A week quickly passed and the results of Richard’s training were already showing results.

"Take this!"

The viking wearing a bear pelt cape thrust a large iron spear towards Richard who quickly dodged. His movements were small as the spear tip passed by his chest by mere inches.

Still, the small evasive maneuver was not the end of his action as Richard reached down towards the spear.

The viking, a legendary figure from history and myth, Ragnar, was not a legend for no reason though as he quickly understood what the young spawn of Merlin was planning.

Although the spear shaft was barely a few inches away from Richard’s body, that was enough space for Ragnar to strike.

Without bothering to pull back his spear, he quickly changed the direction of his spear’s momentum and pulled the spear into a sweeping movement.

Richard did not let this counter attack succeed, his training with Ragnar did not start with the typical "form training" that many martial arts schools practice.

No, his training started with a sparring session.

Ragnar turned him into a ragdoll, even if Richard wanted to resist, the legendary viking used magic to enhance his own prowess.

Initially, Richard thought that it was a technique similar to the ones used in martial arts novels.

Gathering Qi and using it to enhance strikes.

But he was wrong, the magic used by Ragnar in combat was a "practical battle spell".

Though it was called a spell, it was closer to a literal fighting technique as it’s principle was simply-

"Bend the rules around your body, give it what it needs to succeed, control the world, make it bend to your will"

With such an explanation, Richard slowly but surely learned how to manipulate the world around him.

Some would call it an archaic type of magic, one that directly enforced the practitioners’ will upon the world.

It was a dangerous technique, one that only those with mystical powers could actually use with little to no backlash.

After all, the world would not simply allow you to tear through reality.

Richard learned a lot through his training with Ragnar, delivered not through books or memorization of knowledge but through conversation and application.

Non-mystics, those who were not blessed with mystical bloodlines or heritage had to use a medium in order to use magic.

Such mediums were made through what Richard could only describe as necromancy. Using souls of the deceased to take on the burden of the world’s backlash while using thousands of mindless souls to enforce a "collective will" upon the world.

In essence, magic was merely a way of turning your imagination, your thoughts and emotions into a realistic phenomena.

The more unnatural it was, the greater the backlash.

That is why mystics had to use things such as sacrifices, blood rituals and other twisted methods to alter reality.

It was not because they were mad- well they likely were due to their actions but the madness they create causes an imbalance and that imbalance is what practitioners use to bend reality.

Richard? He and Ragnar were the same in a way, both had a mystical heritage and so-

*flash*

A purple glow erupted beneath Richard’s feet, this shot him up a few centimeters off the ground but that separation allowed for a greater imbalance.

His body– for a mere moment became something akin to a floating piece of cloth. The moment the spear shaft connected with his body, instead of getting hit by a strong concussive force-

*whoosh*

Richard was flung away like a rag, his body ragdolling through the air for a moment before steadying once more.

But at that very moment, the momentum changed as Richard’s body was pulled towards the ground by a powerful force. This made his body shoot down quickly and just on time as three javelins cut through the air shooting through the spot where his body was a split second before.

*swoosh*

Astonishingly, the moment Richard landed, instead of a loud crash as one would expect, he instead landed on the ground as if he was weightless.

Then, he moved once more leaving nothing but an afterimage that was immediately pierced by javelins-

"Gotcha"

Richard muttered under his breath, his words unheard by Ragnar but the viking knew what was happening as he quickly ducked down just as Richard’s roundhouse kick done midair swept through the spot where the vikings head previously was.

"Not yet!"

This was not the end though as Richard twisted his body using invisible platforms to quickly shift his body transitioning his roundhouse kick into an Axe kick that quickly went down towards Ragnar’s head covered in the bear pelt.

"GOOD!"

Ragnar roared and as he did, a powerful pressure blast exploded with him at the center.

Richard tried to resist but his body was hit by a strong electric shock, he should have been able to endure but somehow, the shock did little damage but it did make his thinking process slow down.

Unable to react immediately, the split second he was unable to deploy resistance left him vulnerable enough that his body shot towards the ground without any defensive measures leading to a-

*CRASH*

Such an impact would have at worst killed Richard or at the very least, cripple him.

Yet, as Ragnar stood where he was waiting for the dust to settle, Richard’s voice echoed out with a cough-

"Fuck! I thought we won’t be using large scale magic?!"

Annoyed, he walked out of the dust cloud unharmed but covered in dirt.

Last week, Richard would have been gravely injured but he was forced to change himself completely.

The first day of training left him with countless broken bones, the second day left with him crippling nerve damage.

Then his injuries got progressively worse as he got progressively better at putting up a defense.

He didn’t want to focus on magic that was basically "body tempering" but the miraculous healing that Cindy did for him was something he never wanted to go through EVER AGAIN.

Because of that, Richard trained his mind to subconsciously strengthen his body, enough so he could fall from a four story building without a parachute, do a superhero landing and not break a single bone- even IF he was unconscious.

Safe to say, the results of such training proved useful.

Despite being electrocuted and smashed deep into the ground, Richard’s body was still fine.

"You’ve already mastered the basics, with this, you could spar with Thor without worrying about breaking any bones!"

Ragnar ignored his complaints though as he praised Richard while giving him a strong pat- which was more like a slap on the shoulder.

Yet the response Richard gave the mad viking was-

"Why would I spar against a God?!"

