Chương 67: The Basement Learned to Fear Him

Sieghart remained beneath Lunar Arc for an entire year without stepping outside the guild headquarters. To an ordinary observer, his situation might have resembled imprisonment. He slept underground, trained behind reinforced walls, and rarely interacted with anyone besides Mira and Ronan. The basement possessed no windows, and Sieghart could not tell whether the sun was shining unless someone mentioned the weather while delivering his meals. Several doors remained locked, but the door to his room never was.

Mira made certain he understood that distinction from the beginning. Sieghart could leave whenever he wanted. He simply chose not to. The assassins hunting him believed he was either dead or hiding somewhere beneath his father's protection. Walking through Seraphina would accomplish nothing except increase the chance of being recognized. His father's soldiers also continued searching across the surrounding territories.

According to Mira, Lord Emberhart offered a considerable reward for information concerning his missing son. Sieghart found that concern somewhat late. Alaric ignored him while he lived safely on the farm, rented his mana to the military, and attempted to hire him as his sister's servant. Only after Sieghart vanished did the Crimson Sword King apparently remember that he possessed an eldest son worth searching for. Sieghart had no desire to reward that realization by returning.

Remaining underground also gave him something he needed more than freedom of movement: uninterrupted time to become stronger. Sieghart did not consider himself a prisoner. He was sharpening his fangs. His daily routine developed quickly. He slept for six hours, meditated after waking, ate, and spent the morning charging enchanted weapons and tools for Lunar Arc. The arrangement provided the guild with a reliable source of mana while allowing Sieghart to practice Mana Transfusion.

He never charged more equipment than Mira allowed after their first argument. The restriction annoyed him, but he understood its purpose. Dozens of fully charged weapons appearing every morning would reveal too much to anyone managing the guild's equipment. Mira separated the items into smaller groups and distributed them gradually. Most members assumed Lunar Arc had purchased additional mana stones or hired several Restorers. During the afternoons, Sieghart studied whatever books Mira approved.

He dedicated the evenings and most nights to practical training inside one of the reinforced basement chambers. The training room had originally been designed to test unstable enchanted equipment. Its walls contained layers of defensive runes capable of absorbing heat, force, and magical residue. By the end of Sieghart's first month, several formations required repairs. Mira visited at least once every week.

Sometimes she brought books or equipment, while other visits existed solely to report the results of her investigation. Unfortunately, most reports described what Lunar Arc had not discovered. They found no witness who saw someone approaching the farm before the explosions. Nearby travelers remembered smoke but could provide nothing about the attacker. The remaining magical residue did not match common military equipment, standard Firian techniques, or any explosive tool registered within Seraphina.

Lunar Arc also failed to locate the old runesmith. His shop had been emptied shortly before the attack, and no one knew whether he left voluntarily. The man's disappearance might connect to the assassination. It could also mean that he learned something dangerous and fled before becoming another target. Mira refused to decide without evidence. Sieghart hated hearing the same uncertainty every week, but he gradually stopped demanding answers she did not possess.

Anger could not transform missing information into useful evidence. He recorded everything inside a notebook instead. Names, dates, disappearances, political groups, and possible connections filled one page after another. The old runesmith remained near the top of the list. Not as a suspect, but as the only person who warned Sieghart before the attack. If the man was alive, Sieghart intended to find him. While Mira investigated, Sieghart focused on magic.

Her first visit after giving him the meditation manual almost ended with a blade of ice passing near her head. Mira entered the reinforced training room and found Sieghart sitting cross-legged at its center. A dozen sharp pieces of ice rotated around him. Each projectile resembled a small throwing star with four curved points. Cold mist trailed behind them as they spun through different paths. Some circled Sieghart horizontally, while others moved above his head or crossed between the larger formations.

None collided despite passing within centimeters of one another. Mira remained near the door and watched quietly. Sieghart opened his eyes. The ice shuriken stopped simultaneously, their sharpened edges pointing toward her before he recognized who had entered.

"That is an unfriendly greeting."

"You should knock."

"I did."

"I didn't hear you." Sieghart redirected the projectiles toward a row of wooden targets. The twelve shuriken crossed the chamber and struck different points almost simultaneously. Several buried themselves inside the wood. Others broke apart on impact, leaving deep cuts surrounded by frost. The system had not recognized Flame Arrow, but Ice Shuriken became available before long. Ice Shuriken reached Level 3. Magic +1 Mira examined the damaged targets.

