Despite the torment however, Kite had benefited greatly. In the first place, he was able to cast the most rudimentary levels of magic from the four elements, his mastery with pyromancy had reached a middling level of proficiency. He was also capable of the “Crystal Wall” of hydromancy, “Gale Guard” from aeromancy, “Rampart Wall” from geomancy, and even the spell Crazy had created, “Glacial Downpour” (A spell from the fusion of cryomancy and hydromancy), and the “Zephyr Edge” from aeromancy. Even the flight spell was not monopolized by Jerry, Kite was capable of that too afterwards.

The competitive streak in Jerry had been ignited after he saw Kite’s accomplishments. For a person like Jerry, there wasn’t much that could bother him at all.

But if one were to talk about who benefited most from Crazy, it was not Kite, but another person. Do not assume it was Elric! He had been the most disastrous of the group and had been forced to drink medicine after medicine and zapped with lightning almost daily. It was in fact Belladonna who learned the most. With such an opportunity, she had already managed to improve the spell Crazy taught her to clean into something that could heal and stimulate the body. With continuous practice, she was able to have a more profound grasp on the magic. There were no shortages of targets to practice on as well. With Kite and Elric being constantly injured and the mountain of clothes she had yet to wash, her heart would forever ache at those memories.

The saddest of the three acolytes had been Elric. His training had been exceedingly normal; take medicine, and eat all kinds of herbs. Because Jerry had been the one with the most idle time, he would often help Crazy out with all sorts of medicine preparation and herb mixing. Sometimes, Jerry had seen what effects it had had on Elric and would sometimes lose his appetite for the day. These medicines hadn’t helped Elric in the least with his problem and instead confused him. As a result, Elric had begun to doubt the sincerity of Crazy.

It was because of this unclear situation that Elric had finally mustered up the courage to go and ask Crazy to change his training.

Afterwards, Crazy had straight out changed Elric’s training to meditation under the influence of electrical shocks. Instead of being free to do whatever under Elric’s initial training, Jerry was now stuck with nursing after Elric and making sure that the frequency of the shocks were steady and strong. From there, Jerry’s appetite went from going every three or five days without appetite to being able to only stomach a small amount every day. From that, one was able to understand just how effective the training was.

A dozen days or so with this new electrical shock training could not be said to be fruitless. Elric had felt his mental fortitude be many times stronger than before. And in terms of mental might, he was probably as strong as an adept. Crazy had explained that being able to meditate under the shock of lightning for a single day was roughly equivalent to three straight months worth of meditating under normal circumstances. Kite came to the same realization after going through a similar training regime as well. But this had also left him unable to use magic still. As things stood, a consistent shock of lightning would disperse mana instead of gathering it.

This had meant that not only was meditating under the shock of lightning useless to Elric’s problem, it made his problem even worse.

So Crazy had taken the initiative to change the training regime. But like a bird frightened by the twang of a bow, Elric had been afraid to see what came next.

Two months passed in this fashion. (In this time, Belladonna was nearly finished with her work, but the clothes she had left to clean were still at a halfway point. So she continued to work while committing to her food duties). Her relationship with Crazy had deepened during this time period as well.

Many times before, Elric and Kite had wished to inquire to Crazy about several things. That battle of magic she had displayed once was still fresh on their minds.

One day, Kite could handle it no longer and took the opportunity to ask her a question during the supper meal.

“Master Crazy, I’ve never understood how you are able to cast magic without ever speaking the incantations for it.” Kite asked.

“I do say it though!” Crazy replied. Raising her right hand normally, she gave a sharp shout and let forth a ball of fire from her palm.

“Does that mean that shout is the incantation?” Elric actually came to such a conclusion some time ago.

“Indeed! If you can chant the incantation with as short of a time as possible, you’ve mastered it.” Crazy replied.

“So, the change in your voice is because of….” Belladonna started.

“You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” For the first time since they met her, Crazy had a serious expression on her face.

“Then how are you able to use magic from all four elements at once?” Kite pressed on.

“I wasn’t. I just swap the rate in which my magic flows to what is needed, that’s all.” Crazy replied.

“Would I be able to do that too?” When it came to anything that could further increase his strength, Kite was all ears about it.

“Of course. We just need to put you under an operation and split apart your mind and mana. If you’re willing to try that is.” Crazy replied.

“Splitting my mind!” Kite’s face went green.

“Of course. If we don’t do that, then how would you be able to attune yourself to the four elements. Why do you think that wolf has three heads?”

“Then being able to cast magic one after another like that is because of this concept?” Elric hurriedly tried to change the topic so that they wouldn’t stay on topic about it. It was then he realized this was why this person was so “crazy”.

“Correct. By using two different types of meditation and some extra help, I am able to gather mana and cast magic quickly.

“What a wonderful magus you are to be able to invent such a different way of magic casting.” Kite sighed.

“It wasn’t me that invented it, but the hired helper of my master.” Crazy smirked.

The four acolytes had been speechless to hear that.

For the longest time, no one had responded until Belladonna did, “Who was your master, and who could possibly be such a great helper like that?”

“My master was the Grand Magister Naga. You should know about such a person. As for the helper, he’s a very vile person.” Crazy’s face grew malicious at her words.

“Magister Naga? I know that the helper of grand magister Naga was another grand magister from Monteda, grand magister Cecilia.” Thanks to Kite’s noble heritage, he was far more knowledgeable of the identities of other people.

“No, not Cecilia, but Cecilia is quite repulsive too.”

“But if such a person was able to create such a style of magic like that, then no matter who the person was, we should’ve learned of such a person still.” Kite spoke.

“That person only wishes to enjoy the finest food, wine, and women until he keels over. What’s terrifying is his social manners, and his morals are equally disgusting. Even the women who he gropes have far more skill than he does in magic. Not a single woman under my master’s care had escaped from his evil clutches.” Crazy vented furiously as the previously repressed memories of the past came flying back.

At such a description, Belladonna’s face had gone scarlet and Kite’s eyes had opened wide in shock as if in disbelief that such a person could even exist. Elric on the other hand, had a bad feeling about this.

“Well, what was that person’s name?” Jerry asked.

“Victor.” As soon as Crazy spoke that name, a series of coughs could be heard as spit and food emerged from the mouths of the four.

Seeing that the four students were desperately trying to hold down their coughs at the same time and were no longer eating, Crazy had not gotten angry about it.

“It seems that there is a connection between you four and Victor?” Crazy’s voice had gone exceedingly gentle.

“No, not with me. But Victor is Elric’s master.” Jerry had been the epitome of an unscrupulous merchant at this current moment—selling out his friend at a very crucial moment. 

“Yes yes.” Belladonna nodded her head as well. It seems that the priestess in the making had not wished to sour the relationship she had spent such a long time trying to make.

Kite didn’t say anything, but he had instead moved farther away from Elric. When his parents had taught Kite to “forge ahead with conviction”, he had taken it to heart.

From what was said earlier, Elric could guess that the person Crazy had mentioned was indeed his master.

Crazy might have been speaking with a gentle voice, but her eyes had a bright spark in it, and a spark of fire had ignited over her finger. This was more than enough to let everyone know that she was about to explode.

“Elric, I’ve just thought of a way that’ll definitely let you learn how to use magic. Haha— HAHAHA!” Shrill laughter made its way through the room, and everyone could tell that Crazy had gone mad with delight.

But Elric hadn’t been listening as he had instead chosen to faint dead away.