Attu said:

“If you have time, please teach me ‘swordsmanship’ and the ‘fire magic’ you perform.”

Valorant looked at the boy and replied:

“What’s the point of teaching you?”

Attu responded:

“If you want, I will give you all my ‘money.’ I just want to be ‘strong.’”

Valorant paid no attention to his words. Attu realized that he couldn’t persuade the old man to teach him. So, he sat there thinking:

“What can I do to make him teach me?”

Valorant was busy with work all day long. Attu, on the other hand, followed him around. That evening, at dinner, Attu asked at the table, “Why don’t you want to teach me?”

Valorant said:

“Why should I teach you?”

Attu replied:

“You’re right! You’re not obligated to teach me.”

Valorant continued:

“I don’t teach ‘Elestar techniques’ to people I don’t know.”

Attu asked:

“What did you say? ‘Elestar…’? What is that?”

Valorant answered:

“It’s a type of ‘sorcerer.’”

Attu insisted:

“Please tell me more about it.”

Valorant stated:

“Once you’ve finished your meal, go lie down and ‘sleep’!”

Attu asked:

“Can I ask one more question?”

Valorant sighed:

“What kind of question? If you’re going to ask me to teach you, I won’t teach you anything!”

Attu got up and laughed:

“No, I’m not going to ask you to teach me. I have another question.”

With a serious expression, he said:

“Why did that ‘demon’ chase after me? Why?”

Valorant replied:

"If that’s the case, listen! The reason the ‘demon’ is coming after you is because of your continuous and chaotic energy. Were there any powerful ‘sorcerers’ among your ancestors?”

Attu sat back down, pondering:

“No, I don’t remember my mother ever saying anything like that.”

Valorant said, “The ‘mana’ coming from you has attracted ‘demons.’ Just as people cannot live without ‘water’ and ‘food,’ demons cannot live without ‘mana’ either. The energy coming from you is very powerful, usually found in high-blooded ‘nobles’ or ‘sorcerer’ lineages. I wonder where such power comes from you?”

Attu fell silent. He sat at the table, deep in thought.

Valorant continued:

“Your mother’s death is not your fault. It’s all the fault of that ‘demon.’”

Attu replied:

“My mother sacrificed herself to save me. Her last words to me were, ‘Stay alive...’ After that, I vowed to stay alive no matter what! I did this so that my mother’s sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. While that ‘demon’ was raising its spear over me, I understood that in order to survive in this world, one must not only escape but also become ‘strong.’ That's why I want to learn from you!”

Valorant reflected on those words, reminding him of a young boy. He looked at the child and said, “If you are done talking, go lie down and sleep!”

Attu, feeling frustrated, said:

“I’m sorry for bothering you with my words!”

With that, Attu lay down in his place. Valorant sat at the table, pondering the boy’s words.

Morning came. While Attu was still asleep, Valorant came and poured a bucket of water over him. Startled, Attu exclaimed, “What… What happened? What are you doing?”

Valorant replied:

“Morning exercises have begun. Hurry up, get ready and come outside!”

Attu, feeling cheerful, went outside.

Attu asked:

“Mr. Valorant, what shall we start with?”

Valorant instructed:

“Call me ‘Master Valorant!’”

Attu responded:

“Alright, Master Valorant.”

Valorant continued:

“First, you will learn to control your ‘mana,’ to hold it and sense it.”

Attu inquired:

“What should I do?”

Valorant looked at the ‘bench’ in front of the hut and said:

“Sit on that ‘bench’ and watch the sky! Your first activity will be this.”

Attu asked:

“So I just need to sit and watch the ‘birds’?”

Valorant responded,:

“Focus all your attention on one place and simply watch the sky! That’s it.”

Attu inquired:

“Do I not have to do anything else?”

Valorant commanded:

“Just do that!”

Attu pressed:

“What’s the point of this?”

Valorant shouted:

“I said do it! Don’t talk too much!”

Attu went and sat on the ‘bench.’ Valorant continued with his daily tasks nearby. Attu watched the sky, observing the ‘birds’ flying by or the animals and other things around. Lunchtime came, and Valorant brought him lunch. He placed the meal on the ‘bench’ as well.

As evening approached, Valorant said:

“Attu, that’s enough! Get up!”

Attu responded, “Alright,” and stood up. While standing, he heard a crack in his back; even from a distance, Valorant heard it. Attu held his back and bent over, approaching the cauldron cooking over the fire in front of the hut.

