Chapter 43: The Reincarnated One Does It All

The next day.

Esehoon, who had returned to Louise's hospital room, extended a black plastic bag he had brought.

"Take it."

"What is it?"

"Training tools for today."

"Wha...t."

Louise's body, which had been about to take the bag casually, flinched at Esehoon's indifferent words.

It was a training tool to correct her magical circuit and enable her to use magic, something like a lifeline for her, so she was tense.

"Hurry up and take it."

"Ah, okay."

Louise, swallowing hard, carefully took the plastic bag and glanced inside.

"What is this?"

She made a bewildered expression at the shiny cherries.

"These are cherries."

"More specifically, Jason cherries. They have a calming effect and are very sweet, so they're expensive... "

"Never mind that. Where are the training tools?"

In response to Louise's question, Esehoon pointed to the cherries in the bag.

"There they are. The training tools."

"..."

Louise looked at him as if he were a madman, and Esehoon nodded toward the inside of the bag.

"I'll explain properly, so go in and sit down first."

"Alright."

Though not entirely trustworthy, it was the path she had chosen.

Suppressing the creeping doubt, Louise entered the room, and Esehoon followed.

Inside the hospital room, a whiteboard, a desk, and a chair were placed. The modestly arranged classroom made Esehoon chuckle.

'Even before the regression, he really liked this kind of thing.'

The beastman, who always emphasized the environment and atmosphere whether he was learning or teaching, was the complete opposite of his master, who would suddenly impart teachings while eating.

'He would get furious, saying his efforts were being ignored if the results didn't match...'

Esehoon shuddered at the memory of 34 hours of continuous classes. Louise, who had taken her seat, glared at him.

"What are you doing? Start already."

"Sure, sure. Let's go."

Esehoon went to the whiteboard and picked up a marker.

"Before we start the actual training, let's go over the state of your neck."

With a light movement of his hand, a diagram of the neck and the intertwined magical circuits inside appeared on the whiteboard.

"Basically, a magical circuit disorder is a state where the circuit has recovered but deviated from its original path. The symptom is severe pain when using magic."

"..."

"The key point here is this part."

Esehoon circled the misaligned magical circuit and looked at Louise.

"What kind of 'magic' does the magical circuit disorder cause pain for?"

"Um, refined magic, of course."

To use magic properly, the magic must go through a refinement process through the magical circuit.

Though it sounds grand, the refinement process happens reflexively within the body when one thinks of using magic, and even children can do it naturally.

"You're right. The magical circuit disorder only reacts to refined magic, not ordinary magic. The reason you don't feel pain despite the magic circulating in your body is because of this."

Esehoon summarized what he had said and wrote it on the whiteboard, then smiled.

"Then, how can you use magic without causing pain from the magical circuit disorder? It's simple."

Tap tap—

"You just need to refine the magic here."

"..."

Louise made a bewildered expression as Esehoon pointed to the inside of his mouth with the marker.

"Are you saying this is possible?"

The output of magic varies depending on how much refinement it undergoes, and the difference is especially significant in spells.

Intermediate spells, which any student in the Elemental Department can use, require at least four refinements through the body's magical circuits, and even basic spells require at least one refinement.

Doing this in just a small part of the body, like the mouth, was practically like trying to launch a missile with a pistol.

"Ha... I see. I should have known. I had foolish hopes..."

"It might not be possible for others."

Esehoon cut off Louise's words and looked at her calmly.

"But it's possible for you."

Louise Valentine, the beastman.

Known as the bane of mages, she had killed countless mages, heroes, and villains alike. Her terrifying talent could turn even this inefficient method into a weapon.

"Ahem."

Louise, who had been looking away with an awkward expression at Esehoon's confident explanation, turned back.

"Alright, let's hear it. How do we do it?"

"First, we need to train the magical circuits in your mouth. They're usually not used much during casting, so they're quite sluggish."

"Hmm. The tongue, then..."

Louise rolled her tongue in her mouth and made a strange expression.

The magical circuits in the tongue, being at the periphery of the body, were almost negligible. How could they compare to the refined magic produced by the entire body?

'Maybe the spell won't even work.'

While pressing her cheeks with her tongue, Louise's gaze suddenly fell on the cherries.

"So, what are these cherries for?"

"They're training tools. We'll use them now."

"These?"

Esehoon's words left Louise with a puzzled look.

How could cherries be used to train the magical circuits in the mouth? As she was wondering, Esehoon extended his hand.

"Throw me one."

"Ah, okay."

Louise threw a cherry from the bag, and Esehoon caught it easily, popping it into his mouth.

After a moment, he stuck out his tongue, and...

"Ah?"

The stem of the cherry, tied in a diamond shape, appeared.

"This is the basic form. You manipulate the magical circuits in your tongue to tie it."

"..."

"Another method is to assist the movement of magic in the mouth, but that might be too difficult at first, so just use your teeth. And..."

Esehoon, explaining casually, drew the method of moving the tongue on the whiteboard. Louise, impressed by his serious explanation, closed her eyes tightly.

'I must be crazy.'

She realized she was dealing with a truly madman, not a genius.

* * *

After teaching the cherry knot training method, Esehoon added a few more training methods.

"Soy sauce factory green factory is a good factory and the green bean paste picture is a good picture and the factory is a good factory..."

Crack

"Ugh?!"

A training method involving saying two difficult phrases at once.

"Put more emotion into it!"

"Stop this nonsense, you lunatic!!!"

A training method to shout with all your might, combining magic and emotion.

