Struggling as a Villain

"Mmgh." He swayed his body a little—not moving around too much in fear of suffocating from the get-go—and found out that his body was completely immovable. His arms and legs were tied together and around his shoulders and chest as well. It was a complete lockdown.

He closed his eyes and focused with all his being to force ether into his limbs; packing them until he could feel his arms swelling before trying to exert force.

However, it didn\'t work. The moment Richard lost his focus from ether control, his body returned to its original state and he wasn\'t able to break the chains. Not to talk about he lost a good amount of ether and oxygen in the attempt.

"Bluoorgh...." He let out bubbles of air from what he held in his mouth and felt his eyes become dark. The water wasn\'t that deep, but in this state, he was experiencing what one could regard as helplessness.

If he tried again, then he surely would faint...but since he was already drowning there was no point in pondering

"Hnnghhhhh!!!" Exerting everything he could, Richard forced the ether in such a way that it seemed he was trying to force it out of his body. Every single fiber of his existence was crying in the extreme tension that suddenly rose, and slowly, the chain finally began to break.

"GHHRRRREGHHHH!" With the last bit of his energy, he finally ripped the restraints and the effect of Enhancement wore off instantly—leaving a spasming and breathless Richard to crash against the bottom of the water body.

...

...

..

.

"Gha!" He suddenly spurted the water and found his eyes aligned with Lilia\'s caramel ones.

She was wet and he was as well. He was gasping while she was helping him to get a hold of his composure.

It took a minute, but Richard was able to regain his breathing and look around; only to find himself ashore with the chains he was tied with, broken in several fragments.

"I brought them back to remind you that my lord hasn\'t failed but passed with flying colors." With a smiling face like she was praising a child, Lilia announced.

However, Richard didn\'t feel motivated at all as he slowly uttered, "What\'s the point when I lost my control and ended up drowning."

Richard wouldn\'t say that he is extremely close to pulling this off since even this achievement was something he couldn\'t repeat. It was a miracle that under such a dire situation, he was able to utilize Enhancement again.

Lilia smiled in helplessness as she acquired the seat beside her master, and while looking towards the front, she told him, "I know my words won\'t hold much importance, my lord, but truth be told, I have never seen a person who has grown so much in so little time before. Not only do you have a strong grasp of your bloodline magic but the four fundamentals are not too far from your reach."

Taking a brief pause, she heaved and added, "If that\'s not an achievement then everyone in the world might as well be a loser."

Silence ensued after that. None of them said anything for a good ten minutes, and thanks to the silence, Richard was able to contemplate what she said.

He...indeed has grown quite a bit in a very short time, but it\'s just that he always compares himself to people like Eleanor and Ethan, and he loses his motivation. However, thinking closely he indeed would have always had an upper hand with his bloodline magic. And with just that, Richard was originally able to defeat Ethan.

\'Maybe I should stop pushing so hard and just train for my own sake...\' The thought flashed by his mind and his lips were already curled in a smile.

Side-glancing at his maid, who still had a blank look, he said, "You become quite mature when the situation demands it, eh?"

Lilia was startled to hear her master\'s teasing voice she slowly turned to look at him with a shy smile on her face.

"I just don\'t want master to lose focus..."

"And why is that? I am not paying you a single extra penny for this training yet you are helping me." Drawing closer to the brunette until his lips were nearly touching her small ear, he asked in a whisper, "Tell me, is this some kind of strategy to woo your master? Since if it is, then congratulations; it\'s working."

A deep shade of pink blossomed on her cheeks as she lowered her head in embarrassment hearing that. She had a proper answer to give when he asked why she was helping him. However, hearing his following remark....she felt like remaining silent.

But wouldn\'t it mean that she, indeed, was trying to court her master? Gah! Too immoral. How can she even...

Richard chuckled seeing that reaction as he got up and urged the maiden, "Let\'s get going. We have another exercise to finish before dinner."

**********

The next exercise demanded excessive control over telekinesis.

A big boulder that weighs over three hundred kilograms was to be carried on Richard\'s back while he climbed the mountain. The challenge is that the path he would take would be steep and fragile, which means, if he let go of his telekinesis even for a moment and allowed the weight of the boulder to drop on himself, then along with crushing pain, he would fall down the mountain as well.

"Aren\'t you getting more brutal with each exercise?" While he barely held the boulder with his ether threads, Richard looked at his grinning maid and asked her in slight annoyance.

Having engaged all his threads to lift the big rock was quite taxing.

Lilia giggled and replied soon after, "Fufu~don\'t worry young master; if you fall, I will make sure to catch you."

"Yeah yeah, keep dreaming." Turning around he began to climb the steep route carved around the mountain.

He could summon twenty-five threads and while not being in a meditative pose, he could lift twenty kilograms with each one. So mathematically, it wasn\'t impossible to lift the boulder and climb up...however, knowing that sadistic woman who goes by the name Lilia, Richard knew there would be some kind of twist in this exercise.

\'For now, let\'s just focus on climbing...\' Utilizing his focus on telekinesis, he even initiated Detection to keep an eye on his surroundings. His feet were in a rhythm with only a single-second gap between each step.

He climbed for like three hundred meters when suddenly a presence came onto his radar and Richard knew that presence was coming at him from behind.

Richard brandished his dagger in preparation and continued to walk forward. It took only three more seconds and Richard knew that the presence was just behind him—urging the redhead to tilt a little back and drop the boulder on whatever was chasing him.

"*KHRUEEEGH*" The sound revealed it was another mount goat who was trying to attack him from behind and was taken by surprise when suddenly the boulder dropped on the being.

Richard had no other option since turning around at this point was nigh impossible unless he knew levitation.

Much to his shock, not only did the mutated goat hold the boulder, but it threw it down the slope before the path beneath its hooves could have crumbled.

Richard was thoroughly shocked, and in his current state, he never realized when the beast lunged at him and bit Richard into his shoulder.

"Aarghhhhh! Fuck!" He cursed out aloud feeling his arm being torn away by the beast.

Clutching the dagger, he stabbed the goat in the head. However, it was already too late. The bitten arm was no longer working because of the position it carried.

"*BLEUUURGH*" The goat recoiled back, having a venom-coated dagger plunged in its head.

Both the prey and the hunter were injured, and, in that precise moment, someone landed between them.

And that person was not Lilia...

That person had the same shade of hair as Richard...

And that person...looked awfully angered at the moment.

Not only was the mountain goat cowering in terror, but Richard, as well, felt his heart sinking to see her here.

"M-Mom?"

************

A/N:- Uh...oh. I hope Lilia ain\'t dead already. I would describe the brief flashes of his training to give you guys a vague understanding of his strength before he enters the academy.

Now, let the drama unfold!!!!!