"Focus," Red said.
Yuzu's eyes narrowed as she faced the wooden target. Her hands trembled slightly, glowing with soft, flickering mana.
"Breathe," Red instructed. "Feel the flow. Don't force it."
The early morning sun bathed the field in gold. Training dummies stood at attention like stiff soldiers, silent witnesses to the chaos that was about to unfold.
The other rookies were off to the side, watching from the shade. Hina brewed tea from the garden herbs. Lio had one hand resting on his practice sword, the other idly patting Greenie, who bounced in silent support.
Yuzu exhaled slowly.
Her fingers pulsed.
"[Fire Ball]!" she cried.
A ball of orange flame surged forward, small, unstable, crackling with misdirected heat.
And then...
FWOOSH.
It veered hard left and slammed directly into Lio's pants.
Lio: "AAAGH!!!!"
Lio let out a strangled yelp and dove to the ground, rolling furiously as smoke poured from his now-singed trousers.
Lio: "My pants! MY PANTS!!"
"OH NO!" Yuzu screamed, hands flying to her mouth.
Hina gasped.
Selena froze mid-sip of tea.
Rika dropped her apple slice.
Even Greenie let out a dramatic gasp, mimicking flames on his body. "Lio is burning!! Fire! Fire!!"
Lio scrambled to his feet, hair disheveled and face flushed. His pants, or what remained of them, were blackened at the thighs and barely holding together.
He held them up with both hands. "My birds almost showed!!"
Yuzu turned beet red. "I-I-I didn't mean to!!"
She spun around, eyes wide, and stumbled away in embarrassment, tripping over a rock and falling face-first into a bush with a loud poof.
Silence.
Then Rika snorted.
Selena burst out laughing.
Hina tried to hold it in, failed, and wheezed into her teacup.
Even Red's lips twitched.
Lio sat down with a groan. "This is why I don't trust magic…"
Red walked past them and extended a hand to Yuzu, who was still tangled in the bush.
She took it with trembling fingers.
"Sorry," she murmured, voice tight. "I… I messed up again."
Red didn't reply immediately. He brushed a leaf off her shoulder, then looked her in the eye.
Red: "You're forcing it."
Yuzu blinked. "What?"
Red: "Mana is like water. You don't grab it. You guide it."
He held up a hand, palm open. A tiny sphere of flame sparked to life above his palm, no chanting, no flourish, just there, quiet and controlled.
"Try again," he said, stepping back.
Yuzu looked at her hands, then at the dummy. She nodded.
Her fingers moved slower this time, her breathing more even.
Yuzu: "[Fire Ball]…"
The spell formed, smaller this time, tighter, and launched straight toward the dummy.
It struck the chest and left a scorch mark. Not powerful, but precise.
She gasped softly. "I did it…"
Red nodded. "Better."
The others clapped from the sidelines.
"Nice!" Selena called.
"You didn't cook anyone this time!" Rika added.
"Small victories," Lio muttered, still holding up his pants.
Yuzu flushed, but smiled.
She turned to Red. "Can you really use magic like a proper mage?"
Red didn't answer.
Selena looked up. "Yeah… You've shown sword skills. But what about spells?"
Rika folded her arms. "Can a swordsman really cast?"
Yuzu's eyes lit up. "Wait… can you show us?"
Red looked at them for a long moment. Then, without a word, turned and began walking.
Red: "Follow me."
They exchanged confused glances, then hurried after him.
They jogged out the east gate of Silverhaven, following Red for nearly an hour. The city slowly faded behind them, replaced by grassy hills and open plains. The sun climbed higher in the sky, and sweat began to cling to their backs.
"Are we… going somewhere specific?" Lio asked between breaths.
"Yes," Red said without turning.
Greenie bounced along beside them, humming a marching tune.
After about 20 kilometers, Red stopped in a wide, empty field, far from trees, roads, and certainly any people.
"Stay here," he said, motioning them to halt.
Red: "Five hundred meters. Don't get close."
They obeyed, fanning out in the shade of a tall rock formation.
Red stepped into the open field, facing the horizon.
Then he raised a single hand.
But what erupted from his palm was not a normal spell.
WHOOM.
A sphere of flame the size of a wagon surged forward and exploded mid-air in a blazing inferno, sending heat waves rippling back toward the rookies.
Yuzu's mouth dropped open.
Yuzu: "That's not a basic spell…"
"Holy crap," Rika whispered.
Before they could recover, Red raised his other hand.
The ball shimmered blue, but as it flew, frost laced its surface. When it struck a distant boulder, the explosion froze the entire stone solid, ice crystals crackling in the sunlight.
"That was an ice ball," Lio said. "That's not a basic spell, right?"
Yuzu shook her head, stunned.
Red continued.
The ground erupted in a massive wave of jagged stone, tearing a line through the soil over a hundred meters wide.
"Ohhh My....," Selena breathed.
Then came the last.
Red raised his arm skyward
The air screamed.
A swirling vortex tore through the field, ripping grass from the ground and creating a miniature storm that shook their bones even from afar.
When it ended, Red turned slowly.
The wind died.
The heat faded.
The silence was total.
The rookies stood frozen.
Even Greenie had sunk halfway into the ground in awe, only his eyes poking out.
Yuzu whispered, "He's… He's not human."
"Is he even a swordsman?" Lio asked.
Red walked back toward them, calm and unbothered.
"I said I could use basic magic," he said. "I didn't say what 'basic' means to me."
No one dared speak.
He paused in front of them.
"You won't reach this overnight," he said simply. "But that's not your goal."
He pointed to Yuzu.
Red: "Control. Not power."
To Lio and Selena.
Red: "Timing. Not force."
To Rika.
Red: "Focus."
To Hina.
Red: "Stamina."
Then to all of them.
Red: "Discipline first. Power comes later."
They nodded, still awestruck.
Red turned back toward Silverhaven.
Red: "Let's go."
They followed, quieter than ever.
That night, they said little.
Not out of fear, but reverence.
They had seen something real today.
Not just strength.
But mastery.
Yuzu sat near the fireplace, staring at her fingers as she practiced shaping mana into a gentle, flickering light. No fireballs. No explosions. Just control.
Selena oiled her shield twice before bed.
Lio stitched the last of his burned pants with such focus that even Rika didn't tease him.
Hina meditated silently.
Even Greenie didn't bounce.
Red sat outside under the stars, polishing one of his black swords.
They were still rookies.
Still unranked.
Still weak.
But tonight, they knew what was possible.
And for the first time… they believed they could get there.