I finished my run and started controlling my breathing. My hot breath seeped out from my mask, and the cool spring air felt refreshing on my sweaty skin. Winter was officially over, and spring had arrived. The snow stopped falling, and the temperature rose, if only a little. I stared up through the purple leaves and realized that this all just felt off.

Well, the forest did, at least.

Ever since I started training in this place, I got a weird feeling in the back of my brain. I sort of just ignored it since it wasn’t a big deal, and I was more excited to have a place to train freely. But the more I came here, the more I realized this place didn’t agree with me.

It’s probably my Elven blood screaming at me that this place isn’t a real forest. Or is it a real forest and just not a natural one, perhaps?

Either way, practicality won over my natural senses, as there was no way in hell I was going to give this place up. However, I wasn’t alone here today.

Sylvia wasn’t far behind me as she came through the underbrush without even breaking a sweat. Her natural abilities were just that far ahead of everyone else. Even I had to start putting a little bit of mana into my legs toward the end. Of course, she would have beaten me if she wanted to but… eh, why does she do the things she does?

Next was Ren, who practically fell over the second she got into the clearing. The princess was gasping for air like a dead fish. Her petite tan arm reached out for the sky for salvation; however, none was coming for her.

I did, however, have to give Ren credit. She said she was going to run the course without using mana, and for the most part, she succeeded. I know she started using it at the end, but regardless, it seems her training has paid off somewhat since she was the first of the class to arrive.

Parker came bursting through the scene, looking like some model, as he brushed his sweaty blonde hair out of his face and flashed us a smile. The next group was the twins Linnetia and Sylas. Linnetia looked fine while her brother was practically falling over. Linnetia sighed deeply and gently sat her brother down onto an overturned log. After that, the class started piling in at regular intervals.

This was the problem when people used mana enhancement for everything. When you trained, specifically running, you had to either run for longer periods until your mana enhancement ran out or more intensely. In this case, Professor Garrison chose both, something I probably would have done as well.

It’s clear that the mages are also having a way more challenging time than the students who solely use body enhancement.

The Professor also chose the correct course. Running in a forest was much more of a challenge than on the flat ground. Students had to pay attention to their footing constantly or, at the very least, enhance their legs more, so they didn’t roll an ankle. Considering the circumstances, it was excellent training for everyone.

Unless you train like me, things could be so much better… maybe before I leave, I’ll write a book on my theory of no-mana enhancement training and have the Professor teach it to everyone.

I could be a scholar one day… even though I didn’t come up with any of this.

The last of the class rolled in, and of course, it was the Dwarves. Running through a forest was simply not a pastime for the short-statured race. Their barrel chests and thick muscular legs and arms just weren’t created for this type of activity.

“Oh, what fun it is to swing this swooooord!” Professor Garrison sang while chopping the lower brush apart.

The Professor had a broad smile as he took in the scene before him while carrying a single student by the shirt. Loose foliage from the white-barked trees or the underbrush stuck to him, but he didn’t look the least bit tired. Our… incentive… for running faster and making it here on time was that we would have extra work to do today if he caught us.

Jen was dangling from the Professor’s grip, and she looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. She slowly stretched a hand out to me, but just like Ren’s, it never reached, as the Professor dropped her to the ground while unsummoning his sword. Jen had tripped and fallen at the start of the course, and unfortunately for her, Professor Garrison doesn’t show mercy.

With a single clap of his hands, the Professor gained everyone’s attention. “Now then, let us begin some magic training! All mages are to stay here, and those who are not are to head over to the right side of the clearing. Disperse!”

My fellow students complained in a chorus of groans and mumbled complaints as they shambled up from the dirt floor. Finally, the class went into separate groups, and I decided to join the casting portion of the class.

We were training to enter an artificial dungeon the school had created in hopes of training people. I can just join the other portion of the class tomorrow since we will be training like this for the next month or so.

The adventurer job Sylvia and I planned on taking at first was for this new class. From what I knew, the dungeon wasn’t an actual dungeon but just a copy of one that was being filled with monsters that adventurers caught for the school. I can’t be sure if releasing monsters purposely into a school environment was the best idea, but if Bowen was leading the charge, then it should be alright.

It probably helps when you have War God level people on staff as well. I don’t think there is a monster that adventurers can just wrangle that the Professor wouldn’t be able to kill instantly.

