Alex woke up to the sound of a knock on his door accompanied by the voice of one of his suitemates, Blake, “Hey! Wake up, Alex.”

Alex held back a groan of protest. The sun was up, which meant it wasn’t too early, but it wasn’t streaming in to hit his face just yet, which meant it wasn’t too late. He tried to stretch out the grogginess, but he hadn’t slept well last night. Becca had made sure they made it back to the dorms before curfew, but they’d spent hours cuddling on her couch and talking before he’d finally gotten to bed.

He had plans for the day, and he was very excited to watch Chester and Dale duel, but he didn’t regret the late night in the slightest.

“Alex, you said you’d be up.” Becca’s voice came streaming in from the suite’s central area. That set him to moving, he quickly grabbed some clothes and got dressed. A hand ran through his hair to fix it up, and then it returned to pat and prod away as he regretted the month it had been since his last cut. The mirror above his dresser showed a few stray hairs that seemed much more stubborn than normal, maybe he just didn’t worry about it too much most days.

Deciding there was nothing for it, and promising himself he’d get his hair cut soon, Alex left his room.

Marlin, Blake, and Jose were all out in the common room, with Marlin cooking breakfast for the group. Alex could smell eggs and sausage on the stove, indicating that Marlin was bringing out the good stuff. His suitemates were joined by Becca and Amy, who sat beside each other on the couch.

Looking at the pair sitting next to each other, Alex was struck by the realization that Amy and Becca were suitemates themselves. The plan to get the two of them together had probably been designed by Amy, who had apparently received a more positive response from Becca compared to the wishy-washy excuses Alex gave Marlin. Amy was the type, she loved to involve herself in her friend’s romantic lives. She was fun to be around in groups, but Alex wasn’t close to her because of her intrusive habits.

It all came together in Alex’s head as he saw the pair of them grinning happily at him. They’d used Marlin in their plot to get Alex to make the first move, only for Becca to take matters into her own hands when that proved ineffective. Alex cringed a little as he thought back over the last few days. Why did he push back so hard? Now that they were together, it seemed rather foolish.

Alex walked over and sat next to Becca. She happily slid over a bit and leaned on his shoulder, and Alex smiled as he wrapped an arm around her.

“Why was that so hard?” Amy lamented, “I’ve been trying for weeks to make this happen before graduation, and all it took was Becca calling you stupid and kissing you under the stars. Ugh. If it wasn’t so cute I would be very upset.”

“I tried, babe,” Marlin called over.

“You should’ve known better,” Jose chuckled, “Using Marlin as your proxy only convinced him to delay more.”

“I resent that, I can be convincing,” Marlin called back.

“Your idea of convincing is teasing Alex for spending the last three years single and pointing out how good he and Becca would be together?” Blake asked.

Amy gasped and looked over at her boyfriend, “You didn’t.”

Marlin winced, “Look, it all turned out alright in the end, right?”

Amy groaned, “You’re lucky you’re such a good cook.”

The whole group laughed as Marlin was forced to take the loss and turned back to the stove. Even Alex chuckled a little, as long as he wasn’t the one being blamed he was happy.

“It’s not just Marlin’s fault.” Becca came to the man’s defense, “Alex couldn’t take a hint from Jess or me either.”

“We were focused on certs.” Alex protested, “You probably would’ve just waved me off and gone back to your books if I asked you out a few days ago.”

Becca frowned at him, “I know how to manage my time, unlike some people. It would’ve been fine.”

Alex sighed but decided to follow Marlin’s example and avoid turning teasing into an argument by protesting too much.

The group continued to chat as the topic changed to Blake’s success with a Common Mana Body cert the day before. Everyone congratulated him as he went over the control bottleneck he’d finally managed to get through that would allow him to unlock Sensitivity at level one. It was the first step of a greater plan, so it was still worth doing even though it was significantly less than any of Alex’s friends aimed for.

Jose didn’t interrupt Blake’s congratulations but did chime in with his own news after they calmed down, “I was too slow and had to rush to make up time. My distributor rune was wrong, and the instructors aren’t willing to let me try a ritual immediately. I’m going to settle for the level two ritual.”

