The Association President had proposed a dinner meeting. It was a relief she wasn't summoning me to the Hunter Association, which meant it probably wasn't anything too serious.

I returned to the Tower and my normal life, but the aftereffects of the recent, jarring events lingered.

'I can't get this right.'

I tried practicing by casting a magic circle in the air, but I kept making mistakes I'd never made before—proof that my mind was too preoccupied to focus. This was the downside of the Over-immersion trait. Even though everything was over, a strange aftershock remained.

'Stop making that shocked face and fight me properly. Otherwise, there was no point in me changing, was there?'

The voice of Yoonjeong after she became a demonkin echoed in my head.

'But you left her side, telling yourself it was for her own good. Don't make me laugh! That was hypocrisy. Avoidance.'

And so did the voice of Armin Walter, who had possessed her body.

They both still echoed in my ears, tormenting me. When my stress became this severe, it began to affect my spellcasting. My concentration dropped, and it took longer to enter a state of immersion. This was my only real weakness. Now that my Over-immersion trait had reached such a high level, I needed to be at peace with myself. If something was bothering me, I had to resolve it. If that was too difficult, I had to at least rationalize it away.

'What's the problem this time?'

After some deep thought, I concluded that I was still suffering from guilt. It wasn't just about failing to prevent Yoonjeong from becoming a demonkin.

"Bora."

"Yes, Yusin!"

Bora, who had been humming while preparing potion ingredients, quickly ran over.

"There's something I need you to look up…"

She opened her laptop, navigated to the Academy's website, and logged in with a student council ID. After a few clicks, she exclaimed, "Ah!"

"Here it is! This year's graduation rate for non-combatants!"

"What is it?"

"The acceptance rate is 3.5%."

It had only gone up by half a percent. Even after opening grade-1 hunting grounds to non-combatants and the whole labyrinth dungeon incident, the needle had barely moved.

I fell silent.

Now I was sure. I had found the source of my unease.

"Ea, are you there?"

-Yes, Tower Master.

"Bring Seojin and Eunsol. I have something to discuss."

A moment later, all my administrators had gathered in the first-floor lobby. Bora kept glancing at me nervously, while a tense-looking Eunsol clutched the hem of Seojin's pants.

"Could the three of you try casting some magic for me?"

"Yes!"

An impromptu magic demonstration began. Seojin, though a bit clumsy, still managed to create a gauntlet. Eunsol produced a short, stubby, and defective mana arrow. And Bora…

'Shatter!'

She failed again, right from laying the base.

"…I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head deeply.

What's with this atmosphere?

"No, no, I'm not trying to scold you."

Bora looked up, confused.

"I just want you to tell me about any difficulties you've had while learning magic. Even the smallest details would be helpful."

Finally understanding my intent, the three of them began to share their thoughts.

"I just can't get a feel for it," Bora said. "Condensing mana and then spreading it out is just too hard from the start."

"Hunters have mana techniques, but magic feels fundamentally different," Seojin added. "More than anything, I think drawing a perfect circle with such fluid mana and writing the runes is the hardest part."

"If I focus on the formulas, the field falls apart, and if I focus on the field, the formulas get weird!" Eunsol lamented.

Hmm. I don't mean to brag, but I succeeded in creating a gauntlet on my first try after entering the Magic Tower, and within four days, I had mastered the three basic magic circles and even the stamping method. Thinking back, while it was my first time working with a magic circle, my fingers had moved boldly, as if they'd done it a hundred times, drawing the exact shape shown in 'Fundamentals of Magic'.

I was different from the very beginning. I had to lower my standards—drastically.

"Bora."

"Ah, yes!"

"What's the hardest part about laying the base?"

"…Uh, well, I can control the mana inside my body just fine, but a magic circle is a process of bringing it outside, right? When I do that, the mana just dissipates into the air immediately."

I synthesized everyone's feedback. All three of them cooperated enthusiastically, continuously sharing every problem they could think of.

'So this is the core issue.'

The outline was becoming clear. The problem was that the mana would scatter before they even had a chance to control it. Hunter mana techniques, like Mana Thread, all worked by gathering and squeezing out mana. Magic circles were the opposite. It was a technique that spread mana. The wider and thinner, the better. As a result, maintaining the shape of the unstable mana was incredibly difficult.

"Thanks for your help, everyone."

I went up to the ninth floor and immersed myself in research. I opened 'Fundamentals of Magic' on my right and laid out various other magic-related books on my left.

'I need to start by identifying the root cause.'

Going back to the fundamentals, the mana of Erendel and Earth were different in nature. Erendel's mana tended to gather, while Earth's tended to scatter. On Earth, when mana is released from the body, it flows away like smoke. In Erendel, it flickers like a flame, concentrating on a single point. Their very essence was completely different.

Eighty to ninety percent of all this magical knowledge from Erendel was useless on Earth. I hadn't realized it because I was never affected by whether mana gathered or scattered, but it was a different story for people who had to start from scratch without a single magic-related trait. At this rate, it was tantamount to telling people on Earth not to use magic at all.

'So, what do I need to do to enable Earthlings to use magic properly?'

