Chapter 4 - Special Skills

『Quest Complete!』

For the reward of finishing the quest, my magic power went up by a level.

I got skill sets, and it was a great gain to have acquainted with Surin Moon.

Of course, in real life she wouldn't fall for me so easily like in the game, but it should still help me in the future.

Afterwards I went around to get familiar with the surrounding environment.

I targeted areas that seemed to not be visited. Since I had to cheat on 6 women, I needed escape routes in case I had to run after getting caught.

Since there were many large buildings, there were many alleys that could help me get around buildings.

I wouldn't be scared in the day, but it would be scary at night.

After roughly memorizing the alleyways, I returned to my dormitory.

I sat down on my desk and grabbed out my notebook and pen.

"I think I should first figure out what my special skills are."

They were the only key to my victory.

I still did not understand why I even received a set of special skills. I still didn't know who this god of betting was.

Well, it didn't make sense that I was here in the first place, so receiving special skills wasn't that far out of being peculiar.

I should organize my special skill sets.

First is [Mana Empathy].

——–「 Mana Empathy 」——-

▶ Special Skill

▶To Feel and Understand Mana

—————————

When I thought of 'Mana Empathy' like how I opened opponent statistics, the skill sets appeared in front of my eyes like in a game.

In this world, I could objectify my talents and skills and view them. In easy words, there is a stats box, but I didn't have to say it out loud.

Only the needed parts appeared after thinking about them.

Anyways, [Mana Empathy]. In other words, it was a skill to feel mana, but I was still unclear.

A skill that allows me to feel and understand mana?

What the hell was this? They should have spent more time on the descriptions.

Should I read the textbook? Usually, you have to study around the textbook material.

[Mana Theology]

I opened up the textbook known for its difficulty.

—————————

1- Everything about Mana.

Mana is a shapeless 'force.' All living things possess this and it is an important part that makes the world.

...…

The method to shape mana varies for each individual, who has their own characteristics and type.

...…

The most common mana application is a method that is used as if one is using the blood inside their body.

...…

————————–

That's it?

After this was a strange scholarly journal and it didn't seem much of use.

'In a way that moves your blood?'

Tsk. I imagined as if I was moving my blood from my heart to the ends of my arms.

Still, nothing happened!

"Yeah, it's weird that I should feel anything so quickly…heh?"

Something existed. In my body, in this room, and in this world.

It had always been there, but I had just become aware of it.

The transformation began as soon as I realized its existence from a single sentence in the book.

A feeling that I had never felt before.

A feeling as if I owned the entire world. This excitement, satisfaction, madness, wealth and pleasure.

Countless emotions of joy swarmed in like waves. Among everything, something in my center was holding me strong. I was able to control my mind due to this force.

An act to awaken the mana. After being drunk in the feeling of joy, I finally came to my senses.

"Ha…."

Had it been over a minute? Still, I felt as if I had become a completely different person.

From the bookshelf that I grabbed the mana handbook, I grabbed a book titled [ Practical Magic Basics] and opened up to the very first page.

Even though it was the easiest magic, there were 6 lines that were forming a statement through complicated lines.

Whoosh!

A flame bursted on top of my hands.

"Damn, this is lit."

Magic is one area that solely depends on skill.

In the textbook [Practical Magic Basics] were introductions to very basic magic circles, but to practice as an active magician, you had to come up with your own.

This was because every person had their unique form and type of magic.

Usually, this was taught at the academy.

However, I was able to surpass these stages.

When I thought of the concept of a flame, a flame appeared on top of my palms.

Crackle!

Although this unusual event had occurred, I was not even a tad bit surprised.

I could not feel any gap or incongruity with reality.

Already, mana had become a natural part of me.

"So this is mana activation…"

To be able to do what was impossible. This was a truly special skillset.

Then was [A clear mind]. I really did not know how to handle this.

―­­―――­­―「Clear mind 」―­­――­­――

▶ Special skill

▶Maintain a centered focus in any situation.

―­­―――­­―――­­―――­­―――­­―――­­―――

Even though I had suddenly teleported into the game, it was weird enough that I had not gone crazy.

I guess it was due to my mental clarity that I was keeping clam and organizing what all I had to do…and the strong centered force I felt earlier during the mana activation must have been this skill set.

Still, I could not confirm since I could just be that good of a player.

Still, since it was written clearly that this was a special skill like [Mana Empathy], it should come in handy one day.

Last was [Memory Enhancement].

