The Witch's Teacher
"Uwaaaah! It's finally over!"
Erin screamed as she collapsed onto the floor.
"Mana control training starts in ten minutes."
"M-Ma'am Witch."
"Illyana."
"Illyana! Please, just a little more rest time... One hour—no, thirty minutes! Let me sleep! I can't even muster any strength."
"No."
"Yesss...."
She had let out a relieved shout now that the physical training was finally done, but Illyana's words poured cold water over her like ice. Erin's voice trailed off into a pitiful whine.
At first, when her training partner suddenly switched from Eunhyeon to Illyana, Erin had been visibly tense and hesitant. For someone like her, who barely knew the first letter of "magic," having one of the continent's legendary heroes—a high-rank digit mage—oversee her training wasn't an honor; it was a crushing burden.
Moreover, in a way, Illyana was even stricter and harder to approach than Eunhyeon. She never interfered beyond ensuring the set training quota was met. No flexibility, no chit-chat during sessions, no friendly overtures. She just sat in her chair, absorbed in her magic books with utter indifference, radiating an aura that screamed "Don't bother me" from every pore.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The regular alarm chimed, and Illyana pulled a pocket watch from her bosom to check the time.
"Lunchtime, huh."
"Ah!"
Erin's face visibly brightened at those words. Lunchtime didn't mean a measly ten-minute break—it guaranteed at least two hours of rest after eating. Illyana stuck to Eunhyeon's training manual like clockwork, so Erin watched her expectantly, hope blooming on her face.
"Let's eat and get back to it."
"Yes!"
Erin beamed from ear to ear, catching the two lumps Illyana tossed her way. But as she inspected them, her expression hardened into stone. Two rock-hard biscuit-like lumps—energy bars, they called them. Meal replacements.
"Um, Illyana? We had these for breakfast... This is lunch too?"
"Problem?"
"No, it's just..."
Erin couldn't muster a single rebuttal. She peeled open the packaging on what looked like compressed flour bricks—too unappetizing to call "tasty" even politely—and shoved one into her mouth. The signature dryness forced her to chug her water, softening it into a chewy cookie texture that spread a faint sweetness and nuttiness across her tongue.
I miss Hyun's soup...
Only now did she realize how much care Eunhyeon had put into that first day's lunch. She forced down the dry energy bar, glancing at Illyana, who munched on an identical one while reading her magic tome.
The first time they'd met, Erin had been awestruck by her beauty—even another woman could see she was stunning. But living in her house had shattered those illusions, leaving her deeply confused.
Is she really one of the world's top ten archmages? She just seems too lazy to even get off the couch...
She hated moving, wasted mana on teleportation for any trip, loathed cooking so much she'd stockpiled energy bars for all three meals. To Erin, this lifestyle was beyond bizarre—it was astonishing.
It hadn't been this bad when Eunhyeon was around, which struck her as odd. Curiosity getting the better of her, she asked.
"Um, Illyana... Do you not know how to cook?"
"Yeah. Can't."
Come to think of it, Eunhyeon always handled meals.
"What about cleaning...?"
"Why bother."
"Laundry?"
"Don't do it. What's the issue?"
"Whoa..."
If she didn't, then the one most likely managing the house was obvious—only one candidate came to mind. Illyana didn't even look up from her book, calmly affirming it all without a shred of shame.
Does this witch even know embarrassment?
Thinking back, Illyana never lifted a finger for chores. Eunhyeon—her lover and Erin's trainer—handled everything. Knowing she hadn't had a proper meal since he left with Elenoa on expedition filled Erin with gloom. She'd endured the hellish training because of the delicious reward meals afterward. But two throat-clogging biscuit lumps? No way that counted as compensation.
Am I stuck eating these for every meal until Hyun gets back?!
Her face paled at the horrifying thought.
"Done eating? Lesson time."
"Huh?!"
Erin jolted up with a shrill yelp, her face twisting in world-ending despair. Illyana met her gaze with a flat what's the problem? look.
"B-But... Don't we rest after lunch...?"
"No more physical training. Now it's mana control methods. I'll explain how, but no questions on theory or principles. Ask Hyun later if you're curious."