Attu asked:

“What is this?”

Valorant replied:

“Food.”

Attu clarified:

“I’m not talking about what’s on the cauldron!”

Valorant inquired:

“Then what?”

Attu explained:

“I’m saying that I spent the whole day sitting on the ‘bench’ like a ‘bench’ itself doing nothing.”

Valorant asked:

“Didn’t you like it?”

Attu exclaimed:

“Noooo! I spent my day just sitting around doing nothing.”

Valorant chuckled and said:

“If you’re bored from sitting, you can lie down tomorrow!”

Attu questioned:

“Why are you laughing? I was asking if you would teach me something.”

Valorant said, “Only a person who knows the pain of sitting idly can appreciate the value of movement,” while fanning the flames of the fire, poking the embers with an iron tool in his hand.

Attu asked:

“What do you mean by that?”

Valorant remained silent. His silence did not sit well with Attu, so he shouted, “Do you know anything? Or did you get lucky and kill a ‘demon’?”

With a cold expression, Valorant quickly lifted the hot iron in his hand towards Attu's neck. Attu didn’t realize until he felt the heat from the steaming iron against his neck. When he understood, his face went pale with fear.

Valorant warned:

“Never forget one thing! No matter how good or bad a master is, they never teach their students something they themselves don’t know! Do you understand?” he asked with a cold face.

Attu, trembling, replied:

“Y-yes… I understand!”

Valorant dropped the iron. Attu stood frozen in fear. Valorant sat back down and said:

“Go ahead! Sit down and eat this!” handing him the food.

Attu grabbed the food and began to eat. During this time, Valorant spoke up, “The reason I tell you to sit there is because there’s an unorganized and abundant ‘mana’ within your body. Therefore I wanted to clarify something.”

Attu asked:

“What?”

Valorant explained:

“Whether the feelings emanating from your body are a result of that ‘mana’ or your own ‘mana.’”

Attu inquired:

“What’s the difference between the two?”

Valorant responded:

“Humans are unique creatures. We live with other people, go through life together, and lose them. When we lose someone dear to us, we experience all sorts of feelings. These feelings also affect our ‘mana.’”

Attu asked:

“What do you mean by that?”

Valorant said, “What I want to say is that the significant amount of ‘mana’ you have right now might just be the result of the feelings left after your mother’s death.”

Attu asked:

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Valorant explained:

“If a person cannot control themselves, their ‘mana’ can overflow. This could lead to that person’s death or serious injury.”

Attu questioned:

“How so?!”

Valorant replied:

“Imagine! A glass container has a set amount of water in it. The amount of water that goes in and out is the same. However, if you think of people as that glass container, and if their feelings begin to control their mind, the amount of water that spills out starts to increase. This would cause the container to expand or break. That’s what I wanted to clarify. I’ve now understood that the ‘mana’ within you is not the result of any feelings.”

Attu asked:

“How did you know that?”

Valorant answered:

“If it were the case, you would have either died or been screaming in pain long ago.”

Attu exclaimed in surprise:

“So sitting on the ‘bench’ all day was to know whether I would live or die?!”

Valorant replied:

“Yes… The important thing is that you are alive, so don’t worry! Ha-ha-ha,” he laughed.

Attu paused while eating his food.

Valorant reassured him:

“Hey, don’t worry; everything will be fine. Besides, you can’t start focusing on this body just yet. So tomorrow we’ll begin working with ‘mana.’ By the way, give me your hand!”

Attu asked:

“Why do you need my hand?”

Valorant took a round black stone from his pocket and placed it in Attu’s palm. Attu didn’t understand what it was. Valorant instructed:

“Close your eyes and focus on the stone; imagine it!”

Attu closed his eyes and imagined the stone. In his imagination, fire appeared. He felt the fire enveloping his body.

Valorant said:

“That’s enough, you can open your eyes!”

When Attu opened his eyes, he saw the black stone shimmering in a blue color.

Valorant remarked:

“Interesting…”

Attu questioned:

“What happened? Is everything alright?”

Valorant replied:

“Yes, everything is fine, but… you seem to be able to use blue fire.”

Attu asked:

“What does that mean?”

Valorant explained:

“In this world, four types of fire have been identified up to now. There’s eternal fire, which is ordinary fire; green fire—the fire I used to kill the demon Baskervill; black fire, which extinguishes life; and blue fire, which can take on any form.”