Chapter 63
Chapter 63: Bite Down Hard and Endure Well (2)
“What, what? Auxiliary mana?”
Alfoy asked, flustered.
A 3rd Circle Master is considered an elite power, on par with knights.
In the battlefield, they might even be regarded higher than knights, as they can wipe out dozens of ordinary soldiers in an instant.
To treat such mages as mere auxiliary mana is an insult Alfoy had never experienced before.
“Just know it exists. That’s all.”
Ghislaine clicked her tongue at the baggage left in the wagon.
“Carry your own stuff. Before the wagon breaks.”
With that, she turned the horse’s head and headed towards the fortress.
Vanessa fidgeted anxiously, not knowing what to do, and hurriedly followed Ghislaine.
She clearly looked afraid of being retaliated against after being with the mages.
The mercenaries also put their weapons away and passed by the mages, throwing out a few jabs.
“What’s with these gentlemen blocking the road?”
“How can someone so scrawny be a mercenary?”
“I heard their employer babbles about mana. Aren’t they mages?”
“Pfft, why would a mage come all the way to this rural area? They must just be a bunch of smart heads.”
“They look wealthy. Are they from a merchant group?”
Since Ghislaine and the mages hadn’t even mentioned the Mage Tower, the mercenaries couldn’t quite guess their identities.
Alfoy gritted his teeth and glared at the mercenaries.
“Those… filthy scoundrels dare….”
But he couldn’t just expose their identities, so there was nothing he could do at the moment.
“Just you wait… Once I become the Tower Master, I won’t let this slide.”
Other mages wouldn’t dare to seek revenge against Ghislaine, being a noble.
But Alfoy had no intention of forgetting the humiliation he suffered today.
He treated his injuries with the help of the other mages. Fortunately, his bones weren’t broken, and a low-level healing spell quickly improved his condition.
Even while gnashing his teeth at Ghislaine, he couldn’t shake his curiosity.
‘Ugh, how did he manage to hit me in such an unsophisticated way?’
His outer layers were only damaged, so he had no excuse to evade carrying the luggage. Alfoy grunted alongside the other mages as they unloaded the baggage.
“Ugh, why is this so heavy!”
Since he was planning to stay for a year, there was quite a bit of luggage.
Moreover, the mages thought that Vanessa would carry it anyway, so they piled on heavy bags without considering the weight.
It was bulky and heavy for mages who had never done labor before.
Though they could use Strength Enhancement magic, it felt beneath their dignity to use magic merely to move luggage.
Alfoy scanned the area and found Belinda, speaking gravely.
“Bring the servants immediately to carry the luggage.”
“But you said you’d carry it yourself, Young Master. Is it okay if the wagon breaks? It looks expensive.”
“Profit…!”
“They couldn’t lift that much? Earlier, that girl named Vanessa managed just fine on her own.”
Belinda replied cleverly.
Alfoy’s face turned red.
Looking at her outfit, she seemed to be just a maid; what was she thinking to disregard his words?
“This territory has no sane individuals! I have never done such trivial tasks! Shouldn’t these be the duties of you lowly ones?!”
But no matter how angry he got, Belinda didn’t even blink.
“I don’t want to get scolded by you, Young Master. You have quite a temper, you know.”
“Ugh, just you wait. Just you wait. I won’t let these insolent ones be.”
Reluctantly, Alfoy began to release his mana to use Strength Enhancement magic.
At that moment, two people came out of the fortress, leading some maids. It was Elena and Ghislaine’s daughter, Rachel.
“Belinda! You’re back now?”
“Oh my, Young Lady! It’s been a while. How have you been, Rachel?”
“Yes, Belinda, how have you been?”
Rachel had been taking her medicine regularly and gotten healthier, becoming a companion for Elena.
Since they were close in age, the two quickly became friends and were always seen together.
“What’s all this noise? What’s going on?”
Upon Elena’s question, Belinda casually replied, “There are guests who can’t move their heavy luggage.”
