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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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After leaving Cassia’s office, I wandered around Eastvan.
I needed to find a suitable place to test my mana.
Why hadn’t I done this before?
To be honest, I didn’t know much about the Heart of Winter.
I didn’t know how powerful it would make me.
Just because I was a transmigrator didn’t mean I knew everything.
Besides, I hadn’t had many opportunities to unleash my mana.
My sadistic master had forbidden me from doing so.
Anyway,
I eventually found myself in a secluded forest far from Eastvan.
I glanced around.
There was no one in sight.
I took a deep breath and focused my mana.
Something pulsed inside me.
Thump, thump.
‘I’m going to unleash my mana.’
The ground trembled, as if an earthquake had struck.
The surrounding trees swayed wildly.
A blue light enveloped me and my sword.
‘I’m going to release my mana like a sword aura.’
I swung my sword horizontally.
A surge of blue energy erupted from the blade.
My target was a massive tree in front of me.
It would probably take a lumberjack half a day to chop it down.
Fwoosh—
The earth trembled, and even I was surprised by the sheer force of the attack.
‘Damn it, I can’t control it.’
My current state could be compared to a high-performance engine without a proper control system.
It was powerful, but erratic.
I was like a runaway train, uncontrollably spewing out mana.
Bang!
A massive explosion erupted, and a wave of mana swept through the forest.
Trees were sliced in half, collapsing like dominoes.
‘Oh my god…’
A clearing had formed in front of me.
It was at least a few dozen meters wide.
A lumberjack would probably faint at the sight.
I paced across the clearing, measuring its size. The moon was bright, so it wasn’t difficult.
It was roughly 50 meters wide.
Even the last tree had been sliced in half.
Am I… am I actually a cheater?
No, this wasn’t cheating. It was… broken.
I examined my longsword.
It was cracked and chipped, as if it had been struck by a hammer. It was a miracle it hadn’t shattered.
‘I need a new weapon.’
It was a standard-issue longsword.
It couldn’t withstand the force of my mana.
And I had only released a fraction of my mana.
If my mana pool was a 300-minute reserve, I had only used 30 minutes’ worth.
If I could control my mana properly, I could have toppled even more trees.
I was like a lumberjack with a dull axe and no skills, relying solely on brute force.
Anyway,
If I could unleash this much power in a battle…
A smile spread across my face.
I finally understood my true strength.
It was terrifying.
I returned to my dormitory.
I couldn’t stay there any longer.
I might get arrested for deforestation.
I immediately began practicing mana control.
I placed a pen, a piece of paper, and a pebble on my desk.
And slowly released my mana.
Mana control involved using small amounts of mana to manipulate objects.
‘Imagine using an invisible hand to lift the pen.’
I recalled the instructions from class.
Lift the pen with an invisible hand.
I released my mana.
Thwack!
The pen shot towards the ceiling like a spring.
And it got stuck there.
Arthur, who was blessed with a status window and a system, glanced at me curiously.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t talk to me. I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Are you practicing telekinesis?”
I ignored him.
I had to focus.
Now, I had to lift the pebble.
Gently, with an invisible hand…
Bang!
The pebble shot towards the ceiling.
Damn it! Who told you to throw it?
I told you to lift it!
You idiot!
I finally understood how impressive Sepia’s mana control was.
She could even snap a goblin’s neck with pinpoint accuracy.
I wanted to ask her for some tips.
But I couldn’t.
“Is that some kind of new skill?”
Arthur asked.
I glared at him, thinking he was mocking me.
But he wasn’t.
Our protagonist was actually impressed.
“What?”
“I thought you were inventing a new skill… Like, shooting objects like arrows.”
Shooting objects like arrows?
Wait a minute…
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At the academy administration office.
The sound of a pen scratching against paper filled the silence.
The administrator handed me a document.
“Here’s your sponsorship certificate.”
What was going on?
I was completely bewildered.
The sponsorship amount was 10 million Elleh.
It was more than enough to cover next semester’s tuition.
“Um… who is the sponsor?”
“The sponsor’s identity is confidential.”
“I can’t even know their name?”
“No, not at the moment.”
I took the certificate and returned to the club room.
It was the perfect place to relax.
Tesha and Tia were already there.
