‘Hmm... electricity, huh.’
Zeldryn was still staring at the candlelight flickering slightly on the table.
The more he thought about it...
The more interesting the idea sounded.
‘That goes into my plan.’
Zeldryn, whose thoughts had been interrupted earlier by Hera's arrival, picked up his writing tool again.
He looked at several plans he had already written down.
Build My Body.
Mana Training.
Learn About the World.
Then he added one more thing.
Lighting.
For now, Zeldryn himself had no idea where to even begin.
Mana could produce explosions.
He had already proven that.
But could mana produce light?
Or even something resembling electricity?
He didn't know.
But at the very least, he didn't want to forget the idea.
After organizing and adding several plans for the following days, Zeldryn finally put down his writing tool.
“Hufft...”
He stood up from the chair.
He stretched his body slightly.
His arms went above his head.
His waist twisted slightly from side to side.
After sitting for quite a while and spending nearly the entire day thinking and training...
His body did feel a little stiff.
A few moments later, Zeldryn walked toward the bed.
The food Hera had brought was still there.
He sat down and began eating.
Just like before...
The taste still didn't suit his palate very well.
But Zeldryn didn't complain much.
He ate enough to fill himself.
Once he finished, he picked up the tray along with the dirty dishes.
This time, he already knew what to do.
Zeldryn opened the door.
CREAK.
Then placed the dirty dishes outside his room, right beside the door just like before.
‘Someone will definitely take them later.’
He went back inside.
The door closed.
Then Zeldryn walked toward his bed.
But this time, he had no intention of sleeping.
He climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged.
“...”
‘Let's try again.’
After getting so many explanations from Kera that afternoon...
Zeldryn wanted to test for himself just how much his understanding of mana had developed.
He focused his mind.
Slowly...
Yellowish-golden mana particles once again filled his vision.
There were so many.
Hundreds.
Maybe even thousands scattered throughout the entire room.
Some moved slowly.
Some barely seemed to move at all.
And several passed straight through one another.
Zeldryn selected one.
‘Move.’
The particle followed his will.
Then...
Three.
Still easy.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Seven.
Ten.
!!??
Zeldryn immediately frowned.
‘Heavy!’
He could still control them.
But it clearly felt different compared to when he was in the forest that afternoon.
Earlier, ten particles hadn't been much of a problem after his Mana Hole developed.
Zeldryn continued anyway.
Thirteen.
Fifteen.
The Mana Hole beneath his navel began to feel increasingly tense.
‘Hmm...’
He added more.
Nineteen.
!!??
The fluctuations inside his Mana Hole immediately became much stronger.
Zeldryn held his breath.
‘I can't.’
He recognized this feeling.
It wasn't pain.
Not yet.
But his body was already giving him some kind of warning.
If he kept forcing it...
Something bad might happen again.
And along with that...
Another familiar sensation appeared.
Empty.
Dry.
Thirsty.
Zeldryn lightly held his lower abdomen.
‘My Mana Hole is dry again?’
He remembered the training in the forest that afternoon.
“...”
‘Well, of course.’
Before returning home...
He had just controlled twenty-one particles at once and used them to create the largest explosion he had ever made.
And after that, he hadn't refilled his Mana Hole.
‘No wonder.’
Zeldryn immediately released his control.
The nineteen particles returned to moving freely.
Then he closed his eyes.
This time, he directed his consciousness toward his Mana Hole.
And sure enough...
That empty sensation was extremely clear.
‘So it really is almost empty.’
But now...
Zeldryn wasn't nearly as confused as before.
He already understood the basic concept.
The gate.
Zeldryn focused his mind.
‘Open.’
He imagined the gate of his Mana Hole opening.
Slowly...
The mana in the surrounding environment began to react.
Yellowish-golden particles appeared within his mind.
One by one, they moved toward the darkness of the Mana Hole.
Then...
They were absorbed.
“...”
Zeldryn felt the same sensation.
Mana slowly entered his Mana Hole according to his will.
‘Tch.’
He almost wanted to laugh a little.
‘The first time, I just left you guys alone and you went in by yourselves, damn it.’
Now it was different.
He knew that he was absorbing mana.
He knew the gate was open.
And most importantly...
He knew that gate could be closed.
‘Now I'm really absorbing you because I want to.’
One particle after another continued entering.
The thirst inside his Mana Hole slowly faded.
The emptiness that had been bothering him gradually filled.
The sensation once again felt incredibly comfortable.
Like water filling something that had been dry for a long time.
Zeldryn almost let himself sink too deeply into that feeling again.
