Training In Ancient Magic

“Whoaaa…!”

After teleporting from Mittenberg to the capital city Minga, Jonah let out a gasp of awe at its lively atmosphere.

Vian, the capital of the Estraia Empire, was one of the largest cities in the western nations, but Minga—despite also being a capital—was smaller, calmer, and somehow reminded him of Zwerg, where Marguerite lived.

“I wonder how Lady Marguerite is doing…”

Looking up at the blue sky, Jonah murmured softly.

Come to think of it, he had left the Hagenberg territory without even saying a proper farewell to Marguerite.

Ever since then, he would occasionally think of the first important woman he met on his journey—warm memories filling his chest, while a faint guilt tugged at him.

“The next time we meet will be… well, that’s never going to happen, is it?”

Deciding he would likely never see Marguerite again, Jonah shook his head with a lonely expression.

Even if she had taken root in his heart—becoming larger and more precious than anyone else.

Because… he would leave this world in ten months.

But Jonah didn’t know.

That beside the strange fate sparked by his small first step, Marguerite remained close—cherishing him, smiling gently.

“Alright… I’ve got to work hard for the three days until Titancia arrives. But first—”

Jonah stood up from the fountain in the plaza and entered an inn facing the street.

“Um, I’d like to rent a room, please.”

Jonah placed a silver coin right in front of the innkeeper.

He didn’t know the going rate for rooms in the capital, but as a child renting alone, showing the money upfront was the fastest way.

“…Second floor, the room at the very back.”

“Thank you.”

Receiving the key and bowing politely, Jonah climbed the stairs and entered the assigned room.

He set down his leather bag and stretched lightly.

“Yeah… the best way to avoid being seen is to do everything inside the room.”

In an empty inn room, he could teleport without being witnessed.

Pointing his finger at the floor to draw a magic circle, Jonah teleported into a forest within the duchy.

Of course—so he could practice ancient magic.

And then—

“【Vind Klinge】!”

Arriving in the forest, Jonah immediately fired a wind-elemental attack, but its power was again far too strong—ending with the same result as before.

If he continued like this, the forest would become a barren wasteland in just three days.

“M-maybe I should try a different spell…【Sturzbach】.”

Giving up on wind magic, Jonah tested a water spell instead… but—

“Whaaaa!?”

A massive torrent of water surged through the forest, knocking down and sweeping away trees over a wide area.

The destruction far exceeded even that of【Vind Klinge】.

“Uuugh… neither wind nor water magic works at all…”

Repeated failures weighed on him as his shoulders slumped.

Up to now, Jonah had tried reducing power by simplifying both the magic circle and the chant.

If he used ancient magic at full power, Vind Klinge would obliterate every tree in sight, and Sturzbach would wash everything away entirely.

“Honestly, the best thing would be suppressing my magic itself, but…”

As is well-known, Jonah suffers from Mana Overabundance—unable to suppress his vast innate mana, injuring his own body as a result.

Günter had diagnosed him long ago, and Jonah even trained at the Langheim estate to try learning mana control—but sadly, it proved impossible.

In other words… Jonah had no way to suppress his own mana.

“If this were about anything other than attack magic, I wouldn’t have to worry this much…”

Defensive spells and barrier magic caused no real harm regardless of scale, and spells he used most often—teleportation or telekinesis—always yielded the same result regardless of mana. No problem there.

Either way, the moment Jonah used an attack spell, depending on how he used it, it could be a disaster all by itself.

If he was to continue traveling alone, he needed to learn—not to be rude about it—restrained attack magic.

“Alright! One more time! 【Vind Klinge】!”

And so Jonah spent the entire day firing attack spells, training relentlessly until sunset.

Meanwhile—

“…Persistent.”

Titancia, in the forest halfway between Mittenberg and the capital, was being pursued by a group of men wearing black masks.