Vierna stepped into the mansion, her resolve newly forged. The Arkmarschall’s command still echoed in her mind. It had struck a flame in her. She would serve with everything she had, not to hide her defect, but to be acknowledged in spite of it.

  She entered a familiar room. Albrecht sat behind his desk, a certain bottle was opened at his side.

  “Ah, you’re here. Good,” he said, glancing up. “Where’s Lina?”

  “Lina wasn’t able to train today,” said Vierna. “The Arkmarschall told her to rest.”

  She could feel the weight on her chest, and she could only hope that Lina would recover soon so they could train together again.

  “I see. Well, in that case, we’ll focus on you today. Follow me.”

  Vierna and Albrecht entered the training room. Inside, Lisa was already at work, chaining spells into a practice dummy.

  “Vierna, have you studied Eidrecht 15 like I told you before?”

  Eidrecht 15 was a simple ice spell. It sent out a bolt of icy energy that froze whatever it touched. Albrecht had also taught her Eidrecht 2, a basic push spell, which he made her weave into her steps to increase mobility. Alongside those, he trained her in deflection, hoping it would help her close in on an opponent.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Today, you will spar with Lisa. Your objective is simple: get close to her. Dodge, deflect, or even use Eidrecht 15 as suppressing fire. Just get close.”

  Her pulse quickened at the thought. Lisa knew her magic, no doubt—but how would she handle herself in a real fight? Vierna’s fingers tightened unconsciously, itching to test her own training at last.

  “Understood.”

  After the briefing, Vierna stepped into the glass room. Lisa was already waiting.

  “Begin.”

  “By the will of the body, I command—”

  Before Vierna could finish her incantation, a ball of lightning shot from Lisa’s hand, cutting her off. She halted the chant at once, eyes narrowing on the incoming threat. Instinctively, she tried to read the spell’s structure, but it came too fast. With no time to counter, she lunged to the right, the lightning hissing past her.

  .

  “By The wind’s guidance, I cast you away, Eidrecht 2: Push!”

  A spell circle formed in Vierna’s leg, it propels her forward towards Lisa,

  Vierna decided that the incantation for Eidrecht 12 was too long for this exchange. She needed to create an opening first. Eidrecht 2’s short incantation would let her cast faster, so if she could force Lisa to dodge, she’d have the time to chant Eidrecht 12.

  As soon as she almost had Lisa, she blinked away in a flash. Albrecht had mentioned before that Lisa was proficient in Blink, something even Volker still needed to master.

  “Blitzschlag!” (lightning strike)

  From her new position, Lisa fired a lightning bolt straight at her. Instinct took over, and Vierna released an ice projectile without channeling it through Eidrecht, a costly mistake given how much mana it consumed. The lightning and icicle met midair, shattering each other in a burst of steam and sparks.

  The exchange told her everything she needed to know. Even reaching Lisa was going to be a challenge.

  “Gabelblitz des Arkenlichts” (Forked Lightning of the Arcane Light)

  From Lisa’s arm, a pale-white bolt of lightning jutted forward, zigzagging erratically so its path was impossible to predict. When it reached her, Vierna raised her sword to parry—an instinctive move, and a rookie’s mistake.

  The strike cracked against the blade, a jolt shooting up her arms. Her body stiffened, but the muscle-fiber replacement experiments had dulled her nerves enough that she could grit through the shock. She tried to read the spell’s structure even as the current coursed through her, but it was too intricate to grasp in the moment. The numbing let her endure for a few seconds longer, yet she knew it was foolish to hold on. With a sharp motion, she redirected the energy and hurled it away.

  “Huff… huff…”

  With a sharp motion, she swiped the sweat from her brow, the droplets dampening the wooden floor of the training room.

  The sparing continued. Albrecht watched as Vierna dodged another of Lisa’s lightning strikes. Fighting at range was exactly her weakness, especially as an Arkenfaust. She couldn’t return fire, and if this continued she would burn through her mana and stamina. He wanted her to realize this for herself. Lightning, with its sheer speed, was also one of the hardest elements to deflect. But if he wanted Vierna to succeed, he couldn’t go soft on her.

  For a while, the pattern continued. Vierna closed in, only for Lisa to blink away and fire lightning from a distance. Vierna dodged some, but others struck her, sending shocks through her body. The pain was blinding, a searing current that tore through her nerves. Each breath came ragged and shallow, her jaw clenched until her teeth ached. Blackened, blistered patches spread across her skin, the acrid scent of scorched flesh clinging to the air. Lisa glanced toward Albrecht, but he gave no signal to stop, and the sparring continued.

