“Fuck.”
Why is there an elephant in the training hall?
No, is that even an elephant?
It’s way fiercer than I thought.
Were tusks always that terrifying-looking?
If I get stabbed… no, if I get trampled, I’m dead.
Seeing the animal Yeon Haneul had pulled out of the hat, my thoughts spiraled into chaos.
That was how stunned I was.
‘I knew Haneul’s magic power was high, so I figured a big animal would come out of the hat….’
But I never thought it would be an elephant.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing that it had come out.
There was enough space in the training hall for one elephant.
If I thought about it positively, maybe I should be grateful it wasn’t a dinosaur.
Not that I knew whether a dinosaur could come out of the hat.
The problem was….
Pwooooooo!
“Why is that thing so violent?”
The elephant was rampaging like mad.
It reared up on its hind legs, swung its long trunk wildly, and let out shrieking cries.
And that wasn’t all.
Whoooosh!
“…!”
“Kyaaaak!”
It even lifted a weight-training machine with its trunk and suddenly hurled it at us.
My eyes flew open at the sudden situation, and Yeon Haneul screamed.
But my evasion instinct stayed silent.
Which meant it wasn’t dangerous.
Worried she might get hurt, I pulled her into my arms and kept my eyes fixed ahead.
The weight-training machine was flying right toward us.
At that very moment.
As if it had met a gentle headwind.
The speed of the incoming machine visibly decreased.
Hong Yena had used magic to stir up wind and slow it down.
“Why is it violent, you ask? Probably because the mana composing its existence is rough and aggressive by nature. It looks docile on the outside, but it’s got quite a temper, doesn’t it?”
“What!? I’m not like that! Gyeonu, I don’t have that kind of personality!”
“The witch is teasing you. It’s just that its nature is rough.”
“But it’s true that personality affects the nature of mana. Mana contains elements discussed in magic studies as part of the soul, such as the unconscious, memories, emotions, psychology, and personality.”
“Is now really the time to be saying that?”
Hong Yena moved the wind with a gesture of her hand.
She safely lowered the machine, which had been suspended in midair, to the floor.
But that didn’t mean we could relax.
Pwooooooo!
Because the rampaging elephant had spotted us.
It wasn’t just throwing things anymore; now it looked ready to charge straight at us.
“Shouldn’t we hurry and convert it back into mana!?”
“I’d like to. But that’s the hard part.”
“Can’t you just stop the artifact?”
“An animal that’s been taken out of the hat once is considered to exist independently from the artifact, so turning it off won’t help. The artifact has already stopped, too.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“The animal and the hat are independent beings, but the animal and the person who created it are consciously connected. So that person has to cut the path connected in their consciousness and return it to mana. The problem is… you said your name was Haneul?”
“Y-yes! That’s right, Yeon Haneul.”
“Do you think you can perceive the path?”
“….”
“There’s no way someone who doesn’t know how to handle mana could perceive it. Sorry, that was my mistake. I didn’t know you had such a vast amount of mana.”
“Is there no other way?”
“There is. Two, actually. One is to wait until that thing exhausts all the mana maintaining its existence. But from what I can see…. Your mana really does seem to be immense. If we wait, we’ll probably have to wait quite a long time. And if we let it rampage during that time, the damage will be considerable….”
“Ugh…. I’m sorry. Gyeonu, I’m sorry.”
“What about killing or subduing the elephant?”
“That elephant isn’t a truly living being. So as long as mana remains to maintain its existence, even if it dies, it’ll keep coming back until all that mana is exhausted. As for subduing it…. It isn’t impossible, but it’ll be quite the ordeal.”
“Ugh…. What’s the other method?”
“Forcibly cutting the path.”
Just then, the elephant’s foreleg came crashing down over our heads.
Hong Yena furrowed her brow and formed hand seals.
The barrier she deployed blocked the foreleg in midair.
However, unable to withstand the creature’s weight, cracks began to spread across the barrier.
“What kind of animal is that strong?”
“It isn’t a simple animal. Its existence is composed of mana, so it’s stronger than an ordinary animal, and it has a certain degree of resistance to magic. Even so… this is incredible. A wind barrier can’t block it, huh? Then if I add the water element to strengthen the barrier’s properties and durability, and use the earth element to attack and knock it over….”
“So what’s the method for forcibly cutting the path?”
“It’s simple. We knock her unconscious.”
“….”
She maintained the barrier with her right hand held out in front of her.
With her left, Hong Yena swept through the air.
The mana she manifested turned into water and seeped into the cracks in the barrier.
Then the barrier repaired itself and turned blue.
