Anagin Chronicles Chapter 47

Chapter 047. Magic (2)

Magic.

A mysterious power that uses Yeom—human desire, wish, will, and ntal strength—to manifest one’s thoughts into reality.

It was so mysterious that even his talented master said he didn’t really know much about it.

‘Honestly, I think he was bullshitting….’

Anyway, what mattered was that Sphinx had offered to teach them magic.

“Can you really learn sothing like that so easily?”

It wasn’t a bad offer, but Anagin voiced his doubts first.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Sphinx; he just didn’t think magic was sothing you could pick up that easily.

He’d already seen the magic used by the Harpy Witch and her disciple. Magic definitely didn’t seem like sothing anyone could learn on a whim.

“Of course it’s hard. But so kinds of magic can be learned easily.”

“Can be learned easily, huh…. What kind of magic?”

“You shout out your technique nas every ti you fight, right?”

“…Not every ti.”

"But you do shout them, don't you? Why do you shout them?"

“Because it looks cool.”

“…….”

Sphinx made an awkward face, as if she hadn’t expected that answer.

"Well, it also seems like the power gets stronger."

“That’s right, exactly that. You threw off for a mont.”

“That’s magic? shouting my technique nas?”

"Yes, it can be called a type of magic. The shout itself contains the desire for the power to beco stronger. Besides that, the hoeing of a farr who diligently farms every day, hoping for a good harvest, can also be magic, and a craftsman pouring his heart into creating an exceptional piece can also be magic ... Magic isn't necessarily sothing only a special few can wield."

“Hmmm…….”

Anagin humd and nodded.

It sounded plausible enough.

Magic was based on Yeom, and Yeom was the manifestation of human desire and will.

‘So that’s why he made shout out the technique nas?’

Anagin recalled his past.

Whenever he sparred with his master, he would steal and use his master’s techniques one by one. And every ti, his master would smack him and shout:

‘Shout the technique na! Shout it! Loudly!’

‘How am I supposed to do sothing so embarrassing!’

‘Embarrassing your master? Are you ashad of your master?!’

‘Yes!’

‘Shouting your technique na is cool! I’ll convince you!!’

His master earnestly convinced him with both fists, and in the end, Anagin was convinced. After getting beaten so soundly, shouting the technique nas really did start to feel kind of cool.

“Mister, why’s your face like that?”

“I just rembered sothing from the past. Anyway, you were saying you’d teach that kind of magic… huh?”

Anagin trailed off as he noticed Kori and Pais, who had approached at so point.

Both siblings had eyes sparkling with excitent—the prospect of learning magic thrilled them.

Sphinx warned them gently.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. I’m not teaching you so grand magic. All I’m teaching you is a spell that helps you throw stones a little more accurately.”

“That’s still great!”

Pais shouted energetically.

His older sister, Kori, asked eagerly:

“How do we use magic? Do we chant an incantation?”

“Chanting is a reliable thod, but chanting a spell every single ti you sling a stone is inefficient. Magic doesn’t always require an incantation.”

It was news to Anagin too, but he found it reasonable.

He didn’t shout the nas of all the techniques he stole from his master, after all.

Footwork, defense, grappling—he never gave nas to the things he used constantly. His master didn’t shout out the na of a technique every ti he moved either; even he thought that would be too embarrassing.

Sphinx raised her index finger.

“The important thing is to focus your mind and form the image in your head. The image of the stone flying straighter, the image of the stone hitting its target.”

The siblings nodded in perfect sync.

Sphinx picked up a stone, closed her eyes for a mont, then opened them and threw it with full force.

Bang-!

The stone flew with surprising force—far too strong for her delicate arm—and struck directly on top of the stone Anagin had thrown earlier.

“Whoa! The power got stronger too!!”

Pais gasped in admiration at the force of Sphinx’s throw.

"Did you cast a magic that makes the power stronger too, sis?

“Of course.”

Sphinx grinned as she answered.

Then her eyes t Anagin’s.

“…….”

“…….”

“…So? How was it?”

“You go pick up so stones too.”

* * *

Training always has an order.

Anagin told the overly excited Pais and Kori to pick up stones first. And Sphinx, too, while they were at it.

“Then give sothing to carry the stones in. You two grab one as well.”

The three took sacks from Anagin and went off to gather stones.

It was tiring work that ate up a good chunk of ti, but perhaps because they were excited to learn magic, the siblings collected stones even faster than before.

Sphinx’s help surely contributed too.

