IMBS 10

Chapter – 10

Firanceva was sitting alone in the private training hall of Marquis Eastern, which she had borrowed in order to create a mana hole.

Strange symbols were drawn on the floor where she sat — a magic circle. In several places on the circle lay stones gleaming blue; they were called mana stones.

Mana stones were stones infused with mana, emitting a blue glow. They were precious and extremely expensive materials.

Firanceva wanted to create a mana hole under the best possible conditions by using magic to amplify the effect as much as possible, hoping that the mana would settle properly within her body.

“Phew…”

After taking a deep breath, Firanceva placed the mana stone in her hand down in front of herself.

As soon as she did, the mana of the stone seeped into the magic circle, activating it.

When the magic circle activated, mana began to gather around her, and Firancesva planned to use this gathered mana to create a mana hole inside her body.

‘I may not know this world’s knightly methods of mana cultivation, but I have the Heavenly Demon Arts (Cheonmagong) I obtained in Freedom, as well as all the vast knowledge I experienced in my previous world.’

She believed that since the world of Freedom perfectly aligned with this world, the Frances Continent, the knowledge she learned, practiced, and experienced in that game would also work here.

Sitting on the magic circle, Firanceva closed her eyes and slowly regulated her breath as she sensed the gathering mana — inhaling and exhaling to control it.

‘Through inhalation, I draw in mana, then slowly move it to the desired location.’

Even if the worlds matched perfectly, nothing could be mastered on the first attempt. At first, the mana refused to move as she wished, but by trusting herself and the mana, and by persevering, the mana finally responded to her will.

‘While mana moves toward the lower abdomen, it purifies the body, and the turbid energy that is filtered out is expelled through exhalation.’

In this way, Firanceva gradually prepared her body for the creation of a mana hole.

As time passed, more and more mana gathered into the magic circle, and likewise, the amount of mana she accumulated with each breath greatly increased.

To create a mana hole, Firanceva recalled the internal cultivation method contained within the Heavenly Demon Arts she had obtained in the ancient demonic dungeon.

‘I’ve already confirmed that I can use the martial arts recorded in the Heavenly Demon Arts.’

Recalling its internal cultivation technique, she controlled mana through her breath.

‘The Heavenly Demon Arts emphasized first opening the blocked mana roads — the meridians — to allow qi to flow smoothly. In Eastern medicine, there are the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and opening them allows qi to circulate properly throughout the body, ensuring long life and good health.’

Firanceva mobilized all of her knowledge.

Through her will, she moved mana throughout her body. The mana ran through her meridians, clearing blockages as it traveled.

Because she was young, her meridians were not heavily clogged with impurities, making it easy to unblock them.

Though everything was going smoothly, she never rushed.

She verified her memories multiple times before acting, and mana followed her intent faithfully.

‘The techniques I learned in Freedom work here. That must be why the magic I learned hasn’t disappeared, but remains sealed. If I create a mana circle later, the seal should break, and as my level and circle increase, I’ll regain all the spells I used in Freedom.’

If so, she wouldn’t need to learn magic separately at all.

‘If my theory is correct, then simply creating a mana hole and forming a mana circle within it will allow me to use magic immediately.’

Firanceva calmly observed her body as if from the outside, closely monitoring the movement of mana.

‘If I want to use magic and the Heavenly Demon Arts at the same time, I’ll need something to act as a junction connecting the mana road of magic and the meridian pathways of the Heavenly Demon Arts. Like a transfer node connecting two expressways — a transfer station.’

Guiding the mana, she opened blocked meridians, expanded them, and moved mana to form a mana hole.

‘It’s possible.’

After unknown time passed, a change took place in Firanceva’s body.

A faint glow emerged from her body, resonating with the mana gathering from outside.

Then, the mana she accumulated through breathing began to be absorbed directly through her skin.

Firanceva did not seem aware of these changes, maintaining her calm expression as she continued her breathing.

The glow from her body intensified, and cracking sounds began to come from her body.

Crack… Crrrk… Pop… Pop…

These sounds came from bones twisting — a process of bodily reconstruction to enable more efficient use of mana.

Crackkk—

The reconstruction continued endlessly.

It lasted far longer than it did for other knights. This was because Firanceva was circulating the internal method of the Heavenly Demon Arts.

To achieve a more complete reconstruction, the mana was fully remaking the young Firanceva’s body.

Had she been an adult, such effects would have been impossible — but because she was only just beginning to grow, it was achievable.

As her body changed, the mana naturally settled in place to form the mana hole — in the lower abdomen, slightly below the navel, exactly where Firanceva had always envisioned it.

Unaware of the transformation happening, Firanceva remained serene.

As her body finished reconstructing, the mana traversing her body gathered into the mana hole.

A mana hole was, in a sense, the heart of mana.

Just as blood is created in the heart, circulates through veins and organs, and returns to the heart — so too does mana circulate from the mana hole, through its roads, and back again.

Even in her unconscious state, Firanceva had arranged her thoughts so that her body would execute them instinctively, and mana followed her will.

As the mana circulated according to her intentions, it seemed to grow uncomfortable, as if confined, and began creating new mana roads.

“Ugh!”

The pain caused Firanceva to let out a faint groan, but she still kept her eyes closed.