Alex nodded at this but didn’t condescend to his suitemate. Plenty of graduates would reach level two and spend a month adjusting to Sensitivity before doing their emplacement rituals, just about anyone who didn't attend the Academy would do the same. Even after years of practice in illusion chambers, many couldn’t adjust fast enough at level zero. To make matters worse, the experience of gaining the soul attributes was even more disorienting than the illusions. That was why students were required to prove their mastery in thirty minutes, while the emplacement ritual would last for forty-five. Those extra fifteen minutes were to make sure students had adequate time to adapt to the higher difficulty.

Blake’s Common Mana Body would unlock Sensitivity at level one, and he would then adjust to the sixth sense before pursuing something more ambitious. Jose would be a level behind that, losing out on only a few stats. The pair of them would then form an Uncommon Body once they were ready. Since every level at Tier 0 improved each unlocked attribute, besides Connection, by one, unlocking the soul attributes quickly was very important.

Every point made a difference at the early levels, and being more powerful while you were low tier could snowball if you gained a good achievement or completed a difficult trial. Without trial rewards, it was nearly impossible to gain a mana type and reach Tier 2.

Alex and Becca carefully didn’t mention their own achievements or goals. The whole room knew that they were certified for Rare rituals, but there was no reason to overshadow Blake’s accomplishment or make Jose feel worse about his failure.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I’m giving the Uncommon attribute blueprint one more try today,” Marlin stated as he plated the food he’d finished preparing, “I’m a bit nervous about it.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Blake replied, “You’ve managed similar stuff before. Just can’t let the pressure get to you.”

“Thanks, you guys can come get breakfast now.”

The whole group happily grabbed food and started to eat, the conversation falling into a lull as they enjoyed breakfast together. Marlin had taken a seat at the counter, and happily accepted his praise for the well-cooked breakfast. Sausages were far from rare, as plenty of monsters could be butchered and were quite delicious. Fresh eggs, on the other hand, were far from the easiest to find with limited space for raising animals. Marlin had probably needed to spend Academy Merit to wrest the ingredients from the cooks in the cafeteria.

As the meal ended, Alex stood up, “Well, Instructor Mark is expecting me in the gym today. I might as well get that over with.”

“We’re meeting up in the library after,” Becca reminded him.

“Looking forward to it,” Alex smiled at her. How could he forget about their newfound access to the third floor? The whole group would likely be around at some point, although they hadn’t planned anything before parting ways yesterday.

Alex grabbed a jacket and headed out. The illusion chamber wouldn’t be running until nine, and it was only fifteen minutes after eight, but he could spend the time warming up and getting in the right headspace. He had been too whimsical yesterday, letting his string of dominant victories against advanced scenarios give him a sense of security. Overconfidence would risk his life in a real fight, and the lack of focus had led to him making a mistake. He’d only won because the injuries in the gym illusion chamber weren’t real, although the pain was. If he’d broken a rib getting tackled by the kobold, the fight easily could’ve taken a turn for the worse.

He jogged to the gym again, but instead of letting his thoughts wander, he worked on clearing his mind. It was difficult, as the excitement of his new relationship and potential approval to chase an Epic Achievement were both quite distracting. Still, Alex had been trained in meditative techniques to empty his mind and sharpen his focus.

He focused on his breathing at first, letting the air flow dominate his thoughts and overwhelm the clamor in his mind. Once his thoughts were clear, he started to plan out his warmup. He’d stretch first. Instead of going straight into the swordplay, he’d run a few laps. After that, he’d do some introductory forms, working his way up to the more intricate patterns that were still difficult. It would probably culminate with one of the Aspirant forms he’d been taught, which he still struggled with.

There wouldn’t be any movement wasted on spinning slashes today, he’d warm up with perfect discipline. In the scenario, he’d show Instructor Mark exactly why he wanted to pursue the path with a sword at his side. No sloppiness. No mistakes. Just the excellence he’d spent years refining.

There was a different receptionist in the gym this morning, but the guy wasn’t chatty and Alex didn’t feel like deviating from the plan so only the minimum of words required were exchanged for Alex to get second in line once the chamber opened. Alex pocketed a buzzer and made his way into a track on the first floor where he could run laps without being a distraction for any students training this early.

