The Editor Is the Novel’s Extra

“This is level 4 magic!”

“It’s a pity that it stopped just before level 5, but anyway, it can be said that you used a little magic. It was a primitive etheric flow that shook the inside of the circle.”

“Really. I know what I used before wasn’t even magic. It’s all thanks to you, Behemoth. You’re a treasure trove of knowledge that leads me forward.”

Kleio’s praise didn’t even contain a single gram of exaggeration.

‘If he was born as a person in the other world, Behemoth would be a star instructor at a top-ranking university.’

“Huhuhu, that’s right. Now, try adjusting the etheric pulse in your body as well. This will do it!”

“I will believe and follow you!”

“What a good attitude.”

Kleio closed his eyes. First, he became conscious of the ether pulse circulating in his body. After that, as if closing a door, he collected the ether and captured it in the middle of his heart. He didn’t forget to blink his eyes twice as a finishing touch.

‘Is it okay now?’

It felt tenser than when he used magic. After taking a breath, Kleio picked up the glass he had placed down. In it was a punch made by mixing rum, black tea, and lemon juice. He took a big sip, enjoying the refreshing sour and bitter taste. It was a lovely summer cocktail.

‘It worked!’

He was delighted to be in control of Perception finally. The past month had been a period of suffering for Kleio, the drinker. He had found some food he could tolerate, but the stench of alcohol was too intense that he couldn’t stomach any.

“Wow, so good…”

Kleio was on the verge of shedding tears of joy as Behemoth laughed.

“How long have you lived to miss this taste that much?”

“I mean, I thought I was going crazy…”

“Okay, the important problem has been solved, so let’s repeat that once more, just as you did. If you can reproduce it in the exact same way, it’s yours now.”

“Deal!”

Kleio turned around and opened the bright circle. A twenty-meter diameter circle unfolded at once, and ether overflowed from it. Kleio pulled out the wand he had in his belt and brandished it with his right hand. It was an ash-wood wand cut from an old tree that was struck by lightning, worth 25,000 dinars. It was his biggest luxury purchase so far this summer. The wand was about the length of his elbow, thin in diameter, with a shallow groove in the handle. It was designed to improve precision in adjusting the ether.

‘It feels like a waste to spend money on things like this, but it definitely feels different.’

With his free hand, he pulled out a coin-sized bronze clump of mana ore. A magical formula began to emerge from its base. [Property Amplification], [Replication], [Throw], [Acceleration], it was a magic formula that combined four elaborate formulas to create a schematic diagram that looked like a clock. Kleio threw the ore in the air and stretched out his wand. At the same time, he blinked twice and turned Perception back on as he shouted a mantra.

“[Angered by those who brought countless calamities, sharp bronze spear, crash down!]”

Kleio threw the ore wrapped in ether. It soared high, resonating with his mantra and [Property Amplification] to form a huge spear blade. The spear was [Replicated] four times in the air; the four spears were then [Thrown] forward, with the force of [Acceleration] behind them. Even though he raised the function of Perception to the maximum, his eyes couldn’t follow the magic speed.

Vwoooooom-

Thud-

Four giant spears fell from the sky to hit the ground right where Kleio intended. The spears stuck to the ground and cast a long shadow before disappearing magically. Only traces of the torn earth remained.

‘I did it, but it’s amazing. Ha… what a tearful journey.’

It had been worthwhile to circulate his ether fiercely while sleeping less throughout the month. One’s ability to hold ether could improve with more practice. As the total amount of ether in the body increased, the veins of the ether stretched out inside.

‘It’s kind of like martial arts. Like learning how to breathe properly…’

Of course, the etheric vessel in the body didn’t expand indefinitely. When one’s limit of innate ether sensitivity was reached, the expansion would stop there, and leveling up would no longer be possible.

‘The principle is that the vessel grows only as much as the ether that the user can pull. But I have a cheat key that makes my ether sensitivity infinite.’

Kleio happily patted Promise. Going up to level 4 was possible in two weeks. However, it took practice to use all four slots simultaneously in a formula. Time had passed as he adjusted to the changes.

‘I had to listen to Behemoth’s lectures every day…’

While learning to adjust his power, he memorized the contents of Volume 2 of the Magic Encyclopedia. He had memorized all 200 magic formulas and grasped the application examples from the 3rd volume as well. It was at that time a larger mountain appeared beyond the one he was climbing. Attack magic that made use of a medium had the greatest destructive power, yet it was only mentioned. No specific magical combinations had been mentioned.

