"Young Master! Please!" Tatiana called.
Panting as I tried to move my legs a step further on this rocky terrain while carrying this heavy bag filled with necessities to reach our planned destination while Tatiana was ahead of me waving her hands and cheering me.
"Just one more step and we'll be there!" She cheered for me as I used everything within my willpower to lift my legs from the ground and take another step; I'm starting to wonder if I'll see one of my bones pop out soon because I feel like it would.
"I'm doing my best here! C-can I get some break!?" I yelled with all my heart, wanting at least a 30-second break from this tortuous exercise.
"No, no! Not allowed!" Tatiana crossed her arms to form a ×-shape while shaking her head, "You explicitly told me not to help you and to ignore your pleas for help at all cause!" She added in an adamant tone waiting for me over the far distance.
I'm starting to regret making up that rule now because any time soon, I think I'll pass out unconscious.
I'm feeling thirsty right now but I couldn't catch a break.
But first and foremost.
How did I end up in this situation?
Back to the moment where Tatiana must've misunderstood what I said. "My, Young Master is growing up." She gave that attractive sly smile, which, god help me,e if it was me back then when I was a knight, I wouldn't be able to stop myself.
"Why, y—" Before I could follow up, Tatiana hit me with this.
"Just joking, I'm just joking, Young Master!" Patting my shoulder as she seemed to notice I was gonna say something as she tilted her head to the side cluelessly, wondering what is it.
"Why... would you joke like that, hahaha!" Even if it's not legal, I wish she wasn't joking, may god bestow this man an experience that will remove his chastity.
But definitely not anyone from the student body; actually, I wouldn't even have to worry about that since everyone despises this man so much.
"Forgive me, Young Master, I simply wish to lighten your mood up since you looked so serious just now, I simply wish you could properly experience youth..." She said bowing her head once more but expressing pity.
Now that I think about it, I wonder why Tatiana is extremely loyal to Elric despite the rumors and his weakness.
But it's nice to have a maid like her to support me around in these times, I would've given just from this day alone since I wouldn't have any incentive to live by then.
"... Don't worry about me too much, Tatiana! This plan of mine is extremely perfect and would prepare me for the upcoming exams!" This plan isn't even perfect, it's just a training regime but it was enough to impress Tatiana.
While I kept blabbering about how this plan would work and how it would help me shape up in just a few days, Tatiana just looked at me endearingly.
I stopped the moment I noticed her gaze; god if it weren't for me being stuck in the body of a 19-year-old, I would've knelt down and asked for her hand in marriage.
"Uh... what is it?" I didn't know what to say as she simply continued to stare at me endearingly despite my clear awareness of her.
"Nothing. It's just that you reminded me of your mother." She replied.
I didn't know what to say to that, the reason being that I didn't even know Elric's mother, nor did any memories of her come to me.
I'm just speechless at this point.
"... I see." I just looked to the side before letting the conversation naturally change into something else.
It feels like that topic wasn't meant for me, even if I possess the body of Elric.
And after that.
I forced myself to wake up early in the morning despite the weakness of this body and dress up into something casual.
By that I mean whatever is in the closet which is a black polo and a pants. Definitely not meant for traveling and I'm stupid for that.
To meet with Tatiana, who was wearing a dazzling casual outfit that almost made me knelt in front of her as she carried baggage filled with the necessities to train in the rugged terrain of the nearby forest.
I thought I wouldn't find something like this, but thankfully, Tatiana brought it up in our previous conversation from yesterday because I have no idea where the map of this place is.
Once more, I relied on the beautiful maid to guide me through this.
What will I ever do without you, O' Tatiana!
And that's how I ended up in this situation.
Not even a kilometer away and I'm already drenched in sweat and panting heavily carrying this bag.
Normally, it would've been a breeze for me, but god forbid I inherited my strength as a knight from the p, past, then it would've been way easier, no?
At least that way, I could've focused on flirting with the woman of my goal without a thought.
"Young Master Elric! You can do it! Almost there!" She cheered, pumping her fists as she tried hyping me up while I was in the middle of the path already.
This body has no sense of balance to the point it's awful and each step is a painful reminder of how weak it is.
Even if I lose my focus for a moment, I'll definitely pass out now but to mend this.
I made Tatiana my goal!
Yeah, that wasn't quite as effective as I hoped it would be.
I fell down on the ground, almost near Tatiana, as she helped get the baggage off in a panic.
Resting on a nearby fallen log, exhausted just from that "trip" alone, makes me ashamed as a knight.
Forget about pushing this body's limits; I need to increase it first somehow, or else I'll be stuck like this for a good while.
But this is the moment where it hits me, I forgot something extremely important.
