1st Circle (1)

The boy named Kay reluctantly replied.

“I think Edward… was angry with what you said… that…”

“What did I say to Edward?”

“That… the knife-handler… it’s broken….”

“Ah!”

It was then that Merlin realised the word he had uttered just before he fainted.

Remembering that made the back of his head throb again.

‘You bastard Edward.’

Edward was bullying him and Kay.

The lump on the back of his head was also his work.

“It’s still complicated in my head, but everyone who doesn’t say much is fucking stupid.”

“Uh···?”

Kay’s eyes widened in surprise at Merlin’s reaction, which would normally have shuddered greatly at Edward’s name.

However, there was an accident that cluttered Merlin’s head by a bastard named Edward.

“Alright, Kay.”

“Yes?”

“I wonder which building was the magic academy? I can’t remember because I hurt my head right now.”

“What… Academy?”

“Magic.”

At Merlin’s question, Kay tilted his head.

And his response in return was beyond Merlin’s imagination.

“What is that?”

“···What?”

“What is magic?’

“·········?!”

At this point, Merlin was even more embarrassed.

He asked with a look of disbelief in him.

“Hey, you don’t know magic?”

“Yeah, I heard it for the first time.”

Kei’s expression was very innocent.

It’s as if he doesn’t really know magic.

Merlin poured his words out like rapid-fire cannons.

“You don’t know magic! The best study that explores the truth through mana?! Does it make sense to not know that?”

“Uh huh… I don’t know?”

“Oh, it can’t be! You’re stupid and you don’t know!”

“But I… I’m 15th in the theory test…”

“R····ogue.”

Merlin’s face hardened as he looked at Kay, who grew pale at the sound of stupidity.

‘It can’t be… it can’t be…’

He denied in his mind, but a slight uneasiness rose from one side of his chest.

Then Merlin asked with a hardened complexion on his face.

“Library···.”

“Huh?”

“Where is the library? No, take me to the library. I hurt my head right now, so I can’t think well.”

“Ah Okay.”

At Merlin’s urging, Kay hurriedly left the room to the library. 

‘It can’t be that…’

As he followed Kay, Merlin’s head continued to deny this matter.

As if to erase his own anxiety, he kept denying this.

        ***********

“Ah···.”

An exclamation of disappointment erupted over the books piled up on his desk.

“No—–.”

There was a despair in Merlin’s eyes.

“No…”

It’s been five hours since he’s been to the library.

Kay, who had brought him to the library, had been sleeping on the desk for three hours before.

In the meantime, Merlin went through many kinds of histories.

However, there were no detailed records of magic anywhere.

There is only a brief explanation, ‘There was such a thing in the past.’

” Such nonsense—.”

In fact, he knew it vaguely.

This is because the knowledge he knew while reading the book came to mind in a chain.

That made him even more unbelievable.

“So magic has disappeared…..”

Mana Hearts and Mana Circles.

It was a representative skill to deal with mana and those who felt mana could choose one of the two paths.

But now the only thing left in the world was the technology to create mana hearts.

“A thousand years… a thousand years…had passed….”

After rummaging through numerous historical books, he was able to realise that a thousand years had passed since he entered the 10th circle.

And for a thousand years, the world has changed.

“Anyway, how can they forget magic?”

Although he denied it. Merlin, who has looked through the history books, was able to analyse the reason why magic has disappeared. 

“Science and Awakening.”

Science has grown remarkably over the past thousand years.

Even ordinary people without mana can generate electricity and carry powerful weapons.

And awakening.

The awakening ability, which was created a thousand years ago, took root only when mana hearts were created.

Not a single person who made Mana Heart had an awakening period without exception.

The era when wizards studied to lose their hair and shoot magic arrows.

In such an era, the knights who used to sharpen their swords suddenly scattered telekinetic powers and spewed fire from their hands.

There were even flying knights.

A shortcut to gaining strength faster than others and becoming more powerful is open to mana heart.

Because of this, many people must have abandoned the path of a wizard and turned away from the path of magic.

As the years continued, the seeds of the wizards, which had gradually dwindled, had dried up.

So magic disappeared, but mankind reached its greatest prosperity.

“It’s the age of prosperity..… hahaha.”

Merlin couldn’t help but laugh.

In the end, magic was forgotten and disappeared…

A world where only mana hearts and knights remain.

In the present, it was as if he was denying his past, which had been devoted to magic all his life.

Woong-

As Merlin focused his consciousness, he could feel the mana heart in his dantian.

In addition, Merlin’s ‘A-class regenerative power’ during his awakening, responded within it.

“…you are laughing.”

Merlin scoffed.

“What is this?”

He could never comprehend the present day.

In his view, the awakening period was nothing more than a poorly stacked wooden block.

That made him even more angry.

“Are they forgetting magic just because of something like this?”

The feeling of being denied for the rest of his life due to a shortcut that was not even funny made him feel a smug disgrace.

“If they have forgotten… I will make them remember it again and never allow them to forget it again.”

He was once called a pioneer and revolutionary of magic, a wizard who created a splendid era of magic.

The original 9th ​​Circle Archmage Merlin clenched his teeth and vowed.

I will once again let the world know the greatness of magic.

Also–

‘Once again, I’ll go up to the 10th circle and beat that swordsman in the face!’

He also has a goal, that is to reach the 10th circle. 

Merlin clenched his fists tightly.

“Churup- what did you say?”

Kay woke up and asked, wiping the saliva from his lips.

Merlin said while looking straight into the guy’s hazy eyes.

“Let’s go back first.”

“Huh? Where are you going? Well, it’s time to close the library soon.”

“I have a place to go.”

“Uh, where?”

“Private training room.”

“Hey, at this hour?”

Merlin’s eyes gleamed as he answered.

“I have work to do.”

Considering his age and consolidating the mana heart, it seems like the present Merlin had some decent talent.

However, that only applies to the young Merlin, who dreams of becoming a knight

To the current Merlin, Mana Heart was as uncomfortable as wearing clothes that didn’t fit.

All he needed now was to get rid of these uncomfortable clothes and put his own clothes back.

Pounding—

As the fluttering excitement stimulated his heart, his gleeful mood improved a little.

     **********

Genesis Knights Academy.

It was one of the five prestigious academies in the Empire and the name of the academy where Merlin currently attends.

As it is a prestigious academy, the tuition fee of the academy was so high that ordinary people could not afford it.

It was because of the special system that Merlin was able to attend such a prestigious academy.

Special scholarship system for common people.

It was a meaningful system in which some of the talented commoners were given full scholarships and educated them so that they could become equal in the empire.

The best opportunity for commoners who have talent but cannot afford it, at a young age.

However, the system’s screening criteria were not particularly strict and commoners who passed this screening appeared at least once every few years.

And the special scholarship student who appeared at the Genesis Academy after 5 years was Merlin.

“Whoa…”

Looking at the private training room that was boasted by his classmates as having good facilities, Merlin quietly contemplated the interior.

Woong—

A mana heart the size of a fist and a heterogeneous energy created in his Dantian.

It’s where Merlin’s awakening power was.

‘It’s class A regenerative power…’

From F to A and further to S.

In the grades of the awakening phase, which are divided into stages, Grade A was truly a blessing given to those who were born with good fortune.

Also, this power’s credit made Merlin eligible for his special admissions scholarship.

Merlin was about to forsake such a blessing.

“To me, this is not a blessing, but a curse.”

Except for a very few that appear as mutants, there is no one who possesses mana heart and mana circle at the same time.

Merlin tried to create a mana circle out of fear, but the mana he had collected gathered enough mana hearts.

He meant that even in this life, he could only choose a mana circle between a mana circle and a mana heart.

‘If it’s incompatible, it’s best to choose what I’m good at.’

The current Merlin made Mana Heart around the age of ten.

It’s only been 7 years now.

On the other hand, the length of time Merlin in his previous life dealt with the mana circle was a long time that could not even be counted.

It was not even worth thinking about which to choose between the two.

“Good. I will just choose mana circle.”

Merlin, who muttered a little, picked up the dagger that had been set aside.

     *********

Whoops whoops—

Merlin took a deep breath and took the dagger in reverse.

The place where his blade headed was near his dantian.

“Whoa…”

Taking a long breath, he put mana into the dagger.

The dagger that contained mana was trembling slightly with a blue light.

Jiing–

The fastest and simplest way to break the stacked mana hearts and spread mana was to have a direct impact on mana hearts with mana.

What Merlin was trying to do was a knight’s most taboo thing. 

————End of this chapter.