In the open fields of the Yerim city outskirts, two people readied their blades as an intense sheen glared onto the metal's reflective surface. Weeds gathered around, and various types of rock were scattered across its wide space.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Minhyun collected himself before saying.

"Teacher! What's the first thing you're going to teach me!"

Marus looked up. A thought entered his mind as he collected the information from his surroundings. After getting a general understanding of the objects and landscape around him, he calmly tapped his foot on the floor and said.

"How not to die."

Minhyun froze. For some reason, he felt as if he didn't hear him properly.

"...What."

Marus just took a step forward. A rhythmic tapping sound echoed out underneath him, as with each word he spoke, he drew closer and closer.

"I told you. Until we get there, I'll be teaching you how to defend yourself."

Minhyun stepped back. Incomprehension intruded on his words as he incoherently mumbled out a strand of pleas.

"Wait... Aren't we supposed to start off slow? You know that I'm new to all of this, right?"

He then stumbled on his feet, falling butt first onto the dirty floor.

"You wouldn't do something this extreme, would you? I mean, I-I don't even know how to properly wield a sword, let alone protect myself."

Marus just ignored him. After catching up to his crawling figure, he said.

"We only have two months, twenty three days, and seven hours before we get there. If you want to pass, then we'll have to use extreme measures."

He then put his rapier across Minhyun's neck.

"Now then. Since this is your first death... Let's see what your punishment should be."

Minhyun stared as he felt the cold metal latch itself onto his skin. Regret filled his veins, and the only thing he could think about was how naive he was.

What- just what kind of hell did I get myself into.

...

 

Ten minutes had passed since then, and the punishment for dying was now being dished out to him, literally. Failure to comply would only mean more punishment, so all he could do was grit his teeth and hack away at the bowl in front of him. To be honest, he didn't know what was inside of it. Just like what he experienced in the dining hall, all the food in this world had some... well, unique qualities to them.

In front of him was a bowl of mystery meat. A rather tame sounding description, if it weren't for the fact that it was bubbling and spewing out gases of mysterious origin. The color was dark, almost resembling coal in a way, and the taste was reminiscent of that of rotten meat...

Don't ask me how I know what rotten meat tastes like. I'd also like to forget. Anyways...

"Teacher, how much more of these do I have to eat? I think I'm going to throw up."

Marus looked at his almost empty bowl and said.

"Enough to make you not want to die anymore."

Minhyun's eyes twitched.

What kind of bullshit is that. You think I want to die.

But ultimately, he didn't say anything. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the man in charge of torturing him. After tossing the last piece of mystery meat into the air, he skillfully swallowed it in one gulp.

This time, I won't let him get close to me.

Walking back to the open fields, he decided to take a look at his surroundings. Since he wouldn't be able to win this fight, he deduced that the subject of this lesson was to survive, no matter how cowardly it was.

Marus nodded his head when he saw this.

Though, the only issue with that is that there's nothing around me to work with. It'd be nice if we were in a forest, but with no places to hide, I guess the only option I have is to run.

With that thought, he turned around and bolted deeper into the field, not giving Marus the time to react. Yet right after his second step, a flying rock sped through the air and knocked him onto the floor. Blood spilled from his head, and a disorienting blurb prevented him from standing back up.

After walking up to his fallen body, Marus sighed before saying.

"I admire your cleverness to treat this as a real battle and not a duel. However, you should never turn your back to an enemy. Vision is imperative in survival, and knowing what your opponent does can prevent situations like this from happening. I will consider this your second death."

Weakly pushing himself off the floor, a sharp stinging beep continued to pulsate in Minhyun's head. His eyesight turned blurry, and without the proper coordination to keep himself up, he fell back onto the floor.

A bit of time passed, and after seeing that he still laid there, unmovingly, Marus slowly stood up and walked away.

"Once you're done, meet us back at the carriage. We'll continue tomorrow."

...

"Hmm?"

But then, right after his second step, he noticed a rock come flying at him. Turning around, he looked back to see a struggling man standing. His legs were trembling, yet by using his sword, he kept three points of contact with the floor, distributing his weight between them. A light gleamed in his eyes as a voice called out to him in a mocking tone.

"Didn't you say to never turn your back against an enemy."

Marus smiled. After looking at his watch, he said.

"I guess this means that I've also died once."

...

 

Another twenty minutes passed, and once Minhyun got a handle of himself, he stepped away while focusing his attention on his enemy. Silence lingered in the air, and once he was ready, he scanned the surroundings behind him before making a mad dash. This time, he memorized the terrain around him, using his memory as a map so he could keep his attention on the person who could harm him.

