Another day, another duel.

With a swift step to side, I dodged as red sparks of magic flew past me.

A surge of fire fanned towards me, barely scorching my skin as I ducked below.

But it still wasn't finished, within an instant I drew my wand, preparing to fight back.

A scorching red bolt shot towards me as I perfectly countered with a faint blue ward cushioning the spell, slightly shoving me to my knees.

Immediately, I scrambled to get up and rush forwards, shuffling through the field as I chucked three air blade swipes ahead. Three purple sword swipes cut through the air to the side, but to no avail. Dmitry redirected the swipes, flicking them into the walls as they carved thin slices through the bricks.

"Owwh, that's sharp kid." He teased, standing there completely unharmed.

Annoyed at his jeer, I began to throw my offensives, but to no avail. Every single spell I flung would either get countered or blown to smithereens and parried using a red blasting curse he expertly executed.

Dmitry was agile and direct.

Transfiguration was merely a delaying strategy. Unfortunately, I wasn't yet experienced enough to match his explosive spells or powerful blows. It was simply an unbeatable dueling style.

To tell you the truth, seeing my helplessness, I slightly regretted focusing on transfiguration.

Dmitry raised his wand high, as it glowed with crimson magic, and he thrust it into the ground.

The floor shook as an earthquake rippled towards me with waves of magic in tow.

Completely defenseless and stumped at this attack I tried to immediately counter.

As my curse hit the ground and it petrified to stone, the ripple indiscriminately tore through to me, blasting me backwards.

The blow was devastating enough to give me a concussion as I lay on the ground, dazed.

Struggling to get up, I could barely feel my fingers, as I heard a distorted voice trying to get a hold of me.

Soon, I felt a cold syrup hit my lips.... this taste...bitter sweet.

"Honey wine" I mumbled

Opening my eyes, I saw Dmitry standing over me....

"I almost passed out huh" I responded groggily as I soothed my head.

"Well kid, you're lucky I still had some of this left over. Anyway, I told you it wasn't a good idea to have me push you to your limits-"

I cut him short before I caught another lecture about safety... see I wasn't suicidal, but I was passionate.. Unfortunately, at my current growth rate, it would take me years before I could even reach the start line. Hence I wasn't left with any option but to drain myself dry of magic every single day. To push myself to the limits in duels and practice what I could as I developed. That was the only way to achieve something by the time I hit my teens.

" Yeah yeah, same old, rushing towards growth will only serve to hold me back further crap."

"Fine kid, have it your way. But don't tell me I didn't warn you. Besides, Zagreus already got mad at me the last time I snuck you out for a duel like this. I can see why, you're practically a maniac. Heck, I was sure you were going to be on a stretcher for the rest of the day if not for the wine."

Forcing myself up by clutching his hand, I leaned on his shoulder. My legs were still weak after that last shockwave. Perhaps, I really was pushing myself too hard.

Fortunately, Honey wine was godsent nectar. I don't know who came up with it, but a brew that could revitalize you to this degree was basically unheard of.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

It was no miracle potion, but extremely suitable towards curing concussions and pumping some energy into your body.

"So what's the plan? Done for the day, or are you still planning to go for more." He asked disapprovingly.

" Well clearly, I can't even move. So we'll cut it short for today. Besides, I have too many pages to write up in the journal. "

"You know kid, for all the godawful scribbling you do, it might just be making a small difference. I mean your not exactly winning anything. But the subtleties in your technique are really showing. I still recommend you tone it down. Growth needs recovery just as much as effort."

I wasn't a stickler but, Dmitry was really peculiar about recovery and rest. Perhaps his mind was far too suited towards "fighting", but he couldn't help but lecture me, on and on about being at my best even while I was unprepared.

Which meant that I had to really step up my physical game. Granted I was still about eleven, so I couldn't do much. But still, sprinting around the dueling grounds built up my endurance and also improved my stamina.

I wasn't as easily tired now, but that meant a constant influx of physical training to keep the cycle going...

"I can't believe I am saying this to you kid, but maybe it's time to calm down and go read a book." He shook his head while annoyed at my antics.

" Geez, ok boomer. I was going to the library anyway. If not for the stuck up librarian maybe I'd even spend some time there. Besides, I read more than you." I retorted, hurriedly walking away.

" What did you call me?" His voice rang out as I power walked out the door.

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Roaming around the base, I finally made my way to the library, and as soon as I took a step in...

I heard the same condescending ~holier than thou~ voice beckon me to the reception.

"Oh my, back again are we. Oh dear, I don't believe we're open right now." The old lady nodded disapprovingly

Margaret was a bespectacled old hag. Slaving away at the library, simply because she had nothing better to do.

"Come on Margaret, you might not like me but this library literally doesn't have a closing time. Now hand over the pass." I asked with an outstretched palm

"I wonder what they teach you kids these days." She said, as she reluctantly handed me a token to carry.

The library in this base was a special place. Not only did it hold knowledge from around the world, it also held secrets....Secrets that I very much wanted to access.

Unfortunately, fate teased me at every step of the way, because while I could look at those spell books, neatly decorated in their lofty high bookshelves. To simply access and open them, I required tokens.

Tokens that were divided into security levels, and only available by the librarian. They seemingly acted as keys, if not in one's possession, the book was a simple brick. Useless and empty.

But with the aided permission of the token, the words revealed themselves.

Now you might ask, why not just try to dispel the enchantment? Surely the books aren't too tough to crack.

I would agree, except that I had already tried it, and pretty much earned the ire of every librarian in this place.

Especially Margaret. Though to be fair, my next instinct was to try and steal one of those high level tokens... You can already guess how that turned out.

Lucky for me they couldn't outright ban me. Now I am not saying I am entitled, but it pays to know people in big places, specially if that person is your foster father. Essentially, I am a rich boy and if they don't let me in, well..

~My father will hear about this...

It goes without saying that I was still banned from all the other sections of the library, and couldn't access anything beyond certain volumes of advanced spells.

Anyhow, now that you've heard why I am not exactly welcome here, let's get right down to business.

I grabbed the first few books that caught my eyes and began reading.

Currently, I wasn't exactly looking for anything specific, hence I had the luxury to browse around for esoteric techniques and spells used in dueling. They obviously weren't up to date. But it did give me a perspective on what to try and improve.

I read for a few hours and when I finally looked at the time, the clock had struck 12 at midnight. Which meant that I had to go sleep, otherwise I wouldn't be able to wake up for training in the morning.

Taking a deep yawn, I leisurely walked back to my room.

As I reached my door, I silently opened it and immediately fell on the bed. Today was tiring....

"I am improving"

I felt it, perhaps only slightly like Dmitry said. But I was improving. A slight smile crept up on my face as I turned in for the night. Perhaps a new tomorrow awaited me. But I was close. Soon... yes very soon.

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[4 years later]

10....11.....12...

I forced out an extra pushup and fell over to the side, as my shoulders began to ache. Laying alone in the dueling grounds, I was sweating profusely as I trained my physique.

I had resorted to calisthenics, these last four years. A natural way to increase my body's physical strength, but also a shortcut to increasing my endurance. A perfect balance that I had stumbled upon.

Anything ranging from pushups, pullups or body weight movement was my go to.

I took in a satisfied deep breath as I relaxed my arms, slumping onto the floor.

Glancing at my palms, I could see rough calluses develop on my hands....

"It's really been four years."

I knew the words I wanted to say but as I said them, only a broken voice came out...

The time I was really dreading.

Puberty

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