In that state, she continued speaking.
“Fortunately, the path is connected to a shallow layer of consciousness. Just diverting her awareness elsewhere would weaken the connection.”
“So you mean knocking Haneul out so she can’t perceive the path at all.”
“If we do that, the weakened path should automatically break, and this thing will return to mana. That’s the most effective method.”
Knock Yeon Haneul unconscious and cut the path.
As Hong Yena said, that was the only effective method.
And if we chose that method, I would have to be the one to knock Yeon Haneul out.
Because Hong Yena had to deal with the elephant.
‘…I guess there’s no helping it.’
“Gyeonu….”
Placing my hand on the Navy-Blue Sword at my waist.
I looked at Yeon Haneul.
Her red eyes were trembling.
Soon, as if resigned, she wore a bitter smile.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“….”
“I’m fine with just that. If anything, I hate causing trouble for you because of me.”
“….”
“So please. Knock me unconscious.”
In truth, that probably wasn’t how she really felt.
Even so, Yeon Haneul offered herself up.
I.
“…All right.”
Decided not to go against her wishes.
Since she had made up her mind, I made up mine as well.
I drew the Navy-Blue Sword.
The pitch-black blade reflected the light Hong Yena was casting behind me with magic, scattering a deep blue glow.
That light fell across her face.
“Haneul, it’s been fun.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll probably never forget the days I spent with you.”
“Uh… um, Gyeonu? Why are you talking like you’re about to kill me? You’re just knocking me out, right?”
“Go on ahead. I’ll follow you later.”
“Y-you’re joking, right? That’s what this is, right? Right?”
“To protect my family, this is the only way. I’m sorry it came to this.”
“Ah… that’s cruel. I trusted you….”
“I’m bringing the sword down. Close your eyes.”
“How could you…! Huh?”
It was a joke.
I only pretended to swing the sword down at Yeon Haneul, and instead hugged her tightly so she couldn’t slip away.
Then I pressed the back of her head down with my hand.
“…You weren’t trying to kill me?”
“Why would I kill you? I was just messing with you a little.”
“You really…. I hate you. I really hate you.”
Fooled by the motion of me swinging the sword down, Yeon Haneul had reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
Realizing the situation, she tried to lift her head from my arms.
I put more strength into the hand pressing down on the back of her head.
“Don’t open your eyes. Keep them closed.”
“….”
“Just stay still and listen to my sound. You can hear it, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Focus your consciousness on that sound. If you can’t focus, count the number of times my heart beats or something.”
“….”
The point was to divert Yeon Haneul’s consciousness.
If so, there was no need to knock her unconscious.
I just needed to shift her awareness elsewhere so she couldn’t perceive the path.
That was why I chose the easiest way to divert her consciousness.
I shocked her into thinking I had betrayed her, making her unable to perceive the path.
Then, to maintain that state, I pulled her against my chest.
‘Because she can see the elephant, she keeps thinking about it and perceiving it. So if I make her close her eyes so she can’t see the elephant, and have her count my heartbeat to shift her thoughts elsewhere….’
We can cut the path.
My prediction was right.
As I stroked her hair, I glanced behind me from the corner of my eye.
Pwoooo….
The elephant’s form was scattering.
It was being converted back into mana.
Before long, it vanished without leaving a trace, to the point where it felt like a lie that an elephant had ever been there.
Only then did I loosen my hold on Yeon Haneul.
Even then, Yeon Haneul kept her eyes tightly shut in the same posture as when she had been in my arms.
I spoke to her.
“The elephant’s gone. You can open your eyes now.”
“….”
At my words, Yeon Haneul opened her eyes and lifted her head.
Her pale sky-blue hair slipped down, revealing her face.
‘Is she mad because of me? That must be it, right?’
Yeon Haneul’s face was bright red, as if it might explode at any moment.
Her red eyes were brimming with moisture.
“Haneul, are you okay? Sorry, I took the joke too far, didn’t I? Even if it was to divert your consciousness….”
“175 times.”
“Huh?”
“It beat 175 times….”
“Uh, um… you counted well.”
“…Yeah.”
Yeon Haneul dropped her head again.
Then she said nothing more.
‘Is she crying, maybe?’
Seeing her like that made me feel sorry.
To apologize to her, I bent at the waist and tried to look up at her face.
“Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I’ll apologize properly.”
“No, don’t look. And don’t apologize. I’m not mad.”
“Then why won’t you look at me….”
“That’s… just because I don’t want to show you right now. Just a little. Let me stay like this for a little while.”
“Okay, got it.”
