"Damn it, bastard!"
In the middle of the night,
The soldier who almost lost his neck, 'Jonathan,' shouted in a small Inn located at the corner of the provincial castle.
He was already completely drunk, with the off-duty soldiers.
"How dare he, I'll show him who I am!"
"Calm down, buddy. I'm afraid you'll lose your neck for good."
"Shut up! Whose side are you on?"
He raised his voice, ignoring his comrade's advice.
"We aren't taking anyone's side, we're just afraid the sparks might fly into our faces. Watch yourself, and just forget about it for now. The one you are trying to fight is a mage, buddy. A MAGE."
"Huh! Watch myself? A MAGEEE?"
Gulp Gulp
Jonathan emptied the whole jug quickly.
"Bullshit!"
He smashed the jug onto the ground.
It seemed he didn't keep Ian's warning in his mind at all.
"Damn it! You just ruined my mood. Hey innkeeper! I'll pay for it later!"
"Sir, it's been a month since you last....."
"Do you think I'm a thief? Huh? I told you I'll pay for it!"
It seemed he hadn't paid for a month.
As small business operators, they didn't dare fight against the province's veteran soldiers.
"Sigh...."
After Jonathan left, the innkeeper sighed deeply.
The other soldiers shook their heads as well.
"Huh, he bragged so much about connections with nobles, now look at him."
"Even the nobles he bootlicked wouldn't be able to deal with a mage."
"Are you serious? Not just those petty nobles he looted, but even the great landlords have to crawl under the Ivory Tower. This time, Jonathan is in big trouble, hahaha."
Everyone now started bringing Jonathan down.
Jonathan must have had a bad reputation among his colleagues as well.
"By the way, Vanessa, that chick hit the jackpot now."
"I wondered the first time when she fell for a guy who looked like an oak tree, who knew she gave birth to a mage! If I were a girl, I would rush to him too!"
"What was that oak tree-like guy's name? He also served a lord, didn't he?"
"Page... ah! Fran Page!"
"Oh yes! You are smart."
From Jonathan, the story now shifted to Ian.
"Was that guy a mage too?"
"Idiot, do you think mages always have mage sons?"
"They don't?"
"In most cases, the son is just an ordinary human."
"Are you kidding? How do you know that?"
"Ahem, there's always a way to know."
While the discussion about the burly soldier had started, Jonathan was walking down the street completely drunk.
"I... I will do whatever it takes!"
Even walking straight felt difficult for Jonathan right now.
"In front of that brat.... I will... with Vanessa... burp"
He was now hiccuping and shouting loudly.
"Hehehehe!"
Jonathan started making a lewd face.
Then he stopped by the riverbank.
He wanted to pee in it.
"Why is it uncomfortable to release? Are you ignoring me too?"
Now he started reprimanding his belt as well.
Well, what a shameful sight.
"Burp First it was that mage, now you're making me beg...?"
"Didn't I tell you earlier? I will be watching you."
A sudden voice came from behind his back.
It was at that moment Jonathan urgently looked back.
"...!"
"Paralyze."
Jonathan's body became paralyzed and he couldn't move his body anymore.
He couldn't look back any further, couldn't run away.
The only thing he could do was breathe.
"You won't be able to move for a while. That's how this magic works."
The boy's voice was enough for him to grasp the situation.
Once again, the mage, Ian.
"What else were you saying? What are you going to do with my mother, in front of me?"
"Urghurgh.....!"
Jonathan struggled against the magic.
A vein popped out on his forehead.
"This is Jonathan's story. One day, he was insulted by the son of a degraded kitchen maid, he drank that night to forget the humiliation. He drank until he was completely unconscious, and there were witnesses at the inn."
That was the story of Jonathan today.
"Despite losing control, he wanted to pee and his body's instincts led him to the riverbank. However, the riverbank was slippery, and there was no one to help him. Hmm, indeed, it looks very dangerous, for a completely drunk man."
Ian finished the story, then pushed Jonathan into the river.
Splash!
Jonathan fell into the river and his head hit the water first.
If Ian left him like that, he would drown.
"I often thought about it, should I spill blood again? The reason I researched the king's spell was to erase the blood on my hands. If I could turn back time, I swore I wouldn't shed the blood of innocents, making my own unpleasant choices."
The voice was small; Jonathan probably couldn't hear this story.
"But actually, maybe that wasn't what I wanted. I can see it now thanks to you."
Ian continued his story.
Perhaps, this was his soliloquy now.
"I found out that I didn't want to erase the blood. I just didn't want others to see the blood on my hands. That's what I disliked."
The other face of the hero of Every War.
A stigma, that innocent victims were involved in his massacres.
Now, Jonathan's struggle had almost stopped.
"Regardless, please do not forgive my actions. A man who poisoned me once said this to me as well."
What was the Emperor thinking?
Now, Ian could guess a little.
Ian returned to the Inn, not his home.
The size of the small cabin the mother and son owned was too small to accommodate the large-built Aaron.
So they decided to stay at a nearby inn.
Ian and his mother used the same room and Aaron stayed next door.
'I feel a headache.'
Ian safely arrived at the inn.
He felt a headache since he returned to the inn.
It was a reaction from not having enough mana in his body.
'I didn't expect a single paralyze spell to empty my mana.'
He expected he wouldn't be able to use it twice.
The body of a young boy, who hadn't started 'mana breathing' yet.
The quantity of mana in this entire body had to be small.
There were still limits to Ian's body, even though he had the potential to become an 8th class mage later.
'It's fortunate the reaction ended as just a headache.'
As the red heart circulated the blood flow, the Mana heart accumulated, and cycled mana.
Of course, there were limits to accumulating mana as well.
Mages called it the 'mana pool.'
What Ian simply needed to increase now was his mana pool.
He still remembered all the mechanisms of the spells.
'I better start mana meditation from now on.'
There were several ways to permanently increase the mana pool.
Mana breathing was one of the most standard ways to increase it.
A special breathing method that stimulated the mana heart located inside the heart.
Specifically, the mana breathing Ian created was superior.
Much more efficient compared to the academy's mana breathing.
'I often imagined, what if I had discovered this mana breathing earlier.'
He discovered this mana breathing when he was 34 years old.
Even starting the new breathing late made him grow much further.
'What level can I reach from now on, this time?'
Furthermore, an uneducated young genius mage was now going to the academy.
They would support him as much as they could.
'I can monopolize many elixirs, besides that, even artifacts.'
How strong could I become?
I couldn't even imagine the result.
'Let's begin.'
Ian sat down.
It was necessary to perform mana breathing to soothe his headache.
Ian tried to be as quiet as possible to avoid disturbing his mother's sleep.
He could see that her face looked peaceful.
Was it because of a brighter future for her precious only son?
It seemed she forgot about that soldier.
'That's a relief.'
On the first day he traveled back,
He felt at ease and started focusing on his mana breathing.