I Am The Anti-Mage

Chapter 104: The True Magic

Dal-soo stared at the Portal Gate that started to fade away. There was a young man in front of it, massaging his neck and shoulders.

“Oh! You’re still here. Then, see you later.”

Ji-woo waved his hand and walked away from the flustered Dal-soo. He didn’t care about what Dal-soo knew. He had already prepared for it.

“W-Wait!!”

Dal-soo tried to stop Ji-woo, who had almost left him behind. He wanted to know the reason why he was left alive. He also needed to confirm whether what happened in the Demon Ape dungeon was Ji-woo’s work.

Ji-woo didn’t mind the questions and answered leisurely.

“There’s no particular reason. Not that we’re fighting to the death at all. Let’s just say I’m teaching you a lesson for following me all day.

“For that, yes. The Red Crimson Hunter is me. So, the guild should return the armor set to Dong-hyun. He’s suffering from it because having a hard time finding a new set of armor for his hunt.”

Dal-soo clicked his tongue and opened his mouth again. “Why are you hiding the truth? Now, why do you seem unconcerned whether people know or not? Your decision to let me live might turn the tide against you. I could have opened my mouth for something worthy.”

Ji-woo wasn’t angry and instead looked at Dal-soo like he was looking at a moron. He was not interested in explaining the difference between his past and present attitude regarding his identity.

He gave a pretty simple answer. “You only have one Apex-ranked hunter. The rest are S-ranks and below. That means, even if my enemy is this country, it still can’t bring me to my knees.”

Dal-soo wanted to say a word of arrogance at Ji-woo’s claim. But, he quickly got stopped by his sudden realization that he, an S-rank hunter, couldn’t even do anything to Ji-woo. He couldn’t even force his opponent to go all out. It was a statement that some S-rank hunters were no match for Ji-woo at all. Accept it or not, the facts already got written in his head.

Because of those words, Dal-soo now considered whether Ji-woo was already on par with Hyun-bin.

“So, what do I have to worry about? Even if your mouth loses here and there, out of control, it’s fine. After all, if I get too irritated, I just have to separate people’s heads from the bodies of those who come to bother me. Like I said earlier, this country can’t stand against me.”

Dal-soo shivered at what Ji-woo said. It was a threat warning to those who come to Ji-woo for his identity matters. He gulped and continued his inquiry.

“Who are you!? Why did you join our guild?”

Ji-woo didn’t respond and walked away, leaving the place.

Dal-soo, however, gritted his teeth and stepped forward to catch up.

Ji-woo stopped in the street and turned around. “Sir!? You really want to take that sign of mercy off you, don’t you?” He spoke while giving off an Aura of Fear.

Dal-soo’s movements suddenly stop in place. At first glance, there was no apparent problem with him, but sweat was dripping from his forehead.

His breath and vision were still natural. But for some reason, he felt a solid pressure of fear overwhelm his heart. It was different from the pressure from the Mana Presence, which made the opponent feel heavy and breathless due to the difference in life gradation. And the most prominent thing about that fear was the Mana flowing in his body became chaotic and hard to control, as if it wanted to get away from Ji-woo.

In the next moment, he felt enveloped by darkness. All of his senses were blurry. It felt like Mana no longer existed in him. He widened his eyes and wanted to scream, but he couldn’t.

“It’s not like I’m causing harm to the guild. Don’t get too involved in my business and get out of the way if you don’t like me not answering your question.”

Ji-woo then withdrew the Aura of Fear.

And instantly, Dal-soo touched his whole body like he felt something was missing. He wiped the sweat on his forehead while looking at Ji-woo’s back that left him on the spot.

Ji-woo’s harvest at the tier-3 Portal Gate was extraordinary in terms of quantity. There were 19 Magic Crystals, 9 Magic Stones, and two Red Broadswords.

If he compared it to the price of 280 million won, it would mean that he already had almost half the money with the Magic Crystals and Magic Stones alone. The rest depended on whether the two broadswords could sell high or not to determine whether he lost or profited for the tier-3 Portal Gate. (note: 280 million won = around 237k USD)

On the other hand, he didn’t care about that. He intended to use Magic Crystals and Magic Stones for his purposes rather than being sold. Even though it might cost him materially, it didn’t matter. There were still things he had in the Hunter’s Association shop that had not turned into money yet.

