“Goddammit.”

The whisper was easily swept away by the roaring winds outside of the tent yet to Viran it only blared into his ears. Another day had gone by for Viran and yet he couldn’t advance at all, he was running out of time. Only a single day remained for Viran before he had to leave, yet if he remained in this state everything he had done so far would be useless, everything.

“I can’t do this… I just need more time.” Viran’s plea to himself fell upon deaf ears. He only laid there with his hands cupping over his face. He could feel his mind becoming rotten by the thoughts that plagued him.

The same words echoed within his mind, as though reminding him of the futility of his situation. It was the dead of night and he was forced to go to sleep, though he still had one more day it didn’t make him feel any better.

His lifeless sigh exits him, and he can feel his mind finally drift into slumber.

“Poor kid, guess for even someone as talented like him learning a spell like this is too difficult.”

The short whisper from Rufus was heard by those all around excluding the young boy only a short distance in front of him, at this moment his senses had already been drowned out through the use of the spell.

Though his arms trembled and his fingernails bit deep into his flesh Viran did not notice it at all. The wildfire that surrounded him for miles to come was all that he sensed, within that wildfire sat a small pond that showed a small glimmer in its body. A calming sensation was what Viran felt whenever he looked at it, yet no matter how much he wanted to grab at it- it was always futile and he would suffer some sort of injury.

The same thing repeated for him, day after day the same pond always was out of his reach. Just barely, he thought, he could stretch out his hand and claim it only to awaken with blood falling from his lips. If only Sense Severance worked as easily as his other spell, Resilient Hold.

But that was only wishful thinking.

“No… But he has to.” Elena tearfully said to the others that sat around Viran.

Within Viran’s knowledge a caring atmosphere had been created around him, and he was the source. Though the group had only known Viran for a short period of time, they cared for him just as they would have Elena. Whether it was the care he showed to Marianne, or some simple unexplainable feelings no one would know. But something like that didn’t matter, did it?

“He’s been standing there for an hour already, are you sure he’s gonna be ok?” Junia asked Rufus with a concerned expression.

“He’ll be fine.”

In Rufus’ place Marcus had responded in a smooth voice. Despite his closed eyes and crossed arms that would normally reveal his apathy towards any and all events, strangely he still seemed the most attentive out of all of the people present. Junia smiled softly because of that, it was rare for Marcus to show such emotions towards someone he had only just met recently.

Time drags on and small conversations are ignited among the spectators yet nothing of importance comes up. Without warning a small thud is heard not from them and immediately Junia and Rufus jump up to help. Yet even faster was Elena that rushed to Viran’s aid despite the blood that was being upheaved.

“Viran!” Elena tearfully cried despite this not being the first time this has happened to Viran.

“Ack- I… Fine.” Viran sputtered out despite the blood filling his mouth. His teeth and lips had already been deeply dyed in his own blood.

His hands shook and his head trembled in pain, despite Viran having experienced this more than a few times it would always shock him. The pain he felt heaving havoc all throughout his body and the blood that always followed made him always remember and, unconsciously, fear what would inevitably come whenever he focused on that small piece of calmness that stood out from the chaos and wildfire that ensued around it.

“Let’s… Go.”

Elena carefully said while slowly lifting Viran’s almost limp body from the ground. The dust had already padded over his clothes, but that was nothing compared to the dark crimson that covered his clothing already.

The small girl that was almost half the size of Viran slowly laid Viran down onto a bench next to Rufus. Viran’s breathing is finally put under control and finally the blood stops dripping from his mouth. Without any problems with his own situation, Viran looks expectantly towards Rufus.

“Ah, erm.” Rufus sputtered. “The problem you're facing is something that is very common for people with similar… Circumstances.”

“Your breathing spikes and heartbeat goes out of whack! The stress you’ve felt is too much for you! The spell depends on the mental state of the individual very much and you’re…” Rufus suddenly came to a blank as he was in the middle of talking.

Viran’s head tilts in confusion as Junia places her hand onto the side of her face and sighs in disappointment, though this was what she had originally expected out of Rufus. Training spells and magic as a whole varied from person to person making teaching the actual spells more difficult compared to other fields. If Viran was taught by a renowned Teacher, or even a half-baked one at that, he would understand much easier; the cause was simply the inexperience Rufus had with teaching. Elena merely gave a wry smile as she slowly patted Rufus on his back with a ‘knowing’ expression. Despite her intentions, however, Rufus did not feel much better.

