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As soon as I returned to the training grounds, I immediately started running up the mountain. The humiliation of being toyed with by that fatso fueled my determination, pushing me to run even harder.

*Thud, thud, thud*

“Gasp, gasp. I’m dying!”

“Please, just slow down a bit!”

“Shut up!”

If Pelleer had seen this scene, he probably would have said:

— Crazy Mage Commander, you need to control your anger.

‘As if.’

This isn’t anger. This is strictly physical training. Physical training.

“Ugh, ugh!”

I heard groans and turned to see the youngsters struggling with pained expressions on their faces.

I made eye contact with each of them and said.

“Those who fall behind will get special training. Special training.”

Feeling a sense of unease, my subordinates gritted their teeth and pushed themselves.

When we reached the halfway point of the mountain and returned to the training grounds, everyone collapsed like limp squid.

Honestly, these little guys are already complaining.

Of course, I secretly used wind magic to run comfortably without anyone noticing. After all, when training subordinates, it’s important to conserve one’s own stamina.

“Get up, my subordinates.”

“…Ugh. It’s not over yet?”

“We’re doing the horse stance now. Anyone who has a problem with it can fight me and win, and I’ll forget about it.”

My kind smile sent them into a frenzy, and they all jumped to their feet. It seems like their respect for me has been deeply ingrained in just one day.

*Whoosh*

I lit a pile of firewood and placed it around the training grounds. I carefully observed the trainees’ postures, checking for any slackers.

Everyone was desperately holding the horse stance, but after 30 minutes, they started collapsing one by one.

Only two remained.

Makan and Zion.

‘Unexpected.’

Makan was expected, but Zion’s endurance was surprising. His face was trembling, and he was clenching his teeth, clearly determined not to lose to Makan.

“Stop. 30 minutes of rest, then we’ll resume the horse stance. Got it, subordinates?”

“I can’t do it anymore.”

“Fuck this, I can’t. I can’t!”

I heard swearing and looked at Zion, but his mouth was shut.

“Fuck this, I can’t. I’m going to tell the instructor everything, you bastard!”

“Hmm.”

It turned out that the one cursing with his eyes rolled back was Iron. I had a feeling he had been dissatisfied since the beginning.

As I walked towards him with a direct gaze, Iron unconsciously took a step back. His eyes slowly returned to normal.

“…”

I met his gaze right in front of him.

“Why do you think I’m doing this?”

Iron squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

“You’re just doing this to torment us!”

“Open your eyes, you little shit. If that were the case, I would’ve just blasted you with magic. Why would I bother with all this?”

“That’s…”

Iron hesitated, then cautiously spoke, “Are you, by any chance, crazy?”

“Yes. But you’re wrong.”

“…What?”

“Your reasoning is wrong.”

“Then why are you making us do this crap!”

I grabbed Iron’s head and stared into his eyes. Suddenly, there was something I wanted to tell him.

“Why did you join Samael?”

Fear began to swirl in Iron’s eyes.

“Wh-what are you talking about? Of course, I joined to learn magic…”

“Tell me the truth. Do you think I don’t know your circumstances? Learning magic without paying? Or because we feed and house you? Or maybe you’re hoping to catch the eye of a Red Magic Tower mage and become their disciple?”

“…”

“It costs a fortune to join other magic families, but you can’t afford that. So you joined Samael, which is on the verge of collapse. Because it’s free.”

“…”

Iron’s hands trembled, but he couldn’t say a word.

I looked around and said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t care why you joined. But once you’re in, you’re part of Samael. You learn magic the Samael way, and you fight the Samael way.”

The trainees all looked bewildered.

They had never heard such words before. Something heavy pressed down on their chests.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll give you a solution.”

I looked at Iron, Zion, Makan, and the other trainees one by one.

“Use the beast magic you learned from Dyke to defeat me. Then I won’t care what you do. However…”

I immediately kicked off the ground and started running across the training field at full speed.

“Iron, you asked why I’m doing this?”

While running, I chanted a spell, aiming at a specific spot.

