Max took his time. They waited for him for another hour, nearly two even.

Now, don't take me wrong, regenerating the whole mana pool from zero to hero in about four hours is very impressive. It's just that Adam's monstrous speed overshadowed his achievement, and that's not to mention that Adam didn't have to concentrate, it was a natural regeneration factor.

Later, when talking about it with Max, Adam got to know that regeneration speed is very important for a mage, especially one in the army. Imagine a battlefield where soldiers fight from both sides, slaughtering each other. The only reason they are left alone by the mages, the most destructive weapon on any battlefield, is their own mages. On such a battlefield the deciding factor of whether a mage will win or not is their regeneration speed. When fighting in a huge battle, mages can't focus their whole attention and power on a single opponent and strike them down with all their power, their main priority is to survive a little longer, longer than the opponent. They mainly cast defensive spells around themselves and throw some offensive ones at their enemy in between, in the battle of attrition after which the winner will go on a killing spree between ranks of enemy warriors. In the situation where mages focus on defence, the one who wins is the one who will keep casting spells after their opponent loses all their mana.

Adam would hold a humongous advantage above his opponents in that situation if their mana pool was on par or smaller than that of Max, which was highly probable as Max was believed to have above average one. His bigger mana pool and higher regeneration rate give him a seemingly infinite amount of energy in comparison to normal mages on his level.

Max, on the other hand, though he would also hold an upper hand against the average mage, it wouldn't be so overwhelming. He would lose the advantage while fighting against someone like Adam, with a monstrous mana pool.

While waiting for Max to finish, the captain, Adam and a few other soldiers played cards. It was when Adam was about to lose his first monthly salary from the army that Max stood up and came to them.

"I am full, we can go now." He said with a red face, although he was concentrated, Adam's earlier conclusion didn't escape his notice.

"Let's end here, Max must be eager to go." Said Adam, quickly mixing the cards together.

Captain looked at him in suspicion and said. "Ok." Still staring at Adam.

While walking, Captain asked them a question. "Just for assurance, both of you are still in the first realm, right? There were some people who ascended to the second realm in the span of a month or two, so such a situation wouldn't be unprecedented."

Adam looked at Max, who in turn answered the captain's question.

"No, we are both aspiring magicians."

"Who reached the beginner realm in such a short time?" Asked Adam with curiosity.

"One such, and the most recent one is the High Commander, Clemens Eston. I was but a child back then, but even I was heard about it." Answered the captain, staring dreamingly in front of himself.

The group ceased to talk as they headed towards somewhere. This time they went outside of the camp, to a clearing inside the forest. Tall trees circling the plain, snow compressed by hundreds of steps and a few little craters created by some powerful warriors awaited them.

"You, young master Adam, will fight against me. And we will go second. Young master Max will fight against my second in command, Brad."

Max nodded in acknowledgement and went towards the centre of the clearing. Brad soon joined him. They stood for a while, staring at themselves.

Max was clad in his usual attire, armour underneath, full of metal spikes, with a large coat over it. Under the spikes was simple cloth reinforced with fur and leather, in held him warm, but it was rather an armoury than armour. His hands were free. Every time Adam looked at him, he wondered why the metal mage didn't put on the robe, he could just untie it so he could take the spikes out and it would be fine, and he would have a robe on. But no, his friend didn't wear a robe and put on a coat instead, what a waste.

Brad, on the other hand, had a true armour. Made mostly with leather, and ironplated in crucial spots such as shoulders and forearms. He even had a helmet. A spear was clutched in one of his hands, the other was holding a shield.

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"FIGHT!!" Shouted Captain Garry.

Immediately after the noise, Brad shot forward. His spear prepared to thrust and shield defending his torso.

Max in that time, tore his cloak to shreds. The three biggest pieces of metal that he had on himself shot outward from him.

He lost control over them after a few metres. They became normal projectiles. metal flew in a triangular formation, one at the front and others after it, to the sides.

Brad, seeing the danger, stepped to the side, not stopping his charge. The first projectile flew past him, missing him completely. The same happened to the third one.

The second one appeared before his face, forcing him to slow down and raise his shield.

A horrible screeching sound reverberated throughout the clearing, as a piece of metal glided on a plated shield, leaving a bunch of scratches.

