Two-men conversation(2)

"So what about that young knight Pablo? You specially sent someone as inexperienced in protecting others as him."

"It's as you said. So we just pretend that we don't know anything about what happened."

Siegfried nodded. Karl continued.

"Also, send someone to check that city guard Ash."

"I don't think there's a need for that; I already know him."

Karl looked at him inquiringly.

"After all, it was I who recommended him to become a city guard. Also, thanks to his father's assistance, you were able to overthrow the previous Count Bartof from his position a year and a half ago."

"I see, so it was him."

Karl nodded.

"His father's sacrifice was indeed very helpful. So if he wishes to become Ethan's personal guard, it shouldn't be a problem then."

Karl sat down and sipped his tea, which was still warm thanks to the special tea cup.

"Good. I think we are short on men's power to guard our territories. So the addition of new members won't be bad."

"You shouldn't worry about that. Other captains with guards will return soon."

Siegfried creased his brows.

"Are they able to finish the task that you gave them, my lord?"

"No, but they made some progress, and I didn't expect that they would manage to succeed in the first place."

"Hehe, your expectations from your people are as demanding as always, my lord."

Karl looked at him.

"I agree that this task was impossible to achieve, but it's not that I always gave such tasks; won't you agree, Captain?"

Siegfried shrugged his shoulders.

"I was just joking. And with such high pay, your expectations are understandable, my lord."

"Good that you understand. Also, you shouldn't worry about Ethan anymore."

"Alright, I understand."

Siegfried said dejectedly, raising his hands as if giving up.

"Knowing you, I assume that you have your ways, my lord."

"Yes, I have. And if something really goes wrong with him, I believe Ethan will tell himself eventually. After all, we are family."

Captain Siegfried stood up, and his expression turned to that of his usual kind old man.

"Is there anything else you want from me, my lord?"

"No, it should be all. You can go. Also, don't forget about the little celebration in the evening and bring Muller with you."

"Hoho, alright. And thanks for the tea."

Karl nodded, and Captain Siegfried left the room.

After that, Karl went to the window, thinking.

"In what mess were you caught up, my dear sister?"

He mumbled, looking outside.

"Am I so untrustworthy that you don't need my help?"

***

Ethan just returned to his room, sat down at the desk, and took out the book with fire spells. It contains common spells up to the fourth circle. And Ethan has already read it.

Though Ethan can't use most of the spells, he was a first-circle mage, and now he can learn and use three spells from it.

One was a 'Fire Bullet'. And as its name says, this spell is a little ball made from a fire element to attack from afar, from around fifty meters if the user is skilled enough, but for beginners, it will be good if it reaches twenty-five meters. Not very powerful, but enough to wound other people.

Another one was 'Flamethrower'. And it was way more powerful than a 'fire bullet', but it's range was only around two to five meters, based on the user's skill. It can throw flames constantly until the user's mana runs out.

The last one was 'Warmth'. Its use was to keep the user's body temperature in a cold environment. Though it uses mana constantly, it uses very little at the same time.

[Um, so from which spell should we start? Also, um, in this book only mentioned using fire elements; nothing about moving atoms, as you taught, teacher.]

[Heh, are you saying that what I taught you is meaningless?]

Ethan wanted to say no instinctively, but he knew that it was a lie, and his teacher would notice it. So...

[Um, yes...]

[Are you sure?]

His teacher's voice became threatening.

[No! I mean, um... Your lessons were very helpful for me to learn about many things. It's just... Um, I think they are not very useful in magic...]

[Oh? Go on, tell me why you think so.]

It sounded like a simple question. Even though he had some confidence in answering this question at first, Ethan felt that the result would be his utter destruction by his teacher's logical arguments.

[Um, I'm sorry.]

Apologizing was his only choice.

[Heh, how boring. You were so confident that I thought you had some solid arguments, but it looks like you don't. Too boring.]

Ethan lowered his head in embarrassment.

[Though I should admit that at the first time I learned about different elements, I thought that it was utter bullshit. But after learning more about magic, I found out that elements exist and you can use them without knowing physical laws.]

Ethan's face brightened, and he raised his head.

[Then...]

[You were wrong. And I can prove it before you start arguing. Let me control your hands and mana.]

[Um, okay.]

He lost control over his hands, and his mana started to move to his left hand.

[Look closely, Ethan.]

On his left palm, an illusory flame started to burn. It was weak and unnatural, like at Ethan's first time.

[And look at your right palm now.]

His mana started to move, and with a spark flame started to burn on his right palm. This flame was beautiful, like the flames at the fireplace, much stronger than the flame on his left palm. It was so strong that Ethan felt that if this flame wasn't formed using his mana, his hand and shirt would be caught in flames. Good thing that it was just a simple elemental manipulation formed by his own mana from his own mana heart.

[So do you see the difference now?]

[Um, yes.]

Ethan saw it clearly and felt it. Though he can't feel his hands, he can sense how much mana is going into each hand. And the mana quantity going to his right hand was three times smaller than the quantity going to his left hand.

[Heh, good. As you can see, though you can use mana to create different phenomena without knowing about natural laws, it will be weak. And if you reinforce elements with knowledge about natural laws, your magic will be much stronger. Also, it uses a much smaller amount of mana, as if the world itself were cheering you on for knowing its laws. Ain't it fascinating?]

His teacher's voice was very energetic, and his words were so inspiring that Ethan's heart started to beat faster involuntarily.

[Also the benefit of knowing natural laws, not only in power and mana usage. Look closely.]