Mana Manipulation Magic - 57
"Well, yeah. I heard him incant it with how loud he was saying the magic, and also..."
He casually looked at Juro.
"I'm just that much of a prodigy."
Juro's eye twitched.
"(ꐦ¬`‸´¬) Haha..."
But then his expression softened into a smile.
"Both of you are."
..
Earlier, back with Marc, the brute stood in his path, blocking the way forward.
Marc poured mana into his legs and fist before lunging toward him. The man quickly noticed the attack and raised his metal club, blocking Marc's punch.
CLANG!
A metallic echo rang out.
"Hah, you won't be able to make a dent in this club, kid. This thing is properly reinforced to take hits... and to hit."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man raised the club high and brought it crashing down toward Marc. Marc quickly dodged to the side, but he hadn't noticed the man's other hand waiting for him.
The punch came straight into his side.
Marc stumbled several steps away, immediately clutching the spot as pain shot through him. He groaned, but instead of getting angry, a pained laugh escaped him.
"Hahaha... ow..."
"Is this fun for you, kid?" the man asked.
At the same time, he glanced down at the fist he had used to punch Marc. He had felt it.
The moment his punch landed, mana had suddenly appeared around Marc's right side. It had only happened for an instant, but it was enough to lessen the impact of the blow.
The man's eyes narrowed.
"That was instinct?"
Despite himself, he was impressed.
"Yeah... it is," Marc replied, still holding his side. "I'm learning a lot."
He slowly took a few deep breaths, recovering as much as he could. Then a proud smile appeared on his face.
"ZEN!"
The moment the word left his mouth, a huge surge of mana burst from his body.
Mana began pouring out and engulfing his eyes and hands.
The crowd felt it.
Even the adventurers watching from nearby could sense the sheer amount of mana pouring from Marc's body. It was an uncontrolled surge, bursting from his eyes and hands in such overwhelming amounts that many of them couldn't help but stare.
Some felt envy.
Jealousy.
Even anger that some kid possessed that much mana.
Others, however, watched with interest. Some acknowledged his potential, while others were already thinking of him as someone who could become a strong rival in the future.
Either way, Marc's reputation continued to grow.
The amount of mana was frightening for someone his age. Even the man standing in front of him flinched slightly as he felt it.
"This kid... His mana is absurdly high?! Even higher than our mage... This is going to be troublesome if he helps and interferes with our leader. I have to take him down now."
The man tightened his grip around his club.
This time, he stopped underestimating Marc.
He braced himself.
Meanwhile, as Marc entered his ZEN form, his body began to feel lighter. The stinging pain in his stomach and side slowly faded away.
Marc looked down at his own hands, opening and closing them as he adjusted to the feeling. Then he smiled and raised his eyes toward the man standing in front of him.
His vision was clearer than ever.
And because of that clarity, Marc could see something he hadn't noticed before.
Mana was flowing through the man's metal club, reinforcing it from within and supporting its strength.
And then, in an instant, Marc moved.
He closed the distance so quickly that even the man was caught off guard by his speed. Still, the brute didn't waver. He immediately swung his club toward Marc, but Marc quickly ducked beneath the attack and prepared to punch upward.
The man sensed the danger.
Without hesitation, he changed his movement and swung the club downward instead.
Marc only smiled.
The adrenaline rushing through his body made his heart pound with excitement as he quickly backed away to the side, narrowly avoiding the club as it came down. The moment he moved out of its range, Marc straightened himself and immediately stepped back in.
His fist drove into the man's side.
"Urgh!"
The brute groaned in pain and anger, swinging his club sideways in retaliation. Marc quickly dodged again, slipping away from the attack before the club could reach him.
The punch hadn't been strong enough to take the man down, but it had still done damage. He held his side as his breathing grew heavier.
"Huff... I'm not good at dealing with people who are this fast. Only Boss could've handled him... Still, there's gotta be a way... Maybe I could try this plan..."
The man suddenly raised his voice.
"Hey, kid! Why don't ya stop running around and hit me with magic instead?"
He lowered his club and planted it against the ground, holding onto its handle.
"Show me what ya got."
Marc's eyes widened in surprise.
He hadn't expected an enemy to suggest something like that.
But rather than becoming suspicious, Marc's expression quickly turned excited.
"Sure!"
He eagerly moved into position in front of the man.
The brute watched him confidently.
"Hah... he's still just a kid after all. Now I just need to block whatever attack he casts and wear him out. I'm pretty confident in this weapon of mine."
