Reason Didn't Matter Anymore

But behind that smile...

Something was already beginning to break.

The next morning, Ryan took me somewhere outside the town.

I followed him without asking much.

After walking for some time, we finally reached the barrier.

I looked at it.

At first, it was enormous and looked the same as always.

But when I looked carefully...

I noticed something was different.

There were cracks.

Small ones.

And some parts of the barrier had started to disappear completely.

There were holes forming in it.

I walked closer.

“These weren't here before, were they?”

Ryan shook his head.

“No.”

I looked at one of the holes.

“This is what you meant by the barrier failing?”

“Yes.”

“How long do you think this could stand guard before it completely fails?”

Ryan remained quiet for a moment.

“I don't know.”

“That's not something I wanted to hear.”

“Neither did I.”

I continued looking at the barrier.

If this thing completely failed, the monsters from the Forest of Death wouldn't have anything stopping them.

And the people living here...

They wouldn't stand a chance.

“Old man.”

“What is it, kid?”

“Have you found any leads about the barrier?”

“What do you mean?”

“Records, stories, or any information about who made this barrier?”

“There are no proper records about it.”

“Then how are you going to find out?”

Ryan looked toward the barrier.

“I'll have to dig deeper.”

I nodded.

That sounded like it would take a while.

Ryan looked at me.

“But before I completely devote myself to uncovering the truth about this barrier...”

He paused.

“I want to check something first.”

“What is it, old man?”

“What have you learned during these past fifteen days?”

I looked at him.

“Were you talking about my training?”

“Exactly.”

“Why now?”

Ryan smiled.

“Because if I'm going to get busy and leave you alone for a while, I want to know whether you can actually improve yourself or not.”

I looked at him.

“So you're testing me?”

“You could say that.”

Ryan turned around.

“Come on, kid.”

“Where are we going?”

He smiled.

“You'll find out soon enough.”

Ryan took me to an open area not far from the barrier.

I looked around.

There wasn't much here.

Just some trees and enough space for a fight.

Ryan then picked up a wooden sword lying nearby and threw it toward me.

I caught it.

“What is this?”

“A sword.”

“I can see that.”

Ryan smiled.

“Then you know what to do with it.”

I looked at the wooden sword in my hand.

“Don't tell me…”

“Yes.”

Ryan took another wooden sword for himself.

“I want you to defeat me.”

I looked at him.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

I held the sword properly.

I have been training for fifteen days.

I should at least be able to do something.

I took my stance.

Ryan didn't move at first.

“Come at me, kid.”

I rushed toward him.

I swung my sword at him.

Ryan blocked it with ease.

I quickly pulled the sword back and attacked again.

He blocked that one too.

I tried attacking from another direction.

Ryan moved his sword and blocked it.

He's reading my attacks... or it feels like he's making me attack the place he wants.

I stepped back.

Ryan didn't even look tired.

“Hey, old man. It's you who's at retirement age, so why do you look so fit and untired?”

Ryan looked at me.

“Are you here to fight or ask questions?”

“Both, maybe.”

I rushed at him again.

This time, I aimed for his shoulder.

Ryan raised his sword.

I immediately changed the direction of my attack.

Or at least...

I thought I did.

Ryan moved his sword at the same time.

My attack missed.

His sword came toward me.

I quickly raised my sword to block.

Clang!

The impact pushed me back.

“Too slow.”

“What?”

Ryan suddenly changed his attack.

The sword that I thought I had blocked moved away from mine and came toward my side.

I barely moved out of the way.

What was that?

I tried attacking again.

Ryan kept doing the same thing.

Whenever I tried to block, he changed the direction of his attack.

Whenever I tried to attack, he already knew where I was going.

I couldn't even land a proper hit.

Then Ryan suddenly stepped back.

I thought he was giving me an opening.

I moved forward.

That was my mistake.

Ryan moved his hand.

“Earth Magic.”

The ground beneath me suddenly became soft.

“Huh?”

My foot sank into the ground.

Then the other one.

“Wait—”

Before I could move, the mud had already reached above my ankles.

I tried pulling my legs out.

Nothing.

“What is this?”

Ryan stood a few meters away from me.

“Looks like you're stuck.”

“I'm aware of that, thank you!”

I tried pulling myself out again.

It didn't work.

Ryan walked toward me.

I raised my sword.

Even though my legs were stuck, I still tried to attack him.

Ryan simply moved to the side.

My sword went past him.

Then he struck my wrist.

I almost dropped the sword.

I gritted my teeth.

This is getting annoying.

I tried to free my legs again.

But Ryan was already in front of me.

He raised his wooden sword.

