Chapter 90 - Land of Shadows Interlude: Life (2)

Scáthach wasn't the type to talk tough but go easy.

She meant every word—and followed through.

Shiomi had long since come to understand this. Just because he wanted to research using Magecraft to make something grow in this dead land, he never expected Scáthach to ease up on the intensity of his training.

If anything, maybe his recent progress had been too good—because her training had only grown harsher since.

She'd stopped distinguishing between Magecraft and martial arts training, blending the two into increasingly brutal combat sessions.

As expected, Shiomi never once complained during practice. At most, he'd sigh about how exhausted he was once it was over.

Then, after recovering a bit, he'd get right back to his Magecraft experiments.

Scáthach's castle was vast—large enough to house an army of tens of thousands.

The only issue: there were no supplies to speak of.

Shiomi had chosen a plot of land near the castle to experiment on, trying daily to use Magecraft to create plants that could bear fruit.

From then on, whenever Scáthach had nothing else to do, she found herself watching him work at this nearly hopeless endeavor as a kind of entertainment.

Knowing full well that even if she tried to stop him, he'd never quit his research, she let him be.

Failure after failure didn't dampen Shiomi's resolve. Each time, he'd sit down, think things through, and apply the lessons to his next attempt.

...Failure number 137.

Scáthach kept count silently.

After exhausting every method he could think of, Shiomi finally stopped on the 137th attempt. He looked worn out, sitting there in a daze.

"Thinking of giving up?"

As the sole observer of his efforts, Scáthach posed the question.

"No... I just feel like I'm stuck within the limits of conventional Magecraft. If I could change my perspective a little, maybe..."

Shiomi hunched forward, staring at the water-soaked earth.

"Maybe so," Scáthach said lightly. "After all, what you're trying to do is akin to performing a miracle."

"A miracle..."

"That's right. Magecraft itself is the embodiment of miracles," Scáthach nodded. "I don't think I've ever taught you about this part. Consider this an impromptu bonus lesson."

At that, Shiomi turned quickly to face her.

As the only student in the Land of Shadows, there were no formal teaching sessions. Lessons came during battles or casual chats—it all counted.

"Listen well. The miracles humans can perform fall into four broad categories: Magecraft, Rituals, Mysteries, and Curses. In other words, any miracle within the reach of human capability, no matter the form, ultimately belongs to one of these four."

Scáthach stood before him, one hand on her hip, exuding her usual composed authority as she continued.

"But above all that exists a higher tier—the Authorities wielded by the gods."

"Authorities..." Shiomi echoed, unfamiliar but not entirely alien to the term.

Scáthach gave a small smile. "But that's a topic for another time. We won't go into it now."

The unexpected reply made Shiomi pause. He looked up at his master, studying her face.

"So you're saying... what I'm trying to do now is actually an attempt to recreate the divine act of creating life from nothing?"

He swallowed nervously, his voice a mix of awe and disbelief.

"Who knows?" Scáthach smiled again. "Trying to grow a fruit tree in a lifeless land—and calling that the power of the gods? If that were all it took, the gods would be cheap indeed."

With that, she turned to leave.

But Shiomi called after her.

"Then what about you, Master? You've taken countless lives—human, undead, even divine. With that kind of power, surely you could—"

"My, how bold you've become. You've even started mocking your own master now."

Scáthach glanced back, smiling with a hint of menace, like she might raise her spear any second and drag him into the next round of training.

Shiomi remained seated, unmoving, and shook his head earnestly.

"No, Master. I didn't mean it that way."

"It was just a joke," Scáthach replied with a nod. "Yes, I've taken countless lives and possess immense power. But listen well, my disciple—"

She turned and walked slowly into the castle. Her voice echoed back from the shadows inside.

"No matter how powerful you are, you still might not be able to make a single flower bloom in a place where life is impossible."

Shiomi instinctively reached up to touch his hair.

Only then did he realize—it had never grown. It had stayed the same length all this time.

With that thought, Tenkei Shiomi stood up, turned to look at the land behind him, and fell into a long silence.

...

After his next training session, Shiomi resumed his efforts in what could only be described as research into a "taboo" miracle.

Scáthach, as though she never tired of watching, observed this near-futile endeavor from her room's window, from atop the castle walls, or even from nearby—wherever struck her fancy.

Eventually, during a short nap in one of her breaks, Scáthach suddenly sensed a massive surge of life force emerging from somewhere within the castle.

She immediately rushed to the source.

A sapling was pushing its way out of the earth, growing steadily. At that rate, Scáthach figured it wouldn't be long before it stood taller than Shiomi himself, who was still channeling mana into it.

Astonished that her disciple had finally achieved it, Scáthach also caught wind of the underlying danger.

Just as Shiomi turned, likely eager to share the good news with her, she struck from behind and knocked him unconscious.

The sapling's growth gradually slowed, eventually stopping at just under twice a person's height.

As she lifted Shiomi from the ground, Scáthach let her hand brush against the trunk.

"To think you'd use your own body as nourishment to bring life into this world..." Scáthach's voice was a mix of exasperation and pride. "But I'm sorry—I can't let you continue. The power of Authorities is still far too vast for a human to bear."

She glanced once more at the blossoms blooming on the branches.

Apple blossoms.

"You've caught a fragment of that power... Now, killing you might be harder than killing me."

She shook her head with a smile and walked away, carrying Shiomi in her arms.

And this—she never told him, not even when he eventually left the Land of Shadows.

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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