Independent Circle.
After completing what was the first of its kind on the continent, the first thing Cain did after a brief rest was to wash his body.
“Water.”
Cool water soaked Cain’s head and body, swirling according to his will and washing everything clean.
Ice magic fundamentally deals with ‘ice’, but its foundation lies in water mana.
Therefore, it was only natural that an ice mage could manipulate water.
‘No, rather, manipulating water is a much simpler task.’
The reason ice magic had been evaluated as inefficient and weak by the world was precisely because it had to go through the process of converting ‘water’ into ‘ice’ every time.
‘Lower circle water magic is far inferior in power compared to ice magic, so it can’t be helped even if it’s troublesome.’
The story changes a bit when you reach the 7th circle or higher, but that’s literally a story for later.
However, despite such disadvantages, ice magic had a distinct advantage.
‘The ability to push the stability of water mana to its limits during the conversion process to ice.’
In his previous life, Sein Sears had honed this advantage and eventually became the continent’s strongest mage.
‘…And it was when I felt limitations in that method that I researched how to use fire mana.’
Although he had transcended one lifetime, Cain had now successfully obtained something like special paper on which to draw the blueprint for the key to unlock the secret of the 10th circle that he had been seeking.
‘That just means I’ve only reached the starting line. There’s a mountain of work to do.’
While building the foundation of ice magic more thoroughly and perfectly than in his previous life, he had to train in flame magic and gain inspiration from it.
“Fire.”
After completely washing his body, Cain summoned a modest flame and dried himself.
‘Certainly, just creating a circle and directly using flame magic gives me a fresh sensation.’
Within Cain’s heart now coexisted vitality ready to rampage at any moment and calm coldness.
Like being immersed in a hot outdoor bath at the peak of a snowy mountain, the two sensations crossed pleasantly.
A faint smile appeared on Cain’s lips.
The thought that he could feel a sensation he had never experienced despite spending his entire life researching magic brought him joy.
‘However, now I understand for certain.’
Completing two circles together.
And operating both of them.
Cain was directly experiencing that this was more difficult than he had thought.
‘In my case, it was dangerous because my affinity was too strong… but it probably would have been just as dangerous in the opposite case.’
The fire mana that entered his body emitted much more unpredictable energy than expected.
While Cain could strongly control the mana with his high affinity, conversely, if his affinity had been excessively low, it would have been difficult to cope with even small variables.
Cain Sears’ innate talent, and the experience of handling water mana in his previous life.
It was thanks to having both that he could complete the circles so perfectly.
‘Come to think of it, I still haven’t found the reason why he didn’t learn flame magic despite having this level of talent.’
Perhaps he simply disliked learning magic, or was just lazy.
If he was really just lazy, it was a bit disappointing, but what could be done?
Thanks to that, Cain had succeeded in accepting two opposing manas based on a very clean circle room and mana circuits.
The moment Cain, having such thoughts, stood up from his seat.
‘…Wait.’
Perhaps because his senses had expanded from creating circles—two of them no less—he suddenly felt something off about the bookshelf area.
‘Come to think of it, the interior seems a bit narrow compared to the overall size of the training room.’
Cain strode over to the bookshelf and instinctively inserted his hand into the gap between the books.
And when he pressed the suspiciously indented part on the side of the bookshelf.
Click.
The bookshelf opened, revealing the inner space.
And inside it was.
“…Huh.”
Surprisingly, it contained the reason why Cain Sears, despite having such talent, had never learned flame magic at all.
「Ice Magic Theory」
「Everything About Ice Magic」
…
Especially one old book that was carefully enshrined on one side.
「Sears Family Ice Magic Secret Manual – Volume 1」
The inscription carved beneath it.
「by Sein Sears」
Looking at it, Cain couldn’t help but mutter.
“Cain Sears, I’ll have to revise my assessment of you.”
As he stepped into the small room behind the bookshelf, brief memories surfaced.
The image of Cain coming into this small training room every day, picking up books from behind the bookshelf with expectant eyes, flashed quickly before his eyes.
-Today for sure…
-Sigh… There’s a limit to enduring like this.
-Still, knowing that the roots of the Sears family lie in ice magic, I can’t just sit still.
-I will definitely succeed!
Now the mystery was solved.
So Cain Sears wasn’t talentless as the family members thought, nor simply lazy.
‘He was refraining from learning flame magic in order to learn ice magic.’
But it wouldn’t have been easy.
‘This body’s talent is completely optimized for the flame system.’
In Cain’s view, his flame affinity alone was probably among the best in this family.
But conversely, his affinity for water mana was pitifully low.
If Cain Sears hadn’t regained his memories from his previous life, he would probably still be struggling with separating water mana.
‘Admirable. That Cain fellow. No, Cain is me, but anyway.’
The foundation of the Sears family was undoubtedly ice magic.
And this secret manual was the book that organized that foundation from one to ten.
‘This has already become so worn. How was it stored…’
Anyway, his heart felt relieved.
Whether past Cain had accidentally discovered the secret manual and learned that the Sears family was an ice family, or had learned that it was an ice family and discovered this secret manual while investigating here and there, it didn’t matter.
Cain Sears had wanted to carry on the legacy as an ice family.
That fact alone was sufficient.
‘Perhaps that’s why I was able to recover my memories from my previous life.’
Judging by how many times Cain Sears had repeatedly read the secret manual, the theoretical parts were worn to the point of the paper deteriorating.
Cain picked up the secret manual with a pleased heart.
At the same time, memories of when Cain Sears read the secret manual came flooding in.