Overall, the money problem could get managed for the time being. The matter Ji-woo could handle with his current situation was to keep entering the Portal Gate until he found the Sphere he was looking for. It would also increase his finances, which would indirectly strengthen his funds for creating an intelligence agency.

One paddle, two-three islands passed.

The next day, Ji-woo, as usual, helped his mother and met with Yu-jin and Dong-hyun at the food stall.

Elijah was thrilled to see the two of them again, whereas Ji-woo scowled on the side. He had told Dong-hyun and Yu-jin to come to the foot of the mountain first, to wait for him there.

Ji-woo took a deep breath. He, Dong-hyun, and Yu-jin excused themselves to Elijah after helping prepare the place.

At the training ground, Ji-woo stopped Dong-hyun’s short burst technique practice. He wanted to equate what he would teach next with Yu-jin.

He emphasized that the magic spell had to get mastered without having to get chanted.

Dong-hyun and Yu-jin shared that view, but Dong-hyun protested that it was something only high-rank hunters could do.

“Ouch!”

Yu-jin got surprised when she saw Dong-hyun get hit by Ji-woo on the head. From their movements, it seems that they were used to doing this. It looked very comfortable even in front of a stranger.

“Why do I always get hit in the head?”

Dong-hyun grumbled about his head but suddenly jolted from being glared at by Ji-woo.

“With Mana, you are able to create miracles. Your magic will be better because you make it yourself. Spell that matches your characteristics as well as your Mana capacity.

“The way you two use magic will probably lead you to your death later.”

Yu-jin narrowed her pretty eyes and Dong-hyun once again opened his mouth as if unhindered to refute Ji-woo before further explaining.

“How could that be?”

Ji-woo shook his head. These two hunters were really clueless about how they handled Mana.

“If someone stops you from casting a magic spell, how are you supposed to use your Mana? Use it to increase physical strength? What if it’s not enough and it requires you to use a magic spell instead. What will you do?”

Yu-jin and Dong-hyun had blank expressions that showed that they were still thinking about how to solve the problem, and there was no solution actually.

Ji-woo smiled wryly. “Magic is vast and has no limits. It only takes a little creativity from you. Then, magic will get created. And Mana exists to make that happen. Don’t get stuck in one way. It can’t get shackled with narrow thinking.”

Dong-hyun and Yu-jin sighed. They then exclaimed at the same time. “How!?”

“Feel your Mana carefully and thoroughly. Feel its every flow in your body. Then, cast an image of the magic you want to create and use.

“Use nature in harmony and adjust the Mana required for the magic.”

Dong-hyun and Yu-jin closed their eyes after being guided by Ji-woo. They try to do what they hear.

“Woah! Hyung! I didn’t make it!”

“Ouch!!”

Another hit on Dong-hyun’s head.

“Did I say it would be easy? All I’m saying is a foundation to get there, not a shortcut to it. You need to do it over and over again. You also need to stop thinking about the magic spells you learned from the Skill Page.”

Yu-jin and Dong-hyun began their independent practice while being watched by Ji-woo. Their movements looked strange because of the magic that didn’t come out at all after they did the magic spell posture.

“Remember to feel your Mana first!”

Ji-woo sometimes yelled at them every time he sensed the flow of Dong-hyun, and Yu-jin’s Mana became a little bit irregular.

“Try to use the magic spell from the Skill Page. Then hold the magic in your hands. Then move it according to what I said before about magic without chanting.”

Dong-hyun and Yu-jin’s eyes brightened at the advice. It was the same concept as elemental bending.

Of course, it didn’t work right away. Dong-hyun and Yu-jin have tried many times and have failed too.

Suddenly, there was a burst of uncontrolled fire.

“Oh, I did it!”

Dong-hyun’s face turned green with an envious look at Yu-jin. He was sulking because he should have been the first one.

Meanwhile, Ji-woo on the side didn’t get impressed at all. It was still far from the actual implementation of magic.