"Do all gods have such strange minds?"
Arthur walked through Dun Scaith, letting out a soft sigh.
To be honest, he would rather train a bit more than spend time with Morgan… or rather, he didn't want her to tease him.
Although Morgan was quite reliable—if she said she would give him Dragon Blood, she always would—
Every interaction with that woman was incredibly exhausting. If it were Nessa teasing him like that, he could fight back without restraint, but with Morgan, he couldn't. That woman was a goddess; occasionally, he could use the word "crazy," but what if he irritated her one day? She might suddenly say, "Ah, I feel that you despise me. In that case, I'll take back everything I've given you. But since you've already absorbed it all, I might as well let you bleed to death…"
Just thinking about it was terrifying.
But it shouldn't be that bad, right? Despite being the goddess of death, she seemed like a fairly nice person. As long as he didn't provoke her, nothing should happen.
Back in his room, Arthur picked up the magic cauldron and drank the water that had been placed inside earlier.
A pale white light radiated from Arthur as the power of the magic cauldron took effect, gradually restoring his physical strength and magical power.
It had to be acknowledged that the magic cauldron brought by Cú Chulainn had been of great help to him. Any liquid placed into the cauldron and then consumed would produce a significant effect. This effect had even worked on the dragon blood Morgan had given him.
Of course, this wasn't solely due to the cauldron itself, but also to the runes engraved on its surface, which were a key factor in amplifying its effects.
After filling the cauldron with dragon blood, Arthur did not immediately lie down to rest. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed, raised a finger, and drew a character in the air.
This was part of his daily routine—after physical training, he would begin his runic magic training.
Nearly half an hour passed.
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Arthur turned to look and saw a purple-haired girl hurriedly open it.
"Arthur, come with me, quickly!" Nessa looked anxious as she grabbed Arthur's hand.
"What happened… why the sudden rush? Don't tell me Lady Aife attacked, did she?" Arthur asked, confused.
"No, it's not that! Just come with me!"
After saying that, Nessa gave Arthur no chance to speak again. She quickly pulled him along and dragged him out of the room.
"So what exactly happened?"
Arthur followed Nessa through the castle, completely baffled, unable to understand what she was suddenly doing.
"You'll see when you look over there." Nessa led Arthur to the training field and gestured with her chin toward it.
There, many disciples were taking turns fighting Scáthach. After each bout, she pointed out her opponent's weaknesses and then called the next one forward.
"Is there something strange about this?" Arthur asked, puzzled.
He had long known that Scáthach trained other disciples besides him and Nessa every day.
"Don't you think Mom is acting strangely today?" Nessa said. "Her fighting style today is much more rigid than usual, a bit like that time…"
"That time…?" Arthur repeated, but suddenly remembered something, and cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.
"You mean the time when Cú Chulainn mocked her?"
Arthur still remembered that two or three years ago, when Cú Chulainn first entered the Land of Shadows, he behaved in a rather unruly manner. He claimed he had come only to fulfill a request and asked Scáthach to grant him a duel immediately.
At the time, Scáthach immediately sensed Cú Chulainn's impatience but didn't pay it much mind, simply letting him calm down for a while. However, in order to complete the trial as quickly as possible, the proud Cú Chulainn found out Scáthach's age and used it as a topic at the training grounds the next day to provoke her.
He succeeded in angering Scáthach, but… the price was terrible.
He was beaten so badly that he required immediate treatment and could very well have died.
He spent three days bedridden, and that was only thanks to the healing effects of the runes and Cú Chulainn's own powerful vitality; otherwise, the recovery period might have been even longer.
For a long time after that, Cú Chulainn never mentioned her age again.
When Cú Chulainn returned recently, he used the expression "old," but that was only because two years had passed and he had grown a bit arrogant. Even then, he never brought up her "age" again.
"Did someone bring that up again?" Arthur asked quietly.
He himself had asked about Scáthach's age before, but that had been out of pure curiosity, completely different from Cú Chulainn's deliberate provocation. Still, if someone had mocked her about it again today… things could get complicated.
"I don't think so… I don't really understand why either," Nessa shook her head. "Maybe Mother really is planning to test the results of each disciple's recent training."
"If this is the result of that training, it's a bit excessive…" Arthur muttered. "Master's attacks are far more precise than before."
As someone who trained with Scáthach almost every day, Arthur could easily perceive the complexity of her attacks. He didn't know what caused it, or whether Scáthach behaved the same way when training with her other disciples.
After the next disciple retreated, panting, Scáthach seemed to notice Arthur's gaze and turned to look at him.
Then, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"What a coincidence. You can come and take the test as well," she said calmly.
Arthur was taken aback. He looked around, then pointed at himself and said, "You mean me?"
"Hm, who else could it be but you?" Scáthach replied, then looked toward Nessa. "Come here, Nessa—"
Before Scáthach could finish speaking, Nessa shook her head rapidly and hid behind Arthur.
"Arthur, hurry… it's all up to you now. You said you'd protect me, didn't you?" she pleaded softly, delicately pinching the hem of Arthur's clothes with her fingers.
"Didn't I just finish my training?" Arthur asked, somewhat bewildered.
"You've been resting for quite a while, haven't you? With your current physical condition, you should have recovered quite a bit after so much time off." Scáthach paused slightly after saying this.
"Your physical and mental capabilities should have recovered very well, right?"
As she finished speaking, she looked straight at Arthur.
(End of chapter)