Several days had passed since the incident when Winfred tried to release Mana from his body. Knowing what had happened to his son, the head of the Emerdine family immediately ordered Wayne to temporarily stop Mana training until Winfred's condition improved. Of course, considering that the incident took place within the house of a noble family, news of the incident spread quickly and many people gossiped about the youngest child of the Emerdine family.
The shocking incident drew mixed reactions. That same day, Victor went straight home and postponed his work. He immediately questioned his youngest son about the incident. Winfred felt a little awkward seeing his father's reaction, who asked many questions with a blank expression on his face, but he knew that his father was really worried and that was probably just how his father normally was.
As for his mother, Olivyn, she was constantly worried and kept asking about her son's condition even days later. She had cried, blaming herself for not being there when Winfred lost control of his Mana. Winfred was deeply touched by his mother's love and concern and assured her that he was fine and could resume his normal activities.
Nina and her mother Helina were also worried about him, but since Nina was always by Winfred's side and knew his condition well, Nina told her mother that her master had recovered. During his recovery, Winfred spent his time in his room just like before. However, there were a few people who visited him to check on his condition.
Alcott came to ask about his condition while bringing two books about the history of the Dwarves and Elves. He then thanked his teacher and promised to give feedback after reading them.
Wayne visited with a fancy cake he had ordered from his favorite shop. Winfred tasted it and muttered that it was delicious, then asked about continuation of his Mana training. Wayne apologized to him again about that day, then explained that he had not been dismissed from his position as Winfred's combat instructor but had been asked by Victor to be more careful.
And there were many more people who visited him, such as Head Chef Arren, several house servants who were quite close to him, and even his two older brothers, who were also concerned about what had happened to him. However, they did not visit his room directly but sent gifts instead.
Ardyn sent a parcel of fruit accompanied by a letter asking how he was doing. Of course, Winfred replied to the letter and asked one of the butlers to deliver it. Meanwhile, Gerdan, for some reason, also sent a gift: a wooden sword and a letter inviting Winfred to a friendly duel once he was fully recovered. Winfred could only smile wryly and replied to his brother's letter, stating that they would do it only if their father gave them permission for such a thing.
Gathering various information from people he knew, the condition he experienced was called Mana Rush, where a person cannot control the Mana that comes out of their body. Again, Winfred learned something new that was not explained in the game.
Continuing on, Mana Rush itself is actually rare because people who have it can usually be detected early on by observing how skillfully they manipulate and control Mana during training using the Mana Sphere. Wayne was caught off guard because he thought his disciple would not experience Mana Rush based on his ability when using the Mana Sphere.
"Hmm... your mana flow is smooth and stable, no obstacles or abnormalities. You're fine, kid. Tomorrow or the day after, you can resume your Mana training."
"Thank you, Master Evan..."
"Thank you, Master Evan. Thank goodness my son is okay."
"Huh. Don't do anything reckless, you hear me? Just practice normally. I'll be going now."
After that incident, old man Evan always checked Winfred's body and Mana every morning after he finished breakfast. He did this on his father's orders. Perhaps today was the last day the old man would check on Winfred because, as he had just said, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow he would be able to practice Mana again with Wayne.
Seeing Evan leave the room, Winfred then looked at his mother and the two maids beside her. Their faces looked relieved to hear Evan's statement earlier.
"Maybe you can start practicing Mana the day after tomorrow, my son. Today, just focus on getting plenty of rest."
"I understand, Mother."
"Well then, I'm going now. I want to let your grandparents know how you are doing. Nina, please tell the servants in the kitchen to make him a light snack. Take good care of yourself, okay?"
Helina and Olivyn left, while Nina headed to the kitchen. In that silent moment, only Winfred was left in the room. He walked out of the room and peeked into the hallway. Seeing that no one was there, he returned to his room and went to the table near his bed.
On the table were several drawers. He opened the bottom drawer to take out a medium-sized wooden box. The wooden box was just an ordinary box that he usually used for experiments.
Next, he opened it. Inside the box was a small bag containing pebbles of various shapes. This is where the experiment began. Winfred recalled the incident where he lost control of his Mana. He had a feeling that what he felt at that time was not an illusion.
To prove it, he quietly tried to release Mana from his body when no one was around, and sure enough, the intense sensation returned. To avoid what had happened before, he tried practicing with small objects like the one he was holding now. He felt that there was one more power he could use, besides converting cliché events into Mana.
