What should an ordinary person do to teach a genius?
The answer is simple.
Don't even think about teaching in the first place. Geniuses naturally grow well on their own. As long as they have sufficient environment and direction for growth.
These were the words of Eduard Viremont, the director of Hunter Academy.
Of course, Ferda agreed with this too.
But there was one thing missing from what was needed.
"The most important thing is stamina."
The most important thing for all hunters.
Ferda thought that was stamina. No matter how strong power and talent you have, if your stamina is below average, you're only half complete.
Stamina is the foundation and source of everything.
This was also a truth he'd realized through over ten years of hunter life.
"Gasp, gasp!"
That's when.
Sudden rough breathing broke Ferda's thoughts.
In front of him was a boy with dark skin. The one breathing roughly with his silvery hair tied up behind him. It was none other than Silvan.
"Huff, huff!"
Sweat drops flowing down his chin.
Legs trembling like he'd collapse any moment.
Eventually, before long, Silvan sat down on the spot.
"Don't stop."
At the sharp criticism, Silvan's ears flinched.
After a moment, he raised his head. He swept back his sweat-soaked hair and looked this way.
"...Ferda."
Looking at his face.
Silvan recalled the memory from just two hours ago.
9 AM sharp.
As usual, Ferda came to find Silvan.
But today was different from usual.
He immediately took Silvan to find the abandoned training ground in the north.
Then he immediately said this.
'From here to there. Run back and forth.'
That was it.
When he asked how long he had to run, this answer came back.
'Until I tell you to stop.'
An absurd instruction.
At first glance, you might think it was simple harassment. But it wasn't. Ferda's eyes were no different from last night. He sincerely wanted to teach Silvan.
So Silvan followed this simple-minded guidance without complaint.
"...Gasp, gasp!"
But now that was at its limit too.
Silvan had never run this much in his life. Of course, he'd walked in between, but running for two whole hours without resting once was a first.
This much should be enough to rest a little.
Thinking that, Silvan moved his lips.
"Now can I rest a, a little..."
"No."
A firm word that flowed from Ferda.
"The end is in sight now. Let's run just a little more."
"..."
"It's okay. You can definitely do it."
Ferda grinned.
A smile filled with strong conviction. Just how firm a belief would you need to have to smile like that?
Silvan was very curious.
But now wasn't the time to satisfy his curiosity.
"...Huff."
He breathed shortly and put strength in his legs. The trembling stopped. It seemed like he could run a little more.
Silvan bit his lip slightly and immediately kicked off the ground and stood up.
***
There's something called Hunter Training.
A training method unique to hunters for more efficiently raising physical abilities.
Simply put, it means pushing your own body to its limits to quickly raise stats. It was also a training method that many hunters had used and seen results from.
Of course, Ferda was the same.
However, for this training method to succeed, one condition was needed.
Ferda narrowed his eyes and watched Silvan's status window.
=====
[Name]: Silvan Arcdute
[Level]: 7
[Talent]: Necromancy - Mythical Grade
[Strength]: 10/12 [Stamina]: 10/10
[Agility]: 17/21 [Magic Power]: 120/150
[Charm]: 93/99 [Luck]: 50/75
[Affection]: 3
*The higher the affection rating, the better the educational effects.
=====
Where his gaze reached was the 'Stamina stat.'
Silvan's stamina had currently reached 100% condition. It meant his current stamina state was equal to the maximum. And this was exactly the essential condition for using 'Hunter Training.'
"Just push a little more and we're done."
Ferda's eyes sparkled.
The best thing for improving stamina is long-distance running.
Indeed, after running for 2 hours, his stamina condition had recovered to 100%. Now if he ran a bit more from here, he'd surely surpass his limits and his stats would rise. Ferda quietly waited for that moment.
Some time later.
The moment he'd been waiting for came.
=====
[Notification]
*Silvan Arcdute's stats increase.
*Increase amount: Stamina+1
(Affection is minimal, so there's no change in educational effects.)
=====
"Stop!"
As soon as he confirmed the stamina increase.
