"Got you!"
"Too slow!"
Using the smoke from the Explosive Magecraft to obscure vision, Tenkei Shiomi seized the chance to slip behind his opponent and launch an attack.
But before the spear in his hand could land, his opponent spun around even faster and knocked it aside.
Shiomi tumbled several times across the hard, uneven stone ground, finally coming to a stop against a stone wall.
"Ugh..."
He lay there, drawing sharp breaths.
That strike had hit squarely on his shoulder blade. For a moment, Shiomi thought the bone might have snapped. Even with healing Runes, the pain was impossible to ignore.
Seeing the tall, slender purple figure land in front of him, Shiomi instinctively reached out for the spear lying nearby, preparing to get back up and continue the fight.
"That's enough for today. Your body is already close to its limit." The purple-haired woman lightly flicked her toe, sending the spear flying into her hand.
With that announcement, Shiomi finally exhaled, remaining sprawled on the ground, motionless.
There was no way to tell time in this place—no clocks, no sun, only a perpetual cover of clouds. But based on how his body felt, Shiomi guessed the training had lasted nearly a full day.
The sheer fatigue left his entire body sore. He simply lay there, waiting for the Runes to work and ease the pain.
"You're improving. I just meant to test your limits, but you held up surprisingly well." The woman crouched beside him, speaking cheerfully.
"Was it really me holding up? Seems more like you're the one who refused to call it quits, Master..." Shiomi shut his eyes, refusing to look at that flawless face, not even a single hair out of place.
This was the so-called Land of Shadows. And the one he called Master was its guardian—its queen.
Scáthach.
Shiomi had long lost track of how long he'd been here. It felt like ages.
Because he'd managed to survive in this land, Scáthach deemed his potential worthy and took him as her disciple.
He could've declined, of course—but she warned that if he did, she'd leave him out in the wild.
Having had enough of battling the undead, Shiomi accepted without protest.
"Is that so? I'd say that was just a warm-up. For my disciple, handling that much should be expected," said Scáthach.
"Right..." Shiomi cracked one eye open. "So, Master, does that mean you were going easy on me today?"
He pressed the question.
Training this brutal—like a marathon where you coughed up blood—was nothing new. But today hadn't felt quite as unbearable, even if he'd lost in the end.
"Oh? Didn't expect you to say that. Looks like I can push the next session even harder," Scáthach replied, her smile laced with danger.
Realizing there was no turning back now, Shiomi pushed himself up and leaned against the stone wall of the castle.
Scáthach casually sat beside him, matching his relaxed posture.
"But seriously, there's really nothing here," Shiomi said. "No food, no water... I'm surprised I even managed to survive."
Scáthach smiled knowingly. "Not entirely true. Unlike the outside world, the Greater Source here is still dense. As long as you have enough mana, you can survive."
She extended her hand, and mana naturally gathered in her palm, nearly crystallizing.
"When you're tired, use mana to fight fatigue. When you're hungry, use mana to stave off hunger. When you're injured, use mana to heal yourself," Scáthach said. "You don't even need me to teach you that much."
"Uh..." Shiomi grimaced, unsure how to respond.
He had assumed Scáthach had given him some kind of Magecraft protection—but it seemed the truth was just the opposite.
"Just based on that, your aptitude in this area already makes you the most exceptional of all my disciples," said Scáthach, who was merciless in training but never stingy with praise when it was due.
Sitting cross-legged, Shiomi rested his hands on his ankles. "If the mana here is enough to keep me alive... then wouldn't it be possible to use it to grow plants, maybe even get them to bear fruit?"
"I told you already, this is the land of the dead," Scáthach answered quietly. "In other words, it's a realm akin to the Underworld. The very concept of 'life' barely exists here."
At that, Shiomi almost asked, "Then what about you and me? Don't we count as living?" But he swallowed the words before they left his mouth.
Scáthach, who had already become semi-divine, couldn't be considered a living being in the conventional sense.
For her, death was no longer a possibility.
Not a beautiful death, nor an ugly one.
She simply continued to exist—unchanging, eternal.
Maybe only when the world and even what's beyond it comes to an end would she face something that could be called "death."
As for himself—
"Don't worry about that. I'm just hard to kill, that's all."
Shiomi had asked Scáthach once, and that was the cryptic answer she gave.
Knowing he wouldn't get anything else no matter how many times he asked, Shiomi stopped trying.
"So... it's really impossible?" he asked.
Scáthach gave a relaxed smile. "Why? Want to give it a try?"
"I kinda do. Can you teach me, Master?" Shiomi perked up.
But Scáthach's next words were like a cold bucket of water over his head.
"That's something you'll have to figure out on your own. I've already taught you all I can about Magecraft."
"...Master..." Shiomi groaned.
"No need to force it. If you want to do it, go ahead. If not, forget it," Scáthach chuckled. "Just don't slack off on your training."
That made Shiomi snap. He dusted himself off and jumped to his feet.
"Are you seriously implying I'm just trying to weasel out of training?"
Watching him struggle to keep his temper in check, yet failing to hide his irritation, Scáthach chose not to clarify the misunderstanding.
"Good. I hope you're not. You know the consequences of dodging training. Use anything in the castle as you like. And if you do manage to create something, I might consider easing your training load a bit."
Shiomi gave a silent nod and walked off without a word.
Still seated by the stone wall, Scáthach picked up the training spear lying beside her and smiled quietly.
At first, it was just a whim—a way to kill time—that made her take him in as a disciple.
She thought he wouldn't last long, and she'd send him off when he broke.
"...But he's turning out to be more than I expected."