Activating first-circle magic and using a first-circle spell of the light element—a light sphere—I detonated it in front of the girl’s eyes, blinding her. Then, slowly, so that everyone could see, I raised my hand to her face and flicked her nose. I did it so slowly that even a paralyzed person would have had time to dodge.

  “Ouch!” she yelped.

  Everyone around burst into laughter.

  “If it’s so simple, then why, as a sixth-circle mage, did you fail to see the finger that poked your nose?”

  That question made everyone fall silent again.

  “Have you ever thought that, in fact, any person can be made helpless just by blinding them? And it doesn’t matter whether they’re a warrior or a mage. Yes, I know that mages can easily see the mana circles of others. But that doesn’t always work. Look carefully and tell me—do you see my mana circles?”

  I fell silent and gave them time.

  “No…”

  “No…”

  “How is that possible?”

  Murmurs and confusion began to grow.

  “Once,” I interrupted them, “I was captured by an eighth-circle mage. Hanging in chains in a dark cave, I couldn’t determine how many circles he had or even who he was. But tell me, how do you think I always knew where he was, what he was doing, or where he was going?”

  “Aura?” asked Gras, an ice mage who had performed quite well in our last battle.

  “Correct! Aura! It will never let you down because everyone has one. Whether you’re a mage or a warrior, you can never completely hide your aura. So, for the next hour, we will have this exercise: I will plunge the entire arena into darkness. You will see nothing, hear nothing. I will suppress my aura to the first level—the same as any mage’s. I will slowly walk among you and flick your noses. Your task is simple: see my aura and dodge. Understood?”

  “Yes!”

  “Alright, let’s begin!”

  I activated third-circle magic and chose the darkness element. A third-circle spell—Grave Silence. It was as if all colors had been turned off for me. For the team, complete darkness fell, and all sounds disappeared.

  Heh-heh, this is going to be fun!

  For the first half-hour, they were truly like blind puppies, left with no choice but to endure and yelp. But eventually, they figured out how to see auras and started dodging with some degree of success.

  “Alright!” I dispelled the magic. “Not bad for a first attempt! And now, onto the fun part—a fight with me! All of you against just me! Hold out for half an hour, and your nightmare for today will be over!”

  “Master Aney!” Mara interrupted me. “May I ask a question?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “How did you escape from that mage’s captivity?”

  “I crushed his head so hard his brains splattered several meters away!” I grinned, remembering that pleasant moment.

  The faces of my team paled.

  “Begin!”

  I activated magic from three circles at once. They hadn’t seen this before, as I had only ever used magic from one circle at a time.

  “Vines!” I cast second-circle wood-element magic, and countless thin vines began rapidly growing from the ground.

  “Don’t let yourselves get caught!” I shouted. “Anyone who gets caught—it’s going to hurt!”

  I won’t say they were completely helpless—after all, fire, ice, and metal-element spells quickly started flying at me.

  Useless. With their power, they could barely scratch me.

  Fools, you should be defending, not attacking!

  The vines began wrapping around some of them, pinning them to the ground and preventing them from fully utilizing their magic.

  “Don’t waste time, don’t attack Aney—destroy the vines!” someone among them shouted.

  Well, well, someone smart has emerged.

  First-circle magic—Ice Blades!

  Dozens of sharp ice shards flew toward them. They weren’t strong enough to cause serious injuries, but they threw their already unstable ranks into complete disarray and chaos.

  “Careful! He can cast multiple spells at once!”

  “Impossible!”

  “Open your eyes! Or do you think someone among us is just playing around with a first-circle spell?!”

  “Ouch! That’s sharp!”

  “Someone burn these damn vines already!”

  “Mana Shield!”

  “Are you insane? You almost burned me!”

  “Gras, freeze everything, or we’ll be crushed!”

  Third-circle magic—Grave Silence!

  That was the last straw. Their already poor coordination disappeared entirely at that moment.

  I saw some of them stop struggling altogether, resigning themselves to the vines that continued to entangle them. Some enclosed themselves within mana shields, hoping to wait it out, while others, like Irgen, started smashing everything around them, damaging both the vines and their own allies.

  I closely observed each of them, ready to save anyone if the situation became critical.

  Ten minutes later, all movement in the arena ceased.

  I dispelled all my spells and deactivated the magic.

  Ten bodies lay on the ground, groaning quietly.

  “No, guys, this is pathetic! Take a healing pill and go again!”

  In the end, we went through three rounds with the same result.

  “This is a disaster, guys! I am extremely disappointed with your performance today!”

  Mistake after mistake—where was the collective defense? The coordination? Do you even have any crisis battle strategies at all?

  Today, I didn’t see a team—just a bunch of confused mages who crumbled after a few slaps.

  Everyone sat on the floor, looking sullen.

  To some extent, I understood them.

  “Alright, we’ll wrap up for today. I’ll analyze your actions and try to prepare some recommendations for the next training session. Good job, everyone—see you tomorrow.”

