Chapter 27
The next day, Kain's condition had recovered considerably.
This was also thanks to the devoted care of Alice and Nefty.
"Young Master, is there anywhere else that feels uncomfortable?"
"I'm fine."
"Then, even if you're not uncomfortable, is there anywhere you'd like me to massage?"
"...Then, if you wouldn't mind, my upper back."
"I'll massage it right away! Please sit here."
Nefty carefully washed Kain's body, which had been rolling around on the snowy mountains for several days.
Alice made and brought the chocolate madeleines she had been diligently practicing for days and massaged Kain's tired body.
He had said it wasn't necessary, but just before he fell asleep, she quietly sang him a song.
Alice's singing voice was surprisingly sweet.
Anyway, thanks to them, the fatigue in his body, which had been strained from moving at maximum speed during the fight with the Ice Troll, quickly dissipated.
"Does it feel good?"
Press, press.
As Alice massaged him, Kain picked up a chocolate madeleine from the table in front of him and nodded as he ate it.
"It feels good."
"Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious."
"Hehe..."
Alice seemed to simply enjoy being by Kain's side, massaging him without showing any signs of fatigue.
"You can stop if you're tired."
"For me, Young Master Kain just returning like this makes me so happy."
"It seems you are tired."
"N-no, that's not it! I'm not tired at all! I just... I wanted to say that I'm so happy that I'm not tired at all. Really, I was so worried that seeing you off at the north gate that time would be the last time..."
Alice massaged him with each touch as if to reaffirm that Kain was alive by her side.
After receiving a proper massage from Alice, Kain did a final check on his physical condition, especially his circle rooms and mana circuits.
'Not bad.'
One surprising fact was that the mana he had compressed in the circle rooms had settled much more stably than he had expected.
'I used the mana I temporarily stored in my dantian to create the 3rd Circle of fire magic... I deliberately didn't touch the mana in the circle rooms because I was worried it would become unstable.'
Storing or settling mana in empty circle rooms without intending to create a circle with it was a dangerous act forbidden among mages.
Long ago, there was a famous case among mages where someone tried this because the mana that could be compressed in the dantian was limited, and the leftover mana residue became the starting point for eventually rendering the circle rooms unusable.
'Especially if the mana entering the circle rooms isn't pure and of low quality, you definitely shouldn't store it there.'
However, the mana Kain had received was extremely pure and of high quality, coming from the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal.
Moreover, perhaps because he had compressed and stored it quickly and accurately in less than a second of real time, it had settled stably.
'It could have become a headache if things went wrong, so I was lucky.'
With this, he would be able to use this mana to build his fire magic circles without worry.
'Once I use it all up, the two circle rooms will be empty again... Hmm. It's probably better to leave them empty for now.'
To completely separate the fire and ice magic circles, Kain was placing the circles diagonally and building them up within one circle room.
'Just in case later... no. It's safest to leave them empty for now.'
It had gone well so far, but even just balancing and building up the fire and ice magic circles together was, objectively speaking, an extremely difficult task.
Especially since the balance was temporarily disrupted due to the influence of the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal.
His circles were built more solidly than anyone else's, so there wouldn't be any bad effects, but for the time being, he needed to focus on maintaining this balance.
'Still, the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal is really... even thinking about it again, it's amazing. It's no wonder it would sell for such a high price.'
It had allowed him to build a complete 5th Circle of ice magic instantly without any side effects, and it would also allow him to accelerate the building of his fire magic circles.
He had almost been in danger in many ways due to the immense power of the Snow Blossom Ice Crystal, but in the end, it was now fully proving its worth.
'And there's still one more place where it will prove its worth.'
The time for the duel between Hayden and Kain was fast approaching.
Kain signaled to Alice, who was still diligently massaging him, that he was done, picked up the last chocolate madeleine, put it in his mouth, and stood up.
'I feel a bit sorry for Bolio, Edward, and Fohn.'
Yesterday, the duel had been suddenly arranged, so the training they were supposed to start this morning had been postponed until tomorrow.
They seemed disappointed but accepted it as unavoidable.
-It's a shame. I wanted to quickly improve my skills with the training methods you were going to teach us.
-Y-yeah, me too.
-It's a shame, but there's nothing we can do. So just win the duel tomorrow. If you lose, all the effort we put in going with you will be for nothing.
They seemed so disappointed.
He had planned to start lightly on the first day, but it seemed better to start them right away.
Kain changed into clothes that were easy to move in and headed to the east training hall.
"Good luck, Young Master!"
"We believe in you, Young Master."
Kain, who had entered after receiving the cheers of Alice and Nefty, looked around the inside of the training hall.
The place he was currently in was the largest training hall in the east wing, originally used by disciples on the 4th and 5th floors and instructors above the 6th Circle for friendly duels.
This size wasn't necessary for a duel between 3rd Circle mages, but since so much was at stake, they had chosen the widest and best-equipped place possible.
"Finally here, are you?"
"Well, it'll be over quickly. With our Lord Hayden's victory."
A large crowd was already waiting for the duel around the training grounds.
On one side of the viewing seats, Richter Bederman, Ray Bederman, and their retainers were seated in a row.
On the opposite side were Blake Siers, Cristan Siers, Wayne Siers, as well as instructors and disciples from the 4th and 5th floors.
Even the servants of both clans were in the back rows, having been allowed entry so that as many people as possible could clearly witness the outcome of this duel.
Alice and Nefty also entered through another entrance, carefully found seats, and watched Kain.