“Hmmm? Why didn’t you call the servants then? Is it very heavy?”
Elena stepped closer and easily lifted a few of the mages’ bags.
“Huh? This is fine! Not heavy at all.”
The mages were astonished to see her holding the luggage effortlessly.
Belinda clapped her hands excitedly.
“Oh my, is it not heavy for you? You must have been exercising lately!”
“Oh come on, I don’t do that. It’s not even that heavy. I’ll help carry it after all, they’re guests.”
As the Young Lady lifted the lugguage, the maids couldn’t just stand idly by.
All the maids rushed in and skillfully moved the heavy bags. Belinda had no choice but to help.
With many hands working together, there were only a few bags left.
The mages, feeling humiliated for no reason, gritted their teeth and lifted the remaining luggage.
But their frail arms, having never experienced labor in their lives, began to tremble before they could even lift.
Eventually, the coachman who had been watching the whole process with dismay got off the wagon and commented casually.
“I’ll help you without charging. You really need to exercise.”
Being a long-time hired coachman from the Mage Tower city, he wasn’t afraid of the mages at all. He saw them every day.
‘Ugh, I just want to kill them all. It’s all that jerk’s fault. I will never forgive him.’
Alfoy gritted his teeth in frustration from the continuous humiliation.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine led the mercenaries to the fortress.
What used to be just a foundation a month ago now looked quite established.
“Haah, things have progressed a lot.”
Ghislaine smiled contentedly, looking around at the mercenaries.
“Keep an eye on the Forest of Monsters for now. I’ll give instructions for the next tasks as soon as they’re ready.”
“Understood!”
The mercenaries shouted loudly.
These were all the people Ghislaine had gathered while touring the northern territories.
Of course, the mercenaries who had previously entered the Forest of Monsters were re-contracting as well.
Controlling the new mercenaries wasn’t difficult.
Every time they brought in new recruits, Ghislaine and Kaor stepped in to thoroughly crush any challenges.
The loyalty of the veterans who fought together in the Forest of Monsters toward Ghislaine was high, so new mercenaries wouldn’t dare challenge him.
Interestingly, perhaps due to the atmosphere created by the veteran mercenaries, the new recruits also referred to Ghislaine as their captain.
Before leaving, Ghislaine added one last thing.
“Take good care of your equipment and horses. I won’t tolerate you throwing it away on foolish things like gambling.”
“Understood!”
The armor and horses were all provided by Ghislaine from his own pocket.
The mercenaries gathered equipment according to their financial circumstances, leading to a variety of qualities.
However, most would buy cheap, subpar weapons to use until they needed to replace them.
With such armament, having a large number of people wouldn’t be of much use.
Thus, Ghislaine decided to properly equip them as a good preparation.
He entrusted the training and management of the mercenaries, as well as their organization, to Gillian and Kaor, and headed to the training ground.
“Why are you going to the training ground? You just got back and you won’t rest?”
Gillian asked in confusion.
“You two can rest first. I have to check on Vanessa.”
As soon as Ghislaine entered the training ground, he rolled up his sleeves.
“Sit down.”
Vanessa, feeling nervous, observed cautiously and quietly sat down in the center of the training ground.
“I’ve heard you can’t feel mana, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How far did you learn magic from your master?”
“Theoretically… up to the 5th Circle.”
Vanessa mumbled timidly.
Ghislaine was a bit impressed.
‘As expected, it’s the same as I heard in my past life. Just as I expected. This is quite outstanding.’
Magic formulas cannot simply be memorized.
It requires a certain degree of realization and understanding, and one must be able to invest their will into it.
Understanding 5th Circle formulas at such a young age indicates exceptional intelligence.
“You’re already at the 5th Circle? That’s impressive. You seem quite bright.”
“Oh, no. I have never actually cast it, so I couldn’t confirm if I understood right.”
“It’s fine, you can do that from now on.”
“What? I can’t feel mana….”
“I intend to teach you the Mana Circulation Method.”
Vanessa’s complexion darkened a bit.
“You don’t know the Mana Circulation Method?”
She shook her head and replied.
“My master found a simple Mana Circulation Method and told me about it. But it was useless.”
“Hmm, I see… you did try.”
Ghislaine nodded as if he understood.
He had also heard about it simply in his previous life. He had attempted to practice the Mana Circulation Method.
After all, if one can’t feel mana, the Mana Circulation Method is of no use.
You need to feel the mana to accept and accumulate it within your body, right?
Moreover, it’s unlikely that a mage would properly understand the Mana Circulation Method.
“It’s okay. I’ll teach you a bit differently. First, we need to make you feel mana, right?”
“Yes?”
Ghislaine asked with a serious demeanor.
“Do you still want to learn magic?”
Vanessa lowered her eyes to hide her trembling gaze.
Of course, she wanted to.
The reason she had been keeping an eye on Ghislaine was that she hoped to obtain permission to learn magic later.
She gulped nervously and nodded.
“Yes, I want to continue my studies.”
“Great! Then bite down hard and endure well. If you mess it up, you’ll die, and I won’t.”
“What does that mean….”
“We’re starting.”
Without lengthy explanations, Ghislaine placed his palm on her back.
Guuuuuuum!
Mana began to flow from Ghislaine’s palm into Vanessa’s body.
Ghislaine carefully maneuvered the mana.
The mana that swept through her body began to gather below her navel.
“This is….”
Vanessa’s eyes widened as she felt a sensation like never before.
“Close your mouth. The mana that just entered is mine. You must not miss how it moves.”
Vanessa realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.
She tightly shut her eyes, trying to feel the unusual energy now inside her.
Guuuuuuum!
As the flow of mana stabilized, Ghislaine let out a sigh of relief internally.
‘For now, it’s a success.’
Ghislaine temporarily created a very small mana core within her body.
Unbeknownst to Vanessa, this method required delicate mana manipulation abilities and tremendous concentration.
Only someone with ‘Seven Great Powers of the Continent’ level skills would dare even consider attempting it.
Originally, one needs to feel mana, learn breathing techniques, and create a core themselves as the proper order.
But knowing Vanessa, it was impossible to tell when she would succeed that way. For now, making her feel mana was the priority.
Since it was Ghislaine’s mana creating the core, it would eventually disperse over time.
Before that could happen, she needed to at least start feeling and absorbing mana on her own.
Uuuuuuuuuum.
As Ghislaine infused his will into the mana, the core created within Vanessa’s body began to spin violently, starting to absorb mana.
Instead of naturally absorbing mana through breathing, it was forcing the surrounding mana to be sucked in by circulating it.
“Ugh.”
Vanessa gritted her teeth in pain, but somehow managed to endure.
It was the mana she had dreamed of.
The sensation she felt for the first time was painful yet enchanting.
‘A little longer.’
Vanessa wished this feeling would continue, but Ghislaine was preparing to end the mana induction soon.
Suddenly!
At that moment, Vanessa recalled the countless magic formulas she had learned.
Those that always lingered only in her mind struggled to break free upon meeting the slightest trace of mana.
Vanessa was in a state of ecstasy from feeling mana for the first time.
Zing—! Zing—! Zing—!
Magic circles began to appear in the air.
Perhaps having suppressed it all this time, she inadvertently cast the spells.
The increasing number of magic circles soon exceeded five.
“Already multi-casting?”
Ghislaine was taken aback and reduced the amount of mana he was pouring in.
The magic circles were consuming Ghislaine’s mana wildly, not just the tiny amount from Vanessa.
As he slowly cut off the mana to avoid putting Vanessa in danger, another problem arose.
Fsssss…
Vanessa’s hair began turning white from the tips.
As the mana dwindled, she was drawing from her life force.
“Damn it! Get a grip!”
He couldn’t allow her to burn her life force. Ghislaine shouted as he unleashed mana once more.
