In his desperation to do something about his heart, Alec's focus slipped. His mind was already teetering on the verge of snapping. It was completely understandable that he lost control over the surging mana.

The fact that it was while he was guiding it straight toward his heart was simply a matter of bad luck. The tide of mana raged through his body in a straight line, nowhere else to go.

Like a river breaking on a rock, it crashed into his heart.

If it hadn't been for the bubble around it, he would have died. Now, his heart just got a little flattened.

Blood trickled out of the corner of Alec's mouth.

He was in a bad state, and he did not have much time left.

Still, he wasn't in despair. He had accidentally found the solution to his problem.

The mana had splashed in all directions after colliding with his heart, but it was still close enough for Alec to quickly focus his entire mind on it and wrest it back into control. He used the mana's momentum to lap back and wrap around his heart.

While doing this, he couldn't make his heart beat, so he had to be fast.

He gathered the mana and concentrated it in a narrow circle around his heart.

Mages kept their magic circles slightly away from their hearts to keep the mana from shredding their hearts to pieces before they were twenty years old.

As far as Alec knew, there weren't any detriments to that. However, he had read a mention about it being more difficult to make circles too far away from the heart. The same text had also theorized that magic circles too far away ended up weaker due to the added difficulty of condensing them.

He had a chance to test the opposite of that theory right now.

He couldn't keep his heart going by focusing on the bubble around it every moment of the rest of his life. What would happen when he slept? He would die.

He had to find a way to automate it.

That way had found him when the surge of mana crashed into his heart.

If he could put his magic circle at the perfect distance from his heart, the pressure and circulation of his magic circle would keep his heart beating for him.

Alec wrangled the slippery, wispy, stubborn stream of mana with split ends into place and strung it around his heart. He could feel his heart start to beat again with each revolution the prototypical magic circle made.

His body heated up, and blood gushed out of his nose and mouth.

It was too close. His heart was beating too hard and too fast.

Alec widened the circumference hair by hair until it finally felt like normal heartbeats. When he reached stability, he concentrated the magic circle, crystallizing its position and existence.

He used the last of his concentration and mental strength to turn the nonsensical mana into a perfectly translucent circular cylinder looping around his heart. It was polished to such a degree that even when it spun around his heart like a rollercoaster, it didn't look like it was moving at all.

As soon as he confirmed that it worked, Alec's world went black. He passed out.

When Alec hit the floor, a certain tall, dark-haired, light-eyed librarian appeared in his study room.

Zalar knelt beside Alec and tilted his head.

"What a strange boy. No wonder the principal took an interest in you. It really makes me wonder what you two talked about." Zalar poked Alec's forehead curiously. A gentle light spread from the tip of his finger and cleaned up the blood he had spilled on himself and his surroundings.

"Anyway, it's too soon for an interesting critter like you to die."

Right then, Alec's stomach grumbled.

"Right. You must be starving after such an ordeal." Zalar pricked his finger and drew out a drop of blood, which he then guided gently through the air into Alec's mouth.

"There. That should keep you going for a few days."

Zalar smiled and disappeared.

A while later, Alec woke up in a daze. For some reason, he felt very at ease and sated. It was like he had just crammed two or three all-you-can-eat buffets.

'I'm alive?' What surprised him the most, though, was the fact that he was still in one piece and not a thousand bloody ones splattered across the room.

Before even getting up, he closed his eyes and inspected his magic circle.

"Ha!"

'It worked!'

"Haha!"

Alec laid back down and looked at the ceiling with a satisfied expression. He had a magic circle spinning very close to his heart, and a layer of magic over hsi heart that protected it from the magic circle's pressure. At the same time, the bubble, while bearing the pressure of his magic circle, kept his heart beating.

It was ridiculous if he thought about it.

He had given himself a magic pacemaker by fooling around with things beyond his understanding like an idiot.

But it worked.

'I might just be the greatest genius to roam this Academy.'

Alec's ego soared to the sky with his achievement.

He wiped his nose and mouth. He was surprised that his hand didn't come away bloody, but didn't think much of it. Then, he looked at something very important.

[Alec Lanterns]

[Magic Pioneer I]

[Stats:

[Strength -Wood]

[Dexterity - Mud]

[Agility - Wood]

[Durability - Wood]

[Resistance - Wood]

[Intelligence - Wood]

[Energy - Wood]

[Skill Energy - Wood]

[Skills:

[Reader]

[Seed of ???

[Registered Keywords:

[???????????]

[???????????]

[?????????????]

[????????]

[???????]

[????? ?????? ????:

[?????]

[?????]

[????]

[????]

[?????]

[?????]

[Gluttony]

The corners of Alec's lips rose in a poorly restrained smug smile.

All of his stats except for Dexterity were Wood-rank, including Resistance, which meant he could finally use [Reader] and bear the weight of it for a longer time. He would be able to study spell formations and runes much easier now.

'I guess it's because I pushed my mind to the breaking point.' Alec nodded while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His Resistance had probably increased because his mind had undergone a round of torture, making him more resistant to mental pain.

But that wasn't the only thing that caught Alec's attention.

"Hey, System, what's this Magic Pioneer thingy?"

[A Title.]

"No shit."

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