Cain left Alice to clean the room and stepped out.
‘Hmm, something definitely feels strange.’
The way his feet naturally moved when he thought about going to the training room, and Alice’s natural reaction as well.
It seemed Cain usually spent a lot of time in the training room.
‘To other people’s eyes, it probably just looked like a talentless guy frequently wasting his time in the training room…’
But Cain’s thoughts were a bit different after scanning his own body just moments ago.
‘With a body this well-suited for learning magic, he went to the training room and did nothing.’
The fact that he frequently went to the training room simply because he didn’t want to be disturbed, or to kill time, was indeed unsettling.
‘I can’t guess the reason right now… I’ll gradually find out as my memories return.’
And to recover memories about the training room, he first needed to go to the training room.
Cain quickened his pace.
When he left the annex and arrived at the entrance to the west wing, a maid wearing a blue ribbon on her back greeted Cain in a calm voice from the opposite direction.
“Young master, are you going to the training room?”
“Yeah.”
“Understood. I’ll prepare dinner at your usual time then.”
“Right. Nef… Nefti.”
“Yes?”
“Never mind. I’ll be back.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Cain shook his head as he left the west wing.
‘Right, that girl was Nefti.’
The reason he had confused Alice and Nefti earlier wasn’t anything else – it was because they were twins.
They looked so alike that a first-time observer would have to distinguish them by the color of their ribbons.
Of course, their personalities were quite different, so you could tell them apart after exchanging just a word or two…
‘Anyway, if this memory that’s partially returned is correct, at least Alice and Nefti are on my side in this family.’
That meant they weren’t spies planted by other siblings or senior disciples.
‘Of course, I shouldn’t completely let my guard down.’
Sein Sears from his previous life, who had received all kinds of envy, jealousy, surveillance, and checks, never easily trusted anyone before becoming the family head.
Perhaps Cain would have to break through all of that in this life too.
That would also be the only way to revive the declining Sears family.
But he had no particular complaints about it.
Competition was simply natural in the Sears family.
Although unfair checks and backdoor dealings had almost disappeared after Sein Sears from his previous life became the family head, established discipline, and the family rose to the ranks of the four great houses with some breathing room, before that, he had to engage in endless competition in a cold jungle.
And judging from the current family situation that didn’t look easy.
‘I need to steal my heart.’
There was a high possibility that Cain would have to navigate through that sometimes cowardly and petty process once again.
“Hey! Cain! Stop going to the training ground alone and wasting your time, come to me instead!”
“Y-yeah! How long are you going to keep doing that?”
Just then, he heard voices and looked up to see two red-haired boys who appeared to be around the same age shouting at Cain from far away.
‘Their names… the one on the left is Ed, and the one next to him is Fon, I think.
‘
Unfortunately, aside from their names, nothing else came to mind yet.
“Sigh, pretending to listen and then not again? Tch, keep living like that and you’ll really get expelled! You dropout!”
“W-we don’t care anymore!”
When Cain didn’t respond because he was trying to recall memories, the two exchanged a few more words between themselves and then left.
They seemed quite angry, as they kept glancing back at Cain even while walking away.
‘Already being called a dropout, and even curses about expulsion.’
Cain thought he really needed to steel his heart and quickened his pace.
‘…Is this it?’
Cain’s personal training room was located in a corner past the communal training ground.
Click.
“It’s more like a small study than a training room.”
Cain looked around the cozy training room.
One wall was made up of bookshelves, and books were sparsely placed on the shelves.
‘Basics and Fundamentals of Magic’
‘What is Magic?’
‘Basic Fire Magic, You Can Do It Too! – Volume 1’
‘Broad and Shallow Knowledge for Magic Use’
Most were basic books or publications sold commercially with sensational titles after roughly patching together content from various books, so they didn’t seem worth reading thoroughly.
However.
‘The books are almost like new.’
After taking out and opening several books, there were no returning memories, so it seemed almost certain that Cain Sears had only pretended to practice fire magic.
