BXBX NOVEL Chapter 95: Season of the Harvest (1)
“People call me Daenong. I was born into a poor family…do you know how I got to where I am? It’s a secret, but I am not worried about a poor crop. There is a famous place in the world full of mana power. Many miracles happen there. People usually leave after getting a spirit like ‘Sansam’ in Myeongdang, but the true power lies in the land. I fertilize that land. Since Myeongdang is not large, its yield is limited, so the power of Myeongdang is put into fertilizer. Then, that year’s harvest inevitably becomes a big hit.”
The farmer was quite rich. He wanted to gain strength himself and offered great sums of money in exchange for Klinssman’s skills. Kang Min-hyuk did not want a price. He simply had a conversation with the farmer, and when he taught him the basics of reinforcement, he told him his secret. It was one of countless experiences.
The farmer’s words reminded Kang Min-hyuk of a possibility. ‘Myeongdang. According to the farmer’s description, the energy of Myeongdang directly affected the crops. What if it was put into magic? The mana room attracts mana even in a neutral environment. What if the mana room in the great hall was used? Wouldn’t the effect be great? It was a possibility.
Once recovered, Kang Min-hyuk met with new people. A few days later, he was confronted by Max Plank – a fifth circle wizard who surprised Min-hyuk by being self-taught. Following their confrontation, they held a heartfelt conversation.
“I was so envious of the people of the Royal Academy. Blessed from birth, they have an environment in which to grow as wizards. But not now. They spend a ton of money every day to train in their mana room, but nature has an alternative. If you repeat the training to accept mana there, you can get a comparable effect, if not as much as the mana room. That’s how I was able to reach the fifth circle.”
They were helpful words. Kang Min-hyuk gained knowledge through school classes, while the world gains experience through interaction with people. Accepting the wizard’s challenge, he learned about his battle experience and how various wizards grew. Even a single magical discipline was divided into hundreds of paths depending on who used it. Kang Min-hyuk started drawing new pictures in his mind with the information he had obtained after the duel contest. He would analyze magic, think about how to destroy magic, and think about how to become stronger. The half-year passed so fast.
Upon returning to the original world, Kang Min-hyuk immediately contacted Go Young-cheol.
[Young-cheol. Please find a ‘Myeongdang’ near Seoul with strong mana energy.]
The plan that Kang Min-hyuk first implemented was to find a good location.
* * *
Go Young-cheol’s intelligence was great. Less than a day later, he found a suitable place.
[Recently, I heard of a place that might be suitable for Myeongsan. Its true name is Duksan, located in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do, where lots of wild ginseng is found. Drinking mineral water from the mountain is minimal, but there are rumors that it has a regenerative effect. So, when the Korean Magic Association investigated the Dukesan Mountain, they concluded that mana’s distribution was higher than in other places, so it had a special effect. If what you want is Myeongdang, I think there will be a suitable place somewhere in Dukesan.]
So, he decided on the destination. Kang Min-hyuk packed his luggage and left for Gangwon-do, and as soon as he arrived at Mt. Duke, he used his super sense to monitor the flow of mana.
‘Definitely, the distribution of mana is high.’
Mana originated in nature. In the process of many people’s lives, the mana of the land is naturally consumed, but the mana of Dukesan seemed to be two to three times higher than that of Kang Min-hyuk’s Seoul Forest neighborhood. From the beginning of the mountain, the distribution of mana, which can be said to be the source, was more than expected. Kang Min-hyuk spent a long time walking around the mountain, and after a few days, he found a place that stood out.
‘Is this the place?’
The distribution of mana was much higher. The range was quite narrow, but he saw a cave formed inside when he went through the grass and looked over the rocks.
It was an unidentified dungeon. It was very likely that the dungeon strengthened the Dukesan’s energy. Kang Min-hyuk entered it to see if it could be seized alone, or if he would require a party.
He found it-empty, but there were traces of a previous attack. Sometimes, hunters do not report a dungeon even after an attack to avoid government taxes. Dukesan’s dungeon could be such a place. Dukesan was a famous mountain, and subsequently, became an attraction. Nevertheless, the power of the dungeon was still strong. Mana had a magnetic effect on the mountain, hence its fame.
“What kind of monster inhabits this place?”
Kang Min-hyuk put his hand on the ground. Among the many magics that he learned for half a year, he used a form of ungraded magic.
“Earth Memory.”
Hwaak-!
The memory of the earth was implanted into his head.
Earth memory could, according to the circle, offer intimate details of the surroundings. Kang Min-hyuk’s fourth circles allowed enough information to grasp what had happened on the land.
