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Chapter 24 - The Mentor’s Game

A cool morning breeze rustled through the canopy, sending a cascade of leaves fluttering to the ground. The air was filled with the cheerful chirping of birds, a pleasant soundtrack for the training session that was about to unfold under Rian's guidance.

After a week of intense breath-holding exercises, Rian felt that Catty and Livi had developed a sufficient baseline for their mana storage. It was time to move on to the next, more difficult phase: mana stability and regeneration.

"Alright," Rian announced, gathering them. "Now that you both have a decent vessel to store your mana, we're going to work on keeping that mana stable."

"Okay, sir," Livi said eagerly. "But what about sword and magic training?"

"We'll get to that later," Rian explained gently. "Once you've mastered the fundamentals, I guarantee that learning swordsmanship and spells will be much easier. Everything is built on this foundation."

"So what are we doing now, Rian?" Catty asked, stretching her limbs gracefully.

"Now," Rian said with a mischievous grin, "you're going to try and catch me." He took a length of cord and tucked it into the back of his pants, letting it hang down like a tail. "Or, more accurately, you're going to try and grab this cord. The moment one of you succeeds, I'll consider this lesson on mana stability complete."

"Okay, that doesn't sound too difficult for me," Catty said confidently, her feline instincts for agile movement flaring up. Livi nodded in agreement, a similar look of self-assurance on his face.

"If you think so, then prove it," Rian challenged. With that, he shot off into the woods, leaping from branch to branch in a wide arc that circled the village.

"I'm not requiring both of you to get a cord from me!" he shouted back, his voice echoing through the trees. "If just one of you can grab this, I'll consider you both successful!"

Livi and Catty exchanged a determined glance and immediately gave chase, their bodies blurring as they vaulted into the canopy. When Rian dropped to the forest floor, they followed; when he leaped back up, they were right behind him. Without realizing it, they were now re-enacting the grueling running exercise Rian had endured under Bebegig, but this time, it was a game with a clear, tangible target.

Rian kept a mental count of the laps they made around the village, effortlessly dodging their attempts to close in. Leap after leap, dash after dash, the chase continued. After what felt like fifty laps had passed, Rian noticed the sounds of pursuit behind him had faded. He glanced back and saw no one.

He found them a short distance away, completely exhausted. Their chests heaved, sweat streamed down their faces, and their runs had slowed to a weary stumble. Leaping to another branch now seemed like an impossible task. Rian casually circled back and landed lightly in front of them.

"Have you given up already?" Rian provoked, a taunting smile on his lips. "Isn't this supposed to be the specialty of the feline race? I'm just a human, but I can do this without breaking a sweat. Why are you two so slow? Are you sure you're cats?"

"Riaaaan…" Catty growled, thoroughly provoked. "Just you wait until I catch you!" Fueled by a new wave of irritation from his teasing, she launched herself after him again.

Livi also shot Rian an annoyed look before pushing his tired body to its limits. "Just watch me, sir! I will take that cord, and I'll make you acknowledge my ability!"

"Perfect. They're moving again without me having to force them," Rian thought, a faint, satisfied smile touching his lips.

Right around the hundredth lap, Catty and Livi were clearly running on fumes. They were stumbling, their legs moving on pure willpower alone, their control completely gone. From a distance, Rian saw Livi finally collapse, unable to move another inch. Catty, however, was still pushing forward, leaping from branch to branch. On her final jump, just one branch away from Rian, her legs finally gave out. Her leap fell short, and she began to plummet toward the ground.

But before she could hit the forest floor, Rian was already there. He caught her gracefully in his arms.

"Hup… almost there," he said with a soft smile. "Are you alright, Catty?"

Catty, shocked to find herself in his embrace, stared up at him with wide eyes. A deep blush spread across her cheeks, but she was too exhausted to move. "I'm… fine," she managed to say, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "My legs just… reached their limit. It's hard to move them."

Rian carried her over to where Livi had fallen and gently set her down, leaning her against a tree. He then helped Livi sit up so he could rest as well.

"Sir," Livi panted, looking up at Rian in disbelief. "Why do you still look so fresh? You're not even tired, I can't even hear you breathing hard."

"Good. Now they're asking out of genuine curiosity, not because they were forced to learn," Rian thought. He then said aloud, "From what I saw, you were both just running and jumping. You weren't controlling your breath. Every movement drained your physical energy too quickly because you weren't reinforcing your leaps with mana. That's why you burned out so fast."

"Then what should we have done, Rian?" Catty asked, still catching her breath.

"First, you need to control your breathing so it remains steady, even when you're moving," Rian explained. "Second, you need to channel mana into your legs." He approached them and placed a hand on each of their legs.

"/Jampe jampe harupat, geura gede geura lumpat… HEAL!/" A gentle green light flowed from his palms, soothing their exhausted muscles.

Livi gasped as he felt the healing magic work. "Sir! That's incredible! That's a powerful healing spell! This is the first time I've ever seen it."

"Are there not many who can use healing magic in this world?" Rian asked.

"There are, sir, but it seems to be a very rare gift. Usually, only nobles or specially blessed doctors possess that kind of magic," Livi advised. "You should probably be careful about using that skill so openly, sir. It could draw unwanted attention."

"Alright. I'll only use it in private or when no one else is watching," Rian said with a smile.

Their legs feeling refreshed, they were able to stand again. Rian then began to explain how to properly channel mana into their legs to make their movements more efficient.

"Imagine the flow of mana moving down to your feet. Stabilize it. Let it flow continuously," he instructed, his voice firm but calm. "And remember, do not try to use magic to enhance your speed or jumps until you know how to channel mana correctly through your body. If you do it prematurely, your mana flow will become chaotic, and the result will be ineffective."

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