After hearing Lernen’s words, Naruto finally pieced the whole story together.
Lernen left the court not because of a lack of strength, but due to worldly matters and social obligations.
Duncan had spoken up for him even under those circumstances, and this favor had weighed heavily on his mind without being repaid.
Thus, carrying this depression, Lernen left the empire, came to Äußerst, passed the First-Class Mage exam, and thought that one day he would be able to repay Duncan.
“Then why don’t you just ask him out and face-to-face ask him what kind of help he needs?” Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground with his hands supporting his knees, “Maybe he happens to need you right now?”
Lernen was taken aback, looked down at his fingers, and a bitter smile slowly emerged at the corner of his mouth: “Naruto, the adult world is not that direct.”
He raised his head, gazed at the cloud dyed red by the setting sun on the distant horizon, and his voice softened: “Asking directly often puts the other person in a difficult position most of the time.”
“It takes a lot of courage for a person to face what they have already lost.”
“And…
I believe that one day, I will definitely be able to repay this favor for Duncan.”
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, his brow furrowing: “Brother Lernen, we are humans.”
These words were spoken with absolute righteousness and confidence.
Lernen turned his head and saw that the teenager’s face was filled with the expression of ‘what kind of foolish talk are you saying’.
“Master’s life is nearly eternal, so she can say ‘one day’.” Naruto leaned his body forward a bit, “But we humans are different; we can’t live that long.”
“Who knows, one day you might never see each other again, which is why you have to do it while there is still time and you can still meet.”
Naruto put his hands down and looked at Lernen with an earnest gaze: “Just like how I will one day stand at the peak of the Mage and gain Master’s recognition.”
“It’s impossible for me to wait a thousand years later to do it.”
Lernen looked at the blonde teenager in front of him, his lips moving without answering for a moment.
Those eyes carried a determination that made it impossible to look away.
“You are right,” Lernen said softly, “but life is sometimes like this; even if you understand it, you might not be able to change immediately.”
“I don’t understand those roundabout things at all.” Naruto stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and looked down at the shy young man still sitting on the ground: “You go write a letter to Duncan right now and ask him directly if he needs help.”
“What if he happens to need you right now?”
Lernen was silent for another moment.
Looking into Naruto’s eyes, which held no hesitation or doubt, he suddenly understood a little.
Lady Serie asking him to mentor Naruto was probably not to have him teach Naruto how much magic.
That great Mage who had lived for thousands of years had seen through it long ago.
The one who truly needed to change was himself.
“I understand,” Lernen then nodded, “I will write a letter to Duncan and find a way to meet him.”
“However, from the Empire to Äußerst, the distance is not short, and it will take at least half a month even at the fastest.”
Naruto grinned, his smile appearing very bright in the darkening twilight.
“As long as you start doing something, it is never too late.”
…
From then on, Naruto’s daytime schedule was packed full.
Every morning and afternoon, Lernen took time to teach him Killing Magic and Defense Magic, as well as the practical application of Mages.
Naruto learned fast, and whenever his magic power was consumed quickly, he would borrow Chakra from the Nine-Tailed to replenish it.
Although every time it would cause the Big Fox in the mental space to let out a soft snort.
As soon as one magic was learned, he would move on to the next.
Serie seemed very satisfied with Naruto’s progress, tossing over a new grimoire every few days.
Naruto accepted everything that came his way, starting to study as soon as he got his hands on it.
The evening time was fixedly given to that young warrior brother.
One evening when Naruto was practicing basic movements on the street, he was spotted by him.
The warrior walked over, watched for a moment, and then pointed out a few flaws in his movements.
From then on, he would wait for Naruto in the open space behind the inn to teach him some basic martial arts and taijutsu.
“Your lower stance is unstable.” The warrior brother said similar words every time, “And…”
…
That evening, Lernen was walking on his way back to the association when he saw from afar that Naruto was saying goodbye to the red-haired warrior.
The warrior patted Naruto on the shoulder, said something, and then turned and walked towards the inn.
Naruto stood in place, moved his shoulders and neck slightly, and just as he was about to turn around, he saw Lernen standing across the street.
“Brother Lernen!” Naruto jogged over quickly, the sweat on his face not yet completely dry.
Lernen’s gaze chased after the receding red figure for a moment, then withdrew his line of sight: “That warrior is?”
“Oh, you mean him.” Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, “I ran into him while practicing taijutsu before.
He seems to be an adventurer, and seeing that my movements weren’t standard, he occasionally guides me.”
