"...."
"...."
A cold wind blows between the two people facing each other.
The tip of the spear, pointing toward the ground, almost seemed to bow its head.
"Humans usually have a natural accumulation of mana in their bodies. They absorb the mana dispersed in the air."
Liana began explaining quietly.
"But it doesn't accumulate infinitely just because it's unused. The amount of mana the body can naturally accept is limited. Once it surpasses that limit, it is naturally expelled."
Through breathing, sweat, excretion, sleep, and so on.
The body prevents excessive mana from remaining inside in various ways.
If the mana becomes too abundant, it can lead to conditions like Mana Saturation, where the body swells, or Mana Stones, where crystalline formations of mana develop in the organs.
Mentally, it can cause Mana Madness.
"Your storage capacity is overwhelmingly low. To be honest—"
Liana hesitated briefly.
She stammered as if unsure how to explain.
"It's like… less than a wolf… Maybe closer to a dog. Actually, not just a little less."
"...."
"Or a tree… Well, I'm not sure about that either. But definitely more than a flower. That much is clear."
"That last part was meant to be comforting, wasn't it?"
Liana pressed her lips tightly together.
Isaac, who knew her well, could tell that her last words were intended as comfort.
But to anyone else, it might have sounded like mockery.
"Well, aura isn't necessarily everything, right?"
Silverna, who had been listening nearby, tried awkwardly to console him.
In reality, not being able to use aura didn't necessarily translate to a major weakness.
The Grandmaster never used aura.
"I haven't really used aura up until now either. Even Father rarely uses it."
In Caldias' case, he was somewhat skeptical about aura.
However, this wasn't because they couldn't wield it, but rather because they had developed spear techniques with ordinary soldiers in mind.
Only a tiny fraction of common soldiers could use aura, after all.
"I agree. Just being able to wield aura doesn't automatically make someone strong."
Liana supported Silverna's opinion.
While aura could be a factor, simply being able to use it didn't mean someone was a superior warrior.
"But it's still necessary."
Isaac needed aura.
Especially after sparring with Sharon's aura, this thought became even more firmly rooted.
"...."
"...."
While Isaac wrestled with his thoughts, the two women also worried, as if the matter concerned them directly.
From afar, the sound of a bell rang out.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Three times.
"It seems there's an attack on the front wall."
Silverna, resting her spear on her shoulder, immediately started running, and the other two followed behind.
***
The assault on the front wall continued until noon.
The situation was resolved when Silverna's spear pierced the named beast, a troll who leading the attack.
The battle, which had begun early in the morning, only ended after lunchtime.
Isaac now found himself back in the fortress' infirmary.
"Th-thank you—ugh!"
"Be careful. The thorns are still lodged in your body. Don't speak."
Isaac helped carry the injured soldier, who had been struck by a thorn shot by the troll.
Since the thorn had been meant for him, Isaac felt responsible and took the soldier to the infirmary.
"Ah, what a morning…"
A wizard with dark circles under his eyes moved busily around the infirmary, checking on the soldiers.
Isaac had hoped to see him use some healing magic, but instead, he simply used a large disinfected pair of tongs to pull out the thorns and stop the bleeding.
As Isaac watched this scene, the wizard gave a weary grin and clinked the tongs together.
"When I was first dispatched, I brought tweezers, but now I've thrown them all away. Tongs are the best for pulling out thorns as thick as a person's forearm. Got these from the kitchen."
"My name is Isaac."
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself."
The mage wiped his hands on his robe.
"Vivian. I'm a mage from the Magic Tower."
"It seems like you do more than just magic."
Isaac muttered as he looked around at the other treated soldiers on the beds.
Vivian's medical knowledge seemed far more advanced than his healing magic skills.
"Haha, healing magic is quite rare, you know. Unless the patient is in critical condition, I treat them directly. You need this kind of knowledge to properly use healing magic anyway."
Despite his haggard appearance, Vivian seemed surprisingly approachable.
His exhausted demeanor likely reflected how challenging his deployment in Malidan had been.
"May I ask you something?"
This was a good opportunity.
Since dawn, Isaac had been pondering mana-related issues and felt he could seek advice from this expert.
"Well, if I head to the dining hall now, I'll probably only get broth and nothing else."
Vivian joked with a laugh.
"What are you curious about?"
"I was born with a naturally low mana storage capacity."
Vivian's smile slowly faded.
His previously harmless-looking eyes sharpened with intelligence.
"I want to increase it. Is there any way to do so?"
"Hmm."
Vivian nodded and walked slowly toward the window, then smiled and pointed.
"Jump out."
"..."
"Being reborn—that's the only way. Do you know where mana is stored in the body, Isaac?"
Like an actor on stage, Vivian strode back toward Isaac, his voice growing louder with excitement.
"It's the heart. The heart. Tell me, have you ever seen someone replace their heart and live? I haven't. Never even heard of it."
"..."
"That's why it's called a core. A 'mana core.' And this is exactly why mages are so rare."
Vivian's face was filled with pride as he smiled.
He placed a hand on his chest, as if guarding a precious treasure.
"This is something that's decided at birth."
'So mages really do have a sense of superiority.' Isaac thought.
He'd heard that mages were organized differently.
The Magic Tower operated independently, unaffiliated with any kingdom.
Their hierarchy had only two levels:
Mages and everyone else.
To them, even nobles and royalty were just commoners who couldn't wield magic.
"There are many elixirs in the world. You've heard of Helmut's Roselixir, haven't you?"
Vivian's tone was polite, but his actions and demeanor were far less so.
"Enhancing physical abilities is deeply connected to mana, of course. But that doesn't mean it increases the amount of mana you can store."
