Healed Leg and The Start of Hell

With a similar rhythm Jien continued his studying spree for several days. During these days Jien did little other than read, take notes in his best penmanship, use the Personal Library spell, eat and sleep. It would take about an hour of time to gather enough mana to use the spell another time. The process of gathering mana was never a quick art and not even top arcane researchers had come up with a way to speed up the distillation. This in turn was the cause of mana being used in a more precise and sparing manner on average.

Jien would take his notes, use the spell until he was close to having drained his mana fully, though there of course was a risk in doing so. He walked that ledge knowing that it was the only known way for one to increase their capacity to store mana. One would need to almost exhaust themselves and then wait for mana to regather. If successful, like working a muscle the soul core would then be able to take in slightly more mana. Though it wasn't noticeable the first few times he cast the spell, as he went on with the practice, he started to notice that he could keep the spell active a bit longer, if only a few seconds.

On the third day after he started his studying streak Runa had come in and checked his wounds once more. It was at that time that with a smile she announced that Jien's leg had healed up. Though the wound had been a bit deep and was definitely a bit difficult to heal given that it was caused by a spiked whip, it had healed well with nothing, but a very light scar left behind. This was celebrated by everyone at the manner, but nobody was more excited than Mark and Emily, and their smiles were truly frightening in Jien's eyes.

Now that his leg was healed, they would be able to get him started on his training again. Though his shoulder was still healing they made sure to start him on other exercises while ensuring his injured, dominant arm stayed firmly in a sling. They didn't want to aggravate his injury, but they also were excited to get him training physically again. Emily also found this to be the opportune moment to try and train Jien to be able to wield his rapier in his off hand.

Not as many were ambidextrous as one would think given how prominent martial training was in their society but Emily and Mark both felt that being able to wield ones weapon in the off hand was a useful skill should another instance like this injury occur. Their job was to prepare Jien as best they could, and this skill would definitely be of benefit if he became competent in it and continued to train in it. 

Like this Jien's daily life became a living hell. In the morning, he returned to having to jog around the manor. However, true to their word Mark and Emily made his training experience massively more difficult by adding heavy weights to his ankles. They also jogged along with him, keeping him on a specific schedule of jogging for two hours. They started with lighter weights and if they felt he was having too easy a time would up the weight slightly. This would continue until Jien had trouble keeping up the pace required by his mentors, but they didn't let him rest. This was to prepare him for a time where he would likely have to run while carrying supplies, or perhaps wearing heavy armor.

After the two hours of jogging Emily would take over and train Jien in how to wield the rapier in his off hand. This mainly consisted of him having to try and strike Emily properly or parry her light blows. Neither she nor Mark pushed too hard in this aspect since they needed Jien's shoulder to heal before they could push him harder. Instead, their studies into mana manipulation and the arcane arts took the forefront.

While Jien was excited at first about the extra time added to his favorite subject, he soon found out that even one's favorite thing could end up becoming a pain. Not much changed from the original course of studies except for the addition of a pair of bracelets that Jien had to wear while he practiced. The purpose of the bracelets was the disruption of mana. They were a lesser version of the manacles that had been used on the bandits upon their capture to keep them from escaping through the use of mana.

While the bracelets did not stop mana entirely from flowing throughout the body, they would make it harder to control. Where the practice was once akin to water flowing through a clean pipe, mana was now more akin to thick sludge being poured through the same pipe. It took a lot more force and finesse to make even small portions of mana obey his will. Of course, this training was done in moderation. They made sure that he also practiced without the bracelets to ensure that he wouldn't lose touch with what it felt like to cast spells without them.

The bracelets were meant to assist in training fine control, but because they made one use more force when controlling mana, they could also lead to one accidentally forcing too much mana into action when not worn. They removed them at times to ensure that he wouldn't lose touch with the feeling of casting normally. This training method showed its benefits quickly as Jien learned to sense his mana flow better and in turn use less mana where it wasn't needed.

The last part of his day after eating dinner with his father would be returning to his room to continue his studies and the use of the Personal Library spell. Though now his time to do so was cut down drastically. Between the reduced time-frame to study and how exhausted the training was he didn't make any great headway in this field at first. It was only after a few days of the new training regime that he was able to pick up the pace again. And only a few days after that his shoulder was declared as healed enough to start light use, bringing even more devilish smiles to Emily and Mark's faces.