While I was drifting off into my thoughts, somebody poked me softly in the side. I turned and was met with a smiling princess. Although I wasn’t sure what to make of her smile…

“Lauren, how goes it?” I asked.

The princess just gave me a pouty face and poked me again, a little harder this time. I was tempted to tell her off, but… it’s whatever…

“Here I am, the future queen of this nation, touching you. Shouldn’t you be happier?” she said playfully.

“I don’t know my liege, you tell me,” I shot back, trying to match her tone.

Her swirling green eyes went wide, and she cracked a smile. “Ah, I knew you weren’t such a stick in the mud!” she giggled.

“I try…” I mumbled. “Anyways… are you a mage, Lauren?”

Lauren thrust her hips forward and pressed her well-developed chest outwards. It was interesting seeing the difference between her and Ren. Amongst other things…

“I am indeed! I’ll have you know I am actually the second-ranked student in the class,” Lauren stated proudly while giving me a playful wink.

She is?

Lauren puffed her cheeks out at me again and gave me a sad look. “Hey… why aren’t you saying anything?”

“It’s nothing. Just surprised is all.”

She gave me a hurt look and sighed. “You really are brutally honest, huh?”

“I suppose so… better than being a liar, right?” I said awkwardly.

Lauren crossed her arms across her chest and shook her head slowly. “Well, you would make a terrible king.” Then she gave me a beautiful smile that I hadn’t seen on her before. “But I can fix that,” she whispered.

Hey! Wait! What hold on—

I was about to ask her, but the sound of the Professor clapping again demanded my attention. “Alright, my young and upcoming mages! Today I have a little surprise for all of you!”

I had noticed the tarp in the center of the clearing, but I just ignored it as I figured it was for class. And it appears I was right as the Professor ripped it off and exposed what was underneath.

The blood-red statue shined brightly in the morning sun, and I had to avert my eyes for a moment. The figure was in the form of a knight in full plate armor wielding two large tower shields and standing with a wide-legged stance. The shields had the emblem of a nation I didn’t recognize, but if I had to take a guess, it must be from Krunbar. The symbol was a Dragon curled around an active volcano.

“This right here is entirely made up of Blood Iron!” he said while giving it a hearty slap. “The whole dang thing! It even has a Sparring Crystal chunk placed inside along with a few runes for some added oomph! So you guys should be able to blast this without a worry in the world,” the Professor said with his usual friendly smile. Then he looked straight at me and gave me a look of defeat.

“Voker… please don’t break it…the Headmaster will kill me if you do…” he pleaded.

I let out a sad sigh. “Yeah… sure thing…”

Lauren just giggled from beside me as the Professor helped us into lines. With that, the class began as he instructed us on how to cast magic. Of course, it was just a quick rundown since everyone here should already know the basics, but I still listened intently.

So, people really do treat their magic casting and body enhancement as two completely separate things.

In my case, Grandpa had drilled the knowledge into me that they were not, in fact, separate but one and the same. I mean, the way I put mana into a spell core was similar to how I enhanced myself with mana. Then again…

I could see how separating the two is more manageable. Even I have to have complete focus when forming a spell core. Any loss of my train of thought could easily see me losing control of the spell core and having it fire off unintentionally or just fizzling out while taking my mana with it.

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Yeah… I learned that the hard way already.

So I could see how focusing on one or the other makes sense. Not to mention there is a good chance most people wouldn’t be able to do either, so figuring out what you do best and focusing on improving that might just be better in the long run. However, if you had someone capable of both, you might stunt their growth forever.

Well, I think I’ll be sticking to Grandpa’s methodology. It’s gotten me this far. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll be ignoring the Professor. If anything, I might be able to learn a lot from him.

I was the last to go so I watched as each student fired off their spells. Orange flames wrapped around a Beastmen’s hands and shot out in a straight line towards the statue. An explosion kicked up some dirt, but it quickly settled, leaving the figure undamaged and free of even a simple soot mark.

I continued to watch other students, and I realized they were all relatively strong, all things considered. If I had to put my classmates into adventurer rankings, I’m sure most of them would be Amethyst just purely based on raw power alone. Some might fall a little below at Topaz, and the few at the top could possibly push themselves into Ruby if they had more experience.

Then there was me…

Lauren gave me a wink as a ball of water condensed out of thin air. The ball grew in size until it was a turquoise sphere of raging torrents about as large as a man’s torso. Sweat beaded down the princess's forehead as she concentrated on the spell and fed more mana to the core.

