Chapter 4
Kain left Alice to clean his room.
'Hmm, as I thought, something is definitely strange.'
The way his feet moved naturally when he thought about going to the training hall, and Alice's natural reaction as well.
It seemed Kain usually spent a lot of time in the training hall.
'To other people, it probably just looked like a talentless guy pointlessly wasting time in the training hall...'
Kain, who had just scanned his own body, had a slightly different thought.
'It means that with a body so well-suited for learning magic, he went to the training hall and did nothing.'
It was indeed strange that he would often go to the training hall just to avoid being disturbed or to pass the time, without any discernible reason.
'I don't have any idea why for now... but I'll gradually find out as my memories return.'
And to find memories about the training hall, he had to go to the training hall first.
Kain quickened his pace.
As he left the detached building and arrived at the entrance of the West Wing, a maid with a blue ribbon on her back greeted Kain with a calm voice from the opposite side.
"Young Master, are you heading to the training hall?"
"Yeah."
"Understood. Then I will prepare your dinner at the usual time."
"Okay. Um... Nefty."
"Yes?"
"No. I'll be back."
"Have a good trip."
Kain shook his head as he left the West Wing.
'Right, that child was Nefty.'
The reason he had confused Alice and Nefty earlier was simply because they were twins.
Their appearances were so identical that a first-time observer had to distinguish them by the color of their ribbons.
Of course, their personalities were quite different, so you could tell them apart after just a few words...
'Anyway, if this bit of memory that has returned is correct, then at least Alice and Nefty in this clan are on my side.'
That meant they weren't spies planted by other siblings or senior disciples.
'Of course, I shouldn't completely let my guard down.'
Sein Siers, who had been the target of all sorts of jealousy, envy, surveillance, and checks in his previous life, didn't easily trust anyone before becoming the family head.
Perhaps Kain would have to overcome all of that in this life as well.
That might also be the only way to revive the declining Siers family.
But he didn't particularly have any complaints about that.
Competition was simply natural in the Siers family.
After Sein Siers in his previous life became the clan head, established discipline, and the family rose to the ranks of the four great houses, unfair checks and behind-the-scenes manipulations had mostly disappeared, but before that, he had to engage in endless competition in a cold jungle.
And judging from the current seemingly difficult situation of the family.
'I need to brace myself.'
There was a high probability that Kain would have to navigate that sometimes cowardly and petty process once again.
"Hey! Kain! I told you not to go to the training grounds alone and do useless things, but to come to me!"
"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 looked to be around his age shouting at Kain from afar.
'Their names are... the one on the left is Ed, and the one next to him is Fohn, I think.'
Unfortunately, nothing else besides their names came to mind yet.
"Tch, are you pretending not to hear again? Hmph, if you live like that, you'll really get expelled! Loser!"
"Y-yeah, we don't know you anymore!"
When Kain didn't react because he was trying to recall his memories, the two exchanged a few more words and then turned away.
They glanced back at Kain several times as they left, looking quite angry.
'Already the title of loser and curses about expulsion.'
Kain hastened his steps, thinking that he definitely needed to brace himself.
'...Is this it?'
Kain's personal training room was in a corner past the common training grounds.
Click!
"It's closer to a small study than a training hall."
Kain looked around the modest training room.
One wall was made of bookshelves, and books were sparsely placed on them.
「The Basics and Fundamentals of Magic」
「What is Magic?」
「Basic Fire Magic, You Can Do It Too! - Volume 1」
「Broad and Shallow Knowledge for Using Magic」
Most of them were either basic texts or books that crudely compiled content from various sources with sensational titles and sold on the market, so they didn't seem worth reading in depth.
However.
'The books are almost new.'
He took out and opened a few books, but since no memories returned, it seemed almost certain that Kain Siers had only pretended to practice fire magic.
'Nothing new comes to mind yet... I can't waste time, so I should create a circle first.'