"Can't let the pronunciation slip?"

"That's right."

A training method to speak while holding a casting stick that twists the mouth.

To an outsider, these absurd training methods might seem like pointless exercises, but Esehoon taught them seriously, and Louise, though complaining, followed along.

"Try it..."

"It's better than nothing. Just eat it."

Louise ate over 100 Jason cherries, each costing 1,000 won, and her tongue and lips were constantly bitten and scarred.

Her voice was hoarse from overuse, but she didn't stop training.

A week of relentless training, day and night.

"Done...!"

A perfect hexagon formed on Louise's tongue.

A hexagon made using cherry stems, completed without any flaws. Esehoon clapped at the sight.

"Wow, you really did it. Impressive."

"I told you, this is nothing!"

"Mm, excellent."

Esehoon had expected it to take at least a month, but Louise completed the hexagon in just a week. He was genuinely impressed.

'Maybe because it's a training method he created. He adapted so quickly.'

He had been worried about how much he could teach in two weeks, but this was promising.

As Esehoon looked on with satisfaction, Louise suddenly started scratching her head and screaming.

"What's wrong? Why are you doing that?"

"Why? Because all this time, all we've done is this nonsense!"

She could now move her tongue with precision and speak any difficult sentence without stumbling.

Her pronunciation and voice had improved so much that she sounded like a professional announcer.

Considering all this progress in just a week, it was truly remarkable, but...

'What does this have to do with magic?'

It seemed unrelated to correcting the magical circuit disorder.

The frustration of wasting time on pointless training and the self-loathing for showing such incredible talent in it.

"Ughhh!!!"

Overwhelmed by sudden emotions, Louise clenched the perfectly formed hexagon and raised her hand.

Then, she huffed and sighed deeply, lowering her hand.

"Haaah..."

What was the point of taking out her frustration on the hexagon she had worked so hard to create? Louise slumped into the chair, exhausted.

"Sorry... My head's been all over the place lately."

"Well, it happens."

"Let's keep training. What's the next knot?"

Louise, who had given up, chewed on a cherry. Esehoon smiled at her.

"The next training is about refining the magic used in 'Verbal Magic.'"

"Verbal... Verbal Magic?"

Louise's eyes widened, and Esehoon gathered his magic.

"I'll show you once, so watch carefully."

Unrefined magic gathered in his mouth. Once he confirmed there was enough, Esehoon activated the magical circuits in his tongue and lightly flicked it.

Swish—

The magic in his mouth coiled around his tongue.

Louise thought it was all about using the magical circuits in the mouth to refine magic, but it was more than that.

Hum—

Verbal Magic required two things: a minimal amount of magic to serve as the focal point of the spell and a strong will to manifest it as magic, which could be described as a 'mental image.'

The more accurate and vivid the mental image of the spell, the more powerful the Verbal Magic would be.

'First, I need to show it properly... A sphere will do.'

The moment the mental image of the spell was perfectly formed, the magic in his mouth transformed into a spell, drawing more magic from his body.

Once the spell was ready, Esehoon opened his mouth slightly.

"<Sphere>"

The verbal command shot out, absorbing surrounding magic and materializing.

Hum—

A perfect sphere, about the size of a fist, appeared. Though it had no special effects, it was completed using only the magical circuits in his mouth.

"..."

Louise stared in amazement.

Correcting the magical circuit disorder to enable the use of magic. The skeptical story was being proven right before her eyes.

Louise stood there, dazed, unable to believe what she saw, while Esehoon smiled at the sphere.

'I'm in good form today.'

Before the regression, the sphere would often come out deformed, but today it came out perfectly on the first try.

Even the picky beastman would have to admit it was impressive. Esehoon glanced at Louise, who was still staring in shock.

'Since it's going well, should I show her more?'

Considering Louise's talent, she would soon surpass him, so he needed to make a strong impression now.

Esehoon, looking at the floating sphere, used a more difficult Verbal Magic.

"<Transform>"

Swish—

The sphere twisted and elongated, transforming into a slender, spiral spear. As flawless as the first one.

Esehoon's lips curved into a smile.

'Not bad.'

This one usually came out a bit unstable, but today it was perfect.

Feeling confident, Esehoon boldly used another Verbal Magic.

"<Attribute Assignment>"

Flames erupted from the spiral spear.

"<Rotation Assignment>"

The spear spun fiercely, making a buzzing sound like a wasp.

Esehoon, realizing something was wrong as the menacing magic took shape, looked at the spinning, flaming spear.

'Why is this going so well?'

Breaking through a 40% success rate, then 30%, then 10%, and finally 5%.

As the spells kept evolving, the air in the room began to tremble.

Hum!

A terrifying, spinning flame spear.

Esehoon, suspecting something, opened the window and looked up.

"<Acceleration Assignment>"

Whoosh!

The flame spear shot up into the sky, threatening to destroy everything in its path.

Esehoon, realizing the potential for a massive explosion, quickly issued the final command.

"<Release Lock>"

Pfft— Bang!

A small flame exploded harmlessly in the air.

"What was that?"

"Probably from the training room, right?"

A faint sound, barely noticeable to those not nearby. But Esehoon was surprised by the lack of power.

'How...?'

It was like stopping a truck traveling at 300 km/h by disassembling it instead of braking.

Esehoon, stunned by the successful Verbal Magic, which he had never achieved before the regression, looked up at the sky.

[You have acquired the skill 'Verbal: Assignment (C)'.]

Another skill from before the regression had been restored.