Chomp.
Although Felix couldn’t fully taste the flavors, he could still feel the texture of the fruit. He savored the soft yet firm texture of the banana and took another bite.
Then, he put the uniquely colored orange into his mouth.
Compared to the banana, Felix could taste the orange more distinctly. In fact, he found the juiciness and the bursting pulp more intriguing than the actual taste.
Felix, driven by a rare appetite, ate more fruit than usual. Hubert watched his lord quietly enjoying the fruits with a feeling close to tears. It was a stark difference from Felix’s usual meal, where he would eat just one or two bites. Hubert resolved to visit the unique magician more often.
The fairies were excited and kept chattering among themselves.
[Felix, is it delicious? I’m so happy to see you eat well!]
[By the way, what does it taste like? I want to try it too.]
[Felix, can you have more?]
[I knew a day like this would come!]
[Felix, share a bite with me too! Here, ah.]
[We’ll always support you, Felix!]
Listening to the fairies, Felix felt a slight sense of fullness.
It was truly an unfamiliar experience for him.
★★09: Tattoo Artist Sylvia ★★
The inside of the house was filled with smoke.
“Cough, cough!”
Sylvia was sitting on her knees in front of the fireplace, constantly adding well-dried pine branches.
[Phew! Cough.]
Beside her, Eringium was helping move the small pine branches while making suffocating noises.
“Eringium, hold on a little longer! Just a bit more and we’ll seal the entrance!”
[How many times are we doing this! We’ve collected plenty of this pesky powder!]
“No, we have to keep making it little by little.”
[What is this even for!]
Black soot clung to the beautiful and radiant indigo hair.
Sylvia wasn’t any less covered in soot. Her face was marked with smudges, and her clothes and hands were dyed pitch black. They both finished putting all the pine branches into the fireplace and blocked about 2/3 of the opening with a large stone.
“Phew, well done. Now, all that’s left is to wait.”
[Heeak.]
Seemingly exhausted, Eringium sprawled on the floor and made strange sounds.
“For now, let’s rest, clean up, eat, and then we’ll start the real work.”
Eringium lay down on her side, pretending not to see Sylvia’s overflowing enthusiasm.
In Sylvia’s mind, various magic circles were swirling around. She had been frustrated when she thought she could only inscribe magic circles on gems, but that feeling didn’t last long.
As Eringium said, it was her first time, so there was no pressure. Even if it turned out to be ineffective, it didn’t matter. Excitement over creating her first tattoo in this place made her hum a tune involuntarily.
“I’m glad I knew this. Otherwise, things could have gone wrong.”
Long ago, there was a punishment in ancient China where criminals were branded with a heated metal rod. The history of tattooing was extensive, and there were various methods of using ink.
Sylvia had accidentally seen the process of making ink in a broadcast. While she couldn’t replicate it exactly, it didn’t matter much. She didn’t need ink for the skin; she needed ink for tattoos.
She wanted tattoo ink that wouldn’t harm the human body and would last a long time on the skin. There were various ink recipes, but she knew that pine soot, made by burning high-quality pine branches, was the best.
Gazing at the fine soot particles in the carefully placed container, she looked at it as if it were a precious gem.
Indeed, the particles were fine.
“Wow, it’s my first time making it, but it’s pretty good. Is this how the color comes out so black? It’s fascinating.”
Using magic, she had planted numerous Korean pine trees in her garden. Standing in the doorway, she observed the familiar scenery and lightly sprinkled a small amount of soot on her hand to examine it.
“Still, I need to make it finer. As fine as possible, without any impurities.”
The thought of being able to tattoo again filled Sylvia with joy. She sat cross-legged in the doorway, gazing up at the clouds drifting across the sky.
After several days of struggling with pine soot, the next step was preparing the needles. Sylvia went to the local clothing store, where needles were easily found in various types, as sewing and mending were common practices in this era.
