"Endure," Lucas said.
"What?" Leo asked before the killing intent pressured him.
Every slight movement of Lucas's blade rewrote the future.
⠀
A step too wide, and his leg was gone.
A delayed guard, and steel passed through his throat.
While Leo tried his best to hold on and endure, that's when he saw it. Each time Lucas's sword moved a little, he saw his body being cleaved apart.
Leo was shocked at the vision he saw and immediately got into a defensive stance.
But he saw his left ankle getting cut through.
As he panicked, he kept adjusting his technique, but it was a futile effort. Every stance he got into was torn apart. He saw his head being decapitated, his arms being severed. Each death showed him why he died.
He kept retreating as he lost limbs until he touched the stone wall. He had lost his legs and was crawling back, his sword arm trembling.
⠀
"Ah.. not bad. You can endure some of my killing intent. How about now?" Lucas said, his eyes gleaming with interest.
Then his full killing intent crashed into Leo.
Leo's instinct screamed at him to run. While to others all that was happening was him enduring the killing intent, to him, a world made only of death unfolded. Countless eyes, inhuman and unblinking, watched not him, but every mistake he would ever make.
Leo wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.
"That was unexpected. Not even adults decades older than you could last that long," Lucas said, his eyes wide.
"Unexpected! You could have shattered his mind," Violet snapped. "Are you insane?!"
Violet stepped between them without thinking, her body already tense as mana stirred around her fingers.
Lucas didn't flinch.
Violet's jaw tightened. "He's a child."
'What the hell was that? I just froze up. Nothing I did helped. It felt like each flaw in my stances cost me a limb,' Leo thought, still feeling the phantom pain.
"Don't worry, he's fine. It was all in his head, so if he couldn't handle it, I would have stopped," Lucas said as he sheathed his sword.
"Anyway, I've seen enough. You can have him. I'll go start planning the training regimen," Lucas said as he walked away.
"God.. what a madman. He really deserves his nickname. Are you alright?" Violet asked as she looked at Leo catching his breath.
"Hah.. Yes, I'm fine. Will you start training me now?" Leo muttered, out of breath
"Eager, aren't you? Well, your mind is exhausted, but training like this also helps," Violet said, flashing a beautiful smile.
"Let's begin. Sit in front of me and meditate. Try to sense the mana in your body," Violet instructed as she sat behind him.
"Normally it takes a couple of months to first sense the mana, so don't be discouraged if you can't."
Leo began to sense inside his body as he immediately felt an energy in his blood.
⠀
"I feel something in my blood," Leo said, still keeping his eyes shut.
"What? That's impossible. You just started," Violet scolded, not believing it.
⠀
"No, I really do feel a weight in my blood. It's kind of warm."
"Impossible. I knew you were a genius, but not to this extent. To sense mana in less than ten minutes. Alright, try to collect the mana and move it through your body," Violet said, shocked at his talent.
'I can only pull a tiny sliver of it. I don't know why, but I instinctively know how to move it. Maybe it's because of the talent from the system,' Leo thought, as he spent the next two hours moving the mana through his body
When his mana passed through everything and touched his heart, he heard a notification.
Ding! Host has completed a cycle of mana condensing.
[Magical Rainbow Talent: Tier SSS]
[Current Mastery: F-]
[Experience: +0.1]
Leo was in awe at how that felt. His body felt stronger and he felt warm,It pulsed faintly, uneven and unfamiliar, as if his blood itself was moving differently.
but the toll on his mind was too much for him now.
"You.. you actually condensed mana in two hours." Violet froze.
"…That shouldn't be possible."⠀
'Aghh my head...' Leo's head felt as if it was going to explode.
"I don't feel too good!" Leo was in pain.
As he coughed out blood a sign of mental exhaustion
Violet cast a spell without chanting. The raging headache calmed immediately.
"That's enough for today. Go back and rest," Violet said, her eyes still shaking in awe at the magical genius in front of her.
"Yes, thank you for your teachings," Leo said as he bowed and went back, his mind racing at the events of today.
Sitting in his bed, Leo thought of what happened.⠀
'It seems that my talent is stronger than I thought. This should help me in the exams of the academy when I turn fifteen,' Leo thought as he drifted into sleep.
"Wake up! It's four in the morning already. Time to start the physical training." Leo was woken up by the huge man standing next to his bed. How he entered, Leo was still unaware.
"OK. We're going to start with 100 pushups, then a light jog for 15 minutes, then we start the swordsmanship training. Did you get that!" Lucas shouted as he watched Leo.
"Y-Yes sir!" Leo was in immense pain as he was forced to start immediately without warming up.
'You crazy bastard, I'll deal with you when I get stronger!' Leo was seething with determination to punish the man behind him.
"What are you thinking about!" Lucas turned out to be sharp.
"Nothing, sir!" Leo was in awe at his piercing insight.
Mornings blurred together.
Leo learned the sound of Lucas's boots before dawn, the way his muscles screamed before his mind fully woke,
taste of blood that lingered in his mouth long after training had ended,
The pain of Lucas's kicks after every mistake was engraved on his body,
And the stark difference between Lucas's strict, painful training sessions,
and Violet's gentle calming sessions.
During this period of time, Leo didn't encounter any trouble.
As after his brother Gunnar turned 15, he left for the academy and passed with flying colors.
In turn, his mother, Victoria, seemed to calm down, not stirring up any trouble.
Until Leo's fifteenth birthday and the day he was heading to the Academy, it was his first journey.