“Uh… uh.”
Deoric let out a faint groan and shook his head from side to side. Stray strands of hair brushed against his eyes in the hazy light.
Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, he opened his eyes wide and suddenly sat up in bed. Like a child with a new toy, he moved his body restlessly.
“Sir, I understand this is… pleasurable, but could you stop for a moment and check on my body instead?”
“…Pleasurable, huh.”
Deoric tried to deny the truth, clearing his throat awkwardly.
“Come over here and sit down.”
Deoric quickly composed himself despite feeling embarrassed. Calisia sat on the floor, her expression tinged with a hint of concern.
“It might feel a little uncomfortable.”
Deoric placed his hand on Calisia’s back.
“Ah, wait! Just a moment. Shouldn’t we… practice this at least once before doing it for real?”
Calisia turned her body slightly, her expression doubtful.
“You worry too much.”
Deoric snorted and, as if annoyed, pushed her shoulders forward.
“Are you sure we don’t need to practice?”
“If you speak or move while we pierce the mana circuits, you could be crippled.”
Deoric covered Calisia’s mouth and raised his own magical power. A massive flame that could consume everything—a sensation of exhilaration he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Don’t try to force it. Just relax your body and accept it.”
After giving his final advice, flames resembling the sunset appeared in Deoric’s hands. He carefully guided the power so that Calisia wouldn’t be startled.
“….”
Calisia let out a small gasp. The force coursing through her veins was immense, unlike any divine power.
It was like a torrential downpour on dry, barren land. The sensation of her entire body filling up was almost euphoric.
Calisia absorbed the magic of the former head of her family without hesitation. Soon, a heat began to rise around her.
Flare—
The moment the crimson flames of the Valus bloodline appeared in her eyes—
“…Ah!”
A moan escaped Calisia’s lips. The magic swirling through her body reached her heart, transforming into a sharp, searing pain.
“Ah… ah, ugh…”
She bit her teeth tightly. Her face twisted in pain as the sensation grew. The once-brilliant red of her eyes dulled and sank.
“You… ah, ugh…!”
Unable to bear the agony, Calisia collapsed forward. Her nails scraped against the floor as she struggled to breathe.
Tears streamed down her face, driven by the unbearable pain radiating from her chest.
“Ku… huh!”
Her back arched violently. Black blood gushed from between her red lips.
“Miss!”
“Calisia…!”
With the shocked faces of the two men as her last sight, she lost consciousness.
“Ugh… uh…”
Calisia groaned as she barely lifted her eyelids. Somehow, she was still alive. She had genuinely thought she was about to die a moment ago.
“What happened?”
She asked the three men silently staring at her.
“The moment we sent out your mana, you vomited blood and collapsed,” Ian spoke first. His expression showed displeasure in the cold wind.
“Why that face? Were you worried about me?”
“Did you know your heart was damaged beyond repair?”
Ian bit back his anger as he asked. With a heart like that, she couldn’t withstand even a fraction of magical power. The contract could not be executed.
“What are you talking about? It’s still beating fine.”
“Calisia Valus. Your heart can no longer accept mana. Have you ever experienced a mana overflow before?”
Deoric, who had been silently observing, joined the conversation. The scars on Calisia’s heart were typically seen only in battle mages—marks of attempting magic beyond one’s limits.
Mages in war had to push beyond their limits to survive, straining their bodies until their hearts were damaged.
That was why this was so perplexing. Calisia had barely understood magic.
“Overflow? I’ve never used magic before…”
She shook her head in disbelief, biting her lips. The ‘current me’ didn’t know magic, but perhaps the ‘former me’ did.
“….”
Calisia swallowed her fear. A foreboding feeling washed over her. Was this the unlucky year?
“Gapjin, Eulsa, Byeongo…”
She counted the years on her fingers, over and over. No matter how she calculated, the numbers didn’t add up.
“How can I be this unlucky when it’s not even a calamity year?”
Her face turned a dark earthy hue before snapping back to urgency.
“Wait a second! Does this mean I can’t awaken my abilities…?!”
She looked up desperately at the former head of the family, hoping it wasn’t true.