-Sigh… It says you can feel water mana by doing this…
-No, what am I supposed to do when the explanation is written like this? The person who wrote this must be some genius to write it this way.
‘……’
-How is someone like me supposed to understand this? Ah, damn! Phew… Still, I have to read it. Ancestor, I’m sorry for cursing.
The vivid scene of Cain grumbling while diligently reading the secret manual played back in his mind.
“…I thought I wrote it in an easy-to-understand way.”
For an objective evaluation, he had also shown the contents of the secret manual to several disciples.
-How is it? I spent a month agonizing over this part especially to write it in an easy-to-understand way.
-Ah… Yes. Master. I think I should be able to understand this much!
-If the Master wrote it directly and it’s this easy, it’s incredibly simple…!
Those guys had acknowledged it too.
‘Anyway. Cain Sears. I’ve created the ice circle you wanted. What you probably wanted to do after that was to restore the family’s roots. I’ll achieve that for you too.’
And once again, I’ll raise the Sears family to make it the continent’s greatest magical noble house.
‘Without fail.’
Cain put the secret manual back in its original place.
‘I succeeded in creating two circles, and I recovered some memories too. Somehow I’ve achieved both of today’s goals.’
With a satisfied heart, Cain sat down and organized the mana in his body for the remaining time before returning home.
When he returned, Alice and Nefti welcomed him warmly.
“Young master! Welcome back.”
“Welcome back. Dinner has been prepared on time. Shall I bring it to your room right away?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Alice cautiously asked Cain as he entered his room.
“Um… Young master. Is your training going well?”
There was a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Though that gaze was somewhat burdensome, Cain nodded slightly and answered honestly.
“It’s still at the level of taking the first step, but I’ve achieved as much as I thought I would.”
“Really?”
At those words, Alice’s expression brightened.
To the point where one might wonder if it could be that bright.
“That’s a relief. I’ll bring your meal right away. Please eat well. You need to eat well to have the energy for training.”
“I understand.”
While Cain ate dinner, Alice watched him contentedly from outside.
And Nefti suddenly grabbed Alice’s sleeve.
Nefti, who had brought Alice nearby, quietly spoke.
“Sister. About the young master. I think something has changed about him, do you know anything? Especially his way of speaking…”
Alice shrugged and shook her head.
“I don’t know either. He’s been like that since he came home after today’s declaration.”
Suddenly using archaic speech that even the family head, no, even the previous family head probably wouldn’t use…
“Still…”
“Still?”
For a moment, Alice’s eyes sharpened.
“I feel like he’s made up his mind in a good way. He told me I wouldn’t be banished, that he would produce results.”
“The young master did?”
A brief look of surprise appeared in Nefti’s eyes, which rarely showed expression changes.
“And you heard just now, right? That it’s just the beginning but he’s achieved as much as he thought. Maybe today he finally managed to feel the presence of fire mana.”
Though the given time wasn’t that much, finally there was a change in Cain.
Of course, to completely avoid banishment, he would have to complete the 1st circle, cast the ‘Fire’ spell in front of the family head, and succeed in making it move even a little…
“Even if he fails to summon or move flames, if he just succeeds in completing a circle, the family head might show some consideration.”
“Right, that’s it.”
Alice closed her eyes with her hands clasped together.
‘Please, don’t let the young master be banished from the family…’
Though he said it was nothing special, Alice couldn’t forget that time when she had sworn lifelong loyalty to Cain.
As Alice returned to the room to clean up when Cain finished his meal, she thought again.
If only Cain would grow up healthy, get along well with others in the family, and gradually build up his skills, she would want nothing more.
“Hmm, Nef… Ah, Alice. How was this small bread made? Your skills are quite good.”
Of course, it would be even better if he fixed that way of speaking too.
Cain spent most of his time alone in the training ground.
‘There’s nothing good about wandering around anyway.’
Except for those who were outside the family at the time for missions or subjugation, almost everyone had clearly heard Sears Blake’s declaration of banishment.
Wherever he went, Cain’s story would inevitably come up, and probably none of those stories would be positive.
There was no reason to go out and listen to such talk.
Eating breakfast every morning, taking the lunch Nefti packed for him, going to the training ground, and returning in the evening became Cain’s daily routine.
Focusing on building the foundation of ice magic in the morning and training flame magic in the afternoon for about a month.
Finally, when the banishment date mentioned by Sears Blake approached, Cain Sears had succeeded in reaching the 2nd circle in both ice and flame magic.
Now all he had to do was check his skills one last time before the deadline and go out to the snowy mountains to hunt snow leopards.
“Ice Needle.”
“Fire Needle.”
When he cast 2nd circle magic as a test in his room, sharp needles made of ice and fire respectively appeared in the air.
‘Good. This level isn’t bad.’
When he had just reached the 2nd circle, Fire Needle couldn’t match the sharpness of Ice Needle at all, but in just two days, it had reached a fairly decent level.
-Young master, you can definitely do it…!
-Do your best today too!
Remembering Alice’s eyes that had been cheering him on every day and becoming increasingly earnest as the date approached, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
Click.
Just as he opened the door, he met Alice’s widened eyes.
“Young master, you’re leaving a bit early today?”
“Yes. Now it’s time to show results.”
“Young master…! Could it be!”
Alice’s eyes filled with emotion.
Didn’t that mean he was going to meet privately with the family head and successfully demonstrate the basic Fire spell in one go?
Could it be that he had really succeeded in creating a circle? Alice waited for an answer with trembling hands clasped together.
And soon Cain nodded.
“That’s right. I’ll be back.”
Cain left the answer Alice had been hoping for and walked out the door.
And he headed toward the snowy mountains.
