With that thought in mind, Kael resumed his runecrafting practice, but he hadn't even been at it for long when Emily stormed up to him, her expression set with determination.
"Teach me how to climb trees!" she demanded, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.
Kael blinked, then slowly turned his head to look at her. "What?"
"I wanna learn how to climb trees!" She huffed.
Kael frowned and shook his head. "Absolutely not. You'll fall and hurt yourself."
Emily pouted. "I won't! You climb trees all the time, and you're fine!"
"That's because I know how to do it safely," he replied, standing up and stretching his body.
"Then teach me so I can be safe too!" she countered, grinning triumphantly, as if she'd found a loophole in his reasoning.
Kael sighed, already regretting this conversation. "No means no. End of discussion."
But Emily wasn't giving up that easily. "Why not?"
Kael gave her a flat look. "I already told you. If you want to learn that badly, ask Mom for permission first. If she agrees, then I'll consider it."
Emily crossed her arms. "But you said I need to be strong, right? What if one day I need to climb a tree to escape from a monster?"
Kael narrowed his eyes. "If a monster ever chases you, you run to me or Father, not up a tree."
Emily groaned in frustration. "But—"
"No buts!" Kael cut her off, then ruffled her hair. "Besides, you're way too young for tree climbing. You'll scrape your knees, twist your ankle, or worse—fall and break something."
Emily swatted his hand away and puffed out her cheeks. "You're always like this! You won't let me do anything fun!"
Kael sighed again, rubbing his temples. "How about we play one of our usual games?"
"No! I'm bored of all the games we usually play!" Emily complained.
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Even tag?"
"Boring."
"Hide and seek?"
"Too easy."
Kael tapped his chin, pretending to think deeply. Then, with a smile, he said, "Alright, since you're tired of the old games, how about I teach you a new one?"
Emily's pout vanished instantly, replaced with excitement. "Really? What is it?"
Kael grinned. "It's called Red Light, Green Light. It's fun, and you get to run around."
Emily tilted her head. "How do you play?"
Kael explained the rules, watching as Emily's eyes sparkled with interest. By the time he was done, she was practically bouncing with excitement.
"Okay, okay! Let's play!" she cheered, already forgetting her earlier request.
Kael let out a quiet sigh of relief. 'Crisis averted. She's been getting too adventurous lately. I thought she'd develop a nice, graceful nature, but instead, she's turning into more of a tomboy.'
------
Later that night, after dinner, Kael sat cross-legged in his room, preparing to train in absorbing mana while moving. Instead of immediately attempting it, he decided to break the process down into steps:
- First, he would meditate with his eyes open and focus solely on sensing the surrounding mana.
- Once he succeeded in that, he would try absorbing it while keeping his eyes open.
- After that, he would attempt to absorb mana while standing still.
- Finally, he would try absorbing mana while moving.
With a deep breath, Kael closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, started trying to sense the nature mana.
He continued the process for two hours, with no success.
With a last sigh, he decided to call it a night and went to sleep.
------
The next eight months passed in relentless training, each day as grueling as the last. He maintained the same intensity, pushing himself to the limits.
Now, at his usual training spot, Kael stood before the old oak tree that had endured his lightning onslaught for months. Its once-sturdy bark was riddled with tiny holes, charred edges marking where his lightning had pierced through. Despite the damage, the tree still stood tall, stubborn in its resilience. But today, that would change.
Kael raised his hand, and in an instant, more than thirty electric needles appeared around his arm, launching toward the oak tree in rapid succession. The attack didn't end there. Another wave of thirty lightning needles followed, striking the tree with unrelenting force. Thanks to the spell's mana redundancy, Kael managed to spam it repeatedly.
"Hmm... The strength of each needle hasn't increased much since last month, but it's powerful enough to cause severe damage to the body. However, my ability to cast it in rapid succession has improved. If I can increase the number of lightning needles in each round, this spell will become as annoying as possible, cutting off my opponent's escape routes."
Satisfied with his progress on the lightning needle spell, he moved on to the next one. He extended both hands—his right hand stretched forward with his index and middle fingers pointing outward, while his left hand remained at shoulder level, mirroring the same sign. Immediately, he concentrated a large amount of mana in his hands, converging it into lightning.
After thirty seconds, the erratic energy took the shape of an arrow. A smirk appeared on his face.
"I've managed to infuse even more mana this time. Let's see just how destructive it is." Without hesitation, he launched the lightning arrow.
A deafening sound echoed throughout the training area. A massive hole appeared in the oak tree, but the arrow didn't stop there—it continued, piercing through multiple trees in its path. It finally dissipated a hundred meters away, its mana exhausted.
The moment the hole formed, the tree groaned under its own weight before tilting forward—right in Kael's direction.
"Shit!" Kael reacted instantly, he flickered to blur out of sight, reappearing on another tree a hundred meters away just as the oak tree collapsed.
The oak tree had stood firm for over two decades until Kael accidentally crashed into it nearly two years ago. That moment made him realize just how sturdy it was, and ever since, he had used it as his training target. Today, that poor tree lost its life to Kael.