Lernen nodded thoughtfully: “I see.”
He paused: “I heard that there is a warrior village over in the Central Lands, where everyone in the village has red hair, and every single one of them is a powerful warrior.”
“Their personalities are warm, bold, and helpful; the one you mentioned should be from there.”
“I see…” Naruto’s eyes lit up, “The Central Lands…
I really want to go and see it one day.”
After saying this, he tilted his head and looked at Lernen: “Speaking of which, Brother Lernen, you seem quite busy lately?
Are you pondering any new magic?”
Lernen rarely showed a relaxed smile.
Whenever magic was mentioned, the timidity on his face would always fade away a bit.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about a direction recently.” As he spoke, he gestured, “Shrinking a golem and putting it into a bottle, smashing the bottle when needed, and letting it return to normal size, so that you can have an extra combat partner at any time.”
Hearing this, Naruto thought about it seriously for a moment: “Must a golem be humanoid?”
“Hmm?”
“It should be fine to make it into an animal, right?” Naruto exercised his imagination, “Like a flying dragon, or…
a fox with nine tails.”
When he reached that last sentence, he didn’t even notice himself that there was a trace of unconscious intimacy in his voice.
In the mental space, the Nine-Tailed was originally lying in the cage resting its eyes, but upon hearing this conversation, its ears suddenly perked up.
It opened a pair of crimson eyes with a subtle expression.
But then it closed its eyes again, let out a snort, and didn’t speak.
Hearing Naruto’s idea, Lernen was stunned, and then widened his eyes slightly: “Naruto, your imagination really is…”
“Very interesting.”
“This idea is indeed worth considering.
Animal-form golems might be more useful than humanoid ones in certain scenarios.”
“However, my magic is currently still in the initial stage, and it’s hard to say whether it can be specifically realized.”
He paused, his voice softening a bit: “Right, Duncan replied to the letter.”
Naruto turned his head to look at him.
“So I want to thank you.
If it weren’t for what you said that day, I would probably still be hesitating and miss this opportunity.”
Naruto grinned and said: “Is that so?
Can you call me to go together tomorrow?”
Lernen nodded: “Of course.”
While speaking, the two had already walked downstairs to the Magic Association branch.
Warm yellow light filtered through the windows of the hall, illuminating the ground in front of the door brightly.
…
At night, Naruto lay in bed.
He rested his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Today he learned a new magic again, and the release speed of Killing Magic was much faster than before.
The defense timing of Defense Magic had also become a bit more precise.
In terms of taijutsu, the red-haired warrior finally said ‘it’s starting to look like something’ today.
The scroll of the Flying Thunder God Technique had been memorized by heart, and all that was left was to find a suitable weapon to engrave the mark.
Then he thought about going to see Duncan with Lernen tomorrow, wondering what trouble that big brother wearing a monocle had encountered.
As he thought about it, the voice of the Nine-Tailed came from the mental space.
“Hey, Naruto.”
“Hmm?”
“That magic control for Killing Magic, I still don’t quite understand it.” The tone of the Nine-Tailed sounded somewhat reluctant, as if it was speaking with a stiff upper lip, “Explain it to me again.”
Naruto turned over, closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank down.
In that dim mental space, the water surface was shallow.
The Nine-Tailed was lying behind the cage with its head resting on its front paws, and its crimson slit pupils were looking at him.
Naruto didn’t explain directly, but instead stood in place, tilting his head to look at the Nine-Tailed.
“Speaking of which, we’ve spent so long together, and I still don’t know your name.”
“You tell me your name, and I’ll teach you.”
The Nine-Tailed turned its head away and snorted lightly: “A Tailed Beast’s name won’t be easily told to others.”
Its tone was tough, but Naruto saw the tip of its tail gently sweep across the surface of the water, stirring up a small circle of ripples.
Naruto didn’t press further, instead beginning to explain the control techniques of the magic.
After finishing, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have almost forgotten that there was a very important matter in Konoha.
Although he forgot to ask Master what the purpose of Kakashi-sensei’s survival exercise was.
But Naruto felt that he was completely confident to face it.
Exiting the mental space, Naruto reopened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.
Before his eyes was no longer the ceiling of that room in the Magic Association.
Naruto was startled in his heart, slowly sat up, looked at his hands, and then looked at the Hokage Monument in the night outside the window.
He was back.
But there was no panic in his heart; instead, there was a strange sense of grounding.
There was finally a stage to verify the success of his cultivation.
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