Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Pardon?”

Was it because it was so different from what he had expected?

Gerard could not immediately understand his master’s words.

“I mean exactly what I said. This child has no talent as a mage.”

Humans possessed innate qualities from birth.

Mana Sensitivity, the ability to sense and move mana.

Mana Affinity, the ability to accept mana into the body.

If even one of these failed to reach the average, one was judged unable to become a mage.

And Dalfred had judged Zeke’s talent to be below average.

“My child has no talent as a mage? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I could not believe it at first either. But it is true. Even when I infuse mana into him, his body cannot accept it at all. In other words, his Mana Affinity is zero.”

“I cannot believe that! I will confirm it myself!”

Gerard personally infused mana into Zeke’s wrist.

Then the mana that should have flowed along his blood vessels scattered under an unknown force, and at some point, it vanished completely.

“What? Wh-What is this?”

Startled, Gerard infused mana into him again, but it was useless.

Every time he infused mana, it failed to remain in the body and disappeared.

“You see? I told you it would not work.”

“How could this be...?”

“It must be because his body rejects mana itself.”

“Th-Then can he truly not become a mage?”

“How could he form a Circle when his body rejects mana?”

Unable to accept the unbelievable reality, Gerard infused mana again.

No matter how many times he repeated it, the result was the same.

Before the unchanging reality, Gerard’s pupils trembled.

“Th-This is impossible...”

He had been wondering how great the child’s talent would be, yet his son had a body that could not accept mana?

The greater his expectations had been, the greater the shock.

It was only natural, since all of Gerard’s children had been born with talent for magic.

Dalfred looked at his dejected disciple with pity in his eyes.

“Even in a prestigious magical family, there are rare occasions when a child fails to inherit talent. Unfortunately, it seems your youngest son falls into that category.”

“Master. Is there no way?”

“Well. This is my first time seeing such a case as well...”

“A child of a prestigious magical family cannot become a mage... How could such a thing...?”

Unlike Gerard, who sank into gloom over the bleak result, Zeke was simply grinning.

He had not expected his stats to rise so easily.

[The absorbed mana will be converted into a random stat.]

[Recovery has permanently increased by 1.]

[You have reached the amount of stats that can be increased in one day.]

[You can no longer increase your stats.]

‘This is incredible, is it not? To think I can raise my stats from infancy.’

Apparently, the mana of this world qualified as the “mana” his system referred to.

As long as he could obtain the mana that had just been infused into him, he could become stronger than before.

He could also raise his achievement level to 9-Star and awaken his 2nd Skill.

‘As it turns out, Mana Absorption is an amazing skill, is it not?’

In his previous life, he had considered it a garbage skill because he could not absorb mana, but now that was no longer the case.

As long as he had an environment that supported mana absorption, this skill could only be absurdly powerful.

‘There is a limit of one stat per day, but even that is more than enough.’

A smile naturally formed around Zeke’s mouth, but Gerard could only look at him with worried eyes.

***

‘This little fellow. Smiling without knowing anything. Do you even know what kind of situation you are in?’

Looking at his youngest son, who was smiling brightly, Gerard inwardly sighed.

He had already been born at a disadvantage in the line of succession as the child of a concubine, and now he had no talent either.

It was obvious he would be looked down upon by his siblings as he grew older.

‘If he at least had magical talent, he could have secured his position within the family...’

It was regrettable, but it was not something to despair over completely.

After all, he was only a baby of a hundred days.

‘Perhaps his talent has simply not bloomed yet...’

As he looked at Zeke reaching out toward him, Gerard tried to think positively.

Perhaps knowing her husband’s feelings, Dana, who was beside him, gently stroked his back.

Meanwhile, Christina, the lawful first wife, was secretly smiling.

“There will be another way. Do not be too disappointed.”

“Do not worry. I will not give up.”

“Has some clever method occurred to you?”

At his master’s question, Gerard shook his head.

“No, not that. It is established theory that an innate quality determined from birth cannot be changed. However...”

Gerard raised his head, his eyes shining.

“One never knows until one tries, does one?”

“What exactly are you planning to do?”

“You said my child has no Mana Affinity. Then...”

Gerard wore a resolute expression.

“I will make him grow accustomed to mana. No matter what it takes.”

***

Once everyone left, Zeke smacked his lips in disappointment.

‘They left. I wish they had kept infusing mana into me...’

The Mana Absorption skill was extremely useful.

It had no cooldown, so he could use it continuously, and if he wanted, he could turn it On/Off.

On top of that, he could raise his stats from infancy.

It was absurdly efficient.

