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Rise of Tyrus
Chapter 134- Monotone Training

Chapter 134- Monotone Training

Progress was made that day, thanks to the clear visual of the mana tree, even if it was slight.

Through the fourth branch, a sliver of light slithered forward, the tiniest advancement that could easily be mistaken for a figment of the imagination. Nevertheless, progress was progress, no matter how small it looked at the moment.

"Oh, there you are, Tyrus," said a voice.

Tyrus stopped in the middle of a corridor, turning to see Fiona walking up to him.

"I've been looking for you this entire time. You weren't at the library, so I asked around and no one had seen you," she explained. "It's almost dinnertime. We should get ready. Do you know the way to the—"

Fiona stopped and peered closely at Tyrus's face. "You're sweating. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be sweating in this cold..."

"Just to be sure," Tyrus began. "Are there any places that I'm not supposed to be in?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Other than Aunt Selena's bedroom and office, you're welcome anywhere. What's the matter?"

"I was practicing my magic in a room with a training dummy. After I was finished, the realization hit me it was probably somewhere I'm not supposed to be in without permission."

Fiona chuckled. "You mean the practice room? Anyone's welcome to use it. In fact, I was in there yesterday afternoon. I'm sure you noticed the scorch marks left by my fire magic? If permission is what worries you, then I'll be the first to let you know that you're more than welcome to use the practice room."

That's a relief, Tyrus thought. Now he didn't have to worry about accessing the practice room whenever he wanted. If he was forbidden from using it for whatever reason, then he'd have to fall onto his next plan of action: training in the freezing cold.

"Before you eat, you need a bath," she said. "I'll tell the servants to prepare one for you."

Tyrus shook his head. "No, no, that's fine. I should do it myself. Turning the water on isn't that difficult to do. It works the same as the one in the imperial palace."

"If you say so. Just a heads up, there's a meeting tomorrow afternoon. Reo and Grant will be coming over and we'll convene over in the dining area to discuss the future of Blue Dawn."

"The future? What do you mean?" Tyrus asked.

Fiona gave him a wink. "I don't want to spoil the surprise, so you'll find out tomorrow."

Before Tyrus could get another word out, Fiona shuffled away and disappeared around a corner. He sighed, a puff of vapor forming.

"What was that all about?"

***

The next day arrived, and Tyrus made sure to arrive to the practice room much earlier. It was still quite early in the morning, and the sun had yet to peek over the horizon.

Tyrus, in a sitting position, watched a pinprick of a flame appear above his index finger. For an agonizing amount of time, he tapped a finger along his leg, feeling his mana drain at a slow pace.

Since fire magic was his weakest, it was less of a burden on his mana heart than lightning. As a result, it took triple the amount of time to reach the halfway point. Like a bucket of water with a hole the size of his finger, the amount he drained was so small that he had to sit and wait.

Furthermore, no matter how much mana he pushed into the flame, it would only grow to the size of a torch flame, as if the fire was sucking on his mana greedily, only allowing the tiniest amount for growth. It was an odd sight, considering that for his lightning, it showed the opposite results. Did that mean the nature of the magic itself was what made the difference? Or was it because lightning was his primary affinity and not fire?

"Well, it should be fine. Lightning is a subcategory of fire, so there's some connection between the two," Tyrus thought out loud. "I just need to train it enough for it to do more than to be used for lightning campfires. Elder Treant said that it would require less training than the other elements."

After he reached the halfway point, Tyrus extinguished the flame, allowing his mana heart to recover. Then, he practiced the same monotone method to the point where his butt was sore, his legs asleep. Sometimes, his head would dip, and he'd jerk awake, realizing that he was close to falling asleep. A good smack to the face usually woke him up for a good hour.

Tyrus pondered whether it would be more beneficial to train in other elements, like light, alongside fire. However, he dismissed the idea and shook his head. He had already made up his mind to focus on one element each day instead of multiple. He believed that training one element per day would lead to faster growth and mastery, whereas training multiple elements would significantly slow down progress.