Ferda came down from his chair. Then he grabbed the towel and water pouch he'd prepared beforehand and approached Silvan.
"Good work."
"Hah! I think I could have run, hah! even more..."
Silvan muttered like he was grumbling.
He must have experienced runner's high or something.
Still, it was better to stop here.
"It doesn't really matter, but it's inefficient."
Unless you use special drugs or magic.
Stats don't rise consecutively. In other words, running more from here would only waste stamina, and stats wouldn't rise.
However, Silvan, who couldn't know this fact, just made a sullen expression.
"Then I'll give you about 5 minutes of rest time."
"5 minutes?"
"If you need more, just say so."
Ferda answered while looking at his watch.
Silvan tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
"No, why do I need rest time?"
"Well, because we need to start the second training."
"What?"
Silvan was shocked.
His face showed he'd heard something unexpected. He spoke in a stammering tone.
"To-today's class should end with this..."
"No way. This is where it really starts."
What is this young master talking about?
There's no way we'd end with just running. This is just warm-up.
"Now you have 3 minutes left."
Raising all the stats that could be raised through training by 1 each.
That was today's goal from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Silvan rolled his eyes around. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to escape the lesson.
And not long after.
Silvan opened his mouth.
"I, I'd like to do that too..."
Along with words he didn't mean.
Silvan threw a sharp jab.
"...But Ferda's classes are only until noon, right?"
The current time was 11:30 AM.
Only 30 minutes remained until class ended. What could they do in that time?
A victorious smile formed on Silvan's lips.
"It's really unfortunate, but today we should stop here..."
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that."
That's when Ferda interrupted.
"I figured that would happen, so I asked to extend class time."
It was a lie.
But it didn't matter. No one would come looking for them here anyway.
The only one who might come was Burke, and even he didn't show his face on days without sword lessons.
So in other words.
Today they could have classes all day long.
"Now, shall we start strength training?"
Looking at Silvan's face growing paler and paler.
Ferda grinned.
***
The classes that started in the morning didn't end until evening.
Naturally, Silvan was completely exhausted and holed up in his room. Tomorrow he'd probably have trouble even getting out of bed due to muscle pain.
Still, the hard work was worth it.
"Somehow we achieved all our goals."
Strength, agility, stamina.
All stats had gone up by 1. For this much in one day was really amazing.
As expected, just drilling them is the best.
"Then while the young master is resting..."
Ferda turned his head and looked around.
A desolate vacant lot with an eerie atmosphere. This place overgrown with weeds and vines was none other than a cemetery.
There were three things needed for a genius's growth.
Stamina, direction, and creating an environment necessary for growth.
Among these, Ferda had come here to create an 'environment.'
"More precisely, to awaken talent."
Silvan's talent hadn't even sprouted yet, let alone bloomed.
It could be said to be truly just a seed. Just as sprouts need nutrients and water to grow, specific conditions were needed to awaken Silvan's talent.
And that condition was.
"Nether mana."
Ferda's eyes sparkled.
In the original story, it didn't say how much mana was needed when awakening talent. So it took quite a long time to awaken the talent. There were even cycles where he suffered because the talent suddenly awakened.
But this cycle was different.
=====
[Mythical Grade Necromancy]: Unlock Conditions
*Achieve nether mana [1,000]
*Current mana: [150 / 1000]
=====
The Yggdrasil System is convenient for this reason.
Ferda grinned.
Now all that remained was creating an environment so Silvan could accumulate nether mana faster. Ferda put down the sack he'd carried on his shoulder.
Then he began digging around the graves with the shovel he'd brought along.
After about ten minutes of this.
"Found it."
What he held in his hand was a plant with purple roots.
It was called Death Herb. A creature that rarely grows near graves, and consuming it allows you to quickly absorb nether mana.
He remembered awakening talent this way in the original story too.
"At first, I only fed him one a day."
He must have been afraid something might go wrong with his body.
But around the 7th cycle?
Even feeding ten a day didn't cause any particular problems.
Rather, consuming many at once doubled the absorption rate.
"This is why being a latecomer is good."
Ferda hummed while harvesting Death Herbs.