‘If you’re a magician, you’re going to have to attack from the air. If you jump in recklessly, you’ll be in trouble.’

When he had clung to Behemoth to ask for any reference materials, the cat had desperately answered that only a few manuscripts existed in the King’s own library.

“Magic technique isn’t suited for warfare. Even a junior swordsman can easily defeat a powerful and advanced wizard. If you can cut their neck before they chant their mantra, they can be stopped.”

“But it’s impossible to learn the sword right away, so I should focus on this.”

“That’s right. You can’t even stand with a sword, let alone master it. Just run a little every day, even if it’s just in the garden.”

Could it be? Honestly, he felt like it was necessary. He soothed Behemoth with alcohol and snacks, a combination that seemed to be powerful. That over, he tried a Finally, he decided on the combination of [Attribute Amplification][Replication][Throw][Acceleration] using bronze as his medium.

Confirming the magic formula was only the first step. Next was the tedious practice to get it right. At first, he learned how to form the spear blades from bronze. The ore took to the magic well, transforming quickly. It was challenging to throw even one spear correctly in his first attempts, and it took him another three days to properly adjust just one. After raising the speed of [Attribute Amplification] as much as possible, it was possible to move onto [Replication]. From there, he tested the magic by increasing the number of spears, but the limit was four. More spears than that decreased the intensity of the attack and made adjusting their positions impossible.

He also had to determine how much ore he needed. After several trials, he found the minimum he needed was the size of a coin, which he had to smelt himself. Mana stones couldn’t be processed with standard tools and had to be transformed using ether. Some people processed them with an anvil or hammer infused with ether, but Kleio, who was physically weak, had to lean on the power of pure ether. His 15kg of ore and miscellaneous items covered with rust have been reduced to 9kg with [Refining] and [Smelting] magic; the iron has been reduced to less than 5kg.

‘Even if it costs more, I’ll have to ask Dione to process it.’

He liked that it was cheaper, but it consumed too much time. He had spent another two days cutting down the metal to an appropriate size. The completed medium was divided into subspace pockets. With the wand, it would be an important weapon in the future. Dark circles formed around his eyes as he completed the magic. Behemoth and Kleio spent their nights in the library, worrying Mrs. Canton. The servants weren’t allowed to enter, so the inside of the study, filled with debris, quickly became a mess. Papers filled with sentences cluttered the floor, the by-products of making mantras. The power of the mantra designed by wasting dozens of sheets of paper was quite powerful. The timing could be improved, but the destruction it could cause was quite powerful, surprising even Behemoth.

“How did you come up with such a mantra? It’s a strangely good match with the bronze medium.”

“It happened by chance.”

Of course, it hadn’t been. While making the mantra, he had worn out the Memory function of Promise.

‘A mantra perfect for fighting, killing, and raging, inspired by an ancient epic.’

They were phrases that none knew about in this world, so it didn’t matter if he borrowed them so long as they were plausible. Fortunately, there were countless such pages in his head to borrow from. At one time, books were everything to Kim Jungjin.

‘I’ve read a lot of useless books in my life, and I’m using them in such a place. You really can’t know where life will eventually take you…’

His mother had wandered around the fishing village in search of work to raise him. The boy had no friends going up as they moved from place to place, so reading was the only hobby he could resort to. Even without knowing the context or origin of the books he had, he read as many as possible. Whether they be from a mobile library, a class, or a pack of books left by the landlord’s student in the closet of the country house they lived in. It had done him no good, but this world made with letters was friendly to readers.

‘Is this a world where the spirit of literature resides?’

For that reason, he felt he was able to connect to this strange world easily. Even when he was young, he desired to escape into the worlds inside his bookshelf. Anywhere but where he was would have been good. He imagined a place where his younger brother hadn’t died as a child, and his father hadn’t passed away to leave them in poverty. It was all desperate, but it had passed.

‘It may be that it came late.’

Behemoth touched Kleio’s arm as he sat alone in his thoughts.

“You. Stop daydreaming and wake up. This magic is completely original. Won’t you give it a name?”

“Is it necessary to give it a name?”

“A name is a powerful way of putting newly created magic into the world. You have to name it well.”

“Then, what about [Achilles’s Spear]?”

“Huh. Like Behemoth, you’re bringing up some random name that has no authority?”

‘No authority? He’s an epic hero.’

Kleio quietly laughed at the cat with a devil’s name.

.

.

.

Thus, [Achilles’s Spear] was completed.