Reincarnated as a Genius Mage

It's been a year since I began my rigid training with Klaus Rodron.

Well, not exactly one whole year.

Last year, the Patriarch postponed the gift he had for me. He said that he'd give it to me on my fifth birthday.

And my fifth birthday is two weeks from now. Which means, in three weeks, it'll be one year since I started training with Klaus Rodron.

I learned the mana breathing technique Klaus gave me in only a week. It was quite an unbelievable feat. To start feeling mana in one week and start mana gathering in that same week.

The number of people who praise me and call me an outstanding genius have increased. It's almost sickening now.

The elders, and other people who all treated me like an eyesore now look at me with sparkling eyes filled with admiration.

No matter the world.. humans are humans. Like moths.

So far... I learned everything there was to learn in class 2. I even skipped class 3, and now... I'm in class 4.

I owe it all to Klaus. And I won't lie, the guy's a great teacher.

It's just that...

"Focus! Cleanse your mind and focus! Being a flame mage isn't just about hurling flame spells from a distance like a coward.

It's about forging your body, tempering it with hardcore training to withstand the heat of your own flames!! It's about having peak mental and physical strength! And how do you achieve that? By focus!"

This training is fucking hard!

I'm on the ground, obviously in a lotus position.

There's a large, and heavy boulder on my head, that I'm supposed to balance without it falling off once.

And it's about the size of a car!

Untop of this, I'm supposed to clear my mind of every thought while maintaining this boulder on my head.

It's Impossible, this man is the devil hi–

Thwack!

He hits my head with his knuckles, looking at me fiercely, his arms folded.

He's standing, staring down at me— watching my every move.

"Didn't I say you should stop thinking and focus?!"

His tone reels of boiling annoyance.

"But how am I supposed to do that when there's a freaking boulder on my head, and not to mention, you're literally roasting my body with fire?!"

I snap, this absurd training.. it's bullshit.

What kind of insensitive nonsense is this? Every day, he removes my shirt, leaving only my pants. He puts a boulder on my head, and then he starts burning my entire body with fire. And I'm not supposed to move or shake! And now he's telling me not to think at all too!?

"Do the kids in class 10 even train as hard as this?! Do they carry boulders on their heads? This makes no sense!"

He frowns, his nose scrunching.

Then, with a resigned look— he shakes his head, and he sighs.

"The training method that the other kids use is... It's ineffective on you."

The left corner of my lips curl up, and I make a 'what the hell is he saying' face.

In an instant, his strict demeanor crumbles, and he lets out a soft chuckle.

"You aren't even aware of your talent. You went through a body reconstruction during your mana pool ritual..." he starts.

Huh?

"Wait. how do you know about the ritual? I thought no one apart from those in our family knew that?"

My brows furrow as I stare at him sharply.

"... You're not wrong. But I'm the vice-captain of the Flameworth's mages. So there is some classified information that I'm allowed access to. And that includes information on the mana pool ritual."

My lips part, "ah."

Makes sense.

"So... as I was saying. Your body, which went through body reconstruction, needs more tempering. Much more than the normal flame mages, because your bones and muscles are harder than the norm.

Thus the reason I'm even going as far as to heat you up. Other Flameworths didn't even need to temper their bodies because as babies, they drank a special milk, it's made with a secret formula that isn't even really milk, and it has been passed down for generations to every Matriarch in the Flameworths.

The flameworths toddlers drink it during hot afternoons because it makes them grow with already tempered bodies." he continues.

"Oh? But I'm sure I wasn't given that as a toddler because I'm a bastard."

"No. It doesn't matter if you're a bastard or not. It's just like how you did the mana pool ritual. As long as you bear the surname 'Flameworth', you must drink it as a toddler."

"Oh."

I want to nod my head but there's a boulder on it.

"Is the 'body tempering' not over for today? I ran with this boulder while another one was tied to my leg. I've done push-ups with the boulder on my back and I've been meditating with the boulder on my head while getting burned by you. I think that's all for today, right?"

I thought I was getting used to it but..

It's starting to hurt again. The heavy rock pressing on my head hurts, and my back is steadily losing strength. I feel like my spine might crack anytime soon.

"What do you mean 'done for today'?" He smiles, punching his palm. "We've not sparred for today. When you grind your body and train to get stronger, sparring is the best way to know the result of your training and how effective it really is."

His eyes flash with a glint of madness.

He's just looking for an excuse to beat me up again.

With just one hand— he flicks the boulder from my head. It lands on the ground with a thud, causing a ripple of dust to rise from the sand.

Finally... My neck and my body feels lighter.

Slowly, I stand up. Rolling my neck and shoulder with a crack sound.

I still have no idea how fighting, body tempering ,and all this other gibberish relates to being a mage.

I'm wondering if what I'm doing is really what I'm supposed to be doing.

But I just have to endure. After I finish this gruesome body tempering training, I'll finally be able to learn how to apply the gathered mana in my body outside my body. To manifest it physically as the element I have an affinity with— as spells.

This is what the people from class 8 to 10 learn. And by class 10, with the amount of mana they must have gathered, they're expected to have formed their first circle.

Let's just endure it. I'm willing to endure anything for the sake of Marcelle.

I lift my gaze to meet the figure of Klaus who's checking my body out with a mischievous grin, and his hand slowly caressing his chin.

"Good, good. Progress at last."

Suddenly, he enters a combat stance.

With a gesture of his wrists, he says: "Come at me."

Here we go again.