Even after officially beginning my studies in Bytenner-style magic, my daily routine didn't change much.
I wake up, train in the morning, attend my classes, and then devote myself to magic training from afternoon until dawn.
The only real change was that I now practiced magic in my own room instead of the training hall.
And, as always, after finishing class for the day, I was in my room, training.
'Water.'
A small droplet, about 10 centimeters in diameter, floated above my palm.
It was Water, the most basic form of elemental magic.
Back in the day, it used to take me nearly eight seconds of casting just to form that tiny droplet—
But now, the spell manifested naturally with nothing but a thought.
"Mind's Intent. Instant Cast."
Magic that activated exactly as I thought—without any algorithm or formula—
It was beyond incredible. It was marvelous.
"And on top of that…"
The droplet began to change shape according to my thoughts.
Wobble, wobble.
It turned into a star, then a spear, then a bow.
Soon it even took the form of a lion, a tiger—
And finally, it became a bird, flapping its wings as if alive, flying around me.
All of it moved exactly as I imagined.
"Unbelievable."
I clicked my tongue in amazement and canceled the spell.
The bird scattered into countless droplets and vanished.
'Who would believe that I just cast that spell completely impromptu, without any preset algorithms?'
Probably no one.
Even I could hardly believe it.
To alter a manifested spell so freely—
It was something that shouldn't be possible under modern magical theory.
When you think about the Eight Stages of Spell Activation, you realize just how absurd this is.
'It's like I retroactively modified the middle formula of the magic after the fact.'
I had already completed the casting of the spell before changing its form.
In other words, after reaching the final stage—Manifestation (Stage 8)—
I had gone back to modify the prior stages, Transformation (Stage 3) and Condensation (Stage 4).
From a magical-scientific standpoint, that was insane.
It's like manufacturing a car and then deciding to change the frame afterward—
or finishing a building and then adding earthquake-resistant design because you "forgot."
In short—it should be physically impossible.
But I had done it.
Not because I ignored physical laws, but because the structure of Bytenner-style magic was fundamentally different.
The more I thought about it, the more amazed I became.
Instant-cast magic that required no chanting and could freely change form—
Was there any other system as absurdly overpowered as this?
'And it suits me perfectly.'
Especially considering my combat style, it was a perfect match on multiple fronts.
'The only drawbacks are the high mental strain and my currently low achievement level…'
Because Bytenner-style magic directly stimulates the brain's rotation, its mental cost is tremendous.
Even though I possess a vast mana capacity thanks to the Infinity Circle, I can't recklessly spam spells.
And since I'm still at the 1st Circle, my achievements are limited.
'Well, both of those are things time will fix.'
Both drawbacks will naturally fade as my mastery grows.
Honestly, I'm more delighted that there are only two drawbacks.
"This is enough for now."
Just knowing that I've overcome my weakness—that alone is enough.
I've only taken my first step.
There's no need to rush.
As my master always said—impatience is poison in the study of magic.
Slowly, but not too slowly.
Step by step, I'll reach the finish line I've set for myself someday.
With that certainty, I continued reading through the newly updated pages of [Ray Bell Bytenner].
[Once you have entered the foundation of Bytenner-style magic, the "Mind's Intent," the next step is to begin full-fledged mastery.]
My lips curled into a wide grin.
April 20th, Monday.
That afternoon, I took some time to go outside.
My destination: a private training hall.
After two days of practicing Bytenner-style magic, I wanted to test it in a simulated combat setting—and it had been a while since I last used a training facility.
"This place is ridiculously expensive."
The magic training facilities in the Obelisk shopping district were top-notch,
but their rental fees were outrageous.
₩800,000 an hour.
That's basically my entire monthly living budget gone in sixty minutes.
There was no way I could afford that kind of luxury.
"Money, huh…"
I gave a wry smile and passed through the main street of the Obelisk district.
After walking for a while, I reached a dim side street on the outskirts.
[Mage-Only Training Room: Connection.]
That was my destination—a training room tucked away in a dark corner.
Its signboard was old, the building shabby.
It couldn't have been more different from the sleek facilities on the main street.
[₩200,000 per hour.]
But it was cheap.
I quickly went inside.
"Welcome."
Surprisingly, the interior was quite tidy.
Despite the worn-out sign, the place was clearly well maintained.
'Well, it makes sense. You can't slack off on maintenance in a magic training facility.'
Mages are notoriously picky, after all.
"I'd like to rent a training room with virtual monsters for an hour."
"May I see your ID?"
I handed over my Obelisk Academy student card. The clerk scanned it with a mana scanner to verify its authenticity.
"All right, confirmed. Shall I guide you to your room?"
The check was over in an instant, and the clerk handed the card back to me.
"Yes, please."
"This way."
I followed the clerk inside.
Judging by the lights under the doors, quite a few people were using the rooms.
I hadn't expected this many at this hour.
I'd picked this place simply because it was the cheapest, but it seemed to have a decent reputation.
After about a minute's walk, we arrived at Room 14.
The interior was clean enough.
Sure, the training dome model was old, but considering the price, that was expected.
