Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 23 (Part 2)

Moreover, Jito, being a scout familiar, had incredibly good eyesight. Sharing its vision allowed Rodin to see the faces of people walking kilometers away.

“Rodin!”

“You’re here?”

“Che, you’re not even surprised.”

Even as he made room for Cory, Rodin’s hands continued to move, practicing the hand technique.

Thud!

Cory plopped down on the ground. It looked like he had come from the windy summit, with his hair blown wildly to one side.

“Fix your hair.”

“Hehehe, this is stylish too.”

Cory often came down to the lake after training in the wind at the summit. His visits were usually just for relaxation.

“Done with training?”

“Today, ah! This is great. I love this place. It makes me feel peaceful just being here. A few days ago, a deer came right up here. I could have touched it. Ahh.”

Cory kept glancing towards where the deer had appeared, seemingly wistful. A few small animals, like raccoons, were scurrying around in the distance before quickly disappearing.

“Deer are a bit… intimidating.”

“Why?”

“Their antlers hurt if they hit you. Their hind legs kick hard too.”

“Coward.”

Rodin glanced at Cory and chuckled.

Cory was always the one who fussed the most during magic practice, especially if someone got hurt. He’d act like he was the one bleeding if anyone else did.

“Must be nice being brave.”

“Of course, I’m destined to be the continent’s greatest spirit mage. Aren’t you going into the water? You’ve contracted a water spirit.”

“Just here to rest. I don’t train spirit magic separately.”

Whether due to low affinity or neglect of training, the water spirit Rodin had contracted hadn’t changed since the initial summoning. It showed no signs of growth.

However, Rodin had so much mana that he could keep the spirit summoned at all times, unlike Cory or the second group’s number 44, who could only summon their spirits for a few hours a day.

“You don’t think of yourself as a spirit mage, do you?”

“Of course not, I’m a mage. The spirit is just a friend? Oh, right. Lant got into a big fight, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, I expected that.”

Just as magic majors had practice sessions, swordsmanship majors had dueling classes every ten days.

Half a year ago, during the first dueling class, Lant ranked first among the third group. At that time, Lant’s overwhelming physical strength earned him the nickname “Monster.”

But as time passed, Lant’s dominance started to wane. The third group trainees began supplementing their physical deficiencies with aura cultivation.

About two months ago, Lant’s winning streak ended. His overwhelming victories turned into narrow wins or narrow losses.

Yesterday, Hedler completely crushed Lant. Lant couldn’t even fight back and got beaten up one-sidedly.

“Lant doesn’t practice aura cultivation much, does he?”

“No, he finds it boring. I really don’t get it. He loves sweating every day but finds aura cultivation boring?”

Lant enjoyed physical exertion. He always ran, lifted weights, and sought out exercises.

But he hated sitting still, fasting, and using his brain.

No amount of nagging could change that.

“Will he change now?”

“Probably. He ran to the cultivation room earlier.”

“Haha, better late than never. He’s still young.”

“The youngest one here is saying that?”

Even while chatting with Cory, Rodin’s fingers kept moving.

With his index finger, he drew the rune for ‘wind’; with his middle finger, ‘front’; with his ring finger, ‘round’; with his pinky, ‘stop’; and with his thumb, ‘solid.’ He didn’t stop drawing.

After about an hour, he changed the runes.

Practicing the hand technique couldn’t be interrupted. The difficulty was so high that even a day off would cause his fingers to stiffen.

“Should we head back?”

“Huh? Already?”

“We need to go now to not miss dinner.”

“Skipping one meal is… never mind.”

Rodin, unlike Lant, didn’t eat excessively but avoided skipping meals. He knew he was still growing.

Thanks to this, he had grown a lot taller. His body was also well-built from daily rigorous training.

Though still the shortest among the third group trainees, it couldn’t be helped. He was four to five years younger than his peers.

* * *

A year and six months passed. During this time, the fourth group trainees’ specializations were decided, and the fifth group’s specialization decision was just a day away.

“Hmm.”

Rodin looked out over the wide lake, emptying his mind. His hands continued drawing runes unconsciously, a result of daily practice.

‘This place is still nice.’

Today was the day the fifth group’s mana talents were measured. The fifth group had exclusive use of the mana cultivation rooms, making them unavailable for others.

Construction that started last year had recently finished, increasing the number of mana cultivation rooms to eighteen.

However, there were over a hundred fifth group trainees. Due to the success of the third and fourth groups, the number of trainees had significantly increased. Consequently, the rooms were assigned to the fifth group trainees for the entire day.

“Hmm?”

Someone was approaching from behind. Thanks to Jito, Rodin could see their face even from a distance.

“Who’s that?”

This beautiful lakeside was reserved for those with spirit contracts.

The second group’s number 44, contracted with a fire spirit, could come here, but trainees without spirit contracts were not allowed.

“A new trainee I haven’t seen before. A new spirit major?”

The fifth group couldn’t have any spirit majors yet, as they hadn’t finished measuring their mana talents. So, it must be someone from the fourth group.

Rodin knew very little about the fourth group trainees. He hadn’t taken much interest, so he didn’t know if there were any spirit contractors.

“Hey, you’re here.”

“You know me?”

“Third group number 108. You’re famous. Best magic talent. Of course, that was before I arrived.”

“Ah!”

Rodin realized who the newcomer was. Mentioning talent reminded him of a trainee he had heard about last year.

He had heard that one of the fourth group trainees had a mana talent score of 59. Rodin’s score was 58, just one point lower.

But they had never met because they didn’t share any classes. This was their first encounter.

“You know who I am, right?”

“I’ve heard. 59 points.”

“Hehehe. Third group number 108. You may be stronger now since you’ve been here a year longer, but it won’t be long before I catch up.”

Although the newcomer spoke informally, Rodin didn’t mind.

Even if he was in an earlier group, the newcomer was likely older. They could be three or four years apart, so Rodin didn’t care about rank disputes.

“Do as you please.”

“Humph, you’re relaxed now, but your attitude will change soon.”

“Sure.”

Rodin noted the number on the newcomer’s chest.

4-155.

He memorized the number and immediately lost interest. The newcomer wasn’t worth his attention.

Hyung_Otaku2

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