  “Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.”

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  “…”

  I waited for them to leave, but they remained sitting on the ground.

  “Guys, I wanted to train… I need the arena…”

  “Oh, Master Aney, sorry! We’ll leave now.”

  “Can we watch from the stands?”

  I was a little confused.

  “Well, watch if you want, it’s not my arena. Besides, you probably won’t see much—I won’t be training magic.”

  That didn’t stop them—within a moment, they were already sitting in the front row. Fine, let them be. I pulled out my spear and ten puppets. Protective barriers immediately rose around the perimeter of the arena, reacting to the sheer power raging around me and the dolls. I infused the ten tokens with aura.

  “Attack!” I pointed my spear toward the puppets.

  A gray typhoon erupted in the arena. Now and then, barriers around the perimeter shattered from the sheer force. The puppets’ bodies flew in all directions from my blows. I stood in the middle of the field, trying to deflect the attacks aimed at me. Some still landed, so my clothes were slowly turning to rags.

  But my skin remained intact, thanks to my aura chainmail. Three minutes. Five minutes… My muscles, rebuilt anew from mana, finally reached their peak in speed and strength. My blows became more powerful, causing the puppets to smash through the protective barriers, breaking the stands in the process.

  “Enough, back!” I commanded.

  The slightly battered puppets returned to their storage. I’d have to let them out at home to recover since time was static for them in the storage. I looked around at the mess. Yeah, I could definitely get an earful from the rector for this.

  “Hey, guys,” I called out to my spectators. “Any of you wield earth magic of the fifth or sixth circle? The arena could use some patching up…”

  My team spilled onto the arena. Two of them began restoring the stone flooring, while the others clustered around me, examining the sheer destruction my training had left behind.

  “So this is what a real battle of the Battle Ancestors looks like?”

  “Not exactly. I didn’t use my aura—I didn’t want to destroy my puppets. Only my body’s raw physical abilities.”

  “Wow!” Gras was impressed. “Mages can’t do that.”

  There was disappointment in his voice.

  “You’re wrong. Mages of the eighth and ninth circles are far stronger than me.”

  “Sir Aney, do you think mages like that grow on trees? There are only three seventh-circle mages in the entire kingdom—our rector is one of them. Reaching the eighth or ninth circle is only possible in the Empire, and even then, only if you’re lucky.”

  “And do you think Battle Ancestors like me are common? I don’t like boasting, but I doubt there’s anyone in the kingdom who could face me in battle.”

  That definitely made an impression. Maybe now they finally realized how lucky they were to have me as their captain.

  “Sir Aney,” Irgen suddenly jumped up, “how did you get so strong if you’re from the Atun principality?”

  “I fought monsters. A lot of monsters.”

  Well, I was almost telling the truth. The long-eared one was getting weird ideas.

  “Commander, maybe we should…”

  “Don’t even think about it. You’re not ready. Even in the Misty Forest, there’s a chance you’ll be torn to shreds despite your level. You might be stronger than those monsters, but your skills…”

  They fell silent at my words.

  “But after a month of training, I think I can prepare you for a hunt there, if you’re up for it.”

  “Yes! We’re ready!”

  “Alright, but not now. See you tomorrow morning!”

  I quickly left the arena before they could talk me into anything else. As I walked toward the library, I kept thinking—why were fourth-circle mages from the Vangan Adventurers’ Guild stronger and more skilled than academy students of the fifth or sixth circle? Was it really just experience? Even Lady Andu, a fifth-circle mage, could easily hold her own against my entire team for a few minutes.

  I sat down with books on magic theory again. Over time, I started to understand why there was such a huge difference between lower and higher magic seals. All that three-dimensional structure—it was, simply put, a compensatory mechanism that reduced the backlash on the mage casting the spell. After all, as a mage influenced reality with their spell, reality tried to influence the mage in return. A closed system where the scales had to be balanced.

  But for me, that was unnecessary. Unlike them, I didn’t operate with external mana—I used my own internal mana. My scales only had one side.

  Reaching this conclusion, I opened a textbook on fourth-circle fire magic. There were about a dozen spells inside, so I started choosing the one that suited me best. I immediately dismissed all defensive spells—my aura chainmail was far superior to any fourth-circle spell. Something overly powerful for a single target? No need, I had my spear for that. What I needed was something with area-of-effect properties.

  My eyes landed on the spell Flaming Tornado. Interesting. According to the description, it was a spiraling pillar of fire with its own rotation speed. When cast by a fourth-circle mage, its diameter was about ten meters, its height thirty meters, its rotation speed around five revolutions per minute, and its flame temperature reached up to a thousand degrees. The average duration a fourth-circle mage could maintain the spell? Thirty minutes before completely draining their mana.

  That was precisely why few people used Flaming Tornado.

