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“Huuuu…”

In the lotus position, Repenhardt took a deep breath. Breathing in, he contemplated his inner self, moving the magic within his body to stabilize it.

He was currently increasing his magical capacity through the mage’s daily routine, meditation. Just as overeating can cause indigestion, increasing magic power couldn’t be done all at once. As his magic power increased, the vessel, or capacity, had to expand accordingly.

Mana could be absorbed anytime through Mana Drain, but expanding the vessel took time. Having already resorted to the shortcut of altering his constitution through the underground sun, Magrim, the only remaining path was to patiently engage in proper meditation.

After a while, Repenhardt opened his eyes. Sensing the magic within his body, he sighed.

“Although I’ve gathered quite a bit of magic, the level of the 8th circle is still far off.”

As one progressed to higher circles, the required amount of magic increased exponentially.

While he quickly advanced to the 5th circle, it was only through attempting Mana Drain that he managed to gather the required magic for the 6th circle, and now at the 7th circle, the amount of absorbed magic exceeded his body’s capacity.

Repenhardt muttered regretfully.

“Eh, there’s no need to rush. Being at this level at my current age is already incredible.”

Comparing himself to his previous life was the problem. Even now, Repenhardt was an outstanding mage, aside from his Aura abilities. Even Jade, who was praised as a genius and admired by mages, was not yet at the 7th circle.

The fact that he could boost his magic with Mana Drain was already a cheat. Transforming external magic permanently into his own was a feat achievable only by a 9th circle Archmage.

By drastically reducing the time needed to grow his magic and focusing solely on expanding his vessel, Repenhardt’s magic power was rising almost twice as fast as other mages.

‘Well, at this rate, I’m getting about half the efficiency of my true body from my previous life.’

Still, it was a bit disappointing. He had reached this level with Teslon’s body; how quickly could he have recovered his previous life’s level if he had his true body?

But Repenhardt soon abandoned his regrets.

‘Enough. What’s the use of clinging to the past? Honestly, this body has many advantages too.’

Indeed, stepping in as the Fist King instead of the Demon King had gained him a lot. Especially in terms of reputation, which he never could have achieved with his previous life’s body.

‘Though it takes time, I will reach the 10th circle with this body. The calculation speed may be slower, leading to longer casting times compared to my previous life, but so be it.’

Repenhardt stood up from his spot.

‘And thanks to that, I was able to create a few new spells.’

He softly chanted an incantation.

“Enchant Fist, Flame and Lightning.”

Flames and lightning sparked from his hands. In that state, Repenhardt threw a punch into the air and shouted softly.

“Blazing Fist!”

Boom!

The punch struck the space, causing a small explosion.

Repenhardt thrust his left hand forward.

“Thunder Fist!”

Crackle!

Lightning followed his fist, discharging into the air.

It was during the fight with Jade. Frustrated by constantly dispelling his opponent’s magic, Repenhardt had inadvertently developed a new spell that imbued dispel power into his fists.

This was an unprecedented idea for a mage.

Mages value using their intellect to wield higher-level magic. Typically, they strive to increase the speed and frequency of dispelling magic, not think in such a manner.

Finding it bothersome to dispel each spell individually? Thinking like that disqualified one as a mage. Such thoughts were strictly a warrior’s mindset. Until now, he had never thought in such a manner.

Yet, when he tried it impulsively, it worked quite well. Hence, he pondered and developed a new technique to imbue other spells into his hands and feet whenever he had the chance.

From the beginning, he didn’t bother with support magic. There was a reason Repenhardt didn’t use support magic like Dragon Scale or Stone Skin. Even if he cast those, they were less effective than the defensive power of his Aura, not to mention the inherent defense of his body. As for enhancement spells, the strengthening effects from Aura far surpassed those from the sacred spells of priests, let alone those of mages. Thus, support spells were useless for an Aura user.

So, he gave up on support magic and developed a method to imbue elemental magic instead…

“Ha!”

He launched consecutive Blazing Fists and Thunder Fists into the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Though he had hastily created it, the mana and Aura were merging and flowing quite stably.

Boom! Boom! Crackle!

Retracting his fists, Repenhardt nodded in satisfaction.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Aura possessed pure strength but lacked versatility compared to magic. This technique could significantly compensate for that. On the other hand, mage spells had great versatility but came with casting delays tailored to situations. This technique eliminated such delays.

With this method, he could unleash magic at the reflex speed of an Aura user.

“Besides, to others, it would just look like punching, so no one would suspect I’m a mage. They’d probably just think I’m using the power of an artifact.”

While contentedly practicing his new spells, Repenhardt suddenly frowned and turned his head toward the door. A very familiar presence was approaching from the other side.

Soon, a clear voice called out.

“Repenhardt-nim~!”

Repenhardt let out a deep sigh.

‘She’s here again, that girl.’

☆ ☆ ☆

As soon as she entered the room, Iniya smiled brightly and asked,

“It seemed like you were done meditating, so I thought I’d drop by. Do you have a moment?”

In fact, she had already been waiting outside the room for ten minutes. With the keen senses of an Aura user, she had realized Repenhardt was meditating and, out of courtesy, had held her breath to avoid disturbing him. She had decided to come in only when she felt he was almost finished.

“Oh, yes.”

