Leon’s training had gone well enough so far, and now it was time to see if it would actually pay off the way Lucian hoped. At the moment, he was sitting on a flat rock at the edge of the clearing, chewing on a sandwich as he watched the fight unfold. Belle stood beside him with a silver tray balanced in one hand.

  The boy was currently facing a Brambleback Boar, a creature that was larger than an ordinary boar. Its body was closer to the size of a small donkey, with a hide that was covered in rough, bark-like plates along its back and sides, forming ridges that looked more like pieces of tree bark than flesh. Patches of moss clung to the gaps between the plates, while thorny vines wrapped loosely around parts of its body.

  The boar snorted, hot air blowing from its nostrils as it sized Leon up, its two large tusks curling upward from its snout. To Lucian and Belle, it was a fairly weak monster. Leon, however, didn’t seem to share their confidence.

  Lucian could hear the tension in the boy’s breathing even from where he sat. Leon shifted his weight too often, and his hands trembled at his sides. Across from him, the boar lowered its head and scraped a hoof through the dirt.

  If Leon didn’t act soon, the boar would run him down. Lucian wouldn’t allow that to happen, of course, but he very much hoped he wouldn’t need to step in. After hours of training, he hoped that the boy could prove that he could stand on his own.

  The Brambleback Boar lunged forward as its tusks cut through the air. Leon froze for a second too long, and Lucian narrowed his eyes, already preparing to intervene.

  But at the last possible moment, Leon twisted aside. The tusks tore past him close enough to stir his hair, and as the beast’s momentum carried it forward, Leon struck back.

  An Ice Blast slammed into the boar’s flank. And before the creature could recover, a second Ice Blast followed, the impact driving the boar several paces back.

  Lucian noted the absence of chants, gestures, or magic circles, meaning Leon had cast both spells instantly. It wasn’t flawless yet, but it was real progress, and seeing everything finally click was deeply satisfying.

  Unfortunately for Leon, the two Ice Blasts weren’t enough to bring the monster down. With a violent shake, the boar shattered the frost clinging to its body and spun around, bellowing before charging Leon again

  Leon dodged and fired another Ice Blast, but this time, the effect was noticeably weaker. The boar barely staggered as it barreled forward, faster and angrier than before. Leon tried to gather mana for another Ice Blast, but Lucian already knew the boy was at his limits.

  Lucian decided it was time for him to intervene. As the boar charged towards Leon, a massive rock spike erupted from the ground beneath it, impaling the beast.

  Leon let out a long, shaky breath and dropped to the ground, staring at the dead boar. Lucian rose to his feet and glanced toward Belle. “Would you be so kind as to pick that up and turn it into something pleasant?”

  “As long as it's something other than a ham and cheese sandwich.” Belle said.

  “I’m open to suggestions."

  “Then how about some roasted pork belly? I'll make sure the skin is as crisp as it can be of course."

  “Ooh, that does sound quite nice. I’d like that.”

  Belle inclined her head, vanished in a blink, reappeared beside the boar, and effortlessly hoisted it up before teleporting away once more. A small, traitorous part of Lucian still mourned the loss of a perfectly serviceable sandwich, but he had to concede that her suggestion was objectively superior.

  Lucian turned back to Leon and offered him a hand. After hesitating briefly, Leon took it and let himself be pulled to his feet.

  “I’m sorry,” Leon said. “I shouldn’t have needed to be bailed out.”

  “You actually did very well. With more experience against monsters like that, you might’ve won on your own.

  “I appreciate the encouragement, Professor, but you don’t need to be so nice.”

  Lucian sighed. “I’m not in the habit of sugarcoating things unnecessarily. But I also see no reason to be harsh when it isn’t warranted. You’ve been making genuine progress.”

  Leon smiled at that, then abruptly looked away as his eyes welled up. Lucian noticed immediately and retrieved a white handkerchief from his dimensional storage, holding it out to him. “Would you like one?”

  The boy accepted it, dabbing at his eyes and letting out an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry. I don’t know why I got so emotional.”