"You can use this room. Would you like me to explain how to operate it?"
"No, that's all right."
I had the exact same dome setup at home—I knew how to use it better than anyone.
"All right then. Call me if you need assistance."
With that, the clerk left the room.
"Phew."
Alone, I loosened up my body and approached the control panel.
I casually selected the type and number of monsters, then chose the terrain.
[Confirm: Large Monster Mode.]
[Generating selected terrain and monsters.]
Bzzz—!
The mana within the dome trembled violently.
The surrounding scenery began to change.
The plain interior of the dome transformed into a rugged cave.
At the same time, monsters began to appear.
The monsters I had chosen—
Bloodclaw Wolves.
A species of nimble, canine-type monsters classified as E-rank in danger level.
There were ten of them, generated at random positions around me.
[Generation complete.]
[Say "Begin Training" to start.]
E-rank monsters are weak enough that even a 2nd-Circle mage can defeat them without much trouble.
The reason I'd chosen Bloodclaw Wolves was because of a trend that had once swept through Obelisk Academy—
the so-called [Bloodclaw Challenge].
"If you could defeat ten of them at once without taking a single hit, you were considered a proper 2nd-Circle master."
Even if they were E-rank tier-4 monsters, handling ten at once was no easy feat.
No matter how fast modern spellcasting had become, the one using it was still human.
Fending off ten monsters attacking from every direction without a scratch was anything but simple.
You needed not only the ability to use the right spell at the right time,
but also sharp situational awareness, wide perception, multitasking ability, and fine physical control.
Only when all those aspects aligned perfectly could you clear the challenge unscathed.
"I couldn't even dream of trying this back then."
When it took me seven seconds just to cast a basic spell,
facing ten Bloodclaw Wolves simultaneously would've been impossible.
"And now here I am, trying it long after the trend's died out."
I chuckled awkwardly.
"Well, there's no better way to see exactly where I stand now."
I'd heard that not many people had actually succeeded in this challenge—
which made it a good benchmark for progress.
"All right. Let's do this."
I took a deep breath, focused my mind, and activated the Infinity Circle, lowering my stance into full combat readiness.
A perfect, taut tension flowed through my body.
"Begin training."
[Training initiated.]
Mana vibrated briefly—then the session began.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Have a good day."
After Shin Hayul left, the part-time clerk headed to Room 14 to clean up.
Their routine was simple—
reset the dome's settings to default, pick up any trash, erase any traces of smoking, and tidy up the room.
Sometimes customers trashed the place, in which case the clerk would use the scanned ID data to bill them for damages.
"Students from Obelisk Academy really do keep their rooms clean."
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be a concern this time.
Room 14 was spotless—
so clean, in fact, there wasn't anything to fix.
'All I need to do is reset the settings.'
The clerk quickly brought up the system panel, inserted the master key, and prepared to reset.
Then they suddenly recalled the name from the student ID used earlier.
'Come to think of it, the student who used this room… was Shin Hayul, right?'
Shin Hayul—
a man whose name anyone in the field of magic would recognize.
A once-in-a-generation prodigy.
'He vanished for a while after being labeled an "Incompatible." Still enrolled at Obelisk, though?'
They had assumed he'd given up on becoming a mage and secluded himself within his family estate.
"I wonder what kind of training Shin Hayul was doing."
Curiosity began to bubble up.
The former prodigy, now branded an Incompatible—
what kind of results had he produced today?
How far had the once-brilliant supernova Shin Hayul fallen?
The curiosity was too strong to resist.
"…Might as well take a peek."
Thought came first, action followed immediately.
'Yeah, just a quick look.'
Canceling the reset command, the clerk accessed the training log.
And froze.
It was astonishing enough that he'd completed more than five training sessions within a single hour—
but the results were what truly shocked them.
"He cleared the Bloodclaw Challenge?"
The list of monsters he defeated afterward was just as impressive.
"No, wait… what's this…"
His final recorded session was [Large Monster Survival Training].
A standardized training mode, modeled after both Obelisk Academy's and international magic exam protocols.
The test measures how long one can endure waves of virtual monsters,
or how quickly one can exterminate them.
For reference, the global average among academy students for a full clear was 12 minutes, 33 seconds.
"Wh-what!?"
Shin Hayul's time was—
"Full monster sweep in… 6 minutes, 37 seconds!?"
Six minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
That wasn't a student's record.
It was a level of performance you'd only see at international tournaments—
where participants were 5th-Circle mages or higher.
For Shin Hayul, an "Incompatible," to have achieved such a record—
"…Oh, come on. This pile of junk glitched again."
The clerk concluded that the old training dome must have malfunctioned.
"That's, what, the third time this month?"
Grumbling, they gave the machine a light thump with their fist.
From record errors to operational bugs—
the endless malfunctions were driving them crazy.
"At this rate, we'll be calling in a repair technician again soon."
A time of 6 minutes and 37 seconds—far too absurd to be real.
Never imagining it could actually be Shin Hayul's true result,
the clerk casually reset the system and returned to the counter.