After I got my new training outfit, I beelined back to my room, unsuccessfully as I had no idea where exactly it was. I have to admit, I got lost a few times but after the fifth wrong turn, someone pointed me in the right direction. I changed with speed like never before seen and launched myself out towards the courtyard.

Yep, as expected I got lost… again. Thankfully I found a group of kids heading somewhere and it wasn’t hard to guess that they had the same destination in mind.

After the pointless running up and down, I’m standing at the archway leading out to the massive open space in the middle of the castle. When I say massive I really mean it. Multiple streets could fit inside here with all their adjacent houses.

Huge, open, grassy, and sandy training grounds, shooting ranges, a long obstacle course, and some weird places I don’t know the function of. Weapon racks can be found all around with any sort of arms imaginable, or many other things I'd never imagine being used to kill. The shovel I might be able to accept, then there’s the fishing rod… The ground is smooth around the outer rim of the courtyard, probably for the good old running of laps. There’s also a raised platform in the middle of the training grounds built with stone and surrounded by some weird writing. All that’s missing is a swimming pool and a forest for combat simulations… I guess the nearby forest would be an appropriate place for that.

All the kids previously seen in the mess hall are now loitering around the place, waiting for the instructors to arrive. Some are just lazing off in the shadows, while others, overly diligent ones, are swinging their sword or running laps around the track. I joined the camp of the smarter kids. Calling them lazy now, would be like telling my sister her dad stinks. Not that I have siblings…

We don’t have to wait long however because soon Martha, Bennett and a third skinny man arrive with a commanding presence. Everyone quickly gathers before them and I follow their example.

As soon as all of us assemble in front of the officers Bennett speaks up.“You know the drill, split up according to your specialization. Ask questions after the task you were given is done! And prepare to do your best because if you end up in the ring and get your ass handed to you then bullying will be the least of your concerns.” I swear this man was born as a pain in the ass. “Close-range combatants, on me!”

Around half of the group breaks off and starts jogging towards the dedicated area. Bennett is somehow there by the time I look over to the designated area, which after seeing Martha do it like five times already isn’t that impressive.

I catch a glimpse of the two boys who couldn’t behave during lunch and judging by the nasty glances they're throwing my way it looks like they also spotted me. I just smile at them with my most cruel and condescending grin in my arsenal. I hope they'll enjoy their punishment whatever that may be.

“Rangers to the shooting range, we'll practice nonstationary aiming today, double time!” Comes the order from the scrawny fellow followed by a chorus of groans from the kids.

Only about twenty of us remain, meaning mages make up only about… less than a fifth? of the entire cadet force. This time Victor waves my way as he follows his fellow ranger combatants to their location. Silly idiot, the bearable kind.

I don't need to be a genius to guess which batch I belong to, even more so since Martha actually mentioned it before. So I just wait for her to tell us what we’ll do.

“Brilliant, mages move to the general practice area.” She nods with glimmering eyes locked onto me.

The others start towards the open grassy part so I guess that constitutes the general area. Mages do big booms and so need big space. She didn’t detail what her plans are for the session so I can only wait and see.

Unsurprisingly Martha already teleported to our destination making everyone up their tempo not to make her wait. At the spot we instinctively arrange ourselves in a semicircle in front of her, awaiting further instructions.

She clears her throat and starts speaking “Alright, since we have a new arrival I want all of you to pair up and train your shield and basic ranged attack abilities against each other for a few minutes. Those who’d rather practice one of their Skills may do so, as long as it doesn’t hinder the others.” Then she turns towards me beckoning to come closer.

I comply walking over with hasty steps. I can feel the judging and curious glares of my fellow mages which I try to ignore as much as an eager young mind can. Let's just focus on the task at hand.

“Glad to see you blend in this well Elyssia. Since we are done with the necessary adjustments to your stats it's time to go over your Skills. I won’t beat around the bush, your General Skills are okay at best. I’m not sure about Dodging and Multitasking is a waste of a good Skill slot at your level. I think we’ll keep Reflexes and Quick Witted, they might prove useful.” She assesses my skill in quick succession as if it were just some knowledge quiz.

It’s evident she’s been working this job longer than I’ve been alive even if that’s a shallow praise. What scares me the most however is how nonchalantly she dismissed my hard work as okay.

Her sharp brown eyes flicker over me like she’s reading my capabilities or inner secrets just by looking at me. There’s a certain depth to those eyes, like a mirror to the vastness of the soul behind them and all that they have seen.

General Skills:

Savant lvl 15

Identify lvl 8

Running lvl 9

Dodging lvl 10

Pain Tolerance lvl 3

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Reflexes lvl 9

Quick Witted lvl 13

Stamina lvl 9

Multitasking lvl 9

I. Class: Inept Magus - Arcane lvl 18

Arcane Affinity lvl 17

Elemental Influence lvl 16

Mana Shield lvl 14

Mana Bolt lvl 12

It ain't much but it's honest work, alright? Low level, low danger and amateur work, still I did my best.

“So I won’t be classing up today?” I blurt out the question that’s been on my mind ever since we last talked.

I’ve had my hopes up. Maybe she had a secret veteran method to make my skills skyrocket and skip all that boring training but I guess not.

“With class skills at that level?” She raises an eyebrow like I’m joking. She huffs and shakes her head “You’ll be lucky if you can advance at the end of the week and even then only if you train every second of the day.”

Ok, now she must be exaggerating, it's only like six levels. If I get into a fight like today at lunch a few more times I'll be there in a blink of an eye. Actually… it's Friday, heh, easy end-of-the-week deadline.

