Fred followed after Clarissa, and they shortly arrived before some kind of bathroom. She made him wait and went away to grab some clothes. He looked at the sword in his hand, and found comfort in it.

“Those people seem to be fine… They don’t feel as devious as those people in the facility…” He thought while comparing the behavior of the ones he met. John looked disinterested at everything, only focused on delivering him to a proper place. Simon had been scary, but he only looked like a suspicious man, and Clarissa, was the one most different between them.

She looked at him with tenderness in her eyes, and even though she had an imposing presence, he felt safe around her.

After some moments, Clarissa entered the bathroom with a bundle of clothes. “I think those will fit you.” She placed the clothes over a nearby stool and said. “I’ll examine you right now, to see if there’s any remaining wound. Is that fine with you?” He nodded his head and she carefully placed her hand over right shoulder, the one full of bloodstains.

He felt a soothing and warm energy entering his body, and he felt comfortable. He relaxed his body, and closed his eyes. The energy circulated around his body, and left after a few moments.

“Your body is fine…” She said while lingering her eyes on the wall for a second. “Take a shower and go back to the gymnasium. I’ll be waiting there.”

Fred nodded and began to take his clothes off after she left the place. He carefully placed them aside and turned on the shower. The cold water fell over his body, washing away all the bloodstains left. He rubbed his body with a soap Clarissa left for him, taking any dirt off.

Willfred looked over his bundle of old clothes and felt the urge to wash them for a second. It was a response instantly ingrained into him. After every battle, they bathed and cleaned their clothes. If it was damaged, they took it to one of the instructors to have it fixed.

He ended his shower while looking over the clothes. After drying himself, he put on the clothes Clarisse brough. It was brown pants, a green shirt and leather boots. The clothes looked a little battered, but they were well maintained.

He picked his old clothes from the corner of the room and held them in his hands. He placed them on the ground in front of him. “I have nothing to do with that place anymore. My life is my own!!” He said with conviction while raising his hand and throwing a small burst of flames to burn it down. He reinforced the ground with earth magic to not leave any mark and watched it burn down.

Fred had learned basic manipulation of the elements during his training in the facility, nothing useful in combat. Of course, his talents were in pure mana manipulation, not in manipulating elements.

After the clothes were diminished to cinders, he created a bit of water and washed it away.

He felt a weight leaving his shoulders. Like that part of his life was somehow left behind. He knew that in truth, it would never leave him, but he had to try at least.

He left the bathroom and walked to the gymnasium. After entering it, Clarissa approached him and took him to a corner of the place. He felt the curious eyes looking at him.

“Well, let’s see what you can do with that sword.” Clarissa said, standing a few meters in front of him.

He looked at the sword in his hand, and then at her. He knew he should not be able to hurt her, but he also didn’t want to show his full power. “It’s better to focus on swordsmanship then.” He thought while getting on a stance, holding the longsword with both hands. Clarissa waited in place. “It seems I have to make the first move.” He kicked the ground behind him and advanced while slashing at her, aiming at the shoulder.

As the sword approached her, a green translucent root materialized midair. The sword hit it, and was stopped in place. His attack didn’t come even close to penetrating her defenses. He felt a disturbance in the mana behind him, and rolled to the side while avoiding a wooden wip aiming at him.

“Great reflexes you have, Fred. Now, I know you have more than just that, attack me properly.” She said while yawning.

“Okay…. Let’s use a bit of mana in the attack…” He concentrated on his sword master skill, and let his mana flow into the sword according to it. He also circulated a bit of mana around his body to make him faster.

This time, he circled to her right side and dashed to her while trusting his sword. She blocked the attack again, but this time, his sword made a small dent in the root that went for her defense.

He retreated when she attacked again, and they kept clashing for some time. Fred was trying to get over Clarissa’s defense, while avoiding some of her attacks. Even when he used his swordsmanship to the limit, he couldn’t get past it. He knew that if he didn’t use the full capability of his mana manipulation with his sword master skill together, he couldn’t possibly get over her defenses. “From the way she’s fighting, she’s truly testing me. There’s no way she is going all out with both her defense and attack.”

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After a few minutes, Clarissa raised her hand and said, “That’s enough.” Fred lowered his sword and took a deep breath to calm his body.

“It looks like your sword mastery skill is on the verge of evolving to Rare tier… really a unique talent for someone your age.” He nodded to her and looked around. He saw that most of the students had stopped their training and had their eyes on him. “What are you doing?! Focus on your training!!”

Everyone who was looking at them, instantly went back to their training. “It seems she has them on a tight leash.”

“I have someone that may help you break through to the next tier…. Come with me.” Clarissa said and walked out of the gymnasium. Fred followed after her like a puppy.

