For two weeks, I learned no magic at all. After the first three days, Dersia nodded her head as if it were quite a feat.
"You didn't wake up while sleeping today."
"Because I didn't want to die..."
To unconsciously channel mana. At first, I wondered if such a thing was even possible. But my breath would catch after just five minutes of sleep, so I learned to do it just to survive.
Thanks to that, I now had dark circles under my eyes, though not as bad as Dersia's. As I lay collapsed on the floor, Dersia seemed intrigued, jotting something down before snapping her fingers.
"We will now proceed to the next stage, maintaining the flow during intense movement."
"Intense movement? No, before that, I think I need to rest a bit."
Seriously, I felt like I was going to die. If I were to faint, I would just choke and die, so I always had to stay by Dersia's side, as she could keep channeling mana into the magical tool. This, in turn— —provided a terrible sleeping environment where I had to use a book as a pillow in the library.
It was a relief that no one else came to visit. One thing I learned as her disciple was that almost every mage either feared or avoided Dersia. Honestly, I had expected as much.
Her bizarre appearance as an elf mage and her overwhelming power. Not to mention her abysmal communication skills. It felt a bit wrong to think this way about my Master, but even if I were a noble, I would never want to get close to someone who could kill me with ease and with whom conversation was impossible.
As I was having such irreverent thoughts, Dersia tilted her head as if to ask what I was talking about.
"That's why we're doing it now."
"?"
"I am not assuming a simple exercise situation. We must test your maintenance in a state where you are exhausted, tired, your muscles are begging for rest, and you feel like you might pass out at any moment. Otherwise, it is meaningless."
"... Ah, I see."
When you thought about it, she was right. As I stood up with a glum expression, she told me the lesson plan, which sounded simpler than I expected.
"Walk one lap around this library."
"Just one lap?"
"Yes. It will be difficult."
What was she talking about? I was tired, yes, but I could do tens of laps around the library. It was spacious, but it was still just one building.
I took a step forward with a skeptical look on my face. After a few steps— "Gah— Keuk, kheuk...!" My breath stopped along with the pain of tearing muscles.
At the same time, my legs flared up madly, as if they had been put in a furnace and taken out again. I hurriedly circulated my mana. When I barely regained my senses and demanded an explanation, Dersia explained, twirling her index finger.
"To create a truly extreme environment, Jern, I have cast both Formula: Rupture and Formula: Acceleration on your entire body."
"I would appreciate it if you could explain it in a way I can understand."
"With every step you take, you will get the same result as taking a thousand steps. Calculating the stride for one lap, it will take about 1,230 steps, so you can think of it as walking 1,230,000 steps."
"Uhm, by that calculation, I'll die while walking."
"Yes. You will die. Had you not learned body-reinforcement techniques, and had I not been by your side."
Dersia muttered as if it were obvious.
"I have made preparations. In this space, you cannot die so easily."
From her hazy eyes, I caught a glimpse of a thick, boiling emotion.
"Even if you wish for death."
I couldn't tell what it was. But because it wasn't for my sake, I trusted it even more. If my Master did not want me to die— ...it probably would not happen.
"Do not worry. This process will be very long. If you faint, you will rest, then start again from that spot. Take the long view."
"Haa..."
I let out a small sigh and took another step. ...
Gaaah....
It hurt like hell whether I was prepared for it or not.
It was a long road.
"Jern. Your willpower... there is something mysterious about it, to call it mere will."
"I was prepared to take the full time. I had estimated a month, assuming I would have to grit my teeth and whip myself forward."
"But look at this. You have completed it magnificently. You even went 1,231 steps further. To be honest, I was very anxious since the conditions were, in theory, unbearable for a human."
"When I told my head maid, Ciel, about the lesson, she ground her teeth and said she would kill me if I didn't stop the child abuse immediately. What foolish words. What is abuse? You have proven it. The fact that a human's limits are set by oneself..."
I couldn't answer Dersia's rambling. I didn't even have the energy to open my mouth.
One week.
That was how long it took me to walk 1,230,000 steps. And it wasn't just my legs that hurt. Partway through, she said it seemed too easy and increased the "Formula: Rupture" on my upper body by five times.
Thanks to that, my entire body was thoroughly thrashed. It was two days later before I was in a state to be able to speak. Lying on the simple bed Dersia had made for me, I realized an obvious fact once again.
