An open space on one side of the west wing.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
“I… I can’t run anymore…”
“Is this really… related to magic training… damn it!”
The three who had been barely holding on collapsed like dominoes when one of them dropped out first, crumpling to the ground.
“Haa… Since Cain is running with us, I can’t really complain…”
Ed said while watching Cain, who was already far ahead.
Cain glanced back at the three sitting together in defeat, then stubbornly completed another lap before stopping in front of them.
Bolio looked at Cain with a fed-up expression and said:
“Hey, aren’t you tired? I seriously feel like I’m going to die.”
“Cain does look tired though… Look. He’s panting too.”
“It’s amazing how he looks like he’s about to collapse but keeps running without actually collapsing…”
“Did he secretly do physical training while we weren’t looking?”
Cain took several deep breaths, wiped his sweat, and said:
“Physical strength isn’t the problem. It’s your rotten mental fortitude that’s the issue.”
In reality, Cain’s physical strength wasn’t much different from Ed’s or Fon’s.
If anything, today he had just finished an intense sparring match that had overworked his mana circuits, without much time to recover.
If he hadn’t endured through sheer willpower, Cain would have collapsed before the other three.
“You could have run more.”
“Hey, I gave it my all! I really felt like I couldn’t take another step.”
“No, you could have run more. The proof is that the other two kept running until one of you collapsed. You didn’t want to be the first to give up, but you were ready to sit down thinking ‘this is enough’ as soon as someone else collapsed first. Am I wrong?”
“That’s…”
The three started to say something but closed their mouths.
“Get up.”
“Run again right away…?”
“You’ve rested enough while talking, so it’s time to run again.”
“This… this was resting?”
“Hey, what if we collapse from this? If we collapse, we can’t train, so wouldn’t that be counterproductive? You can’t just push us blindly!”
At Bolio’s final resistance, Cain firmly shook his head.
“I’ll stop you when you reach your limit, so you just need to keep moving.”
From his countless experiences training disciples, Cain knew better than anyone what someone who had truly reached their limit looked like.
“If you really think you can’t go on, raise your hand.”
Bolio immediately raised his hand.
“Use that hand to slap yourself in the face. Then you’ll be able to move more.”
“Son of a bitch!”
“Stop.”
Thud.
With Cain’s word, the three collapsed on the spot.
Gasp, gasp, huff.
Unlike before, the three said nothing. To be precise, they had no strength left to speak.
They could only gasp for breath with relief that it was finally over.
“Hmm.”
He had considered measuring each of their individual limits more precisely and pushing them to their absolute breaking point separately, but considering it was their first day, he decided against it.
It was also because their fitness levels were similarly poor.
After giving them the minimum rest time, Cain spoke when their breathing had become somewhat regular again.
“Get up.”
Suddenly, Bolio’s breathing became slightly irregular.
“Don’t pretend and get up. We’re not going to run again.”
At those words, his breathing calmed down a bit.
The three barely managed to sit up, looking almost like corpses.
“There’s… something else…?”
“We should have just said let’s start tomorrow…”
“Damn it…”
Cain nodded.
“From now on, we’ll use magic. Sit properly and each of you choose a spell you’re confident with.”
After mindlessly running, the word ‘magic’ finally came up and their expressions brightened slightly, but soon darkened again.
“You want us to use magic in this state…?”
“Hurry up.”
Thinking it was at least better than getting up and running again, the three shakily sat cross-legged.
“Fire Needle.”
“Fire Needle.”
“Fire Ball.”
As expected, Ed and Fon chose Fire Needle, while Bolio chose Fire Ball.
Soon the three’s magic began to take shape above their hands…
“Huh…?”
“Wait, hold on.”
“Why is this happening?”
It failed to manifest completely.
These were spells they were each confident in, spells they had used as their main attacks when hunting snow rabbits in the snowy mountains.
These were spells they had practiced so much they could cast them even if woken from sleep, yet now they flickered and dispersed before fully taking shape.
“This can’t be… Wait. I have enough mana.”
“Let me try again.”
“I just couldn’t concentrate properly just now!”
The three, who had never experienced this before, seemed somewhat shocked and quickly attempted to cast magic again.
Bolio in particular seemed stunned that he couldn’t even properly succeed with a 1st Circle spell, his eyes widening.
“Hmph.”
But the result was the same.
“It’s not working…?”
“I… I can’t concentrate at all…”
“Of course it’s like this after you worked us to death!”
“No. You can do it. Keep trying till you can.”
“Damn it!”
Though it seemed unreasonable, having repeatedly run with minimal rest, they had already somewhat realized that when Cain said they could do it, they could.
Eventually, the three took deep breaths again and concentrated with all their might to prevent their magic from dispersing.
