21 The reason to work hard

It had been a month since Lyon had been trained by Ur. He had to admit that the magic training was quite unreasonable, especially when he needed to take off his clothes, but he also understood it was necessary.

To understand the nature of Ice Make magic, the caster needs to get used to the low temperature. It might seem unreasonable, but it is necessary. Though, there was also a strange explanation, but he didn't care much since he wanted to learn this magic as soon as possible. He didn't care about the price which he needed to pay since he wanted to defeat Bourne.

Lyon also took off his clothes and learned how to use Ice Make magic. In his mind, this magic was very strong, especially when he remembered his duel with Bourne a month ago. Thinking about Bourne, he couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't become Ur's official pupil, but he worked hard for it.

"Have you gotten used to it?"

Lyon nodded upon hearing Ur's question. "Yes, let me show you." He gathered his palms together and focussed his magic power. "Ice Make: Stick!" His palms were glowing then an ice stick which was around a meter appeared in his hand. Even though he had successfully used this magic, it was quite fragile.

"That's good. You learn quite fast." Ur nodded and thought that Lyon was quite good.

Lyon smiled happily when he was praised, but then he heard a sound of chopping wood on the side. He looked at Bourne who chopped a wood with a worn out axe and couldn't help but suck a deep breath. His first impression of Bourne was that Bourne was a very lazy guy, but after he had stayed with him for a month, he realized that he was wrong. He also understood why Bourne wanted to be lazy since Bourne's training was very hard.

Lyon didn't remember how many hours Bourne had been chopping the wood, but he wasn't sure whether he could do it since that training was very monotious and very hard. He could even see Bourne's palm was bleeding because of that training. But because of that, it ignited his fighting spirit to chase after Bourne.

Looking at Lyon, Ur shook her head. Even though Lyon was quite good, compared to Bourne, the gap between them was very big. She didn't train Lyon too hard since it had only been a month since Lyon had joined them. Even so, she knew that Lyon had some talent for learning Ice-Make magic. "What is important about Ice Make magic is your imagination. As long as your imagination is strong enough then you can become strong with this magic."

Lyon was quite dissatisfied with his magic and asked, "Then what about him? His Ice Make is stronger than mine!" Looking at the fragile ice stick in his hand, he couldn't help but become depressed when he thought about the ice orca which made him pissed on his pants and cry. Till now, he remembered that scene clearly and he wanted to reach that level as soon as possible.

"Be patient. He has been training with me for a long time and I've told you before right? There are two types of Ice Make....."

"Static and dynamic." Lyon sighed and nodded. "I know, but I want to develop the dynamic one." Rather than creating a weapon or something tasteless, he wanted to create a cool beast or animal such as the ice orca which was made by Bourne.

"Well, in the future, you should be able to do it." Ur thought for a while and said, "But if you really want to create a dynamic then you should observe an animal movement since it is necessary."

"Observing an animal movement?"

"Yes. You might not able to create something big, but it is possible to create something small such as a bird in our surroundings or a bug in this area. But you can try it later since I can see that you're very tired."

"..."

Lyon nodded and decided to rest since he had been training in the early morning.

"You've been using your magic power since this morning. It might be the reason why your ice stick is fragile."

Lyon sighed and decided to take a rest, but even so it was very cold since he was only wearing his undies. Looking at Bourne again, he realized the distance between them. Even though Bourne was two years younger than him, he felt that he was left behind.

'Even so, I won't give up!'

Ur also looked at Bourne, but suddenly her expression frowned since it seemed that she had been fooled again by him.

---

Bourne was resting on the top of the tree and thought about his life. He really felt bored and wasn't sure what to do. Training was good, but even so doing it everyday would make him bored. He often read manga about training arcs, but he understood that the main character could become stronger because they had a purpose. Yet, he didn't have a purpose. He didn't understand why he needed to train so hard when Ur would become his bodyguard in the future.

Bourne knew that the world was dangerous, but even so, he had Ur beside him. Looking at Lyon who trained very hard, he thought that he could make him into a minion in the future since he knew that Lyon had potential on learning Ice Make magic.

'What's my purpose?'

Training was important, and he knew about it, but he felt that he didn't need to train so hard, especially when he felt that his strength was enough to protect himself. With his "Water" magic, most of attack which was sent to him would be turned into useless and with his ice magic, he could freeze the enemy.

Bourne was only 6 years old, but even so his power reached the peak of being a B-Class magician. Even if he was lazy around, he was confident that he would become an S-Class magician when he was 20 or so. It was an amazing feat, especially when there were a lot of people who couldn't even reach A-Class magician in their life.

"Bourne, get down for me or I'll catch you."

"....."

Bourne didn't expect to be found out so soon. He didn't expect Ur to find out that the one who had been chopping the wood was a copy of him which he created using Ice-Make magic. He came down from the tree and looked at Ur who stared at him with an expressionless expression.

Looking at Bourne, Ur wasn't sure whether she should praise him for using Ice Make magic to create a copy of him to chop the wood or reprimand him for skipping out on training.

"Ur, why do I need to train so hard?" Bourne asked.

"...."

Hearing that question, Ur also wasn't sure what to say. With her around, there was no way that she would put him in a dangerous situation and she also hadn't seen someone as talented as him. Looking at Bourne, she knew that he needed a rival to ignite his will to train hard. Thinking for a while, she looked at him and asked, "Is there something that you want to do in the future?"

Bourne thought for a while and said, "I might want to create a company?"

"Eh? Company?"

If Bourne was as simple as Lyon then it would be simple, but this guy's mind was very mature which made her troubled, but well, it was also the reason why she fell for him. "Isn't there something else?"

"...." Bourne pondered for a while then looked at Ur. "...Marry you?"

"...."

Ur blushed and looked away.

"..."

Bourne looked at this woman and wondered how this woman could be this cute.

Ur suddenly realized something then coughed. "If you want to marry me then you need to be stronger than me." Her expression became serious and said, "So work hard!"

"....."

Bourne realized how unreasonable this woman was.

"....."

Lyon didn't know what kind of conversation they had, but he had gotten quite sleepy.