Chapter 6

‘As expected, he didn’t die.’

“Well, this is surprising.”

Luri said it while entering with breakfast and looking at Ferda.

As a Dragon Spawn and Valdrova’s sole attendant, she possessed an exceptionally keen eye.

“Did you truly open a mana circuit?”

Over the course of a single night?

Ferda nodded.

“I did.”

“It should be impossible for an ordinary human to accomplish that in just one day.”

“Perhaps that is because I am no ordinary human. More importantly, I would like you to give me an answer.”

“An answer to what?”

Instead of replying, Luri pressed her lips together and looked up at Ferda.

He had passed the standard of potential she had set.

‘No, he has actually surpassed my expectations.’

When she had made the proposal to Ferda just two weeks ago, she had expected it to take much longer.

Yet Ferda had easily fulfilled the condition within those two weeks.

‘No. I cannot even call it two weeks.’

There had been no signs whatsoever until now.

In truth, he had accomplished it in a single day.

‘The cause of his awakening must have been Master’s battle.’

But what kind of change could he possibly have experienced from witnessing that?

Luri had personally carried him to bed after his body broke down, so she knew exactly what condition he had been in.

The way he now behaved with such ease, as though what he had done were perfectly natural, displeased her.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“…You passed.”

“Passed what?”

“The standard.”

Luri cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“You have met the requirement, so you may rest until the engagement ceremony. You have worked hard.”

“Resting would be pleasant, but do I not still have a long way to go?”

After finishing breakfast, Ferda wiped his mouth with a napkin and rose from his seat.

“Is there somewhere suitable for practice?”

Luri shook her head.

“Unfortunately, we do not have equipment intended for mages. We can procure some, but obtaining enough of it would take time.”

“It will not take that long. I do not need such equipment.”

The training Ferda intended to begin did not require expensive or sophisticated tools.

“A few targets will be enough.”

“Targets?”

“I am saying that a few things like training dummies will suffice.”

Luri looked puzzled.

What could a novice who had only just entered the First Circle possibly practice with straw dummies?

However, to Ferda, they were the best and most suitable tools available.

His magical training required a level of precision that could not be measured or corrected with ordinary equipment.

And Ferda had already reached the point where he could control that precision himself.

Luri guided him to the clearing where she had spread her wings before flying to the mountain summit.

The clearing had now become a training ground.

It resembled a place meant for ordinary soldiers rather than mages.

There were straw dummies, distance markers, obstacles, and simple tools.

“…”

She had transformed the clearing into a training ground in only thirty minutes.

With the dexterity and speed to construct a space like this, what could she not accomplish?

Ferda looked at Luri, who stood neatly beside him, and spoke.

“Thank you for preparing this.”

“What exactly do you intend to practice?”

Luri tilted her head.

“Mana control.”

This time, she tilted her head to the right.

“Is there really a need to practice such a thing?”

“Dragons do not?”

Luri nodded.

“As you said, we can use magic. It depends on whose bloodline of dominion we have inherited…”

“And yet you do not understand?”

“No. To us, it feels as natural as breathing.”

Ferda stared quietly at Luri.

“So what I am doing appears primitive to you?”

“I am a Dragon Spawn as well.”

In other words, it did appear primitive.

“Well, you are not exactly wrong.”

What could he do when arrogance was practically part of their nature?

Dragon Spawns could use magic instinctively.

Humans, on the other hand, could only use magic through effort and understanding.

It was only natural that those born with talent and those who achieved power through effort would fail to understand one another.

Ferda turned his gaze toward the straw dummies.

“May I watch you train?”

“Do as you please.”

Luri stood far behind him and began observing.

Ferda closed his eyes.

To control magic, one normally sought stillness and slowly approached the calm flow of mana.

That was the conventional method of mana control.

‘But that method is limited to Blue Circles.’

Most established magical theories had been developed for Blue Circles.

Ferda’s Circle was a Red Circle.

A Red Circle, born from violent emotional upheaval, could not be controlled through the same methods used for a Blue Circle.

Even if one managed to restrain it that way, its power would decline beyond mere inefficiency, leaving the mage little more than a cripple.