The track was empty, and Alex maintained his serenity as he ran his laps. He let his breath and the patter of his feet hitting the ground fade into the background while he went over potential scenarios he might face. The running was simple, and simple was just what he needed.

When he came to a stop, Alex realized he might’ve overdone it on the run, but he wasn’t too tired so he shrugged it off. He resolved himself to keep better track of his stamina while training his swordplay, focusing on how he’d handle any scenario in the upcoming fight was good but he couldn’t waste his energy before it.

He made his way up to the same training field as the morning before and found the same sword in the place he’d left it. The younger students had been too focused on the sword’s appearance to notice that it was a perfect practice weapon. Their loss.

There were only a few other students on the field this early, and they were all focused. There was no chatting as they had spread out to focus on their training. Alex recognized two other Seniors but didn’t interrupt them, taking his own place with a buffer of several dummies between him and a spearman.

Alex clinically made his way through his basic sword forms as he delivered punishment to a green dummy. He’d mastered several of these forms years ago, but practice made perfect. The basics were important in a fight, and he refused to lose the muscle memory he’d refined into reflex over the years.

The basic forms were the foundation from which something greater could be achieved. Alex worked through a series of simple cuts and slashes, feinting an occasional parry or a dodge. He started to blend the movements together as he went, simply flowing from stance to stance when it felt right.

It was a similar feeling to the day before, but instead of just letting everything bleed away Alex maintained his focus. His footwork was measured, and he didn’t allow himself to make any mistakes.

This no-mistakes requirement was maintained as he began to progress to more advanced forms. These were all still meant for untiered students, but they were far more complex. The goal was to prepare for supernatural swordplay in the future, but Alex was still far from the limits of mundanity. The flow switched from easy, smooth transitions to a more measured approach as he avoided any slip-ups.

These forms were still manageable, but more difficult was far from impossible. He just had to follow the patterns more strictly. Following the patterns used to teach the sword forms perfectly was only for beginners, so he still adapted them some. If you fought according to a pattern in a fight, you’d be far too predictable for any monster with intelligence.

Time passed quickly as Alex maintained a steady pace. He didn’t push his limits, this was just preparation for the fight coming later, but his breathing grew heavier as he continued the drills at a good pace for minutes on end. Finally, he took a break, wiping the sweat from his brow and going to grab a drink of water as he mentally went over the warm-up and his progress with the complex forms.

He wasn’t stalled out, by any stretch, but progress had slowed after years spent training. There were no glaring flaws left to fix in his technique, at least not with the untiered forms. The whole point was to perfect footwork and control; he wasn’t exactly perfect, but he was good. The most complex forms, the ones that focused almost entirely on preparing him for supernatural swordplay, were less manageable, but he could handle them for the most part.

Staring at the dummy, he contemplated taking things to the next level for the minutes he had left before the buzzer went off. Aspirant sword forms generally required the enhanced attributes that came with levels, but he could mimic the movements well enough. The Academy didn’t teach anything beyond Aspirant, but Neophytes could come back for further instruction. Attuned were expected to create their own style that fit their Abilities and Enhancements.

Alex had been taught only one Aspirant form, and it was the easiest one. Attributes aside, a few of the forms wouldn’t even work until he could control the mana inside his body.

This last form was focused on controlling the increased physicality that levels brought. This made it rather useless for Alex, but it was still fun to train. The problem was that it was also exhausting. He had to put all of his strength into performing several of the movements, and maintaining his form and balance while doing that was taxing.

He stared at the dummy for a little longer as he caught his breath, torn between wanting to try out the Aspirant form and knowing it would tire him out and probably make him perform worse in the illusion chamber. Ultimately, logic won out. Instructor Mark would be expecting excellence today, and he didn’t want to risk disappointing both the man and himself again.

He returned to the easier forms to stay warm instead, going over different ideas for what a “special” scenario might be and how he would react in each case. Memories of previous fights and lectures flitted through his head. It probably wouldn’t be kobolds again. Goblins were a possibility. It could also be an empowered beast, but that would make for a fight that was less about technique and more about frantic dodging. Maybe he’d have to clear multiple scenarios in succession?

Finally, the buzzer went off.