And after several failures, all three managed to complete their spells, though barely.
“Ugh…!”
“Keep maintaining it. Continue.”
Of course, completing it wasn’t the end.
The three tried to maintain their magic until the end as Cain instructed.
“Stop.”
What felt like an eternity passed before they released their magic at Cain’s voice.
“Gasp, huff. Gasp.”
Sweat was pouring down their faces and bodies like rain.
“How does it feel?”
At Cain’s question, they answered in a half-dazed state.
“What is… this.”
“Why, why is it so hard…?”
“I really feel like I’m going to die.”
Though it wasn’t a proper answer, Cain explained:
“I made you run not only for physical training, but also to let you experience the sensation of using magic when your physical strength and mental power are nearly depleted.”
When humans are pushed to extreme situations, they instinctively seek efficiency.
The more they struggle to produce the desired result with their current resources, the more they realize how to use those resources more efficiently.
“Just now, you somehow gathered your nearly depleted mental power to complete your magic. With your physical strength completely drained, you had nothing to rely on but a little mental power. And now, think again. Have you ever completed magic with such minimal mental power before?”
The three looked at each other and shook their heads.
“No.”
“Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t succeed halfway through.”
“…Me too.”
Only after answering with their own mouths did they show expressions of realization.
“Wait… Then we’ve been able to succeed with this level of mental power all along, but we’ve been…”
At Ed’s words, Cain nodded.
“Now you understand how much mental power you’ve been wasting when casting magic?”
“Wow…”
“Crazy.”
“I just got goosebumps.”
As if all the spells they had cast while burning through mental power flashed through their minds, the three grabbed their heads.
“Realizing it isn’t the end. You need to work on becoming accustomed to the sensation of completing magic with minimal mental power. Once you can do that, you’ll naturally be able to use stronger magic with greater mental power. Controlling, modifying magic, or calculating additional formulas will also become much easier.”
The three listened intently to Cain’s explanation with their mouths agape.
Unlike when they were told to just start running, their eyes now sparkled with interest.
“Tomorrow morning, when your physical strength and mental power have recovered, try casting magic and you’ll immediately understand what I mean.”
It would be like running with heavy sandbags and then taking them off.
“I see…!”
“Oh, of course physical training itself is also important. Physical strength and mental power are inseparable, and physical strength serves as a solid foundation in real combat and when going on long-term missions outside. As you experienced today, when physical strength is depleted, mental power can’t remain intact either.”
At the mention of physical training, the three’s expressions became slightly gloomy. But they soon nodded.
“I understand. I’ll continue physical training regularly from now on.”
“Right. It’s damn hard, but if the effects are certain, it’s not impossible.”
Bolio made a groaning sound as he used his hand to support his thigh and stood up.
“Anyway, thank you. I feel like my perspective has broadened considerably.”
“Me too.”
“Thanks, Cain. If I just train hard like this, I feel like I might really achieve 3rd Circle soon!”
Ed and Fon also stood up with brightened expressions.
Then Cain tilted his head.
“Right, good resolution. But why are you standing up?”
At those words, the three’s expressions hardened.
“It’s… not over?”
“Don’t tell me there’s more…”
Cain nodded as if it were obvious.
“If you’ve experienced the sensation when physical strength and mental power are depleted, you should also experience the sensation of using magic with minimal mana when your mana is nearly depleted too.”
And the three’s screams echoed through the open space.
“Good. That’s it for today. You’ve worked hard.”
Cain said he would give feedback on their magic once the three became somewhat accustomed to these sensations, and sent them away.
“I think I’m going to die.”
“Can we make it to our rooms?”
“Damn, I’ll sleep well tonight.”
“I think I’ll fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.”
“Still, we should wash before sleeping.”
“My body is completely soaked in sweat…”
Ed, Fon, and Bolio staggered toward their respective rooms with movements that, from a distance, might be mistaken for ghouls.
If it had been a little darker, they might have been hit with a Fire Ball along with the screams of passing disciples.
Cain quietly watched them go.
‘All three have decent perseverance.’
Especially Fon, who had a timid personality, endured well, so they could proceed without major problems.
At this rate, they would be ready for flame magic guidance within a week, and achieving 3rd Circle before the test might not be impossible.
However,
‘Sigh. How did I end up teaching flame magic to disciples…’
In fact, with Cain’s current abilities, there was no particular reason to nurture disciples who used flame magic rather than ice magic with such meticulous care.
‘Those three all have their own talents, and if they work hard while receiving education, they’ll be able to advance faster than others even without my guidance.’
He could spend that time focusing more on himself instead.
‘But still…’
Cain looked down at his hands.
‘Anyway, they’re disciples of the Sears family.’
Two hundred years ago, when the Sears family was prosperous and counted among the four great houses.
