Chapter 18
Eldarin stood before the cave wall illuminated by Fulgor.
At some point, Amber had prepared a mat and tea across from her.
"Ahem."
Eldarin cleared her throat.
Then her basic introduction to magical theory began.
"In the beginning, there was mana."
"A mysterious force and energy that existed before all life. Mana created both the world and us."
She snapped her fingers.
Snap!
Fwoooosh.
A familiar symbol appeared on the cave wall.
The five elemental mana symbols connected into a pentacle inside a circle.
Eldarin continued in her mysterious, captivating voice.
"As you already know, mana is divided into five elements."
"Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water."
"These five elemental manas affect one another and maintain the balance of the world."
"When the five remain in balance, the world itself can grow in stability."
Eldarin snapped her fingers again.
Snap!
This time, the five elemental symbols began changing into the shapes of continents.
Kaian recognized their shapes and positions.
"We do not know exactly when it happened, but each of the five elemental manas eventually formed a continent of its own."
"That was the beginning of the world we live in today, Mana Gaia."
The continents took shape according to Eldarin's explanation.
Fwoooosh!
It became the world map Kaian had often seen in children's books.
"Whoa..."
His eyes sparkled.
He had never experienced storytelling this vivid before.
"Mana Gaia remained peaceful for a long time."
"There was the Primordial Age, filled with Ancient Races, Titans, elves, and spirits."
"Then came the pre-Magical Civilization era, when humans and beastkin combined their wisdom and built a thriving civilization."
The pre-Magical Civilization era had recently become familiar to Kaian.
If I hadn't used the wisdom left by those people, I would've never found Flame Veil.
They really were amazing.
But other than its name, he knew almost nothing about the Primordial Age.
Very few records remained from that era.
It was a time hidden behind a veil.
Yet Eldarin spoke as though she had personally lived through it.
"Until then, the world overflowed with prosperity."
"It almost seemed to be in a hurry to keep growing."
Her eyes became distant.
"It was truly... a good age."
Eldarin's expression filled with longing and sadness, like someone remembering a home she could never return to.
"But..."
A short silence followed.
An unknown tension spread through the cavern.
Kaian swallowed.
Eldarin's expression became unusually dark.
"...Living beings always create unexpected variables."
"Eventually, magic was discovered."
She paused.
"No. If I say it like that, too much of my own opinion is entering the explanation."
Eldarin carefully chose her words.
"Mana allowed living beings to use its power."
She slowly nodded.
"Yes. That would be more accurate."
"Mana chose them."
For a moment, Eldarin looked more bitter than Kaian had ever seen her.
But soon, her face returned to its usual calm expression.
"Mana is an invisible force, but it is also something that responds and resonates."
"It exists throughout nature."
Thanks to everything he had experienced recently, Kaian understood fairly well.
"Like how the healing effect of the Golden Plains comes from earth mana?"
"Correct."
"The healing power of the earth spirits also comes from earth mana."
Kaian's eyes brightened.
"Piggy was much stronger than the Obsidian Boar described in my book."
"That was because he absorbed a lot of fire mana too, right?"
"Yes."
Eldarin looked pleased.
"Exactly. Very well noticed."
When he had answered her question about the volcanic region by describing scenery like a children's story, Eldarin had wondered what she would do with him.
Apparently, he had learned something after all.
"We mages also absorb the power of mana, just like the Obsidian Boar."
"We call that process materializing mana inside the inner world."
"Materializing...?"
It was a difficult word Kaian had never heard before.
Seeing him wrinkle his nose, Eldarin nodded in understanding.
Then she snapped her fingers again.
Snap!
Two circles appeared in the air.
A smaller circle sat inside a larger one, making the whole thing look like a donut.
"This is the basic structure of the inner world."
"Simple, isn't it?"
On the large outer circle, Eldarin wrote:
[Outer Region]
On the smaller inner circle:
[Core Area]
"The inner world is broadly divided into the Outer Region and the Core Area."
"When a mage first enters their inner world, the Outer Region is what they see."
"The Outer Region is influenced by everything the mage has seen, heard, and felt."
"For one person, it may look like an ocean."
"For another, a desert."
"And of course, someone may have both."
Kaian's eyes sparkled brighter than ever.
That meant there might be an ocean or desert somewhere inside his own body.
Eldarin seemed to read the thought directly from his face.
"Have you ever seen the ocean?"
"Only in children's books..."
"Then there probably isn't an ocean in your Outer Region."
Kaian's excitement shattered.
"Why?! I've never seen one, so I wanted to at least see one inside my inner world!"
"Something a mage has never personally seen or experienced will almost never appear in the Outer Region."
Eldarin continued.
"That is why mages travel, read books, and appreciate art."
"It is also why humans sometimes delay the Awakening Ceremony until they have gathered enough experience."
"The wider a mage's experience of the world, the wider and richer their Outer Region becomes."
Only then did Kaian understand why his second brother, who awakened mana at twelve, had waited until fifteen to undergo the official Awakening Ceremony.
His brother had not immediately begun learning magic.
Instead, following their father's belief that he should first experience the world himself, he had left home at thirteen.
He traveled for nearly two years.
He had only applied for the Awakening Ceremony shortly before entering the Academy.
The Awakening Ceremony itself had nothing to do with the actual moment someone's mana awakened.
It was essentially an administrative procedure.
When someone applied, the nearest government office measured their mana.
Then they issued an identification card containing that person's mana tier.
"Imperial mages travel beforehand because they want the highest possible initial mana tier."
Eldarin continued,
"They believe that once a mana tier is officially determined, it rarely changes afterward."
Kaian began thinking about everything he had seen during his eight years of life.
His face quickly became serious.
"Eldarin."
"Maybe my Outer Region is just full of fields."
"Sweet potato fields. Pumpkin fields..."
"If I'm lucky, maybe the volcanic region is there too."
He sighed.
"This is miserable."
Eldarin clapped her hands to regain his attention.
Clap! Clap!
"Stop worrying about pointless things and focus on the lesson."
She underlined [Core Area] several times.
Then she even drew a star beside it.
"More important than the Outer Region is the Core Area."
"It is the most stable and sacred place inside the inner world."
"This is where a mage stores mana."
"And this..."
Snap!
"...is the process from storing mana to casting magic."
[Natural Mana → Inner World (Outer Region + Core Area) → Magic]
Pointing at the words floating in the air, Eldarin explained slowly.
"Natural mana is invisible energy."
"It has no fixed form."
"But when you bring it into your inner world, it gains a form unique to you."
"The power used during this process is called Primary Mana."
"We also call the process Materialization."
Snap!
The word [Materialization] appeared over the first arrow.
"The mana materialized using Primary Mana becomes a magical substance."