‘Nothing new is coming to mind yet… I can’t waste time, so I should create a circle first.’
Though small, it was still a personal training room, so there was a low-grade magic stone embedded near the bookshelf to block unnecessary sounds or mana from leaking in or out. Cain immediately sat cross-legged.
‘Thanks to the magic stone, the internal mana flow is stable. The environment isn’t bad.’
Completing just a 1st circle was entirely possible with the small amount of mana floating inside the training room.
In fact, with Cain’s current abilities, he could perfectly complete a first circle of the ice system in less than a minute.
‘But what I’m about to do now is advanced work that even I have never attempted.’
Independent Circle.
A method proven countless times in theory, but never actually verified.
‘My previous life’s self had a full circle room so couldn’t attempt it, and it was too dangerous a method to recommend to newly initiated disciples.’
A method that could only be used when the circle room was empty, yet ironically, it was a method that beginners who had no circles and couldn’t properly handle mana couldn’t use.
Therefore, the only person who could accomplish this in the entire continent right now was probably Cain alone.
Cain closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He gradually let all his senses – sight, hearing, and others – sink below the surface of consciousness, concentrating his mind to feel only the flow of mana.
‘First, gather and hold onto mana one by one.’
Mana existing in the air is basically in a raw state containing all attributes – that is, the non-elemental attribute (hereafter non-attribute) and all four elemental attributes.
Usually, one would separate and refine one element with high affinity from within, accept it into the heart, and then complete the circle.
However.
‘I’ll separate the water mana first.’
Cain intended to separate water mana first, which had no relation to his innate affinity.
While holding onto some of the mana that had seeped in through deep breathing as a target, Cain carefully began to slowly extract only the water mana as if sucking it out.
‘A familiar yet unfamiliar sensation.’
Though it was water mana he had handled countless times in his previous life, the sensation of handling it with a body that had no affinity was somewhat strange.
It was like using utensils you’d used your whole life with your right hand for the first time with your left hand.
‘But once I get used to it, this will be much safer.’
According to his theory, there were exactly two key conditions for success.
Complete two circles simultaneously, and prevent interference between the two mana attributes until then.
Simple, but both were not easy conditions.
‘The second condition is particularly tricky.’
If even once there was interference between the two manas before simultaneously completing the circles, his heart would explode and Cain would die.
So, Cain first safely pushed the water mana he had handled all his life deep into the lower right section of the circle room.
Swoosh—
As the water mana entered, a refreshing sensation immediately spread and moistened one side of his heart.
‘This part is easy. The problem is what comes next.’
The circle room is divided into four spaces, similar to the internal structure of the heart.
Usually, those four spaces are filled with the same element as one’s level rises, because accepting different attributes could cause interference with adjacent circle rooms, leading to loss of previously achieved levels and regression.
‘Among them, fire mana and water mana, which are opposite elements, can’t even dare to be accepted together.’
So what Sein Sears devised was to accept fire mana and water mana in the upper left and lower right circle rooms respectively, which were diagonally opposite and not adjacent, preventing interaction.
Of course, simply being positioned diagonally doesn’t prevent interference.
It only reduces the possibility of interference.
‘I must control everything perfectly according to theory without any deviation until the entire process is complete. This is the minimum safeguard for that.’
Whoo.
Cain slowly regulated his breathing once more.
‘Now it’s the real deal.’
He held a mass of mana in front of his heart and began carefully extracting the fire mana within by sensing its presence.
Small but vital red mana was drawn out smoothly.
‘Oh ho.’
Unlike before, it was as natural a sensation as moving a part of his body.
‘Indeed, I was born with quite the affinity.’
Cain carefully prevented the water mana settled in the lower right of the circle room from leaking out, while simultaneously slowly inserting the fire mana inside his heart, into the upper left of the circle room.
Whoosh.
The fire mana became lively instantly upon entering the circle room, like a spark meeting oxygen.
