And saying so, she launched into her lecture, “Warforce is the bloodline power that exists within us. It is there in most of the population of Protos - whether it be humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, etc - and they awaken it at the age of 10, though why so is still unclear.”

Interjecting, I said, “That’s why I call you a prodigy because you awakened at 8 years old.”

Blushing, she nodded and said, “Some, like me, awaken earlier and are considered geni-geniuses-” she said, stammering a bit at the last word, the blush deepening. Forging on, she continued, “Others who cannot awaken it at all are just normal people, Insignificant to people with warforce.”

Seeing my expression, she paused severely before saying, “Faust, don’t think too much. My Teacher also said to not be complacent. What matters is how we train. If we are lacking in discipline and commitment, we will forever be useless, even if we are geniuses. We have to have discipline and commitment and then we will be a genius even if we’re not actually one.”

Mulling over her words, I looked at her before saying, “You remember it well, huh.”

Nodding her head, she said, “Those were the first words he said to me. He told me to remember them well and engrave them into my heart.”

Falling silent, I looked at her before I pointed at the pennants, “So what does warforce have to do with them?”

A smile breaking her face, Sia said animatedly, “Those are, like I told you, the ranks of warforce. We divide Warforce into 5 levels, namely Awakening, Iron-rank, Silver-rank, Gold-rank, and Weaponmaster!”

Pointing at the stages which numbered only 4, I was about to ask when she continued on, “there are only 4 stages there because weaponmasters are too few and too revered to take part in ceremonial duels.”

Nodding in understanding, I asked, “Is there anything above weaponmasters?”

Slowly nodding, Sia said, “There is. They are called Wargods, but my teacher didn’t tell me anything about them. Just to run if I ever came across one of them.”

A look of yearning crossed my face at that.

Seeing it, Sia patted my shoulder comfortingly and said, “One day Faust, one day.”

Nodding, I turned my attention back to the stage where the contestants were already warming up and pairing up for their matches.

I looked at the first pennant which was black and noticing my gaze, Sia, still in teacher mode again, said, “That’s for duels between awakened soldiers.”

Nodding, I recited what every single Protean knew. “Awakening is when one awakens the warforce within for the first time. It will manifest itself in a surge of energy that will enhance the body in a certain aspect or multiple aspects at once. It can be speed, dexterity, agility, strength, toughness, endurance, stamina, height, weight, an extra limb, your 5 senses, and if one was lucky - one might even be gifted with a special skill like some people have got in the past 300 years.”

Suddenly curious, I asked Sia, “Does Sir Leonidas have a special skill?”

Shaking her head in frustration, Sia replied, “I asked him so many times, but he never said anything!”

Still curious, I asked her another question, “What about when you awakened. How did it feel like?”

Sia fell silent before she said, “I was feverish and unconscious for nearly two days and when I awoke, all my aspects were boosted tremendously and this allowed me to grasp difficult concepts and execute them perfectly. Though it was still barely enough, according to Teacher, because of the limitation of my age. As to how I awakened, you know the story as well as I do.”

I knew the story. In fact, apparently, I was the cause for it. She had come across me crying after a session of bullying and she was apparently so angry that she fell unconscious. Then she awoke and had fought Harold and his gang, catching the attention of Sir Leonidas.

Looking at her wince, I figured she must be remembering that scene too, and the ones that followed it.

For Sir Leonidas had asked her how long it took for her to awaken, and when Sia had replied that it had taken her two days, he practically jumped into the air in shock.

Later, I found out that awakening usually takes only an hour or two. Someone extraordinarily gifted might take 7-8 hours, but multiple days were as rare as the feather of a phoenix.

Looking at me, Sia softly said, “Soon Faust, soon.”

Smiling at her, I heard the cheers of the crowd, and turning back, I frowned as I saw the first fight between the awakened had already ended.

Suddenly, a thought struck me and I asked Sia, “There are 5 stars for each rank, right? What star are you at, Sia?”

Sticking out her tongue at me, she said, “Awakened 5 stars at your service.”

Jumping up, I looked at her in surprise and exclaimed, “That fast? How do the stars even work?”

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Gathering her thoughts, Sia said, “each star of awakening increases the concentration of warforce within me and increases my strengths accordingly. It’s measured with a force stone which changes from white to black in different shades according to how many stars you’ve reached and is usually per 20% concentration of warforce. Mine is pure black now which means 100% concentration!” She finished proudly.

Then, with a more serious look on her face, she said, “But don’t think that it’s easy. If you don’t train enough, you will forever stay at awakening star 1. Only if you practice and practice until it becomes like breathing for you to control the energy that is warforce will you be able to advance.”

Nodding rapidly, I signaled my understanding of her valuable advice.

Then she sheepishly smiled and said, “That was also told to me by Teacher.”

Smiling, I asked, “What else did Sir Leonidas teach you about?”

