Apparition.
They walked for three full days.
Whenever he had the chance, Woojin practiced his breathing. But he failed to achieve any meaningful results.
It was disappointing to see no progress, but he did not feel discouraged. If sensing mana were easy, then any random person would be using magic. Humans capable of awakening and utilizing mana were rare.
Still, making no progress at all was frustrating. It seemed Claire felt the same way.
"We'll have to try a more intuitive method."
"How?"
"I'm thinking of directly injecting my mana into your body. Once you become familiar with its flow and sensation, you should find it easier to sense mana."
At first glance, it sounded promising. However, there had to be a reason she hadn't chosen this method until now.
When he asked, Claire nodded.
"If we repeat this training too often, it actually makes it harder to enter the path of mana. If you grow accustomed to someone else doing it for you, your body becomes lazy."
"Then wouldn't it be better not to do it at all?"
"There's no need to be overly cautious. Doing it once should be fine… Ah, here it is."
Claire rummaged through her pack and pulled something out—a potion the color of the sky.
"Would you take off your shirt?"
Woojin promptly removed it. His body was built with sleek muscles like a leopard's. Perhaps thinking it improper to stare, Claire covered her eyes with one hand.
…Through the gaps between her fingers, their eyes met.
"Ahem—please turn around."
Clearing her throat as if flustered, she spoke. Woojin turned, presenting his back. Claire dipped her index and middle fingers deep into the blue potion.
Swish, swish—
Using the potion as ink, she drew something across his back. It seemed to be a magic circle. Without a mirror, Woojin couldn't see its shape.
Soon finished, Claire placed her palm at the center of the circle on his back.
"I'm going to inject about half of my mana into your body. Don't try to hold onto it—just let it flow through and remember the sensation and movement as clearly as you can."
"I'll try."
"Good. I'll start on three. One, two, three!"
Kiiiiing—!
The magic circle flared with light. Woojin closed his eyes to concentrate. It was his first time experiencing something like this, and he felt slightly tense.
He waited with his eyes shut…
'…What?'
There was no sensation at all. It felt as though something had gone wrong.
Confusion overtook him. Soon, Claire removed her hand from his back. Woojin turned to look at her face.
She wore an expression as if half her soul had left her body.
"…I've never experienced anything like this before."
She muttered as though possessed. Woojin felt he should give her time to think, but his curiosity got the better of him.
"Can you explain?"
"How should I put this… The moment I injected my mana, it was completely sucked into your body."
"…Then didn't the spell succeed?"
Claire shook her head.
"No. To use a metaphor, you must shape clay into a bowl to hold water. What I just did was like pouring water directly onto bare soil. Do you understand?"
"More or less."
Woojin hadn't even reached the stage of sensing mana yet. Accepting mana should have been impossible. Someone who hadn't taken their first steps couldn't start running.
And yet—he had done it.
"…No, it's hard to say he did. Something was strange."
"In what way?"
"Rather than saying you received the mana I gave you… I don't know if it's appropriate to use such an irrational expression, but…"
Claire continued carefully.
"…It looked as though it was being devoured."
At the moment she injected the mana, Claire had seen a strange vision. A praying mantis at its meal. Its cruel jaws were chewing and swallowing a blue butterfly.
That butterfly had once been a part of her. She felt certain of it.
Gripped by a fear she could not name, Claire halted the spell. The blue butterfly barely escaped from the mantis's forelegs.
The mantis, deprived of its prey, turned its gaze toward her. Compound eyes composed of dozens of lenses. And within that chilling stare—
"…Claire. You look a little pale."
The sudden voice shattered her thoughts. Woojin was watching her with concern.
Meeting his gaze, Claire deliberately forced a bright smile.
"I'm fine. Just a bit tired. Anyway! I think it's best not to try that training method again for a while. Since it's such an unusual phenomenon, I'll need to study it separately."
"Thanks. You've gone through a lot because of me."
"I'm doing it because I want to. Teaching magic is actually quite fun."
With that, Claire rose to her feet.
"It's getting late, so I'll head to sleep."
"Alright. See you tomorrow."
"Good night~"
Claire walked toward the tent. She glanced around once.
No one was watching.
After confirming that, she quietly murmured a spell. A small flame flickered to life in her palm. Seeing it, she let out a long sigh.
'…My magic has weakened.'
It wasn't her imagination.
After the mantis devoured the butterfly, the mana within Claire had diminished. The power she had cultivated over several years had been reduced.
She steadied herself.
'It's fine. Jin saved my life. Even if I gave him all my magic, it wouldn't be a waste…'
It wasn't just something she told herself for comfort. Claire genuinely believed it.
Still, what had just happened was too sudden. An accident of sorts. If she had prepared herself mentally in advance, perhaps she would have been fine. Instead, it felt as though she had been struck across the face without warning.
