It was late at night.

　　Ousei laid motionless on his futon, staring at his wooden room ceiling up above. It curved inward, into a dent consisting of one straight horizontal line at the center, depending on what direction your body was facing. That was because his room was in the attic, the highest room in his family's house.

　　It was relatively small, since it was previously a walk-in closet that has been renovated. His clothes were neatly stacked inside a tall drawer stand right beside the door. A thin black PC monitor stood on a rectangular box-like table, low to the floor as he prefers to use a pillow as his seat rather than a chair. Beside the monitor, there were some book collections - Some unfinished Shounen manga, and a few books about the Multiverse.

　　Ousei decided to crawl towards his monitor, and power it on. He waited for the Toshiba logo to appear on screen, indicating that he had logged in. Many of his computer files were dedicated to all sorts of Mage practice - Aberrancy Compatibility, Multiverse History, Military treatises regarding terrorism, war, and other violent events. His particular favourite was The Art of War by Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese general who wrote one of the oldest military texts in history. It has everything necessary for Mage combat - strategy, principles, etc.

　　He decided to take an online test, just to practice his knowledge. The M.R.E has two parts preceding the A.C.T - the Written Exam, and the Practical Exam. The Written Exam was then divided into two more components, consisting of Mage History and Mage Combat.

　　He decided to take a general practice test consisting of both test components, mixing it together to further test if his knowledge was sustainable enough to pass the test. He waited for the first question to pop up, observing the blue dots circle around in a dark grey screen. After a few minutes, the first question appeared.

　　1. A Pyrokinetic Mage has been left behind by his teammates, allowing his opponent to catch up to him. His opponent has an Aberrancy which allows him to completely cover himself with bulletproof iron growing on his skin, forming an effective armor. Assuming that he was cornered, determine the best way for the Mage to either escape or take out his opponent.

　a) Shoot short, controlled bursts of flames at his opponent.

　b) Keep his opponent at bay by wildly thrashing flames in front of him, allowing him to escape.

　c) Engage the opponent with a melee weapon made out of extremely high pressure flame, and hope for the best.

　d) Project a long, steady stream of fire at his opponent, until his opponent falls unconscious or dead.

　　That's an easy one. Controlled flame bursts could easily be dodged. Thrashing flames isn't a good option of escape if the Mage was cornered. The melee weapon would be an extremely stupid idea since his opponent would probably use his iron skin Aberrancy to beat the shit out of him. But since his opponent has skin made out of metal, which is a good heat conductor, a steady flamethrower stream would probably hurt like hell for him. So the correct answer is D, as this would make his opponent lose focus as he suffers in immense pain.

　　He clicked on option D, which was correct. The practice test kept going on like that. From history questions regarding the start of the Society of Mages to more practical questions like the first one. He did make a few mistakes here and there, but overall, he did exceptionally well. As long as he understood the history of Mages and used logic for the more practical questions, he was fine...

　　He just hoped everything he prepared for was worth it.

。。。

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

　　Crimson red spines viciously implanted themselves into the tree bark.

　　Training was exceptionally exhausting today for some reason. Maybe it was because of the scorching heat of the summer sun, or maybe it was because of the fact that nothing seemed in place anymore. Ousei has lost all motivation to do anything. At this point, the only reason he's training was to make his parents happy about the fact that he was on his way to achieve his dream.

A dream that he has lost enthusiasm for.

　　He continued to launch spines at the tree, sweat dripping down his blank, bleach-white face. His red and blue sports shirt felt moist against his back, while his royal blue shorts swayed with him. His dark brown eyes glinted with the sun, intensifying his fiery frustration at himself.

　　More and more blood spines impaled themselves on the tree, like a rain of bullets being drilled into a human target. Everything that has happened between them was his fault. His overly arrogant insults and criticism was enough to push his only best friend away from him, terrifying him to the point of keeping his distance away.

His shitty personality was what caused all of this.

