After Magatsu is introduced to the dojo, Ramon gives some explanations.

– As the newcomer, Magatsu should go through the initialization, right?

Everyone says yes with enthusiastic expressions. Magatsu feels out of place and asks.

– What kind of initialization?

– It's fairly simple. – Ramon explains. – You have to do a series of physical tests to be analyzed and properly ranked.

– Since you already graduated from another dojo – Vanessa says. – , we'll make things extra harder for you. I hope you're ready to fail miserably.

– I'm ready to punch someone. – Magatsu fists his left palm with an excited grin. – What should I do first?

– There will be three tests: strength, speed, and skill. – Ramon says while raising the corresponding number of fingers. – Which do you want to start with?

– Whatever is fine by me. – Magatsu answers while stretching.

– So we'll go in the order I gave you. Strength first. So, see that sandbag over there?

He points to a rustic and beaten-up punching bag, one of many, that was hanging from the ceiling. Magatsu nods.

– Usually, we tell people to hit it, but since you're a special case you'll do something else. Wait here.

After saying that, he walks to a wardrobe that was in one of the dojo's corners and grabs a big, heavy-looking crimson punching bag from inside. He asks for another boy to help him with it.

After placing it in front of Magatsu with a deaf thud, he thanks the boy and addresses him.

– Your first test will be hitting this bad boy as hard as you can. Don't hold back and hit it whichever way you want.

– That's it? – Magatsu asks while approaching the sandbag to inspect it with his hand.

The thing was as large as a door and around the height of a grown-up man, far outclassing all of the other punching bags there, and felt harsh and heavy upon contact. It was still sandy to touch, so inside was obviously sand, but there was probably a lot of it.

– Whenever you want. – Ramon says while taking a few steps back.

Magatsu doesn't take the challenge seriously and throws a somewhat strong punch with his right.

Have it landed on a normal sandbag, the thing would be sent back a good few meters, but this one barely moved.

With that punch, Magatsu tried to estimate the weight of the thing, but couldn't figure it out and guessed it was around 100 Kg.

– Alright – Vanessa claps her hands once. – , that was a decent shot. Now, onto the next...

– Wait. – Magatsu quickly cuts her. – Just one shot?

– Why, yes. – Ramon says with a tone that suggests that that was quite obvious. – Or you're going to say that you didn't take it easy and that you want us to let you try again?

– As if. – Vanessa sides with him. – No, kid. Here we don't go easy on anyone, especially people that don't take fighting seriously. You had your chance and you wasted it. Now, onto the next challenge: speed.

Magatsu's usual idle smile fades for a second with the anger that built up inside him with how unfair that sounded, but he contents himself with a sigh and asks something to Ramon.

– Want some help with this? – He gestures at the sandbag. Ramon shakes his head.

– You don't have to. Focus on your challenges and let us take care of the rest.

From the distance, Juno mildly shakes her father's side.

– Shouldn't they give him another chance? I mean, he...

– Isn't taking this seriously, that's what. – Disarm cuts her while crossing his arms. – I can see he is a bit overconfident in his skills. That or he underestimates us. Either way, that's not something a fighter should ever even consider doing, and Ramon and Vanessa are properly addressing this issue.

Juno looks at Magatsu with expectancy in her pure white eyes but struggles a bit to focus on him from that distance. Forcing her sight gives her a quick and mild headache, something that Disarm notices with her mild pained expression.

– Don't force your sight like this, sweetie. Your glasses will come tomorrow, so don't push yourself. – He gently shoves his elbow against her arm with a smirk. – Instead, if you want, you can get a closer look.

– Stop it, dad! – She shakes his arm off and pouts while looking to somewhere else with an embarrassed face. – It's not like this.

– Of course, of course. – He jokingly says while turning his focus back to Magatsu. Now, they were next to a wall.

– Ok. – Ramon starts. – For this one, you'll have to run around the dojo. Give it your...

Still kind of upset with the previous experience, Magatsu doesn't let him finish and immediately starts sprinting with his top speed.

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The dojo was as large as Magatsu's house, if not slightly bigger, and he easily finished running around it in fifteen seconds, all while dodging several students, columns, sandbags, and various other objects.

All the students stopped doing what they were doing to see him go like a wild ostrich. Once he finishes, he takes one deep breath and stretches his back by moving his arms around.

The students couldn't stop staring. Ramon and Vanessa had shocked expressions. Even Disarm was impressed with his speed.

Juno blushed for two solid seconds but controlled herself and hoped nobody saw that.

– Onto the next challenge? – Magatsu asks Vanessa with a smirk. After a second too long, she answers.

– R-Right. Onto the next challenge. – She then shifts her attention to the rest of the dojo. – And the rest of you, back to training!

– That was impressive! – Ramon says with raised eyebrows. – I never saw someone your age run so fast before. Are you a wind Adept, by any chance?

The question makes Disarm increase his attention to Magatsu.

– To all effects, I am. – Magatsu says before looking to his hands. – But I have zero control over it, so all I have is my Affinity.

They both look at each other with confused faces.

– How can you be an Adept without having control over your Affinity? That's impossible.

– I think I know what he's talking about. – Disarm speaks up while approaching them, Juno right behind him.

– What do you mean? – Ramon asks.

– Magatsu. – He addresses the boy. – Have you triggered your Affinity at some point, but became unable to tap into it for some reason?

The boy nods. Disarm continues.

– And the reason for you not being able to trigger your Affinity anymore is because it first happened in an accident?

Magatsu nods again, surprised with how precise Disarm is being.