Pointing at the second stage with a bronze-colored pennant, she said, “That’s for the next stage after awakening, and its color on the force stone is bronze. It’s called iron-rank and you basically use your warforce to further enhance parts of your strengths or to turn weaknesses into strengths. It’s an enhancement that can make you run faster, fight better, think more intelligently, and so on. The potentials are endless!”

Frowning, I pointed at the people on the iron rank stage and then at the ones on the awakened stage and said, “But there’s no difference between them fighting?”

Crossing her legs, Sia knowingly nodded and said, “That’s because they’re almost the same. One can use warforce and the other can only take the benefit of having the warforce. The white and black circulation is common in both. That’s why you never know which rank you are fighting until they actually display their true abilities!”

Frowning even harder, I pointed to the next stage where the Knights, for they were Knights now, were fighting with silvery armor flowing around them. “What about them?”

Looking at the stage with the silver pennant, Sia turned solemn as she said, “That’s what we should aim for. Silver rank since Knights are only knighted once they reach the silver rank. Their force stone turns silver once they reach the rank and they can form armor around themselves with their warforce called as forceshields. Every 1 cm of thickness means 1 star, so 5 stars are equal to 5 cm thickness forceshields.”

Blurting out, I exclaimed, “Wouldn’t that mean they’re impossible to kill?”

Shaking her head, Sia was about to explain when Sir Falmer and Sir Leonidas walked on to the last stage with the golden pennant.

Screaming out in excitement, Sia grabbed my hand and said, “They’re about to fight. The gold ranks!”

Infected by her enthusiasm, I looked at the stage curiously as the Knights bowed to each other before they began dueling with simple training swords. No fancy moves were exchanged and yet a storm of golden glows surrounded the two and a minute later - they separated and bowed to each other, their clothing torn in many places.

Puzzled, I looked at Sia, who was still shouting, and caught her eye before I raised my eyebrows at her.

Quickly, she began speaking, “Gold-ranks can unleash bladeglows from their weapons! Each bladeglow is a sword strike across a distance made up of warforce. Each 1-foot increase in the bladeglow is equal to 1 star, so 5-star gold ranks can unleash 5-foot bladeglows.”

In a hushed voice now, she said, “They’re one of the most deadly people on the battlefield because they have both the forceshield for defense and the bladeglows for attacks.”

Stunned, I squinted as I asked, “So what’s their weakness?”

“Weakness?” Sia asked, distracted.

Nodding, I repeated my words and Sia pondered for a moment before she said, “Their bladeglows and forceshield are made by warforce, so their expenditure is much greater, but their reserves are also bigger. So they have to use their warforce efficiently. That’s what my teacher said before he stopped, saying that it was too early for me to learn those things.”

Disappointed, I looked at the ground before looking up hopefully and asking, “What about weaponmasters and wargods?”

Looking at me apologetically, Sia said, “I only know that the colors are red for weaponmasters and violet for wargods.”

Patting her hand, I said, “That’s more than enough, Sia! You’ve told me so much - you’re sure you won’t get into trouble with your teacher, right?”

Shaking her head resolutely, Sia said, “Teacher won’t mind. He’s very good that way!”

Then, looking at me hopefully, she asked, “Maybe you can ask him to train you and he’ll accept?”

Waving off the suggestion, I turned my attention back to the dueling grounds, which were being emptied at the moment as the competitions finished.

“How long does it take to reach the silver rank,” I murmured.

“10 years!” Sia said, having overheard me, before continuing, “From awakening to iron rank, from iron rank to silver rank usually takes a person 10 years. A short period for us Proteans who can live for 300 years on average. Some of the Knights with extraordinary warforce can even live for 500 years. Oh, and Teacher also said that those old monsters are the wargods because it takes 100 years from silver rank to being a wargod.”

“10 years,” I said as I pounded my fist into my palm.

I will awaken at 10 and faster than 10 years - I’ll become a silver rank and get knighted like my brother is going to be today.

“Don’t worry,” Sia said comfortingly. “We’ll definitely do much better than the rest!”

Smiling, I asked Sia what her goal was.

Yearningly, she raised her head to look at the sky and said, “I want to be a weaponmaster. Able to use any object as my sword and slash out bladeglows everywhere!”

Shocked, I sputtered out, “Weaponmasters can do that?”

Turning to me, she grinned as she said, “Oops, I guess I forgot to say that. Well now, you know!” and she stuck her tongue out at me.

Pounding my chest, I said, “I will become a knight as fast as I can and then become a weaponmaster too!”

Bumping her fist on my chest, Sia grinned weirdly and said, “I’m sure you will. But according to my teacher, the road to silver rank Knight is filled with a lot of... interesting experiences. His favorite quote is ‘True training will only begin when the vessel is ready’”.

I repeated those words with a serious look, not knowing how much I’d regret them in the future, and then stood up, pulling Sia to her feet as I did.

“It’s time,” I said.

“Mm, go stand at your place. I’ll come by tomorrow to meet you if I can’t see you tonight.”

Grinning, I said, “You better! I still haven’t bought that book I was going for today!”

Chuckling, Sia and I went our separate ways to the central hall where the true accolade would take place.