"I have to fix my fractured mana." I uttered, staring at the blank space with serious intent, which surprised Tatian, who was beside me and wiping my sweat away.
"Young Master... I don't want to be a negative person, but there's no such thing as fixing a fractured mana... Especially in your case." She said looking at the side as I saw her heart break from just telling me this.
But fret not; I shall replace the sad expression with one of amazement!
"Just wait and see." I replied with a confident smirk that only made her worry, thinking that I was about to do something stupid.
"... Just don't put yourself in harm's way, Young Master." She added, her hands clenching on the towel she was wiping my forehead with.
...
We soon arrived at a clearing but not without many stops and the occasional rest, thus completely wasting up a lot of our time.
My vigilance and determination to see this through paid off quite well since this clearing would be my training spot for the entire day.
Tatiana placed down the baggage as she took a breather as well, although she possesses quite impressive stamina — since she carried that baggage each time I fell on the ground and nearly fainted, which is the majority of the time.
In the middle of the clearing, I tossed off my polo on the ground before I settled into a meditative pose, legs folded and eyes closed in quiet focus.
Tatiana watched intently, ready to aid me if something goes awry which she believes most likely will.
Now.
This will achieve two things that will benefit me extremely well in the long run.
First and most importantly, it'll help me mend this body's [Fractured Mana Veins], it wouldn't be instantaneous since this body might explode from shock, but it'll readjust the [Mana Veins] properly like reattaching roots to where they're intended to and letting the body handle reconnecting it into a vein with a proper flow.
Second, it'll allow me to gain the [Breath Control Lv.1] which is a fine addition considering it'll help me in my training as well since it'll allow me to recover stamina faster.
With these things in mind, I transparently thought of Elric's body as if to look deeper beyond the flesh to see the multiple veins of mana overlapping each other.
Now to seek the real problematic ones, I took a deep inhale and cleared my mind.
Imagine a vivid and clear image of these veins.
Spotting them one by one is a difficult task, and I have no idea how many there are; I only know that there are a lot.
But I don't have much time to fix the smaller ones since this method is limited and unforgiving if I fail.
Having a clear mind in the midst of this wasn't an easy task.
Targeting the major parts first on both of my lungs allows me far better access to mana as if it were air.
Then, the major ones connected to my limbs, which took several precise tries.
And for the final one—
The veins connect all of this to my head, while the body allows natural mana absorption from nature.
This alone made everything harder for me since the fact that the head is a sensitive part.
Should this go awry, I would have zero chance of repairing this.
I imagined these veins now as smaller thousand threads of silk and roots connecting them one by one without overlapping each other.
The first hundred were normally easy but as soon as I passed beyond that.
I already lost count.
I paid no heed as I simply kept reattaching each thread, nice and easy.
The thought of failing never came across me but I have some doubts.
If I will ever succeed in this procedure because, as a knight, this was practically a normal thing.
But for someone like Elric whose body is a complete disaster—
It's a whole 'nother level.
Despite the odds, I kept going and reattaching them, I'm starting to wonder how much time had passed but I simply kept going until—
I felt a sense of mana like snow dropping on my body. They're not large, but I can certainly feel them, not to mention...
[System detected that requirements for the acquisition of the [Skill] called [Breath Control Lv.1] has been met, accept [Skill]?]
Well, well, well! If you'd look at that!
I slowly opened my eyes with a visible smirk on my face before turning around to Tatiana, who was about to run towards me with a pair of vials with crimson and green liquid in them, respectively.
"... What's that supposed to be?" I asked her because definitely, it had only been 8-10 minutes ever since I told her to break me from my meditation; she can't be overreacting, right?
She immediately hid those vials behind her waist, "... N-nothing really." She replied and truth be told, after all the way she demonstrated herself.
Tatiana is a horrible liar.
Or even worse, she cannot tell a lie at all.
That's something I'll have to keep in mind and be wary of later on.
"Anyways... it's a success!" I added clenching my fists in excitement as I achieved two things!
Now the road of my promise towards Elric looks way less bumpier than before.
However, I didn't get a reaction from Tatiana since she was looking away, and I nearly forgot that I was half-naked.
I quickly picked up the polo I tossed on the ground where are my manners as a man?
"O-oh! Sorry, sorry, I forgot—" But something felt strange.
Something akin to my survival instincts getting triggered, was it the urge to run? No, as a knight, I've never run from a fight, even if it meant facing stronger opponents than me.
Sounds foolish, but what if it wasn't me? What if it was Elric's sense of self-preservation?
He sure didn't have this against the students, but maybe perhaps... maybe.
"Young Master Elric... I'll only say this once but... please run." Tatiana said while trembling.