WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

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◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈

Chapter 27: The Maid’s Breathing Technique

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Blood spurted from Kalik’s severed neck, then soon subsided.

The entire elite scouting unit of five, including a Sword Expert, had been wiped out.

But I had no time to savor the victory.

Nen’s breathing against my back was horribly thin and ragged.

“Hans... I can walk...”

“Stay still. I’ve only given you first aid. You can’t move yet.”

I quickly gathered the scattered fragments of Magic Armor Fabric and Reinforced Mana Threads into my subspace.

‘All of this can be repaired. I can’t just leave behind things I worked so hard to make.’

This would also erase any trace that I had used magic.

They would not be able to tell how they had been killed.

If these were Kran scouts, another surveillance party would pass through here before long.

‘I don’t have time to waste.’

Nen’s condition was worsening by the moment, so too much movement would be harmful.

‘I can minimize the shock if I travel with Seam Connection.’

A spell that could be used even while carrying Nen on my back.

I had modified the formula myself because I hated wasting mana more than anything.

Thanks to that, it consumed far less mana than classic spatial movement magic like Blink.

[Seam Connection] [Seam Connection]

With every step, I severed the lingering traces of mana as perfectly as though cutting them away with a blade.

It was troublesome, but I had to erase the traces to avoid being tracked.

A short while later, I arrived at a secluded crevice along an uninhabited mountainside.

The entrance was so narrow that I had to squeeze myself through.

Fortunately, beyond it was a small natural cave large enough for two people to lie side by side.

Hidden by bushes and rocks, it was a perfect hiding place that could not be spotted from outside no matter how hard someone searched.

‘This will do.’

I carefully laid Nen on the ground, then quickly drew a concealment magic circle at the entrance.

‘Let’s make sure this place can’t be seen from outside.’

I had to be wary not only of Kran scouts, but also the demon beasts that had reportedly been appearing often lately.

‘I can’t be interrupted while treating Nen.’

[Seal Concealment]

A formula that went beyond visual concealment, deflecting even detection magic that sensed mana flow or presence.

[Reversal Swamp]

And if someone entered despite that, their mana would flow backward, leaving them unable to use their strength.

Tzzz! Tzzz!

I took several lower-grade mana crystals from my subspace and used them as the cores of the magic circles.

‘This should be enough for now. I need to treat Nen.’

That was when something unusual caught my eye.

Inside my subspace.

I had glimpsed it while taking out the mana crystals.

‘Huh?’

The mysterious gray orb I had taken from the hidden room beneath the collapsed bedrock in the Count’s underground cave.

It had been a useless object, no different from scrap metal, completely dried out without even a trace of mana left inside.

But it had changed.

Like water gathering again in a dried-up spring, a faint but unmistakable presence of mana had filled it.

‘What? Why did mana suddenly appear in it?’

And there was quite a lot of it.

It was truly strange.

‘Could it be that it refills on its own over time?’

I could not be certain yet.

Whatever the reason, if mana was accumulating in that mysterious orb again, I could not ask for anything better.

‘I’ll examine it later.’

Saving Nen came first.

In the meantime, Nen had lost consciousness.

I carefully pulled aside the torn upper half of her maid uniform.

The wound along her side, where Kalik’s sharp aura had passed directly through her, was clean from the earlier treatment.

‘Fortunately, it hasn’t gotten worse.’

I had stopped the bleeding and prevented her life from slipping away.

But what came next was important.

[Third-Tier Orthodox Magic: Healing Light]

Fwoosh!

A healing formula created by ancient mages through countless trials and errors.

It was proven magic that rapidly restored even depleted vitality.

I did not particularly like it because it took a very long time to cast and consumed a great deal of mana.

‘Still, its effect is certain.’

There was no choice.

I did not have enough time to devise a more efficient formula right now.

[Healing Light] [Healing Light]

Only after casting it three times in succession did Nen’s condition visibly improve.

‘I’ve cast such a burdensome spell repeatedly, yet I still have plenty of mana left.’

About half.

I had fired off quite a few spells getting here, yet this much remained.

It was thanks to the immense mana core I had gained through third-tier mastery.

Spent mana naturally recovered with rest.

If I wanted to recover it quickly, I could draw a mana reflux magic circle.

‘Should I rest for a while?’

Nen would now make a complete recovery if left alone.

But something was strange.

‘Wait. Her injuries have healed, but...’

The flow of mana was unstable.

‘Her mana keeps scattering. Could her core be injured?’

Physical wounds could be healed relatively easily with classic orthodox magic like Healing Light.

But injuries to the core were almost impossible to treat that way.

‘If her core is damaged, she may never be able to use mana again...’

