The Road to Caravan

I woke up at dawn again today.

As soon as I got up, I went outside the wagon and did some light stretching.

A field covered in moss. Wagons loaded with supplies formed a large clearing, and in the center stood tent-wagons serving as temporary shelters.

Splash. Splash.

The horses that had been sleeping like rocks lifted their tails once when they heard my footsteps.

The sky is filled with stars. I glanced at the walls of Erasmus, which was close to our land, then at the Southern Sea, and as I cast my gaze even further, I could see a pure white star that might be the Snow Lands, and another star full of green that might be a forest.

Except for the closest stars, even Teacher Sena, who had been a mage, didn’t know what lands those distant stars represented.

‘When I enter the Tower of Covenant, I’ll probably get a star map too? Then I’ll be able to learn what shape this world has.’

Out of 100 people, only about 5 manage to enter a Caravan.

Out of 10 people who enter a Caravan, only 1 makes it into a city.

Out of 1,000 people who enter a city, perhaps 2 will climb the Tower of Covenant.

By simple calculation, the competition is one in a hundred thousand.

And after reaching the Tower, no one even knows how many actually make it to the very top.

To climb such a tower all the way to its end.

That was my dream.

Others might call it unrealistic, but… right now, it didn’t seem impossible to me.

I can see what others can’t see and think in ways others can’t imagine.

So… I’m a very special Mana User.

I see magical power.

The five colors of magical power—white, blue, green, yellow, and black—are even now gazing down at me intently.

The magical power that has filled me completely since becoming a Mana User occasionally ripples across my skin.

Now I can see mana too.

The gray mana that fills the world forms patterns in all things.

Everything is expressed through mana patterns. When I concentrate, I can even see the gray mana lines extending through my limbs. A large pattern resembling ginseng root is surrounded by small, intricate designs.

Every person has mana lines shaped like giant ginseng roots, but the detailed patterns hanging from those roots differ from person to person. All are very similar, yet never exactly the same.

From Earth knowledge, this is… yes, mana patterns are just like DNA.

Right. DNA.

And here, I had a fascinating thought.

Magic processes mana to create patterns.

When a Gift manifests, formless mana floating in the air reacts with magical power to create patterns. The same applies to totem magic.

Hummm-hummmm-

For instance, the mobile barrier located on our nomad’s central wagon absorbs formless mana from the air, then emits complex layered patterns made of circles and triangles. That’s how barriers are formed.

In other words,

Mana is the DNA of all things.

And…

Magic is precisely the technology that imprints this DNA.

This realization gives me chills.

‘Actually… could this entire world be one massive spell? Perhaps my very existence, Heukseom sleeping over there, the land, sky, sun, and stars… could all of them be creations made by someone’s magic?’

I looked up at the column of mana swirling at the center of the stars, the Tower of Covenant.

The answer probably lies there.

To solve this mystery,

I must enter the Tower of Covenant.

So for now,

“…shall I begin my training?”

It’s time to build my strength.

+ – + – +

[Simulation]

A pitch-black world.

Grrrr…

The strongest being I’ve ever encountered—the orc from the Calamity of Night—emerges from the darkness.

A giant easily over 2 meters tall.

With its black body shrouded in thick steam, it would be nearly invisible in the darkness if not for the red light dripping from its eyes.

Growl

It sees me and curves its bright red eyes into a crescent, smiling. That’s right…

Come at me.

Shing!

I drew my longsword.

Boom!

The ground shook as the creature launched at me like a cannonball.

One of the orc’s two specialties: tracking and charging.

This was charging.

The very same charge that Teacher Sena had desperately blocked with her “Explosion.”

When I first began this training, even with a Mana User’s enhanced body, I couldn’t withstand a single charge.

I still remember the sensation of flying helplessly through the air, turned to bloody pulp.

I remember the crushing weight as it pressed down on my broken body, and the agony as its massive fist flattened my face.

I died ten times before I could evade its first charge.

Slash!

Then I died twenty more times before I could dodge its charge and counterattack.

My longsword tore through the orc’s thigh. Despite gripping the sword hilt so hard it might break, my wrist felt like it would snap after slicing through the orc’s charging momentum.

Roarrr!!

The enraged orc bellowed. Chance! I twisted my body and leaped backward. I swung my sword at its neck.

Clang!

Somehow it noticed, and my blade merely scraped against its bulging chest and neck muscles before deflecting.

The orc stared down at me. It raised its fist. I threw my entire body leftward to avoid the punch.

Wham!

‘Huh?’

I thought I saw it coming and dodged, but the world turned red and shook. I saw my own teeth flying out of my mouth.

The orc grinned, its protruding teeth visible. Its mouth was bright red inside.

‘Damn… is my close combat skill still so lacking…?’

The more simulations I ran, the more I realized what a monster Teacher Sena was to face an orc in close quarters.