‘One must control what must not be controlled.’

The Red Circle was filled with contradictions that defied reason.

Yet if one understood the principle that broke through those contradictions, one could dominate its power.

And Ferda had already achieved that once.

With his eyes closed, he slowly lowered his awareness.

His consciousness sank beneath the surface like something descending into a lake and reached his dantian.

The Circle, spinning tautly in a perfect ring, appeared vividly before his closed eyes.

Ferda quietly observed it.

The rapidly flowing mana resembled a raging river during the rainy season.

One careless approach, and it felt as though he would be swept away.

Ferda cautiously reached toward it.

What he intended to do resembled shaping pottery.

He had to draw mana from the Circle while preserving its rapid rotation.

‘Drawing it out.’

That was the first stage.

With a Red Circle, this process normally required several times more effort and time.

‘I once worked until I bled.’

That sensation remained vividly imprinted in Ferda’s memory.

He focused on the Circle and extended a finger toward it.

The torrent of mana brushed gently against his fingertip.

The mana within latched onto his finger as though it had found a new current and began flowing outward.

‘I can feel it.’

The magic power within his dantian was rising through his blood vessels.

Through the veins to the heart.

From the heart into the arteries.

Using his blood vessels as pathways, the mana began to move.

‘This normally takes a year.’

However, Ferda skillfully found the proper route.

At last, the mana reached the tip of his right index finger.

‘It took one minute.’

He had completed a year-long process in a single minute.

Now that he had drawn out the mana, he proceeded to the next stage.

‘Forming a sphere.’

Hummm—

The mana gathered at his fingertip spread outside his body and began to intertwine.

Through his fingertip, he sensed strands of blue light spreading outward.

‘Condense.’

The mana that had been spreading gathered and condensed about a handspan above his finger.

Once compressed, it took on a deep, vivid hue.

When mana became concentrated enough to be clearly visible even to someone who had never awakened to magic, that stage was considered complete.

Ferda’s mana formed a perfectly smooth and solid sphere.

Normally, a mage would fail to control all of it, causing some to disperse as blue vapor.

However, not a trace of mana was wasted from Ferda’s sphere.

‘It took me another year to reach this point.’

A series of processes that had once taken him two years in total had now been completed in two minutes.

He did not feel particularly overjoyed.

As Luri had said, this was as natural to him as breathing.

Just as no one celebrated after figuring out how to breathe, Ferda considered it only natural.

“The final stage.”

It was a task that took the average mage six years to accomplish.

Even Ferda, who had been exceptionally talented, had needed three years to master it.

He now entered the stage known as the “Three Essentials.”

Ferda looked down at the lump of mana gathered above his finger.

A crystallization of mana.

The first thing mages learned to do with such a crystallization was throw it as a Mana Shot.

As its name suggested, it was simply the act of firing a mass of mana.

However, this training also served as a test of whether a mage was capable of fulfilling their proper role.

‘Condensation, speed, and accuracy must all align perfectly.’

Those were the Three Essentials.

Countless mages stumbled at this stage.

Even Ferda had only become capable of it after reaching the Second Circle.

After looking down at the lump of mana, Ferda raised his head.

He saw a sign and a straw dummy marked as being exactly fifty meters away.

“Hmm…”

Ferda narrowed his eyes and let out a low hum.

“That won’t do.”

Muttering to himself, he focused on his finger once again.

Three spheres formed and floated above it.

Ferda looked at them and murmured,

“Yes. This is more like it.”

It would hardly be worth doing unless he managed at least this much.

Ferda swept his finger through the air.

At the same time, the three mana projectiles flew forward together, drawing arcs through the air.

Their destination was precisely the dummy’s forehead.

Bang, bang, bang—!

The densely compressed mana projectiles exploded upon impact.

The straw dummy’s head vanished without leaving even a trace behind.

Ferda looked at it and muttered,

“As expected, it didn’t survive.”

Although firing three shots as a First-Circle mage had consumed half of his total mana, that was acceptable.

His mana reserves would naturally increase as the number of his Circles grew.

He felt no particular satisfaction.

His training ended there.

Only ten minutes had passed from the beginning of the session to its conclusion.

