014 | Acquaintance

My name is Asher.

I'm currently "facing" one of the strongest individuals in the entire world. I didn't think I would even encounter someone of this level so fast either. One of The Twelve Duke's, Calamno Delevoid has set his sight on me, according to Etho.

Someone who gained the title of one of The Twelve Dukes, people who are renowned and recognized as the strongest, is not an individual to be taken lightly. These people are ones that I should absolutely take caution in approaching. The way I act could easily lead me directly to my death. I'm nowhere near their level of power...yet.

As I wandered deep into the forest and further away from the mansion, I could feel Calamno's presence even more vividly than before. It seems like his presence was being masked while Rowan and Patricia, both incredibly strong individuals, were present near the same area. Now that I'm a bit further away, the old man's existence is even more strongly identifiable.

No, it's not that, it's simply because, over the past week, I've been training in my own room. I haven't missed a single day where I would sit down to meditate, slowly cultivating control over the mana that flows inside of me. I've broken three of the twelve seals placed on me so far and I already have decent amounts of magic power at my disposal.

I stopped walking. This distance should do.

"What are your intentions, old man?"

Under the trunk of a tall forest tree, a silhouette of Calamno seemingly made up of shadows emerged. Color returned to the silhouette immediately and it was Calamno in a different pair of robes. He was picking his lip while examining me.

"I just can't put my finger around it..."

"Around what?"

"How a four-year-old like you is so talented."

"Well, I'm just-"

"No, not JUST talented, no word can describe how capable you are. Humans don't reach their age of maturity until just below two decades. You're not a synthesized being are you?"

"I am not."

"Are you a homunculus? I know the Dwarves have been working on some artificial humanoid creatures. I didn't think their prototype would launch until a few more decades at least."

"You got the wrong idea-"

"Then perhaps are you a Lord? Disguised as a human child to practice your acting skills?"

What the hell is a Lord?

"I don't know what you're even talking about. Have you gone senile already old man?"

I could tell Calamno was angry. I might have hit a sore mark.

"I am not senile and will never be anytime soon. It seems you're none of the above. You're just THAT gifted..."

"A Lord, what is it? How is it different from one of The Twelve Duke's?"

Calamno paced around while looking at the bark of the tree trunks.

"A Lord is an individual that is simply so powerful you can consider them god-like. They are not limited by a physical or tangible shape."

"So a spirit?"

"Not really but in a way, you're right. Some of them used to be mortal but have gained power and chose to ascend beyond worldly limits. A Lord is powerful in their one respective power or trait."

"Uh-huh?"

"Like, the battle between the Lord of Water and the Lord of Darkness that caused an entire nation to evacuate. According to some sources, it ended up in a draw. Such a futile fight that went on for so many years only to result in a stalemate."

"So, let's not get too off-topic."

Although that WAS interesting information. I'll keep that stored in my brain for later usage. I continued on, "What are your intentions. Why are you interested in a child?"

"Don't put it that way, people will think I'm a child predator."

"..."

"..."

The awkward silence was really noticeable if you couldn't tell. I cleared my throat since Calamno was CLEARLY not going to say anything.

"So what are you thinking, old man?"

"Nothing much. Just where you get your intelligence from. I know my daughter and you read in the library almost every day, but surely, there's only so much you can do from just reading. There is no way for your mana control to have increased so much unless YOU were practicing a method of training."

I guess he's caught on already. I thought I was safe when I was purposely hiding my aura and magic power.

"I just imagined and thought about how to do it and it worked. So I continued."

Calamno made a sigh of disbelief, but what can you do aside from believing it, there's nothing he can do.

"I really struck gold haven't I?"

"Just to be clear, we're not friends."

"Don't be like that~ I'll give you some candy?"

"You sound even MORE like a child predator now, old man."

"Fine. How about this, I'll help you get your mana under your complete control in a few days. Then, perhaps I'll teach you more tips and tricks while you become my friend. No, not even, we can start out as acquaintances."

This old man has no bad intentions. Despite the fact he can easily force me into something, he's rather giving options and a choice. Simply being ABLE to choose was something that never happened in my previous life. I couldn't help but smile.

I put out my hand and Calamno grabbed it with his. We shook on it.

