[Author's Note: Yes, that was a LOTR reference. Also, sorry if the chapter is a bit short and poor in quality, I want to get the entire thing wrapped up as soon as possible as I don't want to make Volume 1 too long. Excluding this chapter and future chapters, it's nearly at 70K words. Very long for a typical light novel which sits at 50K words on average. By the end of this volume, including the epilogue, I estimate the first volume alone will have 80K words. For reference, that is more words than the first book of Harry Potter (The Philosopher's Stone), which sits at 77K words. This means I'll have to cut out a lot of unnecessary scenes and my commentary, so I apologize if some of your guys' favorite scenes are removed in the edited and version. I promise to make up for it with better quality. Enough of my rant, enjoy the chapter.]
Charles POV:
It's morning, the sun is shining down upon this lovely forest, the birds fly high in the sky, migrating to someplace warmer, the leaves are beginning to turn color and young Miss Lilith is still screaming.
*Girly screaming SFX!*
"DAMN YOU OLD MAN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"
Several meters away from where I leisurely sat in an armchair drinking tea, Miss Lilith could be seen being chased by a enormous, lumbering sharp-tusked monster.
In response to her complaining, I lightly chided her.
"Come on! It can't be that bad! It's just a measly troll!"
The young lady kept screaming while still being chased.
"Measly Troll my ass! This thing is enough to turn a second-circle like Florence into a one-bite biscuit! How the hell do you expect me to beat that when I'd be turned to cinders by one spell from a third-rate one-circle mage!"
"Hey! Watch your language young lady! Besides, have you forgotten? Your objective is to survive not to fight!"
Miss Lilith snapped back.
"Easy for you to say! You're not the one getting chased!"
Unperturbed, I replied.
"If you want to have an easier time getting away from the brute, I suggest less talking and focus more on running."
After a bit of swearing, Miss Lilith took my advice to heart and began putting more effort into running.
An hour or two later, the time limit was up, and with perfect timing as Miss Lilith ended up tripping in the last few seconds and was nearly caught by the troll.
Thankfully I arrived in the nick of time to save her from her predicament and delivered a good old-fashioned haymaker right in the kisser.
The blow sent the troll flying several dozen meters into the air and fell down with a loud thud. Cracking the ground and breaking several bones in the process.
For the animal-lovers out there, don't worry too much, trolls are well-known to have extreme regenerative abilities. They can recover from fatal cuts that would kill a normal man in a matter of hours.
While the troll took a nap, I walked over to an unconscious Miss Lilith who was foaming from her mouth. Her eyes were completely rolled back, showing her whites. I think I even see her spirit about to depart for the afterlife.
I admit, loosing a troll on a fifteen year-old girl may have been just a little bit too extreme on my part, but we're on a tight schedule and I need results fast if the young lass wishes to beat that drill-haired rival of hers.
I took a vial filled with golden liquid radiating a holy aura from my cape's storage. It's a concoction I made myself, Golden Apples mixed with Phoenix feathers and Holy Water from the Wellspring of Life. A potion that can instantly resuscitate anyone on the brink of death back to their peak condition.
I uncorked the vial and carefully placed it against Miss Lilith's lips, pouring the liquid slowly so she wouldn't choke. The moment the last drop entered her mouth, her eyes opened and she abruptly sat up.
Then, she turned her head around to face me and began to scream in my face.
"YOU FREAKING LUNATIC!!! I ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! WHO THE HELL SICCS A TROLL ON SOMEONE FOR TRAINING!?!"
Before she could continue spouting out her anger, I interrupted.
"Miss Lilith, you wish for great power, yes?"
The young lady nodded her head.
"Yeah, isn't it obvious?"
"Then you should be fully aware that if you wish to acquire great power in as little time as possible, there will be a lot of hardships, no?
The raven-haired girl begrudgingly agreed.
"Yeah! I know full well, thank you very much! I know I'm the weakest, no need to rub it in my face! I also know I'll have to work several times harder than anyone else if I want to have a shot at becoming stronger!
But a troll!?! A FREAKING TROLL!?! You're insane!"
Oh, my dear child, if you think surviving from a hungry troll hot on your heels for three hours is insane, wait until I tell you what comes next! Actually, why not tell her now!
"Miss Lilith, I am sorry to tell you that you'll have to beat that very same troll which chased you by Tuesday as a final test."
After dropping the bombshell, the young lady remained silent for a few moments before going into a screaming fit.
"YOU'RE TELLING ME TO DO WHAT!?!?!?!"
In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have told her about the test as she is currently on a screaming rant that would make sailors blush.
