It had been a week since I returned to Silverglade, but it was far from a peaceful reunion. My Master's philosophy was all about physical labor until you could no longer move.
"100 more times, now! You still have mana to spend," barked Master Calliope, as if she enjoyed my torment. Every push-up, squat, lunge, and burpee brought an increasing amount of pain. At this point, I had done thousands of each exercise. My muscles burned with an unrelenting intensity as if being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives that sent a jolt of pain reverberating through my entire body.
As I strained through each attempt, my biceps felt like they were going to explode. Each rep became more and more difficult as fatigue set in. My veins bulged with effort, throbbing with a furious intensity that matched the pounding of my heart. Sweat poured down my face, drenching my clothes.
"Done!" I screamed it out, collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. Master Calliope looked down at me with a smile and threw me a towel to wipe off my sweat". Just how do you have such a gap between your body and your mana? You are physically a month or two behind what your body should be with your mana. Were you planning to be a full mage or something?" asked Master Calliope.
"No, not really. I simply didn't have time. Besides, the mana makes me physically stronger, right?" I replied, wiping the sweat off my face and drinking the cold drink that Master Calliope handed me.
"Kind of. Your mana amplifies your strength of what your body is capable of, but if your body is lagging behind, eventually, the strength multiplier will start tearing your muscles off the bone, and then muscle avulsion happens. That's why mages only use long-range attacks. It seems I have to keep training this way for a while," Master Calliope explained.
"I see," Standing up and handing her the empty glass. "When are we going to start actual combat classes?" I had hoped to learn more about combat when I took this apprenticeship, but it seemed like I was just working out all the time. Even if I was an assassin in my previous life, it didn't mean I knew everything there was to know about combat.
"You want to learn combat?" Master Calliope looked confused. "There is no need right now. All I need to do is make sure you don't head in the wrong direction. After all, your hand-to-hand combat is already better than most men I have faced, and your battle instincts are that of a veteran. You also excel in magic. A natural progression is key, but obstacles will inevitably arise, and that's where I come in. My role is to help you overcome those obstacles and continue on your path of growth"
So I was basically just being kept on track. It was underwhelming, and I had expected her to teach me more about combat. "Is that really all you are going to do? You won't even teach me more about magic?" I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Well, I will be teaching you how to reach enlightenment to speed up the orbs around your mana core, but of course, that doesn't come until your body is ready. So for now, no, I will just keep you on track," Master Calliope reassured me.
It seems her style was more laissez-faire. Her reasoning made sense, and from a certain perspective, it would seem to be the perfect way to raise a talent.
"Well, Master Calliope, I will start heading out." She gave me a nod, and with that, I left. And of course, Andrew was waiting right outside.
"How is Malachai doing?" I asked while walking through the dimly lit hallway of the grand estate, the sounds of my footsteps echoed against the high ceilings and marble floors. Tall windows lined the walls, casting moonlight onto the polished surfaces and illuminating the intricate carvings on the wooden panels.
"He has taken over some gangs that spread over the western region. He did go overboard in Counts Stewart's territory as he not only killed the gang leader, he killed a bunch of their members, basically having to rebuild the organization there." This was to be expected since he is basically a serial killer in training. I'm more impressed that this was the only hiccup.
"How about Lady Cecily? You find anything interesting about her?" I had asked Andrew to follow Lady Cecily for the past week. While I did help her out, I couldn't completely trust her, plus it didn't hurt to know a bit more about her.
"Nothing much besides her hanging with Ezekiel and going on dates." Andrew then handed me a group of papers. "I asked the bishop for a report, it's 20 pages. I read through it, and it was basically the same story she told you. She is the third child of Baron Joan Fitzroy, who was, for lack of better terms, sold for a business trade between the two territories. She specializes in healing magic and has no combat experience, nothing notable."
"Hmm, anything about the trade agreement or the relationship between the two territories?" I already know the Baron is having trouble with Ezekiel's deadbeat father, but maybe there is something more that I could use.
"Based on the reports, the main issue is Baron Joan has to go through Baron David's territory to trade with most territories, knowing that Baron David taxes heavily all merchandise coming from Baron Joan. With the trade agreement, it lowers it by a bit, but it's still around 25% of the market value of transportation." 25%? They're stealing from the poor Baron, and that's after he basically gave his daughter away.
"25%," I muttered. It wouldn't take much to gain their support. After all, having a one-sided deal like this must be hard on them, so they would probably take any chance they can get to go around it.
"You did a good job, Andrew. You can stop stalking Lady Cecily. I know enough to make a plan."