Never Die Villain

"Now, begin circulating your mana."

"Yes."

Without asking any further questions, Ilya walked toward the center of the carousel and lowered himself onto the wooden platform, crossing his legs before closing his eyes.

Taking a slow breath, he allowed the mana within his body to circulate exactly as Vera had instructed, guiding it through each of his mana pathways while shutting out every unnecessary distraction around him.

Meanwhile, Vera made her way toward one of the carousel horses positioned near the outer edge of the platform.

She casually climbed onto its saddle as though it were the most natural seat in the world, as the enchanted carousel continued its slow rotation.

With each passing moment, the horse carried her around the circular platform, allowing her to orbit around Ilya while she watched him from every angle, occasionally passing behind him before gradually coming back into view once again.

Only a few moments passed before Ilya suddenly winced.

"Ukh...!"

A searing pain exploded from the collar around his neck, causing his eyes to open as his mana circulation came to a halt. Gritting his teeth, he instinctively grabbed at the leather band, trying to endure the sensation.

Vera watched the entire scene from the carousel horse without the slightest hint of concern.

"Hurts, doesn’t it?"

Ilya shot her an incredulous look.

"Hurts?" he repeated through gritted teeth. "It felt like someone drove a knife straight into my neck. What in the world was that?"

"That is the collar doing exactly what I designed it to do. Every time you circulate your mana incorrectly, it sends a pulse directly into your nervous system. The mistake is identified the instant it occurs, and the punishment follows immediately afterward."

She casually rested her cheek against her palm as the carousel continued carrying her in a slow circle around him.

"Though originally, this wasn’t a training tool at all. It’s a restraint collar used for prisoners with magical aptitude. Once fitted, any attempt to circulate or manipulate mana results in immediate feedback severe enough to discourage further attempts."

Her lips curved into a satisfied smile.

"Of course, the original version would have been rather inconvenient for today’s lesson, so I made a few adjustments. Instead of reacting whenever mana is circulated, I recalibrated the enchantment to respond only when your circulation deviates from the correct pathway."

"...."

"If you guide your mana exactly as I taught you, nothing will happen. Make even the slightest mistake, however, and it will be more than happy to remind you."

Ilya stared at her in silence before his hand slowly reached back toward the collar around his neck. After a long pause, he let out a sigh and lowered it again, already beginning to understand what kind of lesson she had planned for him.

"I thought I had the basics down, at least..."

"You thought you did, didn’t you?" Vera replied. "You seem to have forgotten something I told you before, Ilya."

"...."

"You have no talent for magic itself. The only thing you’re talented at is being a wizard, and those are two entirely different things."

"...Yes."

Vera gave a small nod toward the center of the carousel.

"Do it again."

Ilya closed his eyes once more and carefully began circulating his mana. For several seconds, everything proceeded exactly as before.

"Akh...!"

Until it didn’t.

"Again."

He steadied his breathing and started over, painstakingly guiding every strand of mana through the route Vera had drilled into him.

The moment a single pathway shifted out of alignment, another pulse surged through the restraint.

"Haakh...!"

"Again."

His breathing grew heavier as sweat began to form across his forehead. Every attempt ended the same way, with each mistake being punished before he could even realize he had made it.

"Fuck...!"

"Again."

There wasn’t a trace of sympathy on her face. In fact, she looked as though she was genuinely enjoying watching him in pain.

"Kh...!"

After what had to be the nth attempt, Vera finally slid off the slowly rotating carousel horse. Dusting off her skirt, she walked toward Ilya before stopping directly in front of him, looking down at the young man sprawled across the wooden platform.

"My, my," she sighed. "You’re absolutely hopeless. At this rate, we’ll still be here by sunrise."

Without waiting for a response, she lowered herself into a crouch beside him.

"Lift your shirt."

Too exhausted to argue, Ilya complied without a word, lifting the hem of his shirt just enough for Vera to examine him.

She slipped one hand under the fabric and traced her fingertips lightly against his abdomen.

"Let’s see the problem here," she said. "Circulate your mana again."

"...Yes."

Ilya drew a slow breath before circulating his mana once more, guiding it through the familiar route he had repeated dozens of times already.

This time, however, he moved far more cautiously than before, afraid that even the slightest deviation would cause the collar to activate again.

Vera closed her eyes.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke. Her fingertips followed the movement of his mana under his skin, pausing whenever the current reached a junction before continuing along another pathway, as though she were reading something only she could perceive.

"...I see." Her fingers stopped. "So that’s what’s happening."

"Kh...! What’s... the problem...?"

"You’re skipping them."

"...Skipping?"

"The smaller pathways," Vera replied. "You’ve been treating them as unnecessary and redirecting your mana through the larger ones instead. It’s more efficient, but it isn’t what I taught you."

She tapped lightly against his side.

"Here. And here."

Each tap corresponded to a different point along his torso.

"Your mana is unconsciously avoiding these branches because they have more resistance. Most people never notice they’re doing it, and most instructors never bother correcting it because the difference is insignificant for ordinary spellcasting."

She looked him in the eye.

"But I’m not teaching you ordinary spellcasting."

Her hand finally withdrew from under his shirt.

"You’re going to circulate it again, and this time you’re going to send mana through every single pathway, no matter how narrow or inefficient it feels. I don’t care if it slows you down."

"...Yes."

* * *

"Per Futha Magnus... Lux Aetheris, audi vocem meam..."

On the brink of dawn, barely an hour before the sun would ordinarily rise beyond the horizon, a lone spark flickered within the abandoned carnival.

"Mana mea congregare, lumen excitare, orbem lucentem ante manum meam formare..."

Against the lingering darkness, it was no brighter than a firefly, shaking as though it might disappear at any moment, yet it stubbornly refused to fade.

"Per runam ljós, per voluntatem meam... Lux Orbis...!"

The final syllable had scarcely left Ilya’s lips before the tiny spark shuddered.

Threads of pale light gathered from the surrounding air, slowly gathering around the point suspended above his outstretched palm until they formed a wavering sphere no larger than a marble.

Vera brought her hands together in a slow applause.

"Congratulations, Ilya Belozersky," she said with a bright smile. "You’ve successfully cast an orb spell that most seven-year-olds can perform without an incantation."

"...."

She continued clapping for another second before finally stopping. Tilting her head, the smile on her face never faded.

"So, shall we move on to the next lesson?"

"...."

Ilya’s eyelids felt unbearably heavy, his shirt was soaked with sweat, and his legs refused to stop shaking, no matter how hard he tried to stop them.

However, he was the one who had signed up for this.

"...Yes."