Chapter 7 : Ritual

In the basement of an abandoned building, a child appearing barely 13 or 14 years old was engaged in performing a mysterious ritual. The contours of darkness surrounded him as he focused intensely on his incantations.

The teenager presented himself as a young man with black hair and immaculately pale skin. No flaw marred his apparent perfection. His pupils bore a unique golden hue, resembling sparkling jewels, which gave his gaze an enchanting aura. His body displayed a well-developed musculature for his age, both toned and slender, without excess, lending him a graceful yet robust appearance. He was dressed in a simple, common tracksuit, but adorned with jewelry such as a metal pendant encrusted with a precious red stone and a pair of silver earrings.

On the floor of the room was engraved a magic circle composed of Norse runes as well as numerous alchemical symbols, all traced with a strange substance seeming part organic, part metallic.

In an oppressive silence, barely comprehensible phrases were uttered at dizzying speed. The rapidity of his speech rendered it incomprehensible to the human ear.

Suddenly, a strange glow began to emanate from the magic circle drawn on the floor, enveloping Lee Min-ho's body in a mystical aura. The Norse runes and alchemical symbols seemed to come to life, vibrating with a dark and powerful energy.

The child continued his incantations, his eyes shining with an intense golden glow as he immersed himself in the ritual with absolute concentration.

Gradually, the magic circle began to come alive, emitting luminous bursts that danced in the darkness of the abandoned room. Swirls of energy swirled around Min-ho, forming complex patterns seemingly entering his body.

As the ritual progressed, Lee Min-ho's expression changed, displaying pain, the veins of his body seeming to protrude particularly and seeming on the verge of bursting at any moment.

Suddenly, with a final burst of light, the ritual reached its climax. An explosion of magical energy filled the room, illuminating every corner with its dazzling brightness. For a brief moment, the child seemed surrounded by a transcendent aura, his ethereal silhouette standing out in the dazzling light.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the energy dissipated, leaving behind a heavy calm. The child remained there, at the center of the magic circle, his breathing steady and his gaze fixed, bearing witness to the intensity of the experience he had just undergone.

The ritual was complete, however, Min-ho seemed to struggle to get up despite his efforts, his body seeming totally disoriented, unable to find its normal balance.

Lee Min-Ho wasn't surprised by this outcome. The ritual he had used aimed to permanently strengthen his body, but it was very different from other similar rituals typically used by mages. Usually, these rituals only served to strengthen the skin, muscles, and bones. However, the ritual he had created himself worked differently.

In addition to strengthening his skin, muscles, and bones, he had also reinforced the functions of his nervous system and brain, making them faster and more efficient. It was an innovation that went beyond traditional methods.

Lee Min-Ho had completely reshaped his muscles, bones, and skin, giving them a flawless structure, much more resistant than what humans could naturally have, except in some exceptional cases. This remodeling process had been meticulous, every muscle fiber, every bone had been strengthened and adjusted to achieve anatomical perfection. As a result, his strength, resilience, and endurance had significantly increased, placing him well beyond human physical limits.

However, due to the alteration of his brain during the process, his inner ear had been destabilized, disrupting his balance and making his movements difficult.

After a few minutes of trying to stabilize himself, Lee Min-Ho finally managed to regain some semblance of control over his movements, managing to walk more or less normally.

It had been 13 years since Lee Min-Ho had reincarnated into this new world. He had planned many things for the future, but it was only recently that several of them had begun to materialize more quickly than expected.

Thanks to the hypnosis he had placed on his parents, he had been able to collect many raw materials that had allowed him to create various elixirs and objects that would help him in the future. He had created many magical items that would aid him in progressing faster.

Although among the raw materials he had obtained, none were purely magical, thanks to his expertise in alchemy, he was able to transform ordinary materials into magical objects without too much difficulty. However, he couldn't perform miracles; he couldn't create high-quality objects with just that, but it was better than nothing.

After resting, Min-ho returned home and fell asleep without encountering any problems. The next morning, he woke up feeling tired. The daylight penetrated through the curtains of his room, gently illuminating it and highlighting his beauty with a disconcerting naturalness.

Rising slowly from his bed, Lee Min-Ho prepared for another day ahead. Despite the lingering fatigue.

After dressing and grabbing a quick breakfast, Lee Min-Ho made his way to his college, his thoughts swirling in his head. He felt like a stranger in this world. The time when he was a respected mage in the magical society was sorely missed; now he was stuck in the life of a mere human with a mundane human routine, except for his magic training.

Upon arriving at school, Lee Min-Ho was greeted by the usual hustle and bustle of students rushing through the hallways and classrooms. He nodded to a few classmates in passing, but his mind was elsewhere, absorbed in recent events and upcoming challenges.

As he settled into his seat in class, Lee Min-Ho immersed himself in his studies, trying to focus despite the persistent fatigue. The hours passed slowly, punctuated by lessons on subjects he considered useless, such as mathematics, physics; honestly, despite never having difficulty in these evaluations and always getting top marks, he had never found any usefulness in learning all this. The only reason he tolerated a life as a simple student was because it allowed him to study humans, learning to understand their various behaviors, the evolution of their behavior, which was useful for him to pass as a simple human.

And secondly, it allowed him to have a credible identity. He could have simply given up all this and withdrawn into seclusion to devote himself entirely to learning magic. However, this approach has several disadvantages. For one, if he were to return overnight after that, it would be difficult to explain the gaps in his past; one might think that the end of the world would fix everything, but he did not know what it consisted of exactly, so he preferred to play it safe. For example, it would be harder for him to take on students in the future. So far, he had been able to compile a list of people with the potential to become his students, whom he planned to train in a few years, once they had reached the necessary maturity. He did not intend to limit his students only to those with the potential to become mages. He also had other areas he could teach them. However, for now, he would just interact with them like an ordinary teen.

While the teacher continued his uninterrupted and intense lesson, Lee Min-Ho was distracted, his mind wandering to deeper and darker thoughts.

Soon, there would be a great planetary alignment. He would have to set up a grand ritual and take advantage of this event. Among the magic schools, astrology was one of the most situational because a large part of their spells relied on the movement of celestial bodies, making their use difficult. However, this also made them much more powerful because their spells used mana from the stars as a source. Although astrology was not his specialty, he was confident enough in setting up a ritual. Furthermore, with his thaumaturgical key, the failure rate would be greatly reduced.

Next, he had also planned to travel to the United Kingdom during this year. Just like in his original world, all ley lines in the world had their starting point in the same location, which was on the island of Great Britain. In his previous life, it was at this place that the Tower of Mages had been built.

And if there were truly mages in this world, that's where he should go to discover them. That's why he had planned to travel under the pretext of a school exchange abroad.