The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family Chapter 110 : Chapter 110

Chapter 110

There was nothing especially remarkable about the basics of magic.

What mattered was how one used mana and the Mana Circuit. In the end, magic was manifested through the hands or other parts of the body, and since my mana was condensed in my heart rather than my dantian, I could send it coursing through my entire body more quickly.

Turning mana into magic was not particularly difficult either. That was partly a characteristic of Hand-Sign Magic, but because I had been training with my own unique mana-based ntal Cultivation thod, it was much easier to apply.

In other words, even without consciously trying, I could scatter mana the way blood already spread throughout the body with each beat of the heart.

Is this what people call genius?

A talent bestowed by the heavens.

My body had changed after reincarnation, and it felt as though it was being transford into a body perfectly optimized for using mana.

I did not know whether Dilen had originally possessed this ability before I reincarnated, or whether it appeared right after reincarnation. One important thing was certain: I could recognize this ability, and I could use it.

“It isn’t hot at all.”

I looked down at the fla clinging to my finger. It felt warm, but it did not feel as though my flesh were burning.

Just in case, I picked up the sheet of paper lying beside . Then I held the fla to it.

WHOOSH!

The paper caught fire.

“So it isn’t an ordinary fla.”

It was only about the size of a candle fla, but it ignited things far faster than ordinary fire. The paper flared up in an instant, as though I had touched it with a torch.

“First, I should morize the hand signs.”

The key to Hand-Sign Magic was gathering mana at the fingertips and then completing the Formula as though drawing a picture. To do that, not only did the movents have to be exact, the amount of mana accompanying them had to remain constant as well.

It looked complicated, but once you understood the chanism, it beca simple.

You just had to follow the prescribed thod.

So people might say this. If you beco stuck in a rigid mold, will that not keep you from improving?

That was true.

But what I was trying to do now was not to increase its power or improve it. I was learning it, so what mattered was following it exactly as it was and making it my own.

“If I could alter the Formula a little or adapt it to my own style, it feels like the power would increase or its form would change.”

The ideal would be Non-Hand-Sign Magic. In other words, manifesting magic exactly as I envisioned it without forming hand signs at all. But it seed I still had so way to go before reaching that level.

“Hoo.”

I blew on my finger, and the spark clinging to it went out. The rising smoke made it feel even more like a real fla.

But I did not have ti to sit around admiring it.

Once again, I drew mana from my heart, dyed my finger blue, and began forming the hand signs.

Hummm, huummm!

The best way to make any knowledge or thod truly one’s own was repeated practice. I kept flicking my fingers, honing the ‘Flint’ spell.

Snap!

Had I done it around a hundred tis? By now, I could produce a fla on my fingertip much faster.

At first glance, the ‘Flint’ spell looked completely useless, but that was far from the truth.

There were not many good tools for starting a fire here. In the mansion, I could tilt a candle to light sothing, but outside, I would have to use flint.

Fire was also necessary when exploring dark places like caves or dungeons, so there was absolutely no harm in learning this spell.

If it could spare that trouble, it would be extrely convenient.

Especially for soone like , who still had to do nial chores from ti to ti.

And so I continued lighting flas on my fingertip.

How much ti had passed like that?

“At this point, I could do it with my eyes closed.”

The ‘Flint’ hand sign was now completely mine.

I had not yet grasped its principles or possible applications, but I still felt proud that I had properly mastered a spell.

That only made more fascinated by mana as an energy source.

If everyone had been able to sense mana, and if the Twilight of Mana had never occurred, allowing magical civilization to continue developing, what would the world have beco?

Even so passing mutt could probably draw hand signs with its tail and cast Fireball.

“All right, then the next spell is......”

Just as I was about to turn the page of the spellbook, I heard a knock. I frowned. I had specifically warned that brat Arthas about this.

“Attending Secretary. You have a visitor.”

I closed the book, stood up, and opened the door myself.

The visitor was Arwen. My irritation eased a little. Since it was Arwen and not anyone else, that was probably why he had inford .

“What is it?”

“Ah, well. It’s nothing much......”

She seed awkward, so I opened the door wider and gestured for her to co in. Arwen smiled faintly and stepped inside.

“What is all this?”

She was startled by the changed scene. There had not been all these books scattered around until this afternoon, so she could hardly help being surprised.

“They’re spellbooks. They’re a gift for Young Master Prah. I ordered them earlier when I went outside the mansion.”

“How fascinating. This is my first ti seeing a spellbook!”

Excited like a child, she happily opened the books one after another. Apparently, she had not heard the rumor that these were ant for Young Master Prah.

As Arwen turned them this way and that and tried reading them, her shoulders drooped.

“This is boring. It’s too hard.”

“Hahaha. Of course a spellbook wouldn’t be easy.”

“Is that so?”

There was nothing in them she could understand. At the very least, only soone capable of controlling mana would be able to comprehend them. Even so, I did not stop her from leafing through the spellbooks.

Then Arwen noticed one spellbook lying open on the table and flinched.

“So you were reading this. Did I interrupt you?”

“Not at all. I was just bored, so I was reading a little.”

“What about your travel fatigue?”

“I’m fine with this much.”

Riding in a carriage was not as easy as one might think. For a modern man like , used to comfortable cars and subways, it had been my first experience of hell.