“What’s that? A sponsorship certificate?”
Tesha’s eyes widened curiously.
“I received a sponsorship.”
“A sponsorship? Oh my god… 10 million Elleh?!”
I sat down on the sofa and read the letter.
It began with, “I have decided to sponsor you.”
The letter was seventeen lines long.
And it ended with, “I hope you will graduate successfully.”
Sponsorships were mentioned in the novel.
Guilds often used them to recruit promising heroes.
Reus had received numerous sponsorship offers.
He had rejected them all, of course.
He had even yelled at them, asking if they thought he was a beggar.
I wasn’t foolish enough to reject a sponsorship.
Thank you, anonymous sponsor. I will put this money to good use.
Especially now that I had quit my job with Sepia.
“Who’s the sponsor?”
Tesha stared at the certificate, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“I don’t know.”
I had a few suspects.
First, Professor Cassia.
She had wanted to appoint me as her assistant.
And then there was…
Tia Erze.
The Erze Trading Company had wanted to recruit me.
“Tia, is this you?”
“What? Me?”
“Did you send the sponsorship money?”
“No, it wasn’t me. 10 million Elleh… Ethan, if you sign a contract with the Erze Trading Company now, we’ll double that amount as a signing bonus…”
A signing bonus…
I suddenly remembered something.
My investments and the money Tia owed me from the necklace deal.
“Oh, right, Tia. How much money did I make from the necklace sales?”
“Here. I was going to send it to you via raven… but since you asked, I’ll give it to you now.”
Tia placed a check on the table.
It was for 4 million Elleh.
She also gave me a document listing the number of necklaces sold.
“F-four million Elleh? What…? Is there something going on between you two?”
“I signed a contract with her trading company.”
I decided to keep it vague.
“Wow… those bourgeois…”
She was a princess, wasn’t she?
Anyway,
Tia wasn’t my sponsor.
There was no need to return the sponsorship certificate.
And I didn’t want to accept a sponsorship from Tia. She would probably lecture me about it.
Click.
The door opened and Sepia entered the room.
It took me a moment to process what I was seeing.
Sepia casually took a seat.
She glanced at me.
“What? Why are you staring at me, Ethan?”
She even spoke to me casually.
What…?
What was going on?
Why was she smiling?
“Looks like you got a sponsorship. Who’s it from?”
“I don’t know. Some kind soul, I guess.”
Sepia’s smile widened.
Why was she so happy that I had received a sponsorship?
And…
“Why are you here?”
“I’m joining the club.”
I couldn’t prevent her from joining the club.
I had been trying to avoid interacting with her.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sepia von Logness, the only daughter of the Logness family.”
Sepia smiled knowingly.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
She was flaunting her status in front of the princess.
It was like preaching to the choir.
“Anyway… should we start studying?”
Tesha clapped her hands, trying to break the tension.
“Ethan, you had a question about telekinesis, right?”
“Ah, yes, yes. Here, try lifting this pen.”
I focused my mana on the pen, gently trying to lift it.
As expected, it shot towards the ceiling.
Tesha stared at the pen stuck in the ceiling, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Um…”
It felt like I had shot the ball instead of passing it in a soccer game.
“It’s… okay. You have a lot of mana!”
Her words made me feel even more embarrassed.
Tesha took my hand in hers.
“Let me try controlling your mana.”
Our hands were intertwined. It felt awkward.
I supposed this was the best way to control someone’s mana.
“What are you doing?”
Sepia interrupted.
It was clear that she didn’t like what she was seeing.
“What? I’m just trying to help Ethan with his mana control.”
“I know, but… that’s not how you do it.”
“What?”
“Helping him like that won’t improve his control. Step aside. I’ll teach him.”
Sepia sat down beside me.
I gulped, my nerves suddenly on edge.
“Um… I’m sorry, Sepia, but Ethan is learning from me.”
“What’s your TOMA score?”
“M-my TOMA score? It’s… in the low 900s…”
Low 900s.
It wasn’t a bad score.
“I scored a perfect 990. 495 for Mana Control and 495 for Mana Comprehension.”
Tesha was speechless.
“So, I’m qualified to teach him, right?”
Sepia chuckled, her tone mocking.
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I did not want her to join the club…. Poor Ethan.