In a modest hut in the Swiss Alps, a man was sitting in front of a fireplace. He wore thick woolen clothes meant to protect one from the cold and methodically sharpened an axe. He was in his early thirties but his face was youthful, making him appear much younger than he actually was. He had slightly overgrown ginger hair and gemlike blue eyes. His build was modest yet it was clear he took his physical health seriously.
"Mister Gilgamesh, Congratulations on reaching the ninth circle. Sir Zeus will be very much satisfied." a man said.
The man was standing next to the front door of the hut. He was tall and thin. He was getting up there in age but his spotless dark skin did not show a sign of aging. He had dark brown eyes and wore a simple suit.
"Hi Samson, did father send you?" Gilgamesh asked.
"I was indeed sent here by the orders of sir Zeus. I was told to bring you back but seeing how much you have grown in strength I am afraid I can only give a suggestion." Samson replied.
"Very well, tell father I'll come visit him soon." Gilgamesh said.
"I'll inform sir Zeus. Though I would recommend passing by sooner rather than later since sir Zeus seems to want to meet you urgently." Samson said, making his way out of the hut.
-
"You're doing it wrong. It's supposed to be made of lightning, not sparks." John shouted at Valentine.
"I'm trying my best alright? If you were in this much pain you'd be having troubles too." Valentine replied, sweat dripping down his face.
John had used his authority to get a larger room for Valentine's training. He had also brought in equipment to make the training as efficient as possible. The room had a simple bed marble flooring which was filled with half burned cards.
"This was your decision. Even if you want to back down now I won't let you." John stated
"Who told you I wanted to give up?" Valentine said
"Just wanting to wouldn't have been enough anyway. Now try it again." John continued.
Valentine was in his usual stance but this time his hand wasn't in the shape of a finger gun. Instead he was made to hold a playing card between his middle and index fingers, throwing it while casting the spell to help him with focus.
"Lightning bolt"
A stream of lightning shot out of Valentine's fingers, following a straight path to a human shaped target, hitting it on the abdomen.
"Good, now hit the highlighted spots in order from top to bottom." John said
"Okay" Valentine said with a nod.
Valentine repeated the spell time and time again. John was a harsh teacher, forcing him to hit specific parts in alternating order. John shouted at Valentine for every miss and every misguided shot, punishing him by adding more to the already harsh training.
"Good job." John said, handing a tower to Valentine.
"Finally? I can rest." Valentine said, using the towel to cover his head as he laid down on the floor, wheezing.
"Who said you could rest? You'll have to master roughly one or two spells a day. By the end of the week you'll have reached the third circle. And by the end of the month you'll either be a proper third circle mage or dead." John replied.
"Wait, wait, wait." Valentine begged.
"You are forcing my hand here. If we want you to be able to keep up with your condition we have to do it this way. Think of the bright side, you'll be able to go on missions with Jack and Danny afterwards" John said.
"But that's just more work-"
"No more talking. You need to hit a moving target now." John interrupted.
John moved his hand in a swift motion, the target immediately starting to move in a lifelike manner, pacing around a small part of the room.
"How did you-"
"FOCUS ON THE TARGET. For every shot you miss you'll have to train for an additional hour."
Valentine's face turned stone cold. He knew John wasn't joking. That man was a full fledged sadist when it came to training. So with all the force of will and focus he could muster, Valentine started casting the spell at the target repeatedly, each failed shot causing an internal panic attack. But after a few long hours he was done.
"You got your aim on point. I like that. You don't have much room to miss in a real fight, keep that in mind. Take a breather while I show you the next spell you have to learn." John said.
Valentine was too tired to talk back so he just crashed on the hospital bed, ready to observe John's next spell.
-
Jack was in his room. He was in a meditating stance fit for moving mana. He decided that day that he would finally try to get his fourth circle. He calmly moved the mana around his body, taking deep rhythmic breaths. He felt the mana run through his body clearly and pushed with constant force to form the fourth circle around his heart.
He had stayed at the third circle for too long and he knew that. He wanted his mana to be as stable as he could have it be while also having mastered the spells of the circle relevant to him. He was ready.
He gradually increased the pressure on his mana circuit more and more. At such a crucial moment his self doubt started surfacing. What if he couldn't make it? What if he failed? What if he wasn't cut out for magic? Yet in one moment all the self doubt disappeared as with a snap a new circle was etched around his heart.
Jack felt a sudden surge in power. It was much more significant than in other circles. There truly was a difference between a third and a fourth circle mage after all.
"Finally." Jack said, laying in the ground and closing his eyes, a stream of tears escaping his eyes.
-
Danny was in the training room. He was wailing on the targets with all his might. He had casted both strength and haste on himself. Even though the spells didn't require much maintenance he still had to pressure himself a bit harder.
He repeatedly cast fireball, hitting the targets with the spell repeatedly at melee. He had waited long enough for Jack to make up his mind. He wanted to tread the path of magic alongside him but such a long wait was absurd. He was sick of feeling stuck. He finally wanted to become a real mage.
He pushed his body to the absolute limit. Brute forcing through circles had always been easier for him than just meditation. Meditation was a part of training but why chip away at a wall with a sledgehammer when you can bring it down with dynamite? That was his philosophy.
"FIREBALL"
"FIREBALL"
"FIREBALL"
He left the spell getting stronger by the second. He was almost there. He had to run the final stretch and he'd go big. He got ready to use a fourth circle spell for once. He had memorized the right way to cast it but this would be his first attempt.
"EMBER ARMOUR" he shouted, a sea of flames covering his body.
The flames were large and potent but simply emanated a slight heat to him.
"Woooooo" he screamed, punching the target with all he could to drown out the ecstasy.
Danny winded back his fist yet again, ramming it into the target's ribs, causing a chunk of wood to split.
"Ooooh yeah" Danny said before sitting on the ground to rest. He had finally reached the fourth circle and with that came a massive increase in hisnraw power.