Lark played with the pebble-sized magic stone he held in his hand. Aside from the, almost inconspicuous, silver dust flowing inside, the stone looked ordinary, like the rocks on cobbled roads.

Twenty gold coins. The price of this low-grade magic stone was ridiculously high. Although the treasury was close to drying up, Lark decided to buy this stone to accelerate the growth of his mana pool. He’d decided this after learning of the competition for the throne from the assassin.

If people were going to come for his life, he might as well increase his training. He needed to expand his mana pool, at least to a small percentage of that of his previous life.

According to the merchant when he bought the stone, the method of using magic stones in this world was different. The users do not swallow the stones. Rather, they pulverize them and use them to form magic circles. By performing incantations, they absorb the essence flowing out of it. That method was viable, but to Lark, it would be a waste of such precious resource. Swallowing a magic stone carried the risk of magic overdrive, which could potentially kill the user. According to the merchant, the cases of magic overdrive after swallowing magic stones were so high that it had become taboo to even attempt it.

Lark locked his door, sat cross-legged on the ground, and swallowed the magic stone.

Lark could feel the magic stone disintegrating inside his body. Although the grade of this stone was low, the magic essence contained within was still big for his current shell. After all, his new body had the mana pool of an average individual.

He closed his eyes and breathed slowly. Using his own mana, he suppressed the magic essence from flowing haphazardly in random directions.

Suppress it. Condense it. Make it all flow to the five cardinal points. This was the basic teaching in the Magic Empire.

Although the method used in this world was feasible, the absorption rate was really low. The essence absorbed by the user would only be a small portion of what was really contained in the mana stone.

This thing’s worth twenty gold coins. Might as well consume everything, till the last drop.

After several hours, Lark finally finished absorbing the essence from the mana stone. It was gradual, but he could already feel his mana pool had expanded.

He looked out the window. It was already noon.

“Time for body training.” After stretching, Lark took a couple of body weights he had crafted and wrapped them around his abdomen, wrists, and feet.

Although magic would determine the outcome of every battle, Lark firmly believed in training the physical body. A strong body would be able to endure fiercer rebounds from using large amounts of mana, enabling the caster to perform consecutive spells without worrying about the aftereffects.

“Going out again to train?” said Gaston, seeing the young master at the hall.

Lark nodded. “I’m going to check the mines while I’m at it.”

“Then, please take this with you, Young Master.” The butler handed him a packed lunch wrapped in cloth. “Roasted boar meat and dried fish.”

Lark smiled. This had been the routine ever since he started his body training. “Thank you.”

After leaving the mansion, Lark started jogging to the eastern part of the Endless Forest, the area the mine was located.

Along the way, the locals greeted him. “Ah, good morning, Young Master!”

“Young Lord! The wheat porridge last night was really great!”

“It’s the young master!”

Lark had been popular lately, a stark contrast to his reputation several months ago. He could feel that, slowly, the citizens were accepting him as their lord.

As expected of the umami salt. It made even the commoners wheat delicious.

Last night, he asked the chefs to add some umami salt to the free porridge given to the locals. This instantly created an uproar after the citizens tasted the new food. There were several remarks of how they’d never tasted something so delicious before.

Wait. They’re not going to expect the free porridge to be that delicious every time, right?

Umami salt was a limited resource right now, since there weren’t many Loi plants to produce them.

I’ll just tell Gaston to announce that was a one-time thing only. They will have to make do with the commoner’s wheat until the harvest.

Once harvest season came, the town’s food supply would reach a surplus. He was sure of it. Lark even planned on exporting wheat to other cities.

As Lark was passing through the eastern border, a man with gold hair stood right in the middle of the road, stopping Lark in his tracks.

“Anandra.” Lark recalled the name of the man in front of him. His bandages were gone, and his skin glowed as though the injuries from the basilisk had never happened. He had been healed, fed, and clothed.

Anandra bowed his head. “I hope you’ll forgive my insolence. But if this is a good time, can you test my skills now?” Anandra peeked at him. “The butler told me that you wish for me to train the soldiers. There’s no job more fitting than that for me. Furthermore, my master will be you, our village’s savior.”

This was one of the things he liked the most about the people of Gahelpa Village. These men valued honor above all.

The other villagers living in the eastern border looked at them curiously. They could probably guess what the conversation was about.

“Some of my fellow villagers have already found jobs here. I can’t live on their hospitality forever,” said Anandra.

Lark sighed, then smiled. “If you’re that eager, come over here.”

He led Anandra to a place with a large clearing. A few weeks from now, houses would be built in this area. Several curious locals and villagers from Gahelpa followed.

“The rules are simple,” said Lark. “Come at me with everything you have. Show me the extent of your skills.”

Anandra seemed a bit hesitant at first—he didn’t want to hurt his master—but he nodded eventually. “Then, allow me to use a weapon.” He unsheathed his short sword.

“Hey, Anandra!” shouted one of the villagers. “Why are you using a weapon against the unarmed young master?”

Lark waved a hand. “It’s fine. I told him to come at me with everything he’s got. This is natural.”

The onlookers weren’t happy. The locals, especially, were looking at Anandra with a hint of contempt. These villagers had taken some of the houses, and now, he was going to use weapons against the unarmed young master. They secretly hoped the noble would beat the man to a pulp.

“Young Master?” said Anandra.

“What is it?”

“Please remove those things before we start.”

Lark was amused. This was the first time someone noticed that he was wearing weights as he ran around the town. He had made sure to craft them in a way that would make them inconspicuous. They wrapped around his wrists and legs and looked like thick garments.

Lark removed the weights and threw them to the ground, creating loud thuds in the dirt.