Kael came down the tree and looked at the destruction his spell caused.
"Not Bad," he thought. Then, exhaling slowly, he muttered to himself, "That spell alone drained about twenty percent of my mana reserves. In a battle, I wouldn't be able to use it too many times.... I doubt if I even get the chance to use it, The casting time is too long, and I doubt I'd get many chances to pull it off."
He glanced around, taking in his surroundings. "Luckily, this place is far from the village, and people don't wander around here often."
Ignoring the destruction his spell caused, Kael shifted his focus to a new training target—a massive boulder embedded in the side of a steep, rocky hill about 500 meters away.
Raising both hands, he gathered his mana, channeling a surge of lightning between his hands. The energy crackled and grew stronger as he concentrated. After a few seconds, he unleashed the spell.
The moment the lightning struck, a small but powerful explosion erupted, sending a shockwave rippling through the air. The impact scorched the ground and left the surrounding area smoldering.
A satisfied smirk crossed his face as he muttered, "This spell is the most versatile of the three spells I learned. By concentrating the energy into a single point, I can release a focused blast of lightning that detonates on impact, electrocuting and stunning a single target. If I pour in more mana and let the energy expand before release, the spell erupts in a widespread explosion, sending arcs of lightning in all directions and devastating everything within range."
After a few more rounds of testing his spell, Kael exhausted all his mana.
He sat down by the riverside to rest. To an ordinary observer, he would appear to be simply taking a break. However, someone with heightened mana sensitivity would notice the subtle flow of energy around him and realize that Kael was absorbing mana from his surroundings. This was the result of his dedication over the past eight months. He had now mastered the ability to absorb mana while moving freely, albeit at a slower rate compared to when he remained still.
Feeling the mana entering his body, Kael thought, 'I'm so glad I didn't stop meditating, even when I saw no improvements for a long time. The results have been outstanding. With the ability to absorb mana from my surroundings, this method offers countless advantages: faster recovery, enhanced natural healing, improved mana control, and increased reserves. More importantly, if I can absorb mana while moving, at the same rate as when meditating, I would never run out in battle, continuously refilling my reserves as I fight.'
Kael muttered, "But it's not that easy. I can't focus on both absorbing mana and fighting at the same time. I need to train my body to do it instinctively." He frowned, deep in thought. "And there are limitations to this method. I can't stack the absorbed nature mana on top of my own reserves, nor does it enhance my strength like nature chakra does in the Naruto world. Instead, it simply replenishes my energy and restores my depleted mana reserves. But even with these limitations, this technique is a game changer in the long run."
Kael's gaze drifted to the rippling water as memories surfaced. 'Alden didn't create this technique—he copied it from his Elven companions. They called it Sylvan Flow, a technique passed down through generations, allowing them to blend with nature and absorb mana effortlessly.'
Shaking off his thoughts, Kael stood up after recovering some mana and headed home. Along the way, he decided to increase the pressure of the training seal from 25% to 40%, pushing himself further. He activated the Ironhide Clan technique, reinforcing his body before breaking into a run. Over the past few months, he had developed the habit of using every opportunity to improve himself.
His dedication had paid off in more ways than one. He had recently reached the intermediate level in runecrafting and even created a new training seal for himself. Unlike the old one Helena had designed with his safety in mind, this one allowed him to increase the pressure much faster.
Helena had also taught him how to engrave seals onto objects instead of just paper. With this new skill, Kael had crafted explosion tags, engraved storage seals with additional runes to increase their efficiency—expanding storage space and allowing for seamless retrieval of objects from rings and bracelets. He had even combined hardening and reinforcement seals onto equipment sold in his father's shop—bringing in more profit for their business.
He had also improved his swordsmanship over the past eight months, increasing his focus on it after gaining free time in the afternoon once he reached the intermediate level in runecrafting. He practiced with his wooden sword at home in the afternoon instead of studying runecrafting.
Even though he had trained for eight months, he knew he was still full of openings. Since he had learned on his own, there was nothing he could do about it—at least for now. 'I need an actual teacher,' he thought. 'Or at least a sparring partner.'
--------
Another month flew by similarly.
The Veyne household was unusually hushed today.
Creak...
Creak...
Helena whispered, "Dear, don't make noise when walking! Or she might wake up."
Lucas replied, "I can't help it. The floor creaks every time I step on it."
Hearing this, Helena retorted, "That's why you need to lose some weight! Your belly keeps getting bigger day by day."
Lucas grumbled, "Now that's uncalled for! The floor's ancient, not my waistline."
Just as Helena opened her mouth, Kael hissed, "Must you two squabble? Have you forgotten why we're tiptoeing to her room?"
Reprimanded by their son, the couple fell silent. They exchanged glances but said nothing more, instead focusing on their steps as they moved closer to her room.
Carefully, they opened the door and entered, their eyes falling on Emily, who was fast asleep on her bed, hugging her stuffed rabbit while surrounded by a sea of other toys.. She looked so adorable in her sleep that the three of them momentarily forgot their purpose for being there. Instead, they stood still, quietly engraving this scene into their brains.