I headed for my temporary quarters on the first floor of the collapsed hotel building.
Calling it quarters was generous; all I had was a field cot set up in the corner of the half-destroyed lobby. But for now, having a roof over my head was something to be grateful for.
Thud.
The moment I sat down on the cot, all the fatigue I’d been holding back came crashing over me. I had been enduring it with [Indomitable Mind], but there was no helping the limits of the flesh.
‘Touch of Attunement.’
[Skill ‘Touch of Attunement (Lv.2)’ activates.]
“Whew….”
I used Touch of Attunement to lull the pain and exhaustion. Only then did my head feel a little clearer. At the same time, I sensed a delicate flow of magic power.
‘As expected, something’s different.’
When I first obtained this skill, the sensation was roughly limited to seeing the flow of magic power.
But now it was different.
[Stabilizing the target’s bioenergy.]
“Urgh….”
The magic power flowing through my body, my blood vessels, even my nervous system—all of it was drawn inside my mind like transparent piping.
It was so delicate that I could even feel the trickle of that incredibly faint, crude muddy water. It was the mana flow of an ordinary unawakened person.
‘…Wait.’
Out of curiosity, I raised the skill’s output a little and forcibly probed that narrow waterway.
‘A little more… deeper.’
Rumble.
A faint resistance came from my fingertips. It felt like forcing open a blocked meridian.
[Reconstructing the target’s energy flow.]
The power of [Reconstruction], the trait of Lv.2, was touching the clogged circuits of my body.
Zap—!
“Hup.”
In that instant, a prickling heat surged from deep in my lower abdomen, up my spine, and all the way to my brain. At the same time, I felt the muddy water that had been trickling along temporarily quicken in speed.
‘Don’t tell me….’
I stared blankly down at my palm.
Magic power (魔力), or mana.
The power that the mages of this world were said to be born with, or acquire through training so grueling it carved into the bone.
I had naturally assumed I had no talent for it… but that sensation just now had been unmistakable.
Just as I had attuned Seraphina’s body and forcibly opened her magic circuits.
What if I continuously poured this skill into my own body, with extreme precision? What if I could forcibly expand my clogged microscopic vessels?
‘Artificial mana awakening.’
It might not be impossible. The path others spent a lifetime training to open, I could simply dig through with a skill like an excavator.
My heart began to pound. It felt as if my fatigue had vanished in an instant.
If I could pull this off, the options available to me might increase exponentially.
Beyond simply becoming stronger in combat…
That was when it happened.
As if they had been waiting, system windows poured down.
Ding—
[You have annihilated the Republic’s elite armored battalion with infantry brigade forces.]
[You have proven a new use for anti-aircraft guns and inspired allied morale.]
[You have defended Rosenheim, a key point on the western front, from the enemy vanguard.]
I calmed my trembling heart and stared into the air.
[You acquire a massive amount of experience as a reward.]
Ding!
[Your level has risen to 14!]
[You have acquired 1 new skill point.]
I’d been worried about what I’d do if I didn’t level up, but thankfully, that fear had been unfounded. As expected, wiping out a tank battalion was no ordinary feat.
But there was no time to savor it. Without delay, I opened the skill selection window. There was something more urgent than the joy of leveling up.
1. [Material Conversion]
Detailed Description: Consumes magic power to temporarily convert surrounding inorganic matter into specific consumables (ammunition, food, fuel, etc.). Converted materials return to their original state after 24 hours. As this skill’s level increases, its efficiency and variety increase.
2. [Parallel Processing]
Detailed Description: Divides the user’s brain processing into multiple segments, dramatically increasing processing speed. Vast amounts of data pouring in from [Mini-Map], [Status Analysis], and the like are automatically classified and interpreted in real time within the subconscious. Through this, the user can grasp the battlefield perfectly even in the midst of intense combat, without confusion caused by information overload. As this skill’s level increases, the number of thought branches (Threads) that can be processed simultaneously and the efficiency of calculations increase.
‘It’s this one, after all.’
Without hesitation, I chose number 1, [Material Conversion].
Until just a short while ago, it had been something beyond my reach. For someone like me, who had no magic power, it was nothing more than a flashy but useless fruit. But now the situation had changed completely.
Now that I knew I could awaken my body with [Touch of Attunement], this skill was no longer dead weight. The ability to self-supply materials on the battlefield—ammunition and food, no less—was literally no different from a cheat code.
Ding—
[You have acquired the skill ‘Material Conversion (Lv.1)’.]
[No magic circuits exist within your body. Skill efficiency is extremely reduced.]
The system window sent a warning message. It was exactly what I had expected.
‘If there’s no path, I just have to carve one.’
Sitting on the cot, I took a deep breath. My body had grown languid now that the tension had loosened, but my mind was clearer than ever.
‘Touch of Attunement.’
[Skill ‘Touch of Attunement (Lv.2)’ activates.]
I brought my right index finger to the inside of my left wrist, where my pulse beat.
[Reconstructing the target’s energy flow.]
I sharpened the flow of energy like a drill and drove it into my meager magic power.
Ripples spread across the river.
“Uuugh…!”