He poured all the pebbles in the small bag into the wooden box. Then he closed the wooden box tightly and shook it quickly. The pebbles collided with each other and also hit the walls of the box.
Feeling that it was enough, Winfred then grabbed the wooden box and stared at it.
He released his Mana and focused on the box. A few seconds later, he received information about the pebbles, as if the information had entered his mind directly.
"A half-cubic pebble near a prismatic pebble... A pointed pebble flanked by a round pebble and a blunt pebble..."
Winfred could not see through the box, the box still tightly closed. Then, after revealing and identifying the position of each pebble, he opened the box and found that their positions matched the information he had captured. He repeated the experiment several times, and it was successful every time, with him accurately identifying the position of each pebble.
"This power... don't tell me…"
He returned all his experimental tools to their original places. During his break from training, he experimented for several days, and he became more confident in his Mana ability and proceeded to the next step. He released his Mana slowly, like a faucet dripping water every few seconds. He imagined it that way, and this time his target was the entire room.
After a few seconds, he received brief feedback about his room and the objects in it, ranging from the number of books available on the shelves, the order of his clothes in the wardrobe, to the distance between his bed and his bedroom door.
He wanted to try another method, which was to imagine emitting Mana like sonar or echolocation used by bats. Winfred succeeded in doing so, and the Mana seemed to scan the entire room up to the front door. He once again received the same feedback as before, but the difference was that this time, the information he obtained was that there was someone behind the door.
"A tall person…judging but how broad his shoulders…an adult male…"
Not long after, Wayne knocked on the door and was about to enter the room. Winfred hurriedly pulled back and stopped his Mana, then sat down pretending to read a book.
"Hey, Young Boy. It's me, may I come in?"
"Oh! Master Wayne, please come in!"
"Morning! You doing good? Hmm? This..."
"Umm...is something wrong?"
As soon as Wayne stepped into his disciple's room, he sensed a faint trace of Mana in the room. Remembering that the last time he was here, there were no magical artifacts or tools, he concluded that someone had just released Mana from their body. Wayne then smiled mischievously at Winfred and crossed his arms.
"Well, well. Look what we got here. Someone just released Mana without anyone knowing... I wonder who that person is?"
"Maybe it's just your imagination, Master? Or did you accidentally release Mana yourself?"
"Huh? Me? Hahaha! That might be right! Nevertheless, we should inform Head Butler of Victor himself because there is an unknown person who released their Mana into the room of Emerdine family, hehehe ..."
"Ugh..."
Wayne circled the room, and in several corners he detected a very faint Mana output. Wayne glanced several times at Winfred, and his disciple could only smile innocently. It seemed he could no longer lie to his mentor.
"Are you...going to tell Mother and Father?"
"Haha! Don't worry, I won't. You proved that you can release Mana without experiencing Mana Rush. That's a step forward for you compared to before. What's more, I know how it feels when a curious young man wants to try something forbidden, because I've been in that position myself."
Winfred was quite surprised by his mentor's relaxed response. He had suspected that he and his father were quite close, but he hadn't expected him to take his side. The two of them continued their conversation until Nina arrived with snacks.
After that, Winfred spent the day reading history books and then went to sleep. Finally, the day after tomorrow arrived, and he returned to training with Wayne.
***
Back at the large building, Wayne and Winfred, accompanied by Nina, were on the field. Olivyn wanted to accompany her son, but Helina insisted that there was an important matter at Victor's request that required Olivyn to be present as a representative of the Emerdine family. She reluctantly did not attend and asked Wayne and Nina to look after her son.
After warming up, Wayne and Winfred stood in the middle of the field while Nina watched them from the sidelines. Around Wayne's feet were various wooden weapons. Wayne intended to train Winfred with weapons for a few days, wanting to leave Mana training aside for the time being.
"You done catching your breath? Good. Now choose your weapon."
"Huff...huff...aren't we practicing Mana, Master?
"Not for now. We're focusing on weapon training. Do you have any idea what weapon you want to use?"
Winfred had been thinking about this for a long time. Considering that in his previous life he was not athletic nor had he ever practiced martial arts, he searched for information on what weapon would be suitable for him. And based on his limited knowledge, he found one weapon that was right for him, and his new unique ability further solidified his choice of that weapon.