  “Crying is a perfectly normal human response, don't worry about it."

  Leon handed the handkerchief back after a moment. “Thank you, but I’d like to continue training again now, if that’s alright.”

  Lucian took the handkerchief back and stuffed it in his pocket. But as he did so, he noticed how there was still a faint heaviness in the boy’s eyes, something unresolved. Whatever he had said earlier had clearly struck a nerve, perhaps dredged up memories that were best left alone. Digging into emotional wounds wouldn’t help anyone, especially since he wanted Leon to be in top condition for later tonight.

  The attack on Leon was inevitable, and as Elysia had pointed out, moving him elsewhere would change nothing. Interfering too much risked twisting the future into something much more unpredictable. Now, however, with Leon capable of instantaneous casting, Lucian could at least teach him a spell that might save his life when the moment arrived.

  “We're almost done with training, but before you return to the academy, there’s one more spell I want to teach you.” Lucian said.

  Leon blinked. “Just one more?”

  "What spell did you have in mind, Professor?"

  “I plan on teaching you the Featherfall spell.”

  Leon scratched the back of his head. “I… I know that spell, but isn’t it kind of useless? It only slows your fall, and it takes time to cast. So, if you’re already falling, you might not even get it off in time.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “No spell is useless, and besides, I’ve been preparing you to deal with that casting speed problem this entire time, haven’t I?”

  “Ah. So… all that work on instantaneous casting was for Featherfall?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “That makes sense, but if I may ask, why do you want to teach me Featherfall specifically? I’m sure you have your reasons, Professor. I’d just like to hear them directly.”

  Lucian had to think for a moment as he considered inventing a dramatic excuse. Though in the end, he chose something simpler that was technically true. “Featherfall is a foundational spell you see. If you learn it properly now, it will make certain more complex spells far easier for you later.”

  Leon’s expression brightened almost immediately. “Oh. That actually makes a lot of sense. I’m looking forward to learning it, then.”

  “Good, then we should finish your Featherfall training quickly.” Lucian said.

  Leon stiffened. “You’re not planning to drop me from a tree or something, are you?”

  “What? No. I would never do that.”

  Privately, Lucian wished Leon would simply accept being dropped from a tree. The height would have given him ample time to react and cast, but Lucian had already been pushing him hard lately. Adjustments, regrettably, might be necessary.

  “Instead,” Lucian continued, “I want you to jump and then cast Featherfall before you hit the ground.”

  “But how is that supposed to work? With Ice Blast, I could practice making it chantless because it’s a projectile and I could feel it leave my hands. But with Featherfall… I’m not really sure how you practice that without jumping from somewhere high.”

  “That’s a fair concern,” Lucian said, nodding slightly. “Avoiding heights does make things more difficult, but it doesn’t make them impossible. Just like with Ice Blast, you’ll need to bypass the System’s usual casting process. But I assure you, the hard part isn’t casting Featherfall, it’s getting your body to act."

  “My body?”

  “Your reflexes, to be precise. Featherfall was never meant to be cast with circles or incantations in the first place. The spell was created by accident. Some mage once stole from a dragon, ran for his life, misjudged a cliff edge, and fell.”

  Leon tilted his head. “And how did this mage come up with the spell?”

  “Well, he didn’t. Not as you know it, anyway,” Lucian replied smoothly. “What the poor man managed was a far more primitive version. Crude. Inefficient. But his instincts forced the magic to manifest just enough to slow his fall and keep him alive.”

  Leon’s eyes widened. “Wow, he must’ve been a pretty influential mage, then.”

  Lucian coughed as the uncomfortable realization set in that he had, in fact, been describing himself the entire time. Leon had no way of knowing the truth of course, but the experience was still surreal enough that Lucian felt a sudden and urgent need to abandon the topic altogether. “Yes, uh, quite, and regrettably his name has been lost to history. Anyway, are you feeling hungry?”

  ***

  Training with Professor Ashford had been useful, but it wasn't all exactly pleasant. Leon was fairly sure he would have died more than once if the professor hadn’t healed him every time he pushed too far.

