The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 313: Chapter 312: The Bait is Working Well (1)



Claude stepped forward as the representative and asked, "What kind of training?"

He had plenty of work already, so what was this about more training? Up until now, the lord had trained alone. The only instance where he trained with someone else was during sparring sessions with Gillian.

Ghislain replied casually, as if it were nothing special.

"Just keep doing what you've been doing, but have the knights ambush me. I won't retaliate or hold them responsible for attacking. The only condition is that they suppress their mana to the minimum or not use it at all. Of course, I won't use mine either."

He was spouting nonsense again. Among the group, who all stood there blinking in surprise, Belinda was the one to ask, "Young master? What kind of training are you trying to do?"

"It's part of the training I've been doing. To put it simply, I'm trying to improve my body's defensive capability by taking hits."

"... You do realize that kind of training usually ends up crippling people, right? You're skilled enough to know that much."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"I'll be fine. You know how fast I recover. This is just raising the intensity a little."

"Don't do it. If you're attacked without properly using your mana, it's dangerous."

Once someone reaches a certain level of mana usage, even if they don't actively channel it, their body becomes slightly fortified. The entire body retains a bit of mana.

Because of this, their senses become sharper, and their physical abilities improve even without deliberate effort.

At Ghislain's level, his body likely held more accumulated mana than most knights. However, there was still a limit. Human skin is surprisingly fragile, and without actively channeling mana, it is impossible to defend against steel weapons.

Despite Belinda's objections, Ghislain shook his head.

"No, this is something I absolutely need right now. It won't take long-just a few days of practice."

"And why exactly are you doing this?"

"Because if I push just a little further, I think my senses will improve to the next level." Ghislain's training was currently at a halfway point. With just a little more progress, he believed he could withstand mana-enhanced attacks from novice knights with his bare body. However, the training where he would attack himself to condition his body to react instinctively had reached a standstill.

His mind was too quick-it anticipated where he would strike before the attack even happened. Now, even the thought of attacking a specific area caused mana to gather there automatically.

"This won't do. Reacting knowingly defeats the purpose.'

The ultimate goal was to instinctively block and counterattack against ambushes anywhere, anytime.

He had considered asking the dwarves to create a device for training, but it would inevitably develop predictable patterns, which fell short of Ghislain's goal. The best training was combat itself, and if that wasn't feasible, the training had to be as close to real combat as possible.

At Ghislain's absurd proposal, Belinda clicked her tongue.

"Can't you please be more careful with your body? Who in this estate could even bring themselves to attack you, young master?"

Ghislain was the lord of this territory. Who would attack their lord without hesitation?

"There should be plenty," Ghislain said with a shrug.

Claude nodded in agreement, though Belinda still objected.

"No! I won't allow it! If you get even a single scratch, I won't let it slide. Do you understand?"

At her stern warning, Ghislain playfully said, "Why don't you give it a try, Belinda? I'll buy you a 'Charnel' if you manage to wound me."

"Young master! Stop joking about dangerous things!"

Swish! Clang! Clang!

Suddenly, dozens of daggers shot out from Belinda's body.

Startled, Ghislain instinctively raised his mana. The force behind the attack was too intense to avoid using mana.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He deflected some with his hands and dodged others by stepping back.

When the daggers finally stopped, Ghislain looked at Belinda with a dumbfounded expression.

Belinda turned her head slightly and muttered, "I mean... you just wouldn't listen, so I got a little mad and wanted to end this quickly. It's not like I really wanted anything... Oh, but you managed to block it."

||||

Ironically, Belinda had been the first to attack. With this, no one else voiced any objections. Clearing his throat, Ghislain turned to Gillian.

"Random attacks won't work for proper training. Select individuals to ambush me each day during training sessions. Anyone who successfully injures me will be rewarded with gold coins."

"...Understood," Gillian replied with a resigned sigh. He thought about opposing the idea but decided against it, knowing Ghislain would push ahead regardless.

Thus, the "Ambushing Lord Training" began. At first, the knights hesitated, but they quickly found enjoyment in attacking Ghislain.

True to his word, Ghislain didn't retaliate. He only avoided particularly dangerous attacks, allowing shallow ones to land. He even suppressed his mana as much as possible.

As a result, even Ghislain began to sustain injuries despite his skill. Those who managed to injure him were immediately rewarded.

Gold coins for every hit? No one's going to pass that up.

"Here con

my gold!"

"Today, it's my turn to win!"

"A chance to hit the lord? Count me in!"

Some knights added personal grudges to their attacks, but regardless of the reasons, everyone enthusiastically assaulted Ghislain.