Cain had worked fairly hard to nurture disciples, but objectively, the gap between ‘Sein Sears’ and the other disciples was enormous.
This was partly because ice magic itself was complex and difficult to master, but.
‘Honestly speaking, in my previous life, I didn’t devote that much time to the disciples.’
Physical training was often done by calling them together when he was doing his own physical training.
The reason he organized his insights into magic books was largely to create a systematic way for them to learn through books rather than teaching them one-on-one through direct interaction.
‘And I thought that was the most efficient method.’
It wasn’t necessarily wrong.
When Sein Sears raised his own level, gained more insights, and accomplished more alone, it always brought greater benefit to the family as a whole.
Because he did that, the family was able to rise rapidly, eventually joining the ranks of the four great houses, and the treatment the family received within the empire rose to an appropriate level.
‘Moreover, when Desmond began to move in earnest…’
To stop Desmond, who called himself the incarnation of the demon god, Sein Sears had no choice but to focus even more on honing his own abilities.
‘And somehow, thanks to that, I was able to stop Desmond too.’
But Sein Sears knew.
While he focused on himself, there were open rumors from outside the family that the Sears family was ‘a family with nothing to see except Sein Sears’ and ‘a family that would be nothing special without Sein Sears.’
Even the disciples themselves accepted these words without denial.
-Brother, I’m stuck on this part and I really don’t know the solution. Should I ask the family head to take a look?
-Hey, don’t you know the family head has been incredibly busy lately? He even went to Camern himself and just returned yesterday, and last night he didn’t even sleep, staying up doing magic research.
-I did see the light on in the study…
-Right, man. The family head is practically supporting our entire family by himself, and we can’t be of help, so at least we shouldn’t be a hindrance. Go read the magic book one more time. I’ll help you with whatever I can.
-Thank you, brother.
-Keep your voice down too. If the family head happens to hear, he might not be able to pass by and try to help again.
-Oh, that would actually be nice?
-This guy?
-Just kidding, haha!
Even though he had accidentally overheard such conversations, he had pretended not to know in order to finish the research he was working on.
‘And as a result…’
The family’s disciples who fought against Desmond’s followers without Sein Sears were driven to the brink of extinction.
‘…became the current Sears family.’
Of course, there was a high possibility that the Bederman family had schemed in between.
But even so, if the disciples had been a little stronger.
‘If I had paid a little more attention to the disciples.’
Would the family really have ended up like this?
Would they have fallen so far as to be driven to the frontier with the maintenance of ice magic cut off?
And
‘Could I have properly kept the words my master left behind, asking me to lead the family well, until the end?’
Cain clenched his opened hand tightly.
‘…What’s past cannot be changed.’
Therefore, Cain didn’t want to repeat the mistakes he made in his previous life.
‘For the family to prosper in a healthy way, the disciples must become stronger.’
Because there are limits to what one person can do alone.
‘I’ll have to teach flame magic for now, but that doesn’t matter.’
Even if the Sears family regained ice magic and Cain later became the family head, he had no intention of discarding disciples who had already learned flame magic.
As Harman had said, the friction between flame and ice families was merely a hollow war of nerves that started from feelings of having one’s pie stolen.
‘Whether they’ve learned flame magic or ice magic, the fact that they’re disciples of the Sears family doesn’t change.’
Well, he should probably accept new disciples from the ice side though.
Anyway, he could leave existing disciples who wanted to use flame magic as they were, and help disciples with talent in ice magic or who wanted to learn it to dismantle their flame circles and rebuild from scratch.
‘Even if they learn ice magic anew, their experience using flame magic will be of great help.’
So…
‘The reason I’m teaching those guys so carefully is entirely because they’re disciples of the Sears family.’
Cain nodded.
‘It’s absolutely not because I’ve grown personally attached to them or because they’re endearing.’
Cain nodded again.
The head of the Sears family had to be fair and just, with an iron-like temperament.
“Are they gone?”
While thinking about this and that, Ed, Fon, and Bolio had already disappeared from view.
“I should run about ten more laps before going in.”
Cain turned and stepped toward the open space.
He had sent the weak ones away first, but for Cain, this much was easily manageable with willpower…
Thud.
Ah, come to think of it, he had sparred with Hayden today. And quite strenuously too.
“Young master!”
Hearing Alice’s voice like a hallucination from afar, the colla
psed Cain slowly closed his eyes.
“Young master! Are you alright? The others have returned to their quarters, but you weren’t there, so I came to check…”
Snore. Snooore…
“Young master…?”
Alice looked at Cain, who had already fallen into peaceful sleep with a serene expression, and soon smiled quietly.
“You’ll catch a cold sleeping in a place like this, no matter how much of a mage you are.”
And she carried the sweat-soaked Cain back.
