Struggling as a Villain

There are four fundamental techniques which one could learn by just having ether running in their body. Initially, Lilia feared that her master, despite belonging to a strong clan and having a unique bloodline, still wouldn't be able to master all four techniques.

However, after she had the talk with Lady Bellarine she understood one thing. Richard was destined to be the most perfect and complete magician ever known to mankind.

The Sage, whose blood runs in his body, would allow him to have a very unnatural control over his ether, and the essence of Inferno Warden would give him the excellent weapon of destruction, ensuring that no one would ever come in his way.

As his teacher, Lilia felt thrilled to have a student with such great potential. However, along with excitement, she had her fears as well.

What if she fails to teach him everything, and his full potential never gets discovered? That's why she had decided something,

"Young master, can you accompany me to my hometown at some point? I want you to meet my mother." While she helped him stretch, Lilia extended the proposal.

Richard smirked as he asked, "Eager to seal the deal with your parents' permission-ugh! Don't stretch that much!"

"S-sorry...but please don't say such things please, young master." With a red face, Lilia released her master and helped him get up.

Today's training contained merged usage of two basic techniques.

"So let me summarise this..." Pointing his finger toward the narrow bridge that connects the two sides of the cliffs, he asked, "You want me to cross that bridge with my eyes closed and dodge whatever you will throw at me?"

"That's the task. Isn't it simple, my lord?"

Richard looked at the girl with a look of disbelief, "Are you nuts?! There is nothing to walk on!"

In the morning, Lilia carefully removed all the remaining wooden planks from the bridge, leaving only the ropes stretched between the two ends. Now, the bridge was nothing more than a pair of ropes, rendering it impossible to cross safely.

"Young master, you can manipulate your body weight, you know right? Just hang your way through the bridge~"

There it was. That sadistic side of hers often resurfaced these days—more so after his mother came to visit them ten days ago.

Richard had a misconception that with body enhancement, he could only strengthen his body, but Lilia cleared his doubt by standing on a water lily without drowning. And now she expects him to recreate that feat but in a slightly(?) dangerous way.

Richard stepped forward and looked down the cliff...only to feel a shiver running down his spine.

*SPLASH*

A violently running river flowed from the small gap between the two hills and there were several large protruding rocks against which the water crashed—providing a very dreadful spot to land on.

"Lilia...this looks dangerous." Richard couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

Lilia thought of something before she suggested, "If the young master finishes this task, then no more dangerous training for today and tomorrow."

Richard smirked before turning towards the maid and asking, "Is this some kind of reward?"

Lilia tilted her head before innocently relaying, "If it seems like a reward...then why not?"

Richard grew closer to the maid and took the blindfold from her hand. In such proximity, her natural womanly fragrance filled his senses as the redhead whispered in a seductive tone, "I will finish this task and decide my own reward. Be prepared to fulfil what I demand."

Lilia was no naive girl who couldn't understand what her lord was implying here. And that realisation could be seen from her changing facial color as she looked at her master with a red boiling face and widened eyes.

Richard's grin extended. Teasing her really helps in balancing his composure.

He once again assessed the distance between every rope he would be hanging on before finally draping the blindfolds over his eyes.

Lilia neared the cliff as she saw her young master suddenly taking a leap and precisely grabbing the first rope.

'Fuuuu...' She heaved a long sigh in relief to see that he was able to manipulate his weight based on the training she had given him for the past seven days.

The rope didn't have enough strength to endure Richard's natural body weight, so even if, for a moment, he lost control, he would fall.

Richard couldn't see anything, but without his eyesight, his other senses became sharper. He could hear the flow of the water beneath him and the flow of the wind against him. His fingers tightly grasped the rope while his ether continuously ran along his body to reduce the weight of his bones and inner organs.

It was a very weird theory of weight reduction, and only Richard knew how he pulled this. Coating ether around your organs to make them lighter? How does that work?

For now, he knew that the next rope was seven feet away. Thanks to the fact that he was fairly tall, Richard would just extend his hand and...and...

'Huh?' His hand went past open air, and he wasn't able to grab anything. The sensation he felt was akin to how one feels upon missing a stair while descending.

'Was my calculations wrong?' Returning his hand to hold the first rope he contemplated.

His back was coated in a thin layer of sweat as he, once again, extended his left hand and this time, he tried to reach as far as he could. The sensation of dread of falling was so palpable that he could hear his heartbeat clearer than the crashing waves.

*GRAB*

However, this time his hand indeed grabbed something and in the next second,

"DODGE!"

*SQUELCH*

The shout of warning from Lilia arrived only a fragment of a second earlier than the knife stabbed his back.

He grimaced in pain and almost released the hold from the rope and of his ether.

The burning sensation from his back forced him to clench his fist around the rope as he turned his head to look over his shoulder and glare at his maid from behind the blindfolds.

No apology arrived and without even looking at her, he could tell that she must be having a good laugh right now.

'Forget it...I need to be careful from now on.' Spreading his 'Detection' he extended the radar all around him.

Whenever Lilia throws something towards him, the trace of her ether remains in the throwable which would allow him to sense the thing coming at him.

Maintaining 'Detection' and 'Body Enhancement' at the same time was a struggling job. His ether was not only coating his organs and keeping his body light but it was partially spread in his surroundings without any stable ground for him to stand on.

This was intense!

Heaving a long breath, he decided to not care about the stabbed knife and continued his journey.

Calculating something with your vision and experiencing it personally are two very different things. That explains why, after the first try, Richard was able to precisely land his hand on the next one.

Tension rose. His attention was divided in four directions. He had to retain his composure or he would possibly fall and break his back.

'Okay...let's go-'

"CAREFUL!"

Richard reacted in time and pulled his legs up as he felt something graze past his hips.

Richard's breathing was turning ragged, and his heart was literally jumping around in his chest.

Turning over his shoulder he shouted,

"What the heck are you aiming for?!"

It might be his imagination based on his annoyance but he actually heard a 'Tehee~' in response from Lilia.

'This damn sadist maid!' Gritting his teeth, Richard ignored his bleeding hips and continued his journey.

There were twenty ropes that covered the distance between the two cliffs.

Richard has, with all his efforts, crossed more than half in twenty minutes while taking several long breaks and dealing with his maid's love, delivered in the form of knives and pebbles.

She was aiming at him at that exact moment when he showed vulnerability or showed any sign of relaxation.

By the fourteenth rope, he was already stabbed at seven different locations, and his body was covered in both blood and sweat all over. His mind was not working as fine and his arms were quite numb. His ether was going now haywire and he had long lost his control over 'Detection' in exchange for maintaining 'Body Enhancement'

"Ugh..." He lost the hold of his left hand and winced in pain. His stomach churned, and his body swayed.

This was...a little too much....he did his best...but it seems....breaking his back...was the only thing....waiting for him....

*CLENCH*

"Hmm?" Just as Richard thought he was about to fall, something clamped around his waist, bringing a strange sound from his throat.

Slowly, his blindfolds were lifted, only to reveal his maid smiling at him in slight pride and slight guilt.

She was hanging on the same rope with only her single hand and had used her legs to clamp around his waist and prevent him from falling.

She softly caressed his cheek and muttered in a soft voice, "You did well, master. Now, please relax."

It was like her words were not something he could ever suspect; Richard didn't even think twice and released his hold—letting Lilia take care of him.

Day fifteenth of his training resulted in a failure.

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A/N:- Just a couple of more chapters, and we will get to know how strong Richard has grown in comparison to others. I will prepare a separate chapter for power level, skills, and other information with character images. Just give me some days.