Since they couldn't spend all day following him around, each knight only had one chance per day. As a result, their ambush strategies became increasingly elaborate. Without prompting, they started behaving like assassins.

Some mapped out his daily routes and hid in ambush, while others struck during his work

hours.

"Huh, this is more effective than I thought."

Ghislain smiled at the unintended benefits. Everyone's stealth and concealment skills were improving as they strategized together and exchanged advice.

This was precisely what Ghislain wanted-a way to train his senses to defend against

unexpected attacks.

'I need to dull my awareness even more.'

The issue was that Ghislain's heightened senses made it too easy to detect hidden opponents,

reducing the element of surprise. He had to deliberately suppress his senses to allow the

attacks to land.

Swish!

Suddenly, Gordon slashed Ghislain's arm and smirked.

"Heh, my skills have improved, haven't they?"

"Hmm, not bad."

"You owe me some gold for this injury."

"Sure, keep working hard."

'Hehe, success!'

Even though Ghislain had instructed them to suppress their mana, the knights couldn't help

but add a bit of mana to their attacks to ensure they wounded him.

As the days went on, Ghislain noticed that his body wasn't keeping up with the increasing

intensity of the attacks. But he considered this a good thing. The more mana they used, the

more his body had to adapt.

However, it wasn't an easy process. Attacks came too quickly for his body to channel mana in

time, resulting in injuries.

'I need my body to react faster.'

When fully focused, he had no trouble evading or defending against attacks before they even connected. But in a dulled state, there was still a gap before his body could react properly.

'Should I increase the intensity even further?'

For his body to undergo real transformation, it needed to feel genuine danger. And indeed, the training was already yielding some results.

One day, while Ghislain wandered through the estate deep in thought, someone blocked his

path.

"What is it?"

It was Ascon, standing in his way with a smug expression.

"May I have a chance to attack you as well?"

"Hmm? But you can't use mana, can you?"

By this point, ordinary attacks without mana couldn't easily harm Ghislain. Even with his

suppressed mana, a normal blade would only lightly graze his skin.

That wasn't enough to evoke the sense of danger necessary for his training.

However, Ascon insisted.

"Why should only the knights get the chance? Let me try as well."

"Alright, go ahead and give it a shot."

"You're giving me permission, right?"

"I said yes, didn't I?"

"Then I'll try a mental attack."

"...?"

Before Ghislain could say anything, Ascon's mouth opened first.

"You piece of crap, you little XXXX, I nearly died at this age because of you, eating powder

instead of real food, you XXXX, XXXX, your damned XXXX, you XXXX bastard, living like there's no tomorrow, you insane lunatic, you XXXXXX..."

A constant stream of foul curses poured out, tinged with what felt like genuine bitterness.

As Ghislain stood there dumbfounded, laughing awkwardly, Belinda, who had heard the news, stormed in with a face like a demon.

With the single word "Shibari," Ascon was immediately dragged away by the soldiers and thrown into prison.

As if nothing had happened, Ghislain's training continued.

When the progress seemed to slow down a bit, Ghislain expanded the number of participants

allowed to join the ambush and lifted the restrictions on the number of attempts. He even relaxed the mana constraints.

From that point on, the knights attacked Ghislain even more boldly. Ghislain began accepting even dangerous attacks without resistance. At times, he was

seriously injured and carried away, and there were instances where one of his arms was nearly

severed.

"Young master! Please stop this already!"

"My lord, this is getting more and more dangerous."

"This isn't training anymore, it's torment."

Belinda and the vassals all began trying to stop him. Ghislain's body had long been covered in

scars, and as the wounds accumulated, his recovery began to slow.

But Ghislain stood firm.

"No, I'm starting to feel it coming together."

The body doesn't lie. The transformation had begun ever since he was stabbed in the heart.

Without conscious effort, his body instinctively stayed in a tense state, and each time he was

attacked, mana began gathering at the impacted areas faster.

His senses were sharper than ever, despite deliberately suppressing them.

On top of that, unexpected effects began to emerge.

"This is..."

Every day, he was wounded and attacked. After facing the brink of death multiple times, his

body began to search for a new way to survive.

The movement speed of mana from the core has a limit; it cannot go beyond a certain pace.

Thus, the body started distributing mana evenly throughout itself.

Even without conscious thought, his body displayed effects akin to maintaining the first core

activation continuously.

'I didn't think this was possible.'

This was a technique Ghislain had conceived and attempted long ago. Maintaining mana activation throughout the body would naturally lead to its gradual depletion. To replenish it, one had to engage in cultivation or rest sufficiently.

