REAPER SCANS
Mr. Magical Girl
[Translator – goguma]
[Proofreader – ilafy]
Chapter 17: Is That What Your Teacher Taught You? (1)
After moving the unconscious Abin, who was frothing at the mouth, to a corner, I took a moment to watch Sihyeon as she lay on the floor with her eyes closed.
I gave her a second, thinking it might be her unique way of concentrating, but it didn’t seem that way at all. Instead, she began twisting and turning her back in odd directions.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for my magic wand.”
‘I wouldn’t have made Abin go through all that if you could find it so easily whenever you wanted.’
“If you’re trying to find it, you need to exhaust more of your powers. Bottom out your mana, then trace where it’s coming from.”
‘It should take her about two weeks to find it.’
While most magical girls used their wands as weapons, a good number, like the three of us, had our wands inside our bodies. If I had to estimate, the ratio would be roughly 6:4.
However, if a magical girl did learn to detect the magic wand within her body, her strategic options drastically increased.
Not only would she be able to lift the wand’s limiter and force herself to learn spells she normally couldn’t, but she could also materialize it into a weapon.
While locating their magical wands was important for future training, it wasn’t something that had to be done immediately.
Still, if she was that eager to find it, I figured I might as well give her some advice. That way, I wouldn’t need to come up with lessons for her for at least the next two weeks.
“Source of mana… around the waist… exhaust mana…” Sihyeon’s voice cooled as she calmly recited my advice in a murmur.
She was talented, and her fighting style wasn’t bad either. ‘I should start by teaching her small techniques like this before moving on to—’
“Found it, Master!”
What the hell was she saying? It hadn’t even been five minutes, and she already found it? “You found it?”
“Yeah!”
Shocked, I immediately placed my hand on Sihyeon’s waist. “Try pouring mana into your wand.”
“I don’t know how!”
“It’s similar to the way you materialize your weapons. Think of it as being outside of you, and pour—”
Poof. Thump.
With a soft, cute sound, a silver wand materialized out of thin air and dropped to the ground. The simple, round silver stick, lacking any decorations, rolled away from us on the training room mat.
“Is that really your magic wand?” I asked.
“Probably? The mana source I felt in my body disappeared.”
Had it been ten minutes? Ten minutes to detect it, imbue mana into it, amplify it, and materialize it?
Just ten minutes, despite the fact that most magical girls aren’t able to find their magic wands, no matter how many times it was explained, until they retired?
If all magical girls were that talented, the Association would need to rewrite their basic curriculum. They would take the time to ensure every magical girl could detect their magic wands, just as I had suggested.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to say at that point. Even calling her a “genius” didn’t seem fitting. What could I possibly teach her?
“Master, look over here. I can change its shape however I want!” She seemed to be having a lot of fun effortlessly changing the shape of her magic wand like putty in her hands, but my worries only grew.
Seriously, what was I supposed to teach her?
* * *
"Normally, your brain is constantly protected by mana. This is because exposure to the Otherworld’s powers can drive you insane if it affects your mind."
“Got it!”
"By giving up that protection, you can instead use mana to greatly enhance your brain's calculation speed. Once your mind becomes strong enough to resist the Otherworld’s powers, or if they’re not present…"
“I&#!can’t#sto$*$%talk%&$ng!” Sihyeon started speaking rapidly, jumping around in every direction as she talked. “Wha!^&the$$Ah^*ah.”
She couldn't control herself due to her accelerated calculation speed. While the issue would naturally resolve itself once she got used to it…
I quickly grabbed her and whispered something into her ear. “Imagine mana coating your brain. Your skull is made of mana; it’s a hard skull that can deflect everything.
“Ha^%H%mm… I stopped it!”
Her learning speed was unbelievable.
It was instinctively difficult to lower the defenses protecting your brain, but she did it in an instant. Not only that, she mastered every small technique I taught her in mere seconds, effortlessly making them her own.
It was as if she had known them from the start, but there was a small problem…
"So, what did you do?" I asked.
"I just did it."
