Zanharu raised an eyebrow at the new development. His disciple Lupus was glowing, no, brimming with mana. It wreathed around him like magnets attracted to a large metal.

Zanharu chuckled, turning to face his old friend, “I can’t deny or confirm that, but I wouldn’t have expected less for my disciple.”

Zanharu laughed, “What do you think? Of course I’m going to continue. After all, I am his master and I should act like one.”

I wasn’t aware of any of this at the time.

I had woken up in my usual straw mat. It was a bit prickly at times, but was a simple yet effective mattress. Yawning, I glanced around to see Master sharpening his large axe with a stone while Kimito slept in the corner, curled into a ball. The cabin was still the same after four years, simply a living room with one bedroom that Master used exclusively with his hammock and assortment of plant pots.

"Master...how long was I out for?" I rubbed my eyes blearily as Master turned to look at me from his sharpening trance.

Master scratched his face thoughtfully and mused, "Probably two days."

"What?" I sprang up.

"Yeah. I couldn't wake you up at all," Master smirked, "Hmph, you were out like a candle light. I couldn't wake you up no matter what I tried. Do you know how hard I tried to wake you up without hurting you precious little body or tearing down the forest?"

I was speechless, "I-, I'm sorry, sir...."

Master laughed loudly, "Haha! Lupus, you punk! You're so awkward!"

He was interuppted promptly from a heaven shattering snore from Kimito as the gyrtle shifted in his sleep, mumbling something undecipherable.

"Anyways, you should get ready. We're going for a trip to the nearest village," Master dropped the sharpening rock he was holding while standing up with his axe slung across his shoulder, "Think of it as a vacation in celebration of you obtaining the restraint concept."

"What? How did you find out-" I sputtered, even forgetting the honorifics in the astounding event.

Master winked and put a finger over his lips, "Shh. Now let's get going before Kimito wakes up."

I nodded in sumbmission, but my mind wandered in suspicion and wonder. Who exactly was my Master? Not only did he use powerful and unusual mana arts, but he also knew about the concept I chose. What would be next, his knowledge of my reincarnation?

We bounded through the woods for roughly an hour before Master stopped and leapt on a tree, gesturing for me to follow. I cleared the tree trunk in to jumps and stood with Master on a branch as he pointed to something in the distance.

"You see that, Lupus? That's were we're going." Master said, "We're halfway there."

I couldn't see where Master was pointing, so I infused mana in my eyes and my vision expanded with the addition of floating mana particles swirling in the air. There was a brown dot of seemingly cottages in the edge of my vision with rough blurs of deserted paths.

"Good. You see it now, so we can race there," Master grinned, "Ready? Try to catch up to me!"

A boom and the obliteration of the whole tree signaled Master's launch as one push on the wood sent him zooming towards the cottages with his flying techniques. I struggled to scramble up from the fallen tree and leap towards the direction with mana flowing through my legs.

Mana was the foundation of magic, which led to concepts, in this world. It was a type of energy that could be recovered over periods of time and could be used as a boost in muscle power. You could even harden the mana and use it as a solid object or turn it into magic that used calculations to create spells, the art that mages used in their work.

"GUAAARGH!" A loud roaring sound came from the distance, reminding me that magic beasts did in fact exist in the forest I was in.

"Hup!" I blasted off of the branch I had landed on before the sound of the magic beast came closer.

My mana reserves had drastically increased under Master's guidance, so the current level of usage wasn't exhausting or lethal. I squinted. It was only three minutes into the race, but Master was already almost at the village. He was flying in the air, it seemed. Hah, this was going to be rough.

My prediction was accurate, as I arrived at the village about forty minutes after Master and he was already done ordering a jug of torinthos beer and sharing it with a couple I didn't recognize.

"Hey Lupus! How come you're so slow?" Master whined, "Bretan, Korrine, and I have already been talking for ages."

I felt offended, but I simply ignored the comment and asked, "Master, do you know these people?"

"Of course I do! Bretan and Korinne have been my friends for what, twenty years?" Master exclaimed indignantly.

The man smiled, "We sure have."

I scanned the couple. They both seemed to be normal residents of the village without any sort of powers. The man was wearing a metalworker's attire that fitted his flaming red hair and trimmed goatee. The woman was around the same age, forty years old or so, wearing a simple yellow dress that matched her long blond hair and golden colored freckles.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Bretan and Madame Korrine. My name is Lupus and I am the disciple of that friend you are talking with." I introduced myself formally with a light bow.

"Oho? Is this the disciple you were talking about earlier, Zanharu?" Madame Korrine asked, fiddling with her beer cup, "He's quite polite. How old is he?"

Sir Bretan turned to Master and Master replied while chugging his beer heartily, "Yeah, he's my disciple and he's ten years old"

"Oh, then he's the same age as our daughter Hesna." Sir Bretan added cheerfully.

Master raised an eyebrow, "Really? How interesting! Maybe they can meet each other!"

"Of course! Hesna would love a new friend!" Madame Korrine turned to me, "She's in the backyard currently. Why don't you go meet her?"

I glanced at Master and he nodded in approval, "Go while the adults talk, punk."

"As you wish, sir." I replied and slipped away to the backyard while the chatter between the adults continued.

In the grassy backyard stood a girl tending to a sapling tree while humming a tune. She had dark blond hair and wore a dress similar to her mother's.

"Hello. Are you Hesna?" I asked nervously, as it had been years since I had any private interactions with humans other than Master.

"Huh?" The girl turned around, revealing her sparkling jade-colored eyes, "Yes, I am. Who are you?"