We ended up heading to my room to practice. While there are magically enhanced training rooms we could use, neither I nor Samuel currently know where they are. Besides, I can practice my spells pretty much anywhere, so our chosen location doesn’t really matter.
Once there, I kept alternating my training. A few hours later, I could finally cast the new mana vein spell without its tome.
“Congratulations. With this, you are one step closer to your goal.”
“Thank you.” I accept, though my heart isn’t really in it. It’s a massive improvement, but only a bandage for my problem. One that sadly won’t last long.
“Don’t worry. As long as you keep working as hard as you are currently, I am certain that you will soon master the peak spell. With the rest following not long after.” He praises, noticing my dour mood.
“Thank you.” I accept, a little less worried than I was before. “So, are we starting on the peak spell now?”
“Hmm, I guess we should. While I would normally suggest you take a well-deserved break, I doubt you would actually be able to relax.” He agrees with a sigh.
“Right, I don’t want to be ripped apart by my mana after all!” Speaking of, did the Hero know about this? Why didn’t he tell me!? I could have been so much better prepared… Well, I guess my veins wouldn’t have been that much stronger. But I could have at least learned these spells first! Haa, whatever, let’s just add that to the pile of things I need to confront the Hero about. Just you wait, Hero!
“So,” Samuel starts, interrupting my internal complaints. “I’m fairly certain that by now, you've noticed the oddities that make up mana vein spells.”
“Yeah. Several parts of the spell are from the summoning branch of magic.”
“Correct, that explains why you were able to learn so fast. Though if you knew that, why didn’t you mention it?”
“Well, you were already going to be teaching me while probably doing a better job than my self-teaching attempt, so I didn’t want whatever knowledge I had to get in the way.”
“You have a point.” He reluctantly agreed. “Then what do you know about the peak spells?”
“That they contain parts from martial training methods.”
“Yes. How did you figure that out?”
“Melly told me.”
“She did? Does that mean, you showed her your spell books?”
“Yes,” I confirm. “As well as Greg and Hansen,” I add.
“Why? Those tomes are restricted. You shouldn’t be showing them to outsiders.” I give him an ‘oh really’ look.
“Ignoring that, their assistance is part of why I could advance as fast as I did. Besides, should such information be useful, sharing it with them would be more than justified.” I firmly declare.
“Did it help them?”
“I don’t know, probably not.” I shrug.
“Then why are you so confident that you were justified?”
“First,” I hold up a one. “Cardinal Caitlyn gave me permission.”
“What? Why would she?”
“Second,” I ignored him, holding up a two. “I let them.”
“Well…”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Thirdly,” I held up a three. “We have a demon lord to kill. One that the Gods deemed a big enough threat to even summon a hero. So, as long as we don’t cause any major, long-term problems, pulling every stop is justified.”
“Haa, you’re right. Apologies, I let my old biases get in the way.” The third one got him. Cardinal Caitlyn was right; he is primarily loyal to the Gods. He was still going to argue with me after the first two.
“It’s fine. Besides, I’m the one with the books, so they wouldn’t even be able to cause any real problems anyway. Not that I think it matters, as I’m certain that the higher-ups of various groups probably already know about such spells; it’s not really possible to keep them a secret after all. Especially with how old these spells are.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I mean, you don’t even need to leak a secret for it to spread. You could just be asking for advice from your senior with a kid happening to overhear you. And from there, it is all but guaranteed to spread. At least, if the kid finds the info interesting enough to talk about.” I say as an example.
“Haa, you are correct; various things have spread. I did not, however, realize that easily secrets could spread.”
“Yeah, most people underestimate kids. Until their secrets spread throughout the city, of course.” I smiled. I’ve seen that happen multiple times.
“Hmm, I shall keep that in mind.” He nodded. “So, peak spells contain modified pieces of martial training techniques. That’s why they can increase your limit. Do you know why that is the case?”
“No, I don’t. I, surprisingly, never even thought about that.” I say in surprise.
“I see; do you wish to try to figure out the reason?”
“Not particularly,” I admit.
“Why not? I thought you were quite curious, always desiring to learn more. Was I wrong?” He questions in shock
“I am. I just prefer looking up answers to trying to figure it out myself.”
“I… see. That is quite different from how I tend to teach.”
“I’ve noticed. While I do like to learn more, if I have the option, I’d usually prefer to be just given the answer. I view experimenting and the like as more of a necessary process than something to strive to do.”
“So you dislike actively trying to find answers?” He questions.
“No, it’s just that while I’m fine with experimenting, and it can even be quite fun to do at times, it’s always been attaining knowledge that motivated me.”
“Hmm, I understand, though I do believe it is best to learn how to figure things out over just being given the answer. So, why don’t you at least try to guess the answer? At least when I specifically ask you to. That way, I can always correct your ‘blind assumptions,’ right?” He ‘offers.’
“Haa, fine.” I relent. He does have a point, but… whatever, let’s just do as he says for now. A bit of annoyance at how he teaches is well worth the knowledge and help he is giving me. So. “Um, all I can think of is that it works similarly to how casting mana vein spells on others change their veins. So, does it give you unnatural veins that don’t naturally fit your physique?”
“Not quite,” I told you. “While it does change your veins, it is not relative to your body.”
“Not relative to my body?”
“Yes. As you know, when you use your muscles to the point of damage, they are repaired stronger than before. The same thing happens to mana veins; our spells only quicken that process.”
“Yeah.” However, our primary limit is actually straining your veins. Unless you are me, whose mana is overpowering my veins, it usually takes a tremendous effort to strain them at all. The main benefit, however, is that the spells repair your veins more comprehensively. So, one day of training is equivalent to, like, ten or something. It’s frankly quite ridiculous. I was surprised that I’d never noticed, until I found out that said information was in a different book! I’m not the idiot this time! Mostly.
“Do you also know that there are wrong ways to train?”
“...Yeah? Overworking and the like is counterproductive.” That’s common knowledge.
“That too, but I was referring to how some people with the same build can have different levels of strength. That is because of how the muscles repair themselves. I‘m mentioning this because that’s another flaw of the human body. It doesn’t grow as effectively as it could when left to its own devices. As such, the peak spells change the how of your mana vein recovery.” He explained.
“It changes how your veins heal?” I questioned in interest.
“Yes, it causes your veins to heal more effectively than your body ever could naturally. That is why it uses a martial training technique; said techniques get your body to repair itself in a different, but far more effective, way.”
“I see, that’s why that was there. In that case, why don’t we hear more about powerful martials?” I ask.
“That’s because, despite having higher limits, they lack the means to recover their veins efficiently. And, of course, everyone lacks efficient ways to really push their veins to the point of damaging them.” He says, giving me a look.
“Yeah yeah… Sadly my way is so good, it might end up crippling me.” I sigh.
“Don’t worry, we won’t let that happen.” He assures.
I hope so.