"Merlin dropped Asgard from the sky! He tamed Loki’s beastly sons and made a mess out of his daughter! Surely you could spar with a God right? Merlin’s spawn"

Richard did not answer Ragnar, he could only sigh as the old veteran laughed while dragging him to the group of ladies having their daily "tea time" in the distance.

Throughout the past week, Ragnar’s method of teaching not only gave Richard a good introduction to magic- at least more than what the Goddess gave. But it also gave Richard a good idea of his ancestor- Merlin’s actions and how the history of the world was not as he thought it was.

First of all, the vikings were not Pagan’s because they believed in the famous Norse Deities, no, they were pagans because they- like many other groups went against the God’s.

Richard did not get a full story like he did from Kellin, but he did get a few snippets of knowledge like the legendary "subjugation" of Loki’s children by his ancestor. Of course, only Merlin was aware of the full details in regards to the battle with Hel.

Still, the few snippets he got from Ragnar painted a picture.

One where Gods and Men fought, a world where mystical beings took on titles as Gods ruled over men and commanded them with their inborn power.

Zeus’ was not the first nor was he the last God who spent most of his time making kids with humans.

The Nephilim, the Demigod’s... all of them were products of the domination which was enforced upon humanity by those who could manipulate the rules of the world on a whim.

And the reason why they vanished, why the world was now dominated by humanity was because of Merlin.

His ancestor led the war against the false Gods, he created various systems of faith, they all had different names, different backgrounds but their image of worship was directed towards one cause.

"Salvation"

The primary driving force that allowed humanity to succeed in the rebellion was the creation of faith’s that allowed humanity to work as a society that valued camaraderie. A society that worked not to control and step over one another but one that bound them together.

Through that method, Merlin allowed human mystics access to a near infinite source of power.

It was a system of salvation built upon the lives of millions- no, billions of lives.

Souls reach paradise and they become vessels, angels, even demons who work to support the mystical powers.

But even that system became a problem.

Merlin’s legend ended with the fall of the Gods as humanity turned against those with mystical powers.

The dream of an ideal society of understanding became the tool for domination used by humans to play God.

Leaders control the masses through lies, they gain power through deception.

This is why Ragnar attacked the Church, it is why he went against the very people he swore to protect.

While millions believed in salvation, their belief was turned into weapons by madmen.

The holy light was tainted black by greedy hearts and polluted minds.

Richard did not know what the current state of the churches were but from what he could tell, the mystical wing that had controlled the many faiths was pushed out.

The Freemason’s were nothing more than exiles, now they use the same strategy to manipulate others once more.

But order was kept as knowledgeable humans, those that chose to bear the burden of knowing had taken it upon themselves to maintain the current status quo.

At least, that’s what Richard wants to believe, after all, he knew about the Freemason’s. But he didn’t believe the internet BS about their "manipulation of the world".

Still, the things he learned from Ragnar did make him get a broader perspective of the mystical world.

At least, he was now able to understand why Cindy and the other people he now lived with reacted the way they did.

Also, Hana did move in with them.

Richard wanted to say no but the Goddess rejected him.

It seems like she had plans for Hana but the Goddess won’t even give him a hint about it.

As he thought of such things, Richard was prepared to get berated once more.

Of course, every time he practiced with Ragnar, the three women would set up a snack table and watch him suffer.

Their cheers were the loudest whenever he made a mistake and got hurt.

Fortunately for Richard, their reactions were nothing more than them being playful-

He still didn’t get how having most of his bones broken was playful but he didn’t say anything as Cindy did fix him up in a few hours.

Apparently, "so long as he doesn’t die instantly" Cindy could heal him.

Richard didn’t know whether to laugh or cry though as she also whispered, "I couldn’t bring you back to life but I could give you life".

He didn’t bother asking, the last thing he wants is to make a deal with Cindy.

The magical world was a twisted one after all, making pacts did not need any formal acknowledgement or writing.

So long as the pact maker creates the necessary scenario, a rule could be imposed and making a pact gets a LOT easier when the person you are making it with is of mystical origin.

Apparently, that was the reason why Ragnar was training him. The poor legend was tricked by Merlin into a pact and Ragnar wasn’t even the first victim of that scumbag ancestor of his. Hell, one could even say that making pacts secretly was an art that was created and mastered by Merlin himself!

"Hm?"

Richard paused as his wandering thoughts came to an end the moment he reached the table.

The reason being was the lack of words from the women.

This made Richard focus on the group and as he did-

"What?"

One, two, three, four...

There were four people- no, four women sitting around the table.

Cindy with her college girl look.

Hana with her sporty attire.

The Goddess with her black dress that didn’t seem to get dirty and-

"An office lady?"

Seated together with the three women who turned his serious training into a show was a woman.

Dressed like an office lady, she had a very "smart" appearance but Richard couldn’t help but feel like he had seen her somewhere before...

"College? No- I shooed away any woman that wasn’t Andrea at that time so... who?"

Richard asked, he didn’t know who she was but her appearance looked oddly familiar-

"It’s the girl you promised to take care of, you know Kyla Kain?"

"Huh?"

Richard froze, he stared at the woman- Kyla and quickly remembered her.

But as he remembered her, his thoughts didn’t relax as he turned to the three women-

"So... why’s she here?"