"How long did creating twelve take?"

"Three seconds."

"And controlling them?"

"I can maintain them until my concentration fails." Mira looked toward the icy fragments scattered across the floor.

"How long does that take?"

"Longer than you want to stand here." She accepted the warning and moved to another subject. Ice Shuriken gave Sieghart the ranged control he wanted. Earth Bullet remained faster and physically stronger, but ice projectiles could change direction after being released. They could also freeze whatever they pierced. Against unarmored targets, the cold would damage tissue and reduce movement even if the initial wound was not fatal. The spell's greatest limitation was the number Sieghart could control simultaneously.

He began with four, reached eight at Level Two, and controlled twelve after reaching Level Three. Increasing that number became his next objective. One might dodge a single projectile. Avoiding a thousand would become considerably harder. When Mira returned the following week, Sieghart had temporarily shifted his attention toward Wind Magic. He stood in the center of the chamber while two independent currents moved around his hands.

The wind above his right palm rotated clockwise, while the current above his left moved in the opposite direction. Sieghart extended his arms. Both currents transformed into narrow spirals and crossed the training chamber. They curved around the targets without touching them before returning from opposite directions. Sieghart made the streams collide directly in front of him. The opposing winds compressed one another instead of collapsing.

Air screamed between his hands while pressure accumulated inside a small sphere. Mira's hair moved backward despite standing near the door. Several loose pages escaped from the book she carried. Sieghart released the compressed air toward the far wall. The resulting blast struck the defensive runes with enough force to make the entire chamber shake. Blue light spread across the stone as the enchantments absorbed the impact. Sieghart checked for a notification. Nothing appeared.

"Still not a spell?" Mira asked.

"No."

"You look disappointed."

"The system is annoying." Mira paused.

"What system?"

"The process." Sieghart corrected himself before she focused too much upon the word. Mira continued studying him, but she eventually allowed the matter to pass. His wind control improved rapidly after learning to sense his mana channels. He could divide Breeze into multiple currents, compress Wind Blade more efficiently, and reduce the wasted force during levitation. The technique still required both hands, but Sieghart could now remain airborne for several minutes while changing direction.

True flight remained beyond him. The confined basement also prevented safe experiments with height and long-distance movement. Mira promised access to an enclosed courtyard after enough time passed for guild members to stop questioning his presence. Sieghart accepted the delay reluctantly. A month later, Mira entered the training room and smelled ozone. Small blue sparks moved across Sieghart's arms, jumping between his fingers before disappearing into the air.

He sat with both hands raised while Fire and Wind mana circulated through separate internal channels. Heat provided energy, while compressed wind created movement and friction. Sieghart repeatedly brought the flows together, adjusted the pressure, and separated them whenever they became unstable. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Another spark appeared. This one remained between his fingers for several seconds.

It produced a sharp crack before striking a metal plate positioned on the floor. A black mark appeared on its surface. Mira stopped beside the door.

"Lightning?"

"Almost." Sieghart remembered electricity from Earth, including the movement of charged particles and the relationship between lightning and electrical potential. Remembering concepts did not mean he understood how to reproduce them through magic. Mana translated intent rather than scientific equations alone. Sieghart needed to create a mental image combining energy, separation, movement, and sudden discharge. Meditation allowed him to manage the elemental flows without shocking himself every few minutes.

Mira watched another spark travel across his hand.

"Most mages require years to learn a combined element."

"I have been using combined elements for years." His first successful electrical discharge unlocked Lightning Magic. The system granted him Spark, an unimpressive spell capable of producing a weak electrical current. Lightning Magic branch unlocked. New Spell Learned: Spark. Spark reached Level 1. Magic +1 The spell initially possessed little combat value. It produced enough electricity to cause pain, activate certain tools, or ignite something highly flammable.

Sieghart treated it as the foundation for more dangerous techniques. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and electromagnetic control all became possibilities for the future. The speed of his progress concerned Mira. Every time she visited, Sieghart had either improved a spell, developed a new application, or begun manipulating another elemental combination. Seraphina's surviving records described similar progress.

She learned basic magic after observing it once and then created variations faster than instructors could catalogue them. Sieghart was not quite that fast. Advanced spells still required days or weeks of concentrated effort. Compared with every other mage Mira knew, however, he developed at an impossible pace. Infinite mana explained part of that difference. Sieghart could repeat experiments endlessly without waiting for his reserves to recover.