She let out a sharp breath, and the ball sailed off towards her target. Smaller whips of razor-sharp water launched out from the ball and sliced into the target. The main ball impacted directly into one of the statue’s shields just a few seconds later. The red knight rocked backward for a moment as her spell completely enveloped it in a watery grave.

What I had just witnessed was an impressive feat. If I had to take a guess, Lauren might be on the cusp of being considered an Expert level mage with that kind of power. However, I’m sure most people would have just looked at that spell coming from her tiny hands and thought of her as a prodigy. Even more so, considering she is only about sixteen or seventeen years old. And honestly, they wouldn’t be wrong thinking that.

I looked down at my hands and slowly opened and closed them. The realization that not a single student in this class besides Sylvia could best me was a hard pill to swallow. My classmates should have been the cream of the crop, the best of the best, yet I was so far above them I couldn’t be measured on their scale.

I’m a monster. A freak of nature. Well… I guess I always have been, huh?

Even if I was a prodigy, I should have been around their power level, yet I wasn’t at all. Not only am I just stronger than them overall, but I can also use more schools of magic than the average student at higher levels. I can even do all of that while using body enhancement that allows me to keep up with a War God, albeit one that is holding back but still…

I suppose I was always a freak. My existence in and of itself is unnatural.

I never wanted this. I didn’t ask to be like this in either of my lives. Even more so in this one…

But I had no choice… it was this… or die. I’m not sure if I can keep telling myself that.

I realized I had been just standing here looking at my hands when it was my turn to cast a spell. Lauren looked at me with a mixture of concern and confusion on her beautiful face. “Hey… are you okay, Voker? People don’t usually stare at their hands like that.”

“Yeah…no…I’m not sure…” I mumbled.

I extended my hand and tried to mimic the Fireball spell that Beastmen had used. My spell core finished, and I winced at the fact it took far more mana to hinder myself than it did just to use a regular version of the spell. The small ball of orange fire sailed towards the target much slower than usual, and its explosive power was barely a third of its standard strength.

“If you’re worried about breaking that thing feel free to go all out,” Lauren said warmly. “I’ll pay for any damage done to it, so you have nothing to worry about!”

“Mhm… maybe I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Lauren gave me a warm smile, and the rest of the mages started relaunching spells from the beginning of the line. I spared a glance over at the mana enhancement side and watched Parker, Sylvia, and Ren practicing swordsmanship with each other.

Ren was using her Cobalt and Blood Iron Katana while Sylvia used her usual weapon. Parker favored a long sword that was mostly made of Cobalt. However, the blade's edges were a pitch-black metal which probably indicated that it was made with at least some Mythril.

I also watched Jen… who was having a rough time as the Professor made her do pull-ups till failure on a tree branch. It was surely a sight to behold.

It seemed Ren and Parker were close friends, which made me wonder. Lauren was watching me watch them, and she merely gave me a smile. “What do you think of Parker,” I asked.

The princess gave me a confused look for a second, but she shrugged her shoulders. “He is like… an annoying little brother that I just can’t get rid of. I’ve practically grown up with him for the last decade and a half. Everybody ogles and worships him, and I understand why… I just see him… differently, I guess?”

That long, huh? I don’t remember Adria mentioning Parker, so maybe they didn’t interact with each other while she was here? And what’s with that look… is that how an older sister would look at her younger brother? Just annoyed?

“What about you? Has he annoyed you to no end yet? If he has, I apologize on his behalf. Parker has always been like that,” Lauren grumbled.

I shook my head. “I have no faults against him. He’s a kind man, and he isn’t too pushy, something I prefer in a friend. If anything. When Sylvia turned him away, I was surprised he didn’t press her or retaliate. Even more so when I learned he was nobility from the Holy Kingdom.”

Lauren poked me in the side again and giggled. “Friend, huh? He managed to talk you into it!”

“I mean… I suppose?” I said, unsure.

I didn’t mind having friends my age, even more so if they came to me. I know I can be… challenging to talk to at times, so I understand how hard it might be to approach me. But Parker never seemed to care all that much. He sort of reminds me of Padraic in that regard, maybe just less chaotic.

“Seems I might have to step my game up then…” Lauren said quietly.

“Are you doing that on purpose, or are you doing it because you think I can’t hear you?” I questioned.

Lauren stuck her tongue out at me and gave me another wink. “Oh… I don’t know? Who knows, right?”

You do…

“Having fun, you two?” Professor Garrison asked with a friendly smile.

