The training hall beneath the adventurer guild was vast—almost as large as a standard football stadium. Despite being underground, it had a spacious, open design. Five rows of wooden seats lined the upper perimeter, resembling a small arena, and a large clock on the far wall ticked steadily, marking the time.

  In the center of the hall, I stood alongside six other children, waiting for training to begin.

  A nervous voice beside me broke the silence.

  “Hopefully today is not a demon teacher…”

  I turned to him, the brown-haired boy, who whispered the words as if he feared an unseen force.

  I blinked. “Demon teacher?”

  Ray let out a long sigh. “It’s the guildmaster. She doesn’t go easy on us. Even if we’re already exhausted, she keeps pushing us further.”

  Ryan let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing his arms. “Yeah… She’s merciless. Don’t let her beautiful face fool you.”

  Kenya nodded grimly. “She’s a real demon. You’ll see soon enough.”

  Gill gulped, while Rei and Cheri visibly paled..

  Then—

  The air grew cold.

  A playful yet chilling voice suddenly came from behind.

  “Yahoo ~ Seems you guys are all eager to train today.”

  A half-elf woman appeared between Ray and Kenya, bending down to align her head with theirs, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders.

  Her azure-blue eyes sparkled with amusement, and her silky mint-green hair was tied into a loose ponytail, strands falling gracefully over her shoulders. Dressed in a light blue blouse and black pants, she exuded a calm yet authoritative presence.

  Her smile should have been reassuring—yet at this moment, it sent shivers down my spine.

  “Hiii!”

  “Hieekk!”

  “Geh!”

  “Demon…”

  They were completely scared, while Gill murmured something that he shouldn’t say.

  The temperature seemed to drop further.

  The guildmaster’s smile widened—but her eyes sharpened dangerously.

  “Hmm? What was that, Gill?”

  Gill’s entire body stiffened. His pupils shrank, and his breathing hitched.

  “H-HIIK! N-No! NOTHING!”

  “Geez… Why are you all so scared? I’m so sad…” The guildmaster pouted dramatically, rubbing her fists against her eyes like a crying child.

  She even sniffled for effect.

  Cheri, who had been silent the whole time, stepped forward hesitantly.

  “Ah… D-Don’t cry…” she mumbled softly, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

  The guildmaster’s eyes lit up, and she swooped in to hug Cheri tight, rubbing her cheek against Cheri’s face.

  “Uwahh! Cheri is so kind~!”

  Cheri turned bright red, blinking rapidly at the sudden display of affection.

  After her moment of fun, the guildmaster straightened up, clapping her hands.

  “Alright, alright! Time to start!”

  The guildmaster turned toward Ryan, Ray, Kenya, and Gill with a devilish grin.

  “Yosh, since you four seem so eager to train…”

  Ryan visibly tensed. “W-Wait—”

  “You can start with stamina training. Run laps around the hall.”

  ““Eh!?””

  “How many laps, Guildmas—”

  She cut him off instantly.

  “Hmmm? What do you call me during training?”

  Her smile turns menacing.

  Ryan immediately bowed. “S-Sorry, Teacher.”

  It seems we should call her ‘Teacher’ instead of ‘Guildmaster’.

  “Good boy.” She nodded. “Now, how long should you run…? Hmm… Oh, I know! Until I finish teaching Freed, Rei, and Cheri!”

  The four boys froze in horror.

  “No way…!”

  “That’s too long!”

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  “Start running now or....” The sheer authority in her voice made them panicked.

  “Haaah... Fine…” They groaned but obeyed, beginning their punishment run.

  As they started their laps, the guildmaster turned her attention to us—Rei, Cheri, and me.

  “Now, now,” she smiled. “If you want to help your friends, you’d better learn quickly.”

  Our shoulders slumped.

  “Yes…” We muttered in unison.

  “Good. Let’s start with magic,” she declared.

  She turned to Rei. “You’ve been here longer. Do you know how to use magic?”

  Rei nodded quickly. “Yes. We need to pull mana from our surroundings into our bodies and then release it along with our elemental affinity to form magic.”

  The guildmaster nodded approvingly. “That’s the basics.” Then, she turned to Cheri and me. “Do you two understand?”

  We were silent.

  Despite hearing theories from Aza, and even witnessing Mom and Sis Celes using magic firsthand, I had never grasped the concept personally.

  The guildmaster chuckled. “As expected.”

  She clapped once. “Rei, go practice what you just said. Keep doing it until I finish teaching them.”

  “Ah…” Rei paled slightly. “Okay…”

  It was clear that "until I finish teaching them" was a very long time.

  "Cheri, Freed, do you know why swordsmen also need to train their mana, while mages need to train their aura too?"

  I raised my hand. “To prevent them from fainting?”

  "Half correct. Cheri?"

  Cheri, still a bit nervous, hesitated before responding, “Umm… When we get really exhausted, our bodies will start using our mana and aura to keep us from passing out… Right?”

  The guildmaster grinned. “Correct!”