Since she couldn’t use a tattoo machine, Sylvia decided to go with hand-poking, also known as “debory” in tattooing terms. She purchased a large quantity of needles and headed to the blacksmith’s workshop, where she could finish making tattoo needles.
She planned to create both round liner and magnum needles. The magnum needles were made by attaching multiple thin needles side by side, while the round liner needles were rolled into a circular shape to create a sharp point.
Her initial plan was to make 15 magnum and 5 round liners, and later 9 more round liners.
With a detailed explanation to the blacksmith, she mass-produced the needles. Since each needle could be used only once, she had to estimate roughly how many she would need.
The magnum needles came out looking like flat-tipped pens, and the round liner needles resembled round-tipped pens. They were neatly crafted, worth the money Sylvia spent. She beamed with delight, expressing her gratitude to the blacksmith.
She wrapped the needles in clean cloth. Now, it was time to head back home for the final preparation.
Sterilization was essential for the needles.
She placed only the needles to be used into boiling water. Small white cloths that had been boiled earlier and dried in the sunlight were ready for use. The sterilized needles shimmered as they were carefully placed on the sanitized cloths in neat rows.
[Are we ready now?]
Erin, who had been waiting anxiously during the long two weeks of preparation, asked as Sylvia’s eyes remained fixed on the needles, responding only with her voice.
“Yes, we’re ready now.”
With the rich and fine mixture of pine soot prepared on the side, Sylvia brought out her final tool, a fountain pen. Next to it, she placed the papers with wind, fire, and water magic circles that she had soaked in advance.
During the preparation period, Sylvia practiced drawing countless magic circles on paper. They varied in complexity and were intricate in design.
For instance, the magic circle that stirred up a gale and the one that carried razor-sharp gusts of wind were difficult to distinguish at first glance due to their subtle differences.
Magic circles of intermediate and higher levels were all circular in shape. Some lower-level magic circles were band-like, while others were simple lines that only required a few strokes.
Lower-level magic circles were rarely used since the jewels required at least intermediate-level circles.
However, Sylvia didn’t overlook them just because they were of lower level. Her desires weren’t grand – she simply wished for convenience when washing up, coolness when sleeping, and ease in cooking. The greatest wish she had was to make her daily life more comfortable.
For instance, using a water magic circle to instantly generate a small amount of water without the need to draw it from a well, igniting firewood with a simple gesture using a fire magic circle, and finally, the result of everything happening due to the inability to drink fruit juice despite having an abundance of fruits.
Sylvia was now equipped with everything she needed to begin tattooing again, with her heart full of hope and excitement.
I plan to start with simple and trivial magic circles.
After putting in so much effort, if the magic circles tattooed on her body turned out to be useless or if she can’t use other elements, then…
“Well, it’ll be a waste of time and money.”
Sylvia coolly uttered, planning to start sketching the outlines with the fountain pen.
“Oh, Erin, can you hold this for me?”
She grabbed her thigh as the spot to draw the first magic circle. Seeing Sylvia wearing only her top, Erin gasped in surprise.
[Isn’t that outfit too casual!]
“Hey, should I get all dressed up for this? What nonsense. Just hold this for now.”
Giving tension to the skin was essential when tattooing.
Tension meant tightening or pulling the skin taut. As Sylvia carefully drew the outline, she lightly twisted her wrist, piercing through her thigh.
“I feel a bit nervous.”
She had practiced diligently during the short time, but this was still a rare occasion. Tattooing on her own body was a first for Sylvia. As a tattoo artist, she rarely tattooed herself because tattooing involved enduring pain.
As a result, it was more common for her to receive tattoos from other tattoo artists.
“It was like self-harm.”
But for now, she focused on sketching the outline.
With Erin perched on her finger, she quickly moved her hand as instructed.
Starting with geometric patterns that resembled flowing water, she continued with shapes that resembled small flames and winding lines that represented powerful gusts of wind. She drew swiftly, making sure not to smudge or clump the lines.
Erin tightly held onto her skin, her face turning slightly red, looking quite odd.
