*Snap! Snap!*
One after another, veins popped up on Nanako's forehead in the shape of crosses.
Nanako's eye twitched frantically as her small hands clenched into fists with audible cracks.
This damned fellow...
She forced herself to put on a gentle expression and beckoned to Lynn with her small hand, saying:
"Dear disciple, come here~"
Lynn maintained his resolute expression, strode over, and thumped his chest firmly with one hand, saying:
"Master, what are your instructions?"
Nanako moved her small hand gently, smiling with particular cuteness, and said: "Just bend down a tiny bit~"
Lynn was bewildered.
Nevertheless, he bent down to match his master Nanako's height.
"Master, are you going to..."
Before he could finish speaking, Nanako instantly reached out with both hands, grabbed Lynn's cheeks, and pulled with all her might.
"Master! What are you doing?!"
"Nothing much! Dear disciple!! Master's in a bad mood and needs someone to vent on. Just think of it as Master throwing a little tantrum!"
"Master! Stop! Stop!"
"You troublesome disciple, that's impossible!"
...
A few minutes later.
At the Winter Spring Valley training grounds.
[What's wrong with this hundred-year-old loli?!!]
[Could it be that time of the month? But the dates don't match! I remember it should be the 25th of each month!]
[Or maybe it's menopause? Possible, according to this cycle, it should be the second time, no, the third time...]
Nanako walked gracefully ahead, her long ponytail swaying up and down.
Behind her followed Lynn with his swollen cheeks, constantly muttering to himself.
Nanako wore a tsundere expression on her face.
But one could still see the frantically twitching nerves at her temples.
Nanako put her hands on her hips, stopped in front of a large door, turned around, and looked at Lynn with a haughty expression.
"Do you know where this is?"
Lynn looked around hesitantly and said: "The training grounds?"
Nanako crossed her arms, closed her eyes, nodded up and down, stood tall with her chest out, and smiled:
"That's right, you mutt of a disciple. You've been at Winter Spring Valley for many years now, so you should know that once you become a second-tier mage, you must undergo multiple combat training sessions each week to improve your fighting ability!"
Lynn nodded.
Nanako flicked her hat brim with a finger, revealing her sapphire-like eyes, and said:
"This is today's lesson. Master will arrange several trials for you. Remember, during the trials, you must skillfully use the magic Master taught you. Only then can you defeat your opponents and achieve victory!"
"If you can't win, it would be quite embarrassing!"
Lynn: "Can we skip the trials?"
Nanako glanced at him and said: "No."
Lynn: "..."
The reason Nanako brought him here.
Training was one thing.
But mainly, she wanted to verify her mutt disciple's true strength.
The claim that his second-tier mage ability was just one five-billionth of his power... no matter how she thought about it, it was extremely concerning.
Nanako glanced at Lynn.
...
Soon after submitting the paperwork, Nanako led Lynn into the training grounds.
The training grounds were bustling with young mages who had come to train.
For a mage, simply being able to cast spells is absolutely not enough; one must also possess the ability to handle different challenges in various environments.
And Winter Spring Valley possessed the best training facilities on the entire continent.
Every year.
Winter Spring Valley captures numerous magical beasts from around the world for training purposes, and they even keep high-level demons in stock.
Leading Lynn to one of the areas.
Nanako pressed a button on a magical device and glanced at Lynn.
Pointing at the light portal slowly materializing in front of the magical device, she said:
"Go in. Inside is a trial ground simulated by magic. Don't worry, Master will arrange a magical beast of the same tier as you. If you receive serious injuries, the device will automatically teleport you out."
Lynn rubbed his chin and tentatively asked: "Can we skip the fighting?"
Nanako closed her eyes and raised her fist.
"What do you think?"
Lynn resigned himself, shouldering his staff, and said: "Fine, fine..."
[Is this blue-haired loli up to something again?]
[Training? Do I really need training? What a joke!]
[Sigh, if it weren't for wanting to lay low a while longer, who would come to this kindergarten playhouse...]
Shaking his head helplessly, Lynn disappeared into the light screen.
Seeing Lynn leave.
Without a word.
Nanako rushed like a gust of wind into the magic control room, pushed aside the bewildered control staff, and quickly switched to Lynn's training arena.
Looking at Lynn who was standing on the grass, glancing around.
Nanako humphed and widened her jewel-like eyes.
"You mutt of a disciple, hiding things from Master's face. This time Master will strip you bare to your underwear, just you wait and see!"
She said fiercely.
This was the monitoring room.
It could control the training content and number of magical beasts in the corresponding training arena.
Without another word.
Nanako's small hand slammed down on the button marked "Second-tier Magical Beast."
"Let's start with some appetizers!" Nanako said seriously.
On the Violet Continent, magic had developed to be very efficient and was even used in daily life.
Especially in Winter Spring Valley, it was very common to see many practical devices made using magic.
And the moment she pressed the button.
A second-tier magical beast slowly appeared in Lynn's training arena.
[Fish-man Elite]: Second-tier, adult, agility-type, specializes in close combat, possesses scales of average strength.
A very ordinary second-tier magical creature.
Nanako seriously watched Lynn through the light screen, saying:
"We can't release higher-level magical beasts right away, let's take it slow. Later we'll create a little malfunction and give the mutt disciple a big one!"
In Nanako's view.
This little second-tier magical beast should be a piece of cake for her disciple who was hiding his true strength.
But in the next moment, Nanako was shocked.
Through the light screen, she saw the little fish-man charging at Lynn with its yipping sounds, then suddenly executing a fish-man tackle that hit Lynn square in the chest.
Then Lynn flew straight back like a kite with cut strings.
"You must be joking!!" Nanako was shocked.
She grabbed her ponytail, eyes wide, watching through the light screen as the little fish-man proceeded to stomp all over her disciple.
"Weren't you supposed to be using only one five-billionth of your power as a second-tier mage?! You can't even handle a little fish-man?!"
Then instantly, she heard her disciple's thoughts through the light screen.
[Hmm, let it stomp on me for a few more minutes, then I'll pretend to be seriously injured and go find the healer girls to heal my wounded soul.]
[Maybe if the loli master feels sorry for me, she'll give me a few days off, perfect for lying around doing nothing.]
[By the way, is this little fish-man malnourished? There's barely any force behind these attacks, it's just tickling.]