Kyrion didn't feel right after his three-month nap, his feet felt weird, and his body felt excessively heavy. He would reach out for something but felt a delay as his muscles seemed to ache a bit before it disappeared entirely. Even light exercise left him winded, and his body was regenerating mana much slower than it did before.

It's been two days since Kyrion had woken up, and they were doing their daily running drills. Usually, this was something the boy could do very easily, but today he had collapsed into a heap.

"Kyrion, go take a break. The instructors said not to push you too much, you're technically still in recovery.

You can practice more later." Damian told him.

Had this been a year ago, he might have just agreed. But after that training regime, Issac put him through

sitting out felt like a waste. So Kyrion sat down and checked on his core. Everything was in order on the outside. His core housed the seed while Issac and Jala seemed to orbit around it in rhythm. If anything, it seemed to have gotten compressed even further than it was before. It was almost like an apple seed. If apple seeds were round and glowing.

"I'll be back in a minute." Kyrion went towards the academy building and entered. Taking a right turn and then a left into the nurse's office.

"Welcome. What seems to be the issue?" An elderly woman asks as Kyrion enters. She takes a minute before looking up.

"My body feels weird. Whenever I try to do something it's as though I'm moving through water. I can't even climb trees like I used to anymore." Kyrion said worriedly.

"I see. Any other symptoms?" The nurse asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. Oh I can't use as much mana anymore. It's like I only have a drop left."

"Is that so… Didn't I tell you, you needed rest?" The nurse chided him.

"I rested for three months."

"No you didn't, had it been a normal coma your regeneration would have kept you in tip top shape while you were out. But it wasn't, you were trapped in your core for a period of time and your powers were suppressed as a result. Your mana had to strain itself to support your consciousness, while you made your way through. Simply put you just need to sleep for 10 hours a day every day for a week or two. Each person's body is different."

"But I don't want to wait, don't you have anything magic that will make me feel better?"

The nurse looks at the boy and sighs as she reaches into a drawer under her desk. "I guess I can give you this. It's a magic pill that you need to take before bed. It's a rare recipe made from the placebo plant. Take this once a night before bed. Only take one, mind you. They don't grow from trees. Well they kinda do but that's not the point. Take 1 every night and get a goodnight sleep. You should be in good health after a week or two." She pulls out a small white bottle and tosses it to the child, who catches it in reverence.

"Thank you nurse lady!" Krion hides the package in his shirt and sneaks out of the office. Heading back out to where his friends were.

The old lady was in her office adding a new package of the cheap medication to her drawer. Some kids were more clever. If they heard more than one bottle in the drawer, they might suspect it was a ruse. Of course, it helped that she had been working at the school for almost a century. She looked to the bed on her right-hand side, a divider hiding the person lying in bed.

"I still can't believe I was that gullible back then." Said the figure. "I mean, how did I not figure it out until well after I graduated. I hoarded those things like priceless treasures when I graduated."

"Well, it helps when students only stay here a year, the older and more experienced kids can't reveal our little secrets. He really will get better with time, short time at that."

"I believe you." said the voice from behind the curtain.

"You've seen his records I assume? Is he a fit candidate for your school?"

"Not sure yet. If he's anything like his mother then, then we may have a cub in sheep's clothing. He clearly hasn't had the training that his mother and siblings had. From what I've noticed it seems they babied that generation in general. I still have nightmares about that training, but it was so effective that I implemented it at my own school. It may be small now but the School of the Drisil, will be known the world over soon enough." The voice sounded cocky.

"Misdirection, are you ever going to go out and get a new nickname? We both know what your powers are and the name you're using undersates it."

"It suits my personality. By the time they notice my rise it will be too late."

"Yeah yeah, Caeden. Your sixty percent ambition and forty percent action. I know your catchphrase. If you need anything else my door is open. Feel free to use it next time, would you?"

"Nah." The figure behind the curtains vanished, leaving no trace that he had been there.

----------------------------------------

Kyrion followed the nurse's instructions for the next week, felt great, and showed abundant growth on week two. Kyrion figured out how to separate the natures to his powers, and as it turns out, it was literally just using less mana. As he got back into the swing of basic exercises, his friends were sparing much more often. Kyrion wasn't allowed to participate until he was fully healed.

The boy watched his friends fight bored out of his mind as he watched the duel between Everest and Damian.

Damian had summoned two swords and released a golden light as he charged at Everest at a breakneck pace. A crackling sound from his body could be heard as he did it.

Everest jumped back and subtly tossed out a few scraps of cloth at Damian. He then rolled to the side, leaving more cloth strips behind. The cloth began to wrap around Damian as he traveled into the web of scaps. Damian used his swords to cut the cloth, but they seemed more sturdy than previous duels had shown. Damian's charge was severely slowed as Everest seemed to circle around back and attack.

Damian waited till Everest was close, dismissed his blades, and rolled out of the web of cloth. Everest moved through his cloth restraints unhindered and let out a flurry of slashes from his dagger in an attempt to knock Damian off his feet.