But this time...
He immediately remembered what had happened that afternoon.
‘Focus.’
Kera wasn't in the room.
There was no one here to flick his forehead if he went too far again.
This time, he had to stop it himself.
‘Only absorb what I need.’
Zeldryn continued monitoring the condition of his Mana Hole.
Mana entered.
Little by little.
The sensation of emptiness continued disappearing.
Until after a while...
!!??
Zeldryn suddenly felt something different.
“...?”
It wasn't pain.
It wasn't thirst either.
In fact, it was the opposite.
His Mana Hole felt...
Full.
It was difficult to explain.
But it was as though something inside his body was giving him one simple signal.
That's enough.
Zeldryn fell silent.
‘This... is new.’
Before this, he had never truly known when his Mana Hole was completely full.
The first time he tried...
He had simply kept absorbing until everything turned into a disaster.
Even that afternoon, Kera had been the one to stop him.
But now...
Zeldryn could feel that limit himself.
‘Is it because I'm starting to understand the concept of the Mana Hole and its gate?’
‘So now I'm beginning to sense when it's full?’
He didn't know for sure.
But there was no reason to take the risk.
The moment that full sensation became clear...
Zeldryn immediately focused his will.
‘Close.’
The gate of his Mana Hole closed.
The mana particles that had been continuously entering stopped.
Zeldryn checked for several moments.
No more mana was being absorbed.
“...”
Only then did he open his eyes.
Yellowish-golden particles once again filled the room.
Zeldryn took a short breath.
‘Now let's try again.’
He selected one particle.
Move.
Three.
Five.
Nine.
Twelve.
“...”
It still felt light.
Zeldryn continued increasing the number.
Fifteen.
His Mana Hole began to fluctuate slightly.
But it was still much easier than before.
Eighteen.
!!??
The fluctuations were starting to become fairly strong.
‘I'm starting to feel it.’
Zeldryn maintained his concentration.
Twenty.
“Ugh...”
Heavy.
Very heavy.
But he could still maintain control.
Then...
Twenty-one.
“...!”
Zeldryn immediately felt much greater pressure.
His Mana Hole fluctuated.
His concentration was also beginning to feel seriously strained.
But...
He could still control them.
Zeldryn briefly considered adding one more.
Twenty-two.
But...
“...”
STOP.
‘No.’
He immediately abandoned the idea.
There was no need.
He had already vomited blood once because he forced himself past his limit purely out of curiosity.
Zeldryn wasn't stupid enough to repeat the same mistake over and over again.
‘Twenty-one is enough.’
But this time...
He didn't immediately gather all the particles together to create an explosion.
Instead, Zeldryn was curious about something else.
‘If I can control them...’
He moved all the particles to the right.
They moved.
To the left.
They moved.
Up.
Down.
Then Zeldryn made all of them rotate around a single point.
Twenty-one mana particles followed his will.
“...”
Zeldryn's eyes became more serious.
‘Damn.’
The longer he controlled them...
The stranger the sensation became.
It was as though the particles were additional parts of his own body.
He wasn't touching them.
He wasn't using his hands.
But whenever his mind ordered them to move...
They moved.
Zeldryn tried another direction.
It worked.
Faster.
Still worked.
Rotate.
It worked.
Then a question appeared.
‘If I can move them this freely...’
‘Can I shape mana?’
Zeldryn immediately became interested.
He looked at the twenty-one particles under his control.
There was no need to try anything complicated.
Just something very simple.
‘A square.’
Zeldryn imagined a small square shape.
He began arranging the positions of the particles one by one.
Some moved upward.
Some downward.
Several toward the left side.
The others toward the right.
Slowly...
The particles moved closer together.
Zeldryn continued adjusting their positions.
‘Almost.’
But...
“...?”
They did move closer.
But that was all.
No solid shape formed.
Zeldryn tried reducing the distance between the particles even further.
Closer.
Even closer.
But when two particles were forced into the exact same position...
They simply passed through each other.
“...”
Zeldryn froze.
He tried again.
Two different particles.
Moved closer.
Forced together.
And...
They passed through one another.
They didn't merge.
They didn't stick together.
They didn't form anything.
“...”
Zeldryn began to frown.
‘Why?’
He tried arranging all the particles into a square again.
But the result remained the same.
He could only control their positions.
He couldn't combine them into a single complete shape.
The moment two particles got too close...
They simply passed through each other.
Zeldryn focused even harder.
‘Come on...’
He tried one more time.
It didn't work.
‘Why can't I do it??’