Though small, it was called a personal training room, and a low-grade mana stone that blocked unnecessary sounds and prevented mana from leaking in or out was embedded near the bookshelves, so Kain immediately sat cross-legged.
'Thanks to the mana stone, the internal mana flow is stable. The environment isn't bad.'
Completing just the 1st Circle was sufficiently possible with the small amount of mana floating within the training room.
In fact, the current Kain could perfectly complete the first ice magic circle in less than a minute if he wanted to.
'But what I'm about to do now is a highly advanced operation that even I haven't attempted before.'
Independent Circle.
He had proven it countless times in theory, but it was a method he had never actually verified.
'In my previous life, my circle rooms were full, so I couldn't try it, and it was too dangerous a method to recommend to newly initiated disciples.'
It was a method that could only be used when the circle room was empty, but ironically, a novice who didn't know how to properly handle mana because they didn't have a circle couldn't use it.
Therefore, the only person on the entire continent who could probably pull this off right now was Kain.
Kain closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He slowly sank all his senses, including sight and hearing, below the surface, concentrating his mind so that he could only feel the flow of mana.
'First, gather and hold onto the mana one by one.'
The mana that exists in the air is fundamentally a raw state containing all attributes – that is, non-elemental attribute and the four elemental attributes.
And usually, one separates and refines one element with which one has a high affinity from that, accepts it into the heart, and then completes the circle.
However,
'Separate the mana of water first.'
Kain intended to separate out the mana of water first, which had no relation to his innate affinity.
While deeply breathing and keeping a portion of the permeated mana targeted, Kain cautiously began to draw out only the mana of water slowly, as if sucking it in.
'A familiar yet unfamiliar sensation.'
It was the mana of water that he had handled countless times in his previous life, but handling it with a body that had no affinity for it felt a bit strange.
It was like using cutlery that you had used with your right hand your whole life 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 only two key conditions for success.
Completing two circles simultaneously, and preventing any interference between the two manas until then.
Simple, but both were difficult conditions.
'The second condition is especially tricky.'
If there was even a single instance of interference between the two manas before the circles were completed simultaneously, his heart would explode, and Kain would die.
So, Kain first safely pushed the mana of water, which he had handled his entire life, deep into the lower right corner of his circle room.
Swish—
As the mana of water entered, a cool and refreshing sensation spread out, wetting one side of his heart.
'So far so good. The problem is what comes next.'
The circle room was divided into four spaces, similar to the internal structure of the heart.
And usually, those four spaces were filled with the same element each time one's mastery increased, because if one accepted a different attribute and it interfered with an adjacent circle room, one could lose even the mastery one had already achieved and regress.
'Especially with the mana of fire and water, which are completely incompatible, one couldn't even dare to accept them together.'
So, what Sein Siers had devised was to accept the mana of fire and the mana of water into the upper left and lower right circle rooms respectively, which were diagonally opposite and not adjacent, to prevent any interaction.
Of course, just being located diagonally didn't mean there would be no interference.
It only reduced the possibility of interference.
'Until the entire process is complete, I have to control it without deviating from the theory even a little. This is the minimum device for that.'
Hoo.
Kain took another slow breath.
'This is the real deal from now on.'
Holding the mass of mana in front of his heart, he touched the presence of the fire mana within it with his senses and began to carefully extract it.
A small but vibrant red mana was drawn out smoothly.
'Oh ho.'
Contrary to before, it felt as natural as moving a part of his own body.
'Indeed, his innate affinity is something else.'
While carefully ensuring that the mana of water settled in the lower right of the circle room didn't leak out, Kain simultaneously began to slowly insert the mana of fire into the upper left of his heart, into the circle room.
Whoosh.
The mana of fire, like a spark meeting oxygen, instantly became vibrant as soon as it entered the circle room.
'Warmth, and vitality.'
The dynamic power of fire mana, which he had thoroughly excluded in his previous life, wriggled vividly.