Unlike mine, which was located in my heart, Nen’s mana core was below her navel.

I carefully placed a hand near it and examined her mana signature.

‘Fortunately, the core itself is intact.’

But there was something wrong with it.

‘The mana signature keeps scattering, then gathering again.’

The source of mana, which should have remained firmly fixed in one place and steadily accumulated, was failing to hold its form.

For an instant, the core would open perfectly and form delicate strands of mana.

Then it would suddenly blur like smoke, until the core itself nearly vanished.

It existed like mist, then scattered without a trace, over and over in a bizarre cycle.

‘...My God. Could this be a mutant core?’

A rare constitution said to occur in one person out of several million.

A cursed circuit in which the mana core did not remain fixed, instead drifting as it repeatedly opened and closed.

‘A normal mana breathing technique is actually harmful for someone with this constitution...’

At that moment, Nen opened her eyes.

She looked as though she could not believe it.

“What happened? It hurt so much that I thought I was going to die, but now it doesn’t hurt at all.”

Nen looked up at me with eyes filled with both wonder and confusion.

“The fact that your wounds have healed is not what matters right now. Has your mana often scattered even in the past? Did it feel like it would not gather in one place and kept dispersing on its own?”

“H-how did you know that?”

Nen’s eyes widened.

“And whenever you produced aura, it must have always hurt as though your bones were being pierced.”

“How do you know that? You’re right, Hans. The more I trained, the worse it became. I only thought it was because my talent was inferior to everyone else’s.”

“Not at all. Your mana core is unusual, not inferior. If anything, it’s the opposite.”

I firmly cut her off.

“If someone with mana as unusual as yours tries to accumulate it through a normal mana breathing technique, the symptoms I described will appear exactly as they are. The more you train, the more painful it becomes. Eventually, you will reach a clear limit, and your entire circuit will break down.”

“Then what should I do?”

Nen looked at a loss.

“Who taught you the breathing technique?”

“Thanks to Count Valderk and Lady Ellen’s consideration, one of the household knights became my instructor and taught me the breathing technique. Lady Ellen wants to make me a knight someday.”

I nodded.

No wonder Nen’s combat ability had seemed unusual. She had been training as a knight.

“For an ordinary person, that knight’s breathing technique would have been helpful enough. But Nen, for you, that formula was poison.”

“Then... can I no longer hold a sword?”

Nen asked with despair in her face.

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.

“No. We only need to rewrite the formula. From now on, I’ll create a custom breathing technique that perfectly suits your body.”

“What? You’re going to create a breathing technique?”

Others would faint from shock if they heard that, but it was not such a great task to me.

Of course, it was not work that could be completed in an instant.

I had to understand and remember every variable without missing a single one: the irregular movements of Nen’s drifting core and her constantly changing mana signature.

Without Absolute Memory, this task would have been impossible from the beginning.

“But first, you need to trust me, Nen. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

Honestly, it would be difficult to believe.

I decided to leave the choice to her.

“If it hadn’t been for you today, I would have died anyway. I’ll trust you.”

Nen nodded with a determined look in her eyes.

“Good. Then you need to forget the breathing technique you learned before. From now on, breathe as I instruct.”

“Yes.”

Nen closed her eyes.

In that moment, blue mana burst from my fingertips.

It transformed into threads and wrapped around Nen’s entire body like a cocoon.

Tzzz! Tzzz!

If her core drifted like mist and changed its cycle?

‘Then I just need to find the warped gaps, create a calculation formula that fits them exactly, and stitch it in.’

I would perfectly cut away the pile of inefficient calculations and remake them in my own way.

The process itself was thrilling and enjoyable.

But I could not simply enjoy it.

Nen’s fate was at stake.

I had to be cautious and give it everything I had.

With all my strength, I stitched Nen’s internal circuits one stitch at a time.

How much time passed like that?

At last, a unique breathing formula, the only one in the world made solely for Nen, was complete.

“Whew... It’s done. All the work is finished, so try breathing now.”

“Yes.”

Nen immediately began to slowly breathe in and out along the pattern of the formula I had newly created.

Her mana, which had been drifting and trying to scatter.

The new breathing formula gently caught its flow and precisely settled it within her core.

“...Ah!”

Nen’s eyes flew open.

“I can’t believe it. It doesn’t hurt at all. My mana isn’t scattering, and I can control it perfectly, as though it’s part of my body. No... My body suddenly feels so light that I could fly.”

Nen trembled with emotion.

It was the shiver of someone who had experienced a miracle.

‘Of course.’

I smiled in satisfaction.

‘It somehow turned into the finest breathing technique.’

