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Alfoi asked in confusion.

A 3rd-circle master was considered a high-level combat force, evaluated similarly to knights.

On the battlefield, they were sometimes even held in higher regard than knights, as they could wipe out dozens of ordinary soldiers in an instant.

To treat such powerful mages as mere “reserve mana” was a humiliation Alfoi had never experienced before.

“There’s something like that. Just think of it that way.”

Ghislain clicked his tongue as he looked at the remaining luggage in the carriage.

“Carry the luggage yourself. Before I end up smashing the carriage.”

With that, he turned his horse and headed back to the encampment.

Flustered and unsure what to do, Vanessa hurriedly followed behind Ghislain.

She seemed nervous, clearly afraid of staying behind with the mages and possibly facing retribution.

The mercenaries also put their weapons away and threw a few comments as they passed by the mages.

“What are these fancy folks doing blocking the road like this?”

“And with those weak-looking bodies, they call themselves mercenaries?”

“The employer was talking about mana or something, aren’t they mages?”

“Come on, why would a mage be out here in the countryside? They’re probably just some smart folks.”

“They look rich. Maybe they’re from a merchant guild or something?”

Since Ghislain and the mages never mentioned the word “tower,” even the mercenaries, overhearing the conversation, didn’t realize the true identities of the mages.

Alfoi ground his teeth, glaring at the mercenaries.

“These… these vulgar scum dare…!”

But he couldn’t openly reveal who they were, so there was nothing he could do for now.

“Just wait… Once I become the Tower Master, I won’t let this slide.”

The other mages wouldn’t dare think of taking revenge on a noble like Ghislain.

But Alfoi had no intention of ever forgetting the humiliation he suffered today.

With the help of the other mages, he healed his wounded body. Fortunately, no bones were broken, so a low-level healing spell quickly restored him to good condition.

Even while grinding his teeth at Ghislain, Alfoi couldn’t shake his curiosity.

‘Ugh, how did he strike me that it felt like my body was exploding?’

Since he was only bruised on the surface, he couldn’t even use his injuries as an excuse to avoid carrying the luggage. Along with the other mages, he grudgingly began unloading the heavy cargo.

“Ugh, why is this so heavy?!”

They had brought a considerable amount of luggage because they had come prepared to stay for a year.

Moreover, thinking Vanessa would carry all the baggage, the mages packed everything without considering the weight.

The luggage was bulky and far too heavy for mages who had never done manual labor.

They could have used strength-enhancing spells, but it hurt their pride to use magic for something as trivial as moving luggage.

Looking around, Alfoi spotted Belinda and spoke sternly.

“Summon some servants immediately to move the luggage.”

“The young master said you should carry it yourself. Are you okay with the carriage being damaged? It looks expensive.”

“Tsk…!”

“There are six of you, and you still can’t manage? I saw that woman named Vanessa carrying things by herself just fine earlier.”

Belinda playfully teased him.

Alfoi’s face turned bright red.

Judging by her attire, that woman seemed to be nothing more than a maid, so what was she thinking, ignoring his words?

“This estate is completely out of its mind! I’ve never done such menial tasks in my life! These kinds of things should be done by lowly people like you!”

However, even as Alfoi raged, Belinda didn’t blink an eye.

“I don’t want to get scolded by the young lord either. Do you know how terrible his temper is?”

“Ugh, just wait and see, just wait. You insolent brats. I’ll make sure you all pay for this.”

Left with no choice, Alfoi began releasing his mana to use a physical strength enhancement spell.

At that moment, two people emerged from the castle, leading a group of maids. It was Elena, accompanied by Gillian’s daughter, Rachel.

“Belinda! You’re back now?”

“Oh my, miss! It’s been a while. How have you been, Rachel?”

“Yes, Belinda, have you been well too?”

Having steadily taken her medicine and regained her health, Rachel had become Elena’s companion.

Since they were of similar age, the two quickly became close friends and were always together, no matter where they went.

“There was quite a commotion. What’s going on?”

In response to Elena’s question, Belinda shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

“They’re guests but couldn’t carry their luggage because it was too heavy.”

“Hm, really? Then why didn’t you call for the servants? Is it that heavy?”