‘I set it to keep absorbing mana, but they only tested me for a short while and left. What a shame.’

The talent test was over.

From what he heard through the Interpretation skill, they seemed to have judged him as a talentless child with no Mana Affinity.

Even though, in truth, the phenomenon had occurred because he had devoured the mana.

‘The important thing is that I need to receive a steady supply of mana and fill my daily stat increase. Only then can I grow beyond my previous life.’

But how could he receive mana from such an early age?

At this age, when he could not even speak properly?

‘Hmm. This is a problem. A real problem...’

He was pondering while sucking on the milk bottle the nanny gave him.

BANG—

He heard the door open, and Gerard, who had left earlier, returned.

“L-Lord Patriarch, you have come?”

“No need for greetings, Helen. Continue feeding him. I only came to hand over an item.”

‘An item?’

Just as Zeke grew curious, Gerard abruptly placed something by the bedside.

“It is a high-concentration mana stone. Keep this by Zeke’s side at all times. It is not harmful to the body, so do not worry.”

“Understood. I will also instruct the other girls who attend him to be aware of it.”

“Good.”

Gerard smiled in satisfaction, looked at Zeke with pity once, and then left just as he was.

The moment he did, Zeke turned his head and fumbled with the object near his pillow.

Since it was an item related to mana, he could not help being curious.

‘The blue light shimmering inside it makes it look mystical.’

It seemed Gerard intended to change Zeke’s constitution, which lacked Mana Affinity, by placing this mana stone at his side.

But his constitution would never change.

‘Because I will absorb every last bit of mana. Heh heh heh!’

[Mana has been detected in your grasp.]

[The ‘Mana Absorption’ skill is currently activated.]

[You have absorbed 1 mana.]

[You have absorbed 1 mana.]

[You have absorbed 1 mana.]

[The skill’s proficiency has increased by 1.]

[The skill’s proficiency has increased by 1.]

[The skill’s proficiency has increased by 1.]

[Proficiency until 2-Star Achievement : 8/100]

Watching the system messages appear without fail, Zeke’s lips curled into a bright smile.

“No one could deny you are the Lord Patriarch’s son. It seems you like the item the Lord Patriarch left behind, do you? Hehehe.”

Whether the nanny misunderstood or not, Zeke did not care.

At that moment, he was absorbed entirely in Mana Absorption.

***

Time flowed like running water, and before long, he turned twelve.

“Zeke, where are you going?”

“I will stop by the archive, Mother.”

“Again?”

He was visiting the ducal house’s magical archive from early in the morning.

Anyone else who saw him might have praised him as diligent, but Dana inwardly sighed.

‘Should you not know by now that you have a body that cannot become a mage, Zeke?’

Those words rose all the way to her throat, but she could not bring herself to say them while looking into her son’s eyes.

How could she say something so cold when he was striving so passionately to become a mage?

“Very well. Go on, then. Do not forget to come out before lunch. There is an important ceremony today.”

“Yes. Do not worry.”

After greeting his mother, Zeke arrived at the archive with cheerful steps.

When he placed his hand on the magic orb that served as the gatekeeper, it read his biological response like fingerprint recognition.

[Mana has been detected in your grasp.]

[The ‘Mana Absorption’ skill has been activated. Would you like to use it now? Y/N]

‘No. I cannot absorb this. If something goes wrong, I may not be able to enter the archive.’

After choosing No, Zeke quietly waited for the mana to read his biological signal.

-Zeke McLaughlin. Confirmed.

RUMBLE.

When the thick iron door opened, a vast magical archive, comparable to a library, was revealed.

Anyone who came here for the first time would have opened their mouth in astonishment, but this was not Zeke’s first time.

‘I have come in and out of this place so often that I am sick of it.’

Even after twelve years had passed, Zeke still could not form a Circle.

He was still someone with zero Mana Affinity, a being who could not become a mage.

At least, that was how others saw him.

‘Status Window.’

[Name : Zeke McLaughlin]

[Tags : Reincarnator of the Pangaea Continent, The Deccan Kingdom’s Greatest Magical Noble Family, Youngest Son of a Ducal House, Fourth Young Master, Illegitimate Child, Zero Mana Affinity, No Talent for Magic, Hard Worker, Bookworm, 12 Years Old, A-Rank Hunter]

[Strength : 733 / Intelligence : 722]

[Agility : 743 / Vitality : 732]

[Recovery : 740 / Resistance : 736]

[Basic Skills : Interpretation, Translation, Rune Absorption]

[1st Awakening Skill : Mana Absorption (8-Star)]

[2nd Awakening Skill : ???]

[3rd Awakening Skill : ???]