Whatever the case, once Kori and Pais quickly recovered the stones, they imdiately resud training.

“Let’s start with ditation. So you can push out other distractions and focus solely on the stones.”

Sphinx taught them a ditation technique to improve concentration.

Not mandatory, but she said increasing concentration was more effective for using magic.

Kori and Pais believed her and started ditating, and soon after, they held stones in both hands and imbued them with Yeom.

Not that “imbuing” ant much—it was just focusing the image they had in mind onto the stone.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh-! Thwack!

The stones missed the target, similar to before.

Anagin asked Sphinx:

“You’re sure they can learn magic like that?”

“It’s not certain. Magic is a field that requires talent, too. I’m only showing the path; the one who reaches the goal depends on their own skill. There are people whose desires are strong but still can't use magic."

“So how do you know if they’re actually learning it properly or not?”

"If they learn it properly, Yeom will be felt from the stone."

“When does that happen?”

“When those kids actually learn magic. Until then, you won’t know. Whether they’re learning it properly or not.”

“Hm, feels kind of irresponsible.”

“That’s just how the study of magic is. But isn’t it fine? Even if they don’t learn magic, practicing like this will improve their throwing anyway.”

“Well….”

Since it wasn't a wrong thing to say, Anagin didn't say anything further.

Improving the siblings’ slingshot skill was the original goal. As long as that goal was achieved, anything was fine.

Learning magic would be ideal, but even if not, improving their throwing skills was still a good outco.

More importantly…

"That thing called Yeom. It's sohow similar to a muscle."

Anagin used what he’d learned from Sphinx to deduce the nature of Yeom.

It required talent, but also repetition and training. The more you used it, the stronger it beca—like a muscle.

Not surprising at all.

It was similar to how diligence worked.

A diligent person stayed steady even when facing difficult tasks; soone who wasn’t diligent couldn’t endure even easy ones for long.

“Right, think of Yeom as a ntal muscle. Concentration, willpower, ntal strength…. People who’ve used them more are better at them, right?”

“It must consu a lot of stamina.”

Once his deduction was confird, Anagin imdiately voiced another.

The hood of Sphinx’s robe rustled.

“That’s true as well. The more you use Yeom, the more ntally fatigued you get.”

No sooner had she said that than Kori swayed.

“S-sorry. I just… got a little dizzy…….”

Kori insisted she was fine, but her complexion said otherwise. She was feeling sothing like anemia—a wave of ntal exhaustion. It wasn’t because she had practiced throwing over a hundred tis.

“Is that a side effect of using magic?”

“I don’t know if she actually used magic, but she definitely concentrated too hard. The mind isn’t infinite. She just needs to rest a bit. Don’t worry too much.”

Sphinx answered while checking on Kori.

Kori, startled, tried to insist she was fine.

“I-I’m fine. I was just dizzy for a mont—”

“—Rest.”

Anagin cut her off firmly as she tried to stand.

If Sphinx, who was a mage, told her to rest, then she should rest.

“B-but…….”

“Did you forget the promise you made with ?”

“Promise…?”

“You obey everything I say. No matter how unreasonable the order.”

“Ah….”

Kori let out a small sound.

But then she gathered her courage and spoke.

“B-but if I rest, that ans… we have to stay here, right? Because of us.”

She was referring to what Anagin had said before training.

If they couldn’t hit the X-mark, they wouldn’t move on.

Naturally, Kori didn’t want to cause that to happen.

She knew better than anyone that the two of them, being children, weren’t much help. But to beco a burden on top of that… she hated the thought.

“Why does that matter? We can just camp here. Are you upset because the bedding’s uncomfortable?”

“…N-no. It’s not that.”

“Then what? You afraid I’ll abandon you?”

“…….”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do it like that. If I ever decide to throw you kids, away, I’ll tell you properly. I’ll say I’m abandoning you because you’re useless.”

Anagin spoke harshly—blunt to the point of cruelty.

But because he was so direct, Kori strangely felt relieved. There was no hidden aning to guess at or intentions to interpret; she could just take his words as they were.

Anagin continued.

“What’s urgent right now isn’t the ti. It’s you two being able to pull your own weight. So don’t get stubborn for no reason, just do as you’re told. If I say train, you train. If I say rest, you rest. If I say eat, you eat. I’m not accepting complaints. Got it?”

“…Yes, thank you. Then I’ll rest for a bit, and once I’m okay again, I’ll practice.”

Kori finally let go of her nervousness and complied.

Anagin nodded and then looked toward her younger brother, Pais.

