As the city loved hot springs, Acrocadena had many legends entwined with them.
There was a legend about Hero Arnold, who recovered completely after being seriously injured in battle with a Demon, by soaking in an open-air bath.
There was also a legend of a Noble suffering from severe skin disease, who found it cured after a Spirit helped bathe in the hot spring.
Another tale spoke of a lame woodcutter whose leg was healed after a lame beast led him to a forest hot spring.
Most of these legends were about healing diseases. It expressed how beneficial hot spring baths were for humans.
As a region that enjoyed hot springs, there were even businesses delivering hot spring water in buckets to homes in the east. Nobles reportedly filled their own bathtubs with fresh hot spring water every day.
Yuric, too, immersed himself in hot spring baths for days, enjoying it until he nearly ran out of money. The higher prices in this area contributed to his financial strain. Now, he only had enough money left for a few more days of food and lodging.
Seeking work, he headed to the Mercenary Guild. The building was packed with mercenaries like him looking for jobs.
Fortunately, the Mage Tower’s silver badge worked well here. An employee, looking exhausted from dealing with mercenaries all day, gave Yuric a piece of paper with a grim expression.
“Please go here.”
After paying the fee, Yuric went to the mansion of the Baron living in Acrocadena. It was the Sholod Baronate.
Baron Sholod was a man full of masculine charm with a rugged appearance. Upon meeting him, Yuric immediately thought of a valiant warrior.
“Pleased to meet you, Your Grace. I am Mage Yuric.”
“Welcome. I am Baron Sholod.”
The Baron himself had studied magic, and he was powerful and assertive in everything he did.
Seeing Yuric’s silver badge, he nodded in satisfaction. If it was from the Mage Tower, his skills were already proven.
“I want you to teach my second son magic. I don’t need any other kind of magic; just combat magic.”
It was already known that the eastern region preferred attack or defense magic, which was also emphasized in the curriculum at the Magic Academy.
“In fact, you are the fourth teacher. The previous three have all given up and left. The longest one stayed for three months.”
“May I ask why?”
“They said they couldn’t meet my expectations.”
“I see.”
“Please, Teacher Yuric, do not be like the others.”
“I will do my best, Your Grace.”
After leaving the Baron’s office, Yuric followed a servant to the room where the second son was staying. The boy was quietly reading a book, a delicate young man unlike his father’s fierce demeanor. He seemed to be around thirteen years old.
Yuric greeted him respectfully with a kind smile.
“Hello, Young Master. I am Yuric, who will teach you magic.”
“Ah… Nice to meet you, Teacher… My name is Brett Sholod.”
With the servant gone, only Yuric and Brett remained in the room.
Yuric sat opposite the boy and looked at him intently.
“I just came back from seeing Baron Sholod.”
“I see.”
“I’m the fourth teacher… Did you not get along well with your previous teachers?”
“No, it wasn’t that.”
The boy shook his head, saying the problem was with himself.
“To be honest, I don’t have much talent for combat magic. No matter how much I practice, I can’t seem to get better.”
“I see.”
“…You must be very disappointed.”
But Yuric smiled.
“It’s okay. There isn’t just one type of combat magic in this world, is there?”
“…What?”
“There are countless magical spells in this world. Combat magic is just a small part of it. Not having talent for attack or defense magic doesn’t mean you should feel disappointed.”
“But… I need to learn combat magic.”
“Of course, I’ll teach you combat magic. But I’ll also teach you many other things. This world has so many different kinds of magic. Magic is a great human science. Learning only combat magic would mean missing out on so much.”
Brett quickly became engrossed in Yuric’s words.
Like the first three tutors, the previous teachers had all brought books filled with combat magic and tried to force him to memorize them. But Yuric was different.
“I’ll show you the true world of magic, Young Master.”
*
Magic was truly profound.
The second son, Brett, never imagined that difficult magic could contain such vast principles and history. Using attack magic to catch monsters, as Yuric said, was just a tiny fraction of it. There were far greater and more magnificent things.
Feeling like he was being compensated for past hardships, Brett dove deeply into the world of magic.
No longer feeling inferior, the boy realized he wasn’t actually lacking in talent for attack magic. He simply hadn’t understood the principles and had been forced to memorize blindly. In fact, he learned and understood things much faster than others.
However, Brett was more interested in alchemy than combat studies. Since childhood, he preferred sitting with his younger sister in the garden, crushing and mixing plants and flowers, finding it incredibly fascinating and fun when substances combined to create something new.
‘This is in his blood.’
Proving it, Brett quickly mastered alchemy to an astonishing degree. It was on a whole different level compared to learning other magic. So, Yuric gave him a copy of some of his own alchemy notes, which Brett surprisingly memorized completely in just three days.
“It was so fun, I memorized it all quickly!”
So, Yuric took a day to borrow a laboratory and brought Brett along. The boy was genuinely happy as he touched the equipment with his hands.
“I want to make a potion, Teacher!”
“Sure, let’s try it.”
Yuric showed Brett how to use the equipment. The boy watched carefully and then tried it himself, following Yuric’s instructions.
“Good job. Want to try making one yourself?”
“Yes!”
Brett crushed herbs, measured the quantities, boiled water, and stirred it with a ladle. He mixed mana gradually through stirring and sang in rhythm.
The boy happily sang “Nora died” without showing any sign of fatigue as he stirred the potion for a long time. By evening, the preparation was complete. Brett filtered the floating material with a cloth, leaving only the liquid, and divided it into several bottles.
Thus, Brett’s first potion was completed.
“Do you want to try it together?”
Yuric and Brett drank a bottle of the potion. It tasted bitter, but its effects were excellent. If they knew it was his first potion, the alchemy research lab would be turned upside down by people calling Brett a genius alchemist.
