Chương 71: Chapter 70 The First Disciple

Kairin opened her eyes after creating the First Circle and looked at Karath with simple curiosity.

"What happens now?" Karath remained silent for a moment. She did not appear exhausted. She was not gasping for breath or trembling from the effort. She had simply followed his explanation and completed a foundational achievement in half an hour. Karath had wanted to save her life. He had not expected to discover a magical prodigy.

"Now Kairin must practise maintaining the circle while breathing and moving."

"Is it difficult?"

"It was difficult for Karath."

"Then Kairin will practise." Her uncomplicated response made the injustice feel even worse. Still, resentment would not protect the tribe. Karath pushed aside his wounded pride and focused upon the implications. Kairin had used mana unconsciously for years through shamanic traditions passed down from one generation to the next. Her body was already familiar with directing energy. The true problem had never been a lack of talent.

The tribal shamans had inherited techniques without receiving any understanding of mana itself. They knew how to activate specific patterns, but not how to restore the power those patterns consumed. Without access to natural mana, their bodies had substituted life force. Every ritual shortened their lives. The rapid ageing of Aunt Garlik and Kairin had not been an unavoidable cost of shamanism. It was the result of an incomplete system. Karath could correct that system.

Once Kairin learned to gather mana and maintain her circle, she would no longer need to sacrifice her lifespan every time she healed a wound or performed a ceremony. More importantly, she could teach future shamans correctly. The entire line of Bloodclaw spiritual practitioners might be freed from the fate that had slowly killed their predecessors. Karath had discovered magic because of the drake.

Now that same knowledge could preserve someone who had already been protecting the tribe long before he understood what mana was. The thought eased some of the guilt he felt for ignoring Kairin's condition. Not all of it. Karath still should have noticed earlier. He had spoken repeatedly about protecting every member of the tribe. Yet he had allowed one of them to continue dying in front of him because the problem felt inconvenient and difficult.

That failure could not be erased merely because he had finally found a solution. He would remember it. A leader could not focus only upon the danger that made the loudest noise. The drake had shattered trees and breathed fire, making it impossible to ignore. Kairin's life had faded silently, one ritual at a time. Silent dangers could be just as deadly.

"Kairin."

"Yes?"

"From today onward, do not perform any shamanic art using only your own strength." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"But ceremonies still need to be held."

"Then gather mana first. If there is not enough, call Karath. The ritual can wait until the two of us are prepared." Kairin considered the instruction.

"What if someone is badly injured?"

"Then use what is necessary to save them. But afterward, tell Karath exactly how much energy was consumed."

"All right." Her answer came easily. Karath wondered whether she fully understood that he was attempting to stop her from sacrificing her own life. Perhaps she did. Kairin had grown up believing that shortening her life for the tribe was part of a shaman's duty. Even if she understood the danger, she might not consider it something worth avoiding. Karath would need to change that way of thinking as well. Sacrifice could not remain the tribe's first answer to every crisis. Garthon had died killing an ogre.

Karath had nearly died luring away the drake, then almost destroyed his own body killing it. Kairin had steadily burned away her lifespan with every ritual. The Bloodclaw Tribe praised such acts as honourable. Karath no longer believed honour alone was enough. Protecting the tribe should not always require someone to disappear from it. The purpose of knowledge, preparation, and progress was to create victories in which everyone returned alive.

"Karath will teach Kairin everything he knows about mana."

"Everything?"

"Yes. Breathing, circles, control, and the magic recorded by the ancestors." Kairin's eyes brightened.

"Then Kairin will teach Karath every shamanic art she knows." Karath paused. That offer was more valuable than she realised. The tribe's shamanic techniques represented an entirely different magical system. Renstein's books focused upon manipulating external mana and reproducing natural phenomena. Kairin possessed patterns capable of influencing living bodies. Combining both traditions could open possibilities neither system offered alone. Healing was only the beginning.

