It had been a couple of weeks since I have been training with Umbra. Whenever I thought he could keep up with his training, he kept making it harder. But thanks to that I had gotten much better at using mana and hand-to-hand combat.

I could even use mana while fighting. Though that didn't mean I mastered fighting. Umbra would demolish me without using any mana and without even moving. His combat strength and experience were far superior to mine.

"Your fundamentals have improved. I think you are ready. The only thing you are lacking is ironically your mana capacity. There is no way to increase it and can only enlarge with age. The recruits are older than you, so you will be behind even though you are talented."

After several weeks of training, Umbra determined that I was ready to train with the other recruits.

"Sir, how do you recruit people?"

A secret organization couldn't just put a notice saying 'Mages Wanted'.

"The centuries-long war has left a lot of orphans that nobody cares about."

They were using orphans as manpower. People who nobody would care if they lived or died. I didn't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, they were raising child soldiers who go on missions where nobody cared you died.

But I knew the necessity of SUITE. Though police did exist in this world, most of them were comprised of civilians and maybe some low-ranked mages. They couldn't stop higher-ranked criminal mages.

The government also couldn't have mages of a higher rank stationed at police stations. They needed their strength for the war. Every soldier mattered.

That's where SUITE came in. Any mages that caused trouble were neutralized without remorse. They weren't arrested, just mercilessly murdered. They were not given a trial under the law.

Furthermore, arresting a high-ranked mage was more trouble than it was worth. Mages had immense destructive potential and a fight between higher ranked ones would cause immense collateral damage.

However, that was not the main reason why mages weren't arrested publicly. It was because being a mage was treated as a noble profession. Mages were the guardians of humanity and the government wanted as many of them as possible to fight on the front line.

Arresting a mage would tarnish the job. The government couldn't allow this to happen. It was propaganda, but a necessary evil to protect humanity.

"Are you conflicted?"

"I don't know how to feel sir. I understand it's necessary, it almost feels like kidnapping and slavery."

"We don't kidnap people. Every year, we go to orphanages to pick out orphans with potential and send them to a training camp. We don't force them to go, but most do as it is an opportunity to escape poverty and get into the mage school. We observe those who have the correct mentality and talent for assassinations and offer them to join SUITE. The recruits here are those who join and we erase the memories of those who don't."

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"So it's a choice to join SUITE."

"Yes, the way you got in was highly unusual. Any other questions."

I shook my head.

"Ok then, let's take you to your classroom."

Umbra then showed me to a classroom where people older than me were learning maths. There were around 25 students.

"This is surprisingly normal."

"Having basic schooling is important."

Umbra replied.

"Oh my god, is that Umbra Moria?"

"Wait, no way why would he be here?"

"No, that's actually Umbra Moria."

All the children were amazed.

'I guess S ranks are that famous, even those who work in the dark. I guess this is how people would react if Ryan Reynolds suddenly showed up in your classroom.'

"Julius, welcome to class 11A (11 means 11 years old). Good luck and don't fall behind too much."

With that, he left me standing in the classroom awkwardly. The teacher was notified of this prior and quickly grabbed everyone's attention.

"Ok everyone, this is your new peer Julius Argenti. He may only be 8 years old, but treat him as one of your colleagues. My name is Herman Ridge. You can call me Herman or Ridge. Sit wherever you want."

I sat near the centre of the class. None of my classmates bothered to introduce themselves. Despite the normalcy, all of us were training to become killers.

The class was boring as I knew all this from my old world. The teacher was surprised that I was keeping up with the class but wrote it off as me being smart.

The class eventually ended and we had combat training.

'This is good, I can see how I compare to the rest of the class.'

The class was in a massive gym. There were platforms around the court where we could spar and a bigger one in the centre. I could see the other classes training on the other courts from the corner of my eye.

I was called up to the centre platform. I was paired with the weakest student in the class. We were not allowed to use mana in this fight. Even so, he was still bigger than me. I was at a disadvantage.

'I won't back down.'

The fight started and but it ended just as quickly.

The student rushed at me.

He then went in for a punch. I was surprised at his speed but managed to deflect the punch.

He followed up with a kick to my ribs which I managed to catch.

Then he suddenly jumped with his other leg and kicked toward my head.

Both my hands were used and I couldn't block it.

I was knocked to the ground where I was quickly pinned and the fight ended. I thought I had gotten better but I was nowhere close to these guys.

'This was the just worst student. How strong was the strongest?'

Most would have despaired because of the difference between us. But not me. I was done despairing. A fire was lit in my heart.

'I will surpass you all.'

Ridge nodded and we left the stage.

The class then continued with various students fighting each other and Ridge commenting about their mistakes. I was constantly analyzing their fights hoping to gleam more insights about hand-to-hand combat.

After those fights, we then as a class practised a series of exercises that I was barely able to follow. I thought that my classmates would bully or make fun of me for being so incompetent but they were just observing me.

I didn't realize they were trying to understand what connection I had to Umbra Moria. They wondered what was so special about me.

Soon combat class ended and the classes for the day ended. Most of the students either went to their rooms to shower or continued training in the gym. I wanted to put what I learned into practice and asked to spar with some of the people here.

Most complied and even though the fights didn't last very long, I felt like was improving.