Chapter Ten: The Mana Revolution
Ren sat alone in the rear courtyard of the estate, the cold wind whipping the edges of his black cloak. He closed his eyes and began absorbing Death Mana from the surrounding air. The last remnants of souls faded here—in the depths beneath the prison—then rose slowly like fleeting whispers into the void. He inhaled those whispers into his chest, feeling his own mana-sensing ability expand within his heart.
He recalled reading in an ancient manuscript that all mages first gather mana in their heart, then channel it to their limbs. But a mad idea struck him: what if he gathered mana not only in his heart but throughout his entire body? What if he could distribute it through his veins, muscles, and bones, instead of concentrating it in a single focal point?
That idea—he learned from the original tale—was the hero's ultimate goal in the final stages. It was technically impossible and excruciatingly painful. It required rotating the mana in reverse of the blood's natural flow; a single misstep would skew the mana and cause it to devour his body from within.
Yet the hero had succeeded… and now Ren resolved to attempt it.
He opened his eyes and increased his mana intake until the dark green energy flooded his skin, as if every cell had awakened at once. Then came the worst part: he began tracing inverted magic circles in his mind, uttering the deepest silence only he could hear.
He felt agonizing pain in his chest, as if his heart were being ripped from its place, and his veins seized the mana, contracting mercilessly. But he did not stop. The circles grew sharper, and the mana reacted to the inversion, surging violently through his body as if trying to return to its natural flow.
Ren bit back a silent scream and sank to the ground. Every muscle in his body writhed in pain, and tears of mana streamed down his skin like a dark rain. Yet he endured, lifting his trembling hands toward the sky, tracing the inverted rotations until the moment of collapse.
Suddenly, he sensed a new spirit fill him with silence. The pain ceased. The circles dissolved. He closed his eyes and lost consciousness.
Ren awoke to the pale light of dawn, his body drenched in the courtyard's chill. He rose slowly, every muscle carrying him without pain. He pressed a hand to his chest and felt the mana pulses now evenly distributed—through his hands, his legs, even his neck.
A black aura of mana flared around him in faint waves. He tentatively touched the air and felt every living thing nearby wither— even the grass beneath his feet wilted instantly.
He stared at his hands in astonishment: he had leapt to Rank B− without prior training. More than that, he had unlocked a new technique:
Death Field: a field of mana encircling his body that drains life from any creature that approaches until it perishes.
Ren smiled coldly as he extended his arm, letting the dark field spread around him.
He could feel the world itself bend to his will.
Thus my madness becomes true power.