If Karath learned how mana interacted with flesh, blood, nerves, and organs, he might eventually create methods for strengthening warriors, treating disease, preventing infection, or accelerating recovery from injuries. He might even discover how the prophecy ritual functioned. There were dangers in such research. Manipulating a living body carelessly could cause damage far worse than an ordinary failed spell. Karath would need to proceed slowly and test every theory with extreme caution.

Still, the possibilities were too important to ignore.

"Good. Then we will teach each other."

"Kairin thought Karath was becoming her teacher."

"You are still Karath's disciple when it comes to mana."

"Then Karath is Kairin's disciple when it comes to shamanism."

"That is different."

"Why?" Karath had no convincing answer. Kairin smiled as though she had won. The expression made her gaunt face look younger for the first time since Karath entered the house. He silently promised that she would not continue ageing at the same terrifying rate. Kairin had already spent too much of her life protecting the tribe through an incomplete method. From this day onward, she would learn to draw power from the world instead of consuming herself. Karath shifted closer and continued the lesson.

He taught her how to stabilise the ring around her heart. A newly created mana circle could disperse if the user lost concentration before the movement became natural. Kairin needed to maintain the rotation while breathing, standing, walking, and eventually sleeping. Once the circle became stable, it would continuously draw small amounts of mana from the environment. Karath demonstrated how to circulate mana through the limbs without breaking the ring. Kairin followed. Her first attempt was clumsy.

The ring around her heart wavered when she tried to send mana toward her hand. Karath finally felt a small amount of relief. At least she was capable of struggling with something.

"Do not force the circle and the moving mana to act as one structure," Karath explained.

"Keep the ring rotating while drawing only a small thread away from it." Kairin tried again. The second attempt was noticeably smoother. Karath's relief vanished. Her talent was offensive. Within a short period, she could move mana into her fingertips while maintaining the circle around her heart.

"Like this?"

"Yes."

"What should Kairin do with it?"

"For now, nothing. Return it to the circle." She guided the mana back without difficulty. Karath considered teaching her Fire. Then he rejected the idea. The First Circle elemental spell was simple, but Kairin had only just created her circle. She needed time to stabilise it before consuming mana through repeated casting. More importantly, elemental magic was not the most urgent lesson. Karath wanted her to reproduce her healing ritual using natural mana rather than life force.

If she succeeded, they would confirm that her body could replace the dangerous traditional method immediately.

"Remember the pattern used during Kuzan's ceremony."

"Kairin remembers it."

"Good. Gather the mana inside the circle and prepare the pattern, but do not activate it yet." Kairin closed her eyes. Karath watched carefully with his mana senses. The ring around her heart continued rotating. A small portion of energy separated from it and travelled upward. The mana began forming the same biological pattern Karath had memorised earlier. It was slightly unstable, but unmistakably correct.

"Stop." Kairin released the pattern before completing the ritual. The mana returned to her circle.

"How did it feel?" Karath asked.

"Easier."

"Easier than before?"

"Yes. Before, using the ritual always felt as though something was being pulled out from deep inside Kairin. This time, the mana moved without that feeling." That confirmed it. The traditional shamanic art had been drawing directly upon her life force. Using accumulated mana prevented the same damage. Karath had not merely gained a disciple. He had found a way to save every future shaman of the Bloodclaw Tribe. The knowledge would also create a new branch of magic within the settlement.

Kairin possessed the inherited patterns. Karath possessed the theoretical framework required to analyse and modify them. Together, they could transform a collection of dangerous rituals into a complete magical discipline. Karath looked at the first circle revolving around Kairin's heart. It was thin and fragile. Yet to him, it appeared as important as the stone wall, the well, the traps, and the discovery of magic itself. The Bloodclaw Tribe now had two mages.

One had learned elemental magic from the writings of a human scholar. The other had inherited the biological magic of generations of orc shamans. The future of the tribe had quietly changed inside a small earthen house. Karath could not entirely suppress the resentment that his first disciple had completed in thirty minutes what had required him an entire day. However, he could tolerate a little unfairness. After all, a teacher should be proud when a disciple surpassed expectations.

Even when that disciple's talent was unbearably irritating.