I raised mine.

And then—

Clang!

The impact sent my sword flying out of my hand.

It landed several meters away.

I looked at it.

Then at Ryan.

I already knew the result.

“I lost.”

Ryan lowered his wooden sword.

I looked at my sword lying on the ground.

Then I looked at the mud around my feet.

“So... I really lost.”

“Yes.”

“That was fast.”

Ryan laughed.

“You still have a lot to learn, kid.”

I pulled my feet out of the mud and walked over to pick up my sword.

“Old man.”

“What is it?”

“What was that magic you used?”

Ryan looked at the mud.

“The one that made me get stuck so suddenly?”

“Yes.”

“That was Earth Magic.”

“Earth Magic?”

“My blessing from the Goddess allows me to wield magic that can control earth, mud and sand.”

I looked at him.

“So that's why you were able to do that.”

“Exactly.”

Ryan then stretched his arms.

“Though, I can only use about two-tenths of the power I originally had.”

I stopped.

“Two-tenths?”

“Yes.”

“Then how strong were you before?”

Ryan smiled.

“That's a story for another time.”

He's definitely enjoying this.

Ryan looked at me.

“But what about you, kid?”

“What about me?”

“What magic are you blessed with?”

I became silent.

“...I don't know.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“You don't know?”

“No.”

“Then how have you been using magic?”

“I just... do it.”

Ryan stared at me.

“That's not really an answer.”

“I know.”

He sighed.

“Come with me.”

“Where?”

“I'll show you how to find out.”

Ryan took me back to the house.

I wasn't sure what he was planning to do.

He walked inside and after a while came back with a small water pot.

He placed it on the table.

“Vinaas, put your hand inside the water.”

I looked at the pot.

“My hand?”

“Yes.”

I slowly put my hand inside.

The water felt normal.

“Now close your eyes.”

I did as he said.

“Concentrate on your mana.”

I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.

At first, I couldn't feel anything.

I tried again.

Then I felt something.

It was like something inside my body was moving.

It started somewhere deep inside me and slowly travelled through my body.

It reached my arm.

Then my hand.

The feeling became stronger.

And then...

I suddenly felt cold.

Not the normal kind of cold.

It felt like the cold was coming from inside me.

The feeling kept getting colder.

I concentrated even more.

My surroundings slowly disappeared.

There was nothing.

Just darkness.

I felt like I was falling in an endless void.

Then my body started fall.

Deeper.

And deeper.

I couldn't see where I was falling.

I couldn't even tell if I was moving anymore.

What is happening?

I tried to open my eyes.

But there was nothing to see.

The cold became stronger.

I kept falling into the darkness.

Then...

I heard a voice which sounded familiar.

“Kid.”

I didn't respond.

“Kid.”

The voice came again.

“You can remove your hand now.”

I opened my eyes.

I was back in the room.

I quickly pulled my hand out of the water.

I looked at Ryan.

“What just happened?”

Ryan looked at the water.

“You were concentrating on your mana.”

He pointed at the pot.

“The water reacts to the Elementasis inside a person's body.”

“Everyone who possesses an Elementasis will cause a different reaction.”

“If someone has Fire Elementasis, the water becomes warmer.”

“If they have Ice Elementasis, the water becomes colder.”

“Wind Elementasis causes the water to spin rapidly, and it can even start bubbling.”

“Water Elementasis causes the water to overflow from the pot.”

“And Earth Elementasis changes the colour of the water and turns it into something like slurry.”

Ryan looked at me.

“That's how we determine a person's Elementasis.”

I looked down at the water.

It was still cold.

I slowly moved my hand over it.

Ice...

So that was my Elementasis.

Ryan smiled.

“Now you know what you're working with.”

I looked at my hand.

“Ice Elementasis...”

For some reason, the word felt familiar.

Ryan patted my shoulder.

“Now you can start working harder, kid.”

I nodded.

If this really is my Elementasis...

Then I want to know how far I can take it.

Now that I knew my Elementasis, I could finally start working harder on my magic.

I spent the next few days practicing what Ryan had taught me.

It wasn't easy to just perfect my basics.

I still had a lot to learn.

But at least now I knew what kind of magic I could use.

One day, while I was practicing, I noticed the three children I had met some days ago walking toward me.

They stopped in front of me.

“Mister.”

I looked at them.

“What is it?”

The three looked at each other for a moment.

Then one of them spoke.

“Can you take us as your apprentices?”

I looked at them.

“Apprentices?”

They nodded.

“We want to help people here.”

I stayed quiet for a moment.

These were the same children who had helped during the building collapse.

So finally, you have decided, huh?

