“A dwarven mage?”

Strange. Their race had always preferred fighting on the frontlines because they took pride in their incredible strength and robust bodies. But in exchange, they were terrible at magic. For most of their race, they had little to no magical reserves, which resulted in weak magical attacks that could only be used a few times a day. That was why there were virtually no dwarven mages.

Dorian… wasn’t any different. Because of her soft voice, he wasn’t able to hear her invoke the spell’s name. But judging from the shape and quality of the attacks, it must have been a basic “fireball” kind of spell. But unlike most people, hers was very small. Not only that, they traveled notably slower than an average spell.

“I’ll parry one and just dodge the others,” he thought.

Using his wooden sword as a bat, he swatted one fireball away and let the others pass him harmlessly. The loose ones hit the wall behind him. They left small scorch marks on the surface. Besides that, there was no physical damage done to the unprotected stone wall.

As expected, the feedback on his hand was very weak. It felt like hitting a shuttlecock in a badminton game. Even the resulting explosion from it didn’t cause more than a minor heatwave.

Seeing him avoid her attacks, Dorian’s eyes lit up. But she didn’t look upset at all. Instead, she stared at him with a gaze of awe. She then cast the same spells again. That time, Matthias decided to parry them all. The result was as expected. The fireballs were much weaker than before. And Dorian looked quite disoriented after just two rounds of spells.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Dorian nodded and thrust her trembling hands out again.

He decided to let her continue. After seeing her determination, he felt that he had an obligation to face her head-on. Besides, running oneself into exhaustion was one of the many ways to increase their magical reserves. Although the effect was quite minute, regular practice showed amazing results given the time.

But on the third round of casting, Dorian suddenly collapsed onto her knees. The “fireballs” she had conjured were more like candle fire, promptly disappearing into embers when she went down. He immediately ran up to her and caught her body before she fell to the ground.

The audience called out her name in concern. She was showing typical symptoms of an empty magical reserve; the so-called "Mana Depletion". It included unfocused eyes, a weakened body, and an inability to form words. Although, the last one wasn't very obvious considering she normally didn't talk either. When he confirmed that, he calmed down immensely. The state itself isn't dangerous. There was essentially no difference between it and someone who had run laps around the city to the point of collapsing. It's just that, unlike the latter, one can "fix" the condition using those disgusting-looking blue mana potions.

So, he pulled a vial out of his belt bag, removed the cork with his teeth, and slowly poured the contents into her half-open mouth. The sour taste of the liquid caused her expression to tighten, but her undulating throat showed that she was at least drinking it obediently. Immediately, the potion's effects manifested. Matthias felt some of her strength return to her. It was only a bit, but it was enough for her to regain consciousness.

“What a troublesome girl you are,” he couldn’t help but mention. “Why are you trying to be a mage? You dwarves are strong. You should make use of that and be a warrior.”

She must have her circumstances if she was willing to move forward through such a difficult road. However, that did not mean that nobody should point it out to her.

As expected of someone her age, she didn’t take his words well. But instead of lashing out, she simply bit her lips and lowered her head.

Matthias sighed. Out of all the kids there, only Dorian had a favorable first impression of him. He risked losing that by criticizing something that she likely put a great deal of time and effort in. After all, most dwarves can’t even cast a single spell, let alone attempt three. But still, something within him compelled those words out of his mouth.

Sure enough, his words changed something in her.

“Amelia Sturm.”

Those words caught his attention.

She was a legendary mage of the modern era; a quad-element genius who had made her name known by becoming the youngest imperial mage of the Holy Kingdom of Tylbey. Among her many feats, she had slain an A-ranked Swamp Eater alone, fended off a herd of sea serpents with the nation’s navy, and survived an encounter with the Emerald Drake; the elven nation’s guardian deity. No sane person studying magic did not know about her. And on top of all that, she was renowned for her charity, beauty, and wisdom. Her presence alone ensured the prosperity and security of the nation.

– Until her disappearance a year ago.

Nobody knew how, why, or where she went. The last people heard of her was that she went to a border town for a diplomatic visit and religious rites, but after that, it was like she had just vanished out of thin air. And even though the carriage driver and attendants were questioned thoroughly, none of them could give any clues about her whereabouts.

Rumors floated about that she had been kidnapped by some dark order or murdered by a jealous batchmate. There was even speculation that she had simply gotten tired of being shackled by her duties and went off on her own. Regardless, that didn’t change how people perceived her. Her reputation was still excellent, and almost every mage looked up to her. Dorian was not any different. The way she mentioned her name was full of adoration and respect, despite how she simply squeezed out those words in response to his question.