  Vierna assessed her situation. She was burning too much stamina enduring the shocks while dodging.

  “Frau Vierna,” Lisa called, “judging by your condition, wouldn’t it be best to stop? Overtraining isn’t a good way to improve.”

  Hearing the comment, Vierna felt a flicker of irritation. Still, Lisa was right—she had been forced onto the defensive the entire time. But she knew that if she didn’t push her limits, she would remain stuck there. So she chose to be zapped again and again rather than take the wiser path.

  “Thanks for your concern, Lisa,” Vierna replied, “but let me continue a bit longer.”

  Lisa saw the fire in Vierna’s eyes. Though her body showed only fatigue and exhaustion, her gaze did not. For that, Lisa resolved to respect her opponent and unleash her lightning with full strength. “Understood.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  She unleashed another lightning strike.

  Time passed, and both of them were panting now. Albrecht studied the two of them. If one thing was certain about Vierna, it was that her endurance was anything but normal. Even Lisa was tiring from casting so much. But it was obvious that Vierna was in far worse shape.

  Lisa straightened her back, drew in a deep breath, and pointed both hands forward. A white-blue magic circle bloomed before her, the air thick with static as faint arcs of lightning danced around her.

  “Donnerdrachen-Schrei!” (Thunder Dragon’s Scream)

  From the circle, a continuous stream of lightning erupted, surging toward Vierna with destructive intent. White-blue arcs crackled like a living thing, conjured with the will to bend her into submission.

  Rather than dodge, Vierna poured mana into her blade. It was a reckless choice—the spell was clearly meant to be avoided, and if it connected, the outcome would be brutal.

  For a moment, Albrecht moved on instinct, ready to intervene. But he forced himself to stop, trusting his disciple.

  The lightning slammed into Vierna. Agonizing shocks tore through her body, smoke curling from her skin, but she stood firm. Every moment spent dodging and taking hits before this had been calculated. She had been studying the structure of every lightning spell Lisa cast. Spells differed in construction, but a single caster always had certain habits in how they wove them.

  And she saw it—Lisa’s habit.

  Despite her muscles refusing to obey, she forced them into motion, like prey struggling to escape the maw of a hunter. Each movement met rigid resistance, fibers straining and cracking as they yielded to their master’s will. With a sharp motion, Vierna redirected the lightning back toward her opponent.

  Lisa’s eyes widened, her brow furrowing. This spell wasn’t meant to be redirected—she had made sure of that. It was a mid-tier spell with modifications to its structure. Still, she couldn’t hide her excitement. Despite the changes, Vierna had managed to glimpse the core of her casting, the habits woven into her magic. No one could fully change how they wove their spells; they could only mask it. But Vierna saw through it. Then, she shouted:

  “Schild!”

  A white-blue, two-layered shield formed before her arm. The rebounded lightning struck hard, forcing her to brace and absorb the blow. As the last of the current faded, she peered through the thinning smoke ahead of her—

  “……let their strength crumble, and bring me victory.”

  “Eidrecht 15 : Winterhauch”

  Vierna hadn’t counted on the rebound to finish Lisa. Instead, she had used it as a distraction, buying enough time to cast Eidrecht 15 and freeze her opponent into submission.

  The spell fired. Caught off guard, Lisa hastily cast a deflection spell. The icy blast struck, partially turned aside, but still bit into her arm with frost. The deflected shard spun back and sliced into Vierna’s leg.

  The sting of frostbite in her leg was nothing compared to the rush flooding her chest. For the first time, her spell had connected. It had truly damaged someone, and Lisa, no less, someone with far more training than her.

  Seeing that Vierna’s trick and determination, Albrecht decided that the training had done its job. And so he shouted, “Enough.”

  Both girls lay flat on the floor, exhaustion embracing them like a lover returned home.

  “Splendid fight, both of you,” Albrecht said. “You’ve earned an hour’s rest.”

  Vierna’s chest still burned with exertion, sweat dripping into her eyes, but her heart stirred at his words. She wanted more—more chances to grow, more strength to grasp. The spar had laid bare every flaw in her form, every hesitation still left to perfect. Yet beneath the sting of shortcoming, there was relief. At least she hadn’t folded instantly. At least she had put up a fight worth noticing.

