Three days of training with Juno felt like three years of concentrated hell disguised as education.
By the end of the first day, Kai had learned that his mentor's idea of "morning warm-up" involved dodging fireballs while running through an obstacle course of razor-sharp mana crystals. By the second day, he discovered that "lunch break" was apparently code for "let's see how long you can survive being hunted through the forest by a sadistic blonde knight with too much free time."
The third day was when Kai finally understood that Juno wasn't just training him—he was systematically breaking down every assumption Kai had about his own limitations and rebuilding them from scratch.
"Atsuya-kun!" Juno's voice rang out through the morning air, somehow managing to sound both cheerful and threatening. "Ready for today's lesson in not dying horribly?"
Kai groaned, rolling out of his makeshift bed of leaves and moss. His entire body ached in ways he hadn't known were possible, and he was pretty sure he had bruises on top of his bruises. The only reason he wasn't completely naked anymore was because Juno had taken pity on him the first day and tossed him a spare pair of Lichtritter uniform pants.
"These are just my backup pair," Juno had said with characteristic nonchalance. "Try not to bleed on them too much. Those things are harder to replace than you'd think."
The pants were slightly too long and definitely too loose, but they were better than running around the forest in his naked butt. The dark fabric felt sturdy, reinforced with some kind of mana-woven material that seemed to resist tearing despite Kai's best efforts to destroy them during training.
"I'm up, Juno-san," Kai called back, pushing himself to his feet with considerably more grace than he'd managed three days ago. His body was adapting, becoming stronger and more responsive with each passing hour of abuse.
"Good! Because today we're going to work on that pathetic excuse for magical combat ability you've been developing." Juno appeared from behind a tree, looking infuriatingly fresh and energetic despite the fact that he'd been training just as hard. "I want to see if you can actually use that sound magic for something other than making sad noises when I hit you."
Over the past three days, Kai had discovered something remarkable about his supposedly useless magical element. While he couldn't throw around destructive force like Juno's fire magic, sound gave him something potentially more valuable: awareness.
He could hear things now that normal people couldn't. The subtle shift in breathing that preceded an attack. The almost inaudible whisper of fabric moving through air. The tiny changes in heartbeat that indicated deception or nervousness. It wasn't perfect—Juno was still fast enough and skilled enough to catch him off guard regularly—but it was progress.
"Show me what you've learned about predictive movement," Juno commanded, settling into a fighting stance that looked deceptively casual. "And this time, try not to face-plant into the dirt within the first five seconds."
What followed was a dance of violence that had become almost routine. Juno would attack with measured precision, holding back just enough to avoid seriously injuring his student while still providing genuine threat. Kai would listen, dodge, counter when possible, and get thoroughly beaten when his skills inevitably proved insufficient.
But today was different. Today, Kai could hear the subtle change in Juno's breathing pattern that indicated a left-handed strike. He could detect the slight shift in weight distribution that telegraphed a leg sweep. When Juno moved, Kai was already moving to intercept, his body responding to audio cues his brain was only beginning to understand.
"Not bad, Atsuya-kun," Juno admitted after a particularly impressive sequence where Kai had managed to avoid six consecutive attacks. "You're starting to fight like someone who might survive his first real battle instead of someone destined to become monster food."
"Thanks for the ringing endorsement, Juno-san," Kai panted, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Really feeling the confidence boost."
"Confidence gets you killed. Skill keeps you alive." Juno's expression shifted to something more serious. "Speaking of which, I think it's time for your practical examination."
Before Kai could ask what that meant, Juno had grabbed him by the neck and was dragging him deeper into the forest. They walked for nearly an hour, moving through increasingly dense undergrowth until they reached a section of the woods that felt different—wilder, more saturated with raw mana.
"This is where we part ways temporarily," Juno announced, stopping beside a massive tree whose trunk was easily twenty feet in diameter. "Your test is simple: survive."
"Survive what?" Kai asked, though he suspected he wasn't going to like the answer.
Juno's grin was answer enough. Before Kai could react, the blonde knight had vanished into the canopy above, leaving him completely alone in a part of the forest that practically hummed with dangerous energy.
The attack came within minutes.
Kai heard it first—the thunderous footsteps that shook the ground beneath his feet. When the creature emerged from behind a cluster of ancient trees, he understood why Juno had chosen this particular test. The beast was enormous, easily the size of a small building, with tusks that gleamed like polished steel and eyes that burned with malevolent intelligence. It looked like an elephant that had been crossed with a tank and given a serious attitude problem.
*Okay,* Kai thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. *Juno-san said I needed to survive, not win. Dodging is perfectly acceptable.*
The creature charged, moving with surprising speed for something so massive. Kai's newly developed sound-sense screamed warnings at him, allowing him to dive aside just as the beast's tusks carved deep gouges in the tree where he'd been standing.
Unfortunately, dodging the primary attack didn't save him from the follow-up. The creature's trunk lashed out like a whip, catching Kai across the chest and launching him through the air like a particularly aerodynamic ragdoll.
He hit a tree, bounced off, hit the ground, and rolled for several yards before finally coming to a stop in a tangle of limbs and dignity. Every bone in his body felt like it had been individually introduced to a sledgehammer.
"Okay," he wheezed, struggling to push himself upright. "That hurt significantly more than Juno-san's training."
The elephant-thing was already charging again, apparently unsatisfied with merely tenderizing him. But as Kai watched its approach, something clicked in his mind. Three days of Juno's brutal education had taught him more than just how to predict attacks—it had taught him how to channel his mana with desperate efficiency.