  She continued, her voice shifting into full instructor mode:

  “When a warrior runs out of stamina, their body automatically starts consuming their mana to keep them standing.”

  “The same applies to mages—they use aura instead.”

  “Most people think it’s just to prevent fainting, but in reality, it’s to prolong combat effectiveness.”

  "The more exhausted you are, the more aura and mana that are consumed by our bodies.”

  “If you have zero reserves left, that’s when you collapse.”

  "Of course, we can also only focus on increasing one of them. It’s the easiest method and most people do it. But it’s not recommended.”

  She looked at us seriously.

  “If a mage with low aura keeps fighting until their body burns through all their mana… And right before they cast magic, their body steals the last drop of their mana…”

  “Boom.”

  Cheri and I flinched.

  “The magic backfires, failing completely. At worst? It explodes right in front of them, possibly killing them.”

  Cheri swallowed hard.

  The guildmaster continued, “And for swordsmen, if they burn through all their aura mid-combat, their own bodies collapse under the strain. At best? Broken bones. At worst? Permanent damage.”

  “Do you understand now, Cheri, Freed?”

  We nodded quickly. ““Understood!””.

  “Good!” The guildmaster clapped her hands. “Now, let’s feel mana for the first time.”

  She had us sit cross-legged and hold her hands.

  “Close your eyes,” she instructed. “I’ll guide the mana flow into your bodies. Just focus on the feeling.”

  A moment later…

  A strange sensation tickled my skin—like a warm breeze circling my palm.

  “Do you feel that?” She asked us.

  “…I feel something ticklish,” I muttered.

  Cheri nodded. “M-Me too…”

  “Good,” the guildmaster smiled. “That’s mana. Now—try to imagine that mana moving inside into your hand as if you were pulling them.”

  As instructed, I try to imagine the breeze moving towards my hand, and going inside it.

  It seems the air is really moving as I imagined.

  A moment after the mana entered my hand, I could feel the mana suddenly moving fast towards my shoulders, and traveling to my chest.

  My breath hitched.

  It is circling around inside my chest as if it is enjoying staying there.

  “Nice, Freed! The mana has entered your body, what do you feel?”

  “I felt it moving so fast towards my chest, then it just swirled around there.”

  The guildmaster beamed. “Perfect! Now, try moving it back to your hand.”

  I’m trying to imagine moving that mana inside my body.

  Unlike before, It moved slowly as if it didn't want to leave my chest.

  But I kept trying.

  While I do that, Cheri has successfully absorbed the mana too.

  “Nice, Cheri! Now try to imagine you moving it towards your hand too.”

  Several moments later, the mana inside me arrived in my hand successfully.

  “Great, Freed! Now try to imagine releasing it as if you were kicking it out.”

  I tried several times, but it won’t come out.

  It stuck inside my hand as if telling me that it doesn’t want to come out.

  Meanwhile, Cheri reached the same point as me.

  “Nice, Cheri, you too now try releasing the mana!”

  Somehow, I heard her voice getting more excited.

  But still, it’s quite hard to release the mana.

  Then—after about 10 minutes,

  “You did it, Freed! Amazing!”

  I released my hand from hers and collapsed onto my back. I’m so exhausted.

  I looked at Cherry who was still trying hard to release the mana.

  Then another 20 minutes passed by.

  “You did it, Cheri! You are also amazing!”

  “Haa.. Haa.. Ha..”

  She looks more exhausted than me...

  Ah, she collapsed on the floor too.

  “Sis- Umm.. Teacher, why is it so hard to release mana from our bodies?” I asked after I regained my energy.

  She nodded as if expected my question.

  “It’s just a matter of experience. If you train a lot, you could absorb and release mana instantly.”

  “But, both of you are amazing at doing it quickly on the first try.”

  “The average of most children who can successfully release mana on their first try is 2 hours, yet you did it just within 15 minutes. Cheri is also amazing, you did it within 40 minutes.”

  What the… 2 hours? Really?

  It seems that was the reason why her voice sounded so excited.

  “By the way, why are Cheri and I fine despite being exhausted? I thought we would faint.”

  “Ha.. Ha.. I’m.. also curious.” Cheri forces talking even though she is still exhausted.

  “Because it’s just your mentality that is exhausted. Your physical body is still fine.”

  “Your body will automatically start to consume the mana and aura inside only when both your physical body and mentality are exhausted.”

  “So, if you run like them too when your mentality is exhausted, you will faint.” She explained while pointing her finger towards the other kids.

  “Okay, that’s enough for rest. Guys, Freed and Cheri are done. So you guys can stop now and take a rest for a while.”

  ”Haa.. Haa.. Finally..”

  It seems they are all exhausted too. They lay down on the floor immediately.

  “So, Cheri, Freed, next time try to do it alone. Absorb the surrounding mana and then release it. Repeat it whenever you are free. It’s the normal way to increase the amount of your mana capacity.”

  ““Yes!””

  Thus, we trained until evening.

  She only let us take a rest for 5 minutes before resuming the training again.

  No wonder other kids call her a demon teacher.