“You’re a fairy, yet you’re blushing so much just from looking at a human body… You’re so mischievous.”
Sylvia couldn’t help but chuckle at Erin’s reaction before concentrating on her work again, revealing her thigh once more, and Erin quickly closed her eyes in surprise.
Her cuteness made Sylvia want to tease her, but now she had to focus on the deburring process. She couldn’t afford any mistakes.
She skillfully traced the outer lines of the magic circles. From the outside, it might just look like simple lines, but she had already decided on the thickness she wanted to achieve. Moving the needle swiftly, she carefully outlined all the magic circles. Then, she used a cloth dipped in water to wipe her thigh clean.
“Phew, it stings quite a bit.”
Despite the pain, it was bearable on her thigh.
If it were located closer to her heart, there was no way she could have done it alone.
The thigh was easier to endure, but anything close to her heart was simply too painful to handle alone.
The pain of tattooing on her thigh was nothing compared to the pain she felt when she tattooed her own flesh.
The faint outlines drawn with the fountain pen had disappeared completely. Now, she had to fill the space between the outer lines with colors. Using a wrist snap, she continuously tapped and wiped the needle to fill the space.
Erin, watching her, had tears rolling down her cheeks.
[Ah, isn’t it painful?]
With a more pained expression than Sylvia, who was tattooing on her own skin, Erin sobbed softly. Sylvia playfully glanced at her with a mischievous smile.
Sweat dripped down from her forehead.
“It’s okay, this will be over soon. Have faith!”
The work that started in the morning was now coming to an end in the evening. Even though she had chosen only simple magic circles using low-level techniques, it still took this much time.
However, Sylvia was extremely satisfied. The colors came out beautifully vibrant, just like the magic circles she had seen in the books she practiced from. After finishing the work, Erin expressed her anticipation with twinkling eyes.
Sylvia was equally eager and took a deep breath before closing her eyes.
She directed the natural Black Dragon’s magic flowing within her body. Instead of channeling it into the ring, she sent it into the magic circle on her thigh. The sensation was different from when she infused magic into the ring.
When infusing magic into the ring, it felt like pushing a powerful stream of water through a small opening. However, sending the magic into the magic circle on her thigh felt like a waterfall flowing smoothly into a cave located just below the waterfall itself.
Although the cave was still quite small, it was larger than a small hole.
A stream of water gushed forth from the empty air.
When she opened her eyes, the water was swirling right in front of her.
“Wow….”
She didn’t really expect it to succeed. She had just hoped it would work somehow, that’s all. To actually succeed in one go…
[Wow! The water magic worked, Sylvia!]
Erin flew around with excitement, darting through the stream of water.
Sylvia then continued to direct her magic into the fire and wind magic circles. Streams of fire and swirling winds appeared in the air alongside the water. Seeing this, Sylvia couldn’t help but smile brightly.
However, her expression turned cynical as she said, “Now I can finally cook properly.”
Those words meant that she could now enjoy the food she truly desired…
Amidst the cheers and overwhelming excitement, Erin, who had been flying around in a rapid figure-eight pattern, stopped abruptly upon hearing Sylvia’s remark.
[Aren’t you happy that your magic succeeded?]
Even though she had succeeded through so much effort, Sylvia only smiled briefly and now had a cynical expression.
Sylvia had indeed worked hard to succeed, but she seemed nonchalant about it now. The ephemeral joy faded quickly, leaving behind a cynical demeanor.
In response to the fairy’s question, Sylvia spoke again, but this time she said, “Erin, try this spot.”
Offering her opposite white thigh, the fairy’s eyes welled up with tears, and her face turned red. It seemed like she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight. Despite her cynical expression earlier, Sylvia’s pupils were now burning with excitement.
Although she had unintentionally become a magician, Sylvia had originally been a tattoo artist. With her overflowing enthusiasm as a tattooist, that night she immersed herself in mastering intermediate-level magic circles.
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