*Boom*

My spells repeatedly hit the scarecrow’s head, setting it ablaze.

*Bang, boom, boom*

The flames continued to strike the same spot.

A single flame soared beautifully into the dark night sky.

“The foundation of magic is physical strength. The stamina to maintain extreme concentration while chanting spells. You need even more stamina than a knight.”

I looked at one of the trainees who was staring at me with burning eyes. Zion was looking at me with an expression I had never seen before.

“…Can you even beat a knight?”

His gaze, filled with anger and hatred, made me unconsciously smirk.

“With my methods, it’s possible.”

“No one has mastered the Mana Circle. How can you be so sure?”

“How long have you been studying magic?”

“One year.”

“I’ve been studying for less than a month. But I beat you, didn’t I?”

“…shit.”

***

“Well, I’ve lit the fire.”

The bewildered faces of my subordinates came to mind.

Showing them the spell at the right moment had its effect.

The trainees’ eyes sparkled as they gazed at the soaring flames in the sky.

They all seemed to have some hidden scars in their hearts.

‘Their aptitude isn’t bad.’

At least none of them seemed to have rotten talent like I did in the past.

That was enough. I could take care of the rest.

Ten apprentice mages.

These guys would be the future of Samael.

*Thump*

I put my thoughts aside and picked up an old book from the shelf.

Late at night.

For a while, only the sound of pages turning could be heard…

“This isn’t it either.”

I had already devoured most of the books in my quarters over the past few days.

I needed to find out exactly what had happened to Samael and how incantation magic had been lost. But…

‘There’s nothing about Samael anywhere.’

I did find a few decent grimoires that covered basic incantation magic.

But there was no mention of the origin of incantation magic, Samael.

What was even stranger was…

‘The demons are gone.’

There wasn’t a single book that directly mentioned demons.

Even if we assumed that the last expedition was unknown, the previous demon invasion was something that all of humanity had witnessed firsthand.

There were even books that mentioned the conquest of the Black Clan and the Demonic Dragon, which happened more than 300 years ago, but there was nothing about the demons.

There were only a few books that vaguely mentioned them as “fearsome beings.”

‘This is beyond comprehension.’

***

Morning came.

I stepped outside and took in the fresh air, and the thoughts that had been weighing on my mind gradually faded away.

I took a deep breath of the clear air and shouted, “Subordinates! Let’s go for a run. If you’re not out here by the time I count to thirty, I’ll assume you want thirty lashes. One, two, three… twenty-nine, thirty!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The trainees all gathered in front of me. It seemed like my authority had grown quite a bit.

“I’ve decided to be more respectful of my subordinates’ opinions from now on. We’re going to run now, so anyone who has a complaint can speak up.”

“…”

“Great! Then let’s number off!”

“…One! Two!”

Time flew by as I led them in a cheerful chant while circling the mountainside.

We immediately moved on to horse stance training…

And as always, Dyke appeared on the ridge at the appointed time.

After staring blankly at us for a while, Dyke ran towards us, shouting.

“What kind of barbaric nonsense is this!”

“Instructor… Ugh.”

Two of the trainees exchanged pitiful glances and collapsed to the ground.

I didn’t miss that moment. Those guys, it seemed like they were doing it on purpose.

‘It seems their mental training is lacking.’

You two will get an extra hour of horse stance training after this.

“Why are you doing things I didn’t even order!”

Dyke’s bewildered gaze swept over the area, then slowly settled on me. I was the only one not doing the horse stance.

“Don’t tell me, Ruin, you ordered this?”

“…”

When I didn’t answer and started meditating, Dyke’s eyes blazed with fury.

“Answer me. Did you order this!”

“You’re going to burst my eardrums.”

Finally, I looked at Dyke with a smirk. My expression was completely different from a few days ago.

“Should I thank you? It’s a surprise you’re not treating me like an invisible man today.”

“You intended to disrupt training with this pathetic act?”

“Does it matter if I ordered it or not?”

“What?”