Even when I thought I’d dodged, I was still hit, and taking just one blow made it impossible to recover my senses.

Clang!

Crack!

I desperately swung my sword to create distance, but the creature casually deflected my blade with its iron club.

Each collision sent shockwaves through my body, making my head ring like a bronze bell.

Clang!

Critical hit!

The orc’s full-power swing wrapped around my sword and sent it flying. My grip shattered and my blood-covered sword spun through the air.

Unable to withstand the force, I was thrown to the right, spinning before crashing to the ground.

When I raised my head, I saw the orc lifting its club. My posture was broken, and my legs felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

‘Is this it…?’

1 minute and 55 seconds since the simulation began…

‘Will I fail to last more than 2 minutes again…?’

When fighting head-on without running away, I’d never lasted more than 2 minutes.

The brainless orc doesn’t bother with feints or pressure—it just charges in, demolishing you instantly in a direct confrontation.

But…

No! You monster!!

I forced myself to spring up. I charged at the orc. Its club shattered my shoulder, but I refused to back down and kept charging forward.

I grabbed its massive cheekbone and gouged out both its eyes with my thumbs.

ROARRR!!!

With the orc’s scream

Crash!

My head was crushed.

[Simulation End]

‘Arrrghhhh!!!’

I rolled on the ground in agony. Good thing I’d gagged myself beforehand.

Otherwise, I might have woken the entire nomad at this early hour.

Actually, I’ve already done that a few times, which is why I now prepare this perfect gag that lets no sound escape.

As I writhed on the ground in death’s pain, the surrounding magical powers excitedly swirled around me. White magical power and red magical power were especially abundant.

<Hey, he overcame death again!>

<It’s not real, though.>

<But he never gave up until the end, did you see?>

At some point… I started hearing the magical powers murmuring, but I couldn’t understand their meaning exactly.

I just knew that the white magical powers were cheering for me, the red ones were proud of me, and the black ones were cynical.

Other magical powers didn’t seem particularly interested in me.

I managed to regulate my breathing as I absorbed some white and red magical power, but then I heard a dispassionate voice asking.

“How long did you last?”

It was Teacher Sena. I forced myself up despite my trembling. I wrapped my still-shaking arms around myself and answered.

“2 minutes and 3 seconds…”

Teacher Sena’s eyes sparkled.

“Finally broke the 2-minute mark? But… you still haven’t grasped close combat, have you? If you had, you’d have jumped straight to the 10-minute range.”

“Well, I definitely… thought I dodged this time…”

“What’s the point of talking about it? Just go see for yourself.”

Teacher Sena was right. Why talk about it?

“Haah…”

Though my body’s cells were still screaming in shock and terror, I couldn’t waste time complaining if I wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible.

Right. This isn’t real pain… get yourselves together, you idiots.

[Simulation]

The world darkened again.

Grrrr…

The orc appeared just like before,

Shing.

And I drew my sword just like before.

But I wasn’t part of the scene.

I observed the fight between myself and the orc from a third-person perspective.

This was a replay.

“Skip that part.”

I fast-forwarded.

My other self and the orc clashed, separated, and struck each other, until finally that moment arrived.

Clang!

My sword scraped the orc’s neck without inflicting major damage. The orc raised its left fist. I pressed close to its right arm, trying to dodge. But…

“Huh?”

Wham!

I watched as the orc’s left fist smashed into my face. The angle shouldn’t have allowed the hit…

“I missed it. Again.”

I rewound.

Wham!

Wham!

Whaaaam!

No matter how many times I watched, it didn’t seem possible for the hit to connect… yet like an edited video, the next moment showed the orc’s left fist buried in my face.

I replayed it countless times, but couldn’t figure out how the orc had moved. If anything, the face I’d taken the hit to was starting to throb with phantom pain.

“Damn… if only I could play it in slow motion… oh well. Again!”

After rewinding ten times, with my head pounding from Gift backlash, I finally discovered the secret.

“Short-range charge… unbelievable… that’s actually possible?”

The orc’s specialty is ultra-high-speed charging.

A technique that should be called magic, normally used to rush in from a distance—but this orc had executed a tiny charge when it couldn’t find an angle to hit me.

I only noticed after spotting the tiny mana pattern that leaked from its thigh as a precursor to charging.

Just about… 30 cm?

It had jumped that small distance like teleporting, creating an angle and burying its fist in my face.

Charging, which I thought was only used to close large distances… it used it at close range for an instant positional advantage. Despite being a monster… it showed astonishing combat sense.

‘Insane… how do I beat something like this…’

A curse nearly escaped my lips, but I swallowed it. Showing weakness would displease the magical powers watching me.

“Whew…”

[Simulation End]

As my vision cleared, the shattered, bloody teeth faded away.

I unconsciously touched my face.

Ah, good. Everything’s still intact.