  There had been a bright spot, though. Before training ended, Miss Belle cooked a proper meal for them in the forest using the boar the professor had killed. They ate together by the fire, and the taste of the pork almost made enduring all that training worth it.

  As Leon ate, he found himself wondering again how Professor Ashford had found someone like Miss Belle. Since it wasn't like having a maid who could use teleportation was normal, and he was almost positive that she must be capable of other high tier spells as well. The more Leon thought about it, he couldn't help but wonder just how strong the professor himself was?

  Leon couldn’t understand why a man like him taught at the academy at all, or why he had chosen to train Leon, even for a short time. The Belkov name meant he was better than most, but he wasn’t the best, and he didn’t think of himself as anything special in the grand scheme of things.

  Though in the end, Leon decided not to dwell on it. For now, it was enough to be grateful that he was trained by someone so extraordinary.

  As for training, Featherfall hadn’t been too bad. Leon only needed to jump down from some moderately tall rocks and cast the spell before he hit the ground. Because he had already practiced instant casting with Ice Blast, he picked it up faster than he thought he would. At least, faster by the professor’s standards.

  By the time Leon returned to his dorm, it was already night. His limbs felt heavy again, but he managed to make it to his room, wash up, change, and prepare for bed.

  He was just about to lie down when something made him pause. It wasn’t a sound exactly, and it wasn’t a clear sensation either. It was more like the feeling of being watched, weirdly enough.

  Leon stood still, listening, holding his breath as if that would help him catch whatever was wrong. Slowly, he crossed the room and checked the window, but there was nothing of note outside.

  So Leon returned to his bed, telling himself it was nothing. He lay down, pulled the blanket over his chest, and tried to relax, but even with his eyes closed, that strange feeling lingered. Minutes passed, then more, and he couldn't sleep.

  Leon finally gave up and sat up on the bedframe, rubbing a hand over his face. If he couldn’t sleep, then at least he could be useful, so he reached for a book and got to reading.

  His eyes had barely begun to move across the page when the windows burst open. The sound was violent, like an explosion, and the sudden rush of cold night air slammed into him. Shards of glass flew inward, forcing Leon to throw his arms up, shielding his face as sharp pieces cut across his sleeves and stung his skin. One shard nicked his cheek hard enough to draw a thin line of blood.

  Before he could even stand, something invisible seized him. Something like a crushing grip around his body, yanking him forward with brutal force. Leon gasped as pain shot through his side and he flailed wildly, trying to break out of whatever was holding him.

  He tried to scream, but the wind stole his voice the moment he opened his mouth. The harder he struggled, the faster he was dragged out of his room and pulled straight into the open sky. The academy dropped away beneath him in a dizzying rush, shrinking into distant specks.

  Leon forced himself to think, even as fear threatened to swallow him whole. He raised his hand with shaking fingers and tried his best to cast a spell. Ice Blast.

  A burst of cold shot into the air and faded into frost. It hit nothing and stopped nothing, and Leon felt despair as he realized how helpless he still was. Even with everything Professor Ashford had taught him, he was still just a boy.

  He couldn’t stop imagining the worst, being taken somewhere far away, disappearing without anyone even knowing where he’d gone. Leon’s chest tightened until it hurt, and he swallowed hard against the rising nausea. He didn’t want to vanish, not after everything he’d survived, not after he’d finally started to live again.

  But then, lightning tore across the sky so suddenly it blinded him temporarily. Whatever had been holding him let go, and Leon felt himself falling.

  His stomach lurched as the world tilted, but even through the panic, he remembered his training. Leon cast Featherfall.

  The air caught him, and his fall slowed into something manageable. He still hit the ground hard enough to stumble, but he wasn’t hurt, and the moment his feet touched down, he nearly collapsed with relief.

  When he looked up, he saw a familiar figure standing nearby, as if she had been there the entire time. “Miss… Belle?”

  Belle regarded him with a calm, unreadable expression. “Ah. You’re alive."

  “What's going on?"

  “Just go back inside first. The situation is being handled.”