“It’s not training time yet, is it? You said you wouldn’t care what I did. It seems the mages of the Red Magic Tower have the memory of goldfish.”

“I don’t want to engage in wordplay with you. Get out of my sight immediately.”

“Why should I?”

I smirked and said.

“I’m in Samael, and I’ll do as I please. Who are you to tell me to leave?”

Dyke’s voice suddenly lowered.

“I heard you were a scoundrel, but I pity the head of Samael. I clearly told you to use honorifics.”

I didn’t avoid Dyke’s fiery gaze.

“Damn elitism.”

Meeting my burning eyes, Dyke flinched and took a step back.

“Is this Samael or the Red Magic Tower? Did I ask you to teach me magic? If you want respect, show it first.”

“…”

“Refrain from overstepping your bounds outside of training hours? I’m the eldest son of Samael, and these are Samael’s mages.”

“You ungrateful brat…”

“And one more thing.”

I interrupted Dyke.

“Why do you think they’re doing that? Why are they following my orders?”

“…”

“It’s simple. They all lost to me in a duel.”

“…What?”

Dyke’s gaze, as he looked at the trainees, wavered slightly. He had realized that my words were true.

“Nothing you say seems to be right. Where did you get the idea that incantations can’t be used in actual combat?”

I smirked at the speechless Dyke.

“Why don’t you teach them Beast Magic better and have them beat me?”

*Fwoosh*

A surge of mana.

Dyke’s body trembled, his face turning pale. I could feel how angry he was.

But he wouldn’t have a reason to get angry.

Most of what I said was just throwing his own words back at him.

“…Fine. Arguing with a child is pointless. Everyone, pay attention. We’re starting training.”

I smiled and stepped aside.

Dyke might not know it, but this wasn’t the end.

As expected, less than an hour later, I heard the instructor’s booming voice.

“Zion, why do you keep saying that!”

“I’m telling you, he used incantations in actual combat!”

It seemed Zion had decided to cross the line.

“Incantations have clear limitations.”

“He was faster than Beast Magic. Why don’t you test Ruin yourself, Instructor!”

“I don’t have time for that. If you say that one more time…”

At that moment, the fatso, who had been quiet, raised his hand and continued the instructor’s sentence.

“Yo! I can answer that.”

“What?”

“Incantations, or Circle Magic, have clear limitations as you go to higher circles.”

“Huh?”

“It’s hard to use them in actual combat from the 3rd Circle and above.”

An unexpected situation had occurred. And why was that fatso talking like that?

It was getting on my nerves.

I barely managed to restrain myself from throwing a punch.

What made it even more infuriating was that the instructor was looking at the fatso with a satisfied expression.

***

I learned the fatso’s name during lunch.

His name was Palge.

“We’ll be doing sparring in the afternoon. Pair up and practice your magic.”

As I watched the trainees pair up in the corner of the training grounds, someone walked towards me.

“Yo, don’t just watch. Let’s spar.”

Palge approached me with a grin.

Instantly, everyone’s attention focused on us.

Even the instructor was looking at the fatso with an expectant expression.

‘What’s so special about this fatso?’

Looking closely, I could feel a stronger mana wave emanating from him than from Makan. Was it hidden by his giant belly all this time?

“There’s a saying that we should respect the old ways. I respect your choice to learn Circle Magic.”

“What?”

“But you can’t move forward by only clinging to the old. The weaknesses of Circle Magic become clear from the 3rd Circle onwards. And I’m an elite among elites, having studied magic for three years. My brilliant brain has grasped the strengths and weaknesses of all magic and found the perfect path. In other words, I’ve already stepped into 3-star magic.”

“You’re a 3-star mage?”

“That’s right. I’ll kindly point out your shortcomings. You can learn your weaknesses through me.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

Palge’s speech, expression, face. Everything about him grated on my nerves.

Ah…

Palge.

3-star meant he was on the verge of graduating from being a trainee.

Come to think of it, the month I promised Hector was almost over.

“Then bring it on!”

A 3-star mana wave started emanating from Palge’s belly.

————