Marc raised one of his hands toward him.
"I wonder what kind of magic this kid is gonna chant. He probably doesn't know as much magic as our mage, even if he has more mana than him."
The man carefully watched as Marc kept his hand raised.
Then suddenly, a powerful surge of mana began gathering around Marc's palm.
The mana started forming into the shape of a ball.
More and more mana poured into it.
But instead of growing larger, the ball remained the same size.
Its concentration increased.
The man's expression changed.
The mana ball slowly began transforming.
Its surface hardened.
And then, it became solid rock.
The man's eyes widened.
In that instant, the rock burst from Marc's hand and shot straight toward him.
"What?!"
The brute quickly raised his club and blocked.
BANG!
A loud impact echoed through the area as the ball of rock slammed against the metal club with tremendous speed and force before dispersing.
The man had successfully blocked the attack.
But his hand began shaking.
The vibration from the impact traveled through the club and into his arm, leaving his grip trembling.
"Did he just..."
The man stared at Marc in shock.
"That kid... he just used mana manipulation magic instead of regular magic."
..
On the continent of Demanas, there were three foundations of power: magic, mana magic or mana manipulation magic, and lastly, spells.
Magic was the most commonly used among the three. It was easier to use and consumed less mana, making it more practical for most people.
Mana manipulation magic, on the other hand, wasn't necessarily rare. In fact, anyone could technically use it.
But at the same time, not everyone could truly use it effectively.
Mana manipulation magic required far more mana to take the shape of something, recreate the texture of that thing, and produce the same effects it would normally have. Because of how much mana it consumed, it became commonly known that anyone who recklessly used mana manipulation magic was simply a fool wasting their mana far too quickly.
But at that moment, the man, the crowd, and the adventurers watching the match all knew that Marc was different.
His ability to use mana manipulation magic while still releasing such an overwhelming amount of mana was something worth noticing. Even some of the higher-ranked adventurers watching him began looking at Marc with strong acknowledgment.
..
The man looked down at his shaking hand and clenched it, trying to calm the trembling.
Then he felt it again.
A strong surge of mana began gathering.
He quickly turned his attention forward.
Another ball of rock was already flying toward him.
"Again?!"
He raised his club and blocked it.
BANG!
The impact shook his arm, causing his hand to tremble once more as the rock dispersed against the metal.
Meanwhile, Marc simply smiled.
He was getting the chance to test a few things.
This time, instead of forming another ball of rock, he began gathering mana in the air around his hand. The mana slowly took the shape of a crescent.
Then it transformed.
The mana took the form of a powerful, pressured wind.
Marc launched it forward.
The man quickly raised his club again and began blocking the incoming wind slashes. However, as the attacks struck the weapon, small chips and pieces of metal began breaking away from its surface.
The brute's expression changed.
"This is getting dangerous."
Instead of waiting for another attack, he tightened his grip around the club and charged toward Marc.
Marc immediately noticed him moving.
But instead of backing away, he only smiled.
More mana surged from his palm.
The mana quickly took the form of a powerful, heavy wind.
The force hit the man head-on.
Despite standing around 178 centimeters tall, weighing roughly 276 pounds, and wearing armor around his shoulders, he was immediately stopped by the force of the wind pushing against him.
But the man refused to give up.
He raised his club in front of himself and slowly forced his way forward.
Meanwhile, Marc continued experimenting.
As he released mana, he noticed something.
The mana was scattering everywhere.
"Hmm..."
While his hand continued releasing the wind, Marc quietly focused. He began trying to control the mana into a smaller and tighter area.
His eyes focused on the man's club.
That became his target.
Marc slowly began guiding the mana toward that single point.
Tighter.
And tighter.
As more of the mana concentrated in one direction instead of scattering everywhere, the effect of the wind began growing stronger.
Marc's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh..."
Before he even realized it, the mana had become concentrated into a single point.
The wind around the man suddenly began to weaken.
The brute noticed it immediately.
"The wind's getting weaker?"
But then the force against his club suddenly increased.
WHAM!
The pressure became so powerful that the club was violently pushed backward and struck him in the face.
"Ugh!"
The man quickly moved to the side, escaping the concentrated force. He was about to charge toward Marc again when Marc suddenly moved his hand.
The wind disappeared.
Fire appeared instead.
Mana surged from Marc's palm before transforming into a powerful, concentrated stream of flames.
A heavily pressured point of fire burst straight toward the man.