  “Well done, Frau Vierna,” Lisa said. “The timing on that simple Eidrecht was brilliant—you almost had me.”

  Vierna saw the seriousness in Lisa’s face as she spoke. The compliment wasn’t meant to flatter, but to state a fact—and to encourage her.

  “Likewise, Frau Lisa. Your lightning is truly something else,” Vierna replied.

  They rose, bowed to one another, and parted with the respect of worthy opponents.

  “Strau,” Albrecht called.

  From the lobby, an old man entered the room, dignified in bearing and dressed in the formal attire of a mansion butler. Vierna recognized him—she had seen the man several times around the mansion, either assisting during her training or helping Lisa with her duties.

  “Heal both of them. Make sure there’s no permanent damage.”

  “Understood, young master.”

  Strau began his healing. Warmth seeped into Vierna’s battered limbs, spreading from the point of contact like sunlight through cold stone. The deep aches dulled, the stabbing pains eased, and the scorched skin slowly cooled under his touch. She felt the lingering stiffness in her muscles unravel, each breath coming easier as the magic threaded through her body, knitting what had been torn and burned.

  “I have other matters to attend to,” Albrecht said. With a flick of his hand, a faint shimmer appeared in the air as his storage spell opened. Two books emerged from the void—different titles, each chosen with care. He handed one to Vierna and the other to Lisa.

  “The rest of the day you can spend studying. Lisa, you are allowed to rest—your maid duties are suspended for today.”

  “Yes, Herr Albrecht,” both of them replied.

  Albrecht left the room, leaving Vierna and Lisa behind.

  They spoke for a while as Strau finished his healing magic. This had been the first time Lisa sparred with Vierna, and the first time they were alone together without Albrecht or Lina present. Though they had grown familiar over the past weeks through occasional exchanges during training, this duel felt different—more personal.

  Perhaps it was the mutual respect born from crossing blades, or simply the flow of conversation, but when Vierna shared a little about her own past, Lisa felt inclined to answer in kind.

  At first, Lisa’s parents had severe financial troubles. Desperate, they began parading her in the marketplace, telling people she would do anything, be a maid, run errands, or take odd jobs if they paid enough.

  Albrecht happened to pass their stall and, sensing a spark of magical talent in her, offered to mentor her. He even promised to pay her while she learned. For several months, this arrangement continued without trouble.

  Then, one day, Lisa returned home to find her parents gone. She never learned exactly what happened, but she believed they had abandoned her. They had always complained that the money was never enough and had even suggested, more than once, that she should seduce Albrecht. Lisa refused outright, just as she refused to complain to him about her pay. It was not that Albrecht underpaid her; his payment was more than substantial, but her parents had been, in her words, “a horrible pair,” constantly gambling and wasting money on useless things. Looking back, she thought it possible that debt collectors had taken them away. “Good riddance,” she said flatly, her tone devoid of regret, as if erasing them from her life was the easiest decision she had ever made.

  Since then, Lisa had lived in Albrecht’s mansion. At first, life went on as usual, until one day Albrecht casually told her she would also be serving as a maid because, he claimed, she looked cute in the uniform. Whether he meant it to cheer her up or for some other reason was something Lisa never quite figured out.

  “Do you plan on going to the Academy, Miss Lisa?” Vierna asked.

  “I don’t,” Lisa replied. “I’ll do whatever Herr Albrecht tells me to. In a way, he saved me. Staying here, helping him, and learning magic along the way is already a blessing. And if I leave, I think he would feel lonely.”

  Vierna raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

  Lisa looked out the window, as if searching for solace while she spoke of her benefactor. “Despite how kind and compassionate he is, Albrecht doesn’t really have peers. Maybe he took me in hoping for a friend, but I can’t see him that way. To me, he’ll always be my savior, and that makes us maid and master, not equals. I’ve tried to see it differently, but I can’t. Sometimes I joke with him—like calling him a pervert during his duel with Halwen—but even that feels like I’m pushing it.”

  She paused, then continued, “However, Frau Vierna… when he’s with you and Lina, I can see it clearly. He sees you as friends, perhaps even more than he sees me. I hope that when your training is finished, you’ll still come here and keep him company.”

  Vierna smiled. “Of course, Miss Lisa. I only hope the facility will allow me to do that from time to time.”