Rest kicked off the ground.
Boosting his power and speed with [Body Reinforcement], he darted forward, backward, left, and right, keeping his opponent off balance.
Ever since he had been taken in by the honorary viscount's household at the age of ten, he had ventured into the forest time and again to fight monsters.
[Body Reinforcement] was one of the spells he had used most frequently—a technique Rest could rightfully call his specialty.
(This man... he's strong...!)
As he fought the butler of House Rosemary, Rest was inwardly stunned.
Barely three minutes had passed since the fight began.
He had managed to land a first strike that sent his opponent flying... but he chalked that up entirely to the other man being caught off guard—a lucky punch, nothing more.
"Impressive Body Reinforcement... To think that someone so young—not even twenty yet—can use this spell with such precision...!"
Blocking Rest's fist, the butler offered words of praise.
The butler appeared to be at least sixty, yet his movements were sharp and swift.
He moved at the same speed as Rest, a teenager.
"I'm the one who's surprised here... For what it's worth, I've always prided myself on my speed."
Rest launched another attack.
The butler lowered his stance to dodge the high kick aimed at his head.
"Even old soldiers have their pride... Besides, Lord Rest, you seem to possess considerable mana and use [Body Reinforcement] on a daily basis, but I suspect you lack experience in person-to-person combat?"
"That's..."
"Broad, honest attacks with no feints mixed in. That's proof you've never received formal martial training—you've been fighting monsters instead. If you had any martial discipline, I would have been on the ground long ago."
"..."
"He's hitting me right where it hurts."
From the outside, it looked like Rest was the one on the offensive, but the butler was parrying every attack with his exceptional skill.
The difference in their abilities was plain to see.
(Knew it—I really should have gotten proper training in hand-to-hand combat. Cedric doesn't seem to have studied it either, but still...)
The butler launched a sharp knife-hand strike.
Rest flinched at the feint, and in that opening his left shin was struck with a low kick.
A brutal blow to a pressure point on his calf, and Rest barely managed to hold back a groan.
"A feint... so that's how it is...!"
"Oh my? Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, no problem...!"
His leg wobbled. He didn't think it was broken, but there had to be at least a bad bruise.
Without dropping his body reinforcement, he simultaneously cast healing to restore his leg.
"My, how skilled. You can cast two spells at the same time."
"Y-yeah, I can..."
"Many young mages can't, you know. The less mature they are, the more they obsess over using powerful spells while neglecting precision and simultaneous casting. It's a shame how many young people disregard the fundamentals."
"Then... maybe I can do this too?"
Once healed, Rest cast a different spell.
A sphere of lightning crackled to life in his palm.
"Lightning Sphere."
"Oh... a lightning spell."
Lightning hurtles toward the butler, but he swats it aside with a knife-hand strike.
He must have made contact with the lightning, yet there is no sign of electrocution.
Looking closely, the butler has coated his arm in a layer of brown earth magic.
"Coating your body with magic like this is also quite effective in close combat, you know."
"I see... That's quite instructive!"
Once more, Rest attacks with lightning.
The attack is blocked, but he seizes the opening to lunge at the butler.
"Hmph!"
"Oh!?"
The butler lets out a cry of surprise.
Rest had coated his arm in earth shaped like a blade. It was the same magic the butler had just demonstrated.
"My apologies. So you had already mastered it."
"Well now, how about this!"
"I see, I see."
Earthen fists clash against each other.
A continuous series of sharp, hard impacts rings out through the air.
"Ugh…!"
After a few exchanges, the butler's fist connects with Rest's shoulder.
It seems he is at a disadvantage in a pure brawl.
"Then take... this!"
"............!"
Several lightning orbs materialize around Rest.
A barrage of lightning orbs hurtles toward the butler.
"Take this...!"
Of course, that wasn't the end.
While launching lightning orbs, Rest also attacks the butler with earth-clad arms.
"Splendid, splendid...! Magnificent...!"
The butler offers heartfelt praise as he neutralizes the lightning orbs with his earth arms.
[Body Reinforcement] [Lightning Orb] [Earthen Armor] Triple magic activation.
Rest is casting three types of magic simultaneously and sustaining them all.
Strong willpower to control mana. Precision. And without an enormous mana pool, this feat would be impossible.
"It looks like I'll need to get serious, or I'll lose!"
"—!"
Just as Rest is about to land a full-powered strike, the butler's figure vanishes.
"Guuh…"
Right after that, a blow struck the back of his head, jolting his brain.
A sharp strike forcibly dispelled his magic, and consciousness faded.
(Lost… what was done to me…?)
Without even understanding what had happened to him, Rest collapsed on the spot.