Kain slowly walked forward and stood opposite Hayden, who was waiting.
Hayden grinned at Kain.
"Why didn't you come out a little earlier? I thought you had run away."
"Me run away? Why would I?"
At his expression, which seemed to genuinely not understand, Hayden's eyebrows furrowed.
"You shameless bastard... let's see how long you can keep up that composure."
"Feel free to watch as long as you like."
"You little brat!"
He wanted to spew out more harsh words, but with so many eyes watching, Hayden shut his mouth.
'That guy... he came to fight me and isn't even pretending to be nervous? He should know when to stop bluffing.'
Thanks to his maid's meticulous care, Kain's grimy appearance from yesterday was nowhere to be seen.
His silver hair, styled to slightly reveal his forehead, had a sheen to it, and his clear, white skin made his red eyes stand out even more vividly.
Looking into his calm eyes, which were difficult to read, Hayden felt psychologically pressured and clenched his fist tightly.
"Whatever, let's just start. I'm going to completely crush you."
Hayden took two steps forward first, and Kain also took two steps forward, signaling that he was ready.
Then, Rowen, who was to be the referee, stepped onto the dueling platform and put protective artifacts on both of them.
The servants on the Siers clan side watching this swallowed nervously.
"Our young master is dueling Lord Hayden..."
"It's really happening..."
"I still can't believe it."
"The entire support fund increase is riding on this, right?"
"Please..."
"Having come this far, I'll just believe."
"Please let a miracle happen..."
With their living standards for the next month, no, even from tomorrow, at stake, they clasped their hands together and murmured with fervent voices, as if praying.
Meanwhile, the disciples sitting in the front, especially those from the 4th and 5th floors, were watching Kain with interested eyes.
"That Kain guy, he seems confident."
"Ever since he punched Hayden, you have to admit he's got guts."
"He reached the 3rd Circle in that short time... if that's true, isn't he faster than us? This is the first time I've seen him duel, so I'm a bit curious. Isn't that right, Neville?"
"Well, we'll see."
And.
"Brother. What on earth were you thinking when you agreed to this?"
"Cristan, you're underestimating Kain's abilities too. If it's Kain, he'll be able to win."
In the very front, Cristan stood with his arms crossed, speaking to Blake with a dissatisfied voice.
"I knew you cherished Kain, Brother, but I didn't know it was to this extent. Wayne, say something too."
"I-I also think Kain has a chance to win. Edward and Fohn praised Kain's skills a lot."
"Haa... what looks impressive to 2nd Circle kids... no, it's my fault for asking you."
Cristan sighed.
"Well, what can we do? Rather than begging and receiving a meager amount, it might be better to try to break through this even if the chances are low. And..."
He looked sharply at the Bederman clan side and said,
"If possible, I hope he puts up a good fight and at least gives those petty bastards a blow to their pride."
Now that things had come to this, Cristan watched the dueling platform, hoping that they wouldn't lose so miserably as to tarnish the clan's reputation.
Rowen finally infused his mana into the protective artifacts.
After all the procedures were completed, he stepped outside the dueling platform.
Now, only Kain and Hayden remained in the central area of the dueling platform, and silence filled the surroundings.
Rowen quietly raised one hand.
And shouted.
"Begin the duel!"
As soon as the duel began, Hayden glared at Kain and extended both hands forward.
"I'll make sure you can never crawl back up again!"
Deep within Hayden's heart, in his circle room, the fire mana writhed and surged.
As if crying out after being suppressed for so long, the mana burst forth in an instant.
As Hayden raised his hands, the surging mana spread in an instant like wildfire meeting the wind.
'I'll show them the overwhelming difference in our skills in front of everyone.'
Especially to his father, who had come to his room last night, he wanted to prove it definitely.
-Hayden. I have something for you.
-This is...
'I'll show him I can crush someone like Kain without using something like that.'
The fire mana that had spread into the air reacted to Hayden's will and split into numerous small clumps.
And.
"Fireball, expand."
Those translucent clumps swelled one after another, as if a large candle was successively lighting smaller ones, turning into huge, fiercely burning fireballs.
"That's..."
"How can a Fireball be that big...?"
"He can summon that many at once?"
Voices filled with disbelief erupted from the spectator seats of the dueling platform.
The huge fireballs, easily numbering twenty, no, more than thirty, threatened to fill the entire airspace of the dueling platform.
"That Hayden brat, he's planning to completely overwhelm him from the start."
"That's already beyond the 3rd Circle level."
"Seriously, with that talent and all those elixirs... it's practically cheating."
The disciples on the upper floors shook their heads, thinking this was hopeless.
The Bederman clan's emphasis on pure firepower, coupled with Hayden's innate talent for it and the various elixirs he had consumed, had already pushed his Fireballs beyond the realm of his current circle.
Clearly, the results Kain had shown so far were commendable, but enduring this overwhelming firepower seemed impossible.
However.
"Not a chance."
Bolio, who was watching that scene, grinned as if he knew exactly what was about to happen.
'I've taken a direct hit from that, you know.'
Of course, even Bolio, who was skilled with Fireballs, couldn't produce firepower equal to Hayden's.
But Bolio had watched up close how Kain dealt with such brute-force firepower, and how perfectly he could handle it.
'Besides, the current Kain isn't the 2nd Circle Kain who dueled me back then.'
And as Bolio had predicted.
"I'll finish you off like th... uh?"
Pop pop pop pop!
Hayden's Fireballs began to explode before they could even cross half of the field.
