As Gabriel walked back to the table, the other had already arrived. He greeted everyone as they were all obsessing about Bryn’s body changes. He sat down, waiting for the food, but his mind was distant.

He remembered the time when he was a young adult. At the time, alumni from the Royal Academy would instantly join the front lines as squadron captains. Looking back, he was a child not much different from the ones sitting in front of him now. He first met Lysander when presenting himself to his first lieutenant.

The continental war against the demihumans had almost come to an end. A united army from all three main human kingdoms had been formed to fend off all the demi-humans in the continent's east. As all demi-humans from the east got exiled to Astronia, the humans fortified the port cities should a counterattack happen and then the unified army started to march west.

Lysander was designated as the leader of 3 new captains that day, one of them Gabriel. At the time, he was one of the lieutenants responsible for taking cities in the northwest, and the new captains came with another 15 men each as reinforcements for the mission at hand.

Looking at his new chief, Gabriel felt much different pressure from his professors during the academy. Even though they had battle experience, the last ten years had been more intense. Most of the best soldiers and leaders had been sent to the battlefield. The Royal Academy had a much different feel from its current status.

Lysander was also a former Royal Academy Cadet, but he had tasted battlefield after battlefield ever since the beginning of the war. It had been years since then, his first experience.

The Royal families from the three kingdoms thought that the war to the east would be much more complicated since it was the more accessible coast to access from Astronia. They were wrong.

Gabriel remembered the first attack. No class would prepare him for that. To the west, there was no proven way toward Astronia. Having nowhere to run, the demi-humans fought to their deaths, using all tactics to defend themselves from the United Army. Every day, the battlefield around the first city was gruesome; blood everywhere made the fields look red as the sun shone in the sky. Many places had marks from large-scale Magic combined with bodies from both sides. A few weaker soldiers were responsible for collecting the dead from the fields, but they didn’t have enough people to complete the job. The smell was a mix of iron, decay, and ash. Remembering it, Gabriel’s throat had a dry swallow.

Lysander was designated to the region because that is where he was born. He was 26 years old and hadn’t returned home since his fourteenth birthday, but he knew the area well. As the battle continued, the losses increased day by day. The demi-humans didn’t take long to send out less experienced soldiers and adventurers from the region. Even if the guerrilla warfare tactics worked, the difference in experience, level, and magic capabilities between the unified forces and the port cities was noticeable.

With the losses from the first week, the city gave up and retreated west. Lysander was one of the best-performing Lieutenants in the army. His training, tactics and leadership helped develop soldiers and captains under him. Gabriel started to stand out; his level grew faster, and his adaptability was much more impressive than the other cadets. The only other captain who shone close to him was a peasant, not a noble or a cadet from the royal academy.

Remembering now, Jonas had to learn everything about war, fighting, and leveling on the battlefield under Lysander. He started as a camp helper and rose to power with his sword. That is how the duo met, competing for the spot of first captain under Lysander.

The two and Lysander became the most feared names in the Northwest. The glory from their achievements grew both their eagerness for more battles as it left tragic scars on the land and their subconsciousness. Battlefields are terrible places. One must leave their human side out before entering a war, or they might lose themselves before the fighting ends.

Lysander and his men got promoted just before arriving at their region's last City. All the remaining demi-humans that abandoned previous cities would be here and the challenge was the most absurd during their campaign. Lumina Haven had been built over a mana geyser, allowing all magical users inside to use mana more significantly than any attacking army.

Lysander remembered a hidden entrance to the city he used as a kid. Jonas became responsible for entering it and breaking the gates. Gabriel was responsible for the frontal attack. Lysander would follow Gabriel inside to end the battle. Neither of the three could remember the number of demi-humans he killed that day. The number was in the hundreds or thousands. Magical users over a mana geyser were like unstoppable war machines. The battle for Lumina was so intense that the city was destroyed; the barriers couldn’t take the damage it sustained.

It took more than a week for Lysander to come up with the plan and even after Jonas was able to break the gates and they invaded the city, it took them another five days fighting inside the walls. Higher-level individuals needed much less sleep than a regular person, making it possible for nonstop conflicts for the entirety of their 96-hour hours inside.

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Gabriel could remember only the initial moments and the end of those five days. Slashing, casting and killing demi-humans became an autopilot for most of the time he was inside the city. His perception of magic increased by leaps and bounds as he honed his skills. Jonas and Lysander were similar to himself. That is, until the battle was almost over, and Lysander faced the commander of the demi-humans.

A mixture of tiger and human, the man was a rare type of demi-human. As they faced each other in front of the palace, Gabriel and Jonas were next to Lysander. Most city buildings were already destroyed, and fires painted the streets yellow and orange and the skies grey. Gabriel could see in Lysander’s eyes that something was off with the Major, but the man was prompt to cut both Gabriel and Jonas’s attempt to fight the demi-human on his behalf.