　　Somewhere deep inside his mind, his own conscience was ferociously screaming at him to give up. He was undeserving of such ambition. He was no better than the school bullies who constantly taunted him for his short physique, weak body, and unattractive appearance. He was blinded by his own false superiority to see the fact that his friend, a boy of many talents, was trying so hard to achieve something he could have reached with ease.

　　The immense guilt and shame he experienced right now was enough to make him want to disappear from existence.

　　"Ousei, time for lunch!", his father called out to him.

　　"Coming!", Ousei responded, snapping out of his stream of anxious thoughts. "I just need a minute."

　　Ousei crouched down on the grass, head down on the ground, contemplating about his current state. Three days from now, the A.C.T would begin. It would be that very moment which dictates the fate of his scholarship. No matter how much knowledge he possesses, it's his physical body which it matters. That moment would either be his turning point of becoming a Mage, or an event of immense embarassment and failure.

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　　To risk such humilitation for something he loves, he has some balls of steel to do something as stupid as that.

。。。

Another night is passing.

　　The day of A.C.T grows closer and closer to the present. It's literally tomorrow, and Ousei is internally sweating and panicking. He has thrown all sorts of projectiles, slashed all sorts of weapons, and has cut himself numerous times to increase pain tolerance. Something within is telling him that what he was doing wasn't enough. He sees no progress, no improvements whatsoever. Everything seemed...the same.

　　It was 7:00 pm on a friday night. His family was outside, watching him train in their yard. His father was leaning against a wall, arms crossed.

　　"You know, you keep using that Blood Aberrancy. You've already mastered it at this point."

　　"What...what do you mean?", Ousei said, panting. "I don't see any improvement since my training started about two weeks ago."

　　"No improvements?", his father repeated. "Son, you've already managed to slice that tree bark into confetti! That's huge progress compared to last time!"

　　Ousei looked at the tree he was practicing in. Sure enough, the trunk was already skin naked, and multiple deep cuts were submerged into its body. Compared to last time where every blood shard projectile he launched at the tree just harmlessly bounced off its trunk, he was now doing actual damage, enough to severely injure an opponent.

　　"Son", his father continued. "When everything you do seems terrible, that's a sign of improvement. Most of the time, your tastes grow with your skills. Sometimes, however, your tastes would slightly outgrow your rate of improvement, which is definitely frustrating at first. But if you stop looking at others and only focus on yourself, you'd see how much you've changed since then."

　　Ousei looked at his father. "But...I just-...It just doesn't seem like enough!"

　　"Well, of course it seems like that at first.", his father said. "But your true colors would surface once your life depends on it. Don't look down on yourself! You'll be surprised how far you've come!"

　　Seeing as Ousei still looks unconvinced, his father decided to do something to prove his advice. "Say, how about we do a practice duel, so you could really see what I'm talking about?"

　　"I-...", Ousei started. The last duel he had ended with a disaster...

　　"Come on!", his father ushered him. He stood distanced away from Ousei, though it was close enough for him to lunge blood projectiles at. "Fight me"

　　Ousei was hesitant at first. The idea of severely injuring his father seemed horrifying. What if he accidentally renders him disabled? Or..worse...

　　"I'm not sure about this...", Ousei started, clearly at unease. "Can't we just-"

　　A throwing knife came out of nowhere and narrowly missed him. Ousei was quick enough to dodge by stepping at the side, albeit with a startled look. He rushed to grab the knife, pulled it from a tree bark, and threw it back at his father with lightning speed, in which his father blocked it with a metal shield that had grown from his forearms. It drilled into the iron surface with a loud BANG!

　　"See?", his father said. "Not bad! You could practically kill someone with those reflexes of yours!"

"Otou-san, let's not-"

　　His father rushed at him with his metal shield, and a katana which was forming in his hand. Ousei panicked at the sight, frantically thinking of ways to stop him. He ended up launching shards made out of hardened blood at his father, which was a stupid decision considering he had a shield.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

　　All those projectiles implanted themselves on the iron surface with immense force, one of which almost passing through. He then moved out of the way, and grabbed his father in the leg using a long whip made out of his crimson blood, which he tugged with brute force, causing his father to fall on his back and drop his sword.