His growing Mentality allowed him to control increasingly complex structures, while memories from another world gave him concepts nobody else possessed. Mira did not know about his reincarnation. From her perspective, Sieghart was a seven-year-old child inventing magical techniques through intuition. What frightened her most was his attitude. Sieghart appeared calmer than the child Ronan brought into her office. He no longer heated rooms whenever someone mentioned the assassination.

His constant glare softened, and he learned to tolerate delays without threatening anyone. Even Ronan could enter the basement safely after developing the habit of knocking. That calmness did not mean Sieghart had abandoned revenge. Every time Mira reported another failed lead, his eyes became cold enough to remind her of the countless black fireballs described in Ronan's report. Sieghart had not forgotten.

He had merely learned to keep his anger inside, sharpen it, and prevent it from interfering with his preparation. Mira occasionally wondered if providing more magical knowledge was wise. Every book gave Sieghart another possible weapon. Refusing him carried its own risks. He would experiment without guidance, learn more dangerous techniques through trial and error, and conceal his discoveries from her. Teaching him allowed Mira to correct misunderstandings and observe his development.

It also gave Sieghart reasons to trust Lunar Arc without depending entirely upon the guild. After several weeks of hesitation, she brought him three advanced introductory texts. The first discussed Rune Magic. The second explained the principles of Illusion Magic. The final book covered enchantment through temporary mana structures, a specialized branch classified beneath White Magic. Sieghart arranged the books across his desk.

"Which one should I learn first?"

"Rune Magic."

"Why?"

"Because it teaches precision, structure, and magical language. Those principles will help with the other two." Sieghart opened the first book immediately. Rune Magic proved far more difficult than elemental spells. Fire responded to anger, water to calmness, and earth to the intention of gathering solid matter. Runes required exact meaning. A single line represented direction. Curves determined how mana flowed, while intersections controlled activation, limitation, and the connection between separate effects.

Sieghart needed to write each symbol in the air using raw mana. The completed rune had to remain stable without an enchanted surface supporting it. His first attempts disappeared before he completed the second line. Mana naturally dispersed once it left his fingers, forcing him to sustain every previous stroke while adding new ones. It felt like writing a sentence while the earliest letters attempted to vanish. Increasing the mana output only made the unstable lines explode.

Sieghart spent a month practicing a single rune representing containment. He drew it hundreds of times using his index finger. The symbol failed hundreds of times for slightly different reasons. One line became too long. Another contained excessive mana, while a curve weakened before the completed structure could support it. Meditation made the exercise possible. Sieghart traced the mana channels through his fingers and released exact amounts through the tip.

The first stable rune appeared above his desk late one night. Blue lines remained suspended in the air, forming a circular symbol no larger than his palm. Its light reflected across Sieghart's tired face. The system responded. Arcane Magic branch unlocked: Rune Magic. New Spell Learned: Mana Rune. Mana Rune reached Level 1. Mentality +1, Dexterity +1 The basic Mana Rune performed no effect alone. It existed as a stable structure capable of receiving additional instructions.

That sounded useless until Sieghart realized every complex rune would need such a foundation. Learning it resembled creating letters before writing a book. Illusion Magic required another two months. The introductory exercise asked Sieghart to reproduce a simple image of an object. He selected an apple because the shape and color were familiar. His first illusion resembled a red stone. The second looked like a tomato someone had attacked with a hammer.

Creating light without heat or physical substance required Sieghart to manipulate how mana interacted with human senses. He did not create a real object. He created reflected colors, shadows, depth, and movement arranged to convince someone that the object existed. Sieghart found the process fundamentally annoying. Elemental spells changed reality. Illusions attempted to lie convincingly enough that observers supplied the missing reality themselves.

His twentieth apple looked correct from the front and completely flat from the side. The fiftieth possessed proper depth but cast no shadow. Sieghart continued until the illusion responded to changing light and remained believable from every direction. He placed the false apple beside a real one and asked Ronan to identify the illusion. Ronan immediately grabbed both. His hand passed through the false apple.

"That feels like cheating."

"Enemies will cheat."

"You asked me to look."

"I never said you couldn't touch them." Ronan selected the illusion correctly, but his initial hesitation proved that the image worked. Arcane Magic branch unlocked: Illusion Magic. New Spell Learned: Phantom Image. Phantom Image reached Level 1. Mentality +1, Dexterity +1 Phantom Image created one stationary visual illusion no larger than Sieghart. It produced no sound, smell, heat, or physical presence. Those limitations gave him obvious goals.

