Three Arts at Dawn
Messi had been rising earlier than usual of late.
A new task had inserted itself into his mornings, ahead of even his dawn training with Grotein. These days, his daily schedule could fairly be called murderous.
The moment he opened his eyes, he collected his cultivation supplies from a maidservant and made for Training Ground #3, where he devoted himself to mana cultivation.
The trouble was that the number of cultivation methods Messi now practiced had reached three.
The first, of course, was the Ahental Mana Cultivation Method.
It was the first he had ever learned, the foundation of everything he did — essential for performing Ahental Swordsmanship. Not only did it lighten the body, but unlike other cultivation arts it possessed no complex mana circuits, making it ideally suited to spreading mana swiftly through every corner of the physique.
The Ahental method could be described in two words: lightness and simplicity. And what followed naturally from those qualities was speed. Using that swiftness and simplicity to strike a beat faster than the enemy, then stacking that same simplicity in layers to produce variation and irregularity — that was the essence of Ahental Swordsmanship.
For Messi, who never burdened himself with a heavy frame and who already possessed nimble footwork in combat thanks to Barcelo's Fast Walk, it was a cultivation method and a sword style that suited him in every respect.
And then there was the second.
It's because of this one that I ended up cultivating in the training grounds instead of my bedroom...
The Crombell Mana Cultivation Method.
He had uncovered it while scanning Rowin's body with his healing. The Crombell count family was renowned for pursuing overwhelming tyranny and raw power. Their heraldic beast was the Vertical Wave Tiger, and that same wild ferocity and barely contained savagery ran through their cultivation art.
A mana cultivation method was something created by a person who had awakened to mana on their own and founded a school — made for descendants, for disciples, or simply because they did not wish their studies to die with them. As such, it carried the founder's perspective on what mana itself truly was. Crombell's distant ancestor had judged mana to be a savage, violent energy.
Traces of that ancestor's struggle remained: how best to wield the power of a wild stallion. The mana amplified through cultivation supplies was digested with ease, and a fierce strength prowled the circuits of Messi's body.
Unlike the Ahental method, which prided itself on simplicity, the Crombell method was rough and complex. It raced through the body in every direction, and more than once during cultivation Messi found himself startled. Was there a mana circuit here, too?
It employed circuits so unfamiliar that it stood at the opposite extreme from Ahental's art.
This might well become the method I use most often...
What was certain was that practicing it would allow Messi to wield tyrannical power. And that was precisely what he had wanted.
The mildness and simplicity of the Ahental method had been a perfect match for the Messi who existed before he met Enzo Muete. But for the Messi who existed after that encounter, the Ahental method had begun to feel a little dull.
It was only natural. As Enzo Muete's abilities seeped into his body, Messi's physical capabilities had changed. His mana circuits, too, had grown tougher and more resilient than anyone else's. With the Ahental method, he could barely feel anything at all.
By contrast, the Crombell method — like a predator tearing through his mana circuits — was a new stimulus. He even found himself thinking it suited him remarkably well.
KRRAAAAAASH!!
When he threw himself fully into the Crombell Mana Cultivation Method, his immersion ran so deep that the surrounding mana and air formed a powerful barrier, shoving everything around him outward. Messi thought he might even be able to use that fierce repulsion in combat.
"Hoo."
After cultivating for a long while and dispersing the tyrannical energy, Messi turned his attention to the next method in line.
This one... I can't make heads or tails of it.
It had yet to reveal any particular distinction.
The Einhartz Mana Cultivation Method.
One might have expected something extraordinary from the cultivation art of a man who, three hundred years ago, had written a legend of invincibility. And yet no special quality presented itself.
Is this the limit of a half-complete cultivation method?
A pang of regret. Had Rowin learned the lower volume of the Einhartz method that the Crombell family possessed, the result would have been different. But this time, no stroke of luck had come his way.
There's no real reason to bother mastering a half-measure anyway. I'm already practicing methods that are rated higher.
The Crombell Mana Cultivation Method was ranked stage six by the Sky Castle. The incomplete Einhartz method, however, was only stage five. The unease of practicing something unfinished would have been reason enough to leave it alone.
Still, he couldn't help wishing. If Rowin had known the lower volume, might the two halves have combined with the upper volume into something complete?
A low, weighty hum resonated through his circuits.
When he tried cultivating the incomplete Einhartz method, a heaviness utterly unlike Crombell or Ahental rose from the starting point of his mana pathways. Slow... and possessed of a ponderous, weighty body — that was the mana that crawled through Messi's insides.
Too sluggish... and so heavy. Is this the color of this cultivation art?
Even a single circuit of the full loop took a long time. In that span, the Ahental method would have completed thirty circuits; the Crombell method, twenty. Sweat beaded on his brow. He had only completed a single loop, and already there was something exhausting about it.
And yet Messi had his reasons for refusing to abandon any of the three methods.
I've been mistaken all this time. A mana cultivation method cannot have its limits defined by the stages the Sky Castle assigned it.
The common misconception had been that the level the Sky Castle assigned a cultivation method represented its quality. It did not.
All they did was line them up by a simple comparison of how much mana each one absorbs.
By Sky Castle standards, the Crombell method naturally absorbed the most mana, followed by Einhartz, then Ahental. Of course, that ranking had its uses. Those who gathered more mana were more likely, in time, to reach higher realms.