I forcibly swallowed the scream that tried to burst out.
It hurt. More than I had imagined. It was agony like scraping a bundle of nerves with a red-hot iron skewer.
[Warning: The forced opening of circuits is overloading the body.]
[Skill ‘Indomitable Mind’ prevents shock.]
“Haa, haa….”
Cold sweat poured down my forehead like rain. But I did not stop.
‘Just a little, just a little more…!’
As if breaking down a dam that had been tightly sealed, I forcibly widened each and every narrow waterway.
Snap. Snapsnap.
Something inside my body sounded as though it had broken. And through that gap, a definite flow emerged. My magic power, so faint as to have been practically nonexistent, was refined and began to circulate in proper form.
Whoosh.
It was a success.
With trembling hands, I looked around. My eyes landed on a broken piece of brick rolling on the floor.
I picked it up.
‘Material Conversion.’
The magic power inside my body drained away like the ebbing tide. Whether because it was only Lv.1, or because my circuits had only just been opened, the efficiency was awful. A draining weakness washed through my entire body.
But.
Clack.
In my palm, instead of a piece of brick, lay something cold and metallic.
[Target: 9mm Parabellum Round]
“Ha, haha….”
I laughed like a madman.
Dirt had become a bullet.
*
Several hours passed.
“Haa, haa….”
I breathed roughly. Barely managing to move my body, I collapsed onto the cot. My head felt as though it would split open, and the blood vessels throughout my body seemed to be screaming.
Even so, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my lips. Because I could see the results lying on the floor.
Things that had been nothing but pebbles and chunks of cement rolling around just a few hours ago.
Now they had become the supplies I needed most: 88mm armor-piercing shells, 7.92 rifle rounds, even high-calorie combat rations.
I carefully picked up one of the combat rations. It was a rectangular block crudely wrapped in foil. When I cautiously peeled back the foil, a dark brown solid was revealed. I smelled it, and surprisingly, it gave off the scent of cheap cocoa.
‘Can I really eat this?’
Surely it wouldn’t turn back into dirt inside my stomach. After a brief hesitation, I squeezed my eyes shut and bit into the block.
Chew, chew.
“……!”
It was dry and chalky, but it had a definite sweetness. The moment it went down into my stomach, I felt my belly grow full and energy begin to circulate.
“Huh. It really works.”
Letting out a hollow laugh, I tossed the remaining piece into my mouth.
I eat dirt and stone, and kill the enemy with scrap iron.
In other words, I had become a walking supply depot. Though mass production would be difficult due to my mana capacity, and there was a 24-hour time limit, on the battlefield, a single day was what divided life from death.
On top of that, if I kept widening my magic circuits with [Touch of Attunement], perhaps one day I might be able to supply the ammunition for an entire artillery battalion all by myself.
‘This is enough. No, it’s more than enough.’
I stroked the 88mm armor-piercing shell I had hidden under the cot. I had never imagined the touch of cold metal could feel this reassuring.
That was when it happened.
An urgent voice came from beyond the door.
“Captain! Captain! You need to come right away!”
So now it was the Republic bastards’ turn to crawl back in.
“Captain! The enemy’s main force has been spotted two kilometers ahead!”
I quickly shoved the products lying on the floor into my pack. Twenty-four hours. Before these things turned back into lumps of scrap iron or dirt, I had to drive them into the bastards’ hearts.
“Let’s go.”
I answered briefly and left the quarters.
It was already dark outside. But the sky over Rosenheim was as bright as midday. It was because of the flares the enemy had fired up, and the flashes of artillery fire that had begun raining down from afar.
Ruuuumble!
The earth trembled. This was on an entirely different scale from the tank cannon fire earlier.
“They’re 150mm howitzers! Those bastards brought artillery in earnest!”
I turned on the mini-map. Red dots filled my vision. As if the vanguard from earlier had only been an appetizer, a red tide was covering the horizon.
When I entered the bunker command post, sure enough, Brigade Commander Dietrich was hunched over the operations map.
“H-have you heard the report? Two divisions…. There’s an infantry division following behind the armored division! This… this can’t be stopped.”
His voice trembled. Well, telling one brigade to stop two divisions was practically a suicide order.
But my calculations were running differently.
‘There’s nowhere to run.’
If we retreated from here, it would be open ground. We would only become prey for the armored units. Rather than that, our chances of survival were higher if we holed up within the ruins of this destroyed city and raised our spikes like hedgehogs.
“Brigade Commander.”
I drew a line on the map with a red pen.
“They’re in a hurry. The essence of blitzkrieg is speed. If they fail to take Rosenheim, their supply lines will lengthen, and their advance will slow.”
“Who doesn’t know that! But we don’t have ammunition, or manpower….”
“We just need to buy time. Until they exhaust themselves and detour, or until allied support arrives.”
I looked around. At the terrified staff officers.
‘Captivating Speech.’
[Skill ‘Captivating Speech (Lv.3)’ activates.]
“We have already created a miracle. The night is on our side. Tanks are as good as blind in the dark.”
I filled my voice with certainty.
“Rosenheim is no longer a city. It’s one giant mousetrap.”