"I want to use a spear, Master!"
"Oh? Same as me, then! Any particular reason for choosing that?"
"No, Master. I just feel like it's the right weapon for my ability..."
"Very well then! Take this wooden spear and let's start training right away! Follow my movements."
Winfred picked up a wooden spear almost as tall as he was, then followed his mentor's instructions. Wayne taught him the basics of spear use, such as how to hold it and simple attacks like thrusting and sweeping. Wayne then told his disciple to practice these movements for a half hour and suddenly told Winfred to stop.
"That's enough! Now for the next stage. I'm going to attack you, and you must block my attacks as best you can. Are you ready?"
"Eh!? All of a sudden!? What's going on, Master?"
"Nothing. Hehe, I just want to see if you're really suited to using a spear. Instead, I won't use Mana, but you're free to use it! Can you handle that?"
Wayne's strange request surprised Winfred. Even though his mentor was only using a wooden spear, it still made him nervous and panicky. Wayne walked away and put some distance between himself and his disciple so that Winfred could prepare himself.
Obeying his mentor's orders, Winfred released a very small amount of Mana and activated his ability. He tried to see if his experiment yesterday would be useful in warding off his mentor's attack.
Wayne charged toward Winfred with his spear, using a quick thrust toward his disciple. Winfred perceived his mentor's movements and arm position, concluding that his mentor would use a thrusting attack.
Even though he had already guessed it, Winfred was still startled by how fast his mentor who had quickly approached him. However, he quickly calmed himself thanks to the information he received from his abilities.
Wayne intended to make Winfred drop his spear by aiming for his shoulder and arm. However, he did not expect his disciple to dodge the attack by taking a step to the side. Wayne was surprised, but he immediately continued his attack on his disciple.
"I managed to dodge it. Next... a big sweep!"
Wayne gripped his wooden spear tightly, then slightly changed the direction of his attack from a thrust to a wide sweep. Once again, Winfred managed to defend himself by positioning his wooden spear in front of him. There was a loud screeching sound as Wayne's wooden spear collided with his disciple's.
Wayne smiled broadly, showing his white teeth, then he stepped back slightly and immediately headed towards his disciple. Using the same attack pattern as before, he quickly closed the distance between them.
"A stab... to the foot!?"
Wayne thrust his spear toward his disciple's legs, but Winfred managed to dodge it by stepping back. However, due to his carelessness, he did not have time to steady his footing and stumbled slightly.
In that brief moment, Wayne took advantage of his disciple's carelessness and quickly and forcefully lifted his spear from below. Winfred was unable to withstand the strong, swift attack, and eventually his wooden spear slipped from his grasp. He fell to the ground, and in front of him was his mentor's wooden spear, pointed at his face.
"My win, Young Boy!"
"Ugh…"
"But that's amazing, you were able to read my attack three times even though I wasn't serious! If only your posture was correct and strong, you might have lasted longer, haha!"
"How could that be, Master..."
"Haha! Now tell me how you did it just now!"
"Um... I just watched your body movements, Master..."
Winfred explained to his mentor that he was simply observing and relying on his fighting instincts. Wayne just smiled when he heard this, he had no idea that his disciple had such great instinct.
He could sense a very small amount of Mana around his disciple, but that's just it. Of course, what Winfred said wasn't entirely true, and he only revealed half of it.
Thanks to his experiments over the past few days, he was able to read and counter his mentor's attacks. From his observations, the Mana he released was able to detect objects and people based on their shape, length, and distance.
Additionally, when he released Mana like sonar, he could detect minor changes in the surrounding space, much like ripples in calm water. Of course, this doesn't mean he could predict the future, he could only sense that something had changed in the surrounding space within a limited range.
"Phew! I think we should take a break for a moment, okay? While I point out some of your mistakes earlier."
"Yes, Master!
"Please take a sip, Young Master."
"Oh! Thank you, Nina!"
Nina approached her master and gave him water and a towel. Winfred listened to his mentor's advice about his mistakes, such as his overly stiff posture, the incorrect positioning of his feet, and his misguided gaze.
He listened carefully and considered whether he should tell his closest people about his abilities. But after thinking it over, he decided to keep his Mana conversion ability a secret for the time being, as well as his other unique ability, spatial perception.