Chapter 118 – Opposite Paths of Training
"—Huff… huff… huff…"
Robin, drenched in sweat, dropped his greatsword and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
Above him, clouds lay scattered chaotically across the sky.
In his ears echoed Elias's voice:
"Regrettably, Robin, you're merely swinging your weapon blindly."
"Splitting clouds into pieces? I could do that with my bare hands."
"What I want is for you to sculpt the clouds into precise shapes—like a master carver—not smear them around like a five-year-old playing with mud."
Robin clenched his teeth.
Until a month ago, when Elias left, he had given him one final sentence:
"Sometimes, an overly grand objective drains your focus like a leech."
"Continue your training."
The moment Robin recalled those words, he sprang up like a carp flipping out of water and seized his blade again.
"Damn it…"
"I've trained for sixty full days, and I haven't improved even a little compared to the first day."
"Village errands are one thing… but if I lose to Frieren in actual combat, that would be…"
"—Hrrraaah!!"
With a roar, Robin raised his sword toward the sky and slashed again.
---
Elsewhere—
Flamme stood atop a rock beside the waterfall, watching Frieren pant heavily. She lowered her gaze with a sigh.
"Frieren, the same issue again. Your barrier spreads too wide. You're wasting mana."
The words had barely left her mouth when the Iron Mantis launched another wind blade.
Instinctively, Frieren deployed her defensive spell.
—Clang!
Flamme glanced at the result.
To block a single wind blade, Frieren had conjured twenty hexagonal defensive plates.
At this rate, she would exhaust herself before any opponent could defeat her.
"…Alright. Take a break."
With a flick of her hand, Flamme unleashed a powerful shockwave that blasted the Iron Mantis back behind the waterfall. In the same motion, she froze the cascading water into a thick wall of ice.
Only then did Frieren bend forward, struggling to catch her breath.
"Ah… ah… Teacher Flamme…"
"I can visualize the trajectory of the Iron Mantis's attacks… and roughly the shape of the impact."
"But why… can't I control my mana?"
Flamme's expression softened.
"Frieren, you're overly cautious. At its core, it's a lack of confidence in your own magic."
After striking the heart of the issue in a single sentence, Flamme patiently elaborated:
"Just like offensive magic—when you want to guarantee victory, you can't help but pour in a little more mana than necessary."
"When facing the Iron Mantis, you instinctively generate extra defensive plates, because you want absolute certainty."
"Imprecise mana control stems from a lack of confidence."
"…A lack of confidence…"
As Frieren sank into thought, Flamme quietly turned away. Before leaving, she offered one final piece of guidance:
"The problem is already clear."
"Frieren, the purpose of this training isn't merely to learn defensive magic or defeat Robin."
"More importantly, before we depart for the South, you must learn to allocate your mana properly."
With that, Flamme's silhouette disappeared.
Frieren stared blankly at the frozen waterfall.
"There's only one month left… Can I really reach Teacher Flamme's level in time…?"
One warrior trained to restrain overwhelming force.
One mage trained to restrain overwhelming mana.
Opposite disciplines—
Yet both sought the same thing:
Precision.
---
When Flamme returned to the village, she spotted Elias seated by the second-floor window of the café, leisurely enjoying himself.
The sight of him savoring his quiet afternoon was, frankly, irritating.
She entered the café under the usual gazes of admiration and walked upstairs to face him.
"How comfortable you look, Elias."
Elias didn't lift his eyes, continuing to sip his coffee.
"Sit down, Flamme. I ordered yours before you even returned."
"It's a new blend—the shopkeeper mixed high-proof alcohol into the brew after I gave him some inspiration."
Flamme took her seat, lifting the cup with a faintly mocking tone.
"A month ago, you left Robin alone on a mountaintop. And here you are, tinkering with alcoholic coffee."
"Be fair, Flamme."
"You're Frieren's teacher. I'm not Robin's. Spending a month instructing him was already more than responsible."
"At the very least, my 'Clairvoyance' spell has been monitoring his progress."
"…Though, at present—"
He didn't finish the sentence, but Flamme understood. She sighed.
"So it's not going well on your side either…"
"At this rate, their duel will end in mutual ruin. I can't imagine any other outcome."
Resting her hand against the windowsill, she gazed outside with faint disappointment.
"You know, Elias."
"The reason I didn't want Frieren on the battlefield is because her understanding of magic is still in the 'kill, kill, kill' stage."
"That's why I'm grateful you helped her learn restraint."
"There's no need for gratitude, Flamme. You know I haven't really done anything."
Elias looked out the window as well.
"I simply don't want Frieren or Robin dragging me down."
"Especially on the journey south."
Flamme sensed the disturbance in his mana and suddenly laughed.
"Elias… are you still angry?"
"When you find the one who tampered with time… are you going to kill them outright?"
A flash of killing intent glimmered in Elias's eyes.
"I only hope that, before dying, they refrain from using 'the survival of humanity' as leverage again."
---
Seven days remained before departure.
On the road back to the village, a preoccupied Frieren and a disgruntled Robin ran into each other.
Both looked pale. Neither had the energy for rivalry anymore.
Frieren spoke first.
"How are things, Robin?"
"…About the same."
They fell into silence, walking side by side until they reached the village entrance.
For some reason, they glanced at each other.
"You don't want to…"
"Don't tell me you also don't want to…"
The words trailed off, but they understood each other instantly.
They both forced faint, bitter smiles.
After training so hard with no improvement… facing their teachers again felt unbearable.
Frieren suggested quietly, "Let's stay out until midnight. We'll go back after Elias and Teacher Flamme fall asleep."
"Good idea. I'll catch fish for dinner. You handle the fire and grilling?"
---
Night fell.
The two sat by a campfire, biting into grilled fish to fill their stomachs.
"I'm full~"
Frieren lay back on the grass, gazing at the brilliant stars.
"Robin, look. It's beautiful."
Robin didn't look up. He stared instead at the flowing river.
"Are there clouds up there?"
"If there are, I'd rather not look."
"…What does that mean?"
Frieren propped herself up halfway, puzzled.
"Does your training have something to do with clouds?"
"…Yeah…"
Robin nearly groaned.
"Lord Elias wants me… to cut the clouds in the sky… into the shape of a chrysanthemum."