After slipping the small bottle back into his waist pouch, Gabriel raised his right hand.
He touched the faint flow of mana in the air—it felt like threads of soft light, dancing between his fingers.
At the same time, his field of view caught a system notification that had been present ever since he arrived in this world, patiently waiting to be read.
Ding!
[Detected!]
[This world possesses a unique Job: Mage.]
[A Herald may undergo a transition into Mage after being able to sense Mana.]
[Heralds who take the Mage Job will obtain...]
[Minor physical enhancement.]
[The ability to refine and utilize Mana.]
[Access to casting various spells aligned with their innate attributes through a Personal Grimoire.]
The text hovered before Gabriel's eyes for several seconds, before finally dispersing like mist carried away by the wind.
Gabriel let out a slow breath, narrowing his gaze beneath the long bangs that concealed his face.
"Hmm… that's rather troublesome," he murmured. "So… having mana is the foundation, huh?"
He fell silent for a moment, deep in thought.
Then, without another word, Gabriel drove his tactical shovel into the damp earth beside him.
After making sure it stood tall and firm—like a proper ritual pillar—he sat cross-legged on the wet grass.
He lifted his chin slightly, like someone about to summon an ancient spirit from another reality.
Then, in a heavy voice that sounded like it echoed from the far end of a long corridor, he spoke:
"Very well… if the requirement is to 'sense mana'…"
Gabriel clasped his hands together, as though borrowing the power of ancient stars.
"…then I, Ash—who communes with the whispers of the fourth and fifth dimensions—should naturally be able to converse with a mere mass of ordinary magical energy!"
His expression was utterly serious. Utterly confident. Utterly Gabriel.
"I can negotiate with entities from higher realities… so how could I possibly fail to hear something as simple as mana?"
"Heh… trivial local energy, prepare yourself. I shall greet you with waves of superior consciousness!"
In truth, the technique was nothing more than the product of Gabriel's spontaneous imagination—a wild idea that had surfaced without any real foundation.
But having already spoken it with such overwhelming authority, he continued as if it were an ancient rite passed down through forgotten ages.
Slowly, the grass and leaves around him swayed gently, and the air stirred with a soft breeze—yet mana offered no response at all.
At least, not yet.
On the other hand, Gabriel remained sitting perfectly upright, dignified and composed, as though the ritual were truly in the process of opening some ancient gate.
Several seconds passed.
Then minutes.
There was no reaction.
But little by little, Gabriel's posture began to change—his head tilted downward, his breathing slowed, and his eyelids remained closed.
His consciousness drifted somewhere between wakefulness and sleep.
And at that point, something began to happen.
Fwuush…!!
Faintly and gently, the mana around him started to respond, forming a warm mist that brushed against his skin. Thin layers of mana in the surrounding space slowly gathered toward him.
At first, it felt like nothing more than a subtle vibration in the air… then, gradually, it transformed into a soft sensation that wrapped around his arms, chest, and back.
***
Almost at the same moment, far from where Gabriel was, an old cemetery lay abandoned near the border of the Diamond Kingdom.
At the center of that area stood an ancient tree, long since rotten—every part of it blackened like charcoal, yet still standing upright, as if refusing to collapse despite the passage of time.
Suddenly, the tree trembled faintly. From the cracks in its bark, pale white magical energy burst forth—flashes resembling gentle lightning crawling through the air.
Zzzt…! Zzzt…!!
But those flashes were not merely light. They looked like threads of pure mana, trying to seep out from within the blackened trunk, as though something inside was about to awaken.
The air around the cemetery gradually grew tense, heavy and oppressive, as if space itself was shifting to make room for a presence that had slept for far too long.
In the next instant, the tree shuddered once more—then exploded from within, wooden fragments scattering in all directions.
From the shattered remains of the trunk, a grimoire slowly rose into the air, floating upward in complete silence.
Its cover was pale white, emitting the same aura—subtle yet piercing, like the cold light of the moon veiled by mist.
On both sides of the cover were symbols of three pairs of white wings spread wide, as if welcoming the awakening of their true owner.
And on one side of the cover, at the center of those pale wings, a clearly engraved five-leaf clover could be seen, seeming to absorb the surrounding light.
The grimoire trembled once—then shot away at incredible speed, leaving behind a thin trail of pale white light that danced through the air before slowly fading away.
WHOOSH—!!
***
Ding!
[Herald with serial number 95.111 has successfully sensed Mana.]
