Winter Forest (2)

It took a long time to follow the human figure walking from far away.

Only the branches escaped the bony forest and finally reached the edge of the forest where the forest ends.

“·······.”

It was the shore of a large lake.

In a vast vacant lot nestled in the middle of a vast forest, a large lake gracefully flows over the pure white snowfield.

Truly superb view.

There, where the wide water surface illuminated the cloudy sky, I was at a loss for words for a while.

Subuck- Subuck-

I moved to the lakeside, taking footprints on the snowfield where no one had stepped.

When I looked around, the In-young who had taken the lead had disappeared before I knew it.

“For what purpose… wait.”

While swallowing my doubts, a sudden thought came to me and I reached out and touched the leyline.

-If you have knowledge, you will find the spirit vein. Everyone who comes here is looking for something like that.

The existence of the spirit vein that the forest keeper said.

When I checked the leyline just in case, I felt a huge pulsation of magical power lurking in the ground.

I burst into laughter at the tremendous amount of mana that was incomparable to the forest road I had walked before.

“…reciprocate?”

Did you lead me here as a reward for saving the spirit?

Whoever he was, he couldn’t have been a very thoughtful person.

“It’s the perfect place for training.”

It is a place where the pure energy of the winter forest itself meets the spirit vein and is very thick.

If you train your magic here, you will be able to accumulate magic of a superior quality in your body much faster than anywhere else.

I roughly cleared the snow from my seat and sat cross-legged.

I calmed down and went deep into my consciousness.

As the mana started to circulate along the rotating circle, the mana that rose through the energies began to flow into the body.

‘It’s amazing.’

External magical energy spreads throughout the body along with breathing.

It went around a couple of laps like that, blending naturally into the circle of the heart.

Originally, he would have to go through a lot of pain in order to embody the external magical power, but he did not feel any side effects, perhaps because he experienced a qualitative increase in magical power while treating the spirits earlier.

With this amount and purity, it seemed that the time to complete the 2nd circle could be cut in half.

Sabak-

how much time has passed like that

Suddenly, I felt someone close by and woke up from my meditation.

It was a pleasant meditation for the first time in a while, so I wasn’t happy with it.

There was no way to recover the concentration once broken, so I had no choice but to open my eyes.

“·······.”

There was a girl in front of me.

A white-haired girl wrapped in a white fur coat was squatting in front of me, staring at me endlessly.

Blink.

Big golden eyes look at me, and then they smile.

“hello?”

The voice that came out was very loud.

enemy? There was no hostility in his presence or intention.

Harmless. Having judged that, I immediately closed my eyes.

“excuse me?”

“·······.”

“Hey~?”

When I don’t respond, I reach out and touch it.

Then he lay his head on the cross-legged leg and tossed and turned.

…It was quite annoying.

“What.”

“Wow! You’re finally speaking! I thought I was a person who couldn’t talk again. What is it?”

“Tell me your business.”

“Isn’t there anything like that?”

“Then go.”

“Ugh~ I don’t like that.”

Then he tosses and turns on my legs.

It was quite a burden to look up at him with a bright smile on his face.

“Aren’t you curious about who I am?”

I glared at her with narrow eyes.

Aren’t you curious who you are? I’m not really curious.

I knew who it was from the first time I saw you.

“Encia.”

“Ah. Who told you? Is it Mr. Teacher?”

Uncle Sam.

Someone thought it through, and it seemed to be referring to Sam, the forest keeper.

After an affirmative silence, her cheeks swelled in displeasure.

“Bad teacher, I was trying to surprise you.”

“If there is no business-“

“Thank you~”

She laughed and stomped her legs in the snow.

“Thank you for saving the spirits. They were children who were sick before.”

“·······.”

“They said they wanted to say hello. That’s why I came.”

Encia, who jumped up from the floor, waved her hand into the air.

A bright glow formed on her hand, and spirits began to appear one by one at the place where the glow fell.