It took twenty minutes for her outburst of anger and frustration to cool down.
Looking at her agitated state, I think it's best to forgo some of the other intense exercises in mind and just teach her the technique that'll allow her to beat spellcaster.
"Alright, since I may have raised the bar a bit too high for you. For the next exercise, I'm going to teach you two techniques. These two techniques were the basics for all soldiers back in my world and allowed them to be on par with spellcasters."
Miss Lilith perked up at the last part of my sentence.
Seeing her interested, I continued.
"The first technique strengthens one's body, allowing them to push past their physical limits, gaining great strength, speed and defense. I call this one, Reinforcement, using this technique, even a rookie who has mastered just the basics can withstand a Fireball.
The second technique doesn't strengthen their body, but objects, more specifically, weapons. This one is called Imbuement. With imbuement, even a rusty sword can cut through a boulder. If used on a decent steel sword, it can no doubt cut through most barriers an Intermediate mage uses."
Her displeased expression was all but gone and her eyes were beaming with stars and full of excitement.
Unfortunately, I had to pour a bucket of water on her dreams, as there are drawbacks to them.
"However, the first technique, Reinforcement, has significant drawbacks, if used for too long and beyond one's mana capacity, one may experience fatigue at best and permanent muscle, bone, and mana vein damage.
The second technique, Imbuement, doesn't have as much cons, but the biggest issue will be the consumption rate of mana. In the first technique, mana is circulated within the body, so the loss rate isn't too high, meaning you can use it for quite some time before you run out of mana.
On the other hand, the second technique draws mana from your body and into another object. If the object doesn't have a good absorption rate like Adamantine or Mithril, as much as 50% of the mana poured in will be wasted.
We'll start with the first technique, as most find it easier to learn since it's just channeling mana within your body. Any questions?"
Miss Lilith raised her hand.
"What do you mean channeling mana? Did you forget that I can't use magic?"
I smiled, I knew she was going to ask that question, so I took the time to explain, but first I asked her to cast a spell.
The girl created a bright, light yellow circle, clearly a Light spell. The circle faded in and out as it struggled to come into existence. Sweat poured down her face as she did all she could to successfully produce the spell.
This went on for a minute before the circle shattered apart and Miss Lilith fell back on her butt, exhausted.
She then angrily spat out.
"Well? Are you happy now?"
Ignoring the venom in her words, I happily responded.
"Quite, actually. This only confirms my faith that'll you'll be able to fight the troll by Tuesday."
The raven-haired young lady was dumbfounded.
"What?"
"Allow me to explain. The techniques I have told you are separate from spell-casting."
The lass became even more puzzled.
"But they both use mana don't they? How are they different?"
I continued to explain.
"Yes, indeed, they both use mana. However, the steps are fundamentally different. Spellcasting is more cause-and-effect, you are converting the mana you carry into a useful spell you desire. Such as creating a fire."
To demonstrate, I created a small flame on one hand before going on.
"Imbuement and Reinforcement are different, rather than converting mana, they focus on transference. Basically, it's just sending pure mana to different parts of the body or objects to strengthen it."
Following my explanation, I cladded my other free hand with mana and flicked my fingers, creating a shockwave that destroyed a large swathe of the forest in a cone-shaped area.
Miss Lilith gawked at my blatant display of power. Several moments passed before she came back to her senses.
"Wait, how am I supposed to do that!?"
"Give or take fifty or so years of non-stop fighting and training."
"WHAT!?!"
"Of course, you don't just decimate an entire forest using your fingers alone overnight! You must start small, such as this rock."
I picked up a rock lying near my feet and crushed it, with one hand of course.
"Now, there are two ways to do it, but since you are a mage (even if you are a failure of one), I'll teach you the second method.
It's simple, really.
All you have to do is imagine casting a spell or attempt to cast one, try it."
The young lady looked like she still had a lot questions she wanted to ask but obeyed my instructions.
Once again, she tried casting a Light spell. The circle appeared once more, flickering in and out of existence.
"Can you sense the mana poured into the circle?"
"Yes, what next?"
"Instead of pouring it into the circle, concentrate it around your arms. Imagine the flow of mana within your body as a river and there's a damn blocking the flow at the end of it."
The magic circle slowly faded out of existence and her hands began to emit a silvery-grey light. Pure colorless mana.
For her first try, it isn't bad. It's only expected for beginners to not have as much control over their mana flow and end up wasting some of it, leaking it into their environment.
"Excellent! Keep maintaining for as long as you can!"
Five minutes passed and she's maintaining Reinforcement in her arms. Not too bad, about average for most beginners.
