"What... what did you say? Auxiliary mana?" Alfoi stammered, utterly bewildered. A 3-circle master mage was considered on par with a knight, a formidable force on the battlefield, often receiving more respect than knights. A mage could easily decimate dozens of soldiers in one go. To be treated as mere "auxiliary mana" was a humiliation Alfoi had never experienced in his life. "It's just something to keep in mind. That's all you need to know," Ghislain said as he looked at the remaining luggage in the carriage, clicking his tongue. "Carry your own stuff, unless you want me to smash the carriage." With that, Ghislain turned his horse and headed towards the barracks. Vanessa, torn between the fear of retaliation from the wizards and wanting to avoid them, hurriedly followed Ghislain. The mercenaries sheathed their weapons and passed by the wizards with snide remarks. "Who are these fancy lads blocking the way?" "Are these scrawny guys supposed to be mercenaries?" "Our employer was talking about mana or something. Are they mages?" "Nah, what would mages be doing in a place like this? Probably just some rich merchants." Since neither Ghislain nor the wizards had mentioned the word "Tower," even the nearby mercenaries had no idea who they were dealing with. Alfoi gritted his teeth, glaring at the mercenaries. "These... these filthy commoners dare..." But, unable to reveal his true identity, there was nothing he could do at the moment. "Just wait... Once I become the Tower Master, none of you will be spared." The other wizards wouldn’t dare think of revenge against a noble like Ghislain. But Alfoi, nursing the deep wound to his pride, had no intention of forgetting this humiliation. With the help of the other wizards, he used a minor healing spell to treat his injuries. Fortunately, no bones were broken, so low-level healing magic quickly restored him. Even as he ground his teeth in frustration, Alfoi couldn’t shake his curiosity. ‘How on earth did he beat me so badly?’ Since he only had superficial injuries, he couldn’t even use them as an excuse to avoid carrying the luggage. So, together with the other wizards, he reluctantly unloaded the bags from the carriage. "Ugh, why is it so heavy?" Because they had come prepared to stay for a year, they had brought a considerable amount of luggage. Thinking Vanessa would be the one to carry it, the wizards hadn’t paid attention to the weight when they packed, so the bags were both large and heavy. None of them had ever done physical labor before, and now the bags were proving far too cumbersome for them. Although they could have used strengthening magic, their pride wouldn’t allow them to resort to magic for such menial tasks. As Alfoi glanced around, he spotted Belinda and commanded her haughtily. "Summon the servants immediately to carry these bags." "The young master said you should carry them yourselves. Wouldn’t want the carriage to get smashed, now would we? It looks expensive." "You...!" "There's only six of you. You can't manage it? Vanessa was carrying everything just fine on her own." Belinda said with a sly smile. Alfoi’s face turned red with anger. Judging by her outfit, she was nothing more than a servant, yet she had the audacity to ignore his orders. "Is everyone in this land insane? I have never done such menial work! This is what people like you are for!" Despite his outburst, Belinda remained unfazed. "I don’t want to get scolded by the young master. He’s got a pretty nasty temper, you know." "Just wait. Just you wait. I won’t let any of you get away with this insolence." Alfoi had no choice but to cast a strengthening spell to lift the bags. Just then, two figures emerged from the castle, leading a group of maids. They were Elena and Gillian’s daughter, Rachel. "Belinda! You’re back?" "Oh, Miss Elena! It’s been a while. How have you been, Rachel?" "I’ve been well, Belinda. How about you?" Rachel, who had been steadily recovering thanks to her medication, had become Elena’s constant companion. They were of similar age and had quickly formed a strong bond, always staying together. "What’s all the commotion?" Elena asked. "Just some guests struggling with their luggage," Belinda replied nonchalantly. "Hmm, I see. Why didn’t you call the servants? Is it really that heavy?" Elena casually approached the bags, effortlessly lifting a couple in her hands. "Huh? It’s not that heavy at all." The wizards were astonished as they watched Elena easily hoist the bags with both hands. Belinda clapped her hands, feigning surprise. "Oh my, you must’ve been working out lately! How impressive!" "No, I don’t do anything like that. It’s really not that heavy. I’ll help out. We should treat our guests well, after all." If the young lady was carrying the bags herself, the maids couldn’t just stand by. They all pitched in, quickly unloading the luggage. Belinda helped as well. With so many hands, there were only a few bags left. Feeling humiliated, the wizards grit their teeth and forced themselves to carry the remaining bags. But their slender arms, unaccustomed to physical labor, began trembling even before they could lift the bags properly. Finally, the coachman, who had been watching the whole scene with a disapproving look, climbed down from the carriage and said nonchalantly, "I’ll help with this, no charge. You folks could use some exercise." The long-term coachman, hailing from the Tower’s city, wasn’t intimidated by the wizards. After all, he saw mages and the Tower every day. ‘I want to kill every last one of them. It’s all because of that bastard. I’ll never forgive him,’ Alfoi thought bitterly, clenching his teeth in frustration after the string of humiliations. Meanwhile, Ghislain arrived at the barracks with the mercenaries. Just a month ago, the foundations were still being laid, but now the barracks were almost fully formed. “Huh, progress has been pretty good,” Ghislain said, smiling in satisfaction as he addressed the mercenaries. “For now, keep watch over the Forest of Beasts. I’ll give further instructions when the next task is ready.” “Yes, sir!” the mercenaries responded in unison. These were the men Ghislain had gathered from all across the northern territories. The mercenaries who had entered the Forest of Beasts before had all been re-contracted, and controlling the new recruits was not difficult. Every time a new recruit acted up, Gillian and Kaor would swiftly beat them into submission. The mercenaries who had fought alongside Ghislain in the Forest had developed