I dove back into my research, again and again, referencing every casting technique I knew. Not just the stamping method, but also meditation, rod actions, face-offs, the Imperial mana heart technique—I compiled all of them. In doing so, the gaps in my own magical knowledge were naturally filled.

Before I knew it, I was completely absorbed. Most of my research until now had been about learning existing knowledge. This was the first time I was establishing a completely new theory. Perhaps that's why I found it so enjoyable.

"Ea! Hurry and bring Bora here!"

-Yes, Tower Master.

My greatest asset in this research was Bora.

"Potion Brewing Administrator Jin Bora, reporting!"

"Could you try this?"

Among my administrators, she had the least talent for magic. That meant if she could learn it, then any ordinary person could learn it too.

"L-Like this?"

"More like you're rolling a circle… yes, that's it!"

Bora must have felt a little guilty about her inability to use magic, because she helped me diligently without a single complaint. As the days passed, my ninth-floor office became a common meeting place. Ea took a spot on my desk, and Eunsol occupied a corner of the sofa with a half-finished golem. Finally, even Seojin brought his laptop and a blanket and started working there.

"Why is everyone gathered here, anyway?"

No one answered immediately.

Seojin swept back his disheveled hair. "…This is surprisingly fun to watch."

"Hmm?"

"Yeah! It is! It's fun!" Eunsol chirped.

Now, everyone was helping develop a new school of magic. When Bora got stuck, Seojin and Eunsol, who were slightly more skilled, would give it a try. But even if Seojin succeeded, my goal was to get Bora to use magic, so I continued to revise the theory.

A week passed.

"Huh? I think I've got it now, don't you?"

"Good. Let's try it from the beginning!"

Bora took her stance in front of everyone. We all held our breath and watched.

"First, draw a ring with your heart at the center."

The heart is where mana gathers the fastest and in the greatest quantity. I used Deva's Eye to look inside her. A ring of mana formed, rotating around her heart.

"…Done!"

"Slowly rotate the ring to increase the processing rate. Good! Now, pass mana through the ring and move it to your right arm!"

She stretched out her right arm and raised her index finger. Mana gathered at the tip, forming a single point.

"Now draw the magic circle!"

Bora laid the base in the air and began to draw a smooth circle. This time, the mana didn't scatter, thanks to it being refined by the ring in her body. Her finger moved without hesitation. She drew the 'Rune of Impact' in the center and completed the auxiliary formulas around it.

'Vwoom!'

Finally, the magic circle activated, glowing with a blue light.

"…I-I'm nervous."

Bora swallowed hard and cautiously placed her hand inside. The magic circle's mana naturally enveloped her hand, shimmering blue.

'The lightbulb is on. Now for the final step…!'

I cast a soft shield next to her. She gave a single nod and threw a punch at it.

'Thwack!'

Blue sparks flew as the shield shattered. The magic power in her right arm vanished. 'Gauntlet' had been properly manifested.

"Ah…!"

Her body trembled, tears welling in her eyes.

"Yusin! I-I did it!"

"Waaaaah! You're so cool!" Eunsol cheered.

At her success, I felt a strange thrill myself. But it wasn't over yet.

"Bora! Maintain your focus! On to the next one!"

She snapped back to attention, straightening her back.

"Move the ring again! Focus!"

"Yes!"

"This time, you're drawing the magic circle with the ring as the center."

This addressed one of the Erendel techniques that Earthlings couldn't master: drawing the circle for a field directly with mana. This was true even for Seojin and Eunsol. Theoretically, a 'perfect circle' doesn't exist. There are differences under a microscope, and even more at the atomic level. Still, executing a reasonably 'smooth circle' is essential for mana to flow properly. This isn't just about drawing a shape neatly; it's a conduit for mana. Erendel's mana could form this shape naturally due to its tendency to gather, but not on Earth.

The method I devised was to use that 'ring' itself as the field. The ring would form the border, and the inside would be filled with runes and formulas. It was like stamping the magic circle not with your palm, but by forging it directly from your heart and projecting it outward.

"Here I go!"

She extended her right arm in a straight line. The magic circle created from the ring traveled down her arm and unfolded before her palm.

Seojin shot up from his seat, his hair a mess. Eunsol bounced on the spot. Even Ea leaned forward intently.

"O-Okay, I'm gonna try it!"

Bora inserted her trembling arm into the gauntlet. A blue light enveloped her right hand, and I cast another shield beside her.

"Hya!"

She swung her fist with all her might.

'Thwack!'

Blue sparks, proving the gauntlet was perfectly formed, scattered brilliantly throughout the ninth-floor office.

It was perfect—an undeniable, great success.

"Waaaaah! Yusin!"

"Yeah, Bora! And you, Yusin!"

"Congratulations, Tower Master!"

Led by Bora, everyone rushed over, cheering. I, too, found it hard to calm my excitement. I felt a more intense sense of accomplishment than when I had created any other magic.

"Tower Master."

Ea approached, her voice also trembling slightly.

"What will you name the new school of magic?"

I grinned. Of course, I already had a name in mind.

"We'll call it Circle."

A school of magic unique to Earth, not Erendel.

It was the birth of the First Circle.

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