I got my first scar in my last battle; it is on my back and left shoulder. It feels wrong to scar this body. But it is also something that I must do. I trained even harder in the days after that battle.

Octavia is no longer Cassius’ fiancé, rather she has given up nobility and taken the role of head servant in this estate. Though she is only a servant in name, she is more like a paid friend if anything. She wakes me up, makes me food alongside Theophania, and looks after me when I train. The rest of the time she does as she wishes. Fabiana, the servant that has always been here who I don’t pay attention to does most of the tasks in the house, with Theophania helping.

Just a few weeks after my orc fight, a woman entered the estate while I was training. She has white hair, white eyes, and pale skin. Her build is lean, yet very muscular. She wears a black tunic, black pants, and a black cloak. She has two daggers on his person and a small pack of supplies. Most of all, she has a condescending look on her face and the eyes of a killer.

“Geez kid, you are doing everything wrong. Looking at you is hurting me as a warrior.”

Who does this woman think she is? To come into my house and insult me. What a fucking joke. I turn to her, look her in the eyes, and respond.

“Who do you think you are? If you have no business with me then leave. I’ve got no interest in playing games.”

It would be best just to get her out of the estate.

“I’m Aquila, a master in blade and magic. Acquaintance of your father from the war. I came this way because of the rumors of you.”

“What rumors?”

“A prodigy with daggers and with magic. Reached tier 5 adventurer at just 10 years old. Then got his ass handed to him by a mere orc.” She laughed after saying this.

“If you’re here to cause problems just leave. I don’t have time for you.”

“I’m here to teach you, Cassius. I owed Marcus a debt, I want to see his murderer pay. But if even Marcus fell, there is no way I can best that man. That is when I heard his prodigal son was seeking revenge.”

“So what?”

“I will train you into a warrior that can best even the most powerful beings on earth. That is how I will get revenge for him.”

“And why should I learn from you?”

This chick is acting like some bigshot. However, I learned my foundations from Marcus and Claudia. There is no way she can teach me anything they haven’t. She responded with a simple gesture, telling me to come at her. Very well, I have gotten sick of her attitude at this point.

I lift my hand to attack her with magic. But the moment I do I find another hand wrapped around my wrist. I couldn’t do anything to defend myself before I was thrown into a tree. I looked up at her, and she hadn’t broken a single sweat.

This woman is definitely the real deal. I don’t know why, but I could tell beyond a shadow of a doubt. She looked down on me and spoke.

“You have talent, and you’ve got the right mindset. But what you really need is someone who will train you to kill. I can give that to you, in exchange, promise me. Promise me you will kill that man who killed Marcus.”

“I don’t need to promise that to you. I have already promised it to myself.”

“That’s good enough.”

It was decided that Aquila would be the one training me from now on. We started the training in the study. Normally I would be doing body training while it was morning, but she wanted to spend the entire day going over what I have learned so far.

After a while of listening to me explain where I am right now, she finally spoke up.

“I see, Cassius, you were trained to fight. That much is certain. But you were taught mostly non-lethal magic and combat techniques. On top of that, most of the individual spells you used are not suited for fighting.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are two main ways to create a spell. By using a steady stream of mana over a period of time and building up mana to let it all out at once. The former is usually meant for utility and support, the latter is usually used for more potent attack and defense. You can use steady streams of magic for attack, and your mother was a genius with that. But in terms of the potency of the blow, it is generally inferior.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Why would they teach me like that?”

“It’s simple. They never wanted you to be someone who kills people with magic. They wanted you to be someone who helps others. They were naïve, through and through. We are going to have to change your casting style. Though it is helpful to retain your old casting style as a skill for some types of magic.”

So, they taught me magic in a pacifistic way. Considering the people they were it makes sense, but I dislike that. Still, it is good enough for a baseline. I will have to relearn some of my foundations.

“Also, you are probably old enough now to incorporate mana into your sword training. He didn’t teach you before because you were a bit too young, but if you leave a thin coat of mana on your muscles while you train. You will recover quicker and the muscles you build will be harder and more powerful. You don’t teach bodybuilding with mana to people too young because at that age they will make far more progress with learning the sword styles and proper forms.”