At the moment, I thought it was some kind of magical power, but after analyzing it, it seemed that it was not.

It was a more pure, foreign energy.

‘…It’s the first energy I’ve ever seen.’

It was a feeling that was fundamentally different from magic.

It is very bright, but not dazzling, and you can feel a sense of stability and holiness just by looking at it.

It was similar to the feeling I felt when I saw Laniakea.

“Guys. Say hello.”

The fluttering spirits approached me.

They, resembling little girls, gathered around me, then spread their little arms and hugged me over my head or shoulders.

After that, he landed on the cross-legged leg or hand and lay down.

He seemed very comfortable with his eyes closed.

fluff-

“Huh~”

Also, Encia rubbed her cheek as she leaned against my back.

“What are you doing?”

“Your energy is so comfortable~”

Then he puts his nose on my back and inhales the smell.

“It feels like lying on a warm snowy field. It’s clean and pure, so I feel better when I’m next to you.”

“·······.”

“Can I hug you?”

“no.”

“It’s too much…”

Shaking off the clinging encia, I pondered deeply.

Aura that spirits like.

It wasn’t unexpected. Perhaps it is because of the change in my magic power.

I knew that my magic power had become more pure, but it was a bit unexpected that he was popular with the spirits.

“But can’t you show your face? I can’t see it because of my hat and collar. I’ve also covered my mouth with a mask… If anyone sees it, they’ll think I’m a criminal.”

I fiddled with her downed hat and upturned collar.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Heeing…”

Since no affirmation came out of her mouth, she puffed up her cheeks.

At this point, even if it’s in a bad mood, it’s easy to turn off attention, but Encia’s only anguish, clinging to her and teasing her hasn’t changed.

Is this also a magical effect?

“Then why don’t you show me your weapon at least once? It looks very strange~”

I silently handed her the gun without ammunition.

It meant no more bothering me.

“Wow~ I’ve never seen a weapon that looks like this!

Encia’s eyes sparkled as she received the revolver.

She shuffled the chamber and fiddled with the trigger as she peered into the barrel.

If I had loaded it and given it to you, I would have died twice already.

Kiriririk-

“Hey. It’s a very unique structure. Is it made with the circle magic medium?”

Before she knew it, she was turning the chamber vigorously, enveloping it in her unique light.

The squeaking rotational sound is particularly annoying…

Wait, Circle?

“······!”

In an instant, with a flash of thought, he jumped up from his seat.

He took the gun from Ensia, loaded it with ammunition, and aimed it at the calm lake.

Then, it wrapped the chamber with magic power and slowly rotated it.

Perhaps surprised by my sudden action, Ensia opened her rabbit eyes and was looking at me.

“Mister?”

“Be quite.”

why didn’t i think of this

Circle magic is a method of creating a ring-shaped engine using the heart as a medium.

However, there is no law that the medium must be the heart.

The magic book only described how to create a circle, but it did not limit the medium.

It means that there is no particular problem even if you use other mediums.

If so, wouldn’t it be possible to use the revolver’s chamber as a medium?

Mana forms a loop through the rotating chamber, and if it can create a circle…

‘A gun can use magic.’

A sword, a staff, and a bow.

The gun will proudly take its place as a magical weapon that could never be climbed.

That too, with far better effects than conventional weapons.

Kiyiing-

Magical power rotates along with the chamber, and soon forms a loop.

The flow of magic power was not smooth because it was using a medium outside the body, but the gun barrel made of mixed steel strongly held the mana that was about to scatter.

Since ancient times, unlike swords and bows, it was impossible to use guns as artifacts.

This is because the efficiency of injecting mana is too poor due to its inherently complex structure.

The fact that I was able to infuse even simple superpowers like ‘enhanced bullets’ was possible because my powerful mana control was backed up by a revolver with a simple structure.

But not now.

The barrel and chamber are organically connected through a circle, and magic power is directly circulated.

If my calculations are correct, the potential of this revolver will exceed the effectiveness of existing artifacts.

