“If the Blue Energy that came from your heart—and the force that allows magic to manifest—is Mana, then I suppose I can see Mana.”
Aiman gave Keiras a more detailed answer to his question.
Keiras’s face filled with bewilderment.
“What?”
It was only natural.
Aiman could see Mana?
There had never been a Mage anywhere in the world who could do such a thing.
Keiras had never even heard his master mention an ability like that.
‘If what this child says is true…….’
GULP.
Keiras swallowed without realizing it.
He could not begin to imagine what it would mean if Aiman truly could see Mana.
If it was true, then Keiras was practically standing before a Mage who defied all common sense.
Of course, that was only if the boy before him could become a Mage.
However, Aiman had yet another surprise in store for Keiras.
No matter how Aiman looked at him, Keiras did not appear to believe him.
It was not exactly distrust.
Rather, it was the expression of someone confronted with a fact that was simply too unbelievable to accept.
Aiman thought,
‘How can I prove that I can see Mana?’
As he considered the question, one method suddenly occurred to him.
There was something he could see whenever he focused his gaze.
The Blue Energy blanketing the entire world.
According to what Keiras had told him, that energy had to be Mana.
‘I can touch Mana.’
The Mana covering the world was so immense that all Aiman had been able to do was tap it, but he had undeniably touched it.
He turned that fact around in his mind.
‘Then would I be able to fold a small amount of Mana directly with my hands?’
Aiman called out to Keiras.
“Sir Mage.”
“Yes?”
“Could you show me the spell you just used one more time?”
“You want me to show you the same spell again?”
“Yes. However, could you stop immediately before manifesting the spell?”
“Before manifesting it…….”
Keiras organized Aiman’s request in his mind.
‘He wants me to stop after completing the calculations, immediately before the spell manifests.’
Keiras wondered who would dare make such a request of a 5th-Class Mage like him.
No one would.
Of course, most people still believed that Keiras was merely a 4th-Class Mage.
Yet even a 4th-Class Mage was not someone just anyone could approach with such a request.
More importantly, he was not merely a 4th-Class Mage. He was an Imperial Mage, and he held the title of Count because of that position.
Who would dare ask such a thing of him?
Perhaps his master, the Commander of the Imperial Mage Corps, or the Emperor.
Even Marquises and Dukes, whose titles outranked his own, could not casually make such a request.
Although Keiras held a comparatively low title of nobility, his position as a Mage placed him on an entirely different plane from ordinary nobles.
Yet a boy of only ten years old stood before him and made precisely that request.
Keiras was not offended.
Rather, he found it delightful.
When else in his life would he experience such an extraordinary situation?
Keiras accepted Aiman’s request.
“Very well.”
There was another reason he agreed.
‘This child must have made such a request because he intends to show me something else.’
By then, Aiman occupied Keiras’s thoughts completely.
He was a young boy who had created paper.
Not only that, but he could see Mana.
Those two facts alone made him a mysterious child.
Yet now he was acting as though he had something more to show Keiras.
Naturally, Keiras had to see it.
His expectations rose so high that he would be genuinely disappointed if it turned out to be nothing.
HUM.
Mana began shining in Keiras’s hands.
As he performed the calculations, however, his anticipation awakened the incurable habit shared by all Mages.
‘Would this not be more entertaining than simply doing exactly as he asked?’
An intriguing idea suddenly occurred to him.
The boy had clearly asked Keiras to show him the same spell he had used moments earlier.
Keiras understood what Aiman meant.
He was not merely asking to see Mana Bird again. He wanted Keiras to reproduce it in exactly the same manner as before, with several calculations omitted so that it could be manifested more quickly.
However, Keiras added a single question to that thought.
‘If this boy truly can see Mana…….’
It was curiosity rather than suspicion.
Nothing in his conversation with Aiman had made Keiras believe the boy was lying.
However, Mages suffered from the same chronic affliction as modern scientists.
They always wanted to conduct an experiment.
Keiras wanted to test Aiman’s claim with his own eyes.
Therefore, he began calculating Mana Bird.
Unlike before, however, he used the spell’s Standard Method.
Aiman, who had been watching with intense concentration, noticed immediately.
‘Oh? So that is what he is doing?’
Aiman saw the Mana folding into a perfectly standard Paper Crane Fold and instantly understood Keiras’s intention.
There was a reason he had asked Keiras to reproduce the spell exactly as he had before.
Aiman had planned to touch the incomplete folding process with his own hands and correct it.
However, Keiras had prevented him from doing so by presenting a flawless Paper Crane Fold.
After completing the calculations and leaving only the final stage of manifestation, Keiras spoke.
“There. I have gone this far. Now, what do you intend to show me?”
If Aiman truly could see Mana, he would point out that the calculations differed from those used for the Mana Bird Keiras had shown him earlier.
However, Aiman remained silent.
Instead of answering with words, he responded through action.
‘Hmm?’
Keiras only expressed his confusion inwardly.
He sensed that Aiman was about to do something, so he refrained from showing it on his face and quietly watched.
He wanted to see what the boy intended to do.
Aiman silently approached the Mana hovering on the verge of manifestation between Keiras’s hands and reached out.
Then he began manipulating something within Keiras’s cupped hands.
At that moment, Keiras felt it.
The child was touching the Mana he had calculated with his bare hands.
‘W…… What is this……!’
It was not enough that Aiman could see Mana.
He could even touch it.
Keiras had never heard of or witnessed anything like it.
Yet his astonishment did not end there.