-Not unless you drink dragon’s blood.
But Deoric ignored her pleading gaze and struck a wedge of reality.
“What… blood…?”
A thunderclap.
“Who here has, or can obtain, dragon’s blood? Raise your hand.”
Calisia snapped out of her shock and asked. Heaven helps those who help themselves—if she didn’t lose hope, a solution might appear.
-I’ve only seen dragons in books.
Isaac fidgeted, twisting uneasily. He wasn’t disappointed—he had never had expectations of the spirits anyway.
-I think it’s stored in the royal archives.
Deoric offered a slightly better answer, but it was equally useless. Even if the stars exist in the sky, what use is it if you can’t reach them?
“….”
Ian stayed silent. There was no point in speaking on a problem with no solution.
“…Damn it—!”
Fully realizing reality, Calisia screamed at the ceiling, fury boiling in her stomach.
They say a shaman cannot know the day of their death. Was she really going to end her life here as a wandering spirit?
“Sir! What do we do now! Please, tell me! Seriously, what do we do?!”
Bang! Bang!
Calisia slammed her fists on the floor in anger, protesting the spirit who stubbornly remained silent even as her disciple faced death.
[Room]
At that moment, a single glowing character appeared in the air. Calisia squinted, craning her neck.
[Method]
The rounded text was clearly the same as the spell circle she saw on her first day in the empire.
Was this the General’s response? Entranced, Calisia reached toward the letters. The moment her white fingertips touched them, a swirling vortex of blue light appeared.
The brilliance was blinding; she raised her arms to shield her eyes.
Shuuuu—
Seconds later, the furious swirl subsided with a hissing sound, leaving behind an old-style book that seemed like it belonged to the Joseon era.
[Horhwanjeon (The Tale of the Tiger’s Peril)]
‘General?’
Calisia squinted at the book. The dull yellowish cover was a typical old book color.
‘This is more like our General!’
Beaming, she reached to check the book.
“Ho…”
Whoooosh—!
Before she could read what was written, a powerful gust of wind struck above her head. She instinctively grabbed the side for support.
“What the…!”
Ian, caught off guard, pulled his arm back in irritation. But it was too late to avoid the wind already sweeping over them.
Swish!
The two of them were sucked into the book by the vortex.
“Ugh.”
“Ouch! It hurts!”
Falling defenselessly onto the ground, Ian and Calisia groaned in pain. They quickly surveyed their surroundings.
It was desolate, with an eerie atmosphere. All they could see were shriveled trees and stones.
“A summoning spell, perhaps.”
Ian sharpened his senses and spread his energy widely, trying to detect the presence of the caster.
It was futile. Even after moving around the mountain, he felt no magical traces.
Ian withdrew his energy and pulled out a necklace with a deep blue magic stone—essentially a long-distance communication device.
He poured his mana into the stone, attempting to contact the northern knights remaining at Valus Castle.
Bzzz—
The device trembled and glowed faintly, reacting to Ian’s power. But that was all.
Bzzz— Bzzz—
The magic stone flickered like a broken light bulb before going dead with a soft “click.”
“Useless.”
Ian furrowed his brow. The device was top-tier, even by magic tower standards. Even at a distance, it should have worked.
“Was there even a mountain like this in the central region?”
Ian exhaled shortly, looking around again. Forced summoning had its limits. No matter how skilled a mage, transporting them beyond the central border was impossible.
“It’s not a summoning spell.”
Calisia, still massaging her tailbone, groaned. During the wind, she had felt the General’s divine power—briefly, but unmistakably.
So the current situation had nothing to do with magic or mana.
“Could it be an illusion spell?”
“Maybe…”
Trailing off, Calisia kneeled on the ground. She rolled her eyes as if guessing, then scooped a handful of soil.
The faint moisture felt on her hands. Concentrating on the sensation, she suddenly pressed her palm to her nose.
Sniff— sniff—
“One thing’s for sure…”
After savoring the smell of the soil for a while, she broke the silence. Scanning her surroundings with a strange look, she stuck out her tongue.
A thick, unpleasant taste.
“This isn’t reality.”