But I had directed mana into my backside, my vestibular organ, and the muscles of my back, so I had felt almost no fatigue.

As a result, I had enjoyed the journey as comfortably as a passenger riding first class.

“By the way, what brings you here so late at night? Did the Young Lady ask for ?”

“It’s nothing like that. I bought sothing earlier when I went to the Comrcial District.”

She held sothing out to . Looking closer, I saw that it was a bracelet. When she held it out again, it beca clear that she was not rely showing it to . She was offering it to .

“They say it brings you good luck if you wear it.”

“If luck ca just from wearing sothing like that, everyone would be wearing one.”

I grumbled, but I still accepted the bracelet Arwen offered . When I put it on, it did not feel bad at all.

“Thank you. I’ll wear it well.”

“Next ti, let’s go out and have fun together.”

“By the way, how was your date with Arthas?”

“A, a date?!”

Arwen’s face turned bright red as she jumped in surprise. Teasing her really was fun. I grinned and shrugged.

“It did not look like Arthas disliked you.”

“It’s not like that! Please don’t say things like that anywhere else.”

“All right. You’re touchy. Go and get so rest.”

Though she still looked a little reluctant, Arwen left the room, perhaps feeling sorry for disturbing any longer. I ran my fingers over the bracelet she had given .

Around my neck hung the Protective Charm Young Lady Sapiela had given , and around my wrist was the bracelet Arwen had given . So all that was left now was a gift from Eluna, was it? An anklet would be a little uncomfortable, so a ring would probably be just right.

“......Enough with the Premature Expectations. I should get back to studying.”

As I sat down at the table, I once again offered my gratitude and respect to the Reincarnation Truck. Then I opened the spellbook I had been reading earlier.

The next spell was ‘Warmth’. Judging from the explanation, it seed to be a spell that infused warmth.

My eyes glead as I devoured the book.

***

I stayed up all night. I simply could not fall asleep. Magic was like a ga. The more I did it, the more desperately I wanted to keep trying.

The problem was that the more mana I consud, the more my stamina ran dry as well.

I spent the night using mana, replenishing it with my ntal Cultivation thod, and repeating the process until morning ca.

“This is bad. I’ll have to ride in a carriage for a while today. I’ll be lucky if I don’t doze off.”

I still could not use mana to suppress drowsiness. Since I was not normally the type to get by on little sleep, I was a bit worried, but there was no use crying over spilled milk now.

To summarize it simply, I had learned the ‘Flint’, ‘Warmth’, and ‘Fire’ spells.

When it ca to the dream of Fire Magic, it was naturally Fireball. But I still needed a little more training before I could reach the Fireball spell. Flint and Warmth were support spells rather than offensive ones, while Fire was a Fire Magic spell with rather ambiguous usefulness.

When I ford the hand signs, a fist-sized ball of fla appeared in midair. That was all the Fire spell did.

When I first succeeded in casting it, it had felt truly wondrous and exhilarating, but now that I could use it with ease, I could not help but start wondering what practical use it actually had.

“Well, there’s no harm in learning it. It has to be useful sowhere.”

I was learning the principles of hand signs and their applications quickly enough that, if I broadened my knowledge by consulting other spellbooks, things would probably beco easier soon enough.

The problem was the amount of mana I could actually draw upon.

With my current ntal Cultivation thod, I could gradually increase the amount of mana I possessed, but it did not seem as though it could keep up with the speed at which I was learning.

To put it plainly, I could use the ‘Flint’ spell dozens of tis without putting any strain on my heart, but using the ‘Fire’ spell just a few tis made my heart pound and left drained. If I went on learning higher-level spells like this, I would undoubtedly hit my limit very quickly.

It was obvious that all of these problems stemd from one thing: my absolute amount of mana was insufficient.

If I wanted to use more magic for longer, I would have to find a new ntal Cultivation thod. That was why I had decided to read books related to ntal Cultivation thods tonight.

That was why my eyes were shining even though I was tired.

“Good morning, Mr. Brituang.”

“Yes. Co in.”

Before starting work, I went to find Brituang. There was no Training Officer here, but he had told to receive my work instructions from him.

“We’ll be having many visitors starting today, won’t we?”

“People are already flooding in, trying to arrange appointnts. As of this morning alone, three houses have already sent word before you even ca to my room. Yesterday, ten houses expressed interest.”

Brituang pointed to the desk as if to show off. There were exactly thirteen letters lying there.

Before coming to the Royal Capital, I had morized the nas and histories of the many houses that had built up power there. So even while looking at the letters, I felt neither surprise nor novelty.

Instead, I quickly finished my analysis by pouring mana into my eyes.

“You’ve already sorted them to so extent.”

“How did you know?”

“Most kingdoms divide rank according to the hierarchy of duke, marquis, count, viscount, and baron, do they not? The top row contains letters from viscount houses and baron houses, the middle row contains letters from marquis houses and count houses, and the bottom row contains letters from ducal houses.”

And then there was one letter placed slightly apart from the rest. The luxurious paper adorned with a golden design deserved separate ntion.

“And there is also a letter from the royal palace. Morata. I have heard that na before. It is a very special invitation sent by the Third Prince.”

“Hahahaha.”

Brituang nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Indeed. Just as the rumors said. You’ve read them very well. Then let ask you this. In your opinion, whom would it be best to et first?”

It had been a while since I had heard such an interesting question.