In a way, this was a tremendous blessing. Mana wasn’t being controlled by her — it was moving autonomously, creating optimal mana roads. And in doing so, it widened the meridians and strengthened them, drastically increasing her physical durability.

—Mana must not be controlled by force, but trusted and entrusted. If you trust mana completely, it will find its own ideal path and reward your belief.

This was the phrase most commonly taught to mages — yet also the most difficult to follow.

Even mages lacked faith in mana, which led them to try and control it directly.

But Firanceva was in a trance, in a state of complete selflessness, and so entrusted everything to mana.

Mana read her memories and created the mana hole and roads she desired, rewarding her faith.

If it found a route uncomfortable, it changed course and made a new, ideal path.

The mana circulated through her body, then returned to the mana hole. The impurities were expelled from her skin. Fresh mana was then absorbed through her skin, circulated again, and returned to the mana hole.

Thus, Firanceva’s body gradually transformed through reconstruction.

“Ugh!”

Another groan escaped her, and she awoke from her trance, sensing the mana flowing through her body. She quietly observed it.

Recalling the internal method of the Heavenly Demon Arts, she thought of its flow, and the mana immediately followed the recorded sequence.

It circulated once around the major mana road — completing the Small Heavenly Cycle (Iljucheon) — then through specific meridians — the Micro Heavenly Cycle (Sojucheon) — and finally circulated through all the body’s meridians — the Great Heavenly Cycle (Daejucheon) — before returning to the mana hole.

“Fuu…”

She slowly exhaled, calming her emotions.

This proved beyond doubt that her theory had been correct.

Then—

—A mana hole has formed in your body.

—You may now freely use the mana stored in the mana hole.

—Your physical abilities have greatly increased due to the mana hole.

—Sealed abilities have been released due to the mana hole. Please check your status window.

Surprised by the sudden notification-like message appearing before her eyes, Firanceva quickly recalled that she could view her status window, making it less strange after all.

“Status window!”

Name: Firanceva Ilya
Race: Human
Class: Archmage (Sealed) — 0.01%
Level: 1/500 — 0.01%

Stats (Growth System Applied):

Firanceva reviewed her physical changes.

“Hmm…”

Having already experienced this once on Earth, in what was technically her previous life, she was not greatly surprised at her drastic increase in physical ability.

“With stats like these, I should be able to hunt an Orc.”

In games, Orcs were treated as weak monsters, but in reality, they were vicious and brutal — not something even trained soldiers or mercenaries could easily handle alone.

Firanceva’s expectations were based on the game Freedom, so they would not necessarily be entirely accurate — but even so, her physical ability now far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers without mana. Combined with swordsmanship and magic, she could indeed fight Orcs.

“If my theory is correct, then now that forming a mana hole released my level cap, forming a mana circle should also unseal my class.”

After another deep breath, she closed her eyes.

While the iron was hot, she had to strike — and having formed the mana hole, now it was time to form a mana circle within it.

“I can do this.”

Once again, with the aid of the magic circle, Firanceva entered meditation to form a mana circle.

* * *

How long she meditated was unknown. But since Marquis Eastern had not come to awaken her, it must not have exceeded three days.

Mana currents surged around Firanceva as she meditated, and mana surrounding her began to whirl.

The vortex was so powerful that it lifted her into the air despite her seated posture.

Even as her body floated, Firanceva’s expression remained tranquil, as if she was unaware of what was happening.

The mana hole in her abdomen reacted to the external mana, spinning the mana stored within.

The mana inside resisted as if trying to escape, rotating rapidly.

It spun so fast that its spherical form elongated, gradually changing shape.

It resembled a Möbius strip — or perhaps the symbol for Alpha.

It was the mana circle.

When the mana circle fully formed, it spun rapidly, absorbing all the mana from the mana hole.

“Ugh!”

For the first time, a faint cry of pain escaped Firanceva’s lips in her unconscious state.

As the mana circle absorbed external mana, the vortex of mana pulled the mana supporting her body in the air toward itself.

The swirling mana was then absorbed through her skin and instantly transported to the abdomen along the mana roads, supplying the rapidly spinning mana circle.

Wooooong…!

As it absorbed mana, the rotation quickened further, and with the force of centrifugal motion, the mana circle split in half — creating two circles spinning simultaneously as they continued to absorb mana.

Now with two mana circles devouring mana, the mana hole drew in even more, absorbing mana through every pore of Firanceva’s body.

During this process, her hair fell out, and her skin dried and cracked like a parched field in scorching heat — then peeled away like a snake shedding its skin.

Yet the transformation did not stop.

Not only her hair, but her fingernails and toenails all fell out, only to regrow and fall again, repeating several times.

During these repetitions, the two mana circles eventually merged back into one.

Wooooong!

Once merged, the rotation became even faster.

As the mana hole supplied more mana to the spinning circle, it split once more, forming two circles again.

With two circles once more, Firanceva instantly became a Second-Circle mage.

But the transformation did not end there.

From the mana hole containing the circles, bizarre tentacle-like strands extended to her heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and lungs — then further connected to her organs, spine, and throughout her body.

A completely new system — a mutated mana engine, mana roads, and a mana core unlike any ever seen — had been formed within Firanceva.

Wooooong!!

Yet still, the mana hole did not stop. Like a runaway engine, the hole and circles kept drawing in mana, spinning intensely as they continued to remodel Firanceva’s body.