Aiman continued carefully manipulating the Mana Keiras had calculated.
What the boy did was simple.
He altered Keiras’s Mana calculation, which had formed a flawless Paper Crane Fold.
He changed it into the same abbreviated calculation Keiras had used for Mana Bird moments earlier.
Once he had finished modifying the Mana calculation, Aiman looked at Keiras with a bright smile.
“This is the state I asked you to show me, though?”
“Ha······ Hahaha!”
After hearing Aiman’s words, Keiras burst into uncontrollable laughter.
He could not remember how long it had been.
The first time he had seen magic.
The first time he had met his master.
And never since.
Nothing else had made his heart pound this violently.
Reaching the realm of the 5th Class?
It was a remarkable achievement.
Every Mage dreamed of reaching it.
However, Keiras knew the truth better than anyone.
There were already those in the world who had reached the 6th Class, and beyond that existed the 7th-Class realm known as Magus.
Therefore, reaching the 5th Class had certainly made him happy, but it had not made his heart hammer like this.
Perhaps he would have to become a Magus before advancement alone could bring him this much joy.
Yet the boy before him had left him enthralled.
It was the euphoria of discovering something entirely new.
No florid words were needed to describe his reaction.
He was simply beside himself with joy.
Aiman stared at the laughing Keiras in confusion.
“Hmm?”
Only then did Keiras regain some control over his overwhelming emotions.
Belatedly, he suppressed the wild laughter spilling from his mouth.
“Ah, my. I allowed myself to become far too carried away.”
“Was what I did correct?”
“Correct?”
“Yes.”
“It was far more than correct. You cannot possibly understand what you have just accomplished.”
Keiras was so excited that a flush had spread across his normally pale face.
Seeing that, Aiman thought,
‘Is it really that remarkable?’
Keiras’s reaction was so intense that Aiman tilted his head.
“What did I accomplish?”
“That ability of yours has never been possessed by any Mage who has ever lived. Yes! If anyone possessed such an ability, perhaps it was the Grand Magus. Of course. One would need at least that much ability to become the Grand Magus!”
“······The Grand Magus?”
The Grand Magus.
A legendary being said to have been the only person in history to reach the realm of the 8th Class.
In truth, only rumors passed down through oral tradition claimed that someone had ever reached such a realm.
No one knew whether the Grand Magus had truly existed or who he might have been.
Keiras also appeared to realize that he had made too great a leap, so he moved on from the subject of the Grand Magus.
“I only said that because your ability is utterly beyond reason. Good heavens, not only can you see Mana, but you can touch it as well!”
Although he had managed to suppress his laughter, Keiras still could not calm the explosive emotions that had arisen after discovering Aiman’s existence.
He seemed so delighted that Aiman even felt a chill run through him.
‘I thought he was a calm, cool-headed man······.’
The Keiras before him now appeared to be someone who acted entirely according to his emotions.
However, it could not be helped.
In a situation like this, even someone colder and more taciturn than Keiras ordinarily was would likely have reacted in much the same way.
As Keiras continued reacting with excitement, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
“Ah, yes, child!”
“Yes?”
“Would you allow me to examine your body?”
“My body······? Are you telling me to take off my clothes?”
Keiras had suddenly asked to examine his body.
Although Yeongman’s mind had possessed the body of the young Aiman, it was only natural for him to feel uncomfortable when a man abruptly asked to examine his body.
Seeing Aiman’s reaction, Keiras realized how his words had sounded.
“Ah, no. That is not what I meant. I merely wish to determine whether you possess the aptitude to become a Mage.”
‘A Mage······!’
That was something Aiman already wanted to become.
It was also the greatest reason he had tried to establish a connection with Keiras.
If Aiman became a Mage, he could perform Origami with Mana just as Keiras did. Even more astonishingly, the completed creation could then manifest as actual magic.
He wanted to try it.
Therefore, he had no reason to refuse Keiras’s proposal.
“Do I simply come closer?”
“Yes. Come and stand before me.”
Aiman moved forward as Keiras instructed.
Once Aiman stood before him, Keiras placed one hand against the boy’s chest.
His palm rested directly over the center of Aiman’s chest.
Keiras closed his eyes and did something.
At that moment, Aiman felt something flowing from Keiras’s hand.
‘Hmm?’
Without realizing it, he focused on Keiras’s hand.
Then he saw it.
Mana flowed out of Keiras’s body and entered Aiman’s chest.
PRICK! PRICK!
It felt as though something were stabbing his heart.
There was a certain amount of pain.
“Urgh!”
When Aiman cried out in pain, Keiras immediately pulled his hand away.
“Oh no!”
Keiras appeared deeply flustered.
There was something strange about his expression.
He looked disappointed.
Aiman could see it as well.
‘Why does he look like that?’
Was it because Aiman had been hurt?
No.
If Keiras had merely been concerned after seeing the boy in pain, his expression would have been one of worry.
However, Keiras’s expression was different.
It looked closer to dismay than concern.
‘He looks exactly like Manager Park did after the stock he invested in collapsed······ No way?’
Aiman recognized the expression on Keiras’s face.
It was the look of someone who had poured something in with great expectations, only to discover that the attempt had failed.
Aiman suddenly realized what had happened.
‘That cannot be it, right?’
He desperately tried to deny reality.
He hoped Keiras would not say those words.
Reality, however, mercilessly crushed Aiman’s hopes.
“Child.”
“Yes?”
“You will not be able to become a Mage······.”