　　"Sweet moves!", his father complemented him. Ousei reddened silently with flatter.

"Bet you never anticipated this, though!"

"Huh?"

SPLAT!

　　A small object has hit itself on his stomach. The pain was...oddly rough. It wasn't excruciating, but it felt more like a deep punch to the gut.

　　It wasn't until he looked down and saw that a metal kunai blade had pierced his lower abdomen. Blood spilled on the floor, while he gagged in horror.

"Otou-san, what the-.."

　　"Ousei, in a real battle, there's no restrictions on what your opponent could do to you.", his father said, standing up. "They could do worse things than stabbing you with a kunai. They could amputate your limbs, suffocate you, or burn you to death. Once you become a Mage, you won't be spared from the horrors of war!"

　　Thanks, Otou-san! Really motivating! I can't wait to be decapitated!

　　Ousei has seen enough movies to know that pulling a blade out of his stomach was absolutely NOT the way to go. He thought of methods on how to get rid of this thing. He thought of applying more pressure, but he wasn't sure if that was safe. He needed to find a way to secure this thing in place.

　　Then he thought of something - What if he blood clotted the wound?

　　Using his Hemokinetic abilities, he solidified the blood around the knife wound, stopping it from spilling. That seemed to work for a while. Now all he needs to do is take out his father.

　　His father was back on his feet again. He looked at his son's wound, and an impressed smile curled on his face.

"Wow! That's actually pretty smart!"

　　"yOu liTerAlly iMpaLed mE wiTh a kNifE wHat tHe hEll?!"

　　"Like I said," his father continued. "Your enemies could do anything to you. Though you're a bit far from prepared, you seemed to recover real quick! Keep at it, son!"

　　Ousei looked at him in disbelief. He knew his dad was a bit on the wild side. But he never imagined he'd go to such lengths as to STAB his son.

　　At this point, Ousei stopped protesting. He was pretty much convinced that this would only end when one of them gives up. He formed a medium-length sword made out of crimson red blood and held a defensive stance. He parried all his father's attacks, clashing their weapons. He looked at his father with deep determination in his dark brown eyes. Both of their deep red hairs danced with the wind, as they also danced a waltz of swords on the green grass.

　　His father has cornered him. Ousei's back was against a tree bark, sweat dripping from his face. He tried to escape, but his father has blocked his left with the shield and his right with a katana. He was pinned.

　　"In a situation like this, what would you do?", his father asked him, urging him to think on his feet.

　　Ousei looked at his father dead in the eye, and noticed the blood shards he had launched at the tree trunk right across them. His lips slowly curved into a smile.

　　"Reflect on what I did so far in the past five minutes."

"Are you sure? There are other ways to re-"

　　His right hand reached forward, underneath his opponent's left side. He telekinetically pulled the shards towards them, and they launched right back at him, landing on his father's back with lightning speed.

　　He expected to hear some wound splats. However, all he heard were three loud noises of pierced metal.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

"What the-..."

　　His father released him, and he rushed behind to take a peak of his back.

　　A small metal shield has grown on his back regions, blocking his projectiles. He has anticipated his next moves.

　　"Welp, that's enough practice for now!", his father said, melting the sword and shields. "Let's do something about that knife wound, then go eat dinner!"

　　"B-...Bu-..But how?!", Ousei stammered, blinking rapidly as he refused to believe his eyes.

　　"You know, you and your mother have similar Aberrancies.", his father explained. "Back in highschool, we duelled each other like this in the school gym. It's surprising how you and your mother used the same exact moves. Of course, you're far more unpredictable, since your mom had to cut herself to make her Aberrancy work, unlike you who's blood just painlessly passes through your skin."

　　"Well then, clean yourself up!", his father added, heading back inside the house "And make sure to take a shower when you go inside!"

　　Ousei was left, standing there on the grass, in the middle of the night. He looked at the house with a perplexed, dazed look. Everything seemed a hundred times more confusing. Otou-san and Okā-san duelled back in highschool?

　　One thing became clear, though: He has improved...way too much.