I Am The Anti-Mage

Chapter 61: Training

Elijah sighed when she saw her son return after making the call. She then looked at Dong-hyun.

“Dong-hyun~si, looks like you need Ji-woo for something, right? Just ask. Aunty is sure he’s willing to help as long as he can.”

Dong-hyun got taken back by Elijah’s words. His face turned red with embarrassment. He quickly tried to refute the notion.

“A-Aunt. I-I… It’s not like that. I came here to visit the food stall because Aunt’s food is delicious and it’s cheap. Also, Aunt can drop the formalities with me.”

Elijah smiled as she shook her head. At first, she didn’t want to interfere with her son’s matter. She suspected it had something to do with the hunters. However, the past few days have been very cheerful for her. It was probably due to Dong-hyun accompanying her like how Eun-bi used to be. And after she knew that her son did a good thing and helped others from harm. She was happy with it. In the end, she decided to meddle and asked Ji-woo to help even though riddles were buzzing in her head about her son’s situation.

Ji-woo, who just returned to the food stall, heard his mother’s words and put on a stern expression. The next moment, he told Dong-hyun to give him some space to talk to his mother.

Elijah knew what Ji-woo wanted to talk about and interjected her son first. “It’s not what you think. Eomma doesn’t know what he wants from you, and he’s never asked me for any help either.

“But, that child likes to talk about you. Eomma can feel he has high hopes for you. So, when Eomma saw his troubled face. As a person he looks up to, I think you’re the only one who can help him. After all, your father always taught you to do good things for anyone. Anywhere and anytime.”

“What if it’s something related to my job as a hunter?”

Elijah closed her eyes for a moment as she indisputably sighed. She looked at Ji-woo and was ready to deliver her decision.

“You are the same as Eomma. We decide to do something. We will not give up no matter what. We are the stubborn type. Not like your gentle father.

“There are a lot of things that Eomma doesn’t know about you, and I know you have your reasons for that.

“Eomma will not oppose it anymore, though as a mother, it will be difficult to let her son venture against dangers. Still, since you have something to help others, keep being kind like your father. At least, it will ease some worries if you do.”

Ji-woo was glad that his mother softened up and let him do whatever he wanted. At the same time, he felt his heartache, knowing his mother’s struggle to let him work as a hunter. Also, the many secrets he had, made him feel like he treated his mother like an outsider.

“Thank you, Mom. When the time has come, I won’t hide anything from you anymore. For now, everything that I do wouldn’t bring any harm to Mom and Ji-won for sure!”

Ji-woo could only promise about the goals he did for the family. Not the other one. To be kind like his father meant he had to show mercy under any circumstances. Whether it’s in a precarious situation or not. And it was impossible for him to comply.

Elijah was pleased to hear that. She smiled, and her eyes resembled the shape of a crescent moon. An eye smile, like most other Korean women, had.

“Tell Dong-hyun to keep coming here. It’s great when he’s here because he is more talkative than you do.”

Huhu–

Ji-woo was speechless after hearing his mother giggled, joking about him not being a chatty person. He turned his back and helplessly answered with a hum.

“Um.”

After getting a little slack about his work matter, Ji-woo decided to take Dong-hyun along to see mister Lee. He planned to teach some of the knowledge he had in a short period of time. He had no intention of teaching Dong-hyun with all the time he had. It needed to get finished as soon as possible.

“Come with me.”

Dong-hyun was confused by Ji-woo’s orders but followed him from behind anyway.

Ji-woo changed the location to meet mister Lee and told him about the new place. They would meet at the foot of the mountain, where the Red Gate of the Mapo district previously appeared. The area was usually for hiking. But since that accident, it had become confined to only that small field.

It’s the perfect place for a temporary training ground. There was no one around, and there was no need to worry about damaging the surroundings.

Dong-hyun knew his request to be taught had got granted. He kept pestered Ji-woo with pleasantries on their way until Ji-woo had enough and hit his head lightly so as not to utter useless words.

Ji-woo was still thinking about how he would teach Dong-hyun. They both had different foundations, one with the gift of Mana and the other with a cursed soul, Nullifier.

He didn’t understand much about Mana. Luckily in the Magical World, he often saw Stormrage practicing.

Even though Ji-woo always acted deaf whenever Stormrage spouted words about Mana. He could still remember some knowledge of it. In the end, he decided to teach the basics first. How to fight could be learned later when Dong-hyun was able to manage his Mana proficiently.

“Before we proceed. I need to know how a bunch of you guys learned about magic spells.”

“Huh!? Hyung, you don’t know? It’s a Skill Page. Hyung, how do you learn magic spells if you don’t have one?”

Ji-woo squinted his eyes and made a hand gesture that indicated he wanted to hit Dong-hyun again.

Dong-hyun, who saw the motion, immediately explained without any questions in his words.

“Skill Pages are items that allow hunters to use magic. When the crumpled sheet gets torn apart, all the information about the magic spell in question will instantly flood the brain. Of course, each Skill Page only has one spell in it.”

Ji-woo smirked with a mocking face. ‘Those items only provide methods for manipulating Mana in order to borrow the power of nature. That’s not what allows you to use magic. What a bunch of amateurs! No wonder they can only cast suck magic with such poor Mana control and flow.’

Ji-woo at least knew some basic knowledge about that, even though he was not an expert on Mana.

There was no need for such external items to perform magic. Mana alone was enough. That’s why it was called a blessing for those who receive it because it would make them like gods who could control nature.

“However, there are rumors that Apex-rank hunter and ArchMage are able to create their magic spells without a Skill Page. They are also able to reconstruct that item as they wish.”

Ji-woo’s face returned to his usual icy cold gaze, not surprised to hear the rumors. Well, this was what he called a tricky opponent. Hunters, who could do their own magic spell, definitely had a good grasp of Mana. For Ji-woo, unless he could gauge all of the strength of the hunters that stand at the top hierarchy with certainty, he would not reveal his existence so clearly.

“Do you know more about Apex-rank and ArchMage?”

Dong-hyun just shook his head and replied. “No. Everything about them is known only to a few top-ranked hunters around the world.”

Ji-woo also shook his head and sighed. He put the matter aside for another time since it could be solved when he already had his own private intelligence agency as he planned. He then began the training and told Dong-hyun to do what he said.

Dong-hyun was dumbfounded when he heard the instruction.

“Eh, Why do I have to use Mana Presence until my Mana gets depleted!? Hyung! You only need to teach me a martial art that can kill Portal Gate creatures.”

Ji-woo lightly hit Dong-hyun on the head and gave further orders, ignoring Dong-hyun’s protests.

“Shut up. If you can triple the amount of time, you can stay in that state. I’m considering teaching you how to become stronger. Let alone the Portal Gate creatures. Even those high-ranking hunters will be nothing in front of you.”

Dong-hyun’s eyes lit up at those words. He clenched his fists about the hope of becoming powerful and surpassing those high-ranking hunters.

“You have two days. Remember! Only two days. You can think of it as a test. If you fail, then that’s your destiny.”

Dong-hyun was not discouraged by Ji-woo’s words. He quickly used his Mana Presence to start his training.

Ji-woo, who was in front of Dong-hyun, was not fazed by it. He stood still, observing the Mana change and flow through Dong-hyun’s body.

Not long after, Ji-woo got a text message informing him of mister Lee’s arrival. He told Dong-hyun to keep doing what he was doing. While he would receive and bring a guest to where they were now.