They had already shown that they wanted to help people.

“Alright.”

Their faces immediately lit up.

“But first,” I said, “we need to find out if you can use magic.”

They looked confused.

“Magic?”

“Yes.”

I brought them to Ryan.

Ryan looked at the three children.

“So you want to become his apprentices?”

They nodded.

Ryan smiled.

“Well, kid, what is this?”

“They are the potential candidates I chose. They have what it takes to become doctors.”

Ryan looked at me.

“Are you sure of this, kid?”

“Yes. I’m positive about it.”

Ryan smiled.

“Then let's see what kind of Elementasis you have.”

Just like I had done before, the three went through the Elementasis determination process.

One by one, they placed their hands into the water pot and concentrated their mana.

The first child's water became hot.

Ryan looked at me.

“Fire Elementasis.”

The second child's water changed.

The water became thick and turned into a slurry.

“Earth Elementasis.”

Then came the third.

The water suddenly became thick and turned into a slurry.

Ryan looked at them.

“Earth Elementasis.”

I looked at the three.

So only one of them has a different Elementasis.

Ryan then began teaching all of us.

He taught the children the basics of mana control while continuing to teach me how to properly use magic.

At first, they struggled.

I did too.

But slowly, all of us started getting better.

The days passed.

Then weeks.

Before I knew it, two months had passed since I had started training.

During that time, Ryan had also continued looking for information about the barrier.

But one evening, he came to me with a serious expression.

“Kid.”

“What is it, old man?”

“I'll be gone for a while.”

I looked at him.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to find more leads about the barrier.”

He paused.

“The information I've gathered over these past two months isn't enough.”

I looked at him.

“So you're going to search for more?”

Ryan nodded.

“Yes.”

“When are you coming back?”

“I don't know.”

I stayed quiet for a moment.

Ryan smiled.

“Don't worry, kid. I'll be back.”

I nodded.

“Alright.”

Ryan prepared his things.

The next morning, he left Lionheart.

And for the first time since I came here...

I was on my own.

The next few weeks passed with training becoming part of our daily routine.

I trained my own magic while the three apprentices trained beside me.

One of the first things Ryan had taught me was how to properly spread my mana throughout my body.

So I taught the same thing to them.

“Don't force it,” I told them. “Just spread your mana slowly.”

The three of them closed their eyes and concentrated.

I watched them carefully.

At first, their mana was unstable.

Sometimes they used too much.

Sometimes almost nothing happened.

“Again.”

They tried once more.

This time, their mana spread through their bodies more smoothly.

“Good. Keep doing that.”

While they practiced, I continued working on my own magic.

I wanted to understand how far I could push my ice magic.

I raised my hand.

Mana gathered around me.

I concentrated on creating something in the air.

A small projectile began to form.

Then another.

Then—

BOOM!

One of them suddenly blasted away.

I quickly moved my head.

“...”

The projectile crashed into the ground several meters away.

I looked at it.

That was not supposed to happen.

The apprentices looked at me.

“Mister?”

“Don't worry about it.”

I raised my hand again.

“Just keep practicing.”

I continued experimenting.

Sometimes the projectiles formed properly.

Sometimes they disappeared.

Sometimes they blasted away before I could control them.

But slowly...

I started getting better.

The kids were improving too.

When Ryan wasn't around, I also taught them the things I had learned about first aid and basic healing.

I showed them how to clean wounds.

How to stop bleeding.

How to properly bandage an injury.

And what to do when someone was badly hurt.

We also went to the market together.

I taught them how to choose what we needed and what supplies were useful for treating injuries.

Sometimes people in the town would come to us when they needed help.

Since Ryan was away, there was no one else who could properly treat them.

So we helped them.

The kids would prepare what was needed while I guided them.

At first, they were nervous.

But after treating more people, they became more confident.

They were still learning.

So was I.

But we were getting better.

Then another month passed.

One morning, I was outside practicing with my sword.

I held the ice sword silviet firmly and continued repeating the movements Ryan had taught me.

Step.

Swing.

Block.

Repeat.

I did notice someone approaching from behind but they have a normal intent.

“Looks like you've been busy, kid.”

I stopped.

I knew that voice.

I turned around.

Ryan was standing there.

“Old man.”

He smiled.

“It's been a while.”

I looked at him.

“You're finally back.”

Ryan nodded.

“I told you I would return.”

He looked at the wooden sword in my hand.

Then at me.

For a moment, he didn't say anything.

When he had left, I couldn't even maintain my stance with the sword for five minutes.

Now I was standing in front of him, continuing my training without even looking exhausted.

Ryan smiled.

This kid...

He's grown so much in these five months.