Chapter 4

[Translator – Night][Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 4

‘I can make two hypotheses.’

The first is that the body possesses the soul of Rifenhardt from the future, and the current boy Rifenhardt coexists.

And the second is…

‘Maybe the soul of Martial King Tesron has entered my body now?’

Rifenhardt pondered.

Even if he had reached the extremes of magic, he couldn’t decisively determine which was more likely.

Anyway, both were beyond the common sense of magic he had learned.

‘The question is what impact this will have now.’

He thought about it once again, considering another version of himself.

No one knows what will happen when two identical souls come into contact.

The identity of the soul is an immutable law that makes up the world.

Unfortunately, there is also a possibility that one of the souls will disappear if things go wrong.

As a wizard, Rifenhardt knew he had to consider even this worst-case scenario.

But the boy Rifenhardt becoming an official wizard would not happen until at least 10 years later.

Reflecting on the past, the current him was at a time when he was studying tirelessly at the Delfia Tower.

‘At least for a while… There shouldn’t be any influence on each other.’

And the second case. If Tesron had taken over Rifenhardt’s body now?

If Tesron had also regressed, he would likely remember the past and could deduce Rifenhardt’s situation. Then, there was a high probability that he would target himself.

‘Well, this side doesn’t seem to be a big problem for now.’

Tesron’s strength originated from his body, but now his body was controlled by Rifenhardt.

Even if Tesron remembered his prime, as long as his base body belonged to the frail young boy Rifenhardt, he wouldn’t be able to return to power immediately.

‘At least it’ll take a few years. No, given the way he’s training here, it might be impossible for a lifetime.’

Unbreakable Gym’s training method absolutely requires the assistance of a master.

It’s not a way to practice alone.

‘No, if it’s at Tesron’s level, he might be able to figure out the practice on his own.’

As he thought, his head became muddled. Anyway, it seemed necessary to confirm either way to properly devise a coping strategy.

‘Anyway… for now… escaping from this hell… seems urgent…’

Rifenhardt’s consciousness began to fade. Continuing to think was too exhausting for his body. Unconsciously, he fell into a deep sleep.

Exactly an hour later, Gerald pulled Rifenhardt out of the bathtub.

Then he threw dry clothes at him and shouted,

“Disciple! Let’s eat!”

Even after his physical body was healed, Rifenhardt was feeling a crazy hunger.

So he smiled, put on his clothes and ran to Gerald.

Escape was one thing, but right now, he needed to put something in his stomach urgently or he felt he couldn’t hold out.

And when Rifenhardt entered the room, despite expecting nothing more to be surprised about, he was surprised once again.

‘Food? This?’

Gerald’s cooking was generous.

It was truly a man’s cooking.

He simply chopped up a whole pig, threw it into a pot with various vegetables and grains, and roughly stewed it.

Tossing a ladle at him, Gerald said,

“Get a spoon.”

Looking at the merciless combination of liquid and chunks inside the pot, suspiciously resembling stew or something, Rifenhardt seriously struggled.

Did he really have to eat this?

‘No, more importantly, is this supposed to be a single serving?’

It wasn’t even two people eating the contents of this huge pot together. Gerald had already prepared a separate table for himself.

It was a typical meal with bread, soup, meat, and vegetables all mixed together. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The portion was just enough for three or four average adults.

Well, it was indeed a huge amount, but still within reasonable limits.

Given Gerald’s size, no one would complain about that amount.

In contrast, the pot in front of Rifenhardt was on a different scale altogether.

At this rate, it seemed like it could easily feed a whole squad of orc soldiers under the Antares Empire.

Did he really have to finish all of this?

Wasn’t it a waste if he left some like earlier?

‘Well, let’s just eat it for now…’

Astounded, Rifenhardt picked up the ladle (!). But after eating, it was surprisingly delicious.

It didn’t necessarily mean Gerald’s skill was good.

If the term “side dish” were multiplied several hundred times, it could explain the current situation.

A kind explanation from Gerald followed for his memory-impaired disciple.

“Your body is at its limit of exhaustion. So, you need to replenish it accordingly.”

Rifenhardt ate the stew absentmindedly.

At first, he wondered how he could eat it all alone, but once he started using the utensils, the food just kept going in.

He couldn’t believe how much food he was consuming endlessly.

‘No, does this make sense? The law of conservation of mass?’

Rifenhardt felt the breaking of the Mage’s common sense as he emptied the pot.

It was as if digestion was happening simultaneously as he ate.

Then, Gerald cleared the pot and kindly suggested,

“Now, let’s go for a light jog to aid digestion.”

And the afternoon training began.

Even to Rifenhardt, a Mage, the afternoon training seemed quite normal.

First, he carried a heavy iron lump around his body for about an hour, then followed by ambiguous physical training such as push-ups with fingers, lifting weights, sitting down with a rock on his back, and getting up.

Although the intensity was brutal, it was still understandable training, so this time, Rifenhardt obediently followed Gerald’s instructions.

Of course, he felt like he might lose consciousness several times in between.

But even if his arms and legs felt like jelly, one word from Gerald immediately boosted his energy.

“Hmm? Tired, disciple? Shall we just continue with the morning training?”

“No, no, no!”

Rather than being beaten to death, lifting rocks was a hundred times better.

Rifenhardt’s enthusiasm soared.

☆ ☆ ☆

The sun set, and the grueling day finally came to an end.

