'Am I dreaming…'
Recognizing it as a lucid dream, Renya observed the scene from above of his first training session with his former self and the man who would become his mentor, Cú Chulainn.
"Alright. Well then, I guess we'll start with some running," Cú Chulainn said.
"Aren't you going to teach me how to use a spear, Master?"
Renya saw his past self tilt his head, looking dissatisfied with Cú Chulainn's words. He couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking how clueless and full of himself he'd been back then.
Whether Cú Chulainn felt the same, or for some other reason, he gave a wry smile, roughly ruffled Renya's hair, and explained to his inexperienced disciple.
"Yeah, it was a promise, so I'll teach you eventually, of course. But you've been studying magic all this time because your dad's on the Magic Association's board, right? There's no way I can just let a scrawny little brat like you wield a spear right off the bat. It's too dangerous."
Indeed, Cú Chulainn had seen at a glance that Renya had never done any physical training. Teaching him spearmanship immediately was out of the question.
First, he needed to teach the fundamentals required for spearmanship.
"Sure, if you were a mage or some noble, that might be fine, but that's not what you want to learn, is it? Besides, no matter what you do, you can't do anything without physical strength. So first, we start with building your body. Become someone who can hold a spear without wobbling, who can take a stance and swing it. We'll talk after that."
"I see... Understood, Master!"
'I really was reckless back then... I understand that well now.'
Both his dream self and his present self agreed simultaneously, and Renya smiled wryly.
He fully understood that his former indoor self wouldn't have been able to hold a spear, let alone swing it; he would have just wobbled and fallen over.
Seeing his past self nod obediently, Cú Chulainn laughed with amusement.
"Oh, you said it? Alright then, first... let's start with running for about a week."
"A week? That's all it takes?"
His past self thought that even a human could run for a week. Renya smiled wryly, knowing he'd soon change his mind.
"Huh? What are you misunderstanding? When I say a week, I mean a week's worth of running time."
"...No way, you're joking, right?! I'd literally die!"
Yes, Cú Chulainn wasn't proposing running for a set time each day for a week. He was proposing running non-stop, without sleep, for an entire week.
Seeing his past self's shock at the vast difference in understanding, Renya, who could now do it without thinking, nodded repeatedly, understanding the feeling.
"I don't tell stupid jokes during training. Let me tell you, if you stop for even a second, the count resets from the beginning. Ah, don't worry about sleepiness or exhaustion. I'll use runes to patch you up now and then. I'll give you my special high-nutrient fruits to eat while you run. That way, even with a full stomach, you'll still be able to move. See? I'm being nice, aren't I?"
"I can't stop trembling and crying from the sheer insanity!"
'Those fruits really are packed with nutrients. Plus, you can get your fluids from them, too, so it's efficient. And that's just the beginning. As training progresses, securing food and water becomes part of the survival training you have to do yourself.'
As Renya responded to his master's absurd proposal with a mix of sarcasm and tears. He nodded repeatedly, understanding the feeling, while growing slightly distant-eyed at the even harsher training that awaited him.
Thanks to that, he learned many survival techniques and ways to stay alive, but it was that tough.
Whether he understood his disciple's sarcasm or not, Cú Chulainn nodded with a wild grin.
"Is that so? Good for you. In the Land of Shadows, when we became disciples, we often nearly died during training, and when we did die, the boss would revive us with runes. Brings back memories... not good ones. Bad memories, actually..."
Cú Chulainn trailed off, growing distant-eyed just like Renya now, muttering to himself. Upon hearing that, his past self's eyes looked half-dead.
But Cú Chulainn, as if thinking such thoughts might summon his own master, chased away the unpleasant memory.
"Well, enough of that. So, the rest is about motivation and willpower... but if you start to lose heart, don't worry. When that happens, I'll poke you from behind with my spear. Light a fire under your ass, as they say."
"That's Spartan to the extreme!"
"Nah, not Spartan. Celtic. Besides, this is the light version."
"This is the light version?! Rather than a training method, it sounds like I can see my death approaching!"
Renya's past self couldn't stop protesting the outrageous content. He gave a faint wry smile, thinking that this really was the light version.
Cú Chulainn nodded as if it were only natural.
"You bet. In the Land of Shadows, they call it the Celtic Triathlon. To seek instruction, you have to go through something hellish... actually, you have to surpass hell itself."
According to Cú Chulainn, one had to run across vast wastelands, dash through plains, pass through forests, swim across stormy seas, and leap across ravines just to be allowed to enter the Land of Shadows where Scáthach lived.
But of course, that wasn't the end. That was merely the immigration inspection.
To then reach Scáthach's castle, one had to get past seven fortified walls surrounded by perilous terrain and nine fences, each said to have a severed head hanging from it. Only by defeating the dragon-kind and other monsters guarding them could one finally gain an audience with the Queen of the Land of Shadows.
Moreover, the inside of the castle was even more dangerous than the outside, swirling with powerful undead spirits targeting Scáthach, who would whimsically try to kill you as well.
Moving forward was hell, turning back was hell, and even after advancing, it was hell—truly fitting for the Celtic mythological underworld.
Upon hearing this outrageous description, his past self let out a strange groan, "Ugh," and covered his eyes with his right hand as if dizzy.
"What do you think? Doesn't it make you feel grateful for your current situation?"
"...Strangely enough, I think it does!"
Whether it was a growing sense of desperation or simply that Cú Chulainn's words made him feel somehow fortunate, his past self nodded with lifeless, empty eyes.
Even his present self, thinking the Celts were insane, felt he never wanted to go to the Land of Shadows.
"Right? And why do you want to become stronger?"
"...To be able to protect what's precious to me!"
His past self, startled by Cú Chulainn's words, widened his eyes and spoke his determination anew.
In response, Cú Chulainn broke into a grin, roughly ruffled his hair, and said.
"That's right. And the things that will stand in your way are far worse than this. Yet with that weak attitude, do you think you can make it from here on out?"
"..."
His past self straightened his back, a strong resolve hidden in his childish eyes. Seeing that he had the face of a man now, Cú Chulainn grinned with a manly smile.
"Alright, that's a good look. So, shall we begin?"
"Yes! Please take care of me, Master!"
"Right, give it your all!"
With Cú Chulainn's words at his back, his past self replied "Yes!" and started running. Renya, watching that back together with the Cú Chulainn of the past, gave a faint wry smile.
'After this, Master really did chase me around with a spear...'
Renya remembered Cú Chulainn back then, an evil grin on his face, chasing him from behind with a spear in one hand, saying things like, "Come on, run faster or I'll stab you~?" He was definitely enjoying himself.
Thinking that, Renya wondered if it would be acceptable to punch him just once. But he was grateful for having been made stronger, so his feelings were mixed.
As he thought about such things, he felt his consciousness rising, and Renya sensed that he was about to wake up.
'But still... thank you, Master.'
Now, in the present, Renya bowed his head to the back of Cú Chulainn, who had never abandoned him, the naive and weak child he had been back then, and trained him until the end. As he did, his consciousness faded away.
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