Elena casually approached and easily lifted several of the mages’ bags.

“Huh? It’s fine. It’s not that heavy.”

The mages were shocked to see her effortlessly lifting the bags with both hands.

Belinda clapped her hands in mock surprise.

“Oh my, it’s not heavy for you? Have you been working out lately?”

“Oh, no, I don’t do anything like that. These aren’t that heavy. I’ll carry them for you. They’re guests, after all, so we should treat them well.”

How could the maids just stand by with the young lady lifting the luggage? They all rushed in and quickly began moving the heavy bags. Even Belinda had no choice but to help.

With so many hands pitching in, there wasn’t much luggage left.

Feeling embarrassed, the mages gritted their teeth and picked up the remaining bags themselves.

But their frail arms, which had never been overworked before, began trembling even before they could lift the bags.

In the end, the coachman, who had been watching the whole scene in dismay, stepped down from the carriage and threw out a remark.

“I’ll just help out for free. You folks really need to get some exercise.”

Being a long-term hire from the Magic Tower city, the coachman wasn’t particularly afraid of the mages. He saw the Tower and mages every day.

‘Ugh, I want to kill every single one of them. It’s all because of that bastard. I’ll never forgive him.’

Grinding his teeth, Alfoi seethed from the string of humiliations he had endured.

Meanwhile, Ghislain led the mercenaries to their new base.

Just a month ago, it was still in the early stages of construction, but now it has taken on decent shape.

“Phew, quite a bit of progress has been made.”

Ghislain smiled in satisfaction, then looked around at the mercenaries and said,

“For the time being, keep watch over the Forest of Beasts from here. I’ll give further orders once the next task is ready.”

“Yes, sir!” they replied.

The mercenaries shouted loudly.

They were all individuals Ghislain had gathered while traveling through the northern territories.

Of course, the mercenaries who had previously ventured into the Forest of Beasts had also renewed their contracts.

It wasn’t difficult to manage the new recruits.

Whenever a troublemaker tried to challenge the group, Gillian and Kaor would thoroughly crush them.

The mercenaries who had fought alongside Ghislain in the Forest of Beasts were highly loyal to him, making it impossible for the new recruits to even consider challenging him.

One slightly unusual thing was that, possibly due to the atmosphere created by the existing mercenaries, the new ones also started calling Ghislain “captain.”

Before leaving, Ghislain added one last thing.

“Take good care of your equipment and horses. I won’t forgive anyone who wastes them on nonsense like gambling.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ghislain had provided all their armor and horses out of his own pocket.

Normally, mercenaries would procure their equipment based on their personal finances, resulting in a wide range of quality.

Most would buy cheap, poorly-made weapons and replace them after they quickly wore out.

With such equipment, no matter how many people they had, it was useless.

So, since he was preparing anyway, Ghislain had ensured they were properly equipped from the start.

Ghislain entrusted Gillian and Kaor with the training, management, and organization of the mercenaries and then headed toward the training grounds.

“Why are you going to the training grounds? You’ve just returned; wouldn’t you rather rest?” Gillian asked, puzzled.

“You two go rest first. I need to check something about Vanessa.”

Ghislain rolled up his sleeves and spoke as soon as he entered the training grounds.

“Take a seat.”

Tense and anxious, Vanessa quietly sat in the middle of the training grounds.

“I’ve heard you can’t sense mana. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“How far did your master teach you magic?”

“In theory… I’ve learned up to the 5th circle.”

Vanessa mumbled, lacking confidence.

Ghislain was a bit impressed.

‘Just as I’d heard in my past life. As expected. This is excellent.’

Learning magic formulas wasn’t something that could be achieved just by memorization.

One needed a certain level of insight, understanding, and the will to grasp it.

Comprehending up to the 5th-circle formulas at such a young age was no small feat, and it showed considerable intelligence.

“You’ve already reached the 5th circle? That’s impressive. You must be quite smart.”

“N-No, not at all. I haven’t been able to cast the spells, so I can’t even confirm if what I’ve learned is correct.”

“That’s fine. We can test that from now on.”

