After the recent incidents with Explosion magic, Gerald decided to take a small break. He took his time in everyday life, not hurrying around all the time.
Unbeknown to him, he was under constant surveillance, especially when he ate. Because he was always dining at the Crystal Dragon Inn, the spies from the Serrell family had an easy time tracking his movements.
Gerald decided to switch to a more body-oriented style of training. But before that, he went to the Guild to test his strength once more.
When the results came in, he was not surprised at all by the fact that he already reached strength rank Iron 1. That was approximately equal to one hundred kilograms and it was within his expectations.
"Ah, my muscles finally woke up after years of inactivity," Gerald nodded as he looked at the results in satisfaction. "It's a good jump in strength for a month of running around and fighting. Although I probably won't progress this fast in the future, it's still a good beginner's boost."
Different from the short-lived satisfaction, Gerald had a big problem that was slowly growing. He was in this world for almost a month already and he got quite used to it. However, he was still just a teenager after all, and in his prime years at that. The problem revolved around more personal stuff.
Without the internet to satisfy his lust, it was getting harder and harder to keep a clear head. His mind was getting more distracted by the day, his thoughts constantly focusing on the opposite gender.
It did not help that most women he saw were, in fact, quite healthy-looking and really attractive. It actually made things worse.
Even if he wanted a release, it was not like he could just find a casual hook-up for one night. The customs and norms of this world were vastly different from the more casual lifestyle of the developed countries of planet Earth.
For that, and some other reasons, Gerald tried to distract his mind with other things. For example his experiments, or training.
He knew that obsessing over girls would get him nowhere. First, he needed a foothold in this world. His own house would be a good start.
He, of course, wanted to build a strong foundation for himself in this foreign land. Amassing a significant amount of wealth and knowledge would serve him well on this journey. No matter what he decided later, he first needed a place to stay, and living in a single room in the Guild's living quarters didn't seem appropriate.
Especially since he was interested in magic and alchemy, he needed space and privacy. A simple room just couldn't provide that.
It was good enough to make some simple potions, but what if he wanted to tackle some more advanced stuff? Or some more volatile substances? Or poisons? It just wouldn't work.
However, now was not the time to be thinking about his future residence. Not to mention that he didn't have enough money, he probably couldn't buy it even if he had. He was currently a nobody, and even in the Guild, he was one of the lowest ranks. He just barely arrived and had close to zero connections in this city.
So, for the beginning, Gerald decided to get stronger, make a name for himself, and then take it from there. All would then be easier to do, from a higher vantage point.
As his new routine, he trained sword skills in the morning, honing his basic moves and strengthening his upper body. It was mainly to get himself once again used to fighting with medieval weapons so he wouldn't have to rely on magic all the time.
After a few hours of training, he would usually go for a meal in the Crystal Dragon Inn that consisted of mostly meat, some bread or starchy tubers, something similar to potatoes, and, of course, beer.
Alcohol was a staple drink, at least in Geldern, and only children drank just water or milk. It did not mean that people would have a problem with intoxication, however. That's because the alcohol content in the drink was one or two percent at most. It was more like tea than beer.
After lunch, Gerald took some time off to meditate and strengthen his Mana regen and observe people with his Magic Eyes.
With this ability, he could see the Mana flowing through people. Everyone had a slightly different shade of a similar color or a completely different color altogether. "I guess this is the magic imprint that is used to identify people."
The best analogy he could come up with was that he could compare Mana with different frequencies of light. Each frequency would have slightly different properties and colors.
Sera also came often to chat. They sometimes talked for just a few minutes and other times for more than an hour.
It usually ended with Gerald going back to his training. He was years behind his peers in strength and if he wanted to catch up, he had to work many times harder than them, so he didn't have much spare time.
Gerald often observed Sera with his Magic Eyes. The light coming from her was really dim, indicating a low Mana capacity. But that was nothing new, as she herself told him that before.
What shocked him, however, was that instead of a shade of brown, like most people, she had a dark turquoise color.
It did not seem like Earth was her main Element, instead, it should be Water, with maybe a little mixture of Wind. When Gerald discovered that, he refrained from telling her. Not because he didn't want her to know, but instead to protect her from herself.
She had a talent for at least two Elements, but her control over Mana was subpar. There was no harmony between the Elements in her body. It was in fact, chaos.
When he observed mages, their Mana was flowing smoothly like a gentle stream. Warriors, especially those like Kerius from Iron Hawks who trained in Combat Arts, had a more robust and aggressive Mana flow, but it was still under control.
Sera, however, had a tangled mess. Mana was swirling around with no pattern at all. In fact, when Gerald asked her to demonstrate her spellcasting once more, she protested at first, but then still did as he asked.
As he observed, he noticed the disharmony inside her body. Instead of her Mana gathering and going out all at once like a well-disciplined army, it went like a bunch of hooligans, running in all directions, even backward. He felt as if there was something actively preventing her from using magic.
Unfortunately, she didn't wanna talk about it and Gerald didn't wanna be too pushy so the conversation ended there.
He went to seek advice from Orin Gezor, the headmaster of the Magic Academy, but even he couldn't give him any useful tips as to what was the case with Sera. The same went for Explosion magic, Gerald did not get any useful information out of it.
"Combining multiple Elements into a single spell is a really difficult process. Usually, people go for spells of a single Element, sometimes two, and three if they are a genius. But the learning process is different for each one so it takes time to master them."
"Combining Elements, even if they are synergistic, takes a lot of time, patience, and above all, practice," Orin Gezor explained to Gerald when the latter asked him about Explosion magic.
"It's not that it's impossible or it doesn't exist, Explosion magic is in fact quite powerful. I heard that in the Burronian Empire they already solved the problem and there are a few people that can already use it. I just don't think it's worth losing sleep over it since it is unlikely you will ever come in contact with it."
Gerald nodded, but in his mind, he was of a different opinion, 'We will see about that! If there is a way for me to use and master Explosion magic, I'll definitely find it.'