For someone of Ghislain's caliber, mana could be restored gradually even through simple

breathing. But eventually, all mana would be consumed.

There was also the problem of consciously maintaining the mana flow.

'So, I had focused on improving reaction speed instead.'

Now, the mana was moving on its own to protect his body.

Moreover, his body was beginning to replenish the consumed mana bit by bit, as if breathing

through every inch of his skin and respiratory system.

Though it was an extremely small amount compared to deliberate mana cultivation, his body

was autonomously absorbing mana from the surroundings.

Confronting death every day, the human body could indeed achieve remarkable evolution.

'I'll need to tweak the cultivation technique a bit more.'

He could feel how mana was moving within his body. By utilizing this, he could refine his cultivation technique further.

'Perhaps... I might even expand the core beyond what I achieved in my previous life.'

In his past life, creating five cores had been his limit. The burden on the body increased with

more cores, and mana consumption also became a significant issue.

Yet, even with just five cores, Ghislain had reached the pinnacle as one of the continent's

Seven Strongest, with hardly any rivals.

Now, with this newfound understanding, he felt it might be possible to surpass even that.

"Not bad." Ghislain smiled with satisfaction. What had started as a momentary inspiration during training was now revealing a crucial path forward.

As his body became accustomed to maintaining the first core activation unconsciously, the

results were astonishing.

"Here we come again!"

Ten knights suddenly appeared, swinging their swords at Ghislain from all directions.

Their blades were faintly enveloped in a bluish light-attacks that could be classified as beginner-level knights.

Until now, such attacks had been enough to wound Ghislain, as he had deliberately suppressed his mana.

This time, too, Ghislain did not consciously summon his mana. He simply endured the attacks

as usual.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"...?"

The knights who landed their attacks wore puzzled expressions.

Why did it sound like they were hitting steel instead of flesh?

When they checked the situation, the knights gasped in shock. "What is this!"

"How is this possible?"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't use mana? You're using it, aren't you?" Ghislain's body was unscathed. His clothes were torn, but his skin didn't have a single scratch.

Hearing the knights' exclamations, Ghislain glanced down at his body and nodded.

"Hmm, this should do for now."

Without consciously using his mana, he had reached a state where his first core was perpetually active. Thus, the knights' attacks had no effect on him.

Of course, the knights hadn't gone all out. If they had used their full strength, they could have

inflicted significant injuries.

"Starting today, the ambush training ends."

He no longer needed this type of training. Though still in its infancy, he had laid the

groundwork for the next stage.

Now, he aimed to develop and enhance it further, advancing to second, third core activation,

and beyond.

The knights seemed a bit disappointed by the announcement.

'Ah, that extra income was nice while it lasted.'

'A little more would've been great.'

'Plus, hitting the lord had its own charm.'

Though they regretted losing their entertainment, it wasn't just that. Watching Ghislain walk

away, the knights all had the same thought.

"He's becoming more of a monster."

What had seemed like insane training had actually worked. Some knights even considered

trying it themselves but quickly dismissed the idea.

Such madness was only possible for someone like the lord.

***

Meanwhile, estate development was proceeding smoothly. Despite the heavy workload,

Fenris had always been a place bustling with activity.

Having done similar tasks many times before, the people were now efficient, with no

significant issues.

They demolished old residences, merged villages, fortified strongholds, expanded workshops, and devised more efficient ways to utilize Desmond's abundant resources. Road construction was also ongoing. As roads were built, resource transportation became faster, accelerating the estate's development exponentially compared to before. Of course, not everything was perfect.

Claude groaned as he stared at the mountain of paperwork. "Hmm... We still don't have enough administrators."

After eliminating Desmond's vassals, they had meticulously interrogated and vetted lower-

level officials to find capable individuals. But with such a vast territory and so much work to

do, manpower was inevitably lacking. "Sigh, where can we recruit more people now?"

Rumors about him had already spread across the Seiron Academy, making recruitment from

there unlikely. He would have to look elsewhere for new talent. "For now, we can't increase the workload anymore." Even now, people were stretched thin, with each person doing the work of ten. Any further

increase would be impossible.

The lord had no new tasks recently and was fully focused on training. It seemed like they could continue training the soldiers and concentrating on development without any issues. One day, as Claude was feeling relieved, Ghislain suddenly burst through the door and said,

"I'm starting a new project."

|||||

"I'm establishing the Fenris Magic Research Institute and forming a magic corps."

Claude's face instantly twisted in dismay.

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