“More than that,” There’s more, c’mon I’m only level 18? “I think you’ll be able to naturally acquire a few more Class Skills which might turn into something special.” Ok, now she has me back. “You see, Mana Shield and Mana Bolt are available for everyday mages as General Skills, since with a little practice and a trickle of mana everyone can use it, similar to Identify.” She pauses for some reason… probably for the dramatic effect. “But for you, it’s a Class Skill, however from my experience, they’re too basic to take up slots without a good purpose. That’s why I’ll show you Mana Blade and Mana Spear, maybe you’ll be able to pick these skills up and add them to your arsenal.” She continues nodding at her own idea.

“What do you mean by naturally acquired, don’t I get skills at certain levels?” I tilt my head like a puppy, blinking stupidly.

A habit I got back when I asked my parents countless bothersome questions and wanted to push them with cuteness to give me an answer.

Marhta just blinks in confusion at my begging methods. Hey if it works, it works. The motherly side in her can’t resist it, I’m sure of it.

“It means, someone with a sufficiently flexible Class is able to learn new Skills by understanding their inner workings and sufficiently replicating the Skill with only their manipulation.” She uses difficult words to make it sound more profound. “This way the system often offers up the skill as the user is already able to perform it anyway.” She gestures with her hands throughout the entire explanation, punctuating the steps. “We’re gonna do the same, I’ll show you two new Skills, guide you through the learning curve and then you can acquire them.”

“What then, what then?” I ask eagerly, this must lead to something nice, otherwise it wouldn’t be worth the hassle.

“Then you’ll train all your skills to max level.” She drops the bomb.

I feel my soul leaving my body, all the excitement, all the energy everything… gone, at the snap of a finger. Just, don't. This is torture, I can’t wait to get my next class and you tell me to postpone it? Postpone it by a lot? Martha, I thought you were a good person…

She playfully swats my head seeing my reaction. I say playfully yet I almost fall over due to its force.

“Don’t act like that, you ungrateful brat, we’ll be doing this for your own benefit. I’ll help you through this task as it really does sound like punishment but trust me, you’ll be rewarded. I think…” She adds quietly.

Looking away, finding the other students really interesting all of a sudden.

“You, think?” I ask accusingly.

This is not the most reassuring thing to hear as the outcome of rigorous work. She sketched up the whole plan with such confidence that I was sure all the work would make it worth it in the end. That whole uncertainty factor doesn’t make all the upcoming work all that appealing.

“Well… you are the first proper Arcane mage I’ve met, the others were mana researchers. I have this theory… It doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head. “I want you to trust me with this. I can’t order you to alter your build as that would be unethical and against the guidelines of teaching. If you fail I’ll compensate you, okay?”

The ball is on my side now, do I take the bet or do I… Who am I kidding of course I’m taking it. I’m way too curious and even if it fails, I’ll milk the old hag for all she owns.

“Fine, but if it fails…” I have no idea what I should ask for so I’ll just sound serious.

I stare intensely into her eyes, leaning forward a bit and trying to look threatening. Something dangerous flashes through her gaze and I shudder as if death was about to claim me for a second.

“Don’t be too cocky, girly, this is first and foremost for your benefit. With that out of the way, follow my instructions and guide your mana.” She’s back to her instructor mode, gaze stern posture rigid tone commanding.

The red and gray mage robes fit her perfectly while also leaving ample room for movement. She has a similar insignia on her shoulder like I’ve seen on Bennett, two crossed spears. I guess that’s the mark of a captain. This absolute unit of a veteran mage will teach me mercilessly for the foreseeable future, not great, not terrible… Strict? Yes. Fair? Hopefully. Knowledgeable? Damn right.

"Oh, one last thing." I raise an eyebrow expecting more work. "Why the hell is your Identify so low-level? You're surrounded by combatants twenty times your level. Use the damn skill and exploit the level difference!"

I smack my head as I understand what she means. This should've been obvious. It worked wonders on her and Bennett so why not replicate the thing in the mess hall for example? The radius of the skill is only as big as its level, but that’s an obstacle easy to overcome.

***

This whole debacle was far easier than expected, I just had to gather mana into a blade and condense it, then swing and release the mana in a crescent shape. I repeated it a few times and …

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the skill [Mana Blade lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Gib.

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Mana Blade lvl 1].]

Yeah, easy as that. The hard part will be training these skills. Martha said that Mana Blade can be used both as an actual sword with an earth element as a good example or as a ranged slice attack with wind or water mana. Pretty sweet, with plenty of utility.

The next skill is even easier to learn, I don’t even know why a separate Skill was made for its use. It's basically an elongated, enlarged Mana Bolt with a denser core and a more pointy tip.

[Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the skill [Mana Spear lvl 1]. Would you like to assign the skill to an empty slot?]

Yep.

[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Mana Spear lvl 1].]

Easy as that. In just five minutes I’ve managed to learn two new skills, talk about efficiency. I’m kinda full of myself right now so the smirk won’t come off my face any time soon. Chest puffed head held high.

“Alright Miss Genius, now train those skills and experiment with what you’ve learned! We plan on having a few mock fights and duels in two hours. I would use every second available if I were you.” She turns to leave but then she seems to remember something and hurries over to me. She leans down and whispers into my ear. “Eli, for the sake of your family and relation with the other orphans try to act like one of them. Keep the Blessing to yourself for now. The less people know the better.” I quickly process the questions and nod. Safety first.