Chapter 43. Preparation (1)

Weekly Chapter (4/5)

After the rain, it was a bit chilly.

They went to the training camp as usual.

Sylverine told him about the mana before training began that day.

First she informed him how his sword could affect other people.

Then she added an explanation about magic pressure.

“You have a very good tolerance for magic pressure.”

He didn’t really understand how that benefited him.

“Is that a good thing?”

“Your tolerance to magic pressure allows you to hold that sword. And also your ability to control mana will improve quickly with a little training.”

Sylverine could have been irritated by the need to clarify such a simple thing, but she maintained her calm demeanor.

“If you control your mana properly, you can use it very efficiently. Mana can flow without limits, so it can even go out to strange places.”

“What do I gain from mana control?”

Because he wasn’t training to become a Mage, he wasn’t sure what benefits this could provide.

“For example, sword qi.”

“……!”

“There aren’t many famous swordsmen with a large mana container. However, they can use sword qi without any inconvenience because they effectively use their mana.”

He had only read about it in stories or books, but he had never seen it personally.

“So…”

Sylverine paused for a moment.

“It also improves your ability to use artifacts. The better the artifact, the better mana control and magic pressure tolerance you need.”

But there was a problem.

“Will I ever be able to have a high rank artifact?”

He had heard that high rank artifacts were so expensive that even wealthy nobles would have to sacrifice their wealth to obtain just one.

“If you try hard enough, opportunities will appear. If you are admitted to the Academy, establish good relations with sorcerers. Almost all the best artifacts are created by people from Eternia.”

He was familiar with the word magic because he had heard it many times, but sorcery felt like completely unfamiliar territory.

He hadn’t met anyone who knew about sorcery.

He knew that sorcery could create Stitches or enchanted equipment with magic stones, but no more than that.

“I’ve never seen a sorcerer.”

“It’s natural. Not everyone can meet them because sorcerers like to stay in their laboratories, so it’s hard to see them casually.”

“So how can I relate to them?”

“It’s not difficult. You must have something sweet every time you see them.”

“A sweet treat?”

“Yes.”

She sounded like she was joking.

“Does that… work?”

“You’ll be surprised how effective it is.”

It was as if he had to tame a beast.

He certainly had to take her words seriously.

***

He resumed training after Sylverine explained about the mana.

It became more difficult to coordinate his movements.

The training had not changed much, only now he had to block the pebbles with a sword. But this small change was annoying. He was to block a small pebble with a thin blade.

He thought he would be able to see the flying pebbles accurately, but in most cases, his sword missed by an inch or two.

He would probably advance to the next stage when he got used to this training, so there was no time to relax.

Suddenly, he asked Sylverine,

“Master.”

“What?”

“Zelda Heart’s test has more stages?”

This training was a test created by Zelda Heart. He didn’t believe that someone who had reached the highest level in the sword would create this test because he was bored.

After throwing the pebble she held in her hand, Sylverine said,

“Yes. Apparently, there are five stages.”

He guessed that the five stages were written on that paper.

“What’s the second stage? Can I do it now?”

“No.”

“…Why?”

She smiled.

“It’s still too early. It’s probably more difficult than the evaluation for the master class.”

“……?”

He hadn’t expected the difficulty to increase so exponentially.