Damian moved into a dagger thrust and grabbed Everest by his wrist while moving behind his friend ending the duel with a lock. The dagger pointed at Everest's neck but at a safe distance away.

"Yeah I give. Did not expect to lose to you unarmed but it makes sense. You've probably had more combat training than us." Everest raised both his hands in a clear surrender.

Damian carefully let his friend go. "Yeah probably more than most of my teammates." Damian stared at the young tailor before going to the side to take a rest.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Kyrion turned his head and saw the end of the fight with Noah and Asela. It was less of a fight and more of training. Noah would summon as many molten weapons as he could. While Asela was rapidly drawing the heat from them in an attempt to keep them from forming solidly.

By the end, Noah had nearly run out of mana, and Asela stood stark still, unable to move. A pile of scrap metal lay at her feet.

"Cramp!" She squeaked.

"We'll call this a success." Nico said. "Noah, you now know that your powers are limited against someone who can manipulate fire. Furthermore, Asela now knows she can only do so for a limited time."

Kyrion moved on and saw that Kiara and Wura had wrapped everything up already. The latter was shivering and sniffling as though she had got a cold.

Kyrion summoned his fox companion and watched as his group mates sparred, taking note of every opening he saw, and by he, he meant Jala. Kyrion couldn't tell you how those fights were supposed to go, but Jala seemed to be analyzing everything and relayed them back to Kyion.

"When Damian enters jumps to evade or roll out of an attack. That's when he's off balance but he's trained to take on a head on attack while in that position. I'd use a power to grab his leg from behind and root him in place. Noah is big and strong but is unable to evade attacks while charging. A prolonged fight with him is best. Everest is weak when he's not controlling the battlefield. Chances are if you think you're winning, keep your eyes open. It could be a trap." Jala went on and on as they spared, and Kyrion began to see the patterns Jala was referring to.

"Wow... Should I tell them their weaknesses?" Kyrion asked his fox companion.

"Nope. Maybe your sister her's. But I'm pretty sure that's biased. They may be your friends now but for all you know you may have to fight them all for the top spot." Jala explained.

"Well it's a good thing I don't want that spot. But I'll need a week to prepare." Kyrion left to train on his own. While in the solid world, he felt that water was easier to control. Pulling it from everywhere around him. "One kid's sweat is my weapon or so they say." He mutters to himself.

"Nobody says that." He heard Jala say. "Issac asked me to pass that over to you. Also, when are you going to bond with him?"

Kyrion stopped making small animals out of the water and tried to hold the shape in place as he talked. "I… totally forgot about it. But, I mean, I got to know him pretty well while I was out and I'm pretty sure he doesn't like fighting."

"Yeah he doesn't. But he does like attention. Between you and me I think he's jealous. Since he can't tell you when he wants to come out and you rarely do let him out." Jala squinted at her master.

"Huh…" The water spattered to the ground as Kyrion thought back. "I'll be sure to do that soon."

Kyrion got back to his training. Moving on to what he learned about his plant growth powers. He fed mana into the earth and called for a root to come out of the ground. One did, but it was kinda tiny. Which made sense since he was near no large trees or root systems.

Kyrion pulled out an old sock with some sunflower seeds in them and threw it on the ground, followed by using water mana to soak the soil a bit. He then asked for the plant to grow and sprout. He then pours mana into the seedling. Within seconds the plant had taken root, sprouted, and grown to exceptional size for a sunflower.

"Huh.... Maybe I used a bit too much mana." Kyrion stopped supplying it with mana, and the growth stopped. Kyrion still felt a connection to the plant and, as though to thank him, moved according to his will. The roots in the sunflower were quite strong. Not at the level of a tree but enough to restrain most people his age. He began practicing commanding the roots to do various maneuvers before getting the hang of it.

The following week, and a half, was full of training and more training. With the lesson from Nico becoming longer and longer, it seems. Suffice it to say Kyrion was capable of reading. Concepts still went over his head, but he could read enough to practice on his own. After Kyrion had finished his preparations, he made his way to where his teammates were sparring.

"Excuse me. I would like to spar with all of you at once. I have spent time thinking about how best to help you all. But it seems besting you all in combat is the easiest way to show you where you need improvement. Listen here maggots!" Kyrion stopped and looked at the fox on his shoulder questioningly.

"You know what, you seven vs me. I may not win, but I sure won't make it easy." Kyrion stated. As he pulled out two wooden discs with small sacks attached to them.

Damian looked at his friend questioningly before raising a sword. "Hold your horses. One vs two maybe three but no we aren't doing a one versus seven. How about a one on one and four two on one spars. We stop when you get exhausted."

"Fair enough. But don't say I didn't warn you." Kyrion entered the sparring ring. It was pretty big, with enough room to use abilities freely.

Nico went to get a healer just in case things got bad. Unfortunately, none of them were sure Kurion was back in good health. He could be delirious at worst, serious at best.

Damian and Kyrion entered adjacent to each other. The former had decided to take this spar seriously. He saw the fire in Kyrions eyes.