As if she didn’t want to show me her face, Yeon Haneul kept avoiding me.
I gave up on meeting her eyes and instead gently patted her shoulder.
Like that, I waited for her to calm down.
“While someone was struggling to hold it off, those two were flirting behind me. Honestly….”
Meanwhile, Hong Yena grumbled something while looking at us.
But because I was focused on Yeon Haneul, I didn’t hear it properly.
* * *
While Yeon Haneul was getting her emotions under control.
I had Hong Yena clean up the scene where the elephant had gone on a rampage.
“Why am I the one cleaning this up….”
“If we get technical, this happened because of your artifact, and you said earlier it was your mistake. So shouldn’t you take responsibility and clean it up, Lady Witch?”
“You answer back to every little thing, don’t you? Fine, I’ll clean it up.”
Hong Yena looked displeased.
But perhaps aware that she wasn’t entirely without responsibility, she eventually did as I said.
With a gesture, she stirred up wind and moved the machines that had been flung every which way back to their original positions.
Soon, I asked her.
“So how was Haneul?”
“…Considering the fact that she has enough mana inside her body to summon an elephant, that her mana efficiency is high enough to maintain its existence for a long time, that her mana resistance and cohesion are high enough to oppose my magic, and that her imagination and control are considerable enough to achieve such a high manifestation rate, when judged comprehensively….”
“….”
Hong Yena’s gaze turned to Yeon Haneul, who was waiting for her evaluation with a stiff face.
I caught a sparkle in Hong Yena’s eyes.
At that point.
I could guess what she was going to say.
“Yes, I’ll acknowledge it. You were born with the fate of becoming a mage. I’ve seen many people, but I’ve never seen a single person your age with talent like yours. Since demi-humans have genes different from their parents, the chance of inheriting talent should converge to zero… Is it because of the influence of the monster that serves as your base? Even so, to be born with talent that could make someone from a magical household look laughable is impressive.”
“Then….”
“You seem worth teaching. No, passing by after recognizing the talent of a child like you would be the same as ignoring the progress of magic itself. If anything, I’d like to ask you. So that one day, when you become a famous mage, I can ride your coattails even a little, may I teach you?”
As expected, I knew it would turn out like this.
It was the highest praise Hong Yena, who was strict about magic, could possibly give.
Yeon Haneul’s rabbit ears shot straight up at the praise.
Her red eyes flew wide, and she answered with a cheer.
“No! I should be the one asking you! Please become my master! Please teach me magic!”
“All right. I’ll pass on everything I know to you.”
Yeon Haneul bowed deeply.
Hong Yena’s expression softened, as if pleased by her answer.
I felt happy along with her.
Something good for Yeon Haneul was something good for me, too.
“That settles it, right? Then from now on…”
“I said I’d take Haneul as my disciple. When did I ever say I’d take you as one?”
“…”
“If you want to learn magic from me, you should prove your talent too.”
“Tch.”
And here I’d thought I could just tag along while I was at it.
So much for that.
I clicked my tongue briefly.
Hong Yena paid no attention to my reaction. She picked up the fallen hat and reactivated it.
‘Still, well… to be honest, I did want to check too.’
It was supposed to summon the animal most suited to one’s mana state. That was enough to pique anyone’s curiosity.
On top of that, in the game, the magical animal hat had only ever appeared as part of the background in Instructor Hong Yena’s research lab. It had never once been used.
As someone who had been a veteran player of the game in my past life, I was even more interested.
‘I wonder what’ll come out…’
I thrust my hand into the hat, which was filled with pure white light.
Soon, mana flowed out from my palm, mixed into the light, and began to gather.
I stirred it round and round until the sphere grew as large as it could.
Then, at a certain point, the sphere in my hand stopped changing.
The measurement was over.
As I pulled it out of the hat…
‘Go! I choose you!’
For a moment, unable to resist my inner child, I shouted that line.
Of course, only in my heart.
I was far too embarrassed to say it out loud.
In any case, when I threw the sphere—
Fwoosh!
The sphere of light that landed some distance away exploded with condensed power.
A dazzling radiance spread out in every direction.
“…”
A short while later, when the intensity of the light dimmed and my eyes began to adjust,
I could see a figure walking out from within it.
Thud!
A beast standing on four legs.
The animal, reminiscent of a lion, had what looked like a thick mane flowing around its head.
It roared.
Grrr!
A sound that seemed to make my knees go weak.
Hearing that sound,
I became certain of the animal’s identity.
‘…It’s a lion.’
It was definitely a lion.
To think I’d summoned a lion, the king of beasts.
