Chapter 34: The First Spark

Zeldryn was truly starting to lose his patience. His frustration had been building throughout the entire encounter because no matter how much he thought, searched for a solution, or dug through every piece of knowledge he possessed, the result always seemed to be the same.

Nothing worked.

What made the situation even worse was that Kera hadn't slowed down in the slightest.

WHAM!

A kick suddenly struck Zeldryn from the side.

“GUAK!”

His body was sent flying before crashing onto the floor. Zeldryn barely had time to understand what had happened, much less determine where the next attack might come from. He still couldn't see Kera at all. Throughout the entire exchange, the only things revealing the man's presence had been his voice, followed by punches, kicks, and another insult whenever Kera felt like adding one.

“Get up,” Kera's voice said from somewhere inside the room.

Zeldryn gritted his teeth and tried to rise. He had barely lifted one knee from the floor when another impact struck his back.

THUD!

“KUGGH!”

Zeldryn collapsed again.

“So weak,” Kera commented.

Zeldryn clenched one hand into a fist and looked to the right, then immediately to the left. There was still no one there. All he could see was his room and the countless golden-yellow mana particles drifting through the air.

“Even after all this time, you still haven't figured out how I'm hiding myself?” Kera asked.

Zeldryn immediately turned toward the direction of his voice, but once again, there was nothing there.

“Tch. You're still relying on your ears.”

WHAM!

Another kick struck Zeldryn's side and sent him tumbling across the floor.

“BASTARD!”

Kera was beginning to get tired of watching him. Nearly twenty minutes had already passed, and throughout that time Zeldryn had been punched, kicked, knocked down, and forced to stand back up repeatedly.

Yet there had been almost no progress.

Zeldryn still couldn't locate him, and worse, he hadn't even managed to release the mana already stored inside his own body.

“It's been almost twenty minutes, brat,” Kera finally said. “I'm starting to get bored.”

Zeldryn breathed heavily while trying to guess Kera's position from his voice.

“Over here?” Kera called.

Zeldryn immediately turned.

“No.”

The voice suddenly came from the opposite direction, forcing Zeldryn to spin around again.

“Heh. If all you do is chase my voice, you won't be able to touch me even by tomorrow.”

Zeldryn's irritation deepened.

'Bastard.'

“Are you cursing me in your head?”

Zeldryn immediately went silent.

“No need to answer. It's written all over your face.”

Kera clicked his tongue.

“Tch. How long are you going to take, damn it?”

Zeldryn forced himself to stand again while Kera continued speaking from somewhere inside the room.

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“I'm getting tired of doing this over and over. At this rate, I really might kill you.”

Zeldryn steadied his breathing and tried not to react.

“Use the mana inside your Mana Hole,” Kera said. “Then direct it toward your eyes.”

Zeldryn remained silent.

“Your eyes, stupid brat. Not your legs, not your hands. Your eyes.”

Zeldryn gritted his teeth.

'I know, damn it.'

He understood perfectly well what Kera wanted him to do. The problem was that he had no idea how to do it.

'How the hell am I supposed to move the mana?'

Zeldryn had already tried everything that seemed obvious. He had touched mana particles, only for his hand to pass straight through them. He had blown on them, slapped at them, and even tried to catch them, but none of those attempts had produced the slightest reaction.

Now this invisible lunatic was casually telling him to use the mana and direct it toward his eyes as though moving mana were no more difficult than lifting an arm.

“What are you thinking about now?” Kera asked.

Zeldryn didn't answer.

“How to move mana?”

He flinched slightly.

Kera chuckled. “It's painfully obvious from your face.”

Zeldryn became even more irritated.

“If I tell you everything, then what do you need a brain for?” Kera continued. “Figure it out yourself. You can already see mana, you have a Mana Hole, and there is already mana inside your body. So use it.”

Zeldryn almost wanted to scream.

'That's the problem. How?!'

He wasn't originally from this world. Zeldryn hadn't grown up surrounded by mana, hadn't learned how to use it as a child, and hadn't been taught anything about Mana Holes. Until only a few days ago, everything related to mana had been nothing more than something Reka read about in fiction.