– How do you know all of that?

– I know some people that went through the same thing as you. Adepts are born as Adepts, and those who aren't have to work extremely hard to trigger their Affinities. The problem is when the trigger is stimulated by an accident or traumatic event. Then, the likelihood of the person losing the grasp of how to control it exists and it's really high, especially with the former.

– So which one was your case? – Vanessa asks Magatsu. – Accident or traumatic event?

He thinks for a few seconds about if he should tell them or not. Not seeing reasons not to, at least not to Disarm, he speaks.

– When I was younger, I saw some kids bullying a dog for being disabled. They were in five or so, and my friend Shinda wasn't around to help me, so I had to do something all by myself. Back then, I wasn't anywhere near strong enough to deal with five kids around my age at once, so I lost...

Before he continues, he notices Juno mumbling something.

– Wanna say something? – He asks her, catching her off guard.

– Erm... I wasn't... I mean... – She loses herself in her confusion, gaining a chuckle from Magatsu and Disarm, the latter encouraging her to speak. – I was finishing your sentence for myself. You would say something like "and then I triggered my Affinity and defeated them", right?

Magatsu nods with a surprised expression.

– Nice prediction skills you have.

– Thanks... – She timidly says while looking somewhere else.

– Anyway. – Magatsu continues. – After they fell unconscious, my mom figured I could and had to train and discover how to do that again, but it never happened again. Still, the trigger was enough to give me a boost and place me ahead of others my age.

– Interesting. – Disarm says while turning to go back to the entrance, giving them a good space to train. – Anyway. Keep doing your thing.

– Alright – Ramon picks his lead. – , let's continue with your challenges. This time: skill.

– So now I'll fight someone. – Magatsu already looks around to see potential fighters but receives a let-down from Ramon.

– Far from it. No, you'll do something else. Just give me a moment.

He goes back to the wardrobe where the huge sandbag, as well as other stuff, is and grabs five wooden blocks. Once back to close to Magatsu, he starts explaining.

– For this one, I and Vanessa will throw these things at you and you'll have to deflect them. Fairly simple, right?

– Ok. – Magatsu says while spreading his legs a little and lowering his torso, also a little, his arms next to his chest. – Bring it on.

Ramon and Vanessa throw, one right after the other, the wooden cubes high up towards Magatsu.

He left punches the first, right punches the second, spin high kicks the third with his right leg, uses the momentum of the spin to left hook the fourth, and finally grabs the fifth mid-air before tossing it against the floor.

Both siblings were impressed with his display of skills. A few students clapped a few times to his performance, gaining an embarrassed look on his face.

– C'mon guys, no need for that...

– Now, that was some next level skill performance. – Ramon says. – Damn.

– I'm impressed myself. – Vanessa says while nodding to herself and silently clapping. – You have the moves.

Magatsu's embarrassment stacks, giving him small, mild red cheeks as he looks down. It's been very long since he was last praised like this, and he truly enjoyed hearing those words.

In the distance, next to her father, Juno enjoys herself with the sight, but only internally.

Ramon and Vanessa look to each other, then to Disarm, who nods in approval as if he knew what they were thinking about. They nod in return.

– Magatsu – Ramon says. – , we think you should try the first challenge again. That performance doesn't stack up to what you showed us just now, so it wouldn't be fair to not let you show us what you truly can do.

Magatsu's eyes light up a bit as he hops a few times with excitement.

– Can I help you bring it here? – He asks.

– Nah. I wanna hold the surprise for when you deliver the blow. Don't spoil it for me.

With that, Ramon goes to grab the sandbag again. Once he places it in front of Magatsu, he steps back.

Magatsu takes a deep breath. Then another. He was extremely focused right now, and that made something interesting happen.

If the others could see it, they didn't know, but Juno notices a thin, weak but persistent gray veil cover Magatsu's entire right arm. When she looks up to her father, he nods with a satisfied smile.

More than half of the other students stopped doing what they were doing to see what would happen. Their eagerness was almost breathable.

Then, after inhaling deeply, Magatsu shouts loudly while sending a heavy punch with his right against the red punching bag.

The impact sends the thing flying over twelve meters away, it falling with a loud but blunt thud as it drags itself for another meter.

After about three seconds of silence, Disarm loudly and proudly says while walking over to Magatsu, a wide grin on his face.

– Now that's what I call a punch!

– Damn, Magatsu. – Ramon says while offering him a fist bump, one he gives with pleasure. – That was impressive!

– I'm speechless. – Vanessa admits with a defeated face.

Now close enough, Disarm gives Magatsu a tight fatherly hug, squeezing him hard and scaring all air from his lungs. After putting him back on the ground, he says.

– I don't remember the last time I saw someone your age with this much potential. I mean, this is on a whole other level. You're almost as potentially strong as Edgar!

– Edgar? – Magatsu asks while massaging his chest.

– His top student to date. – Ramon answers. – The guy is a prodigy and is only in his mid-20s. Some even label him as one of the twelve strongest men currently alive.

– Then how come that I never heard of him? – Magatsu asks. Disarm answers.

– He is really reserved, so he does a good job of keeping his profile low. That doesn't stop other people from posting and talking about him though, so he doesn't go fully unnoticed.

– But anyway. – Magatsu says. – How well did I do?

Disarm, Ramon and Vanessa all look to each other before nodding and looking to Magatsu.

– You're inside the "above average" category. – Disarm says. – Congratulations, you're the currently third best student, losing only to Ramon and Vanessa, and you didn't even start the actual training.