Matthias sighed. If that was the case, then it would be a difficult task to convince her to take the sword. But then, he had another idea.

“Hey, look here.”

He held his hand up and cast a spell silently. The soil beneath their feet rose and gathered at a space slightly above his palm. It was a low-ranked spell called “rock blast” before it was launched.

“I fight with both my sword and magic. I still think you should pick up a weapon, but let’s do it like this; I’ll teach you how to fight with both. That way, when you grow up, even if your talent in magic remains as it is, you can still use it effectively. Deal?”

The way magic-wielding swordsmen like him fought was by using either enchantment spells on their weapons or by adding spells that only needs short chants to their attacks. It would certainly fit Dorian, who could only use a few weak spells at a time. Of course, that would mean that she wouldn’t be as strong as a dedicated swordsman or a mage, but at least she could cover more bases than the former two.

Surprisingly, Dorian quickly agreed. He had thought that he would meet some resistance from her since he was trying to get her to deviate from becoming a pure mage like her heroine, but it seemed like she didn’t mind as long as she could still practice her magic.

Matthias couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Kids are honest; he liked that quality of theirs. Back in his old life, he had to hide a lot of things just to make people less uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the lack of understanding friends that made him so miserable. It made him jealous. Dorian was much more fortunate than him, despite being an orphan.

“It’s a deal then. Now, go back to your friends.”

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She hoisted herself up and wobbled over to Jelyn and the others. As she walked, she turned around and bowed her head slightly.

“Thanks,” was probably what she meant to say. He smiled in return and watched her lay down on the soft grass in exhaustion.

That over, it was finally time for the climax of that hour. The smile on his face spread into a wide grin. He had been waiting for it all day. It might not have been a long time, but it felt like hours to him. And it appeared that the other party had also been waiting.

Without waiting to be called, Gered walked up to the field. The whole time, he maintained intense eye contact with Matthias, as if trying to intimidate him. Meanwhile, the latter maintained his composed, even airy attitude. But that did not mean Matthias had his guard down. He had learned from the siblings that doing so wasn’t such a good idea. It was just that he had to maintain that appearance to pick on the kid.

Quietly, Matthias sized his practice opponent. He had a lean build, with well-toned muscles and a firm stance. Obviously, the kid had been training even before Soleil had picked him up off the streets. But what caught his eye was that, like Dorian, he went forward with no weapon in his hands.

Considering that he was air boxing earlier, the way he fought was plain to see.

“You fight with your hands and feet?”

“Yeah. Got a problem with that?”

“Not really. Now, come at me.”

He raised his sword with his right arm and beckoned Gered with his other. He expected the other party to take his time to analyze his stance. Brawlers were typically constrained by the range of their attacks, so they preferred to use their speed to get within striking distance as fast as they could at an angle where the enemy’s guard was the weakest. That was why he deliberately left an opening on his left side by placing more weight on his right. However, Gered did none of that. Instead, he just pushed off of his dominant leg and came at him head-on!

“What the hell?” Matthias cursed. But it wasn’t because he was in any trouble for misjudging the enemy’s actions. Only the latter part of that was true.

He entertained the idea that it was a trick, just like the time with the siblings. So instead of dodging, Matthias met his attack head-on and parried Gered’s fist directly using his wooden sword.

A dull sound was produced together with a quiet grunt of pain.

“That hurt?”

“Shut up.”

Gered continued to attack him. His punches were fierce, quick, and unrelenting. While those were all commendable traits, they suffered from the fact that all of them were very predictable. In other words, they were all honest attacks. They were all flashy as well, and some of his stronger punches had exaggerated windups.

Just like Soleil’s.

But unlike her, Gered did not have the strength or speed to back it up. Matthias easily parried all of his strikes with minimal effort.

“Step inside his arms!”

“Don’t fight him head-on!”

Ekl and Tisse cheered their friend on. They were good suggestions, which testified to the siblings’ talent. However, Gered completely ignored them and maintained a distance between himself and Matthias, as if he was trying to fight within the distance of a sword strike. The latter shook his head.

Their one-sided exchange continued only for a short while until Gered started showing visible signs of fatigue. By that time, Matthias had gotten bored of their interaction and was simply performing the motions. The way Gered fought disappointed him greatly, which dampened his mood. He had planned on verbally teasing the kid, but decided against it the moment Gered told him to shut up. And although he expected that response, it still annoyed him more than he thought it would.