The duel started with Damian dashing forward. Kyrion tossed the chakrams at his friend, who moved in between them to avoid both attacks. But as it reached him, Damian noticed all too late that small black pellets began to fly into him. They didn't hurt much, but there were plenty.

Kyrion charged forward, pulling out whips made from water, and began to swing wildly at Damian. Each strike seemed sluggish and dampened the ground as he stepped back from the mid-range assault.

Damian found an opening and dug his foot into the ground to get a good grip. That action decided the end of the fight as tendrils wrapped around his feet and pulled him deep into the softened dirt.

"What the!" The dirt seemed to harden as Damian was trapped, unable to move.

Kyrion walked over to his friend and flicked him on the forehead. "Told ya you'd regret a one on one."

Kyrion dampened the water again, and the dirt became soft enough for the plant that grabbed him to let him out. Damian stood alongside what seemed to be a large sunflower. That made it to the surface.

"Huh. Didn't expect that." Everest muttered to himself.

Nico returned with the nurse with a confused look on his face. As he saw that Damian was caked in mud while Kyrion didn't seem to have broken a sweat. Damian hadn't either, but the rest was pretty obvious.

"Well miss, do you mind watching over the spars just in case. Don't want him to break anything by accident." Nico restated as he assessed the situation.

"Can't have that. I'll oversee this for a little while longer." The elderly woman pulled out a small shiny pocket watch and checked the time. It was midday; she set the watch down and watched the next spar begin.

Noah and Everest were the first and last Kyrion would face that day,k. They didn't make much of a pair. As some of their powers seemed to contradict each other at times. Then again, there was something to say about choosing a battlefield.

Kyrion retrieved his disc, and the second battle began. Kyrion threw them immediately and ran towards Everest at full speed. Everest retaliated by weaving a web of cloth in front of him and jumping backward.

This seemed to trap Noah and restrict his ability to transform.

Kyrion kept Everest on his feet by having roots pop out of the ground while Noah sunk into the ground. It didn't end like that, Noah, however. Hot metal seemed to burn straight through the roots of the plants as Noah covered himself in red hot armor. None of the plants holding him in place were still there. It seems Noah still wasn't able to transform, and from what he could tell. That armor was very heavy.

Kyrion sent a blunted blade of wind at Everest, which knocked the wind out of the tailor. Before getting some distance from Noah, who had been steadily making his way over. With Everest out, Kyrioun put some effort into cooling off his friend with both wind and water from the distance.

This lasted two minutes before Noah fell to his knees out of mana. Kyrion sat down, nearly exhausted. That took a lot more out of him than he thought.

The nurse walked over and examined the collapsed boy before placing a hand on the metal shell before removing it. "Well, let's end your sparing there." She said, "Kyrion you can't continue in that state, nor do I think you should."

The older woman produced a small tarp and placed Noah on top of it before it started to hover above the ground. Then, Noah was brought back into the school.

After the nurse left, Kyrion fell to his knees. "Jala, I thought you said this would be easy." Kyrion muttered.

"I forgot that you really aren't that efficient of a fighter. I overestimated your abilities." The fox seemed to scratch at her neck.

"Uh huh. Why does that feel like an insult. Also I beat Damian."

"Did you though? You caught him by surprise. He isn't likely to fall for the same trick again. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Kyrion squinted. "You knew this would happen."

Jala stayed silent, and the connection cut off.

"Well, fool me once. Ha!" Kyrion said aloud to his teammates. "Well, it seems I've bitten off more than I could chew. But long story short I think we need to work on teamwork. From what I've seen it's been one on one sparring. Nothing group based has been done since I've been up. I wanted to prove a point, and a certain someone got it in my head that I could win. So let's just forget this happened."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "Well it looks like you're fit enough for sparring. So I expect a rematch. Then we can move onto your Idea of group training. We still have a bit of time before we fight the other groups. After seeing what you can do I think we should keep you in the back for support. Maybe crowd control." Damian seemed to think to himself. "Not a big change but at least you're not just a healer. Can you make those fruits again?"

"I can heal cuts and scrapes as far as I'm aware but as for the fruits." Kyrion summoned a blue pomegranate to his hand. "I can make one once every two days and they take a good amount of mana. Just what happened to me when I was knocked out?"

"Which time?" Asela asked.

"Good point." Kyrion replied.

"What about us? We were expecting a fight." Kiara said.

"You can go after Damian but I don't think I will be able to stand after that. I may heal fast but my pain threshold seems to be more of a detriment than a help. By the time I feel tired it's too late."

Nico looked to Asela, who seemed to shrug. "Great! Now if you'll excuse me Kyrion has a lesson in history."

"Damian wanna move that duel up a bit and put me out of my misery?" Kyrion pleaded as he was being pulled back towards the library.

"Yeah... no, you're the one who agreed to the lessons. I'm sure history will do you some good." Damian crossed his arms.

Their silent friend continued to break out of his shell more and more every day. Gone was the quiet and shy leader. Replaced with a more talkative variant. Kyrion didn't know if he liked this change, but it was a welcome one.