Returning to his senses, Fen looked around. For him, the entire situation was actually quite long, yet just a single sweep of the surroundings was enough to prove that the time in the real world seemed to just stop.

"What happened?!"

Instantly falling towards him, Firo buried her knees into the ground, trying to look for any injuries.

"It's okay… It's okay…"

As soon as the first lie came out of Fen's mouth, the memories of what he learned just now, returned.

"Once you properly fire your blood, you won't be able to meet with me anymore."

'Just what the heck!'

Screaming desperately in his mind, Fen reassured Frio with a calm smile as he stood up and stretched his hands up.

"Don't worry. I got this feeling, I could do what you told me to do… But I don't think continuing in this garden would be a good idea. Either way, would you please tell me if I'm wrong, but using the fire without supplying it with energy, actually feels to reinforce the body at the same time."

Stating this fact as he raised his fists to his eyes, Fen took a while to realise what he just said.

"Wait, am I right?!"

Noticing the potential importance behind this possibility, Fen instantly jumped up to Firo and grabbing her by her shoulders.

"Well…"

Turning her head to the side, the girl was clearly reluctant to speak about it. Thankfully, after a moment of hesitation, this otherwise clumsy maid moved her head back and replied to Fen's stare with one of her own.

"It's true. But the process is excruciating. I did it to some degree, just because I didn't know I was never fated to achieve it. But doing so just for the sake of its aftereffects? Are you serious?"

Opening her eyes wide as if she wanted to register the image of this one idiot as clearly as possible, just as if he was about to disappear from the face of the world in the next moment. As if his stupidity reached the levels disqualifying him as a human person.

"You do realise that one misstep and you are dead?"

Suddenly turning the atmosphere from joyful into a dead-serious one, Firo looked into Fen's eyes, as if she once again regained the wits to explain it.

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"From what I heard, once you refine your body like that, you will fully turn into a fighting tool. At some point, your body will be simply too strong for your fires to handle, resulting in their decay. And without the fire to support the improved body, it doesn't take long before one would return to the form from before the experiment."

Now it made sense. It wasn't as if Fen was the only one to figure that possibility out with balls big enough to dare to attempt it and just tough up the torture. The after-effect of this kind of training would quickly lead to one's downfall!

But…

With how Fen was currently completely staled in terms of growth, with the only way for him to develop the powers and abilities that he heard and saw so much about, now blocked…

This was the only way to get stronger.

The tournament was quickly approaching. From what the young man heard in the class, the visitors should start appearing tomorrow. While by itself it wasn't that much of a problem, it was who would be the main visitor that might prove disastrous.

Fen didn't know who would be the envoy nor who will the envoy be accompanied with. If by any chance, the same inquisitor that initially executed him, were to appear by the royal legate's side, the young man would have no other option but to run.

"Good decision."

Taking the young man's silence as approval for her words, Firo looked up at the sun. Most likely, she was checking the time.

"Anyway, sit down and take a rest. There is still a few things that I think you want to know about."

With how most of the time the two spent in the garden was fully focused on the aspect of growing stronger, Fen didn't really have a chance to ask for more details about the past.

"That would be great if you could answer some of my doubts."

Taking the opportunity with gratitude seeping out from his eyes, Fen took a moment to consider his options. The young man didn't know how many answers Firo was willing to provide today, so he at least wanted to make sure that what he would ask would matter in the long run.

"Don't worry, take your time."

Noticing Fen's anguish to find a proper question, Firo only giggled before sitting back on the grass.

"How come that such a great kingdom got defeated so thoroughly? From what you told me and what I saw, they were a force to reckon with!"

This was one of the questions that most likely anyone in the town still knew. As it was rather recent history, the living witnesses of the past still hanged around. A living reminder of the times gone.

"You see… Their Kingdom was organised completely differently from the others. You could say that in those short two hundred years that they ruled those lands, they brought a new era to the entire continent. Yet, at the same time, you could say the level of this place and its people was too obscure for them to survive."

Bringing her knees up and embracing her legs rightly, Firo looked in the distance with a pain pulling her eyebrows together.

"Instead of overwhelming everyone around them, they opted for peaceful coexistence with trade and court life. This quickly leads to their enemies using them against their own good. Paying mercenaries with the money they received thanks to the trade with the Mercenary Kingdom, nearly the entire continent full of king's jealous of their wealth and prestige, all packed up like a group of stray dogs and bleed the entire country out. Rather than defeating them in battle…"

As she continued speaking, Fen could feel a dull pain appearing in his chest. It was as if his blood itself was reacting to the tragedy of this story.

"They cleansed the entire cities and villages whenever they passed through them. By the time their forces were nearly completely gone, the kingdom was already on the verge of collapsing. Even after the miraculous save of the situation by the remaining three legions, the Kingdom only had few years to live before falling apart at the hands of the barbaric crowd."

Ending her lecture with clear hate in her words, Firo nearly cut the skin of her palm with how tightly she was pressing her nails against the base of her hand.

"Okay, I think I get it…"

This made a lot of sense. A kingdom so powerful falling apart just like that? That didn't make any sense. Only with a massive and prolonged effort of the envious neighbours could something like that happen.

"Anyway, let's end for today."

Shaking Firo's shoulders to pull her from the sad thoughts, Fen looked her in the eyes and continued speaking.

"I can wait to hear the rest, but you can't wait to take the rest. Don't worry, I won't push myself far."

Gracing the girl with a friendly smile, I stood up and moved towards the building.

'I guess I will have to train by myself.'

With the tournament starting tomorrow, Fen didn't have any time for hesitation. For the first time, he had a clear path that would result in him turning stronger. As long as he could limit himself from going over the top, he should be able to recover his normal state in a safer place.

After all, what would be the point of saving one's future potential, if doing so would result in losing one's future altogether?