Kera let Zeldryn stay silent and digest his explanation for a while.
The satisfied smile was still visible on the man's face.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Do you understand now, stupid brat?”
Zeldryn, who had been looking down this whole time, finally raised his head.
He looked at Kera.
“Almost...”
“Hmm?”
Zeldryn still had one question.
One thing that still hadn't truly been answered.
“Actually...”
He frowned slightly.
“What happens if someone has too much mana?”
Kera watched him.
Zeldryn continued,
“Would they just pass out?”
“Because that night...”
He remembered the pain he'd experienced again.
“After the pain just kept going, I eventually only lost consciousness.”
“And when I woke up...”
Zeldryn looked at his own body.
“I was actually healthy.”
“...”
Kera remained silent.
Zeldryn raised one hand.
“You know, before that night, my body still had a lot of injuries.”
Bruises.
Marks from being beaten.
All kinds of pain that had previously filled his body.
But when he woke up...
Everything was gone.
“When I woke up in the morning, all of my injuries had suddenly healed.”
Zeldryn looked at Kera curiously.
“Can feeling or absorbing mana for the first time heal injuries or something?”
“...”
Kera smiled.
His expression looked like that of someone who knew far more than he was saying.
But of course, Zeldryn had no idea what was going through his head.
Kera finally answered,
“Well...”
“Having too much mana is extremely dangerous, you know.”
He raised his hand again.
“Imagine a balloon.”
Zeldryn watched him.
“You keep filling the balloon with air.”
“More.”
“It gets bigger.”
“And you keep filling it even when it's almost reached its limit.”
Kera slightly spread both hands apart as if showing something expanding.
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“Once it goes past its limit...”
He looked at Zeldryn.
“What happens?”
Zeldryn immediately answered,
“It explodes?”
Kera pointed at him.
“Gotcha!”
“...”
Zeldryn fell silent.
Then...
!!??
‘Wait.’
If that was the case...
“Huh?”
Zeldryn immediately asked again,
“Then why didn't I explode that night?”
Kera raised an eyebrow.
“I kept absorbing mana, right?”
“If having too much mana really makes someone like a balloon that keeps getting filled until it explodes...”
Zeldryn pointed at himself.
“Why did I only pass out?”
“Even after I woke up, my body was completely fine.”
“...”
Kera stared at him.
Then smiled again.
“Good grief...”
He shook his head.
“You really ask a lot of questions.”
“...”
‘Is that a problem?’
Kera casually shrugged.
“How the hell should I know?”
!!??
Zeldryn frowned.
Kera continued,
“Was I standing beside you when it happened that night?”
“...”
Zeldryn fell silent.
‘Fair enough...’
At least from what Zeldryn knew, Kera had only appeared in his room that morning.
He had no idea what the man had been doing the night before.
Kera then pointed toward the tree that had already become the victim of Zeldryn's small explosions several times.
“Enough, enough.”
“You can already use mana to make explosions now, right?”
His relaxed smile returned.
“Do what I told you.”
“Blow up that tree.”
“...”
Zeldryn could only sigh.
“Hufft...”
At least some of his questions had already been answered.
Even though there were still many things he didn't understand.
“Fine.”
Zeldryn turned toward the tree again.
The black marks from his previous two explosions were still clearly visible on its trunk.
This time, he didn't want to think too much.
He focused his vision.
Yellowish-golden mana particles once again filled his sight.
‘Start.’
Zeldryn selected one particle.
Then...
Six.
Eight.
All of them moved according to his will.
“...?”
Zeldryn paid slight attention to his body.
Earlier, when his Mana Hole had felt dry, even controlling this many had felt quite heavy.
But now...
It was different.
He continued.
Ten.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
Only then did the Mana Hole beneath his navel begin to fluctuate slightly.
‘Hmm?’
Zeldryn remained focused.
Fourteen.
All the particles were still under his control.
Then...
Fifteen.
“...”
Zeldryn began to hesitate.
‘Should I keep going?’
He still remembered what happened last time.
Fifteen had been the highest number he could control.
When he tried adding one more...
Sixteen.
His Mana Hole immediately felt as though something blunt had struck it from the inside.
He had even vomited blood.
The experience was still far too recent to forget.
‘If I keep going...’
‘Am I just going to make the same mistake again?’
Zeldryn gritted his teeth.
But his gaze briefly shifted toward Kera.
The man was still standing not far away.
He wasn't saying anything.
‘It's not like I trust everything this bastard says.’
Not at all.
But one thing was obvious.
Kera was training him right now.
And if Kera kept telling him to create a bigger explosion...
There had to be a reason.
At least Zeldryn hoped so.
‘Damn it.’
He focused his mind again.
Fifteen particles were still under control.
Then...
Sixteen.
!!??
Zeldryn immediately tensed.
His body had already prepared itself for the pain.
His Mana Hole felt heavy.
Extremely heavy.
But...
“...?”
There was no sensation of being struck by something blunt.
No blood rising into his throat.
No sharp pain like before.
Heavy?
Yes.
Far heavier than fifteen.
But...
‘I can still do it?’
Zeldryn's eyes widened slightly.
He even briefly glanced toward Kera.
Kera didn't react.
He didn't look surprised.
He didn't tell him to stop.
The man simply watched.
“...”
‘What's going on?’
Zeldryn was genuinely confused.
‘Why can I control sixteen now?’
His gaze returned to Kera.
‘Shit.’
‘That four-eyed bastard definitely knows something.’
But Kera remained silent.
‘Bastard.’
There was no point waiting for an answer from him.
Zeldryn focused again.
If sixteen was still possible...
He tried adding another.
Seventeen.
“...!”
The weight immediately increased.
But...
Still possible.
‘Damn.’
Zeldryn felt his Mana Hole continuing to fluctuate.
But there was still no pain like when he had truly crossed his limit.
He continued.
Eighteen.
Then...
Nineteen.
Zeldryn's breathing began to grow heavier.
“Hah...”
But all of the particles were still moving according to his will.
‘There's progress...’
He didn't know what caused it.
But the limit he had known earlier had clearly changed.
Zeldryn continued adding more.
Twenty.
Then...
Twenty-one.
“Ugh...!”
Zeldryn's body tensed.
His Mana Hole fluctuated much more violently.
His head began to feel heavy.
Controlling all of those particles simultaneously required far more concentration.
And this time...
Zeldryn recognized the sensation.
‘Enough.’
There was no need to wait for the pain to come.
There was no need to try a twenty-second particle just to make sure.
Twenty-one was his current limit.
At least...
That was what his body was telling him.
Zeldryn wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice just because he was curious.
‘That's enough.’
He gritted his teeth and maintained control over all twenty-one particles.
Then...
Zeldryn directed them toward the tree.
One by one, the particles moved toward the same point.
Closer.
Gathering.
Tighter and tighter.
Twenty-one mana particles gathered at one spot on the trunk that had already been blackened by his previous attacks.
Zeldryn focused his mind.
‘Now...’
And...
BOOM!
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