“What do you think, Teacher?”
“This is amazing. If you continue like this, you will surely become a great alchemist.”
Brett was happier than ever before. It might have been the first time he felt such elation from achievement.
Of course, Yuric didn’t want to teach Brett only alchemy tirelessly. His idea of magic encompassed numerous fields that needed to be harmoniously integrated.
“Master, magic is all interconnected. The act of stirring while preparing a potion you just did is based on circuitry. To make better potions, you need to learn various other fields. Only then can you develop a treatment for Mana Blockage Disease and ultimately create new potions.”
Brett was burning with a desire to challenge. Knowing that Yuric was a great mage who developed a cure for Mana Blockage Disease, he truly respected him infinitely.
“Yes, Teacher. I’ll remember that. I’ll study everything thoroughly and with all my heart!”
This wasn’t just lip service. The boy sincerely intended to follow Yuric’s advice.
Baron Sholod had noticed his son’s change over time. Unlike before, when the boy was always disheartened, he no longer exhibited that behavior. All this change happened within two months since starting private tutoring.
When the Baron began to feel the need for results, his son Brett requested a private audience.
“What brings you here?”
Brett momentarily flinched at his father’s stern gaze but summoned the courage within him.
“I have something to give to Father.”
Then, he respectfully handed his father a bottle. The Baron looked at his son with puzzled eyes.
“Please try it.”
The Baron, with his hearty personality, gulped down the contents of the bottle in one go. Although it tasted bitter, the immediate positive reaction indicated it wasn’t harmful.
“What is this?”
“It’s a potion I made.”
“…Did you make this?”
Making a potion required deep study. Alchemy was no easy field in magic.
“How did you manage to make this?”
“I studied alchemy.”
“Taught by Teacher Yuric?”
“Yes.”
While alchemy wasn’t inherently bad, the Baron still wanted combat magic. Naturally, he didn’t feel good about Yuric disobeying his orders.
“Of course, I also studied combat magic. Teacher said all magic fields are interconnected.”
“…That’s not entirely wrong.”
The Baron was a mage himself. He understood what his son meant.
“But if you neglected combat magic to focus on this, I’d be greatly disappointed.”
Disappointment.
At the word, Brett flinched.
But recalling his dream, he clenched his fist.
For the first time, he had his own dream.
To become a great alchemist and help everyone, like Teacher Yuric.
“That’s why I came to prove it to Father.”
“Prove?”
“Yes, prove.”
Though Baron Sholod appeared indifferent, he admired his second son’s bold and courageous spirit.
“You are the second son of the Sholod family and now thirteen years old. You must take responsibility for your words.”
“I will take responsibility.”
“Good. Speak.”
“If I can satisfy you with combat magic, please give me a laboratory of my own.”
Originally, given his personality, the Baron would have instantly rejected the idea of giving a laboratory to a son, considering it inappropriate.
But at this moment, he was swayed by his son’s resolve.
“Alright. If you can satisfy me, I’ll give you a laboratory. And I won’t interfere with whatever you do. But if you fail to satisfy me, it will be the opposite. How does that sound?”
“…I understand.”
When the Baron returned to his office, Yuric was waiting there. After nodding to the bowing teacher, he headed to the underground training room with his son.
…
After some time, Baron Sholod returned to his office, slightly flushed.
“Teacher Yuric, come in.”
Yuric followed the Baron into his office. The Baron asked immediately after sitting down.
“How did you do it? How could my son change so much?”
Brett’s skills exceeded expectations. The proof was overwhelming.
Yuric smiled faintly and bowed slightly.
“I merely drew out the will deep within your son’s heart.”
“…Amazing.”
The Baron seemed genuinely surprised.
“Your Grace, may I speak?”
“Go ahead.”
“Studying magic in a single-sided manner makes it hard to achieve good growth. Human minds are naturally designed to avoid imbalance. Magic requires comprehensive thinking and study. So, do not look down upon learning other areas.”
In the past, he might have dismissed this as nonsense.
But now, the Baron saw it with his own eyes and confirmed it.
“So, you’re saying to broaden my horizons.”
“Exactly.”
After a moment of contemplation, the Baron nodded.
“Thank you. I’ve learned something from you.”
“No, Your Grace.”
“It seems I’ve been too narrow-minded with my son. Yes… Great trees take time and effort to grow…”
“I’m grateful for your understanding.”
The Baron stared at Yuric and asked if he could learn alongside his son.
“I’ve spent my life focused solely on combat magic. But at some point, my growth stagnated… As you said, perhaps my perspective was too narrow.”
“Of course. I’ll teach you with all my heart.”
“Thank you.”
Thus, the Baron ended his morning work early and started learning magic step-by-step with his second son. Though he had been a rigid adherent to combat magic, his passion for magic rivaled his son’s. …Actually, learning at the same level as his son required considerable dedication and enthusiasm.
And unlike the mandatory rote learning taught at the Magic Academy, the Baron truly immersed himself in the broad world of real magic… and was overwhelmed by it.
Despite being in his forties, Baron Sholod burned with scholarly zeal like a teenager. In some ways, he was even more enthusiastic than his son.
If Brett was captivated by alchemy, the Baron was enchanted by illusion magic. He longed to meet his deceased mother again, even in the realm of illusions.
Brett was surprised to see his father, who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed even if pricked, weep upon seeing his grandmother in a vision.
“Mother, I thought I forgot everything. Your face, your scent… I truly thought I forgot everything… Mother… Mom!”
Yuric and Brett moved aside to give the Baron space.
The Baron spent a long time in the room, seeing his mother.
—