Or at least, that's what he assumed. The thought of falling behind on the other elements seemed like a nightmare. What was the point of unlocking additional elements and never bothering to use, let alone train them? It was like being given a knife, spoon, and a fork, yet only ever using a knife to eat with. Sure you'd waste some time training elements that wasn't a primary affinity, but it would make a huge difference when a fight arises.

Take the fight against the earth spirit as an example. If it weren't for the dark element, he and the rest would have surely perished under the relentless onslaught of the spirit's attacks. All Reo and Grant would have encountered upon arrival was a raging spirit and lifeless, mutilated bodies. Perhaps with augmentation, they could have overcome its defenses more easily, but by then the damage would have been irreparable. It would be wiser to have a range of options rather than relying solely on one.

After some contemplating, Tyrus checked the condition of his mana heart and extinguished the flame. Letting out a groan, he stood up and massaged his sore buttocks, stretching his body as he made his way towards the door. Stepping outside, he cast a glance at the sky, assessing the sun's position.

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"It's almost midday. I should head to the dining area now after I take a bath."

Tyrus shut the door of the practice room and proceeded through the halls, slowly regaining his mana heart with deep breaths.

***

"Hey, are you not forgetting to say something?"

Tyrus looked up from a bowl of steaming stew and stared from across the table. At the head seat was Igneal, a scowl plastered on his face as he repeatedly drummed a finger against the tabletop. Sir Wayne stood firmly near the front entrance, arms wrapped around the back, eyes closed as if he were sleeping.

"I don't think so," Tyrus said. He lodged a spoon full of liquid and meat into his mouth and chewed. A burst of flavor exploded, and he had to stop himself from wolfing down the rest of the food.

Igneal clicked his tongue. "You've neglected to inform me that there was a practice room in this manor! Here I was, bored in my room with nothing to do but practice my fire magic, yet you're off having fun on your own."

"Oh, I thought you already knew it existed and did not want to enter," Tyrus lied, taking another spoonful. "You're welcome to join me. It's not like I own the room or anything."

"What do you do in there?"

"Practice my magic. I set aside a day for one element and train it repeatedly until I'm satisfied with the results. There's a training dummy in the practice room that determines how strong your spells are if you're interested."

Igneal's eyes widened slightly. "Aunt Selena has a power reflector? This is news to me. Very well then. I will join you, since you so desperately require my presence."

Tyrus groaned at Igneal's smugness and continued eating. He was already regretting the offer, but if Igneal was going to help him with his goal, then he'd rather accept the noble's company. And besides, there was a chance that they might learn from each other's training methods, so the more, the merrier.

I wonder if Igneal will let me practice Thunder Stun and Lightning Snare on him.

After some time, the dining room door swung open, and a group of people came striding in. Tyrus looked up from his meal to see Fiona, Reo, and Grant filing inside—each one wearing fur-lined coats—followed by a few servants pushing a trolley of even more delectable food. He was about to greet them until someone else with golden hair poked their head inside.

"Ivy? What are you doing here?" Tyrus asked.

Ivy's face lit up with excitement as she quickly made her way over to Tyrus. "Tyrus! It feels like ages since we last saw each other! I heard from Teacher Selena that you aced her exam. I always knew it would be a breeze for someone like you."

Tyrus, a little surprised, nodded. “Yeah, just barely. What about you? It’s been a while.”

“I’ve been busy,” she said, adjusting her glasses as they slipped down her nose. “My mother has me studying nonstop for the entrance exams, but I heard all about you. I knew you'd pass!” She stopped just short of him, taking the seat next to him. "Tell me everything! How was the exam? Was it scary? Did you fight any beasts?"

"A swarm of them, yeah. It was rough, a lot harder than I expected. There were even times I thought I would die, yet here I am. Either way, I’m just glad it’s over."

Fiona snapped her fingers, grabbing everyone's attention. "Alright, that's enough. You two can continue catching up afterward. Right now we have important business to talk about and the future of Blue Dawn. Rosht, Eshlain, you two are free to leave."