That night, Luri descended into the lair.

In her hands were documents she had personally compiled.

“I will now give the weekly report.”

—Proceed.

Although Valdrova lived in seclusion, she still needed to know how the world was changing.

As her sole attendant, Luri fulfilled that role, and she did so willingly.

Valdrova listened impassively to Luri’s summary.

After thirty minutes of reporting on the current situation, Luri closed the documents.

“That concludes my report.”

—Very well. You have worked hard.

“It was hardly difficult enough to call it work. Is there anything you wish to ask?”

Normally, Valdrova would have said there was nothing and dismissed her.

However, a rather different phrase reached Luri’s ears.

—Something I wish to ask…

Valdrova scratched her chin with a claw.

Having served her for so long, Luri understood immediately.

Her master was curious about something.

‘Has she finally taken an interest in the outside world?’

Luri’s eyes sparkled for a moment.

“……”

Valdrova’s mouth twitched, but she quickly shook her head.

—No. It is nothing.

“Please tell me. What are you curious about? This unworthy Luri is fully prepared to answer every question Master may have.”

Luri’s eyes shone eagerly.

Valdrova looked down at her before reluctantly opening her mouth.

—How is the one who will become… my mate doing?

“Ah.”

A sense of betrayal settled in Luri’s heart.

She felt as though her dreams had been shattered.

Of all the things Valdrova could have been curious about, it was merely the current condition of that man.

However, since Luri had urged her to ask, it was only proper that she answer.

“Your future fiancé is doing well.”

—Did he seem to be experiencing any discomfort?

“No. There is no need to worry. At first, I thought he might be inconvenienced because we had not assigned him a separate attendant—”

—I see.

“So…”

Luri’s lips moved even though Valdrova had seemingly concluded the conversation.

She hesitated inwardly, wondering whether she should say what was on her mind, before finally continuing.

“That is why I cannot understand him.”

—You cannot understand him? Do you mean he has failed to meet your expectations?

Luri shook her head.

“No. His abilities are exceptional.”

—It is unusual to hear you acknowledge a human.

Valdrova was surprised.

She already knew how deeply Luri despised humans.

—Then what is the problem? Is his power unstable?

“No. It was too perfect.”

—Is that not a good thing?

“Of course, perfection is good. But not when it comes to a human.”

Luri recalled everything she had observed while watching Ferda.

His training that day, in particular, had made her consider him so dangerous.

“Humans are creatures who learn through their mistakes. Therefore, they can never be perfect from the very beginning.”

He had not failed even once.

It had not been limited to that day.

That was the impression she had formed after observing him over the past several days.

Even Luri, who hated humans, had no choice but to acknowledge Ferda.

The manner in which he approached everything was fundamentally different.

Her opinion of him had risen beyond merely recognizing that he was not incompetent.

“That is why I cannot help but think that man is dangerous.”

A feeling of awe had taken root in Luri’s heart.

It felt as though she had overlooked something.

As though he harbored something she knew nothing about.

As a loyal servant, she could not allow someone like that to stand beside her master.

—For you to think that way, he must truly be an extraordinary man.

“I hate to admit it… but yes.”

Valdrova pondered her words.

—Even so, it will be fine. Did he not say that his reason for coming to meet me was sincere?

“……”

—Therefore, I shall try to trust him.

It was an extraordinarily optimistic statement.

Luri was nearly dying of anxiety, yet the person most directly involved spoke without a care.

‘This is the kind of person my master is.’

Luri already knew that and had accounted for it in all her plans.

‘Therefore, I must do everything within my power.’

Even if she could not expose him directly, she needed to create a situation in which she could at least probe his true intentions.

‘As expected… perhaps trying that would not be a bad idea.’

Luri decided to set the stage herself.

Even if Ferda did not reveal his true nature, she was certain it would provide a means of discerning at least some of his intentions.

As she refined her plan, Valdrova’s earlier words continued circling in her mind.

“An extraordinary man…”

As Luri contemplated those words, something suddenly occurred to her.

Her face twisted with disgust, as though she had stepped in filth while walking down the road.

“Master, by any chance…”

—What is it?

“…It is nothing.”