One that only Nen could use.

An incredible stroke of luck had come to her.

‘A breathing technique suited to Nen’s unusual core... It’s going to demonstrate tremendous power.’

Only the breathing technique had changed, yet Nen’s presence felt more than twice as powerful.

There was no telling how strong she would become in the future.

“Hans...!”

Tears welled in Nen’s eyes, and she suddenly prostrated herself before me.

“The grace you have shown me today is greater than that of the master who taught me. You saved my life when it was falling apart. From now on, my life belongs to you.”

“Get up. Why are you suddenly bowing to me? We’re both commoners, so let’s not do this.”

Flustered, I quickly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up.

But Nen’s gaze remained firm without the slightest wavering.

“Right now, I have no choice but to go to the Imperial Capital because I serve Count Valderk and Lady Ellen. But I promise you this. If you call for me someday, Hans, I will come to you no matter where you are or what the circumstances may be.”

“You don’t have to go that far.”

I scratched my head, swallowing my embarrassment.

I had only done a small favor for the person who had sincerely helped me while I was at the Count’s estate.

In part, I had also satisfied my intellectual curiosity.

‘There’s a certain pleasure in seeing a formula turn out well after revising it.’

In any case, only after confirming that Nen’s condition had completely stabilized did a question arise.

“But what happened? Didn’t you leave for the Imperial Capital with Lady Ellen? Why were those people attacking you?”

Nen hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“...The truth is, Lady Ellen left me behind in Rowen. The stated reason was that I should settle the estate’s remaining business, but...”

She quietly looked up at me.

“She told me to find you in secret.”

“Me?”

“Lady Ellen knew that you had escaped the underground prison safely, but she still could not put her mind at ease. She told me to watch over you secretly if you were somewhere in Rowen. And if you permitted it, she hoped you would come to the Imperial Capital with us.”

It seemed that Lady Ellen had worried about me greatly.

“But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find you.”

Naturally.

I had returned to the cave and was training again.

And even when I went outside occasionally, I wore Jeron’s face.

“I was about to leave for the Imperial Capital alone, but the signs of war spread too quickly. I was helping because the estate staff had become busy, when the Count summoned me yesterday. He told me this place was dangerous and ordered me to go to the Imperial Capital and protect Lady Ellen.”

Nen’s eyes turned cold.

“On the way, I encountered a Kran scouting unit. I saw them cut down my master with my own eyes.”

“Your master, you mean that knight...”

“Yes. The person who taught me swordsmanship and mana breathing techniques. I couldn’t just pass by. But that person was too strong...”

“Wait.”

I cut off Nen with a gesture.

‘Deeper in the cave.’

Bloodlust.

Nen sensed it as well.

Her expression immediately hardened as she turned toward the depths of the cave.

A hole buried in darkness.

Something was secretly crawling out of it.

‘Was something like that in here?’

I had focused only on sealing off the outside and neglected the inside.

Sliiide...

A body as thick as an adult man’s thigh.

Gray scales.

A cloudy membrane where its eyes should have been.

Its forked tongue licked the darkness.

‘A demon beast...!’

The encyclopedia in my head immediately supplied the answer.

[Pogona]

It was not particularly strong.

In terms of demon beast tiers, it was a lower-grade demon beast near the bottom.

But there was something to watch out for.

‘Poison.’

That creature used mana to create and spew poisonous mist.

This narrow cave was the perfect hunting ground for it.

Sssss...

Sure enough, a hazy poisonous fog began to leak from Pogona’s mouth.

“I’ll take care of it, Hans.”

Nen rose while drawing her dagger.

She positioned herself as though trying to shield me with her back, determined to repay my kindness.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already dealt with it.”

I spread out the Magic Armor Fabric and pushed aside the poisonous mist.

Slice.

A single thread thinner than a hair crossed the darkness.

Pogona’s neck, scales and all, fell without a sound.

Nen’s eyes widened.

“That’s amazing.”

“It may not be much, but it is a demon beast that uses poison, so you must not approach it carelessly.”

I erased the poison on the Magic Armor Fabric with mana, then gathered it into my subspace along with the Reinforced Mana Threads.

‘Huh?’

Then I glanced into my subspace.

The gray orb.

Its mana had increased slightly since earlier.

And it had happened just now.

‘Again?’

It was strange.

‘...Could it be?’

Just as something in my mind was about to click into place.

Sliiide...

From the darkness deeper within the cave,

another presence stirred.

Nen gripped her dagger with a tense expression.

“I think there are more demon beasts inside.”

“Perfect timing.”

“What is?”

“There’s something I need to confirm.”

To see whether my guess was correct.

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