Nevertheless, the process of keeping watch while running slowed him down, and eventually Marus caught up to him. Readying his sword with his two hands, he stood his ground and awaited for the first strike to come.

"Top right..."

"What?"

Tang.

The sound of metal clashing with metal immediately creaked in his ears like nails on a chalkboard. It was dull, and unlike the loud clicks and dings he would hear while watching movies and animations, nothing about this seemed cool. It was just unsettling.

"Middle right."

Hurriedly regaining his balance, Minhyun quickly interposed his blade between him and his opponent's sword. Another dull tang resounded as the impact forced him another step back. Shortly after, a barrage of attacks ensued. Cuts began to lather onto his body due to his bad form, yet with each block he made, confidence began to surge inside of him.

I think I'm getting a hang of things.

"You're doing well. The next one will be top right."

However, this time, instead of fully committing, Marus suddenly pulled back and lifted his leg.

"But why are you trusting what your opponent says!"

"You!"

Death flashed in Minhyun's eyes before a kick knocked him seven meters back.

"Ugh..."

Vomit of today's meals flooded out of his guts, and an astringent taste of rot filled his mouth as the disgusting meat from before resurfaced from his throat.

Marus walked up to him. A bowl was carried in his hand, and after placing down his sword, he handed it over to him.

"Here, this will help you feel better."

Minhyun took it without looking. But just as he was about to reciprocate his gratitude...

"Thank..."

He realized that it was just another bowl of mystery meat.

Fuck!

In the end, daggers were glared into Marus' back as he took a seat on a large stone nearby. A bowl was also placed next to him as he unhurriedly consumed its contents one by one. With a feigned look of confusion, he said.

"What, this is your punishment for dying. Can't you see that I'm also eating some."

He then continued by shaking it in the air.

Although he said that, Minhyun clearly saw that the things they were eating were completely different. One looked like rot, while the other looked surprisingly normal for Earthly standards.

No wonder Julius acts like that. I was wrong. Both of you are villains.

He just sighed. After collecting himself, he asked a question to help keep his mind away from the pain.

"Shouldn't you be teaching me basic form? I understand that we don't have much time left, but I felt like I could've done a lot better. I'm fine with getting cut. It's just... It feels awful knowing that this isn't my body."

Marus thought for a while before saying.

"Basic form is something you can learn later in school. As for instincts and survival, those are aspects that are hard to self study. In such a controlled environment, it's almost impossible for progress to be made in those areas. Unless you become a disciple of one of the instructors, most of the lessons there will be based on form and immersion."

He then continued.

"As for your concerns about young master Julius' body, you have nothing to worry about. He knows full well of the consequences of his actions. Also, as a memento for killing me once, I'll let you in on a little secret... Young master Julius has done this same exact training as you're doing right now. Same concept and the same punishment. Just at a younger age."

Minhyun choked.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Then a sudden thought entered his mind.

"Wait... Since I'm entering a magic school, what exactly am I supposed to do when others are using magic? It's not like me or Julius can do anything about it. If he even helps me, that is."

Marus laughed.

"It's more simple than you expect, for novices, at least. The main component for acting class magic is synchronization. While imagination and description are the main components for artistry class magic, break any one of these, and their connection to an authority will cease."

Minhyun tilted his head.

"What do you mean by that?"

Marus stood up. After a couple of stretches, he said.

"Here, you can learn from my example."

He then took a deep breath and concentrated before saying.

"Flames, ornament my hand and cast your searing ashes onto the remains of my enemies."

Once he finished, a small fire embellished his hand. Small specks of dust flickered around as the plants around him burned into a crisp.

"You can see that it took me a while to cast it. That's because I'm quite a novice when it comes to artistry class magic. Ultimately, these spells require an accurate description and imagination for them to be granted real form."

Minhyun nodded off in thought.

"So the artistry class of magic is what originates from Enteim. Using your words and will, you create a vivid description of how you want an authority to take shape. In that case, based on what you said before, in addition to what Julius told me, then the acting class of magic should originate from Kunlun."

Marus nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm surprised you know about that. Now, I'll show you what happens when one of these components are unfulfilled."

He then raised his hand again. However, this time, he chose to not finish his sentence.

"Flames, ornament my hand..."

And just like he said, nothing happened. No flames, no ashes, nothing.

"You can see that, although my imagination and words were both in mind. When my sentence was cut halfway, it resulted in nothing happening."

Minhyun thoughtfully pondered Marus' words. He then pinched his chin and inquisitively looked.

"So you're telling me that this world's version of counter-spell is distraction."

Hearing this, Marus suddenly had a bad feeling. A wry smile appeared on his face as he said.

"I guess you can take it that way."