Movement, scale, additional senses, and multiple simultaneous images could increase the spell's level. The final subject, Enchanting, became the most difficult of the three. Traditional enchantment required physical runes, ingredients, specialized Auras, or permanent changes to an object. Sieghart could not reproduce the runesmith's craft merely by possessing mana. White Magic Enchanting operated differently. The mage created a temporary layer around a target and gave that layer a magical property.

Protection already supplied the foundation. Sieghart could cover his body or another person with defensive mana. To create an enchantment, he needed to maintain a similar coating around an object and transform its nature without allowing the mana to disperse. Sieghart selected an ordinary knife as his first target. He placed Protection around the blade easily enough. The mana layer reduced damage against the knife instead of improving its attacks. Sieghart then attempted to give the coating a fire nature.

The first attempt heated the handle and forced him to drop the weapon. The second created a flame that disappeared after less than one second. He needed to transform the mana after establishing the protective layer while preventing the new element from destroying the structure supporting it. The process resembled changing water into fire without replacing the container holding either one.

Sieghart meditated, traced the channels supplying Protection, and separated the mana responsible for stability from the mana receiving elemental nature. The stable portion remained White Magic. The outer layer became fire. Orange light spread across the knife. Flames surrounded the blade without heating the handle or damaging the metal. Sieghart maintained the effect for five seconds before his concentration failed. A notification appeared. White Magic branch unlocked: Enchanting Magic.

New Spell Learned: Elemental Imbuement. Elemental Imbuement reached Level 1. Resistance +1, + Magic +1 Sieghart stared at the final message. Elemental Imbuement increased Resistance and Magic. More importantly, White Magic itself still remained at Level One. Sieghart had developed Protection, First Aid, and Elemental Imbuement. None revealed how to increase the parent skill. He complained to the system for several minutes. As usual, it refused to explain itself. Elemental Imbuement still offered enormous potential.

Sieghart could apply fire to weapons, ice to armor, or wind to projectiles. Lightning might increase a blade's ability to stun, while earth could reinforce fragile equipment. Combining the spell with Rune Magic might eventually create temporary enchanted tools without specialized materials. By the end of the year, the basement looked completely different. Runes covered practice boards along one wall.

Illusory objects appeared and disappeared across the room, while scorch marks, frozen targets, and shattered training dummies filled the reinforced chamber. The guild's equipment remained fully charged. Sieghart's spells grew stronger, his control improved, and his magical branches expanded far beyond the four elements learned on the farm. He also turned seven without leaving the basement. Ronan brought a small cake and claimed guild policy required celebrating the survival of another year.

Mira brought a thicker book on advanced mana circulation. Sieghart preferred the book, although he ate most of the cake. Mira visited him later that night and found several Mana Runes floating around an illusion of Sieghart. Each rune supported a different elemental enchantment. Fire covered one illusory hand. Ice gathered around the other, wind rotated beneath its feet, and faint lightning moved across its artificial shoulders.

The illusion possessed no physical body, so the enchantments should have collapsed immediately. Sieghart maintained them by connecting every effect through Rune Magic. Mira watched from the entrance without interrupting. Sieghart had learned Rune Magic, Illusion Magic, and Enchanting within months. Even their most basic spells required control many adult mages never achieved. Seraphina had learned the same way. Every completed technique became the foundation for three more.

Every limitation produced another experiment instead of discouragement. Mira had hoped similarities between them ended with an abnormal mana supply. That hope weakened every time she entered the basement. Sieghart finally noticed her and dismissed the illusion. The elemental effects disappeared, but the runes remained floating for several seconds longer.

"Did you find anything?" That remained his first question during every visit. Mira shook her head.

"Not yet." Sieghart's expression became still. The rage never appeared openly, but Mira saw it waiting behind his green eyes. A year underground had not extinguished his desire for vengeance. It had taught him patience. Mira no longer knew which possibility frightened her more: Sieghart losing control or maintaining it perfectly until he found the people responsible. She placed another book on the table anyway. Preventing him from learning would not remove his power.

It would only ensure that when his anger finally moved, it did so without understanding. Sieghart reached for the book. The child who entered Lunar Arc had possessed endless mana and several powerful spells. The boy sitting before Mira now understood how to make infinity obey.