A Villain's Will to Survive

Chapter 6: Deculein (5)

When I returned home, the servants were already waiting in the mansion's garden.

“Shall we prepare your meal, master?” a butler asked.

I stepped out of the car and stood quietly for a moment, gazing up at the sky. The setting sun cast a glow over the moon and its satellites, while the clouds spread like paint on a palette. It was a scene straight out of fantasy.

“Sir...?” the butler asked, extending his arm to take my coat.

“Yes?” I responded.

“Shall we prepare a—”

“I'll skip it,” I replied.

I entered the mansion and went upstairs to my room. I didn't feel tired or exhausted at all.

───────

[Iron Man]

◆ Grade:

Unique

◆ Description:

Innate physical abilities and attributes.

The potential of the body is of the highest caliber.

───────

Among the various attributes I had added for fun, Iron Man was one of them. Because of this, my physical fatigue was minimal and my mana recovery speed was high. However, I did feel some mental fatigue, so I decided to take a shower. With my Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, taking a bath was both a joy and a form of recovery.

After a thorough shower, I sat in the reading chair in the study and took out one of the magic books that Allen had borrowed, the Basic Manipulation Magic.

Today, I decided to learn Telekinesis, a type of manipulation magic closely related to Qi-Controlled Levitating Blades.

Since I wasn't originally Deculein, I had none of his accumulated magical achievements.

As a mage, my foundation was nearly barren. Nonetheless, my overflowing confidence came from my Comprehension attribute. Without a word, I opened the book with a steady, unwavering posture.

Introduction: The Value and Significance of Manipulation Magic

The hefty book contained only four chapters—Basic Wind Manipulation, Basic Rainfall Manipulation, Basic Disguise, and Basic Telekinesis. Of course, I skipped straight to the chapter on basic telekinesis.

4. Basic Telekinesis: Understanding Telekinesis

Telekinesis is regarded as a non-mainstream magic. While the manipulation category is generally considered minor among the eight categories, it is still valuable to master as a stepping stone to enhancing a mage’s abilities. Now, observe the following spell...

I was momentarily speechless at the contents. To me, it looked like an ancient alien script. The book's pages dissected and analyzed the telekinesis spell, breaking it down stroke by stroke.

It was like seeing a complex Chinese character broken into its individual strokes. Each stroke had ten lines explaining the required mana and the mana flow to the next stroke, spanning sixty pages in total.

“... Hmm.”

Would my Comprehension attribute work for casting magic? Could I grasp the workings of such a complex magic?

In that uncertain situation, I closed my eyes, then opened them again. It was as if I had flipped a switch in my mind. My vision turned blue, and the lights in the room wavered like stars.

In this world that now resembled an impressionist painting, my focus locked onto the grimoire. My eyes fixated on the spell, and Comprehension kicked in immediately. A sudden rush of awareness reached the top of my head. My consciousness soared beyond mere observation and hearing to a higher dimension.

Telekinesis. The spell floated off the book and hovered in the air, resembling intertwined curves and straight lines like a talismanic script. As my mana flowed along these intricate lines, it glowed with an aquatic blue brilliance.

A stream of mana started at a point, formed lines, filled surfaces, and eventually manifested the magic. This was the magical representation constructed by my Comprehension, an image in my mind. The magic circle of Telekinesis formed in the air of the mansion, shining splendidly, and then seeped into my head.

Inject mana into an object, condense it into an inner core, and allow the caster’s will to control the object.

In other words, the caster controlled the mana core inside the object, not the object itself.

Therefore, the essence of this magic was to compress the mana core as much as possible, solidifying the spell that held the object. I comprehended the intricacies of telekinesis, and the magic was imprinted in my brain.

“... Haa.”

I exhaled the breath I had been holding as soon as I broke free from Comprehension's control. My temples throbbed, and my eyes felt like they were about to burst. I took the fountain pen from my pocket and infused it with mana. The mana seeped inside the pen, and it floated effortlessly according to my will.

“It worked.”

A minute ago, I hadn't understood a bit of Basic Telekinesis, but now I could execute it without recalling the spell or meticulously controlling the mana. This proved that the entire magic had been imprinted in my brain.

Once fully comprehended, a spell is imprinted in the brain, allowing it to be used at will without consciously deploying it. The brain unconsciously performs the spell. This process is called Memorize.

I was now experiencing a feature I had only read about in the game’s settings.

“It is good, but...”

The pen still floated at my will. However, if basic telekinesis was only at this level, even mastering Advanced Telekinesis wouldn't achieve the level of Qi-Controlled Levitating Blades that I had envisioned.

“I see why it’s considered a minor magic.”

Is there any way to enhance this? Given my limited talent, it would be challenging regardless, I wondered aloud, as an idea suddenly came to me.

“What if I inscribe the magic circle on my entire body?”

In this universe, several fundamental principles of magic existed. One of the most prominent was that the larger the magic circle, the more powerful it became.

“If that’s the case...”

With my Comprehension attribute, if I could understand my entire body and inscribe the magic circle not only on my brain or heart but across my entire body it would become extremely powerful.

“... It might be worth a try.”

Of course, this would strain my body, and I couldn’t predict what kind of side effects it would have, though I was sure there would be some. With that in mind, however, I had the Iron Man attribute. Physically forcing my body to remember the spell was definitely a crazy endeavor, but thanks to this attribute, it was actually possible.

Excited by the possibility, I took some deep breaths to calm down. With 800 mana remaining, I decided it was enough for a test. I activated Comprehension and let my mana flow through my entire body.

Excruciating pain surged through my body. It felt as if my bones and muscles were being smashed by a hammer, then twisted and torn apart. The pain was intense beyond comparison.

Crack...! Crunch...!

The sounds came from my body. My joints twisted, my heart was breaking, and my ribs cracked, stabbing into my lungs. At least, that's the best way to describe how it felt. Despite the intense pain, this body didn't moan or bite its lips. I couldn't stop the sweat, but my back remained straight.

A posture of utmost composure, an unyielding mind, and inherent dignity. This almost insane level of nobility and aristocratic ego allowed for the most fundamental understanding of oneself.

I meticulously controlled the mana in my body, directing it through my veins. I imbued my entire being with my will, inscribing the telekinesis spell not just in my heart but in my muscles, bones, and organs.

Snap!

Finally, it sounded as if something had broken and a wave of weakness washed over me. I had failed. My mana was exhausted, and my Comprehension ceased. I slowly opened my eyes. My entire body was burning with rashes, redness, and itching. Of course, I didn't scratch because it would be beneath my dignity.

“... I’ll continue later.”

[Mana: 1 / 3,375]

I had failed due to a lack of mana, managing to inscribe only a small part of the spell on my shoulder. Fortunately, this process didn't require starting over from scratch. It was a sequential process. In gaming terms, having cleared stage 1, even if I failed at stage 2, I would restart from stage 2, not stage 1.

I estimated it would take about two weeks to inscribe the spell on my neck, shoulders, arms, hands, abdomen, thighs, calves, and feet. And that was for Basic Telekinesis. For higher levels, like Beginner or Intermediate Telekinesis, it would take much longer.

After organizing my thoughts, I stood up from the chair. I was drenched in sweat, so I took another shower. I washed with natural body wash and then lay down on the bed in my robe.

“Pajamas...”

I felt like I might pass out, but my body demanded pajamas. I couldn't stand the thought of sleeping in a robe.

“Fuck you...”

I decided not to wear it. I was Kim Woo-Jin, not Deculein. I refused to be controlled by a personality created from code.