That evening.
After attending her afternoon classes and returning to the dormitory, Sophia had completed all of her magic research for the day.
Now, lying on her bed, she was recalling the events of lunchtime once more.
“He truly is a peculiar man.”
Initially, her interest had been piqued by the mere novelty of encountering someone with talent comparable to her own.
Then, her curiosity grew, wondering why he had enrolled in the academy while concealing such ability, prompting her to try and get closer to him.
Yet, from the very first moment she saw him, Hyunsul had continuously seemed wary of her, even displaying hints of fear.
It was almost as if he were prey standing before a predator.
“Hmm… But why? I haven’t made any mistakes or done anything wrong.”
She wasn’t offended.
In fact, after the incident at lunchtime, her curiosity about Hyunsul had only deepened.
“Could it be that my true purpose here has been discovered?”
For a moment, she wondered if he had somehow uncovered the real reason for her presence in Korea through some information network, and was therefore trying to keep his distance.
However, Sophia lightly shook her head, quickly dismissing that possibility from her mind.
Her family and friends back home all believed she had come to South Korea simply to receive an education at the world’s finest academy.
Sophia had never confided in anyone about her true objective in coming to Korea: to find a perfect husband.
Besides, unless he was utterly insane, even if he had somehow discovered her real purpose, he wouldn’t assume he was the target and try to run away.
“Hmm… Kang Hyunsul…”
If asked whether that man fit her criteria, she would unequivocally say no.
While his talent seemed exceptional, everything else about him was far too ordinary.
He was hardly a suitable match for the Litwell family, who had maintained their noble status for centuries in England, accumulating immense wealth and prestige.
In contrast, Kim Doyoon, who had entered the academy as the second-ranked student? He was beyond perfect.
Yet, for some reason, despite having the opportunity to approach Kim Doyoon in the student cafeteria, Sophia hadn’t felt particularly drawn to him.
She had felt that spending time with Hyunsul would be more enjoyable than forging a friendship with Kim Doyoon.
“……”
Of course, looking back now, it was a rather inexplicable choice.
Kim Doyoon was flawless in every aspect—looks, talent, personality.
He was, quite literally, the perfect protagonist from a novel, yet she hadn’t taken a single step toward him.
“No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange… Why did I do that?”
Sophia tossed and turned on her bed, pondering deeply.
She had clearly come here to find a husband with perfect genes.
Yet, she had let the most suitable candidate right before her slip away.
At the same time, a particular scene from lunchtime came to mind.
That man who tried to avoid her gaze at all costs, and who even questioned why she wasn’t interested in Kim Doyoon.
“Kang Hyunsul…”
It was, quite literally, an incomprehensible action.
A typical man would have been ecstatic just by her smiling at him and sitting beside him, eager to seize the opportunity.
Hyunsul, however, had actively tried to keep his distance, and even posed a question that, unintentionally, intrigued her greatly.
“Is he… naive, perhaps? Or is he simply so foolish that he only appears naive?”
A faint smile played on Sophia’s lips.
Yet, an unsettling thought soon crossed her mind.
“Or… could it be that he genuinely has no interest in me at all?”
While it was highly unlikely, what if all of Hyunsul’s actions were truly sincere?
There was a very, very slight possibility that he genuinely disliked Sophia and was trying to avoid her.
Strangely, however, entertaining such a possibility didn’t make her feel offended; instead, her curiosity about him only intensified.
“Well… there’s plenty of time to meet him again… I suppose I’ll just get to know him slowly.”
She slowly closed her eyes, mentally running through simulations of how she might approach Hyunsul more effectively when they met again tomorrow.
Then, with an enigmatic smile, she whispered.
“Come to think of it, his face isn’t so bad after all…”
****
The next day, at 6 AM.
The academy training ground was still bathed in the pale, blue light of dawn, as the sun had yet to fully rise.
I arrived there before anyone else, stepping inside the Mana Cultivation Chamber the moment its doors opened.
*Click!—*
As I cautiously stepped inside, the chamber’s uniquely crisp air filled my nostrils.
“…Alright, let’s begin.”
I sat on the chamber floor, slowly steadying my breath, and closed my eyes.
I had already received some instruction from Sophia the previous day on the fundamental methods of mana manipulation.
“At first, don’t try to forcefully absorb all the external mana into your body; it’s better to embrace it as naturally as you breathe.”
“Then, gather the mana that has permeated your body towards your heart, connecting it like a line. Repeat this process until a perfect circle is formed.”
“Of course, unless you’re a genius, such abstract explanations alone won’t allow you to create a circle, but you are a genius, so you should be able to do it.”
As she spoke, she even demonstrated by gathering mana in her palm and forming a circle.
Witnessing the small, glowing mana circle naturally coalesce into a perfect ring right before my eyes filled me with an inexplicable sense of excitement.
‘To actually do something I’d only ever seen in games… it was truly amazing.’
I slowly regulated my breathing, beginning to sense the mana particles scattered around the cultivation chamber.
With each inhale, faint, bluish particles seeped into my body, and I could feel them flowing along my blood vessels.
‘Good, now, move all the mana along the blood vessels to the heart, connecting them as if drawing a circle…’
Focus.
Centering on my heart, I gathered the flow of mana, beginning to draw a small circle.
At first, it was as unstable as building a sandcastle, but after persistent repetition, the lines gradually thickened, and the form became clearer.
Yet.
“…Cough! …A failure, then?”
Just as the circle was nearing completion, its balance shattered.
Perhaps one section of the mana line was slightly thinner than the rest, for it tore apart with an explosive force, and the resulting backlash surged through my entire body.
Instantly, my head throbbed, my heart pounded, and my breathing grew ragged.
“Haa… haa… So this is what it was like.”
The phrase ‘drawing a circle’ sounded simple enough, but in practice, it was an arduous task that demanded every nerve be on edge.
Then, another one of Sophia’s remarks came to mind.
“Failure is only natural. What’s important is remembering the flow at the moment it collapses. Why it broke, where it went wrong… Knowing that will allow you to create a stronger circle next time.”
‘…Remember the flow…’
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I readjusted my posture.
This time, I retraced the point where the mana had burst, cautiously drawing the circle anew.
“Huu…”
This time, I felt a small circle forming around my heart even more quickly than before.
Simultaneously, a tension akin to walking a tightrope across a cliff face constricted my entire body.
‘Don’t waver… Focus.’
After such prolonged concentration, point, line, and then circle.
The moment the final link connected perfectly.
*Whirrr—!*
With a dull resonance echoing deep within my heart, a small yet distinct circle was complete.
“…Finally.”
I cautiously opened my palm.
A faint wisp of magical light coalescing at my fingertips was proof that the newly completed 1st Circle was now revolving around my heart.
Though small and somewhat unstable, the mere fact that I had taken this first step filled my chest with elation.
“…Thank you, Sophia.”
Remembering Sophia’s face, I offered my thanks, then continued my training to stabilize the 1st Circle until the morning classes began.
****
With about thirty minutes remaining until the start of morning classes.
Having left the cultivation chamber, I changed out of my sweat-soaked clothes in the dormitory, then headed towards the classroom where the ‘Understanding Mana and Magic’ lecture was held.
‘Huu… Even if it’s still a somewhat unstable 1st Circle, it’s something that I managed to create it at all. At this rate, I might be able to stabilize it quite quickly.’
It was then, buoyed by the joy of having formed a 1st Circle in just one day, that I was walking down the hallway.
“Hey, isn’t that him?”
‘…??