  Bingo! I didn’t care about external mana. I had an almost limitless supply within me. And the amount I could release per unit of time was at least an order of magnitude higher.

  I spent several hours converting the complex three-dimensional magical seal, which consisted of four tiers, into four separate two-dimensional seals. Then, I embedded one within another. Then, I added reinforcement and release runes. Finally, I unrolled the whole structure into a strip and connected its ends to form a ring.

  Done! I had something to work on tonight.

  I quickly returned the books to the shelves and rushed home—I had to train Mia for the tournament.

  At the library exit, Lady Andu was standing there.

  Waiting?

  “Stop right there, you little—”

  I was suddenly right in front of her, which made her abruptly fall silent and recoil.

  “Auntie, were you waiting for me?” I asked sweetly. “Sorry, but this isn’t going to work out. I respect older women, but I prefer young girls!”

  Andu’s eyes narrowed with fury.

  “What the hell are you babbling about?!”

  She slapped me. Instead of dodging easily, I created many sharp aura needles on my cheek, right where her palm landed.

  “You bastard!” Andu yanked her hand back sharply and clenched her blood-speckled palm between her thighs. “That hurt!”

  Well, of course, it hurt. And slapping me wasn’t supposed to?

  “Auntie, so what did you want?”

  “Screw you!”

  For a moment, before she ran off, I saw tears in her eyes. What an idiot. Whatever, I was in a hurry to get home.

  Mia was already waiting for me in the training yard. I summoned the marionettes and lined them up so they could recover from the morning battle.

  “Whoa! What are those?” the girl asked.

  I pulled out three tokens and handed them to her.

  “Here, take these. They’re battle marionettes. Keep them with you—they can guard the estate and protect you if needed. Their strength is about that of a mid-stage Battle Ancestor.”

  I explained how to use them, and then we began training. Mia was steadily approaching the level of a mid-stage Battle Master.

  At dawn, I left home and headed for the valley of the jagged cliffs. I needed to see the results of my night’s work—to witness my strength as a Fourth-Circle Mage!

  My right palm was still burning from engraving the magic seal. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon when I arrived. I activated all four circles of magic. It was satisfying to watch as, after the usual three bright-red circles above my head, a fourth one flared to life, expanded, and settled into place.

  I activated my Fourth-Circle spell—Fire Tornado.

  A miniature sun ignited beside me and immediately leaped forward several hundred meters, where it exploded and transformed into a gigantic column of nearly white flames, twisting into a spiral.

  “Holy shit!” I exclaimed in awe.

  The fire stretched hundreds of meters high and at least a hundred meters in diameter. The heat was so intense that even from this distance, my clothes began to smolder. I jumped back another two hundred meters.

  All the rocks within the Fire Tornado turned molten, melting like red puddles in an instant. The stone simply liquefied in seconds. Incredible efficiency—such flames could easily obliterate a dozen low-stage Battle Ancestors if they were trapped inside for a few minutes.

  At the same time, I felt myself starting to expend mana. It was unusual—First to Third-Circle spells never gave me this sensation. I estimated the mana drain—about a single drop of my blood every fifteen minutes. Trivial.

  God’s Mana, as that lunatic Rom called it, really did have astonishing energy density.

  I deactivated the spell and approached the area where the flames had raged just moments before. A vast lake of molten lava still steamed, forming a thin black crust on top.

  Yes, I was very pleased.

  Returning to Matan, I, as usual, picked up Sui, and we headed to the academy.

  “I’ve reached the Fourth Circle,” I couldn’t help but brag.

  “Congratulations! What element?”

  “Fire. I tested Fire Tornado this morning.”

  “And how was it?”

  “Unparalleled! Magic is stronger than martial arts, I think.”

  “Not always. In battle, speed often plays a decisive role, and a weaker warrior can defeat a stronger mage.”

  “True, but I have no such weaknesses.”

  We laughed.

  On the training ground, my team was already waiting for me.

  Just like yesterday, we started with a run, followed by an aura detection and recognition exercise, where my subordinates showed much better results. The final part of the session—combat.

  This time, I arranged them in a three-three-four formation: the first three mages focused on defense, the next three launched rapid bombardments at the enemy with the fastest spells possible—regardless of circle, just as many and as fast as they could manage. The last four were meant to be the real heavy-hitting force, tasked with breaking the enemy’s battle lines and then picking them off one by one.

  I insisted they maintain formation for as long as possible, even when my spells started knocking them out.

  The first round, they lasted five minutes.

  The second—seven.

  By the third round, they were holding out for ten minutes.

  I was only using First to Third-Circle magic, but nearly my entire arsenal of twenty-seven spells—except for fire and ice spears.

  “So, did you notice your progress?” I asked at the end.

  “Yes, Commander! Everything went great!”

  “Great?” I looked down at my tattered clothes. “At this rate, you lot are gonna make me a beggar!”

  Everyone burst into laughter, as if I was joking.