The ability of regression boasts significant effects.
Going back to the past with all your experience and knowledge, repeating the same time—what other overpowered ability could there be?
I’m just an untalented nobody, and here I am pretending to be a hero!
But regression isn’t all-powerful.
While it’s possible to return to the past with traits if you have enough experience, knowledge, and a certain level of skill…
Your body resets to its original state!
All that muscle mass I built and the bones I trained get reset!
Of course, considering how filled with tricks and miracles this world is, training for muscle gain is a foolish endeavor.
The output-for-input ratio is absurdly small!
So for now, I focused on obtaining high-end mana stones and enhancing my stat-boosting traits.
But pushing those limits eventually leads to a dead end.
And now? We’ve reached that point!
Once you hit the maximum possible strength through tricks, you have no other paths left.
You just have to train honestly!
BAM! WHAM!
A dead giant tree rises in the center of the training ground.
Each time I punch that massive trunk, splinters scatter, and a thunderous noise erupts!
“Huuuu…”
Taking a moment to catch my breath, I inspect my fist.
My knuckles are already scraped, blood flowing, and my fingers trembling like crazy!
The withered, lifeless bark is tougher than iron!
Of course, that’s what happens when you pound it with your fist!
“Damn, how long will it take to train this back up?”
The strength in my fingers that keeps me from dropping my sword in any situation. And the sturdy bones in my fingers that prevent them from breaking in battle—
Their importance can’t be stressed enough!
But as I hold my sore fist, sighs keep escaping me.
There was one thing that I still wasn’t used to even after repeating this cycle for the twelfth time…
And that is pain.
Not dying and coming back from it means I still hate pain with a passion.
Naturally, training that comes with pain is something I’d rather avoid!
“Sigh… but I have to do it.”
No choice, it’s a matter of life and death.
I have to face Heavenly King Kali today or tomorrow.
In the near future, I need to defeat the Final Boss, Draken.
There’s no room to whine!
Plus, this place, Elvenguard, is a specialized training ground where mana fills the air!
Every moment of rest feels wasteful!
“Huh?!”
As I was about to punch the tree again, something suddenly swooshed in from behind.
In an instant, it’s covering my face, and I tumble backward!
“…I’m hungry.”
“Hey.”
Lick lick.
Mi Jeong, with a mischievous glint, was about to bite my throat, but upon discovering blood on my fist, she starts licking it!
She’s breathing heavily, her body shaking, unable to hide her excitement!
Her eyes shining red means she’s in overdrive again.
When Mi Jeong uses too much mana, this is the phenomenon that occurs instead of mana exhaustion!
“Did you run out of mana?”
“…Yeah.”
“How about stamina?”
“…I’m spent.”
I figured I’d get a feel for Mi Jeong’s stamina and mana by making her dash around the training ground at full speed.
Checking the time, 20 minutes had passed.
Looks like Mi Jeong’s stamina and mana limits are around 20 minutes each.
“…The mana. Slurp. Isn’t, filling.”
“Really? You mean you can’t recharge even when resting?”
“…Nope.”
As she keeps licking my fist, her eyes shining like a beast, I ponder how Elvenguard’s abundant mana should normally recharge mana faster than its consumption rate.
But it seems Mi Jeong, being a monster, can’t absorb the ambient mana like others.
Well, nothing can be done about that.
I have to manually help her recharge!
“…Urgh. Mana. Is, filling.”
Scratch scratch scratch.
I quickly pat Mi Jeong’s head, scratch her chin, and touch her cheeks.
After doing this repeatedly to recharge her, I think I’ve developed a knack for it!
The key is to keep both hands busy petting her evenly!
That way, I can recharge her in about 10 minutes.
I don’t know why, but focusing on just one spot slows down the recharging speed!
“I’m back… Oof.”
Creeeak.
The door to the training ground opens, and Alicia peeks in.
“Excuse me…”
“No, why? Come in.”
“Am I interrupting?”
“No, just come in.”
Looks like she misunderstood again.
But honestly, that’s good!
The more I seem like a weirdo to Alicia, the stronger my resolve becomes to keep her away from Yerina!
“What were you doing?”
“Charging her mana. Her heart’s stopped, so I have to manually inject mana!”
“Oh… so you need to pet a Blood Ghoul to recharge?”
“Seems like it.”
I don’t really understand the exact principle myself.
I’ve never heard of training a monster as a companion and recharging its mana all throughout my twelfth cycle!
I just found out that petting can charge their mana. If I stroke one spot too lightly, the efficiency drops!
“Can I give it a try?”
“Go ahead.”
“Ehehe.”
Alicia approaches Mi Jeong with a creepy smile.
Seeing this, Mi Jeong seems a bit scared and tries to hide behind me.
But Alicia quickly grabs Mi Jeong!
“Whoa, it’s cold. And so soft.”
“…Eek.”
Mi Jeong’s cheek stretches!