"Huh? What do you...?"
"I suck at concepts and theory. Hyun taught me magic from the start."
"P-Pardon?"
What on earth? Erin gaped, stunned that someone else had mentored one of the continent's rare high-digit mages.
"Th-Then is Hyun a high-digit mage too? Higher than you even...?"
Thinking about it, Eunhyeon had shown freakishly advanced magic knowledge. He'd pinpointed her soul separation from her body trapped in the World Tree's time barrier—something even Aiter's top professors couldn't grasp—and solved it on the spot. Excluding the palace mage corps, he outshone the nation's elite. It screamed extraordinary mage.
"Nah, he can use magic, but he's not a mage."
"What does that...?"
Erin blinked in confusion. Eunhyeon had elevated Illyana to high-digit status, yet he wasn't a mage? Her mind reeled.
"Whatever. I'll teach you what I can. Wanna learn or not?"
"Y-Yeah, I'll do it."
Still rattled, Erin didn't refuse the offer to learn magic. She'd take anything she could—whatever she could learn, use, grasp.
Illyana nodded at Erin's determined face, lost in nostalgia. She remembered her desperate youth on the battlefield, a novice mage begging guidance from a non-mage just to survive.
Did I have eyes like that back then?
Fierce hunger to learn everything, grow. The girl lacked confidence but burned to stand tall without shrinking before others.
Did I look at Hyun with eyes like that?
Unshakable faith in the great man before her, the one who could make her grow. Seeing that raw desire for progress, Illyana chuckled despite herself. Annoyingly tedious, but not a bad feeling.
"Ah..."
For the first time since meeting, Erin caught the Black Witch's smile and thought, She's pretty, staring blankly.
"Mana is the mana latent in your body—or another energy composing it. Like blood flows through you, mana circulates, flowing in cycles."
As she explained, blue energy rippled in Illyana's palm.
"Using mana means manipulating this inner energy for forms of application. Mages infuse it into spells and laws they've crafted to manifest as magic. Warriors enhance their bodies for better physical prowess or charge weapons to boost attack power. Professions vary wildly in methods—endless possibilities—but the foundation is controlling your own mana."
The blue mana floating above her palm shifted: numbers, letters, myriad shapes. Proof of her masterful control.
"Your training's simple: sense your mana, release it, shape it like this."
Erin tried feeling the mana within but frowned in failure.
"I... I don't get it. Any tips or tricks?"
"Dunno."
"Huh?"
"No clue. One day I just could—sense it, control it. That was my starting point as a mage, so that's what I'm passing on."
"......"
Erin stared in disbelief. People like Illyana had a term: genius freak. One of those rare "talent monsters."
The next evening.
Back in the capital Fernin, Princess Yuria thanked Eunhyeon profusely before heading to the palace under royal guard escort.
Alex excused himself to take the weary-looking Elenoa home, and Yuria approved without hesitation. She'd been the expedition's MVP—guiding Eunhyeon into the labyrinth, handling party support and healing.
Thus, Yuria's party disbanded, each to their path.
Eunhyeon headed straight to the underground training hall. Seeing Illyana lounging languidly in a chair and Erin sprawled on the floor looking half-dead, he smirked. They'd clearly trained hard—no slacking.
Erin perked up at his footsteps, turning toward the door. Her eyes widened at the silver-haired man entering.
"Ah!"
How much she'd missed him—limp and drained moments ago, she sprang up and bolted over.
"You're back?"
Illyana glanced at the entrance too, smiling warmly at his return.
"Yeah. Looks like training went well?"
"Eh, so-so."
"Um, hey!"
"Yeah?"
Eunhyeon noted how much Erin's attitude had shifted. She'd been shy and wary at first, treating him like a stranger. Now? Like a puppy spotting its owner—tail wagging furiously if she had one.
"Make dinner, please!"
"......"
A brief silence as Eunhyeon processed her plea, then he glanced at Illyana. His eyes narrowed at the scattered energy bar wrappers littering the floor—untouched.
"Illyana, don't tell me you again."
It didn't take long to deduce her laziness had flared up in his absence, surviving on those for three meals.
"......"
Illyana averted her gaze, pointedly turning her head away.