So instead of copying Soleil’s example of insensitive boasting, Matthias decided to end their little tussle. He had already learned all that he needed to anyway.

He timed his counterattack when Gered launched an uppercut. With a step backward, Matthias placed himself well out of Gered’s range and then swung his sword upward. The tip trailed underneath Gered’s arm, hidden from view. It was only when he felt a bump on his chin did he notice that Matthias’ sword was already resting on his neck.

“Cool moves.”

Gered’s face flushed red. But he didn’t respond to Matthias’ provocation. That was respectable. If only he didn’t make it obvious how much he was struggling to not reply.

“Your moves are the same as Soleil’s. Not gonna lie, it doesn’t fit you.”

Soleil’s fighting style was a manifestation of her philosophy in life and her character. Just like her, the way she fought was honest, reckless, and fair. Even if faced with the long range of a spear, she would keep her distance to fight against the enemy’s weapons head-on. But despite that, she also knew how to fight in a team and never failed to take the situation of others into account. If necessary, she would change her style to suit the battle to achieve victory. That was why it was such a pleasure watching her fight as well as fight alongside her.

“Do you like her or something?”

“I said shut up!”

On the other hand, Gered was dishonest with himself. He clearly admired Soleil greatly, and perhaps even had a crush on her; the blush on his cheeks as Matthias pointed it out indicated some sort of infatuation at the very least. On top of that, he was inconsiderate of his surroundings. It was like he believed in Soleil’s usual way of fighting, unaware that she wasn’t as hard-headed as she made herself seem when in battle. The way he ignored both Ekl and Tisse’s excellent suggestions proved that.

“Why don’t you take up a weapon? A heavy battle axe, and maybe even a shield would suit you better. You can protect your friends with it.”

“I don’t need to listen to you. Teacher Soleil’s stronger!”

Matthias coughed. Well, he was right about that. In terms of pure fighting ability, she far outclassed him in every aspect. Even if he had the assistance of magic spells, it would be near impossible to defend against her speed and power anyway. It was a troublesome point for him since he aimed to be a hero. But he couldn’t stress one thing enough; it was impossible to hate Soleil for it. In fact, he was envious of her. He didn’t know what kind of life she had led, but she had the kind of character that he admired and would have tried to sacrifice a lot to emulate in his past life.

“That’s true,” he laughed. “I can’t even parry one of her blows, and dodging takes too much out of me. How she can bridge the gap in skill with pure power is ridiculous. But even so, I’m far stronger than you.”

The way he stressed each word in his last statement made Gered’s face burn in shame.

He did not know that Matthias was also quite ashamed of himself. They were probably only a few years apart, but he was already able to qualify as a competent fighter for his age. Matthias, on the other hand, had the “cheat” known as a blessing that worked in his favor. It allowed him to grow at an astonishing speed compared to others, and hopefully, it also meant that he had no ceiling for improvement.

“Anyway.” Shaking his head, he continued. “If you want to continue that style, the only thing I can help you with is being a training partner as someone who uses weapons. As for your skills, you should learn augmentation magic from Soleil.”

He didn’t have much to teach him about improving his movements. So, he dumped the responsibility on the original owner.

“That was my plan all along. I don’t need you to tell me anything.”

“Why did you try to fight me then?”

Gered’s face went red again. Did he want to show off? Or perhaps…

“Wait, what were you trying to prove? Did you think you could–?”

“Shut up!”

The child with the beet-red face stomped away without being dismissed. Matthias smiled, amused.

“Well, he is at that age already.”

Even though Matthias decided to register as an adventurer at the age of eighteen, the guild actually accepted people of all ages as long as they could prove themselves at least on paper. He had even heard of children as young as ten years old becoming adventurers, such as a certain tamer who could dominate slimes.

“But you can’t have Soleil.”

She had already become a very important member of his team.

----------------------------------------

It was already almost sunset by the time Matthias received Manna by the lawn. He had spent the last several hours training the three kids in a way he thought was appropriate. Manna didn’t look tired, but she did appear quite troubled. The reason was likely the group of people that followed her from behind.

“Yo, kid,” Nail greeted him casually. He had brought his entire party with him, including Mie who looked quite gloomy.

That wasn’t good. He could only think of one reason for a high-ranking party to come to that place after what had happened. And sure enough, Nail’s next words confirmed it.

“Sorry. We’re here to bring you back. The guild denied your request to stay.”