beginning. Magic training took five minutes.’

He could do about four to five more cycles of magic training.

Drawing mana to settle into magic was usually called a ‘cycle.’ He had completed one cycle.

The time taken for one cycle varied depending on personal talent, the type of training method, and the level of the training room. Later, when he learned a proper training method, one cycle would take longer.

‘Let’s do it again.’

Rodin closed his eyes and went through four more cycles of magic training. The magic still churned and was unstable, but he left it alone.

‘The time left is ambiguous for one more cycle.’

About two minutes remained of the given hour. It wasn’t enough for another cycle.

‘That’s it.’

He sat still and waited for the door to open. Right on time, the training room opened. A trainer, not an instructor, was waiting outside.

“If you’re not in the middle of training, respond. Trainee 108.”

“Yes, Trainee 108. I just finished the training.”

“Just in time. Come out. Time’s up.”

“Yes, sir.”

He came out of the building. A familiar trainer was waiting.

In his 50s, the trainer held a small bead the size of a finger in his left hand, a micro-magic meter.

“Since you’re the last in line, none of the trainees here have seen my face, right? Nice to meet you. I am Serion, a 4th circle mage.”

Rodin remembered Serion. He was one of the three mages he saw when they were marking slaves.

“We’ll measure your talent. Number 107!”

“Yes, Trainee 107.”

Cory approached Serion.

Serion placed the micro-magic meter on Cory’s chest and whispered runes inaudibly.

“Oh, hmm.”

After measuring, Serion made a curious sound. His expression was ambiguous, making it unclear if it was good or bad.

But to Cory, Serion’s expression seemed brighter. His heart pounded, thinking his talent score was high.

“Did it come out well?”

“Your magic talent is 17.”

“Is that high?”

“We call scores between 10 and 20 ‘decent.’ Over 20 is ‘excellent.’ You have decent talent.”

Rodin interpreted Serion’s words as ‘You’re so-so.’ Adding ‘excellent’ afterward didn’t seem positive.

Cory felt the same from the mage’s tone. His bright expression quickly darkened.

“Does that mean I can’t become a mage?”

“If by mage you mean a full-fledged one, hmm, if other conditions are favorable, you could become one.”

“What conditions?”

“Magic is just one of many factors needed to be a mage. You need a brain that can quickly calculate formulas, and good visualization skills to imagine the results of magic. If you have these and work incredibly hard, you could be a decent mage.”

“Oh!”

Cory’s shoulders slumped noticeably. He looked full of disappointment.

“Next, number 108.”

“Yes, Trainee 108.”

Hyung_Otaku2

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