They walked through the village for some minutes, and soon arrived before a house on the outskirts of the village. Unlike the other houses, this one was entirely made of wood and had only one floor. She walked to the door, and respectfully knocked on it.

After some time, the door opened. An old man, with a bald head and a full white beard opened the door. He had sun tanned skin, and his white irises stood out. He was clearly blind.

Clarissa bowed to the old man and said. “Sir, I’ve got a youngster here who is about to evolve his sword mastery skill to Rare tier before the integration. Could you help him in this endeavor? We only have one day and a bit before the ceremony.”

They stood there for a few moments, and the man didn’t say anything. Even though the man was blind, Fred could feel his gaze on him. Like he was being evaluated.

“hmm…. I’d normally not do something like this, but I’ll make an exception for this young man.” The old man nodded and motioned for Fred to follow him.

He went inside the house, but before entering the door, Clarissa stopped him and said. “Show proper respect to master Jouti, he deserves it.” He nodded, and she turned away, leaving him alone.

After following master Jouti, they left through the door behind the house. There was a very well cared for garden in there, with a lot of roses and different flowers. They were planted around a circular platform, and Fred could feel the power flowing through these plants. He curiously looked around, investigating the natural formation.

“Oh… You’ve realized that those are not mere plants. Quite the talent you have.” Jouti arrived before the circular platform and jumped into it. Fred followed after him, and instantly felt the effects of the formation.

His mind calmed down, and the frenzy he felt since escaping the facility eased somewhat. His body followed after, and the tension in his muscles were alleviated as well. He could feel his surroundings with even more clarity. It was almost as if a new vibrancy was introduced around him.

Jouti motioned to the ground and said. “Sit.” Fred instantly complied, and Jouti sat in front of him.

“Do you have the meditation skill, boy?” Jouti asked.

“Of course I have it sir.” He said as a matter of fact. Anyone that used mana had it in order to recover it faster. And because of his mastery of mana manipulation, his meditation skill was way higher than someone his age.

“Hmm… Show me.” He instructed.

Fred took a deep breath and focused his mind on meditating. Soon after, he could properly feel the mana inside his body.

“Hm.... Just as I thought.” Jouti said. Interrupting Fred’s meditation. “Boy, you’ve quite the talent in manipulating mana.”

Jouti’s last words made him freeze in place. “Just by seeing me meditating he could see my talent in manipulating mana?”

“How…” Fred asked in a low voice. He couldn’t believe what just happened.

“How did I discover your talent in manipulating mana? Well, there are many things that points to it.” He began. “First of all, your mana density is too high for someone your age, your intelligence attribute must be over fifty. And there’s two ways for someone to raise their mana density before getting a class. They either are very talented in manipulating mana, or have received enough resources from their clans, like pills, herbs and some other things to raise their attributes.”

He pointed to Fred and said. “You just showed me that you are talented by using your meditation skill. For it to be at Rare tier, and have its special attribute as internal mana sight, you must be very talented.”

Fred had many questions on his mind at that moment. Just the fact that Jouti discovered his talent so quickly impressed him, but every word that left Jouti’s mouth after that just made him respect the old man much more.

He struggled for a few seconds, and was eager to ask some questions. “You don’t need to hesitate, say what your mind is wanting.” After hearing Jouti saying this, he asked.

“I understood most of what you said, even though I don’t have the means to achieve what you did. But what is the special attribute of the skill you talked about?”

Jouti opened his mouth and said. “Well, all skills are basically the same before Rare tier. But after getting to it, each person develops skills differently. The special attribute of my Rare tier meditation skill was not internal mana sight, but self reflection.”

Fred was instantly enlaced by curiosity, and asked. “What does it do?”

“Hahahaha.” Jouti laughed heartily, and Fred was confused. “Why are you laughing?” Fred thought, but didn’t say anything.

“Finally behaving like a boy your age, curious. That’s good to see.” Jouti smiled, and the remaining tension left Fred. He didn’t know how, but the old man realized the fear and apprehension he had in his heart, and slowly made it go away.

“To answer your question. I won’t tell you what self reflection does.” Jouti said. And just before Fred asked ‘Why’, he continued. “Skills are unique to each individual from Rare tier onward. Knowing the details of some special ability can make someone stop their development. Sometimes it can guide, but most times it becomes a roadblock. You are still too young, and have a long time to evolve your skills. In time, you’ll be able to develop them in your own way.”

Fred was eager to know more, but knew that the old man wouldn’t say anything more. And if what he said was true, it was best to discover his own path. “Isn’t that why I wanted freedom? To make my own path?”

Jouti stood up and said. “Let’s spar a bit boy. Show me your swordsmanship.”