“Huh? But I can’t… feel mana…”

“I’m planning to teach you a mana cultivation technique.”

Vanessa’s expression darkened slightly.

“You don’t know about mana cultivation techniques?”

She shook her head as she responded.

“My master obtained a simple mana cultivation technique and taught it to me. But it didn’t help.”

“Hm, I see… So, you did try.”

Ghislain nodded as if he understood.

This, too, was something he had heard briefly in his past life. She had attempted to use mana cultivation techniques.

If one couldn’t feel mana in the first place, then even mana cultivation techniques were useless.

Without sensing mana, how could one absorb it and accumulate it within their body?

Moreover, it was unlikely that a mage could have fully understood a mana cultivation technique.

“It’s fine. I’ll teach you differently. First, we need to get you to sense mana.”

“What?”

Ghislain asked in a serious tone.

“Do you still want to learn magic?”

Vanessa lowered her eyes, trying to hide the trembling in them.

Of course, she did.

The reason she had been so mindful of Ghislain’s reactions was because she wanted his permission to continue learning magic.

Swallowing hard, she nodded.

“Yes, I want to keep studying.”

“Good. Then, grit your teeth and endure it. If things go wrong, you’ll die, but I won’t.”

“What do you mean…?”

“We’re starting.”

Without further explanation, Ghislain placed his palm against her back.

Gwoooong!

Mana began flowing from Ghislain’s hand into Vanessa’s body.

He moved the mana carefully, guiding it through her body. The mana slowly gathered beneath her navel.

“This…”

Vanessa’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar sensation she had never experienced before.

“Keep your mouth shut. The mana flowing inside you is mine. You need to focus and feel how it moves.”

Vanessa realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She closed her eyes tightly, doing her best to sense the foreign energy flowing through her body.

Gwoooong!

As the mana flow stabilized, Ghislain exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly.

‘It’s a success, for now.’

Ghislain had temporarily created a small mana core within her body.

Vanessa had no idea, but this method required an incredibly delicate control of mana and immense concentration.

It was a technique that only those at the level of the “Seven Strongest of the Continent” could even attempt.

Normally, one would first sense mana, learn a breathing technique, and then form a core by themselves.

However, that method would take too long, and there was no telling when Vanessa might succeed. Right now, the priority was for her to at least feel mana.

Since the core was created using Ghislain’s mana, it would eventually dissipate with time.

Before that happened, she needed to learn how to sense and absorb mana on her own.

Woooooong.

As Ghislain willed his mana, the core inside Vanessa’s body began spinning fiercely, absorbing mana.

Rather than naturally absorbing mana through breathing, the core was forcefully drawing in the surrounding mana by circulating it.

“Urgh…”

Vanessa gritted her teeth in pain but endured it somehow.

It was the mana she had dreamed of.

The sensation was excruciating, yet exhilarating, as she felt it for the first time in her life.

‘Just a little more.’

She wished for the feeling to continue, but Ghislain was already preparing to stop the mana guidance.

Flash!

At that moment, Vanessa’s mind suddenly surged with the countless magic formulas she had memorized over the years.

The spells, which had always been confined to her thoughts, began straining to burst out as they made contact with even the slightest trace of mana.

Caught up in the ecstasy of feeling mana for the first time, Vanessa entered a trance-like state.

Zing—! Zing—! Zing—!

Magic circles began forming in the air.

It seemed that the magic she had been repressing was now being unleashed uncontrollably as she started casting spells without even realizing it.

The number of magic circles grew quickly, soon surpassing five.

“She’s already performing multi-casting?”

Ghislain was startled and immediately reduced the amount of mana he was channeling into her.

The magic circles were not being created with Vanessa’s meager mana but were greedily consuming Ghislain’s mana to take shape.

He couldn’t just abruptly cut off the mana, as that would endanger Vanessa. So, he gradually decreased the flow. However, this created a new problem.

Fsss…

Vanessa’s hair started turning white from the tips, slowly creeping upward.

With the mana supply dwindling, her body had begun drawing on her life force to fuel the spells.

“Damn it! Snap out of it!”

He couldn’t let her burn away her life force. Ghislain quickly poured more mana back into her while shouting.