The Black Bulls' hideout was louder than thunderstorms and less predictable than mana whirlpools — but Lencar had already promised Asta he would help Noelle, so here he was, standing in the courtyard, surrounded by half-destroyed terrain and a sheep chewing on a broken broom.
He exhaled softly.
This was going to be… a challenge.
Week One — Water Everywhere
"Noelle," Lencar said, wiping a stray droplet off his cheek. "Show me your control spell."
"I'm warning you in advance," she said stiffly, "it's not my fault if something explodes."
Asta grinned. "Noelle, that happens EVERY TIME!"
"Shut up!"
Noelle raised her hand.
A sphere of water formed.
It flickered—
It trembled—
It swelled—
BOOM!
Water detonated outward like an ocean had decided to escape her palm. Lencar took the blast directly, soaked head-to-toe. The nearby tree bent sideways. Magna, who had just stepped outside, got knocked flat.
"I DID NOTHING WRONG," Magna yelled from the ground.
Lencar calmly dried himself with a wind rune. "Again."
Noelle looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole. "I told you…"
"You'll get it," Lencar said. "Just breathe."
For the first time, Noelle heard that word said not with condescension… but honesty.
She took a breath.
Channelled mana.
It trembled violently — but this time Lencar stepped behind her, guiding two fingers onto her shoulder.
"Don't force it smaller. Let it spread, then shape."
Her water sphere softened, stabilized—
And held.
Asta screamed like he was witnessing a miracle.
"That's Noelle's magic under CONTROL!!!"
Noelle blinked in disbelief. "I—I actually DID that?"
"Once," Magna coughed from the ground. "Let's not get excited—"
The sphere exploded again, blasting him a second time.
"WHY ME?!"
Lencar exhaled, unbothered. "Again."
And so the first week became:
cast spell
explosion
minor progress
explosion
slight improvement
explosion
But every time Noelle wanted to quit, Lencar simply said:
"Again."
And she kept going.
Week One, End — The First Real Success
Three days in, Noelle managed to hold the water sphere long enough that Charmy placed a chair next to her and ate popcorn while watching.
Six days in, she could rotate the water sphere clockwise for a full second before bursting.
Seven days in—
"Noelle," Lencar said, stepping back. "Try boosting your output by 20%."
"That's too much!"
"You can do it."
She swallowed, boosted—
And for the first time, she held it without anything exploding for more than three seconds.
She collapsed onto the grass afterward, breathing hard, but smiling like the sun.
"I really did improve," she whispered.
Lencar nodded. "You did."
She stared at the ground to hide her flushed face.
Week Two — The Shaping Stage
Noelle arrived the next morning more determined than ever.
"What's next?" she asked, fists clenched.
"Shape it," Lencar answered. "Form, not force."
She turned pale. "Y-you want me to make shapes?! Like… attack spells?!"
"Start small."
He drew a glowing rune in the air — a demonstration. The mana flowed smoothly, bending without strain.
Noelle took a deep breath and tried shaping her stabilized water sphere into a blade.
It flopped apart like a broken fish.
She tried a shield.
It melted into droplets.
She tried a spear—
It actually held for half a second before wobbling violently.
Asta clapped anyway.
"That was amazing, Noelle!"
"ASTA STOP CHEERING AT EVERYTHING I DO!"
But on day ten…
She tried again.
And the water formed into a lance — sharp, shimmering, perfectly structured.
Even Lencar raised an eyebrow.
"That," he said, "is spell-grade quality."
Noelle froze.
Then trembled.
"I-I made a new spell…"
Her voice shook.
Asta tackled her in celebration.
Magna shouted, "FINALLY! SOMEBODY OTHER THAN ME GETS WRECKED BY TRAINING!"
Grey hid behind a barrel.
Gordon whispered a blessing that no one understood.
Noelle stared at her own spell like she hadn't believed she'd ever create anything.
And Lencar simply said:
"Good."
Lencar's Private Nights — Sharpening the Heretic
While Noelle slept off her exhaustion, Lencar slipped into the forest every night after midnight.
He drew a ring of runes around him — faint, sharp, layered.
Then triggered Heretic Mode.
The dark aura surged up around him, coiling like black fog. Mana warped, the air cracked.
But Lencar stood unmoving, controlling the pressure with practiced calm.
"Stability… 70%," he muttered. "Increase resistance."
He shifted into mana skin.
The clash of heretic aura and mana skin felt like grinding metal — heat and cold, pressure and vacuum.
But each night, he held it longer.
He refined:
Absolute replication flow
Reverse replication efficiency
Rune layering speed
Multi-attribute integration
Internal mana compression
His progress was silent, secret, and significant.
If Noelle was rising…
He was ascending.
Day Fourteen — A Goodbye Before a Mission
On the last day, Noelle stood in front of him with her head held high.
"I've improved," she said, controlling her trembling voice. "I… feel different. Stronger."
"You are," Lencar answered.
Asta burst through the door holding a mission notice.
"NOELLE! WE GOT A NEW JOB! WE LEAVE THIS AFTERNOON!"
"What?!" Noelle squeaked.
Finral appeared behind him. "You should prepare. It's a real deployment."
Noelle turned to Lencar.
"I… I guess this is goodbye for now."
"For two weeks of training," he said, "you made remarkable progress."
She flushed at the compliment.
"T-thank you. Really."
Asta shoved his hand between them. "THANK YOU LENCAR! YOU'RE THE BEST!"
Noelle hit him with a water bullet.
"DON'T INTERRUPT!"
Asta flew into a wall.
Lencar blinked. "That spell was… stable."
Noelle stiffened.
"D-don't say embarrassing things!"
She hurried off to pack.
Asta ran after her, yelling something about cabbages.
Finral gave Lencar a respectful nod. "You did a good job. Really. Noelle's confidence is… different now."
Lencar said nothing.
He simply watched Noelle leave with her squad.
She didn't turn around.
But he knew she wanted to.
And just like that…
His two-week task ended.
He turned his back to the hideout and walked toward his restaurant, his underground base, and the next steps in his quiet war of preparation.