Chapter 150: TRAINING TO SHARPEN THE CONTROL

The sky above Solvane slowly brightened as the morning sun pushed away the last traces of night.

The city had just started waking up.

But inside the Hunter Guild’s training arena, Logan and Ali Arkman were already back again.

The two figures stepped into the wide, empty ground. Their boots echoed softly on the stone floor as they came to a stop near the center.

Ali adjusted the sleeves of his coat and turned toward Logan. His sharp eyes no longer looked casual…. there was seriousness in his expression now.

“Get ready,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Now, the real training begins.”

Logan nodded without a word.

Ali took a few steps forward and turned to face him directly.

“Listen, Aiden. Before you jump tiers or learn flashy new spells, there’s something more important. Control.”

He tapped his own chest.

“A powerful mage isn’t the one who explodes mountains with one spell. It’s the one who can set fire to a single leaf without burning the tree.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. He understood the logic, but he had always relied on explosive power when needed. Subtlety wasn’t his strong point.

Ali smirked, reading his face. “You’re strong, no doubt. But raw strength means nothing if it’s wasted.”

He walked to the side of the arena where a wooden box lay. Opening it, he brought out a few simple items—some iron rings, a few candles, a steel plate, and a clay bowl filled with water.

One by one, he placed them in a line on the stone floor.

“These are your first tasks,” Ali said, stepping back. “Let’s see how well you can shape, compress, and hold your mana.”

Logan didn’t respond. He simply stood straight and paid attention.

Ali pointed at the five metal rings. They were about the size of a coin. He suspended them on small metal stands.

“Task one: I want you to create an ice needle…. long, thin, sharp, and pass it through all five rings. No touching the edges. No shattering. You get only one shot each time.”

Logan slowly raised his right palm. Cold mana began swirling around his fingers. The air shimmered slightly, and a long, delicate ice needle took form. It was barely thicker than a hairpin, with a glint of light running along its surface.

He narrowed his eyes.

With a sudden flick….

swish! The needle shot forward.

Ting. Ting. Ting…

It passed through the first three rings smoothly… but on the fourth, it scraped the edge and cracked slightly. On the fifth one, it missed altogether, bouncing off the stand.

Ali clapped once. “Not bad for a first try. But not good enough either.”

Logan grunted. “Again.”

He summoned another. And another. Each attempt came closer, more stable, more accurate. By the fifth try, he nailed it. All five rings. Perfect pass-through.

Ali gave a single approving nod.

“Good. Now you’re getting it.”

He walked over to the next part.

A candle stood in front of a suspended paper sheet.

“Task two: Light the candle with a fireball. But don’t even scorch the paper behind it. That means the heat, size, and release speed…all must be controlled perfectly.”

Logan sighed internally. “This is like threading a needle with a torch,” he muttered.

Still, he raised his hand. A small fireball appeared. But instead of letting it flare up like before in the early morning today, he compressed it tightly. It flickered… hovered… then moved forward, slow and precise.

Fsshh! The candle lit with a tiny flame.

The paper behind it didn’t even tremble.

Ali raised his eyebrows. “Now that’s what I call progress.”

Logan stayed silent, his eyes narrowing as he focused on maintaining the same level of control. It wasn’t easy. Controlling power without overusing it was ten times harder than just blowing things up.

“Task three:” Ali pointed at the steel plate. “Melt this halfway with your fire. Not burn through it. I want only the center softened, like butter. Too much heat and it’ll crack. Too little and it stays hard.”

Logan walked closer. Fire swirled in his palm again. He directed a beam downward…thin like a pencil line. The steel glowed red, then orange. A faint hiss escaped as steam lifted from the surface.

He pulled his hand away.

Ali walked over and tapped the metal with his knuckles.

“Hm. 70% there,” he said. “But you tilted the flow slightly to the right. The edge is uneven.”

Logan clenched his fist, frustrated. He wasn’t used to failing these kinds of basic tasks.

Ali noticed the look and said, “Don’t let it bother you. Control is about patience. Even elite mages take years to get this right.”

Then he pointed to the bowl of water.

“Final task for today,” he said. “I want you to freeze only the top one inch of water in this bowl. Nothing underneath. Then break the ice cleanly in a straight line.”

Logan stepped forward, placing both hands above the water. And started to slowly manipulate mana. The surface shimmered and crackled. A thin sheet of frost began to form, gently stretching outward.

He stopped the spell before it spread deeper.

Then, with a sharp motion, he sliced down with an ice blade across the top layer. A faint line cracked straight through.

Ali leaned over.

The bottom water still rippled. The cut was clean.

He gave a faint smirk. “You’re starting to understand it.”

Logan stepped back and exhaled. He wasn’t exhausted, but his concentration had been stretched thin.

“Why all these tiny tricks?” he finally asked. “This won’t help in real battle.”

Ali looked at him with a calm but serious gaze. “You think so? In battle, being off by one inch is the difference between saving someone and burning them alive. Between killing a monster and missing its core. The strongest aren’t just powerful—they’re precise.”

Logan didn’t reply. But something inside him agreed.

Ali glanced at the candles again, then clapped once. “That’s it for today’s control drills. Tomorrow, we begin spell layering.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Spell layering?”

Ali grinned. “You’ll see.”

As Logan turned to leave the arena, he looked once more at the water bowl.

The top was still frozen. The bottom rippled.

He nodded to himself.

Maybe this kind of training wasn’t so useless after all.

“I wish I could tell him that I have three more affinities. Then with his help, those would surely improve too.” He sighed.

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