Then another ten minutes passed, and she's still going strong. Very impressive. Oh! She stopped, not bad at all! Ten minutes! Certainly not the longest I've seen a new recruit hold on for, but definitely above average!
I gave a Golden Apple to an exhausted Miss Lilith, lying on the ground after having her mana sucked dry. After her mana was replenished, I made her continue the exercise several more times for two hours before I became confident in the next part of Reinforcement training.
But before I begin, I tested her by giving her a rock and seeing if she can crush it with her hand. Turns out it was a success! She can now increase her own strength with mana.
I gave the excited girl some time to express her joy before moving onto the next stage of Reinforcement. Cladding one's entire body with mana.
Normally I'd get my recruits to practice Reinforcing their limbs for a few days at least, but I'm confident she can handle the next part ease.
The instructions were nearly the same, except, rather than just focusing mana in the arms, spread it across the entire body.
Miss Lilith successfully cladded her boy in mana, but in comparison to the previous practice stage in which she only Reinforced her arms, the duration she lasted for was much shorter. She gave up just a little under the three minute mark. That is to be expected as Reinforcing the entire body uses more mana than just Reinforcing the arms.
Like last time, I had her practice for several more hours before proceeding with the test.
It would be a lot harder and different than simply crushing a rock.
With a snap of my fingers, several stone statues were burst out of the ground. They are simple figures which resemble the wooden mannequins tailors use.
You can all probably guess where this was going.
After I finished making six statues, each spaced ten meters evenly apart from one another. I told her to smash them all in less than thirty seconds.
"You're telling me to do what!?! I have to destroy these things with only thirty seconds!?! Do you think I'm a cheetah or something!?!"
What on earth is a cheetah? I feel like it has something to do with cheese, but that wouldn't make sense since cheese don't have legs. Unless she were talking about a cheese wheel. With the right momentum and a steep enough incline, those things make devastating weapons. I've experienced first hand back in my youth.
It was a long time ago, back when I didn't have wrinkles and a moustache, a much simpler time of when we weren't threatened with extinction by Notoros and were only in a constant never-ending war against demons and monsters. Back when I wasn't military leader of the Coalition, but a talented up-and-coming major.
My squadron was trapped within a small fortress atop a steep hill, we were surrounded by several thousand ugly green goblins. They've laid siege against us for nearly two weeks. The wells were dry, the last piece of bread was eaten, we were down on our last legs. The only edible thing in the entire castle were three hundred wheels of cheese, each as large as a man. Problem was that they were to hard to eat, even when we tried to melt it with flames, the cheese became to burnt and ashy to eat.
One of my aides, Lieutenant Chester, who wasn't in the right state of mind at the time, had had enough and somehow got his hands on a cheese wheel. Chucking it at a small group of goblin scouts poking at our defense. The cheese wheel smashed the scouting party apart, killing a dozen while injuring many others.
That's when I had a genius plan, I had all the cheese wheels taken out of the fortress' cellar and ready at ramparts. Then, I attracted the entire goblin encampment's attention by making several insults about their mothers, undersized *Ahem!* 'manly parts,' and inability to get a girl without resorting to forceful and violent measures.
The insults worked like a charm, the entire goblin camp rallied and charged at our fortress with fury in their eyes. With great discipline, my men waited until the goblins were withing spitting distance before unleashing the great cheese avalanche.
The cheese wheels smashed through the goblin hordes with unrelenting ferocity. Hundreds of goblins became nothing more than a bloody meat paste, meanwhile countless others had bones broken or a limb torn off. Seeing such an unusual and destructive attack, the goblins had no choice but to retreat. Capitalizing on this opportunity, I led my men in a cavalry charge, routing the green-skinned bastards and breaking the siege on the fort, sending them packing back to whatever cesspool they were born from. The fort would be later named Cheesehill Castle and the legendary Charge of The Cheese Knights would forever become a great chapter in history, sung throughout the taverns and admired by all future soldiers and knights.
Actually, it was more of a dark stain on my reputation as countless of my future comrades, subordinates and superiors started calling me "Commander Cheese" after that battle. Trust me, you do not want to be remembered in a history book as "Commander Cheese." They even made a silly children's picture book about it!
What was I thinking about again? Ah, right! The true nature and definition of a cheetah!
Meh, I can ponder that later after I get her to break those statues.
I turned my attention to Miss Lilith and found her standing still with a incredulous look on her face.
"Did you really beat goblins by smooshing them with giant wheels of cheese?"
...
Damn, I think I may have accidentally said everything aloud.