A Training Montage, I Guess?

In the wee hours of the morning, stood a lonely mountain peak surrounded by a thick white fog that caused one's vision to become fuzzy.

Upon taking a closer look, in an open space within the woods, a tiny figure could be seen sitting cross-legged, with winds moving around him. Mana flowed into his body, and flowed out, constantly, at nearly the same rate.

Naturally, this tiny figure was Spring. Unlike his peers, he did not enjoy the luxury of wealth and riches due to his childhood circumstances, but rather, his strict father taught him that the most important things for training were willpower and diligence. These things were his only advantage over the rest of his peers who were blessed with a good amount of wealth. Although the rate of movement of mana was slow, it was constant, churning throughout his body, never stopping.

Any sweat produced by his body was instantly blown away by the surrounding air currents. His mana circuits were throbbing with a slow, dull pain, akin to a headache. Nothing too painful, but becomes unbearable over long periods.

However, he remembered what his father told him. Only during this time, will one be able to break through his limits. Hence, he must endure!

He absolutely must not let go!

For the competition half a year later, he needed to train as if his life was on the line!

The sensation you receive as you approach your limit leaves you feeling dizzy and nauseous. Nonetheless, Spring gritted his teeth and persevered on. Suddenly, he stopped. Out of mana. He reached down, to the side of the boulder and picked up a small glass vial filled with red liquid.

He downed it in one gulp and a warm feeling started rising from the pit of his stomach. He felt a strange heat gushing from within his body, and immediately this feeling refreshed him and lifted his spirits.

It was the power of the Redleaf potion!

Several days ago, the Redleaf was brewed into a batch of potions and given to Spring. Since then, he has been sitting at the same location, simply channeling mana, attempting to break through.

It must be said that this kind of potion truly provides a major boost for a low-layered practitioner like Spring. Within a mere few days of training, Spring could clearly feel that his mana had become at least twice as strong as it used to be.

Every time his mana was on the verge of collapse, he would take a drink, and his training would be revitalized.

However, while the Redleaf provided a major boost to Spring's training, the amount of the potion was not unlimited. After all, it was but a single mushroom. Therefore, after five days, there was no more potion to drink.

"Haah..."

Spring let out a sigh as he hopped off the boulder. He had been sitting in the same spot for 5 days and 6 nights, not moving in the slightest.

"3rd Layer!"

Spring gripped his tiny fists tightly as he enjoyed the power surging through his circuits, his tiny face breaking out into a smile of surprise and delight. Due to his family circumstances, ever since he started training, he had little opportunity to make use of potions. Thus, he did not expect that just after a single use, the results actually turned out so good.

"Hmm, not bad…"

As Spring was busy celebrating his advancement, a voice echoed from beside him. He hastily turned his head to see August standing below a big tree, clothed in a plain attire. Furthermore, he could see a shadow of a smile emerging on August's usually stern face.

"Father."

Spring excitedly proclaimed when he saw August who was standing beside the tree.

August nodded his head as he approached Spring. Scanning his son's body, a rare smile finally emerged, as he said, "3rd Layer, not bad."

"It was all thanks to the Redleaf", Spring said, as he dipped and shook his head.

"It's merely one mushroom. The rest is the result of your hard work and training." August softly sighed as he gazed at Spring who was standing before him. He had naturally noticed how hard Spring was pushing himself during this period. Several times, he would see his wife tearing up and even though he did not say anything, as Spring's father, he nonetheless felt some heartache.

He understood that the reason why Spring was training so incessantly.

"Since you have reached 3rd Layer, you are now just eligible to learn glyphs." August said.

"Unless I'm mistaken, your affinity is wind, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good, then copy down this diagram and study upon it. This is the spell 'wind blade'. The complete spell is formed off nine glyphs. One is enough to cast the most basic of wind blades, but only when used with 9 interlocking glyphs will it be a true spell. Once you can cast this, you can truly be proud of yourself."

Upon hearing this news, Spring's emerald-green eyes immediately lit up. August had yet to teach him any spells. Now that his chance has finally arrived, he was naturally ecstatic.

Spring nodded his head, then tried to from the same glyph that his father had done, not a moment ago. As he brought his mana together to form the shape of the glyph, the mana turned unstable and shot out in all directions, effectively exploding in Spring's face.

"You had better watch closely and memorize all nine glyphs carefully!"

A lot slower this time, August merely formed the glyphs one by one and shot them as individual wind blades.

Spring gazed attentively as August's mana danced around, his mind concentrated solely on the sight before him. Everything else was ignored, and all that was reflected in his eyes were the glowing symbols appearing and disappearing on August's palm.

Because he was teaching Spring, August purposely slowed down and repeated each glyph a few times. Finally, he gently slowed to a halt and turned to face Spring, asking, "Have you memorized it?"

Spring muttered to himself for a while before nodding his head, somewhat unsure.

"Oh? Why don't you show me?"

Astonishment streaked across August's face; although he had slowed his speed by quite a bit, these nine glyphs were not extremely easy to learn. Moreover, this was Spring's first ever contact with glyphs, could he have actually managed to memorize it so quickly?

As if he could sense August's astonishment, Spring extended his palm out, then moved his mana about, though in a shoddy and slow manner.

A bit of delight emerged on August's face as he stood to one side and witnessed, his son go through all 9 glyphs. Even though his performance was very amateurish and carried little substance, his accomplishment was still impressive especially considering that this was his first ever exposure to spells.

"Father, why is it that I cannot create the wind blade?" Spring helplessly asked as he completed another set of glyphs in shoddy and slow manner.

"You little brat, if it were so easy to produce a spell, then mages would be everywhere." August chided before continuing: "Your glyphs are hollow and meaningless, full of imperfections. Trying to cast the wind blade in one go is a fool's endeavor. Instead, take them one by one, and truly understand the meaning behind each one. Each time you learn a new glyph, your wind blade will get stronger. Come, try a few more times."

Spring's mouth chanted these words a few times before he tried to turn theory into action as he drilled. Meanwhile, August stood beside him, while occasionally pointing out some mistakes or slip-ups.

The afternoon quickly passed as Spring continuously practiced without rest, and his efforts were not for naught. Spring gradually became more proficient at the first glyph and although he was still unable to cast the spell, his attitude did not waver at all.

"Let today's training end here, you can resume your practice tomorrow." August suddenly said as he glanced to the sky before turning back to look at Spring who was perspiring profusely.

"En, Father please go back to rest first, let me stay just a little longer before returning home," Spring replied his mana did not stop as he concentrated on following August's instructions to feel the tiny movements and changes in the power flowing through his circuit. This is probably a bad idea since overworking oneself is bad for health. Yet spring will probably be fine, given that he's a protagonist, after all.

In response, August could only helplessly shake his head. Spring's improvement was very distinct, but truly forming a glyph was not easy, August had previously trained for a whole week before he finally succeeded.

Quickly informing Spring that he was leaving, August turned around with his hands at his back. As he turned, a smiling expression surfaced on his face, the perceptive ability that Spring displayed today caused him to be extremely satisfied.

"This child is unusually perceptive and possesses an unrelenting willpower that even surpasses me at my prime, this shouldn't be too difficult for him…"

*THUD*

As this thought flashed across August's mind, a loud, clear and crisp 'THUD' sound abruptly sounded out from behind. Immediately, his face went rigid as he continued moving, not turning around. Yet, at this moment, a bright light sparkled in his eyes.

Behind him, lay the remains of what was, until a moment ago, a tree. It appears that protagonists got to plot armor after all.