But it was a judgment that ignored the unique strengths and characteristics of each method. When it came to moving the body swiftly or launching a rapid attack, nothing was as well suited as the Ahental Mana Cultivation Method. And because the method was so utterly simple, it was also excellent for applying its principles in combination with other cultivation arts. That, too, was a new possibility for the Ahental method.
Come to think of it, there can't be many people who practice several cultivation methods at once the way I do. It's hard to even arrive at a perspective like this.
This world treated mana cultivation methods as precious secret arts. To prevent leaks, they employed binding oaths like the Pledge of Silence — lock-curses that, the moment they were broken, sealed a person's mana circuits or cost them their life. Obsessive conditions were the norm. So unless one was a mutant like Messi, it was exceedingly rare for anyone to practice multiple cultivation methods.
If I can draw out the characteristics of all three methods and find the right applications for each, the breadth of my combat will expand enormously... I'll need actual combat for the research...
Still turning the problem over in his mind, Messi began another circuit of the Einhartz Mana Cultivation Method.
Erena von Ahental.
To her, Messi was a truly remarkable being.
The fact that he was of another race had made him mysterious even at first meeting, but that had not quite risen to wonder. Lately, however, she had found herself marveling at him in all sorts of ways — and it was because of Messi's punishing daily routine.
"How can anyone work that hard?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean Sir Messi."
Mikaela, Erena's female escort knight, nodded in understanding. From where she stood, Messi's days rolled on like a wheel that never stopped turning.
"The moment it hits three in the morning, he opens his eyes without fail and heads to the training grounds."
"Ah... that's impressive."
"And he trains with Butler Grotein until breakfast."
"Oh... I see."
"The moment breakfast is over, he goes straight into the laboratory with Lord Frox."
"Ah... yes."
"And then he even takes lunch in the laboratory. How busy do you have to be to just stuff vegetables and meat into a piece of bread and eat it as-is?"
"..."
"Around three o'clock he leaves the laboratory and goes to sword practice with the knights. Isn't that incredible?"
"Yes... it is incredible..."
It wasn't Messi who seemed incredible. It was the young lady standing in front of her.
Mikaela wanted to ask Erena something.
How do you even know all of that?
She was always at Erena's side, so there shouldn't have been time for the young lady to secretly attach a watcher. How had she found out how Messi ate his lunch? Mikaela looked at her curiously, and Erena hurried to cover her tracks.
"...Of course. This is all information the people who work in the household told me."
"I-I see."
If the young lady weren't interested, would they have bothered to tell her?
Mikaela had more she wanted to say, but she held her tongue. Lately even she, as escort knight, could feel that Erena was taking an interest in him.
Has the young lady already reached that age?
Come to think of it, she had passed that age some time ago. A noble's social debut typically came around thirteen to fifteen. From then until a marriage match was found, they attended party after gathering without rest, and somewhere in that whirl a girlish fever of the heart was bound to take hold.
Erena was currently eighteen, which was rather late for a daughter of a noble house.
Should I just leave this alone?
Taking an interest in the opposite sex was perfectly natural. Mikaela's concern, however, was not with Erena but with the object of that interest.
Sir Messi... he clearly enjoys the Lord's full respect. Thinking back to the auction, even Young Master Ereb trusts Sir Messi enormously...
And that wasn't all. The Lord had allocated a vast sum to raise Messi, and cultivation supplies were delivered to him every day. The only other person who received that kind of treatment was Sir Bacillus, who stood at the Ablaze rank.
Word had it that Messi had been the very first to learn the Einhartz Mana Cultivation Method as well. That was not a situation that could exist without trust.
And yet...
He is not like us...
Of course, among other-races he was of noble blood, so the perception of him was better than most. On top of that, he had the reputation of the Saint of the Foreign Race. He might well be the only member of another race who could join noble society at all.
Even so, prejudice was a fearsome thing. Viscount Ahental would know that as well — and Mikaela had no idea what would happen if she brought this to the Lord's attention.
She decided she needed a slightly more accurate read on Erena's heart.
"Um..."
"Dame Mikaela."
She was about to ask when Erena called her name at the same moment.
"Yes?"
"I know what you were about to say. But you can set that worry aside."
"...Yes."
Mikaela felt awkward.
The young lady is a deep thinker. Of course she would know.
If she still could not walk, it would have been difficult to form ties with other houses on account of her disability. In that case, they could have left her heart free even as her body remained in a wheelchair, and no one in the family would have minded.
But now that her body was free, Erena's heart was in no position to be free. The day she could walk on her own and step into society, marriage proposals would pour down like stars on a deep night.
Her young lady seemed to recognize that fact.
"It's just... seeing someone live so diligently makes me think I should try harder to walk soon, too."
"...You are already working more than hard enough, my lady. I will help you to the very end, so please don't worry."
"Thank you, Dame Mikaela."
Erena's sincere reply washed Mikaela's worries away.
What on earth was I fretting about? I should just look after the young lady's health and safety. The rest I can trust to her and follow!
She felt only sorry for having doubted her, even for a moment.
"Shall we go for a walk, then?"
"Yes, my lady!"
Mikaela answered with vigor.
"It's past three, isn't it? Then this time, let's try the training grounds where the Ahental knights are!"
"..."
Was it really all right to trust this cunning young lady?