[Unidentified dungeon… … Spirit monster… … Expensive Mana Stone… … Single meal]
The information required some threading together, but it was simple enough. A fairly talented party discovered the dungeon when it was unidentified, and an elemental monster was inhabiting it. They turned their eyes to the expensive mana stones built into the dungeon. They were expensive, so they decided to take them without reporting it to the government. Thus, the monster disappeared, but the empty dungeon remained.
“Then, this dungeon must lead to the spirit world.”
It became clear why Dukesan became a powerful mountain. He applied the mental method to interact with the mana of the place. As soon as he activated sim, vast amounts of mana were sucked in, incomparable with the Seoul Forest but less than the mana room. However, just being able to get that much was a big hit.
The prediction was correct.
Dukesan was the place Kang Min-hyuk was looking for.
* * *
Fighting fiercely with numerous wizards, Kang Min-hyuk knew what goals he should pursue in reality. He needed to reach the fifth circle. That was the starting point of true magic, such as Blink, engraving, memorize, etc.
As he learned later, it wasn’t simply because of the circle’s correlation that the Wizards of Circle five and above could perform fast casting. All of the magical feats that Kang Min-hyuk struggled with originated from the foundation of Memorize.
In a book related to auto casting he’d read before, memorize had been mentioned.
[Auto casting is a form of recording the magic system in mana. It is a modified form of Memorize magic. If you use the same magic repeatedly by distributing mana in a certain form, the magic is automatically displayed when you use that type of mana.]
Memorize did not skip casting. As an advanced form of auto casting, it referred to a form that helped to quickly complete a specific magical system that had been remembered in advance. So, it was Memorize that made it possible for mediocre wizards to double-cast. With the help of Memorize, both sides could be cast at the same time.
Memorize and engraving magic made the fifth circle strong. Unfortunately, memorize consumed excessive mana, but the fifth circle certainly opened up new possibilities.
Kang Min-hyuk set goals for himself. He would make the fifth circle his priority.
He finished installing the mana room. He was experimenting with the magic trap technique in case of unpredictable events. The output of the fifth stage produced a strong suction power and attracted the power of Myeongdang.
The pressure was immense.
The effect of the mana room used in Myeongdang was incomparable to the one at home. Previously, if the amount of mana was five, it had at least doubled. Kang Min-hyuk stabilized his breathing within the enormous wave of mana. Then, while slowly operating the moonlight, he guided the power of mana safely to the circle.
However, the system of Wolha Simbeop was different from before. The Moon Hae-beom came from the Suhomuns. It wasn’t a circle; it was a training method for Danjeon. Sim law was not universal.
Depending on the source, its efficacy was divided, and Kang Min-hyuk thought that the power of the Moon Hae-beop was not engineered for magic. Many wizards had helpful techniques to combat the issue. Among them was Dominic Green, who returned to Kang Min-hyuk, saying he had his own mana breathing method. That inspired Min-hyuk.
To progress as a wizard, he had to escape from Danjeon, the foundation of the Moon Hasimbeop.
During the half-year as Klinssman, he renovated the Moon Hasim method. He wasn’t sure if it was an advanced form, but it was at least a circle-specific form.
Hwaak-!
The circle sucked up mana like crazy.
As if he would swallow up all the mana coming in, like a whale eating krill, he accepted all of it. The effect was excellent. Wolha Simbeop showed the same effect as seen in the Tower of Trials: a fast-rising circle. He felt dizzy. Although the bodily burden was severe due to excessive mana, Kang Min-hyuk’s healthy body and mind could endure the training until the end.
Ugh.
Mana decreased.
Kang Min-hyuk’s expression, gasping for breath, was bright.
“It worked…!”
He opened a path based on numerous experiences, and Kang Min-hyuk eventually found a new path for himself to develop. But not yet. There was something he wanted to experiment with.
A month before, Elisha had visited Kang Min-hyuk.
* * *
Elisha couldn’t control her excitement. With a hot face, she hugged Kang Min-hyuk.
“Thank you so much! I, I finally succeeded in the spirit contract Salamander has answered my call! I would never have achieved it without your help. You are my lifelong benefactor, and the magic of prominence will not forget your grace.”
Elisha explained how she signed a contract with the spirit and related to the know-how he could sign. So, Kang Min-hyuk was also planning to try a spirit contract. The necessary conditions were in place, and he finally found a dungeon where the spirit world was connected with the gold sangcheomhwa (錦上添花).
There was a relationship between Myeongdang and the spirit world.
It was time to try the spirit contract. If he were successful, he’d set the stage for a leap forward.
Kang Min-hyuk used the spirit contract system Klinssman had shown him, and mana rose strongly in the circle of flames. His consciousness linked, and his spiritual-self reached the dimension where spirits roam, untethered.