"There’s no way it’s that simple. Also, why can’t you control it?"
Maybe it was because she was learning things too quickly, but she was missing critical components of everything she learned.
"Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be? More importantly, teach me other stuff!"
“After we figure this out.”
She started waving her magic wand around to show her frustration but quickly sent it back as soon as I shot her a glare. “Let’s try this again. Try slowly trickling mana into the magic wand inside of your body to amplify it.”
“Leeeeeeeeeek.”
I placed my hand on Sihyeon’s back when she made a strange sound. Was it because she had already been able to materialize it before? She easily located her magic wand without much concentration.
When she began to channel a weak amount of mana into her wand to amplify it…
Poof—
With a cute sound, the magic wand reappeared.
Thump. Clatter clatter—
The sound of her silver wand rolling on the floor echoed in the quiet training room.
I thought I was going to lose my mind. “How are you able to materialize it when you're failing at the previous step, amplifying it?”
“I don’t…” Sihyeon awkwardly scratched her head as she went to pick up her wand.
“Amplification is a useful technique to learn. Even a small amount of mana can be amplified to incredible levels, and in emergency situations, it allows you to squeeze out an immense amount.”
When on the verge of death, amplifying the little mana you had left could be enough to turn the tide.
“If it’s that good of a technique, why doesn’t the Association teach it to everyone?” she asked.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - goguma
Proofreader - ilafy
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* * *
When I thought about it, she had been good at telekinesis from the start. I initially thought she hadn’t received basic training from the Association because of that, but it turned out she’d received lessons for a week.
“The first reason is that it’s difficult to learn.” I swiped her magic wand from her hands. “Second, it’s dangerous.”
Running my fingers along her wand, I felt its structure. While it was flimsy compared to my hammer, it was still sturdy enough to withstand my mana at least once.
“Watch carefully.”
“Okay!” Even though I took her magic wand from her, she kept laughing happily, as if she were enjoying the situation. I didn’t know why, but she seemed to trust me a lot.
Even if she was a fan, shouldn’t there have been limits?
“Hrgh.” With a quick grunt, I drew out my mana and circulated a large amount within as I clasped my hands together, trying to squeeze out every last bit.
A small amount of mana, no larger than a fingernail, escaped my palm and struck the silver wand. If I had circulated 500 mana, only 1 managed to escape my body. As always, my conversion rate was less than 1%.
Thud—
The amplified mana escaped my control and struck the floor, causing the training room to rumble while the mats on the floor sprang up.
“What? What’s going on?” Abin woke up from the noise.
Sihyeon watched me with sparkling eyes, as if she had just seen something incredible.
“That’s why amplification is dangerous,” I stated.
“Isn’t that incredible, though? If such a small amount of mana became that strong…”
Every power came with a price; amplification was no exception.
“Where’s the magic wand?” I asked.
“Inside my body.”
“What do you think would happen if mana exploded inside of your body like that?”
“Obviously, I’d die? Ah…!”
“Exactly. If you make a mistake, you could die. Even if you survived, the damage to your body wouldn’t be negligible.”
It was a double-edged sword that could leave someone with permanent damage, even if they won.
“In this day and age, it’s much better to use the mana you have efficiently than it is to learn something like this. That’s why the Association doesn’t teach it.”
In the first place, there weren’t many occasions where people were fighting with their lives on the line in that day and age. Most of the time, the powers they were given at the start were more than enough to reach the end of the story.
Due to the lack of real dangers, it wasn’t necessary.
“You need to learn it. You’ll be fighting an O-Rank.”
Fwip—
I tossed Sihyeon’s magic wand back to her. After catching it, she let out another strange shout before concentrating.
“What are you guys talking about?” Abin asked.
“An advanced technique that you don’t need to worry about yet.” Since it was a technique related to magic wands, she wouldn’t be able to practice it, even if I taught it to her.
More importantly, her last memory should have been of me breaking her back… and yet, she spoke casually and approached me without an ounce of hostility.
She was more quick-witted and open than I thought.
“Then what should I do?” she asked.