[Do you wish to perform and continue the Transition process?]
Upon hearing the system notification, the corner of Gabriel's lips lifted into a thin smile—a cold smile that looked like the result of calculation rather than emotion.
"Just as I expected…" he whispered with absolute certainty in his tone. "Even local energy like this… has no choice but to submit to me."
At least, that was what he showed on the surface.
Deep behind that calm expression, however, Gabriel was having a full-blown victory parade in his mind—jumping, spinning, and cheering in pure delight.
But the persona of Ash remained flawless. Not a single crack appeared.
"System," he said slowly, his voice echoing as if it came from the depths of some ancient corridor, "continue the process."
As if obeying that command, the mana around him surged.
Fwuush…!!!
The thin mist of mana that had only been brushing against his skin now transformed into a spiraling vortex, rising from both the ground and the air.
The current wrapped around Gabriel's body, spinning faster and faster, until it was finally absorbed into him.
This was no ordinary energy—this was pure mana, forcibly stabilized by the Infinity Room system and drawn into his body to form the foundation of a Mage.
In an instant, Gabriel's body reacted.
His muscles tightened slightly.
His breathing became steadier and deeper.
His senses sharpened, his focus expanding as if the world itself had come into clearer resolution.
His physique grew subtly stronger—not drastically, but unmistakably so. As if he had just been given a body now aligned with a world overflowing with mana.
Ding!
[Congratulations!]
[Herald with serial number 95.111 has successfully completed Job Transition and become a Mage.]
[Herald with serial number 95.111 has successfully obtained the Active Skill: Dark Matter Magic.]
The system notification rang out once more—clear and precise—shattering the silence surrounding him.
The mana that had been enveloping Gabriel's body slowly receded, fading away like a thin mist that had been given the command to withdraw.
Within seconds, the surroundings returned to calm—only a gentle breeze and the scent of damp earth remained, as if the ritual had never taken place.
From beneath his long bangs, Gabriel's eyelids slowly lifted.
A brilliant blue light from Gigan immediately cleaved through the shadows.
Within both eyes, mechanical geometric rings rotated alongside thin magical formations, overlapping and rolling like multidimensional gears.
With every rotation, they emitted a subtle gleam—a fusion of science, magic, and something that defied clear classification.
Gigan seemed to be adjusting—analyzing, deconstructing, and reassembling its formulas to accommodate the new energy now flowing through Gabriel's body.
Like a reality-calculation engine that had suddenly gained an additional power source, it spun faster, more precisely, and more vividly alive than ever before.
Before Gabriel, the system notification screen stabilized, displaying detailed information about his Job: Mage.
__________________
Mage (Job/Class)
Effects:
Strength (STR): 10
Vitality (VIT): 10
Agility (AGI): 10
Intelligence (INT): 20
Additional Ability: Mana is a special form of energy that can enhance physical capabilities through concentration, as well as through the use of Spells recorded within a Grimoire. It is the primary fuel that drives all magical phenomena.
Note: In order for a Mage to cast complex magical spells, a Grimoire is required.
__________________
After reading the Job's effects, Gabriel opened his mouth and spoke calmly,
"System. Open the Status window."
In response to his command, a new interface unfolded before his eyes—the Attribute Status Page, materializing in the air with a soft glow.
_________________
Name: Gabriel Michaelis
Race: Human
Tittle: none
Job: Mage
Authority Level: 5
***
Strength (STR): 18 (10+) {5+}
Vitality (VIT): 18 (10+) {5+}
Agility (AGI): 24 (10+) {5+}
Intelligent (INT): 26 (20+) {5+}
_________________
As soon as the attribute status screen appeared, Gabriel stared at it seriously, his mind working rapidly to determine which attribute mattered most.
A few seconds later, he had already made his decision: all 15 free attribute points would be allocated to INT.
Ding!
[INT: 26 → 41]
To Gabriel, magic was the very foundation of a Mage. He needed a vast mana capacity—whether for experiments, theoretical testing, or for the new spells he intended to create in the future.
The moment his INT increased, the magical energy within his body immediately felt as if it expanded—denser, more stable, and far easier to resonate with. Gabriel could feel the difference with absolute clarity.
Even so, Gabriel still had no concrete reference point. He didn't yet know how his magical energy compared to that of ordinary Magic Knights. In other words, he had no clear understanding of his current level of strength.
"Well… I'll put that aside for now," Gabriel muttered. "Besides… I don't even have a Grimoire yet."