He hadn’t even asked, but Pais answered vigorously:

“I can keep going! If I get tired, I’ll rest!”

He sounded excited, but Pais clearly understood what Anagin ant.

When Anagin nodded, Pais resud his practice.

“Pinku-Pinku. Keep an eye on the kids for a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

“To catch sothing for lunch and dinner.”

Anagin spoke based on Pais and Kori’s condition and what he’d learned about magic.

He couldn’t tell if the two brats were actually using magic or not, but their stamina consumption had definitely gone up. It didn’t seem like they’d be able to travel today.

Maybe they’d have to stay here for a while….

“You sure about this?”

Sphinx asked.

She ant: was he okay with wasting ti like this, when he was normally so driven?

“It’s not that urgent anyway. I’ve got sothing I want to practice too.”

Sphinx tilted her head, not understanding what he ant.

Anagin left her there and slipped into the forest.

Once he’d gone in deep enough, he looked at his right hand and focused his Energy.

Pa (pa), the technique of concentrating Energy to one part of the body.

In that state, Anagin tried using Ek (ek) again, the technique he saw and used in his fight with Paia.

Ssssss….

He felt the Energy in his hand slowly release in a form sowhere between light and smoke.

It wasn't particularly difficult. After all, he had seen it once, been hit by it once, and used it once.

But sothing felt off.

It was like he had imitated the outer form but hadn't established the inner substance. After sparring with his master, his master would explain the imitated technique in detail, allowing him to establish the inner substance, but unfortunately, he couldn't do that with Energy.

He probably needed to find soone who could teach him about Energy properly.

He rembered what the late old man had told him: Practitioners don’t freely teach one another how to handle Energy. You have to pay a heavy price, or have connections, or sothing like that.

Back then, he’d brushed it off, but now it made more sense.

“Well, it’s not urgent anyway.”

Anagin gathered back the Energy he had released and sat down in a suitable spot.

Then, just as his master had taught him, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and entered ditation.

Within that ditation, Anagin replayed his fight with Paia and recalled the way he manipulated his Energy during the battle.

So that next ti… he could fight better.

* * *

Thwack!

Thwack!

The next morning.

Kori and Pais finally managed to hit the X-mark Anagin had carved into the tree.

“Big brother! Did you see that?!”

"W-we succeeded...!"

Whether it was thanks to magic or simply improved slingshot skill was unclear, but one thing was certain: the stones had hit the target accurately.

Which ant the two kids were now capable of at least protecting themselves.

“Hm. I think I can feel a faint trace of Yeom from the stones?”

Sphinx muttered this as she touched one of the stones that had struck the mark.

Pais reacted imdiately.

“T-then does that an we can use magic?!”

“Maybe…. But don’t get overconfident. This might be the limit.”

Magic is a profound study. Even if they could use magic, slingshotting might be their limit.

Just because they could handle Yeom didn’t an they could suddenly conjure fire or summon wind.

“So what do we do to learn those kinds of things?”

“You refine your talent through steady study and training. It’s not sothing you can do right away.”

Pais, who had been bubbling with excitent, showed a hint of disappointnt, but soon composed himself as if deciding to be satisfied for now.

Anagin also chid in. Whatever the case, they had succeeded in the slingshotting he had requested.

“For now, be satisfied with what you accomplished. You worked hard, too."

“Yesss…!”

Kori bead at Anagin’s praise.

But that smile vanished almost imdiately.

“Then finish the remaining 100 shots, eat, and we’ll depart.”

“…Huh?”

“I told you. Even if you hit it once, you still have to throw a full hundred.”

That’s right. Success wasn’t the end—they had to complete the full set of one hundred accurate throws. And they hadn’t yet.

“If you get sloppy, you start over from the beginning. I’ll be watching, so throw them properly. Sphinx, you handle the food prep. We leave after lunch.”

“Mister, I get the food thing, but we’re leaving right away?”

“That’s the plan. Even after we finish eating, the sun will still be up. You want us to just sit around doing nothing?”

Anagin wasn’t just firm—he was the kind of person who followed through with whatever he declared.

He stood behind the two and watched to make sure Kori and Pais threw properly while they waited for lunch.

By the ti they finished all their throws, Sphinx had brought the food. They ate quickly and imdiately began preparing to leave.

And of course, they didn’t bother cleaning up dishes or tidying anything afterward.

Maybe because of that—

Sphinx’s eyes and the eyes of Pais and Kori started to look strangely similar as they stared at Anagin.

“What?”