After tossing Rifenhardt, who had turned into a lump of lead, into the room, Gerald bid him a satisfied goodnight.

“You worked hard today, disciple. See you tomorrow.”

“Ah, goodnight… master…”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Rifenhardt stared blankly at Gerald closing the door with a warm expression.

It was a truly affectionate look, full of love for his disciple.

‘He doesn’t seem like a bad person when I see that…’

But no matter how good a person was, what did it matter?

His head was filled with such malicious ideas!

‘I’m getting out of here right now! I’ll escape by any means tonight!’

Rifenhardt lay quietly on the bed for now.

And he waited only for Gerald’s room light to go out.

Despite his body being reduced to mush, it demanded sleep fiercely, but he endured with his indomitable willpower.

He was a Mage, after all, a race whose mental strength was unparalleled.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

The light in Gerard’s room quickly went out. But Rifenhardt did not move right away.

‘I can’t move recklessly before he falls asleep deeply.’

After forcibly keeping his eyelids open for about an hour, he finally moved.

Carefully, he opened the window and cautiously made his way through the yard until the building was completely out of sight.

He moved cautiously, aware of Gerald’s exceptional senses.

And finally, at the moment he crossed a hill.

‘Let’s run!’

Rifenhardt ran fiercely towards the foot of the mountain.

Thanks to his well-trained body, despite being exhausted and on the brink of collapse, once he started running, his speed quickly picked up.

At a terrifying speed that would make most mountain animals cry, he ran through the mountain path frantically.

To him, the seemingly crude training was not rational at all.

Anyway, he had no intention of becoming a barbarian.

His mind was filled with the most powerful magic of the time.

He has to become the ultimate Mage of the 10th circle once again and rebuild the Antares Empire. Is this the time for him to build up his muscles?

How long did he run?

A light of unbridled joy shone on Rifenhardt’s face as he ran tirelessly.

‘Ah! Freedom! Finally escaped!’

Just as the sense of relief was about to overwhelm him,

“Disciple, where are you going?”

An elderly man was sitting on a rock in front of him, smiling broadly.

“Oops!”

That monstrous old man! When did he come here in advance!

Rifenhardt screamed inwardly as Gerald chuckled.

“You didn’t run away for a month or two, but you finally did. Is this the ninth time? If you run away one more time, you’ll fill two spots.”

His expression showed no surprise at all that his disciple ran away.

Apparently, Tesron had run away frequently too.

Rifenhardt’s shoulders slumped.

“Sigh…”

It seemed hopeless.

It just wouldn’t work out like this.

After a moment of contemplation, Rifenhardt raised his head.

“Excuse me, sir. I have something serious to say.”

Gerald responded casually.

“Go ahead.”

“In fact, I’m not Tesron. My name is Rifenhardt. I’m a Mage.”

Rifenhardt then earnestly told his story of how he came to inhabit this boy’s body and why.

In fact, it was a story that should never be revealed.

But Rifenhardt, who had already tasted hell, no longer cared.

All he thought about was escaping from this place, nothing else.

“This is how it happened. So, I cannot be your disciple…”

After finishing his story, Rifenhardt looked at Gerald and swallowed hard.

Would the old man believe this story?

And if he did, how would he accept the existence of an evil Mage who had usurped his disciple’s soul?

However, surprisingly, Tesron didn’t seem surprised this time either.

He just squinted his eyes and smirked.

“Oh, is that the story this time?”

“Huh?”

“Last time, you said something about coming from another dimension. And before that? You were a master who was active on the legendary continent, and you were reborn here. Something like that, right?”

[PR/N: 100% they were saying the truth but this old man’s training ACTUALLY killed them .]

And then, taking a step back, Gerland turned around abruptly and grabbed Rifenhardt by the back of his neck.

Even though the 2.5-meter giant moved, he didn’t seem to be visible at all.

It was truly a terrifying and arrogant display of power.

“But this time, the setup is a bit more detailed. It’s grown quite a bit. It wouldn’t be bad to play the role of a poet as a hobby, disciple.”

Rifenhardt despaired, hanging in the air.

Even this was useless!

Gerald kept chuckling.

It seemed that Tesron had told many similar lies before.

“Now, let’s go back and rest. You need a good night’s sleep to endure tomorrow’s training, don’t you?”

The expression on the old man’s face as he walked away with his student in a pompous manner did not show the slightest suspicion that Rifenhardt might not be the real Tesron.

And in fact, it didn’t matter to Gerald.

All he wanted was a sturdy body to endure Unbreakable Gym’s training method.

That was all that mattered.

Whatever the content was, it didn’t matter!

‘This… damn it!’

Realizing this fact, Rifenhardt despaired.

There seemed to be no way out of this hell.

The world was all darkness.

It was only natural, considering it was midnight.

Hanging limply, returning to hell, Rifenhardt changed his mind.

Although it was only a day of meeting, it taught him painfully that there was no way to communicate with this old man.

Those words were useless.

Quietly returning to the log cabin, Rifenhardt clenched his teeth and resolved, again and again.

‘I failed today, but I will definitely escape tomorrow!’

Yes, today’s escape (?) failed.

Admit it.

But don’t think about living trapped here.

Even as he was thrown onto his bed, Rifenhardt didn’t give up on escaping.

He was so resilient that he would be called a demon king.

But he couldn’t give up so easily!

And the next day. Once again, the morning in hell dawned.

“Arraaaghhh!”

The boy’s scream echoed painfully through the clear mountain sky.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]