“A blast, Professor,” Lauren said while returning his smile.

“Professor, I have a question for you. Just how much do you know about magic?” I asked.

Professor Garrison gave me a surprised look, then chuckled. “Testing me, are you? Well, if you are going to ask me about your lightning magic, I have no idea. I more or less learned how to defeat those kinds of mages in battle. But I did do a lot of studying so I know a fair amount about magic. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert… but I’m close. Why? What’s on your mind, Voker?”

I wasn’t testing him… it was just a genuine question.

“What do you know about gravity magic?” I asked.

The Professor rubbed his temples and stuck his tongue out slightly. “Gravity magic…gravity magic…gravity magic…” he mumbled. “You know… not much, actually. There is a book in the library about it that I was going to read, but I never got around to it. Either way, I’ve never seen or heard of a gravity mage before despite knowing that it might exist. So why do you ask?”

“Just a question. I figured there might be something you knew that I didn’t…” I mainly mumbled to myself.

Gravity magic… my most mana intensive school. I had to wonder if that was because it was difficult, I lacked a proper affinity for it, or I didn’t know the base spells for that school. And what made up base spells for a school of magic was beyond me.

Why was Fireball a base spell? What arbitrary system decided that? Was it because mages of the past first figured out Fireball first and used it so much it became ingrained into people’s very being and could be passed from mother to child?

For lightning magic, I just took a wild guess as well and figured that “Lightning Bolt” was the most logical spell possible. It may or may not turn out that it’s a base spell for school and that the reason gravity magic is so difficult is that I haven’t figured out the base spells.

Speaking of magic, I recently tried my hand again at testing other schools. I went through just about every single school I was aware of, from barrier to poison and all the way to light again. Unfortunately, I lacked an affinity for all of them and couldn’t complete a single spell core. Usually, I tried to mimic a new school as soon as I had the free time. I also tried Ren’s crystal magic, but that was a no-go.

“Thinking hard, Voker?” Professor Garrison asked with a chuckle.

“He is! Look at him!” Lauren giggled.

“Uh… yeah… sorry,” I mumbled.

The Professor gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Sorry that I wasn’t much help. I’d recommend checking out the library if you are interested. Of course, you could always ask the Headmaster as well.”

“I’ll have to give the library a chance. But the Headmaster? Just how strong is he?” I questioned.

Professor Garrison let out a small snort along with a chuckle. “Strong? That man is way stronger than me. If there were a ranking beyond Grandmaster, he would definitely be it. Then again, I haven’t seen him go all out in years, so maybe he’s a bit rusty.” The Professor looked up into the sky as his smile faded into a neutral expression. “You know… maybe I should have a duel with him again…” he said quietly.

That is a fight I would like to see.

The Professor gave us a few words of encouragement after snapping out of whatever trance he was in. I imagined he was playing out the fight between him and Bowen and was getting far too excited. The rest of class went well despite the odd feeling in my head from the forest and the uncertainty in my heart.

“Well, how did you do?” Sylvia asked me while we were walking back to our dorm.

I shrugged. “Just another day. How about you?”

“Pretty good. By the way… I made a decision.”

Huh?

I looked over at Sylvia, and she sounded serious. But at the same time, I didn’t get the feeling it was going to be a big deal. “What’s that exactly?” I asked.

Sylvia fidgeted nervously as she pressed her ears to her head. “I think I’m going to pick up another class. Ren and Parker both have swordsmanship class after our main one. I sort of kinda took their offer and joined it… sorry,” Sylvia said meekly.

I let out a small chuckle which made Sylvia snap her head towards me. I felt a smile creep on my face. “Why are you apologizing to me? You can do whatever you want, Sylvia. Honestly, that’s perfect timing considering I might take some time after class and start going to the library.”

Sylvia’s ears went red for a second as she turned away from me. “Okay… just making sure you knew.”

Why did she say it like that?

“Don’t give me that look,” she squeaked.

“What look would that be?” I asked in defense.

Sylvia grunted in frustration and just let out a sigh. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t be worried if I didn’t come back to our room at a certain time?”

Wait… what? Where did this even come from? Did I black out while walking and miss a sentence or something?

“I mean, that depends… we normally don’t go to the training facility till after school is out, so we don’t bother any of the classes. I guess if you didn’t show up for that without telling me prior, I might come looking for you…” I mumbled.

Sylvia giggled to herself. “That’s good.”

“I hope so…”