The Dark Efl opened her eyes in surprise, "You don't know? I thought this was common knowledge."

She shook her head while saying, "You are too young, your mind is not strong enough to sustain the burden of casting magic for a long time or many spells in quick succession. It's normal!"

"Normal?" Gerald frowned. "Then how many spells do you think I should be able to cast at my age?"

"Hmm," Xilia placed a finger on her lips, thinking. "Based on your age, maybe between five and ten middle-ranked spells? I know you are quite talented so I'm guessing you are more on the high end… Maybe eleven?"

"Eleven?" Gerald gasped. "Guess again! How about three times that?"

"No way, thirty? You can do that?!" Xilia had a flabbergasted expression on her face.

Nodding his head, Gerald willingly admitted to it, "And it's not just that! A few months ago I was barely able to do fifteen low-ranked spells. That's why I need your help to figure out what's going on!"

"This…" Xilia furrowed her brows, "As far as I know, you humans mature slower in the terms of magic… My uncle told me that real Mages, the elites of your race, usually become strongest at around fifty to sixty years old. That's when they are capable of casting their strongest spells."

"Oh, yeah? Then are Elves any different?"

"Of course! My uncle told me that most Dark Elves that focus on magic, are capable of casting elite-grade spells from forty years onward. Only in their later years, around the age of one hundred and twenty, does that ability start to decline!" Xilia stated proudly.

Gerald opened his eyes wide, "They are at the peak for almost eighty years?!"

"Peak?" Xilia gave him a compassionate gaze, "It might be the peak for humanity, but not for Elves! Most talented among Dark Elves can singlehandedly cast those amazing legendary-grade spells!"

Her face was beaming with pride as she spoke of the achievements of her race as if she was the one who did it.

'There it is! That pride Elves are rumored to have…' Gerald became slightly annoyed by the aura of superiority that Xilia was currently giving off.

"So, how do you compare? Do you think you can achieve that height too?" he asked gleefully.

"Hmph!" Xilia's countenance darkened and she averted her gaze, unwilling to look him in the eyes as she mouthed a quiet "…No."

Seeing his words achieved the desired result, corners of Gerald's lips lightly curled upward in satisfaction. Teasing girls was fun, but there was a deeper meaning to it. That was, keeping his allies anchored in reality.

It was fine to be slightly proud of your own achievements, but taking great pride in someone else's… It was unwise.

"Hey, guys! Wanna join me in some combat training outside?"

A call disrupted his thoughts as Sera came towards them with a bow in hand. It immediately attracted Gerald's attention as he has never seen her use a bow before. She usually fought by throwing knives.

"Finally decided to learn a new weapon?"

"That's right! I decided on a bow since I'm already used to fighting at a distance," she replied cheerfully. Ever since the last incident, she realized how useless she was, so she decided to learn different weapons to be able to make greater contributions in fights.

"That's great and all… But I think you should learn a close-quarter combat style first. At least some sword basics so you can defend yourself in a pinch."

Stating his opinion, Gerald gave her a few examples, "Most beasts will try to close the distance as fast as possible after they discover you, and overpower you in raw physical strength. Among dense cover that a forest provides, a bow isn't such a great idea."

"Of course, as an ambush weapon, a bow is perfect, but unless you are extremely experienced, after the first or second shot, your position will be revealed. As such, why don't you learn from Xilia here? She can teach you a few tricks with a sword!"

"What? Me?" Xilia pointed at herself in bewilderment. "I have never shared my sword skills with anyone before, and I'm not a good teacher!" She quickly tried to remove herself from responsibility.

"Oh, it's going to be fine!" Gerald pushed her toward Sera who was still unable to comprehend how the situation changed so quickly. From happily learning to shoot a bow, to being forced to learn swordsmanship…

"But, what if I don't want to learn to use the sword?" she quietly asked.

"Nonsense!" Gerald waved his hand in dismissal, "It's always better to learn too much rather than too little! It's going to be fun, you'll see."

"But…" Sera.

"I refuse! I need to help my sister study, and she is waiting for me!" Xilia aggressively protested.

"Hmm, I guess you are right…" Gerald had to admit that he promised Qiona to return her sister after a few minutes.

"So, before I forget… Age is the only factor in increasing the ability to cast stronger spells? It has nothing to do with Mana capacity or training?"

"That's correct!" Xilia nodded, "But why would you ask-"

Gerald stroked his lower jaw, "Okay then! You can return now. I'll get Sebas to buy some equipment so you can start training swordsmanship tomorrow." After these words he left with quick steps, leaving the two girls behind.

"Hey!" Xilia.

"I…" Sera.

They looked at each other and sighed simultaneously.

"He is right, you know? Not knowing swordsmanship at your age is quite unusual…" Xilia commented after a while.

"Not you too!" Sera felt like crying, she thought she had an ally but was instead betrayed so quickly. She suddenly lost interest in shooting the bow and went back inside with drooping shoulders.

***

Going back to his room, Gerald's brows furrowed together. "Age… It's understandable to become stronger with age as you gather more knowledge and experience, but to think that has nothing to do with being able to cast stronger magic?"

Closing his eyes and immersing himself in his memories, he went over the experiences from the last two months.

His mind traveled back to the time when he used his first and also the most important spell. It was the one that made him capable of understanding speech and writing, or in some extreme cases, the intent behind unfamiliar words.

At that time he fainted. Although, he wasn't sure if it was because the spell was too strong, or the fact that it somehow messed up with his mind.

"I can consider that the starting point of my journey…" Gerald murmured.

The next time he experienced painful headaches after using magic, was when he fought the Hobgoblin. Having fought for his life, he had to preserve even though his head felt like it was going to explode. Most likely, he was on the edge of fainting at that time.

"Luckily I won just in time…"

Thinking deeper about it, it almost seemed like he grew stronger, and his connection with magic was enhanced after every fight.

"But this doesn't make any sense! Growing stronger after a fight is not something that happens in reality… Learning a few new moves, or discovering your own shortcomings is of course possible, but enhancing your mind? Ridiculous!"

Thinking back to the time when he consumed all those Mana Elixirs and his Mana stores expanded, his ability to cast spells was not enhanced. After making a giant flame with magic, he felt light-headed and tired before even expending his reserves completely.

But now, when he had more than double the amount of Mana, he could use it all and he would feel only slightly uncomfortable.

"I didn't even do anything that could possibly help me! I even went on a killing spree in the wild in search of blood, and then I even massacred hundreds of small spiders…"

Having thought about it deeply, Gerald was still unable to find the reason for his fast advancements. Apart from plentiful fighting and blood-spilling, there wasn't anything of significance that happened during that period.

"Oh, wait a second… Killing, massacre, death? That- That can't possibly be it, right? Is my mind growing stronger with killing?!" His eyebrows suddenly shot up, his eyes opened wide.