Could I take this to mean I had talent for magic?
The corners of my mouth rose on their own.
However.
“Huh?”
When I confirmed the animal’s fully revealed appearance, my face twisted.
Kyurung?
“What the hell?”
Its body was definitely a lion’s, but its head was a rabbit’s.
* * *
“Well… you’ve summoned quite the bizarre animal.”
“Mm… It’s a very creative animal.”
“No, can something like this even come out? Is the artifact broken or…”
“It means your mana state wasn’t sufficient to fully manifest a lion.”
A lion with a rabbit’s head.
No, should it be called a rabbit with a lion’s body?
Just as Do Gyeonu had been flustered upon seeing the animal that came out of the hat, Hong Yena and Yeon Haneul could only be flustered as well.
Unlike their reactions, the indescribable animal let out a cry.
Kyurung?
“…”
Wagging its lion’s tail,
the rabbit covered in a lion’s mane tilted its head.
There wasn’t the slightest bit of dignity to be felt from it.
If anything, it made people laugh.
Pfft!
“Ah, don’t laugh. Yeon Haneul, I said don’t laugh.”
“S-sorry! But, you know… how am I supposed to hold back when it’s so funny!”
“It should’ve just been a rabbit instead. Why did that thing have to come out…”
Yeon Haneul and Hong Yena ultimately failed to hold back their laughter.
Whether Do Gyeonu looked disgusted or not, they burst into giggles.
Even so, Hong Yena observed the animal Do Gyeonu had summoned with a serious gaze.
‘The head is a flaw, but overall, its balance isn’t bad.’
If one overlooked the head.
The animal he had summoned possessed proportions suitable for a male lion.
It was clear that his mana-related abilities were distributed in a balanced way.
However, it was a little smaller than an ordinary male lion.
‘If the animal’s size is closely tied to the amount of mana inside the body, then he doesn’t have that much internal mana. Though it’s not quite low enough to declare it lacking either.’
The amount of mana within one’s body was something one was born with.
There were limited methods to increase it after birth.
In that sense, Do Gyeonu’s internal mana capacity was at a level that would make it difficult for him to become a great mage.
‘Well, from what I’ve heard, he doesn’t intend to switch over to being a mage, so it can’t really be called a problem. It’s not a bad level for using magic as support for swordsmanship.’
Hong Yena assessed Do Gyeonu’s potential in that way.
To be honest, it did not satisfy her.
‘If he’s only going to learn magic to support his swordsmanship, then not only I, but others could teach him as well. For me, it would also be better to focus only on Haneul. Even so, if there’s a merit to teaching him…’
It was that the animal’s fur was white.
Hong Yena focused on that point.
‘A white rabbit… no, a white lion?’
The color of an animal’s fur was an indicator that revealed which element a person had an affinity for.
Water, considered one of the representative general elements, belonged to the blue系. Lightning was yellow, fire was red, wind was green, and earth was brown.
And among the representative special elements, darkness belonged to the black系, while light belonged to the white系.
In Do Gyeonu’s case, he possessed a high affinity for the light attribute.
‘If Haneul has an affinity for the darkness attribute, then this child has an affinity for the light attribute.’
There were not many people with affinities for special elements.
And yet, by an extraordinary coincidence, Hong Yena had met children who each possessed an affinity for light and darkness.
That made her hesitate.
Because they possessed affinities for attributes she had yet to master.
In particular, she was currently traveling the country in order to deepen her understanding of the light attribute.
‘If I teach those two, I might be able to increase my understanding of both the light and darkness attributes. And from what I saw while watching Haneul briefly, if I say I won’t teach that child, she might take back her decision to become my disciple…’
Having thought that far, Hong Yena reached a conclusion.
She spoke to Do Gyeonu, who was pinching Yeon Haneul’s cheek.
“Hey, did you say you wanted to learn magic to support your swordsmanship?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“At that level, I suppose I can make some time to teach you while teaching Haneul. Fine, I’ll teach you. You’re rather middling, but it doesn’t seem like you have no talent at all.”
“Ah, really? Thank you. I’ll be in your care from now on.”
At first, she had thought he was a child with the arrogance unique to those born into prestigious families.
But seeing how he had used his wits to turn Yeon Haneul’s attention, he did not seem like a purely self-righteous person.
And so, Hong Yena decided to teach him as well while she was at it.
‘Since he’s a child with a high affinity for the light attribute, he might even become capable of skillfully handling the five general elements too. Though that depends entirely on how hard he works.’
And so,
Hong Yena accepted one disciple and one student.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss