It's been a year since I started training with Klaus Rodron.
Well, not really a year.
The Patriarch postponed the gift he had for me, he said that he'd give it to me on my fifth birthday.
My 5th birthday is two weeks from now, which means, in three weeks, it'll be one year since I started training with Klaus Rodron.
I learned the mana breathing technique Klaus gave me in one week. It was a pretty unbelievable feat. To start feeling mana in one week and start mana gathering in that Same week.
The number of people who praise me as an outstanding genius has increased, it's almost sickening now. The people who stared down at me with a disgusted look on their faces now look at me with sparkling eyes full of admiration.
I guess humans are humans no matter the world they're in.
So far... I've learned everything there was to learn from class 2, I skipped class 3 and now I'm in class 4. I owe it all to Klaus. And I won't lie, he's a great teacher.
It's just that...
"Focus! Cleanse your mind and focus! Being a flame mage isn't just about hurling fire spells from a distance like a coward. It's about forging your body, tempering it with hardcore training to withstand the heat of your own flames!! It's about having peak mental and physical strength! So focus!"
This training is fucking hard!
I'm sitting on the ground in a lotus position, and there's a heavy boulder that's the size of a car on my head.
And I'm supposed to clear my mind of every thought and balance the boulder on my head.
It's Impossible, this man is the devil hi–
Thwack!
He hits my head with his knuckles and looks at me aggressively with his arms folded. He's standing, staring down at me, watching my every move.
"Didn't I say focus and stop thinking?!"
His undertone is filled with annoyance.
"But how am I supposed to do that when there's a freaking boulder on my head and you're literally roasting my body with fire?!"
I snap back, I'm tired of this absurd training.
What kind of insensitive nonsense is this? Every day, he makes me remove my shirt and wear only my pants, carry a boulder on my head and then he starts burning my entire body with fire. And I'm not supposed to move or shake! And now he's telling me not to think too!?
"Do the kids in class 10 even train as hard as this?! This makes no sense!"
He frowns his face as he hears my tantrum. He shakes his head and sighs.
"The training method that the other kids use is... Ineffective on you."
I raise the left corner of my lips and make a 'what the hell is he saying face.'
He drops his strict and stern demeanor and chuckles.
"You aren't even aware of your talent. You went through a body reconstruction during your mana pool ritual..."
"Wait, how do you know about the ritual? I thought no one apart from the family knew that?"
I ask, my brows furrowed as I stare at him sharply.
"... You are right. But I'm the vice-captain of the Flameworth's Mages, so there is some classified information that I'm allowed access to. And that includes information on the mana pool ritual."
I parted my lips and made an 'ah' sound, what he said made sense.
"So... As I was saying. Your body, which underwent body reconstruction, needs more tempering, much more than the normal flame mages because your bones and muscles are harder than the norm.
Thus the reason I'm even going as far as to heat you. Other Flameworths didn't even need to temper their bodies because as babies, they drank a special milk, it's made with a secret formula that isn't even really milk, and it has been passed down for generations to every Matriarch in the Flameworths.
The flameworths toddlers drink it during hot afternoons because it makes them grow up with already tempered bodies."
"Oh? I'm sure I wasn't given that as a toddler because I'm a bastard though."
"No. It doesn't matter if you're a bastard or not, it's just like how you did the mana pool ritual. As long as you bear the name Flameworth, you must drink it as a toddler."
"Oh."
I want to nod my head but there's a boulder on it.
"Is the 'body tempering' for today not over? I've run with this boulder and another one tied to my leg, I've done push-ups with the boulder on my back and I've been meditating with the boulder on my head while getting burned by you. I think that's all for today, right?"
I thought I was getting used to it but..
It's starting to hurt again. The rough and heavy rock pressing on my head hurts and my back is losing strength. I feel like my spine will break anytime soon.
"What do you mean 'done for today'?" He smiles and punches his palm. "We've not sparred for today. When you ground your body, and train to get stronger, sparring is the best way to know the result of your training."
I can see a glint of madness in his eyes.
He's just looking for an excuse to beat me up again.
With just one hand, he throws the boulder on my head to the ground, causing a minor wave of dust in the area where the boulder was thrown.
Finally... My neck and my body feel lighter.
I stand up.
I still have no idea how fighting, body tempering and all that gibberish relates to being a mage.
I sigh, wondering if what I'm doing is really what I'm supposed to be doing.
But I just have to endure, after I finish this gruesome body tempering training, I'll finally be able to learn how to apply the gathered mana in my body outside my body, to manifest it as the element I have an affinity with and learn spells, which are various ways to manifest it. This is what the people in class 8-10 learn and by class 10, with the amount of mana they've gathered, they're expected to have formed their first circle.
Let's just endure it. I'm willing to do anything for my goal.
I raise my head to look at Klaus who's checking my body, with his hand on his chin.
"Good, good, progress at last."
Suddenly, he gets into a combat stance.
With a gesture of his wrists, he tells me to come.
"Come at me."
Here we go again.