"It's a deal, acquaintance."

The old man grinned, I would say for the third time he looked like a child predator but I think I'll hold back on that. He's a new acquaintance after all.

* * *

Well, it was a good thing that I accepted that deal. I could have risked it a bit by bargaining for more benefits but I think it's vital for me to have my mana completely under control. Not only will this greatly increase my versatility in combat but also reduce the risks of Mana Instability to nearly zero.

"Feel my mana flowing through your body. Let it in. If you don't you might explode."

Calamno says with a calm expression. Right now we're at Rowan's training grounds. I sat cross-legged while Calamno had his palm oh my head, channeling his mana at small amounts in slow intervals.

"Now I wouldn't say that I would quite literally explode."

"You won't, but you'll wish you exploded rather than feel the pain of two different types of mana clashing inside your body."

"I guess so."

"Can you continue?"

I should probably provide some context. What Calamno means about me exploding is the combination of two different individuals' magic powers. Every person has their own specific type of mana, the Empire conducted some research and concluded that it was some sort of telepathic wavelength that mana produces.

Either way, if someone rejects another's mana, the two energies will clash. Having that occur inside me would not be pleasant.

On to the main topic, Calamno has been doing this sort of training with me for the past day. He claims that the control of my mana will greatly increase if I were to practice moving high amounts of mana. That way, I become habituated to administrating a larger portion which consequently makes controlling the amount of mana I usually have easier.

To further simplify this, if you master how to calculate values with three digits, then calculating two digits would be even easier. This concept is practiced with mana instead. I have to say, I do feel the results of this paying off. The only downside is that it requires another person to make this possible.

Rudif and my rabbit were looking at me from the sidelines. Rowan and Patricia had some business to attend to so they left for the capital early morning.

"Asher!"

"Mutt."

"What are you doing this for?"

"I'm-"

What AM I doing this for? There's no war for me to fight. There's no one chasing after me. There's no one who even knows about me aside from Calamno. What even is the reason that I'm trying to get stronger?

Well, I do want to enjoy my life this time. I suppose having the capabilities to go explore wherever you want is my reason. Regardless of any dangers, keeping a strong connection with mana is important. For now, I have no reason to get stronger. Though, if I can do something that could benefit me in the long run. why shouldn't I?

"I'm getting stronger to beat you up."

Rudif had an absolutely terrifying expression, "D-don't be mean!"

"I'm just joking. I would never harm my friends."

I felt Calamno chuckle behind me.

"You're just an acquaintance. Shut it, old man."

Calamno rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, fine~ This poor Calamno Delevoid, one of The Twelve Duke's, who are people renowned as the strongest in the world, will quietly and respectfully, accept my role as your acquaintance."

"Friends don't care about titles, right Rudif?"

Rudif shook away his terror and quickly joined my side. As he just escaped slavery, having friends who don't care about one's background is the best thing he could wish for.

"Yes, yes!"

I felt a higher volume of mana circulating inside of me.

"Did you just-"

Calamno started whistling. As if you couldn't be more obvious.

Happy days like this go by quickly. Despite our occasional bickering, Calamno and I get along quite well. Within the first week, my mana was not only under my complete control, but I also increased the amount. I also felt my magic prowess increase. With this, my near-limitless knowledge of magical spells from my past life could easily be made into reality.

"How does this concept work?", I asked.

All of us were in the library reading, excluding Rowan and Patricia. Whatever their business is, it seems like it's taking quite a while. It's already been a week and a half since they said they would be away.

My rabbit nested on my lap while we were each reading some sort of book. Rudif picked something about transformation. Calamno read about alchemy. I was making myself busy studying a concept that the Empire never got to fully research during my previous life. Time Magic.

"Ah, don't you think you start off with easier types of magic first?"

"Just explain it you dimwit."

"Fine."

Although I felt everything was fine, it still troubles me that Patricia and Rowan still haven't returned. I shouldn't worry myself over them though, I can't imagine either of them losing from what I've witnessed. I ended up zoning out and didn't listen to a single thing Calamno said as he was explaining the concept of Time Magic.

"Can you repeat every single word you just said in the past five minutes?"

Calamno looked at me with murderous eyes, "Why did you ask me to explain then?"

"My bad."