It makes sense, you can only build so much muscle when you are a child. So, focusing elsewhere is for the better. I have reached an age where building muscle is probably realistic though.

We did a quick practical lesson after going over the theories. Aquila is a dagger user like me, this is very helpful for overcoming the minor quirks I had in my techniques. Once the day was over, I decided to give her a room in the house.

Aquila and Octavia then joined me in the living room at the end of the night. I was reading a book on counterattacks and magic theory books. In the simplest sense, countermagic should just be controlling your opponents’ spells and then sending it back at them. The problem is I can not think of a way to visualize this. Magic is a product of one’s visualization, how am I supposed to control another person’s visualization?

The best idea I can think of for this is magic which lifts objects like rocks or Claudia’s magic which lifts trees. Then apply that to something made with magic. But the spell ‘truest counter’ can even return strikes from a blade. That seems impossible to me.

“So, you are going to be teaching Cass from now on?” Octavia asks.

“Yes, I am. Then you must be Octavia? You are so cute.”

“Why are you teaching him? He didn’t say he was paying you.”

“He’s not. I am doing this for personal reasons.” Octavia was giving her a mean look.

“If you intend to hurt him. I won’t stand by and just let it happen.” It would seem Octavia is being cautious of her. I decided to step in and say,

“I can take care of myself, Octavia. There is no reason to be hostile to her.” Which she responded to by saying,

“She has some goal Cass, don’t forget this.”

“Our interests align.” This response from me quieted her. But I could tell from the look in her eyes that she still didn’t trust her. Despite remaining a quiet and meek person, she isn’t a coward.

…

We trained hard for the next month. Aquila taught me how to cast magic using an explosion of mana, rather than a consistent output. You start learning it by using breathing styles and concentration. Then build up to casting it just through feeling.

Due to my training in casting consistent amounts of mana, the amount that I drew at the beginning was bigger than normal. Overall mana training also helped me quite a bit with casting a large amount at once and having mana left over to do it many times.

By the end of the month, I learned how to cast mana bursts. I am unable to use consistent and burst mana at the same time, but I can use both of them independently. This has also revolutionized the way that I use magic in combat as well.

After training one day I went to the living room to relax. Aquila joined me and I asked about her relationship with Marcus. She had a look of nostalgia. She moved closer to me and then wrapped her arm around my shoulder before talking.

I didn’t want her to be this close to me or touch me. But I’m also not going to push away someone who could kill me at any moment. I know she wouldn’t do that, but I’m still a bit scared of her.

However, that doesn’t mean I don’t think she’s attractive. She has a muscular frame with a smaller chest and a well-developed behind. In her early 20’s. And she has an attractive face. But she has a poor personality too, and she terrifies me. She just isn’t my type; I want an obedient woman who is cute and loyal. Not some muscular, cocky, murderer. As I was thinking this she spoke up.

“I was a child, 15 years ago as the war was near its end. I was kidnapped by some soldiers of the republic. My father, a wealthy merchant pleaded with the soldiers nearby to rescue me. But none of them would accept, the men who kidnapped me were a unit directly under the general who invaded. They thought that attacking and taking me back would be suicidal.”

She spoke while staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. She rubbed my shoulders and kept pulling me closer, as I tried to pull away.

“Then, one man overheard the story. He was a famous soldier and a leader of a unit. After hearing my father’s story, he set out immediately. The only words he said to my father were ‘I will get your daughter back.’”

Eventually, she gets bored of seeing the discomfort on my face and moves back away to drink wine.

“Your father then fought against 7 men alone. At a disadvantage. Just to save some little girl he didn’t know. The fighting was brilliant, he took advantage of every single opening while leaving none of his own. He didn’t say a word to me, he just picked me up on his back and escaped back to friendly territory. If he hadn’t done that to me, I would have been sold off as a slave most likely.”

I can’t really imagine her as one. But that sounds like something that he would do. Would I risk my life for some random kid? Probably not, Cassius would in a heartbeat. But I’m not a good person like he is.

“Thank you for telling me that story,” I responded.

“No problem, I love telling it to people.”

I retired to bed after that interaction. Getting ready for the busy day tomorrow.