"This... wasn't a normal training course, was it."
"No. Is that what you wanted?"
"Not really, but I did wonder what the difference was between this and just telling me to die."
"I have seen knights training with sandbags. Watching them, I thought, hmm, isn't that too foolish? That way, only specific parts are stimulated and there wouldn't be much of a difference... Still, their method of training the body is more correct than mine as a mage, so I merely improved it to be slightly more efficient."
Dersia, speaking as if she were enjoying herself, was definitely not in her right mind. However, I couldn't deny that it had helped. When I swung my arms and walked again, something had certainly changed.
"I feel the currents less."
"It's simply a difference in muscular strength."
I clenched my fist. I was by no means muscular, but I was quite pleased that it was different from my previous flimsy arms.
"Right now, it's just difficult to walk, but soon your movements will be hindered. This was a response for that day, as well as practice for maintaining your breathing, and it yielded good results."
"What's next?"
"I haven't decided. I didn't think you would accomplish it this quickly."
Hmm.
There was still time before I had to participate in the combat exam, or whatever it was called. I didn't want to waste it. As if understanding my thoughts, Dersia said something I was glad to hear.
"It's a little early, but I will tell you about the teachings you will learn from now on."
"Ah, yes. Will I be learning intermediate magic?"
"No. Compared to other heart-realm mages, what do you think your advantage is."
"Uhm..."
After thinking for a moment, I answered.
"Of course, it's that I was noticed by you, Master."
"Correct. Then what is the second one?"
So it was a trick question.
Scary.
"I think it's the fact that I can use regular magic."
"That's right. It is a strange thing. I too have researched how such a thing is possible since then, but no matter how I look at it, I've only been able to obtain results that say it is impossible. It is something I cannot understand..."
Dersia narrowed her brows and looked at me. ... Well, it wasn't as if I had no clue at all. This original body was the one that fell into the heart-realm.
And the one using magic was probably the me from Earth. I wasn't sure. It wasn't something that would change if I said it, so I just shrugged and replied.
"I don't know either."
"In any case, this is the most powerful hidden blade you possess, Jern. Have you thought about how you will use it?"
"I only have a vague idea that if I train hard, I can use it somehow to survive in the Deep Sea."
"Jern, I've told you this before, but I will say it again."
Dersia met my eyes and answered.
"You have no talent for magic."
"... Really? The nobles said I was quite outstanding."
"I am not familiar with human standards. However, by my standards, I can see that your talent cannot break through the wall. You will not be able to awaken more than three stars."
Though by my standards, even that was amazing.
"Your magic must be made into a safety device for handling the magic of the Deep Sea."
"Uhm..."
I let out a groan.
"I get what you mean. Don't think about becoming great with magic that has its limits, but put all my effort into blocking the pressure and learn heart-realm magic professionally, right?"
"That is correct."
"But do I have to deal with heart-realm magic? I mean, I could just endure the pressure with magic and not touch the heart-realm at all. If I do that—" "You'll live a little longer. About two years."
Dersia advised me gently, as if soothing a child.
"In the end, you must face your own world. Learning magic is a simple way to buy time. It is nothing more than a stopgap measure, and if you want more than that, you must risk danger and move forward."
"I must become familiar with the Deep Sea, I see..."
"I will guarantee you have a talent for that. You became accustomed to it at a very fast rate."
"But I still don't quite understand."
I scratched my head and asked.
"What can I do even if I become familiar with it?"
"Originally, I had no answer to that."
Dersia held something out. It was— a blood-soaked letter containing a request for help. There wasn't much written on it.
[History has begun to repeat itself. I can only hope that they are not the ones standing at its end. Beware the mass~] "What's the mass?"
"I cannot say. Things would have been easier if the knight who left this letter had the intelligence to write down who the opponent was and their weaknesses instead of empty formalities."
Dersia's assessment was too scathing.
"Ghost cities have been discovered recently. Cases where cities that had tens of thousands of people just a week ago became silent places with not a single person left, only bloodstains, have been discovered several times and have come to my attention."
"... The opponent is."
"Yes. It is definitely Red Lotus."
Dersia folded the letter and replied.
"They are the opponent you should aim for."
"Aren't you going to aim for them, Master?"
"I am not particularly interested in vermin who have simply fallen. My world is not specialized for combat either. I will leave it to the idiots who like to fight and intervene later if things get worse."
Well, anyway.
