(Merlin — POV)
A few moments ago, I finally finished constructing my mana channels, and the pain was slowly fading away. I did make a small mistake at the end, in the channels near my heart, but everything turned out fine.
They're now equivalent to the mana channels of an A-Rank hunter—though mine have far more branches than normal.So I'd say I'm somewhere between A-Rank and S-Rank if we're judging purely by channel quality.
'Even after improving this much, I still don't know if I'm actually strong. I need to test the abilities I "copied."'
Copied is a strong word, since all I really did was memorize the path the mana flow took and the speed it moved at. The rest I'll have to figure out through practice—seeing how the movement works in action and adjusting in real time. I remember very clearly the pain that comes from messing with your own channels.
'I even thought about trying it at home, but I ran out of duct tape.'I could only sigh at such misfortune.
"Maybe I can get into a dungeon…?" While thinking out loud, I decided to try my luck.
——
"Hey, hyung, how are you doing?"
— What do you want, kid? You've never called me hyung before.
I could hear the suspicion dripping from his voice.
"Come on, Hyun hyung, it hurts me that you think of me like that."
— So you don't want anything?
"Huh, well… I was going to ask you for a teeny tiny favor, Hyun hyung…" My voice faded as I finished the sentence.
— Haa… tell me what you need. And I'll say it now: I'm not getting Miss Cha's number for you!
"Hey!! I already told you I wasn't staring at her like that!"
— Hahaha, alright, alright. Just tell me what you need, kid.
"I need a spot in a C-Rank dungeon. I've been testing a few things and I need real practice. I don't want to do it in public. Do you think you can get one for me? If they let me stay alone inside for a while, I won't take any share of the dungeon profits."
— Huh… Merlin, I get that you want to go into a dungeon, but why do you want to go alone?
"Well, I have a few new things to test and I don't want anyone seeing any of it. Can you help me with that?"
— …
"Hyung?"
— I'll see what I can do, but I want to know what you're trying to test afterwards.
"Haha, deal. But I'll have to test it first before I can show you anything, okay?"
— Yeah, yeah… I'll contact you in a bit. I know some guys who can get a dungeon, but they don't like attention.
— Talk later.
"And he hung up right after saying something that suspicious, huh."I couldn't help but laugh thinking about the situation I was getting myself into—but all for SCIENCE!!
——
(Merlin — a few hours later)
"Hey, Hyun… you sure these guys aren't going to harvest my organs?" I whispered to him after seeing the men waiting for us.
They were all wearing suits and dark sunglasses, hair slicked back with excessive gel. Definitely mobsters—maybe yakuza, judging by the tattoos.
— I told you already, kid. If you want to do this without buying a portal license or joining a guild party, these guys are the ones who can handle it.
"They aren't Awakened, but they buy leftover portal licenses and charge a high fee so Awakened can use them. And don't forget: you can't fight the boss. They'll mine the dungeon first, then one of their teams comes in to finish the job."
As soon as he finished talking, a bald man over two meters tall approached us, holding a paper and a pen.
"Sign."
'Man of many words, I see.'
I looked at the paper: a contract stating they would take a modest 70% of the dungeon profits, and they wouldn't be responsible if I died inside.
'What an excellent deal,' I thought sarcastically.
I started reconsidering all my life decisions.
— You can still give up, Merlin. I don't know what's going on with you that makes you want to do this without a proper party, but I don't know if it's worth it.
I exhaled deeply and, before I could think any further, signed the contract.
"Don't worry, Hyun. I can leave if things get rough—I'll just have to pay these guys a fine."
— And they don't care how you "handle" that, as long as you do.
Hyun sighed and put a hand on my shoulder.
— Just don't die, kid.
"Don't jinx it!"
After saying that, I handed the papers back to the mountain of a man, checked my equipment one more time, and waited for his signal.
— Okay. You have one day. After that, it counts as breach of contract and we'll enter the dungeon. If you die, we take no responsibility. You may go in.
Without looking back, I stepped forward into my brilliant idea of soloing a dungeon.Here's hoping I don't die from baseless confidence.
"Crap…"
Those were my last words before entering.
——
The first thing I saw upon stepping in was a cavernous corridor.
'Good—at least I know what to expect.'
Seeing that everything was clear, I didn't advance. Instead, I decided to check if my theories were correct.
'Okay, let's start with something simple.'
I focused my mana perception inward and visualized my channels, which were unrecognizable compared to how they were a month ago.
After admiring my work for a moment, I forced myself to speed up—this is a dungeon, after all.
I concentrated my mana and carefully guided the flow through the designated channels. Since I chose to start with a simple spell, it was relatively easy—considering I trained internal control a lot. I just hadn't cast anything real yet.
But don't get the wrong idea: I was moving mana through about fifteen different channels for a simple spell.
After increasing the flow in each independent channel—so the flows wouldn't collide, but instead amplify one another—I pushed the entire mass of mana toward my hand at once and released it outward instead of storing it.
At the same time, I shouted the spell's name in my mind:
'FIREBOLT!'
When I opened my eyes and looked at my hand, I saw the result of a month of effort and unbearable pain:a sphere of fire floating slightly above my palm.
"Ha… haha… HAHAHAHA!"
"I did it— I DID IT!"
But right as I got too excited, I heard a growl reminding me where I was.
Looking ahead, I saw a giant wolf glaring at me, drool dripping from its fangs.
"Alright, flea-bag—you're gonna be the first creature to fall before the magic of the Great Mage Merlin!"
I focused on the fireball, infused more mana into it to make it grow instantly, and when I felt it was enough, I aimed at the wolf and fired the projectile.
The moment it launched from my hand, the wolf panicked—eyes widening, ears flattening—a clear sign of fear.
But when the fireball left my control and I cut the mana flow, it flew an impressive… thirty centimeters.Then it dropped to the floor, sizzled, and vanished.
We just stared at each other in the most awkward silence imaginable.
——
Author's Note:Hello, dear readers — sorry for the delay in posting this chapter; a few things happened.Here Merlin cast (or tried to cast) his first spell — hahahaha. After all, magic isn't magic without a magic circle, right? Hahahaha!
Next chapter he'll face his first real fight. Let's hope he manages, since he needs to clear this dungeon within one day unless he wants to owe money to the wrong people…
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a comment and, if you can, donate some powerstones!See you in the next chapter.
Bye-bye!