And just like that, by the age of five, Cyan had been grinding mana nonstop—and had even become quite proficient in both the Human Tongue and Demi-Human Tongue.
"As expected of a child's body… by practically passing out every day, being fed milk, and listening to stories from the maids every night, I've almost mastered the Human language."
"Of course, ever since I had enough mana to cast intermediate magic for the first time, my mana recovery speed improved significantly. From then on, I could study languages through proper books more efficiently."
"In these past five years, I haven't wasted a single second. Everything has gone into training and studying."
"Just thinking about it… if I hadn't gained awareness early, this body probably wouldn't even be capable of basic magic by now."
But the most important event for the family at this stage… was the aptitude test.
"From a gamer's perspective… this is probably when the protagonist hunts an orc for the first time."
Thinking about it made my chest tighten.
"I've gone through so much with Taylor—starting from hunting goblins at the age of four, leveling up little by little… and now he's finally strong enough to stand on equal footing with an orc."
"I wonder… without me controlling him, can he keep up that pace?"
"The reason I think like this… is because I'm now viewing everything from the perspective of the third son of a great noble family."
"At this age, killing an orc isn't difficult at all for someone like me."
"Even though I know that, if everything goes according to the original route, the protagonist will slay a White Dragon at the age of fifteen—"
"Earning the title of the youngest Dragon Slayer King in the history of the Holy Nation of Leonhart…"
"And receiving additional buffs from Yggdrasil, becoming strong enough to confront a demon even in his first year at the academy."
"But right now… that's not the Taylor I controlled."
"There's no guarantee he'll follow the same growth path."
"In fact, at this age, the top mages of my family can casually one-shot three to five orcs."
Thinking that, I felt even more ashamed.
Opening my status window, I saw:
⸻
Cyan Von Velton
HP: 6360
DEF: 363 (Damage taken = Damage – DEF; if DEF ≥ Damage → Damage taken = 0)
SPD: 5
…
Mana: 179.39
⸻
Ignoring the other stats, what concerned me was my pitifully low mana.
"At best, I could barely use intermediate magic."
"And even that… wouldn't be enough to kill an orc, even if it suffered prolonged paralysis from lightning."
Magic in this world is divided into seven main tiers:
Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, King, Emperor, and Divine.
From Basic to King-tier, each level requires roughly 5 times more mana per spell.
(Non-elemental magic doesn't follow a fixed tier system; its cost depends entirely on the effect.)
As for damage:
• Lower-tier magic increases by 8× per tier
• Saint-tier and above are usually large-scale spells; if compressed into a single-target attack, they only deal about 2×–4× damage
⸻
Special cases:
• Emperor-tier: ×9 mana cost, ×18 damage (~×10–13 for single target)
• Divine-tier: ×10 mana cost, ×20 damage (same for single or multi-target)
⸻
"The standard for this exam… is technically intermediate magic."
"But in reality, that's just the bare minimum to pass."
"As the third son of the main Velton line… at this level, I'm barely on par with—if not slightly below—some of the more talented members of the branch families."
"…Only two weeks left, huh."
"…Looks like it's time."
"To push myself further… and create a more efficient conductive medium for my lightning." 🔥
"Perhaps I should also consider learning a bit of non-attribute magic."
"Even though when I was Taylor, I had quite a lot of knowledge about non-attribute magic""I can use it naturally even now""However, right now I have too little mana, so only a few spells like enhancing learning ability can be used""Still, in this life I am a mage, not a swordsman. Perhaps I should learn more non-attribute magic that benefits mages.""Or maybe… I should also consider developing myself along the path of a swordsman instead""After all, in this world, swordsmen are still stronger than mages"
At that moment, Cyan recalled a legend he once heard among gamers.
If one uses a completely unique sword style, creating an achievement or leaving a mark that influences the entirety of Yggdrasia, that sword school would be recognized across the world.
If a sword style is acknowledged across the world of Yggdrasia, it becomes recorded and inherited by the world itself.
That's right, it was just a legend. However, it was widely spread among NPCs as if it were an undeniable truth.
Some believed that creating a new sword style instead of using the Ironblood Sword School might be the key to reaching the end of the game.
"However, creating a new sword school is quite vague. After all, the prominent sword schools already have too many advantages.""Moreover, the Ironblood Sword School is a style that provides sufficient power for Taylor's early-stage development.""Even after trying other sword styles, none truly suited a barbarian like Taylor.""That would sound even more impossible with a sword style that hasn't even been clearly defined yet.""The benefits of creating a new school are also unclear, which is why not many people seriously think about it."
"But unlike others, I once spent several months thinking up some unusual fighting methods. Even then, at best, I only reached about 66% of Chapter 1 and left no mark on the world."
"Still, it's clear that swordsmen in this world have more potential than magic.""Magic may have diverse attributes, but its power is fixed by scaling coefficients. It doesn't have the vast potential that swords possess."
"However, this body with magical talent… it doesn't have aura.""That's right. In this world, Aura is what enhances a swordsman's strength and speed, and serves as a protective layer.""Without aura, you definitely cannot become a powerful swordsman."
"Although that's just the common belief, I don't feel very optimistic about it either."
"But lightning affinity…"
At that moment, several ideas sparked in Cyan's mind.
"Lightning moves extremely fast… it fits quite well with that speed-focused sword style from the 66% run.""However, moving like lightning and actually projecting lightning are completely different things.""Or maybe… a magic swordsman? …No, that sounds quite strange."
Ideas piled upon ideas, as Cyan continued planning his future with immense determination.