The ring created in the chamber was interlocked with the ring in the heart, and a formula was inscribed on the artifacted gun barrel.

‘Acceleration’, ‘Penetration’, and ‘Explosion’.

It was a structure of superpowers commonly referred to as a ‘bunker buster’.

bang!

The moment the gun went off, I could feel it.

That the bullet that passed through the barrel reacted to the spell that had been engraved.

pong-

Tukkwaaang–!!!

“Hey!?”

“·······.”

The bullet that penetrated the surface of the water exploded exactly 5 seconds later.

Not only was the spell engraved accurately, but the power was almost equal to that of a torpedo.

Seeing the water droplets rising and pouring, joy rose in my heart.

“You. Fur clothes.”

“Yes Yes?”

“You did well.”

“ah···?”

He put down his revolver and turned around.

It wasn’t just one or two things I wanted to research.

If he could embody it as a complete skill, he might be able to raise the level of his weapon skill a few steps higher than he is now.

“Mister!”

“Don’t call me that.”

Also, the title that had bothered me from a while ago was also corrected.

“I am Yujin Kang, the professor in charge of Helios Academy’s ‘Great Mathematics’.”

“Wow. You’re a professor. Somehow~”

“And I’m still 37.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not uncle.”

“At 37, you’re a complete man-“

“·······.”

“It’s a bit young to be called – hahahaha…”

I’m glad I got to know you.

I’m not yet 40, but I didn’t want to be called uncle.

She shyly scratched her cheeks, then laughed while covering her mouth with both hands.

why.

“Funny old man.”

“I-“

“Okay~ I won’t call you Mister.”

“·······.”

She laughed for a while, but before long, the same smile as the first time appeared.

Ensia came up to me with a flash of light, and made a flower with her unique bright glow and put it on my coat.

“I’ll come find you next time?”

“You don’t have to-“

“Can’t you throw it away? It’s so precious~”

“ha···.”

It didn’t seem like he would listen to me, so I turned around.

This time she didn’t even come after me.

“See you, Professor!”

Behind her, her voice dissipated in a low voice.

*

30 minutes away from the lakeside.

It seemed like a long walk when I went in, but when I came out, it didn’t take long before I could see the outside.

In the middle of the whole view of Helios in the distance, I saw Sam, who was restlessly warming a bonfire nearby.

The forest keeper, who had been talking a lot, raised his head at the feeling of presence, and when he saw me coming out of the forest, he smiled and approached me.

“Ah Professor! Have you been?”

“Yes.”

“It took you two hours. Isn’t it easy? Finding a spirit vein.”

He smiled knowingly and patted me on the shoulder.

I walked away without looking back at him, and answered briefly.

“I found it.”

“Yes? What?”

“Young vein.”

For a moment, Sam’s face stopped smiling.

After buffering for 5 seconds, he said with a slightly hardened laugh.

“Ah… the professor even jokes…”

I silently pointed to my chest.

Looking at the white light flower planted there, Sam’s eyes shook like an earthquake.

“Snowfield flowers…?”

“Yes.”

“Could it be… Encia…?”

“We met.”

I met Ensia and went to the spirit vein of the forest.

As if that word was quite shocking, he was staring blankly this way as he stood tall.

“then.”

Before he came to his senses, he quickly left the place.

If Sam came to his senses, it seemed that he would be caught up in another hellish two-much talking with this topic.

“Gyo, professor! Wait a minute! Wait a minute, explain me…!”

Even when he came to his senses and chased after me, I didn’t stop.

Ignoring the voice behind me, I silently confirmed my next schedule.

‘…Is tomorrow a banquet?’

Tomorrow evening is the day of Altair’s banquet, which was invited by Estelle.

I was thinking about what to talk about, but I just came up with a good idea.

While touching the revolver with my fingertips, I organized the contents of the general lecture in my head.

I was thinking of going back to the office and improving the lacking parts.

“I’m a professor! Let’s talk…!”

don’t come