He could feel the sound magic building in his chest, resonating through his bones like a tuning fork struck by a giant's hammer. Instead of trying to run or dodge again, Kai planted his feet and focused every ounce of his newly awakened power into his voice.
The sonic boom that erupted from his throat was unlike anything he'd produced before. The air itself seemed to shatter, creating a visible wave of force that slammed into the charging beast like an invisible wall. The creature's charge faltered, its massive head snapping back from the impact.
It wasn't enough to seriously hurt something that size, but it was enough to make it reconsider its approach. The beast shook its head, clearly surprised by the unexpected resistance, and began circling more cautiously.
"Holy shit," Kai breathed, staring at his own hands in amazement. "I actually did something!"
"Not bad for a first attempt," Juno's voice called from somewhere above. "Though you might want to focus on not getting trampled before you start celebrating."
The rest of the fight was less impressive—mostly Kai running around trees while the elephant-thing tried to flatten him—but he managed to land two more sonic attacks before Juno finally intervened and sent the beast fleeing with a casual display of fire magic that made Kai's efforts look like party tricks.
"Congratulations, Atsuya-kun," Juno said, dropping down from his perch with feline grace. "You've officially graduated from 'completely helpless' to 'might survive five minutes against something that actually wants to kill you.'"
"Your encouragement is overwhelming, Juno-san."
"I aim to inspire."
That evening, they made camp in a small clearing, sharing the dried rations Juno had packed and arguing over who got the last piece of what appeared to be mana-enhanced jerky.
"I'm the student here," Kai protested, making a grab for the contested food. "Shouldn't you be ensuring I'm properly nourished for tomorrow's inevitable torture session?"
"Students earn their meals through competence," Juno replied, holding the jerky just out of reach with the smugness of someone who was both taller and faster. "Besides, I'm the one doing all the hard work. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to constantly hold back when fighting someone so pathetically weak?"
"Pathetically weak? I landed three solid hits on that elephant-thing today!"
"Three whole hits!" Juno gasped in mock amazement. "Truly, you are destined to become a legend. Bards will sing songs about the mighty Atsuya-kun and his three slightly effective sonic booms."
Despite the mockery, there was something almost fond in Juno's tone. It struck Kai as odd how someone who appeared to be in his mid-twenties could act so much like a teenager when he wasn't actively trying to kill things. The contradiction was both endearing and slightly disturbing.
"Juno-san," Kai said after they'd finally settled the food dispute through the ancient art of rock-paper-scissors, "what's really going on with this world?"
"That's a pretty broad question, Atsuya-kun. Could you be more specific?"
"I mean... everything. The magic, the different kingdoms, the demons you mentioned. For me, this still feels like some kind of elaborate dream." Kai gestured vaguely at the magical forest around them. "I keep expecting to wake up back in my old life, but every day this becomes more real."
Juno studied him for a moment, those violet eyes reflecting the light of their small campfire. When he spoke, his voice had lost some of its usual teasing edge.
"This world is divided into four main realms," he began, settling back against a fallen log. "Lichtreich is the human empire—the strongest nation on the light side of the great barrier. We've got the best military, the most advanced magic research, and the questionable honor of being the primary target whenever demons decide they want to start a war."
"Light side?"
"There's a massive wall that divides the world. Everything on our side is considered the domain of light magic. Everything on the other side..." Juno's expression darkened. "Well, that's where things get interesting."
He continued his explanation, his tone taking on the cadence of someone reciting well-memorized but rarely pleasant facts. "Besides Lichtreich, there's Tir Airgid—the elven kingdom. They're powerful, but they've been isolating themselves for decades after some kind of political disaster. Nobody talks about what exactly happened, but it was bad enough that they basically cut off diplomatic relations with everyone."
"And the third kingdom?"
"Eisenberg. The dwarven realm." Juno's grin returned, though it carried a hint of respect. "Those bastards are absolutely terrifying in battle. Their earth magic is the stuff of nightmares, and their weapons... let's just say I'm very glad they're on our side of the wall."
"So three kingdoms of good guys, and then the demons on the other side?"
"More or less. The barrier you saw when you first arrived—that's the Hiro Wall. It's made of mud and stone, but it's been reinforced with more defensive magic than probably exists in the rest of the world combined." Juno's voice grew more serious. "Everything beyond that wall is Tenebris—the demon realm."
Kai felt a chill that had nothing to do with the evening air. "And that's... bad?"
"Bad?" Juno laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Atsuya-kun, what lies beyond that wall is the stuff of absolute nightmares. The demons over there aren't just powerful—they're actively malevolent in ways that would make your worst fears seem like pleasant daydreams. If they ever managed to break through in significant numbers..."
"What would happen?"
"It would be tough to beat their asses," Juno said with characteristic understatement. "Actually, that's being optimistic. It would probably be the end of civilization as we know it."
Kai stared at the fire, trying to process the implications. "Why haven't they broken through already?"
"That," Juno said, his violet eyes catching the firelight in a way that made them seem almost otherworldly, "is a very interesting question."
He leaned forward, his expression shifting to something that was part anticipation and part something darker.
"Oh my, looks like you're interested in some real juice," Juno said, his grin taking on an edge that made Kai's newly developed danger-sense tingle with warning. "Well, whatever. I've got time, so hear it out, shorty."
The fire crackled between them, casting dancing shadows across Juno's face as he prepared to reveal whatever truth lay behind the wall that divided their world from absolute darkness.