The days had blurred into a relentless rhythm since that night in the library.
He had managed to impress on multiple occasions, carving a na for himself in the Academy.
The test for Forge Mastering, which he’d demanded the mont he faced the Instructor again, had been a triumph as expected.
The gruff man had set the bar at 60%, skeptical of how there was no way one could master enchantnt theory so fast.
"I don’t buy it," the Instructor had said, his gray eyes narrowing. But Adrian had smashed it, scoring a perfect 100%.
The Instructor’s jaw had dropped, and he’d leaned in, half-joking, "Did you eat the book, kid?" The mory made Adrian smirk.
That day, he’d begun enchantnt in earnest, and the results while basic given the materials he had access to was more than enough for him.
He had succeeded in creating different tals with slight mana properties, and that had made him comfortable with enchantnt.
He knew that for him to achieve more, he would have to leave outside for more materials, and there was the matter of strength too.
Adrian learned earlier that different enchanted tals required different strengths to set, so he couldn’t rush things just yet, until he made an invention to take care of that at least.
History class had beco his stage, too. With the library’s knowledge burned into his mind, he dominated discussions, answering questions with a an ease that left his peers gaping.
Everyone knew his na now, but most despised him for it — jealous glares from Mages followed him out but Adrian didn’t care.
’Let them hate,’ he thought, shrugging it off. Rune Making was no different. Professor Toren, impressed by his grasp of basics, had taught him advanced runes — patterns that twisted runes in ways Adrian had never imagined.
So baffled him because he knew that he could make them, but just didn’t know what a combination would provide.
’I need a book with every rune out there,’ he had thought then but Toren had dashed that hope, though.
"Only the Academy can gift such a to," he’d said with a final to after Adrian’s futile search in the library.
’Rare, huh?’ Adrian thought, a bitter edge to it. But he knew that was simply human nature, always coveting the best.
Alchemy, thankfully, was off the table. Professor Lira had stuck to her word — no classes, leaving those hours free.
’A rare break,’ he thought, using the ti to refine his plans for his visit, though Adrian still wanted to begin learning Alchemy as soon as possible, just to have another skill to his arsenal at the very least.
But if he had to pick the worst of these days, it was the morning drills. Each lap felt like a battle against his own body.
’There’s no way I’m getting better,’ he always wondered, watching others improve massively with ease, running up to 20 laps already, why he was still stuck at 8.
’Maybe I am improving,’ he admitted, ’but they’re outpacing .’ The urge to quit gnawed at him, but he clenched his fists.
’Not yet. I’ve got my cards, the Power Suit, for one. I might just keep improving my fitness.’
Sitting on his bed now, Adrian’s mind churned.
’I’ll see how much my body improves with Ascension,’ he thought. ’And the Power Suit will hopefully adjust to my improvent. Maybe my Ascension would do sothing special for my shooting too.’
Just as the thought settled, the bell rang, its chi cutting through the dorm’s stillness.
"Finally," he muttered, swinging his legs off the bed and heading out.
Karl punched the air, shouting, "Let’s fucking go!" with a wild grin, not bothering to wipe the sweat from his morning push-ups.
***
The Dojo was eerily silent as the 19 Knights stood in a loose line.
So had their chest rising and falling. Others had hearts racing with nervousness. While so like Karl were filled with excitent.
Adrian, though, kept his expression neutral as usual.
The cold floor seeped through his legs, a reminder of how long they’d been standing since entering.
Master Von sat cross-legged at the center his eyes closed in ditation... as usual.
Adrian’s gaze flicked to his System panel. ’5:48 AM,’ he noted, grinding his teeth in annoyance.
His legs ached from standing for so long.
’How long is he going to make us wait?’ he thought, shifting his weight subtly.
The minutes dragged, each one a test of endurance, the silence broken only by the occasional shuffle of feet.
And finally, Master Von rose in a fluid motion. His gray eyes swept over them, assessing each Knight with a gaze.
"Great! You’re all here," he said, his voice carrying a rare warmth. "Let’s begin."
Master Von stepped forward, his feets thudding softly against the cold Dojo floor.
"Every one of you was born with a Dantian," he said, pacing slowly, his hands clasped behind his back.
"When you went through your Awakening at the age of ten, external mana rushed into your nearly matured Dantian, ant to trigger the formation of a Mana Core if it’s potent enough."
"But if you’re a Dud, like all of you here, it ans your Dantian is too weak to form a Mana Core. That’s not the end, though. That’s why you’re standing here."
"So of you have Dantians suitable to absorb mana, but not in the normal way. This mana strengthens your body, improves you in ways beyond the ordinary, and allows you to use special Martial Techniques to boost your strength."
"To do this, soone skilled — like — must manipulate your Dantian, interacting it with external mana in a special way.
It bonds with the mana, recognizes it as its own, letting you absorb it into your body instead of a core."
Von’s expression hardened, his voice dropping to a grave tone.
"This process is extrely painful. If you fail, your Dantian will be gone for good, so there would ee no second chance."
The words hit like a hamr, and around, the students had different expressions. So curious, so nervous, so confident and one blank.
Von’s eyes swept over them once more, lingering on their varied reactions.
"Now... who wants to go first?"
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