‘Warmth, and vitality.’
He could vividly feel the dynamic power of fire mana, which he had thoroughly excluded in his previous life, stirring.
‘This is fire mana…’
-You’ll never understand, Sein, no matter how much I tell you. That overwhelming emotion when fire mana fills your heart. This fulfilling feeling when mana swirls around your heart and gives vitality to your body.
-If you’re always making a fuss over nothing for that reason, I think it’s fine not to know.
-…
Thanks to Harman, he had seen fire-based magic quite closely many times.
And for the completion of theory, he had also practiced extracting fire mana from masses of mana in the air.
But only after accepting it into his heart could he truly understand what the life force that fire mana possessed was all about.
‘With this, the preparation is complete.’
Now he just needed to move the water mana he had put in earlier together and complete the circles simultaneously…
“…!”
Whoooosh!
The moment all the mana needed to create circles had entered the room.
An unexpected phenomenon occurred.
‘…The fire mana is trying to create a circle on its own?’
The gathered mana was blazing up and naturally undulating to form a ring shape.
‘What the…’
It was an even faster reaction than when Sein Sears created his first ice system circle.
Whoooosh—
‘Oh no.’
Cain momentarily concentrated his mind and seized the mana before the ring could be completed.
‘Ugh.’
Cain swallowed a groan.
Though the undulating fire mana was objectively a very small amount, to Cain it felt like enormous waves were surging inside his heart.
‘I was naturally going to create the water mana side to just before completion first.’
He had planned to craft a blue ring first, leaving only space for one piece of mana to complete it in a frozen state, then focus on the fire system side.
‘If the fire system side gets completed first before I can even craft the ice system side…’
If it were just completing a fire system circle alone, he could simply close the circle again and reset the mana circuit. There would be aftereffects, but at least there would be another chance to try again later.
But since water mana already existed inside his heart, in another circle room.
‘The moment the fire system side is completed, the balance would collapse and interference would occur.’
Cain gathered all his concentration.
‘I must prevent it no matter what.’
Blood vessels stood out on his forehead and neck, and cold sweat began streaming down from the top of his head, but Cain’s consciousness had already blocked all senses long ago.
Crackle.
Using his innate affinity to seize and calm the fire mana that seemed excited to run wild.
Tss tss tss—
At the same time, he began creating small rings with the water mana.
Swiftly. And delicately.
‘I’ll finish it in one go.’
Swish swish swish.
Cain crafted a perfect circular blue ring with the water mana without any error and without any waste.
The scattered points of water mana gathered to form a completely uniform density, almost completing the ring shape.
Swish swish swish!
Finally, the moment when one end of the blue ring was about to meet the other end.
‘If I release the fire mana slightly.’
Crackle—!
The fire mana that had been held back just before circle completion blazed up, and the red ring took shape in an instant.
Whoooosh!
All his senses flashed as if struck by lightning simultaneously.
And then.
“…”
Silence came.
Cain soon opened his eyes.
Looking down slowly at his own body’s condition… it was quite unsightly.
Part of the sweat that had been pouring down like rain from his entire body had frozen, with small icicles stuck all over his neck, chest, and arms, and his hair was soaked and drooping, frozen stiff.
Meanwhile, from below, the sweat that had flowed down was evaporating from the heat, creating rising steam, along with a foul odor.
Also, as the circles settled and mana circulated through mana circuits that hadn’t been used, all the circuits in his body ached like the day after exercising for the first time.
But Cain didn’t care.
Inside this fifteen-year-old boy’s chest, two complete circles were now pulsating along with his heart.
“Whew…”
The tension completely released.
He had succeeded in the end.
Though both the fire system and ice system were still only 1st circles.
Currently in the Aaron Continent, no, throughout the entire history of the continent, it was an achievement no one had accomplished.
Cain’s brief impression of achieving this was as follows:
“Well, it’s nothing special.”
Having finished speaking, Cain collapsed backward with a thud.
