“Shane, wake the hell up,” a loud and familiar voice boomed. Before I was even aware, I was back. Back from the pits of misery. Back from the pain and sorrows I held. I didn’t need to take in my surroundings to know I was in Teachers’ Classroom once more. Thank god she is still alive. No all of them were alive.

Teacher spoke up once more grabbing my attention to the real world, “If Lala land is more important than my class then you can just stand in the back with your head in the clouds. I hope you enjoy having a 0 on your next exam. If anyone else feels like ignoring my class they can go stand with Shane.”

I let out a short sigh and took my walk of shame to the back of the class. My classmates giggling at my predicament. It wasn’t out of spite mind you. Even if it was I would readily forgive them. To me, everyone here was precious; One Man Smithy Scott, Archlich Ebony, Shrodinger Vane, and many others who would shake the foundation of the Maeia Realm. More than that they were like my siblings. We would all stake our lives on the line to save each other. At least we did until. . .

“Dammit,” my frustration silently passed my lips.

Teacher visibly irritated replied, “Shane, do I have to beat the shit outta you?”

Fuck, I forgot about her demon hearing. Not wanting any more of her ire, I just looked to the floor. She moved on to her lesson after seeing my resignation. I was still mad. To them it hadn’t happened to me, I just saw all of them perish. I was not a hot-blooded man. However, for the first time in my life, I was fuming. Why was I so weak! How could I be so helpless! Legendary Sage, I could barely save myself! This time I’m gonna rip that masked freak to shreds. I bought myself a second chance and good lord I’m going to put it to use.

I decided to leave the classroom and head to my old dorm for now. Teacher didn’t stop me as she already decided on my next exam score. She was a pretty rash woman but, deep down she cared. Knowing I wasn’t feeling normal she probably constructed a reason for me to leave. After all, I was the silent one in her class. I mean if Jason or Aubry were acting out she would directly kick the crap out of them.

When I made it, I let out a long sigh. I was mad. No madder than mad. However, all the rage in the world wouldn’t help me even scratch that monster. I needed to be stronger this time around, I had to use every single legacy and technique I’ve learned to mold myself into an even bigger demon. I knew countless ultimate training guides for numerous paths and I even knew how to shatter the mortal taboo and go further in them.

Yet I didn’t consider traveling any of them. While most of them would lead me to great power. I was stubborn. I walked the path of the Sage in my last life and I failed to break the mortal taboo. I wanted to break it even more now. The Sage path is a mix of the Martial Path and the Mage path. The Martial path sought to bring external energy inwards, whereas Mages wanted to project internal energy outwards. Taking on both meant many shortcomings as Sages were typically physically weaker than Martial Artists and Mages combined. They also had to make simultaneous breakthroughs on both paths to become stronger. The rewards, however, were worth it. Sages had more energy than any other path in existence.

I could spam millions of 7th circle spells and use trillions of Transcendent Arts before feeling fatigued in my last life. Yep, yo ho, yo ho a Sage’s life for me. The problem was it was hard to decide which techniques to practice. For the Martial part, I was utterly lost. What about “The Grand Prodox Practice”, or maybe the “9 Lives 9 Fires”, there was also “Fate Grasping Straws Divination”, even the “World Water Forge” was too enticing. Any one of these would be called heavenly practices and would be wanted by anyone. Too bad they were given to me because my classmates thought they were garbage.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

All of these weren’t bad choices per se. Yet I didn’t have the courage to pick any of them. I just don’t feel any connection with any of them. If I don’t have a connection with them it will be hundreds of times harder to practice them. . . No, wait I do have one. The only legacy my teacher left me after she passed away, “The Loli Transformation Technique”. Sadly I was never able to decipher it and gain access to its contents. Hold on, Teacher is still alive. She hasn’t passed away yet. She might know how to read it.

Granted he had no idea what a Loli was or how strong they were but, it couldn’t be weak if. Back when he first got it and was trying to find clues on how to unlock it the only thing he found was a record of a practitioner using a “Lolita Kick” against a god. Something like that had to be powerful. Especially if it was Teacher’s last possession.

Well with that out of the way he can get started on Mage’s part. It wasn’t that hard. There was only one mage practice that was truly on the top. The “Dragon Heart Rebirth” was simply the one practice that was wanted by all mages. When combined with a martial practice to make a sage practice, it was able to alleviate 90% of Sages’ weaknesses. On the downside, it required a ton of materials to form a true Dragon Heart.

Sitting in a half-lotus on my bed, it didn’t take long to start the process of energy awakening. It only a short breath into my lungs and a long stab into my heart. It was as if I had done it thousands of times. A little bit later and I could feel the “mana” emanating from my heart. That was all it took to be considered a first circle mage. Some take decades, never awakening their energy and for me, it was a momentary inconvenience. I should get hung up on that.

The next step was to turn my heart into a mana organ. While I’ve never used the “Dragon Heart Rebirth” before, I know the first step was to transform the heart into a mana heart. There's not really any good or easy way to do this. Technically if I had a pound of fairy grass I guess I could imbue my heart with a ton of energy. I digress, the "Doki Doki Death" method is 100% viable. In fact, Ebony had used this method to make her mana heart.

With some slight hesitation, I control the tiny scraps of mana in my body and shape them into a small mallet. Okay, one, two. . .

“Blahk,” oh yep that’s blood. Definitely blood. That masochistic vixen. I can’t believe she actually did that with 3rd circle mana. Why did she think this was the best way to create a mana heart. Well, I have to finish what I started. For some reason the scraps of mana I have doubled, no definitely not because of the masochist. Ignoring that and forming it into the second shape of a lead pide I get ready for the second swing. One, two, SON OF A!

I take a second to clean all the blood off my mouth. Once more the mana I had doubled. I swear I’m going to get her back for this. No, settle down, this is the last and final step. I guess forming a mana heart in three simple steps isn’t that bad. Even the fairy grass takes 10 steps to form one. The last and final form was supposed to be a sword. However I, unlike some no-good masochist, am only at the first circle so I’ll make do with a dagger.

Alright, deep breath. FUahhh, okay I’m fine. It's fine. I don’t think I’ll be able to get this blood off my sheets but, it's fine. I could feel the deep change in my heart. If before I only had some small scraps, it was now a least a lump of mana. My heart was also calmer. My heartbeat was now twice as slow and yet several times more efficient. It will now supply my cells with mana along with oxygen so, all in all, this was a major step forward.

All I needed was the “Loli Transformation Technique” then I could form my sage art and make my first circle. It really won’t be hard to immediately jump to Novice Circle 6th Step Sage. I’ll leave that matter for tomorrow. I think I have a more important engagement at the moment.

Classes have long since ended and so It was easy to find her. While I could say she never changes, It would be more apt to say that she hasn’t gone through any major life changes yet. After all this back when we were all dumb kids under the care of Teacher. Not the legendary figures that stomped on planets and played with stars.

I step into the death yard and yell, “Ebony, I demand compensation!”