Since preparations to restore her magic wand hadn’t been finished yet, and there also wasn’t one available to transplant, the only thing she could do was…
“Go for a run. Run a lap around the city.”
“What?”
“It’s roughly 150km, so it should take you about seven hours. Go, now.”
“Huh?” Clearly shocked, her eyes widened, and she stiffened up, unable to understand why I had given her the assignment.
I provided her with additional explanations. “While people say it’s pointless for magical girls to train their bodies because they become fixed after transforming, that’s only true for non-physical types. For physical types, it might be slow, but it’s definitely beneficial. Go. Now.”
More accurately, it trained the flow of mana and helped you send mana more accurately and quickly to enhance the muscles needed for your movements.
“Can’t I also just… train my techniques here…?”
“You won’t be able to train anything because you aren’t able to draw out mana right now. Go for a run.”
“No way…? I should at least… huh?”
‘Of course you wouldn’t be able to draw out your mana.’
“It’s natural for you to not be able to right now. Go for a run.”
“Okay…” Surprisingly, she left obediently without complaining.
I expected her to disobey me or complain, but… that was surprising.
Watching her walk away with her shoulders drooped… it seemed like she was disappointed but had no complaints.
“You can take a taxi back when you run out of mana, so make sure to run.” Though she didn’t respond, I was sure that she heard me.
“Urgraaahhhhhh!” Sihyeon’s strange grunts filled the quiet training room once more.
Poof. Poof—
Her magic wand rapidly disappeared and reappeared in her hands.
A student who made weird grunts and another who despondently went for a run… Despite their reactions, neither of them complained or made excuses. They both listened to me.
While it could’ve been due to it being our first day together, it was still different compared to the people I’d exchanged techniques with in the past.
My old comrades, likely because they were proud of their own techniques, never listened to me. Thunder God, in particular, ran away, claiming it was useless whenever I tried to teach her something.
‘Thunder God?’ I suddenly had a thought. “Sihyeon, you can use lightning magic, right?”
“Yes! Urgagagargh. How are you supposed to do this?”
“You just need to force mana into it and amplify it. I have no idea why you can’t do it.” Why was she able to materialize her wand but not amplify mana?
Poof. Poof—
“I’ll try to figure it out today!”
“Yeah, good luck.” Based on what I was seeing, it was going to take her much longer. She was the type who approached things based on instinct and feeling rather than theory.
‘Still, lightning magic, huh?’ Since I couldn’t teach her anything about magic, it would probably be better to introduce her to Thunder God.
I wonder what she was up to. The last I’d heard, she had retired. Since we hadn’t been in contact since then, I had no idea what she did afterward.
‘I should ask the Association for her address later. There are more things I need to take care of now.’
Thinking about how I used to mindlessly laze around at home and only go out for extermination missions even just a few weeks prior, I realized I was spending my days much more productively.
I was no longer on my phone all day at home, waiting for my story to end. Instead, I was experiencing new things every day.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
‘Why are you making someone you’re supposed to fight stronger? Just half-ass it. No one will say anything.’ A deep corner of my heart asked.
Of course, I knew those days would eventually come to an end. Whether I defeated my student or she defeated me… the story’s ending was inevitable.
“Still, I don’t want to have any regrets.”
“What did you say, Master?”
“Nothing.”
‘Who knows? The two of us could be at odds with each other for eternity, with neither of us retiring from our stories.’
The ending of my story was a concern, but it would also become an issue for her to contemplate later.
What would happen to Sihyeon’s story if I retired? Would she be forced to be a magical girl forever, like me, or would she need to kill me, who would then be powerless, to complete her story?
I quietly imagined countless futures and eventually let it all go.
It was pointless.
‘Since when did we become heroes who looked to the future? Let’s concentrate on the present.’
I, as their master, would train my disciples to become strong; I, as the Black Marauder, would restore justice. There was no need to worry about what future it would bring.
“Master, I did it!”
“You didn’t amplify it. You just concentrated your mana. Do it again.”
Well, that was incredible in its own right.
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