'This is the mana of fire...'
-You'll never understand, Sein, no matter how many times I tell you. The overwhelming feeling when the mana of fire fills your heart. This fulfilling sensation of mana swirling through your heart and giving vitality to your body.
-If that's the reason you always make such a fuss over nothing, then I think I'm fine not knowing.
-......
Thanks to Harman, he had seen fire magic up close quite a lot.
And he had also practiced extracting fire mana from the mana mass in the air to complete his theory.
But only after accepting it into his heart did he feel like he could truly understand what the life force of fire mana was.
'With this, the preparation is complete.'
Now, all he had to do was move the mana of water he had put in earlier together and complete the circles simultaneously...
“……!”
Whoosh!
The instant the mana needed to create the circles had completely entered the rooms.
An unexpected phenomenon occurred.
'...The fire mana is trying to create a circle on its own?'
The gathered mana flared up, writhing to naturally form a ring shape.
'What in the world...'
It was an even faster reaction than when Sein Siers had created his first ice magic circle.
Whoosh—
'Oh, shoot.'
Kain instantly focused his mind and seized the mana before the ring could complete itself.
'Ugh.'
Kain swallowed a groan.
The writhing fire mana was objectively only a small amount, but to Kain, it felt as if a massive wave was surging within his heart.
'I was planning to bring the water mana to just before completion first, of course.'
He had intended to mold the blue ring first, freeze it in a state where only a spot for a single piece of mana to complete it remained, and then focus on the fire magic side.
'If the fire magic side completes first before I can even mold the ice magic side like this...'
If it were just a matter of completing the fire magic circle alone, he could simply close the circle again and reset the mana circuits. There would be aftereffects, but at least he would have a chance to try again later.
But with the mana of water already present inside his heart, in a different circle room.
'The moment the fire magic side completes, the balance will collapse, and interference will occur.'
Kain gathered all his concentration.
'I have to stop it no matter what.'
Blood vessels stood out on his forehead and neck, and cold sweat streamed down from the top of his head, but Kain's consciousness had long since blocked out all his senses.
Whoosh.
He used his innate affinity to seize and calm the fire mana, which seemed to be excitedly trying to run wild.
Tsk tsk tsk—
At the same time, he created a small ring with the mana of water.
Quickly.
And delicately.
'I'll finish this in one go.'
Swish swish.
Without a single error and without any waste, Kain molded the mana of water into a perfectly circular blue ring.
Each point of water mana that had been scattered chaotically gathered, forming a completely uniform density, and almost completed the ring's shape.
Swish swish swish!
Finally, the moment the two ends of the blue ring were about to touch.
'If I release the fire mana just a little.'
Whoosh—!
The fire mana, which had been held back just before the circle was completed, flared up, and the red ring instantly took shape.
Whoosh!
All his senses flashed at once, as if struck by lightning.
And.
"......"
Silence fell.
Kain soon opened his eyes.
His body, which he slowly looked down at, was... quite unsightly.
Some of the sweat that had been pouring from his entire body had frozen, and small icicles were stuck all over his neck, chest, and arms, while his hair was completely soaked, drooping, and stiffly frozen.
On the other hand, the sweat that had flowed down below was evaporating from the heat, and a foul odor was slowly rising along with the steam.
Also, as the circles settled and mana swirled through the mana circuits that hadn't been used until now, his entire body ached, as if he had just exercised for the first time the next day.
But Kain didn't care.
Inside the chest of this fifteen-year-old boy, two complete circles were now pulsing along with his heart.
"Hoo..."
The tension completely drained from him.
He had finally succeeded.
Although both fire and ice magic were only at the 1st Circle.
An achievement that no one in the current Aron continent, no, in the entire history of the continent, had ever accomplished.
Kain's brief thoughts on achieving it were as follows.
"Well, it's nothing much."
Having finished speaking, Kain collapsed backward as he was.