strong loyalty to him, making it impossible for the newcomers to challenge him. One curious fact was that, due to the atmosphere created by the veteran mercenaries, the new recruits had also started calling Ghislain "captain." Before leaving, Ghislain added one last instruction. “Take good care of your gear and horses. I won’t tolerate anyone losing them to gambling or other foolishness.” “Yes, sir!” Ghislain had personally spent his own money to provide them with their armor and horses. Normally, mercenaries bought their own gear, resulting in a wide range of quality. Most would purchase cheap, shoddy weapons and replace them when they wore out. But with such poor-quality equipment, numbers alone wouldn’t matter in battle. So Ghislain had decided to arm them properly from the start. Satisfied with the state of the barracks, Ghislain entrusted the management of training and organization to Gillian and Kaor, then made his way to the training grounds. “Why are you heading to the training grounds now? You just got back. Aren’t you going to rest?” Gillian asked, puzzled. “You two go ahead and rest. I need to check something about Vanessa.” Upon entering the training grounds, Ghislain rolled up his sleeves and gestured for Vanessa to sit down. “Sit.” Nervously, Vanessa glanced around before quietly sitting in the center of the training grounds. “You said you can’t sense mana, right?” “Yes, that’s correct.” “How far did your master teach you in magic?” “In theory... up to the 5th Circle,” Vanessa mumbled, unsure of herself. Ghislain was a little impressed. ‘Just as I heard in my previous life. She’s even better than I expected.’ Magic formulas couldn’t be learned simply by memorizing them. They required a deep understanding, a level of insight, and the will to channel that knowledge. To comprehend 5th Circle magic at such a young age was no small feat. “You’ve already reached the 5th Circle? That’s impressive. You must be quite intelligent.” “N-no, not at all. I’ve never been able to cast the spells, so I can’t even be sure I understood them correctly.” “That’s fine. We’ll find out soon enough.” “Huh? But I can’t sense mana...” “I’m going to teach you a new method of mana cultivation.” Vanessa’s face darkened slightly. “Do you not know any mana cultivation techniques?” She shook her head. “My master gave me a simple cultivation technique, but it didn’t help.” “I see... so you did try.” Ghislain nodded, understanding. He had heard a little about this in his previous life—Vanessa had indeed tried using a mana cultivation technique. But if you couldn’t sense mana, such techniques were useless. You needed to feel the mana before you could gather and accumulate it within your body. Besides, it was unlikely that her master, a mage, truly understood how to properly teach mana cultivation. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you differently. First, you need to feel mana.” “What?” Ghislain asked her seriously, “Do you still want to learn magic?” Vanessa lowered her gaze, trying to hide the trembling in her eyes. Of course, she did. She had been constantly seeking Ghislain’s approval, hoping that someday she might be allowed to practice magic again. Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Yes, I still want to learn.” “Good. Then grit your teeth and endure. If anything goes wrong, you could die, but I won’t.” “What do you mean...” “Let’s begin.” Without further explanation, Ghislain placed his palm on Vanessa’s back. Whoosh! Mana began to flow from Ghislain’s hand into Vanessa’s body. He moved the mana carefully, allowing it to spread throughout her body. The mana began to gather below her navel, forming a small cluster. “What... is this?” Vanessa’s eyes widened as she felt something for the first time in her life. “Shut up. That’s my mana flowing into you. Don’t miss how it moves, and pay close attention to it.” Vanessa realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She closed her eyes tightly, focusing all her attention on the foreign energy coursing through her body. Whoosh... As the mana stabilized, Ghislain silently breathed a sigh of relief. ‘So far, so good.’ He had successfully created a small, temporary mana core within her body. Vanessa didn’t know it, but what Ghislain had done required an extraordinary level of mana control and concentration. It was a technique only someone at the level of one of the Continent’s Seven Strongest could attempt. Normally, one would first sense mana, learn the proper breathing techniques, and slowly form a core over time. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦 But Vanessa might never succeed with that method. The priority now was getting her to feel mana. The core Ghislain had created would eventually dissipate since it was formed from his own mana. Before that happened, she needed to learn to absorb mana on her own. Whirrr... As Ghislain willed the mana to move, the core in Vanessa’s body began to spin rapidly, absorbing the surrounding mana. Instead of naturally drawing in mana through breathing, this method forcibly circulated mana, pulling it into the core. “Ugh...” Vanessa gritted her teeth in pain but held on. This was the mana she had dreamed of for so long. Though the sensation was painful, it was also exhilarating. ‘Just a little more...’ Vanessa wanted this feeling to last, but Ghislain was already preparing to stop the mana transfer. Flash! Suddenly, Vanessa’s mind was flooded with all the magic formulas she had learned over the years. The spells, which had only ever existed in her mind, surged forward, desperately trying to escape into the world now that they had found even the slightest bit of mana. Caught up in the euphoria of feeling mana for the first time, Vanessa unknowingly began to cast spells. One by one, magic circles appeared in the air. Before long, the number of circles exceeded five. “Already performing multiple simultaneous spells?” Ghislain, surprised, began reducing the amount of mana he was feeding her. The magic circles weren’t feeding off Vanessa’s meager amount of mana—they were greedily devouring Ghislain’s. If he simply cut off the flow, Vanessa would be in danger, so he carefully began decreasing the mana. But another problem arose. Crackle... The tips of Vanessa’s hair started to turn white. With less mana available, her body was beginning to draw on her life force to sustain the spells. “Damn it! Get a grip!” Ghislain shouted as he pushed more mana into her, unwilling to let her burn through her life force.