Replying, Repenhardt stared intently at Iniya. She was carrying something large over her shoulder.

“Iniya.”

“Yes, Repenhardt-nim?”

“…What is that?”

“Huh? Don’t you know? It’s a bed.”

“No, I can see it’s a bed…”

What Iniya was carrying was a makeshift bed made of wood. It was enormous, about twice the size of a regular bed.

Sweat trickled down Repenhardt’s forehead. Seeing this delicate woman carry something so heavy as if it were light was quite awkward. Of course, as an Aura user, it wouldn’t be heavy for her, but still…

‘Why did she bring that here?’

Before the baffled Repenhardt, Iniya set down the bed. She did it so delicately that not a single thud was heard despite the bed’s large size.

Iniya cheerfully twisted her wrist and said,

“Someone who works hard needs to take care of their body. I happened to learn full-body massage a while back.”

“…Huh?”

Repenhardt blinked. Massage? What massage?

Gesturing towards the bed, Iniya beckoned him.

“Lie down. It’s good for fatigue.”

“I’m not really tired…”

Since inhabiting this body, Repenhardt had spent most days without even knowing what fatigue felt like.

“Don’t refuse. Come on, over here…”

Iniya gently took hold of Repenhardt’s wrist. Though her touch was soft, his wrist felt as if it were caught between rocks, signaling her firm intention not to let go.

Even if Repenhardt was somewhat dense, he couldn’t ignore such persistence. Scratching his head, he asked the question he had asked many times before.

“I-Iniya. Why are you doing all this…?”

Iniya repeated the answer she had given several times before.

“You accepted our tribe and even revived the World Tree. It’s simply an expression of gratitude.”

“Oh, I see…”

Though the expression of gratitude seemed somewhat intense, considering that the Stiria Tribe was known for their frequent physical contact, it made sense.

“Now, over here…”

Iniya led Repenhardt to the bed. As an Aura user, her strength was quite formidable. Repenhardt would have had to use his own Aura to break free from her grip. However, it seemed ridiculous to refuse someone’s kindness by activating his Aura.

Being led helplessly, Repenhardt found himself increasingly confused.

‘This is strange, could it be…’

But he quickly dismissed the peculiar thoughts that came to his mind.

‘No way.’

He knew Iniya too well to think otherwise. He had seen firsthand how much she despised men, earning her the title of the Ice Queen.

‘Absolutely not.’

Repenhardt reasoned that the circumstances were different from his previous life.

‘Surely, back then we were equals who supported each other, but now it appears one-sided, as if I’m the one bestowing favors.’

The spirit magic he learned from the Iniya of his past life had greatly helped him reach the 10th circle. He had never forgotten that debt, and so he never considered his current actions as bestowing favors.

But from the perspective of the Iniya of this era, it was understandable that she felt grateful.

‘It’s not polite to refuse someone who is expressing gratitude.’

Deciding to stop overthinking, Repenhardt lay down on the bed. Iniya took a small bottle from her pocket and poured oil onto her hands.

“…What is that?”

Iniya responded with a bright smile.

“It’s a special massage oil from the Philanence Order.”

Initially, Iniya had seen Sillan as a rival and glared at her. But true to her straightforward nature, she openly expressed her feelings to Sillan. (This directness was a hallmark of a woman in love, though she couldn’t show it in front of Repenhardt.)

“I know you are the one Repenhardt-nim has his eyes on. But I will not give up on him either!”

To which Sillan had shouted back,

“You’re mistaken!”

Due to the widespread rumors, Sillan had been having fits even in her sleep lately. Occasionally, she even dreamt of standing beside Repenhardt in a wedding dress, participating in a nightmarish wedding ceremony.

Right then, she grasped Iniya’s hands and exclaimed,

“I am a servant of Philanence, the Goddess of Love! I will support that love!”

Sillan was well aware of how much Repenhardt cared for Siris. However, Siris herself seemed entirely oblivious. Moreover, while Repenhardt clearly cherished Siris, he showed no signs of making any ‘moves’ on her in a manly manner.

In Sillan’s judgment, it might be better for a new love to blossom. And above all…

‘It doesn’t matter who it is! This rumor won’t stop until he gets married!’

For Sillan, it was a matter of considerable urgency…

Sillan earnestly explained to Iniya why such rumors had spread. Listening to the explanation, Iniya’s eyes softened, no longer looking at Sillan with disdain.

Contrary to her thoughts, Sillan turned out to be an upright young man pursuing true masculinity.

Despite his inherent ‘curse,’ Sillan faced his destiny head-on, diligently lifting weights, embodying the spirit of a warrior. It was an attitude worth emulating by the men of her tribe who lacked perseverance.

Having shared their true feelings, the two quickly became friends. They had similar tastes and communicated well.

As a professional of love, the priestess of Philanence, Sillan knew many techniques for making moves on men. Although she had never practiced these herself, having only theoretical knowledge, Iniya still learned many methods to attract a human man from Sillan.

In other words, all the things Iniya had been doing were taught by Sillan. Considering how a beauty like Iniya was passionately pursuing him, if Repenhardt didn’t have memories of his past life, he might have fallen for her.

The bottle Iniya held now was also something special— a massage oil specially made by Sillan, infused with her divine power as a priestess of Philanence.