'I'm a human from the modern world, damn it.'

Zeldryn drew in a rough breath while his thoughts continued moving.

What did he usually do back then?

He read novels, played games, imagined stories, and spent plenty of time daydreaming. He certainly wasn't some genius capable of understanding a completely foreign power system through instinct alone.

Then one word made his thoughts stop.

'Daydreaming?'

Imagination.

Something suddenly crossed his mind. Countless novels contained characters who used supernatural abilities through imagination, whether by picturing a shape, visualizing movement, or clearly imagining the result they wanted to create.

Of course, those were only stories.

But Zeldryn was now living in a world where mana genuinely existed.

What harm was there in trying?

Besides, he was already too frustrated to care whether the idea sounded stupid.

'Screw it.'

Zeldryn immediately closed his eyes.

“Hm?” Kera's voice came almost at once.

Zeldryn ignored him.

“What now?”

He remained silent.

“Don't tell me you've given up and decided to sleep.”

Zeldryn still refused to answer. Instead, he focused his entire mind on the mana he knew had gathered inside his body.

He imagined it moving upward.

Slowly.

Toward his head.

Then toward both of his eyes.

'Move.'

Nothing happened.

'Toward my eyes.'

Still nothing.

Zeldryn tried again, forcing himself to visualize the mana flowing toward his eyes as clearly as possible. He repeated the attempt again and again as dozens of seconds passed, then nearly an entire minute.

“Still not done?” Kera asked.

Zeldryn continued concentrating.

“Brat.”

There was no answer.

Kera finally lost his patience.

“Then keep trying while dealing with this.”

WHAM!

A hard kick struck Zeldryn directly in the chest.

“GUAK!”

His concentration shattered instantly as his body flew backward. Zeldryn opened his eyes and clutched his chest while pain spread through it.

“Bastard...”

“Finally decided to speak,” Kera replied immediately.

Zeldryn gritted his teeth.

'What the hell was I expecting?'

Nothing had happened. The mana inside his body hadn't moved toward his eyes, Kera was still invisible, and absolutely nothing about the situation had changed.

Zeldryn opened his eyes wider and stared at the thousands of mana particles floating throughout the room. They continued moving according to their own patterns, passing near one another or even straight through each other without showing the slightest concern for what Zeldryn wanted.

“Failed?” Kera asked.

Zeldryn didn't answer.

“Heh. Your face already tells me everything.”

Zeldryn's annoyance only grew. He kept staring at the mana particles surrounding him.

'Why can't I move you either?'

He had already tried using imagination on the mana inside his body and failed. That naturally led him to wonder whether trying the same thing on external mana would produce any different result.

Zeldryn shifted his gaze toward the far end of the room, where two mana particles happened to be drifting relatively close together.

He stared at them.

There was no theory behind what he was about to attempt, and he had no genuine reason to expect anything to happen. At this point, he was simply frustrated enough to try whatever entered his mind.

'If I really can't move the mana inside my body...'

Zeldryn imagined the two particles changing direction and moving toward one another.

Closer.

Closer still.

'I hope you two just smash into each other, damn it.'

He continued staring at them.

'And explode while you're at it.'

There was almost no expectation behind the thought. Zeldryn was already anticipating Kera's next punch or kick, and after nearly twenty minutes of being treated like this, part of him was starting to get used to waiting for another wave of pain.

He slowly closed his eyes and tensed his body slightly in preparation.

Then something happened.

The two mana particles moved.

Only slightly at first.

Zeldryn didn't notice.

They drifted toward one another, closing the distance little by little until they finally collided.

BOOM!

A small explosion sounded from the far end of the room. It wasn't particularly loud, only about as strong as a firecracker going off indoors, but the unexpected sound immediately made Zeldryn open his eyes.

“...!?”

He froze.

Zeldryn wasn't the only one.

Somewhere inside the room, Kera, who had been watching him the entire time, suddenly fell silent as well.

“...Huh!?”