The Extra who regained his past life memories

After nearly a week of relentless training, I finally felt ready to attempt the spell I truly wanted to create.

This wasn’t an idea I’d come up with overnight.

It was inspired by something from my previous life.

A concept from a novel I had once read.

The more I thought about it...

The more convinced I became that it could exist in this world.

Darkness.

Space.

My Mana Core itself resembled a miniature black hole.

Darkness gave it stability.

Space gave it the property of attraction.

If I could imitate that process...

Perhaps I could create a spell based on the same principle.

Not a real black hole.

That would be impossible for someone at my level.

But a tiny imitation.

A weak version that borrowed only a fraction of that concept.

A spell I could actually control.

I sat down cross-legged and slowly calmed my breathing.

Darkness Affinity.

Space Affinity.

Body Reinforcement.

Mana Control.

Everything I had learned until now...

I brought all of it together.

Dark mana gathered above my palm.

Instead of forcing the Space mana to dominate, I wrapped it around the darkness.

Darkness became the stable core.

Space surrounded it, carrying only one property—

Attraction.

Very slowly...

I began rotating the two elements together.

Compress.

Rotate.

Stabilize.

Compress again.

Exactly like the miniature vortex inside my Mana Core.

Then—

Bang!

The spell exploded.

The mana dispersed violently.

Blood trickled from my nose.

A sharp headache struck me instantly.

"Gray!"

Astrid appeared beside me in an instant.

"Stop."

Her expression had become serious.

"You’re forcing your Space Affinity too much."

I wiped the blood from beneath my nose and smiled weakly.

"I’m fine..."

"No."

Her voice became much firmer.

"You’re not."

"If you continue pushing yourself like this, you’ll end up seriously injuring your soul."

I slowly shook my head.

"I know my limits."

"I’ll stop before I cross them."

Astrid looked into my eyes for several long seconds.

Finally...

She sighed.

"You really are stubborn."

"But..."

"I trust your judgment."

She stepped back slightly.

"I’ll be right here."

"The moment I think you’ve gone too far..."

"I’ll stop you."

I smiled.

"Thank you."

Then I tried again.

Failure.

Again.

Failure.

Again.

Failure.

Each attempt taught me something new.

The darkness stabilized the structure...

But the Space mana kept rejecting it.

Sometimes it collapsed.

Sometimes it exploded.

Sometimes the attraction became unstable and scattered the entire spell apart.

Still...

Every failure brought me one step closer.

Hours passed.

Sweat soaked my clothes.

My breathing became heavier.

Even maintaining Body Reinforcement had become difficult.

My head felt like it was splitting apart.

Yet...

I could feel it.

I was close.

Very close.

Almost...

Then—

On my thirty-second attempt—

Everything aligned.

Darkness became the stable core.

Space wrapped around it perfectly.

The tiny vortex rotated on its own.

Instead of exploding...

The mana collapsed inward.

A tiny black sphere appeared above my palm.

It was no larger than a marble.

The surrounding air distorted ever so slightly.

Tiny grains of dust drifted toward it.

Loose leaves slid across the ground.

Even several tiny pebbles slowly rolled toward the sphere.

The attraction wasn’t powerful.

But it was unmistakable.

Three seconds later...

The sphere disappeared.

My knees immediately gave out.

Pant.

Pant.

Pant.

Every drop of mana inside my body had nearly vanished.

Yet before I could say anything—

A familiar notification appeared before my eyes.

⸻

[Congratulations!]

[You have created your first original skill.]

[Devour (F)]

[Unique Skill]

[This skill will grow alongside its user.]

⸻

For a moment...

I simply stared.

Then—

A grin slowly spread across my face.

"I..."

"I actually did it."

Excitement burst from my chest.

"I really created it!"

Astrid immediately walked over.

Her crimson eyes remained fixed on the place where the black sphere had vanished.

"What exactly was that?"

"For a brief moment..."

"I felt a strange attraction."

"It wasn’t ordinary gravity."

"It felt as though everything nearby wanted to move toward that sphere."

I smiled proudly.

"My first original skill."

"Devour."

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"...Devour?"

I nodded.

"It isn’t complete yet."

"It’s still extremely weak."

"But one day..."

"It’ll become one of my strongest abilities."

Astrid looked at me for a long moment before smiling.

"...Knowing you..."

"I don’t doubt that."

Just then—

Amy, who had sensed the disturbance while training nearby, hurried over.

"Gray!"

"What happened?!"

"I felt something strange from all the way over there!"

"I’ve never felt mana like that before!"

I looked toward Astrid.

"Astrid."

"What affinities do you have again?"

Without hesitation, she answered,

"Ice and Fire."

I nodded.

"Fire won’t work."

Then I turned toward Amy.

"You have Lightning Affinity."

"Can you help me with something?"

Amy immediately puffed out her chest proudly.

"Of course!"

"What do you need?"

"I want you to attack me."

"...Huh?"

"Use a G-rank Lightning spell."

"But keep it weak."

Amy blinked.

"...Attack you?"

I nodded.

"I need to test something."

She folded her arms.

"Hmph."

"Who do you think you’re talking to?"

"I’ve been controlling Lightning for three years."

"I can adjust my output perfectly."

I took a dramatic step backward.

"Please don’t accidentally kill your little brother."

Bonk!

She immediately flicked my forehead.

"Hmph!"

"Stop underestimating your amazing big sister!"

"Even if your experiment fails..."

"I won’t let you get hurt."

Astrid remained beside us with her arms folded.

She didn’t interrupt.

She simply watched quietly, ready to step in if anything went wrong.

Amy’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"So..."

"What exactly did you create?"

I smiled.

"A combination skill."

"Darkness..."

"And Space."

She blinked.

"...You’re combining them already?"

I nodded.

"I just need to see whether my theory is correct."

Amy slowly raised her hand.

Lightning mana gathered around her fingertip.

A small G-rank lightning bolt crackled softly.

She looked at me one last time.

"Ready?"

I smiled confidently.

"Whenever you are."

Amy pointed toward me.

"Here I come."

At that exact moment—

I activated Devour.