While deflecting the fragment with his shield, Brad crouched and shot forward in a more defensive position. His shield was now raised to defend his head, but he lost most of his visibility.

Max, seeing his opponent dangerously close, shot another three metal shards at him, smaller this time.

Despite his small visibility, Brad reacted to them by turning to the side, jumping in that direction and turning towards Max again, avoiding the projectiles altogether.

For a final push, he lunged forward, stopping only when his spear appeared a few centimetres prom Max's leg.

The warrior won.

"Phew, good work, but you shouldn't bring such simple tactics to a fight with a warrior a realm above yourself. Preparing before a fight would also be good. Also, you should move, at least a bit." Said Brad, after backing off a little.

"What realm are you in?" Adam questioned Brad curiously.

"I reached the second realm a few months ago, a Beginner Spearman" He answered honestly.

"What about you, captain? What will I face?" Adam turned beside himself, towards Captain Garry.

"I am in the Intermediate realm." He answered, if that was true, Adam had a hard nut to crack before him.

"How am I supposed to fight against you captain? You are two realms above me!" Complained Adam.

"I will hold back, and won't use any aura. Now, go and take your stance. We will start at Max's command." Answered him, captain.

Adam took his place near the edge of the clearing.

"~sway~" Whispered the young mage.

Captain went to the opposite corner and took his stance. Ready to ponce.

Today, Adam wore his brown leather armour, the one he was so excited to get just before the next year. And now was overshadowed by the premise of the mage robe.

Captain Garry, on the other hand, was wearing the same armour as Brad, though he had a sword instead of a spear.

"Fight!!" Max's voice resounded in the surroundings.

Garry shot forward, not directly at Adam, making it difficult for him to aim.

Right after the warrior moved, a few icicles shot in his direction. Adam managed to correct their trajectory before they went out of his manipulation range, but only slightly making it head directly at the captain who ran sideways, instead of where he would be in a few moments.

Garry changed direction, using some weird footwork so he didn't lose any speed, still not running straight at Adam.

Another bunch of icicles flew towards the warrior. He deflected one using his sword and evaded the rest with a few quick steps.

Adam, seeing that small ones are ineffective, started to create an ice spear to finish his opponent, or at least try.

A moment passed, and Garry was next to Adam, only now, did Adam remember the advice given to Max, and stepped back.

After which, the defender outstretched his arm and released the pre-cast spell.

A gust of wind escaped Adam's hand, directly blowing into Garry. Captain's sword, which was already extended outwards, flung to the side. His shield, in an act of inhuman reflexes, covered his torso at an angle to deflect the raging wind.

"Hghhh" A grunt escaped Garry's lips.

Captain swayed to the side, as he managed to reflect most of the spell's power. If he didn't, he would probably fall to the ground a metre or two behind. Unfortunately for him, An ice spear was right next to him.

Just when Adam thought he won, a sword shattered his construct and headed for him next.

A hastily raised barrier stopped the sword from reaching Adam, but only for a moment.

It shattered in a flash of white light, leaving the mage defenceless.

Adam blinked, and a sword appeared next to his neck.

"I won, though you did a good job young master." Commented captain.

"It was an impressive first fight I must say. You still have a lot to learn though, and you must keep in mind that if an intermediate swordsman like me wanted you dead, you wouldn't be able to even blink. Remember that the difference between the first and second realm is vast but like a fingernail in comparison to one between the second and third realm." He didn't even sweat a little.

'Show off' Complained Adam, in his head of course. But he decided to say something either way. "Thank you."

"By the way, there was no mention of wind magic in your files, you caught me off guard with that one." Added Garry.

"You didn't tell me that you learned it already." Interjected Max, somewhat annoyed. If his subordinate listened to him in the morning, he would already tell him about it.

"I learned it just recently, just before the party." Assured Adam.

"Oh."

"Either way, you two should go to the commander to establish your squad. I heard you will be the leader and the co-leader, lucky are bastards that will serve under you. Having two mages in a squad, such a luxury...." Captain seemed to think about something deeply, as he stared into the distance and didn't hear the boy's goodbyes.

They said their goodbyes anyway and went towards the camp.

It was high time to form a squad.