“Come at me any time,” said Lark. He was excited to see the skills of the man who drove away the basilisk.

“Then, forgive me.” Anandra leaned forward, stomped a foot on the ground, and shot his body forward.

Lark frowned. Although his opponent was fast, there was no killing intent behind the lunge. It seemed Anandra was trying his best not to hurt him.

Lark amplified his strength using magic. With swift reflexes, he dodged Anandra’s slash, then quickly retaliated with a fist to his abdomen. Anandra blocked the strike using his left hand. Lark quickly followed up with a kick to the face, which was easily dodged by the warrior leaping backward.

With that simple exchange, they could both gauge the strength and skill of their opponent.

“You’ve realized, right?” said Lark. “You won’t win if you’re not going to come at me with the intent of taking my life.”

“But you said that you’re merely testing my skills.” He was still hesitating. “There’s no need to go that far.”

“What a pain,” spat Lark. “Let’s change the rules. If you’re unable to land a single attack on me, I’ll find someone else for the job.”

It was a gamble, but Lark knew that Anandra would take it. He valued honor above all. He wouldn’t let himself slack off while his fellow villagers worked.

“If you’re not going to come,” Lark pointed a finger at him, “then I will.”

Lightning from his fingertips shot toward Anandra. The warrior ran swiftly to the side, while Lark fired lightning strikes one after another. This was an inefficient use of his mana, but Lark knew he needed to attack forcefully to make Anandra take him seriously.

Lark flicked a finger and vines sprouted out of the ground, wrapping around and ensnaring Anandra’s legs. With quick reflexes, the warrior cut the vines off one after another. Lark used this opening. He disappeared, then reappeared right in front of Anandra. He amplified his strength with magic, then struck the warrior’s abdomen. Anandra’s pupils dilated with pain; he flinched, then swung his sword back in retaliation.

Lark sidestepped and dodged the strike. He clenched his fists again and struck his face this time. Anandra’s head turned the opposite direction, his body following a split second after. His body flew and struck the ground, bouncing several times before knocking over a pile of logs.

Clouds of dust flew as splintered wood scattered about.

The onlookers watched the fight with wide eyes, their jaws slack in wonder. Although they’d heard from the villagers of Gahelpa that the young master was strong, they did not expect him to be this strong.

“Is that it?” Lark was not amused. He did not expect Anandra to be this weak. “I might as well train the soldiers myself if you’re like this.”

He meant it.

Anandra slowly stood up and dusted off his clothes. He spat the blood that clung inside his mouth. The previously docile eyes of the warrior had turned predatory. He finally realized that even at his full strength, there was no assurance of victory against the young master.

“What’s so funny?” said Lark.

“Ah, I didn’t realize that I was chuckling. Forgive me.” Anandra bowed his head. “It’s just the thought that I’ll be serving the young master from now on gives me great joy. I didn’t know you were this strong.”

“Enough with the pleasantries.”

“Of course.”

Without warning, Anandra shot at the noble. His speed this time incredible, incomparable to earlier attempts. Without time to dodge, Lark took the blow with his hands. He covered his fists with a thin layer of mana shield and blocked the sword strike.

Anandra seemed to have expected this. After his attack was repelled, he followed quickly with several more strikes. The two figures blurred as they exchanged blow after blow.

There’s something wrong here.

Lark realized that although he was blocking the strikes using a thin shield of mana, the layer had no signs of breaking. Constantly supplying a small amount of mana into it was enough to maintain it.

It could mean only one thing: There was not enough strength behind Anandra’s strikes. He was fast, though.

Was this a bluff? Was this warrior trying to catch him off guard? As Lark blocked the attacks one after another, he realized the truth. The warrior doesn’t know how to use mana.

This was the conclusion he came to after the numerous exchanges. It was no bluff. Simply the extent of the man’s prowess.

The ability to amplify his speed using mana was probably something Anandra learned from hunting in the forest, or maybe it was innate talent. But, the proper use of mana was unknown to the warrior.

It was time to end this.

He grabbed the sword barehanded, a feat that made Anandra freeze in panic. Lightning flowed down the blade, through the sword and into the warrior. Lark followed up with a fist to the abdomen, chest, and face.

Once again, Anandra’s body flew and bounced off the ground.

The warrior could do no better. Even if Anandra had enough speed to confront the basilisk, his attacks simply did not have the skill to pierce through its thick armor.

Anandra coughed up blood and stood.

“You passed,” said Lark.

Anandra stared at him for a moment, then a relieved smile surfaced on his face. “I’m glad,” he mumbled. Some of his old wounds started opening up after those blows. His body ached all over.

“Hey,” said Lark. “Who taught you how to use mana?”

Anandra was puzzled. “Mana? I’m no magician, Young Master.”

Lark had been right; this man was simply talented. He had no idea that he was using mana to boost his agility.

If he was this strong without proper guidance, then how strong could he be if Lark were to train him? It wouldn’t be bad for the future commander of his army to become proficient in body-strengthening magic.

“What weapons are you able to use?” said Lark.

Anandra replied, “Any. Bows, swords, spears, axes. They’re all basically the same.” A reply befitting a genius.

If I take this guy under my wing and teach him magic, would that count him among my disciples?

He realized that it wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

Lark smiled. “From now on, I want you to train the soldiers. Payment’s one gold and fifteen silvers a month. You’ll receive a raise depending on your performance.”

Anandra was stunned. The payment was an absurd amount.

“What? You don’t like it?” Lark chuckled.

“No,” stuttered Anandra. “I do!”

“Then, let’s not waste time. I originally planned on visiting the mines, but that will have to wait.” Lark’s eyes glimmered. “I’ll introduce you to the soldiers of Blackstone Town.”