Isaac's question, which touched on something akin to an absolute truth among mages, seemed to have irked Vivian quite a bit.
"It's unfortunate, but there are things in this world that are decided at birth."
Vivian bowed his head slightly and smiled.
"That's why people admire geniuses. Because they have something others can never possess."
"..."
"Does that answer your question?"
"Somewhat."
Isaac nodded, but his expression remained unchanged from before he had asked the question. His face, full of deep contemplation, showed no sign of giving up.
"...It seems it didn't answer your question after all."
Vivian seemed visibly annoyed.
He had taken the time to explain and persuade, yet Isaac's expression was exactly the same as it had been beforehand.
"Listen carefully. There's a paper from the Magic Tower titled The Correlation Between Background and Mana Storage Capacity—"
"Wouldn't you have given up on being a mage if you had low mana storage?"
"…Now you're interrupting me. Of course, I would have. It's a matter of talent. Why bother challenging the impossible? You give up, naturally."
For those entirely lacking talent, it was an untouchable realm.
"But some people just can't give up."
Isaac, who had never stopped wielding a sword even after injuring his leg, spoke from experience.
"You and I don't seem to get along very well."
Perhaps deciding there was no point in continuing the conversation, Vivian pursed his lips and went back to tending to the soldiers.
Watching his retreating figure, Isaac scratched his cheek awkwardly.
'I think I get along better with people like Jonathan.'
Jonathan, who became one of Helmut's knights by abandoning even his instincts out of admiration for Arandel.
Isaac saw a bit of himself in Jonathan.
Feeling the conversation wasn't going anywhere, Isaac left the infirmary.
"Ah, there you are."
Silverna, who had been a star in the battle earlier, was waiting in the hallway.
"…Weren't you going to get something to eat?"
"I was waiting to eat with you. Ta-da!"
She held out a basket filled with sandwich ingredients, neatly organized.
"If we go to the dining hall now, it'll be a madhouse. It's better to eat separately."
"When did you prepare all this?"
Judging by the state of the food, it didn't look like it had been prepared today. It seemed more like it had been packed yesterday, but preparing this wasn't really Silverna's style.
"Ahem, does it matter?"
"Anna must've made it."
Well, it wasn't particularly important anyway.
"Let's go. I've got something special prepared too."
She rummaged through the basket and pulled out a large piece of smoked meat wrapped in a green leaf.
This one seemed freshly prepared, still warm and giving off a distinct smoky aroma.
"Impressive, isn't it? Have you ever heard of northern troll meat? It's tough if you eat it as is, but when it's smoked the northern way, it's incredibly delicious."
"Pfft."
"Hey, why are you laughing? This is a rare delicacy, you know!"
Silverna nudged Isaac with her shoulder, grinning as she led him away.
"Come on, let's go. Let's find a spot with less wind and have sandwiches together."
"I really shouldn't think this, but…"
If she had a tail, she'd look just like a puppy wagging it enthusiastically.
Clunk.
"Oh."
At that moment, Vivian emerged from the infirmary.
He glanced briefly at them before giving a slight nod and heading toward the dining hall.
Silverna alternated her gaze between the two of them before asking, after confirming Vivian was out of hearing range,
"Did something happen? He might look like that, but he's usually pretty friendly with people."
"Hmm…"
After briefly explaining that he might have accidentally touched a nerve, Silverna nodded with a complicated expression.
"I've never heard of anyone increasing their mana capacity either."
Isaac was the same.
Even ten years into the future, no such person existed.
As Silverna glanced at Isaac's troubled face, she cautiously asked,
"Are you going to give up?"
"Hmm?"
"On aura. Are you going to give up on it?"
"No."
When Isaac replied as if it were an obvious question, making Silverna's lips curl into a grin.
"Why? They said it's impossible. With your current mana, it's going to be difficult."
"It's always been that way."
With a bitter smile, Isaac followed after Silverna.
"Impossible, pointless, delusional. I've heard those words so often that I've become numb to them. And besides—"
The truths Vivian had revealed hadn't left the slightest dent in Isaac's resolve.
"I've never made an effort that felt pointless."
Isaac added as he scratched his cheek.
The knowledge he had painstakingly built during his years with the Silent Sword was now the foundation for everything he was.
Although he was still in the preparation stage, laying the groundwork, Isaac was clearly moving forward, step by step.
"You stubborn fool."
Silverna patted his back with a loud thwack and laughed.
"Anyway, doesn't it feel rewarding? Huh? You should pray to the goddess every night."
"Why?"
"You never know. Maybe the goddess will be so moved by your prayers that she'll give you a tremendous, tremendous, tremendous gift!"
Silverna exaggeratedly raised both hands in the air.
By the time the two of them had stepped outside, they were already engaged in trivial conversation.
"Tremendous, tremendous, tremendous? Why did you add an extra 'tremendous'?"
"Because it's that tremendous, tremendous, tremendous."
"What are you even saying?"
"Forget it! Just find a spot for us to eat. A sandwich with smoked troll meat is seriously going to be tremendous, tremendous, tremendous."
Maybe it was because she was in high spirits after her big performance today.
Isaac let it slide and scanned their surroundings before hesitating for a moment.
"Are we eating just the two of us?"
"Does that bother you? We're friends, aren't we?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Quit worrying about weird stuff just because you're a married man."
What was this?
Isaac had tried to politely reject Silverna's advances by using his status as a married man as a shield.
But instead, Silverna seemed to be using that same fact to get closer to him more casually.
"What's wrong, married man? If you want, you can call your wife to join us."
"No, it's fine."
Isaac's answer was sharp and immediate.
"Knew you'd say that."
Silverna's playful whisper was whisked away by the northern wind and, unfortunately, never reached Isaac's ears.