The servants who entered with the trolleys bowed and rushed out the door in no time. Grant and Reo greeted Tyrus as they took their seats at the table. With Fiona being the last to sit down, every chair was now filled. All eyes were on her, awaiting her next move.

Clearing her throat, she announced, "Now that everything is settled, I'm excited to share that in just two months of establishing Blue Dawn, we have been granted the privilege of moving up from copper to bronze ranking!"

Grant smiled. "That is great news to hear, Fiona. We have only been explorers for a few months, yet a promotion has swiftly landed on our laps."

"And it's all thanks to two specific contracts that catapulted us toward the threshold," she added.

Reo snorted. "Through the trouble we went through underground and that investigation contract, we should be silver-ranked instead. I don't see any other bronze group fighting Scourge or an earth spirit and making it out alive. At this point, we might as well be considered experienced explorers."

"I understand your sentiment, Reo, and I think we deserve more," Fiona agreed. "Alas, beggars can't be choosers. To reach the bronze rank, a party would have to complete eight low-ranked contracts, four medium-ranked, or one high-ranked—whichever comes first. Blue Dawn has only completed five contracts thus far, three of them being low-ranked. The extermination back in the Wasteful Wetlands was upgraded to medium-ranked because of unforeseen developments. But for the sewer, it was upgraded to high-ranked instead."

"Because of Scourge and the earth spirit," Grant finished.

Fiona nodded. "Correct. Obviously, no copper should complete contracts way out of their league. Knowing our predicament, it was only right that Celeste assessed our situation and gave us a more suitable upgrade. Because of the appearance of those two anomalies, we've reached the threshold of bronze."

"So we completed those low-ranked contracts for nothing," Reo said. "How very fortunate for us..."

"Don't start getting all gloomy on us, Reo. This is a cause for celebration! Think of it this way: Us five together have the firepower of a silver-ranked party, yet we're just now reaching bronze. At this rate, we might reach the next rank in half the time it took to reach copper! The sky is the limit. Our group has the potential to become a silver-rank party before half of next year begins."

"You're getting way ahead of yourself," Reo said. "Did you forget? Once winter ends, we'll be heading back to the institute for the new academy year, which means less time as explorers. We've only gotten this far because we used our vacation as an opportunity to take up contracts. That will change once the year starts again."

Fiona's shoulders slumped. "Oh, right... That slipped my mind. Our time together would drastically decrease. The only time we'll be able to complete contracts is three days of a new week, so after four days of academy schooling. But that'll mean less time spent studying or attending workshops..."

"I am sure we will be fine," Grant said. "As long as we do not slack, then it is possible. Also, it's not like we'll be doing contracts every week. A safe balance between being a student and explorer is all that matters."

"You sound like my dad," Reo mumbled. He turned to Tyrus and inspected him up and down. "What have you been up to this whole time? It's slight, but there's something different about you. Isn't that right, Grant?"

The big man nodded. "Your posture is straighter. More confident, and a certain gleam is in your eyes."

"I've been sparring with the sword for around twenty days," Tyrus replied, his ears flickering. "Igneal and Sir Wayne have helped me a lot in correcting my posture and combat techniques."

Reo's gaze shifted from Igneal to the knight near the entrance. "That must've been quite the experience. At least you aren't sitting around doing nothing. You'll need all the preparation you can get for next year."

Tyrus tilted his head to the side. "Next year? Why next year?"

"What? You're doing all of this for the Valis Academy of Sorcery entrance exams, right? They begin just as the snow begins to melt, so you have around sixty days."

I forgot all about that, Tyrus thought. He was so preoccupied with other matters that the academy was the furthest thing from his mind. The entrance exams were nearing, and he had no idea how to prepare. He'd love to attend the academies if it meant learning more about the world and himself. It was possible that the books he was looking for, which were not in the manor's library, could be located there.

Following a moment of silence, Tyrus rose to his feet. "Okay, what do I need to know about the entrance exams?"