Sniffling repeatedly, Claire—reduced to a quiet hush—made her way to her bedroll.
**
Left alone, Woojin felt a faint sense of unease.
For some reason, he felt languid. His body lacked vitality in a way that wasn't like him.
'Should I just take a nap?'
Yet that was awkward too—sleep wouldn't come. His body was weary, but his mind remained fully awake, as if he had drunk a caffeinated beverage.
Suddenly, he recalled what Claire had said.
'She said whenever she couldn't sleep, she'd pass the time studying magic and mana sensitivity.'
This was the perfect opportunity.
He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. Calming his mind, he inhaled and exhaled…
"…Hmm?"
Woojin felt a momentary sense of dissonance. A faint tingling around the crown of his head. The instant he opened his eyes in surprise, the sensation vanished like a lie.
'Let's try again.'
He closed his eyes once more, just as before. After a few steady breaths, it felt as though a warmth like morning sunlight flowed into his body through the top of his head.
Breathe through the crown. Was this the sensation Claire had kept mentioning?
'…Why is this working?'
Woojin scratched his chin. Nothing seemed to have changed, yet something that had refused to work no matter what he did now suddenly did.
Was it the effect of the spell Claire had used earlier?
He didn't know enough about magic to jump to conclusions. He would ask Claire tomorrow. For now, he remained seated, focusing on his breathing.
To become a mana user, one must pass through three stages.
The first stage is sensing the mana of nature through meditation.
The second is accepting that mana and storing it within the body.
The third is manifesting techniques using the accumulated mana as a resource.
'First, let's get used to the breathing method.'
At present, Woojin could only barely sense mana if he focused intensely. He had just stepped into the first stage. Because of that, the mana that entered his body soon leaked out again.
He had heard that this problem would naturally resolve as he grew more proficient with the breathing technique. The more accustomed he became, the more his body would adapt to mana. Eventually, mana would remain within him even without conscious effort.
The amount of mana one could store differed from person to person. Claire had compared it to lung capacity.
"A trained diver can stay underwater longer because they've trained to store more air in their lungs than others."
If one wished to surpass others in any field, it required effort to match.
'Alright… let's try again.'
Closing his eyes, Woojin concentrated on his breathing. Sitting at the edge of the campsite, he continued mana sensitivity training, losing track of time.
The next morning, early.
Claire awoke and stepped outside the tent. Pushing her tousled light-brown hair back, she let out a comfortable yawn.
'Ah… I slept well.'
Perhaps because she had gone to bed earlier than usual, it felt like the best morning she had had in recent days. She felt as though she could dash toward the horizon like a wild horse.
As if reborn.
Even she found it strange. Just yesterday, she had nearly been in tears over the weakening of her magic. What was this sudden change in mood?
…A blessing?
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.
Humming softly, Claire walked toward Woojin's tent.
"Excuse me. Are you inside?"
She called once, but there was no answer. Lifting the flap slightly, she peeked in.
'He's not here.'
Where had he gone?
After glancing around, she soon spotted Woojin sitting quietly in the same place as yesterday.
She was about to greet him cheerfully, but upon seeing his state, she stopped.
'…Wow. His concentration has improved beyond recognition.'
It was hard to believe he was the same person as yesterday. His breathing had advanced noticeably. Judging by the amount of accumulated mana, he must have stayed here all night.
In just a single night, Woojin had entered the second stage. At this rate, he would soon be ready to formally learn magic. Without question, it was abnormal.
'Did my lost magic somehow increase Jin's mana sensitivity…?'
Claire recalled the vision of the praying mantis from yesterday. The devoured blue butterfly. The dozens of eyes that had stared at her.
Perhaps it was her imagination… but the mantis had seemed to look at her with something close to goodwill. As if greeting an old friend.
Just what was its true nature?
It was said that when learning magic, signs or revelations sometimes appeared in the form of visions. But she had never heard of anything like this.
There was only one way to find a clue.
'The only option is to try that spell again.'
As it happened, Woojin had remained seated here without even washing. The magic circle drawn on his back the day before was still intact.
If she cast the spell again, her remaining magic would likely be taken by Woojin once more… but so what? Lost strength could be regained through effort. That much she could accept with a smile.
'Alright, let's do it.'
The moment Claire reached out her hand—
Whoosh—
Something suddenly lashed forward and coiled tightly around her wrist. Startled, she turned her head.
There stood a red wolf.
"Grrr…"
Rex growled low in his throat. Locking eyes with Claire, he slowly shook his head from side to side. As if to say that action must never be taken.
For some reason, the atmosphere felt ominous. Claire slowly withdrew her hand.
The vision of the mantis flickered in her mind.
Strangely, it seemed… disappointed.