[4th Awakening Skill : ???]

[5th Awakening Skill : ???]

[6th Awakening Skill : ???]

[7th Awakening Skill : ???]

[1st Awakening Skill : Mana Absorption]

-Achievement Level : ★★★★★★★★☆ (8-Star)

-Type : Active

-Proficiency : 295,502/300,000

-Effect : Absorbs detected mana and randomly increases a stat. You can detect mana within a radius of up to 7m.

-Cooldown : None

-Special Notes : You can obtain only 1 stat per day. The skill can be turned On/Off, and you can also absorb only the desired range. Upon reaching 9-Star Achievement Level, the 2nd Awakening Skill will be unlocked.

His body still could not handle even a speck of mana, but in exchange, he had achieved tremendous stat growth.

He had surpassed the level of his previous life by the time he was one year old.

‘Would this be around the level of an A-Rank Hunter in my previous life?’

He did not know what level that would be in this world, but it certainly would not be something to take lightly.

Since he could break a wall with his bare hands, he was at least beyond ordinary human level.

That said, it was not as though the increase was especially great for twelve years of accumulation.

‘What can I do? There is a limit to how many stats I can raise in a day.’

Still, at this pace, he thought he would reach S-Rank level before he turned twenty.

SS-Rank or SSS-Rank would be impossible, though.

‘Maybe raising my stats like this is more beneficial than learning magic or aura.’

Contrary to the result of the talent test, this body possessed innate talent for magic.

It was simply that, because he used Mana Absorption, others misunderstood him as having a body that could not accept mana.

‘If I get the chance, I want to learn magic too. But...’

Mana Absorption even sucked in the user’s own mana.

He could designate the absorption range, but that only adjusted the external range.

Through the experiments he had conducted so far, he had confirmed that his own mana was also absorbed in its entirety.

In other words, his body could not accumulate mana.

‘In that situation, how am I supposed to form a Circle? It is impossible.’

He did not know for certain, but the moment he activated the skill, it would probably suck away all the mana stored in any Circle he had built.

‘Then I would end up in the ironic situation of collapsing my own Circle.’

In that sense, when it came to being unable to learn magic, he was no different from someone with no talent.

‘Of course, as long as I do not use Mana Absorption, I should be able to form a Circle without any problem...’

But the system’s power was far too great for him to do that.

Had he not already reached the level of an A-Rank Hunter at the age of twelve?

He still had six more skills left to awaken as well.

Therefore, he had to maintain the pretense of having no talent.

‘It was a good thing I pretended to be talentless from the very beginning. Thanks to that, I was able to absorb mana from childhood.’

Moreover, under the pretext of making his talent bloom, he had even been granted access to the magical archive.

That had only been possible because his father continued to support him to the end, despite believing he had no talent.

‘At this point, it would be natural for him to give up, yet Father really is...’

Whenever he saw his father continue to provide mana stones out of love for his child, regardless of whether he was legitimate or illegitimate, Zeke sometimes felt it.

A father-son bond he had never felt in his previous life.

‘For now, I am only receiving from you, but one day I will repay you, Father.’

With that promise of filial devotion, Zeke approached the bookshelves.

The mana in the books that had been depleted had recovered to some extent.

“Now then, shall I thoroughly wring out the mana again today? Just a little more and I can reach 9-Star and unlock the 2nd Skill.”

Zeke opened a magic book filled with mana, smiled broadly, and placed his hand on it.

[You have absorbed 3 mana.]

[The skill’s proficiency has increased by 3.]

Having reached the realm of 8-Star, Zeke began rapidly absorbing mana over a wider range.

***

[The achievement level of the skill ‘Mana Absorption’ has reached 9-Star.]

[The detection range of Mana Absorption has been increased from 7m▶10m.]

[You have awakened the 2nd Skill.]

‘I finally awakened it! The 2nd Skill!’

At the first skill he had awakened in twelve years, Zeke’s eyes shone with anticipation.

‘I wonder what kind of skill it is.’

As Zeke examined the information of the awakened skill, he soon had no choice but to stare blankly.

It was a skill far beyond what he had expected.

“Young Master Zeke!”

Zeke, who had been staring blankly into the air, was startled by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

‘Ah, is it already that time?’

After looking at the magic clock hanging in the archive, he hurriedly closed the book.

RUMBLE.

When he opened the door, the nanny who had looked after him since childhood was standing there with an anxious expression.

“Young Master! So you were here. You must come at once...”

“I know, Helen. It’s because of the Guidance Ceremony, isn’t it?” 

Zeke smiled leisurely and jerked his chin forward.

“I will follow. Lead the way.”