―­­―――­­―――­「Memory Enhancement 」―­­―­­―――­­――

▶ Special skill

▶It complements the user's memory.

―­­―――­­―――­­―――­­―­­―――­­―――­­―――­­――

First of all, the most annoying thing is that the notification that came out when I received mentioned '80% forced.'

Why 80%, not 100%? I looked back on my memory.

On KakaoTalk, to the question of 'Let's make a bet?' from the goddamn god, I had replied, 'Bet and do whatever you want'.

Fuck… a world full of absurdities.

Still, I wasn't complaining about the special skills.

My memory was not only enhanced, but was closer to perfect.

I could remember every single word from the conversation, expressions and even the details of Surin Moon's mana that she created when I met her.

If I tried, I could even remember the structures inside the cafe and the tiles on the floor.

I think that this skill will definitely become handy.

I was worried about how I would pass the classes at the academy, but with this kind of memorization skills, I no longer had to worry.

I had finished going over the special skills too.

From tomorrow onwards, school will start, and I was worried.

Academy Victoria is a place made to create skilled magicians.

Not only was it the best in Korea, but it was ranked top 3 in the world.

I had ended up here, and it was questionable whether I could survive this place without any magic battle skills let alone even a street fight.

"Should I visit the training center?"

The time was 10PM. To be in a good condition for school tomorrow, I should get ready for bed, but the thought of visiting the training center was overwhelming.

"I should go. It's the right choice to make."

My life was filled with procrastination, even to the college entrance exams in which I crammed the night before.

I headed towards the training center, filled with the latest training equipment. This academy had made a place to train uselessly flashy.

The training center was built so that one could train various skills such as physical strength and magic strength in one place.

I pressed the smart watch at the entrance of the center.

[Hoyeon Lee of 1st grade. Confirmed for entrance.]

I headed towards the elevator past the first floor lobby.

At the mana training room that I arrived on the third floor, there were barely any people. I mean, no one would come to train on the day of the entrance ceremony at such an hour.

I should rather be surprised to see that few were here.

I went inside a room for private training.

Inside was nothing special. It was an empty room surrounded by special material covering the walls. Since the space spell was cast, I could use the space effectively.

When I pressed the button next to the door, I heard a mechanical sound that appeared with a hologram.

[Mana system activated. Please enter in the wanted settings.]

"A scarecrow for training. Level Max. Distance 10M."

When the voice was recognized, the hologram disappeared and a scarecrow appeared 10m away from me.

"Hmmm."

Sheeeeek-

Create a flame with the gathered mana on my palms. I really had no insights in this mana concept. All I ever tried was pressing the keyboard when I played the game.

Still, I was able to use magic. This was all due to the special skill [Mana Empathy].

A skill that lets me use mana and magic even without a basic understanding of magic force. This was the skill that [Mana Empathy] enheld, and I knew how great it was.

And on top of this, the calculation and terms necessary before using magic was a big problem to magicians. Still, I didn't have to worry.

Sheeeeeek-!

All I had to do was just think. My magic strength just responded to my thoughts by getting into a form and appearing in real life.

Of course, due to the limit of my magic strength, the magic spells I could use were limited. I knew that this skill made no sense.

"Khhk."

I felt that I had reached my limit after the fire lasted for a minute in my hands.

I raised the hand with the flame and aimed towards the scarecrow. I fired at it.

Kazam!

"Khhp…Hooo…"

Just by the looks of it, the scarecrow was completely wrecked. It was burnt, scorched and its arms were gone.

[Damage: 22%]

Damage 22%? Ordinarily, the protagonist had to train for a full year to destroy the scarecrow in one go.

"Should I try one last time?"

The feeling of squeezing out the mana of my entire body surprisingly wasn't that bad.

I was almost having fun using magic, and in any sport, you can excel if you enjoy it.

I gathered mana on my hands again. This time, I imagined a form of a spear.

If I were to shout out, I would scream 'fire spear!'

The spear of fire was getting more and more clear in shape.

"Good, just like this…"

Whoosh.

I suddenly lost strength in my legs and plopped down.

"Huh? Oh why?"

Even though I tried my best to squeeze out more strength, it was too difficult.

My sight was becoming blurry and I started to get a bad headache.

Plop.

And I blacked out from there.

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Guys pls read and support my new novel - Soulbound in Aetheria

and if you like the story pls add it to your collection and this one book is my own not a translated one so pls show your support and i am writing it with a different account so you won't find this book on this profile