It was a fierce battle, and Lysander still had scars on his body and face to remind him of. But in the end, the experience Lysander had accumulated during the years in the army was enough of an advantage. As his sword cut their enemy’s leader, his eyes poured tiers nonstop. His face became somber as both his lieutenants saw something was wrong. With each tear rolling from his eyes, his hair became grayer. When the generals of the United Army came to congratulate them on the victory, Lysander was promoted to Commander, Gabriel and Jonas as his majors.

As they left, Lysander promised Gabriel and Jonas he wouldn’t partake in his responsibilities as Commander another time should they ever be sent to fight familiar enemies again. It took them years to discover that the demi-human he had killed was his best friend ever since childhood. The man was the one whom Lysander trained with and had helped him be strong enough to enter the Royal Academy.

When Lysander opened up, he had already become the cook from their legion. Gabriel had received the post of Commander after many other campaigns against the other kingdoms from the Auroraan continent. Because of their achievements over the West and dominance over the other kingdoms, Gabriel’s legion was now called the Solarian Vanguard. Their emblem had been engraved both on their armor and in the royal palace of Astralhaven as a pillar of the current royal family and the Luminaris Kingdom.

Looking back, Gabriel had grown up in areas where demi-humans were not allowed, so until he saw and learned about Lysander's origins, he never considered them worthy of life. His years in war and rise to Commander showed him it was not the case. He could only imagine the feeling he would have should he had to face Jonas to death. Only thinking about it, his chest felt empty, as if his heart was taken from his body.

“Mr. Gabriel, are you alright?” asked Bryn, breaking his trip down memory lane.

Gabriel’s mind’s image was replaced with the filled table before him. His son and daughter are in front of him, Kwame and the other demi-humans from the party, and Bryn is next to him with his hand over his forearm. He looked at Jonas, happily mocking some of the people at the table. The scene brought him happiness from the bottom of his heart.

“I’m fine, Bryn. Don’t worry.” Gabriel’s eyes looked far away as if his previous thoughts lingered.

“Good, I need my teacher,” said Bryn with a warm smile. He then walked next to Kwame to sit back down.

“Bryn, my friend, you keep surprising us… How was your first time using magic?” Asked Kwame, using his hand to mess with his hair.

“It was incredible! Look, I can create a water ball !” Bryn got up, using the spell he had learned just now.

“No magic inside my restaurant,” said Lysander as he broke the water, converging into Bryn’s spell. He was carrying plates for everyone. He and Gabriel exchanged a look but said nothing. The only one who noticed it was Jonas, who also remained silent.

That night, at the party, Jonas, Michelle and Luca celebrated Bryn’s awakening and his first use of magic while Gabriel and Lysander relieved their memories from times of war.

As the dinner ended and everyone went to sleep, Bryn had difficulty closing his eyes. He focused on understanding his core, mana, and everything related. He ended up falling asleep from exhaustion. His body drained his core constantly for more mana. Whenever his mind focused on his mana flow to analyze it, he saw any amount of mana in his core being dispersed into his body.

To use Magic, I need to store some mana on my core. I’ll have to constantly keep the floodgates closed so that my body gets less mana for now.

When he fell asleep, he was sitting cross-legged, his hands over his knees and his core filling up with mana gradually. When Bryn woke up, his Core was drained once again. He started the day, as usual, with a stretching and yoga session, but this time, he combined his focus on mana flow with it. The movements he wished to do were engraved on his memories and muscles, so his emphasis on mana flow was absolute. It didn’t take him much to control the flow out of his core, but whenever that focus slipped, more mana was drained than what he generated. He hadn’t had a yoga session so draining since his first week of stretching. As he finished it, a familiar sound rang in his mind.

– Skill Evolution –

Stretching Lvl. 8 (98%) is now able to evolve.

Would you like to accept?

Yes No

“Yes.”

– Skill Acquired –

Yoga LVL. 1 (0%)

Yoga does have a relation to internal energies. That is excellent! I’ll use nights for appraisal changes. For now, let’s go try out this new body.

As Bryn left his tent, his body didn’t shiver even a little to the cold. Without realizing this, he walked towards the training ground as usual.

“Bryn, let’s walk together. I was waiting for you to wake up.” Said Kwame.

“Mr. Kwame, good morning! How can I help?” asked Bryn.

“Young man, as you know, your blessings are above average. Your dexterity is exceptionally high, and you are starting to stand out. Not everyone will be like Gabriel's friends and family.”

“I need the strength.”

“I know you wish to save your parents, Bryn, but that will take you surviving until you are strong enough to do so.” Kwame’s head looked down as his smile disappeared.

“We are responsible for our choices, Bryn. You will face the consequences of yours at some point. I just wish to protect you until then.” Kwame continued.

“Let’s go train. I’ll consider your words.”