Having quickly succumbed to the allure, Alicia is completely absorbed, petting Mi Jeong’s head and chin!
I get it!
That sensation is hard to escape once you get hooked!
“Hehe. Is, the mana. Filling?”
“…No.”
“Huh? Not even a bit?”
“…Not at all.”
Huh?
Even after all that, she’s not filling up?
Something feels off…
I drop Alicia off Mi Jeong and try petting her head myself.
“How about now?”
“…Recharging.”
“What? Why only me?!”
Now she’s recharging just fine!
What’s going on?
Wasn’t physical contact the condition for recharging?
Maybe there’s another condition!
“Do I have to pet her like this? Yoo Jin! How did your hand look earlier? Show me again!”
“Forget it. Let’s move on.”
“No, I can’t! I want to help recharge Mi Jeong too!”
“Hey, Alicia. Just teach me some magic already.”
This isn’t a priority!
What matters more is Alicia’s magic tutoring!
The moment we decide to take a commission from Elvenguard, I have to be ready to dive into a dungeon right away!
I need to take advantage of these precious moments and learn as much magic or whatever to get stronger!
“Sigh. Alright. Do you have any magical tools? Experienced users can cast without them, but beginners should definitely have at least one that fits their body.”
“Of course, I was prepared. Mi Jeong, you brought a ring, right?”
“…Uh-huh.”
“Wait? She’s going to learn magic too?”
“Why not? We can at least give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t.”
It’s better to have more people who can use magic!
Mi Jeong can’t use mana without a mana stone, so it seems she probably can’t use magic either…
But there’s always a chance!
“Alright then. You both seem to know some mana control basics. Can I check again?”
“How will you check?”
“Just use mana control like normal. I’ll touch and feel the mana flow in your body.”
Before I knew it, Alicia had positioned herself behind us and placed her hands on our backs!
Like usual, huh?
I close my eyes for a moment, borrowing the power of the mana stone to control my mana flow.
Alicia jumps back in surprise!
“Whoa! What the heck? You two are on par with my level of mana control despite being melee fighters?”
“Is that good?”
“It’s really good! Normally, it takes most beginners more than half their time just to learn mana control. You just saved a ton of time!”
Starting is half the battle!
We must have already made over half the progress right from the beginning!
My motivation skyrockets!
“Have you learned any magic before?”
“I’ve learned a few things.”
“Oh! What are they? Show me!”
As Mi Jeong shakes her head, I pull out and demonstrate the magic I learned before one by one.
Ignition magic, unlocking spells, and piercing spells (up to 1cm).
These are optimized spells for avoiding traps in dungeons and for survival!
“And this is the last one—Invisibility Magic.”
“Huh? Is that invisibility?”
“You can barely hear it.”
“Oh? That’s true…”
After I demonstrated all the magic I knew, Alicia’s expression went a bit strange.
After hesitating and mumbling for a while, she finally speaks up.
“Can I be honest?”
“Sure. I hate beating around the bush.”
“It’s a whole collection of useless spells! But seeing your mastery shows you’ve put in a lot of effort… The problem is that they’re all downright useless for learning advanced magic.”
“…Seriously.”
Her judgment is starkly harsh!
I had a feeling this would happen—the old fool. Just taught me useless spells!
“Magic comes with properties and hierarchies. There are powerful spells that don’t fit into any properties, but they are rare. Most magic branches from level 1 spells of each property. The highest level is 10, which can literally reshape the world.”
A serious lesson begins!
Alicia explains that there are five magic properties: Fire, Water, Ice, Electricity, and Wind.
Each property has a level 1 spell, and from there, various spells branch off!
But the spells I showed her had no properties or levels at all!
Simply put, I’ve tapped into a tree that has neither future nor roots!
“Typically, a person can only master spells of one property in their lifetime. You can hop between branches for levels 2 or 3, but past that, it’s hard to progress unless you focus on a single branch! Occasionally, you might get geniuses who master completely different properties at level 8 or higher.”
Think of it like lounging around getting a Bachelor’s degree, but PhDs or Masters require focusing on just one area for a lifetime!
Occasionally, you hear about freaks who manage to get two completely different PhDs!
“Let’s cast the basic magic of each property. This will help to identify which property suits you best.”
Now it’s time to choose the property of the magic I’ll wield!
If I could, I’d prefer Electricity or Fire. Water and Wind seem dull!
I dislike Ice since it reminds me of Yerina!
“Hmm. Why is this happening? It shouldn’t be stuck at level 1! I’ve never seen someone like this before.”
“Huh?”
And in that moment, I realized I was foolishly getting ahead of myself!
Shouldn’t be stuck at level 1?
“…Oh.”
“Whoa! It seems Mi Jeong has an aptitude for Fire and Electricity!”
As flames and electricity spark from Mi Jeong’s hands, a sinister thought creeps into my mind.
Could it be… I have zero talent for magic?
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