“Kuhum.”

Rufus coughed as he thought harder.

“The stress you’ve built up on Viran, it’s bad. In the state you’re in you’re forcing the spell to work and that’s simply too dangerous, I had wanted to stop you before but your senses were obviously dulled.”

“At the rate you’re going, it won’t just stop with you coughing up some blood and having a headache. There is a chance that the mana can recoil and you’ll lose your senses involuntarily. I’ve seen it before with the exact same spell, and it isn’t a good sight.”

“To sum up all of your problems, it’s mostly in your breathing and heartbeat. I hate to say it, but you’re extremely talented with your use of mana and you should be close with overcoming the second threshold. Somehow though the heartbeat and breathing that was in a perfect rhythm that you created goes faulty right when you’re about to break through, and you end up like this.”

“You shouldn’t brute force your way through this all and you don’t need to focus onto one specific detail when breaking through your threshold. You need to keep an open mind when you attempt to break through again, focusing on a single detail and attempting to break through is foolhardy.”

Those words clicked within Viran’s mind and even Elena stared in amazement at Rufus until a smile slowly grew on her face.

“Ok… So how do I fix my mental state?” Viran asked with consideration.

“You need to relax more, the stress you’ve built up until now has gotten to you and it’s affecting you far too much. Let your worries evaporate and you shouldn’t worry about the time limit, worrying would only hurt you in the long run. If you can fix the stress you’re under you should be able to sweep away all of these problems plaguing you during the second threshold breakthrough.”

Viran merely nodded his head in thought, his thumb had already placed itself against his lips. Contrary to his thoughtful appearance, what he was thinking about is something considered simple to others.

‘How do I relax?’ Viran thought. After all so much has happened in the past few months he seriously doubted he could make himself stress free within only a day, it all just seemed like a foolish idea to him. The way he went about creating his original spell Resilient Hold was exactly how Rufus had explained to him, yet he still succeeded.

As if reading his thoughts, Rufus looks towards Viran and says with a serious expression on his face. To Viran, such a face was unbefitting to his useful cheerful and generous attitude.

“And don’t think you can just ignore me. I don’t know how you created that spell of yours, but I can guarantee that you’re lucky the spell you made was actually low level. I’ve seen it happen. There are always cases of free-spirited youth that go over their heads and accidentally blow off a limb from trying to make a new spell.”

Towards the zealous speech that Rufus gave, all Viran could only nod with vigor. But still, there remained a piece of Viran that believed that making a spell really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He had created his very own without much help anyways, all while being confined in an old building in the Idicium Estate.

Though he believed so, he would never say that directly to Rufus.

With thoughts in mind Viran stands up in a staggered motion ready to take on relaxation and breaking through the second threshold! Just as his feet stood firmly on the ground a hairy hand gripped his shoulder with a force that was unavoidable, and he was planted firmly onto the bench once again.

“Now, now kid. You’re not going anywhere for a little bit longer, you need some water and food or else you’re gonna end up collapsing somewhere. Hell, you may become anemic if you keep losing all of that blood. Anyways, while you’re here how about we talk a bit.”

Towards Rufus’ grim tone Viran could only listen obediently, not like he had much choice anyways.

“Why is your mana so… Low? You’re the son of some Noble ain’t ya?”

The question made Viran cringe heavily. His eyes go towards Marcus for help, only to realize Marcus was looking in the completely opposite direction. Viran’s eyes turned cold seeing this, the feeling of betrayal was bitter after all.

“Well… You see…” Viran sputtered. He was feeling pressured by Junia and Rufus to answer the question. His already weak mind that was affected by the training earlier was swirling and his vision shook with just as much vigor.

His mind was in chaos, his head felt as though he had been dunked into a tub full of hot water. Just as he is about to give his answer, his hand is grabbed and he feels himself being pulled with fresh vigor.

“Let’s go eat with Jules!” Were the brilliant words, to him, that were spoken.

Junia and Rufus went cross-eyed with amazement, the situation was unnatural for them. After all, the usual demeanor of the little girl before had nothing in comparison to the vigor she now possessed as she dragged Viran willingly or not.

Viran gazed upon the silver threads that sprang up and down in front of him repeatedly, and a small smile grows as he is pulled along.