The next morning, I woke up to the chime of the morning bell.
Today marked the start of my mana training.
Because of that, Olivia-san had told me at the end of yesterday's session to avoid using any mana this morning if possible.
"Which means maybe I should do some Swordsmanship training for the first time in a while."
Lately, everything I practiced had consumed mana.
Aside from magic, my options were Swordsmanship and Cleaning.
There were my basic physical attributes as well, but setting those aside for the moment, I decided to focus on Swordsmanship.
"My, how rare. It's not often I see you swinging a sword."
"Good morning, Amanda-san!"
After finishing my morning laundry, I had been in the middle of training when Amanda-san came out into the back garden.
I stepped over to help her wash the load of laundry she had brought out.
"Actually, today's training is going to use mana, so I'm trying to conserve it this morning."
"Oh, is that so? Come to think of it, you're a mage too, Erik. That means you have to practice both. Isn't it exhausting, swinging a sword and training in magic?"
"It can be tough, but I'm learning so many new things and improving step by step. It's a lot of fun."
"I see. Well, that's good to hear."
Chatting as we worked, we finished the wash. I hung my clothes up in my room and headed down to the dining room for breakfast.
"Ted-san, that was delicious as always! Thank you for the meal."
"Sure thing. Give it your all out there today, Erik."
Encouraged by Ted-san's parting words, I returned to my room, geared up, and set off from the inn.
Arriving at the Adventurer's Guild, I gave Reina-san a quick greeting before heading straight to the training grounds.
"Good morning, Olivia-san!"
When I reached the grounds, Olivia-san was already waiting.
I jogged over in a hurry to greet her.
"Good morning, Erik-kun. How are you feeling today?"
"Never better!"
"Wonderful. Glad to hear it. Well then, I'd like to dive right into your mana training, but... do you know anything about how one usually trains their mana, Erik-kun?"
"Only that you're supposed to use a lot of it, I think..."
The basic method was simple: expend large amounts of mana until you were nearly running on empty, then rest.
According to the Adventurer's Guide, repeating that cycle would occasionally raise the stat.
"That's the standard method everyone knows. It has no shortcuts and simply takes an enormous amount of time. I used to do the exact same thing back in the day."
"Really?"
"Yes. But along the way, I started to wonder: Is this really the most effective way to train? So an acquaintance and I developed a training tool. Take a look."
With that, she produced a square box fitted with several thin cords.
"What is this?"
"A training device. You attach these cords to whoever is training—in this case, your wrists, hands, and ankles, Erik-kun."
As she spoke, Olivia-san fastened the straps at the ends of the cords around my limbs and ankles.
"There, all set. Now, Erik-kun, can you visualize releasing a large burst of mana?"
"A large burst? Um, all right..."
Following her instructions, I released mana outward from my body.
When I did, the actual drain on my reserves felt far smaller than what I had pictured.
"Less mana is leaving my body than I intended! W-What's happening?"
"Sharp catch. But you aren't releasing less. That tool just restored the mana you spent."
"R-Restored it?! If an item like that exists, wouldn't every mage in the world be dying to get their hands on one?"
"Well, yes, it certainly restores mana, but ordinary mages won't ever be able to obtain it."
Olivia-san then proceeded to explain how the device worked.
First of all, the item was the result of a complete fluke, making mass production impossible.
Because of that, the single unit strapped to me was the only one in existence.
She also mentioned that since they had never publicly revealed it, hardly anyone even knew it existed.
Furthermore, it wasn't actually meant to be a recovery device.
It was designed to be charged with mana in advance, which could then be drawn upon later.
On top of that, while anyone could receive mana from the device, only Olivia-san could replenish it.
In other words, using this tool meant drawing directly upon the mana of a Platinum Rank adventurer.
"By the way, charging that tool requires an immense amount of mana. That's why it took me so long to get everything ready."
"Um... is it really all right for someone like me to use something so incredible? I mean, tapping into your mana, Olivia-san... it feels a little presumptuous."
"Nonsense. You're my apprentice, aren't you? Are you really going to let your master's hard work go to waste? Especially after I went through all the trouble of preparing it just for you..."
"Ah, n-no, of course not! I'm sorry! Please let me use it!"
Seeing Olivia-san put on a crestfallen pout, I frantically backtracked.
Once she finished explaining the device, she moved on to detailing the actual training regimen.