If it's a place where heart-realm mages have gathered, and if they are managing to survive. They would know the way.
"Maybe they even have a solution for the Deep Sea."
"Honestly, I don't think they'd have that. A person who falls into the Deep Sea would be crushed to death in seconds, so how would they collect information?"
"Ah, yes..."
"However, over the thousands of years they have been operating in the shadows, they must have relentlessly gathered methods for a human body to endure the pressure in an extreme environment."
"Should I fight them to find out?"
"That is also fine, but I would recommend joining them."
"?"
"Grow appropriately, join them, show your abilities, then discuss ways to survive and escape. I believe that would be much faster than fighting to obtain information."
"What if they try to dissect me?"
"I do not think they could handle a heart-realm mage so easily."
"Still, I don't want to get involved with people who kidnap and torture children..."
"If they tell you to torture someone, you can just run away then, can't you? Well, that's a long way off for now, so it's fine to just be aware of it."
Dersia's expression was serious. Pragmatism over morality, huh. ... The fact that it sounded quite persuasive meant I was a similar kind of person.
It was a suitable short-term goal. I shrugged and changed the subject.
"Let's decide on that for now. What is this magic for enduring the pressure?"
"You have already experienced it. Cultivate, Shape, Remove. It is what made you suffer, and it is an ancient magic that has long since fallen out of use. Perhaps you and I are the only ones who use archaic formulas in this age."
"Uhm, I don't quite get it just from hearing that."
"To nurture, to define, to remove. It is a magic that serves only these three roles. For now, just think about Remove. It manifests by giving commands to your own body, by attaching a word after Remove:. First... shall we start with what you know."
Dersia brought over a huge water barrel that a person could fit inside. The barrel was filled to the brim with ice.
"We will begin training in the magic to remove the cold from your body. Considering you have no talent, it's a primordial magic, so it's very simple and easy. You will learn it quickly."
I didn't believe her one bit and let out a sigh. It was because I was slowly starting to realize how Dersia's lessons proceeded.
"Ah, you're not cold?? No, before that, you're not going to die??"
"It's fine, I'm telling you it's fine..."
I continuously reassured Elysia, a towel draped over me. In reality, the 'Remove:' was not that difficult. Just remember the situation where it feels like your body is about to freeze.
According to Dersia, it was a process of inserting it into the world. After going to the brink of freezing to death several times, you perfectly remember the situation. If you activate Remove in the same situation— The coldness disappears.
It was truly amazing. It wasn't that my body got warmer and I endured it, but I simply didn't feel cold anymore. The expression 'to remove the cold' was most fitting.
When I asked why such an absurdly overpowered magic had fallen out of use, I got this answer.
"Because it's too foolish."
You have to first endure anything with your own body. For example, if you want to endure fire, you must enter the fire yourself. Not just once, but you have to endure it dozens of times to perfectly embody that sensation, and only then can you activate Remove in the same situation.
This inferior condition of use, and the fact that it was a kind of mental victory, meant it consumed an enormous amount of mana. Neither of these were drawbacks for me. My mana was practically infinite since I could just drink seawater.
Having to endure the situation, well. It was coming for me anyway.
"Uuuh... this is torture!"
Elysia, in a rare show of courage, protested to Dersia. But she quickly bowed her head under Dersia's mad gaze. It wasn't that she was particularly angry.
Dersia was always steeped in madness. She looked at me and replied.
"Did you call for her?"
"Yes, I figured it was about time I get back to my main job."
"... You did need a rest. However, you must master everything related to Remove: before the combat exam."
"Isn't the point just to go there and get beaten up? You said the goal was to maintain."
"I do not wish to see my disciple just get beaten and fall. I would appreciate it if you could hold out for about five minutes, then defeat your opponent and win."
"... Ah, yes."
How absurd.
Does she think winning is as easy as walking a dog? As I brushed it off, Dersia looked at Elysia this time.
"And."
"Heek..."
"Hmm."
She examined Elysia several times, then finally smirked and gave her advice.
"You don't need to change. Such a world exists."
"... Huh?"
"However, even so, it is foolish to fear one's tools."
"Wh-what does that...?"
"That is all."
Dersia turned away coldly.
"Wh-what did she just say? What does it mean?"
Elysia looked at me with a face full of questions, so I rolled my eyes and answered.
"Um... just ignore it."
It was better for one's mental health.