“Apologies, everyone, but the testing will resume later after the tester…regained consciousness.”

The teacher explained the situation to everyone in the crowd. He then turned to me, an incredulous look on his face.

“You know, kid, I can kinda see why he reacted like that though. According to the machine, the level of your Mana control is at least on par with a high-level mage. That’s never been seen in an Academy student before, especially not a first year student.”

“Oh. So, what exactly does that mean?”

“It means that you’re a genius. One that will need to be specially trained to bring out your full potential. Luckily, there’s a guest teacher here right now who’s the perfect fit for teaching you and he’s a combat teacher. Which is perfect, since you’re registered for the combat division.”

“Cool! I can’t wait to start.”

“Good. Because I’ve already contacted him, and he’s planning on beginning your education now, instead of waiting until the rest of the students start as well.”

At that exact moment, a person materialized on the grass behind the platform. It was the same white-haired older elf man I met earlier. He smiled and gestured for me to come to me.

“It’s alright, kid. That’s the man I was talking about. His name is Cythraul, and he’s a protector of the city.”

“So he fights the monsters outside?”

“Among other tasks and responsibilities.”

Nodding, I stepped off the platform. Walking over to Cythraul, I greeted the elven man.

“Hello, Sir. I heard you’ll be my teacher?”

“Yes, I will. Consider yourself lucky. I was originally meant to be here as a guest instructor would give a few additional advanced classes. But now, I’m your personal instructor. Though, I was the one who asked for that to be the case. The headmaster was very obliging.”

“I see. Then, what’s the first lesson? I heard we were getting started right away.”

“Hold on just a moment. While a lot of mages would disagree with me on this, I believe there’s physical prowess is just as important as magical prowess. So, I’m going to test your physical abilities. And you’re not going to use Mana to enhance your physical abilities, because that’ll go against the point of the test.”

“Got it. How are we going to do this?”

“In a simple fashion. I have adjustable training bracelets that you are going to wear. These will test your strength as I will be slowly increasing their weight remotely. Just let me know when you can’t support them anymore, and the strength test will end.”

He then pulled out two gray metal bracelets. Fastening them to my wrists, he took a step back and pulled a small remote out of his pocket. Pressing a button, the bracelets began to feel heavy. While they were still light enough for me to casually move my arms, I could already tell that this test was going to push me to my limits. And I couldn’t wait for it.

* * *

Roughly half an hour later, I lay on the ground. Panting for breath, I rubbed my wrists where the bracelets had been. Cythraul stood over me, a slightly impressed look on his face. He put his hand out to help me up.

“That was very good. I was not expecting for you to be able to withstand up to 700 lbs. Even a lot of battle mages can’t necessarily lift that much without strengthening their bodies using Mana. And yet, you should only be eight years old. I guess the physical training your father put you through worked out well.”

“Yeah, it was very helpful. I especially enjoyed using the gravity chamber, even as a baby.”

“He started training you as a baby?”

“He noticed that I was strong even at that young of an age. So he started training me.”

“I see. I suppose that’s fair. Though we elves tend to be a bit more careful with our children when they’re that age.”

Cythraul picked up and put away the training bracelets. Turning to me, he had a thoughtful look on his face.

“I can tell your strength is good, and from the way way I decided to test your strength, I’ve decided that your stamina must also be good. Now, I just need to test your speed. But I’m trying to think of a good way to do that.”

He thought for a little bit longer. Finally, he came up with an idea.

“I’ll just tune you while you run to that tree over there.”

He waved dismissively towards a lone tree off in the distance of the courtyard. Looking over, I saw that it was in the middle of a small circular plot of land. Dropping into a running stance, I waited for the signal. As soon as Cythraul signaled me, I began sprinting towards the tree. Even though it was over a thousand feet away, I reached it in just a few seconds.

“Impressive! And I can tell you did all of those tests without Mana, because I would’ve sensed it if you had used Mana. Which means in terms of both your magical and physical prowess, you are leagues above your peers.”

“Thank you, Sir. I’ve worked hard to reach this point.”

“I can tell. Though, it requires more than just hard work and dedication to get to where you are. Natural talent has clearly played a big role.”

I shrugged and nodding, agreeing with his assessment. Because having the system was similar to having natural talent, and it was what allowed me to grow strong so quickly. Thought I was still excited and eager for further improvement.

“Okay. Since I now have an idea of your physical limits, let’s get started with your first lesson. I am going to teach you a method of controlling and manipulating your Mana, which will help improve your already top-notch Mana control. However, we should change our location first since this is a personal technique of mine.”

Putting his hands on my shoulders, I felt a rush of Mana pass through us. Then, suddenly, in an instant, I saw that we had moved to an entirely different place. The space we were in now looked like a training room of some kind, though it was rather small.

“This is my personal training room in the Academy. It was given to me for my own use for while I’m teaching here. I figured that since you’re now my personal student, it would be alright if I taught you here. It also has several protection spells in place so that others can’t sneak in or spy on me.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He then had me sit down on the floor in a meditative position. Sitting behind me, he placed both of his palms against my back. I felt his Mana enter into my body and start circulating inside me. Feeling the flow of his Mana, I recognized the movements as a method of energy control. And after a few rotations, he stopped and got up.

“Do you think you understand how it works?”

[You have obtained Skill [Cythraul’s Personal Mana Control]]

[Cythraul’s Personal Mana Control]

[Type: Passive & Active]

[Passive Effects:

1. +25% MP efficiency

2. -10% MP consumed

3. [Mana Gathering] Skill]

[Active Skills:

1. +10% Strength

2. +10% Constitution

3. +50% Agility

4. +25% Mana circulation speed

5. +25% precision of Mana control]

[Costs 5 MP per minute active, no cooldown]

[Proficiency: 0.00%]

I felt the flow of my Mana change. It began circulating faster and more smoothly, making it easier to regulate how much I used. The concentration of my Mana also increased, making it so that it required less MP to activate and use Skills. Feeling grateful for the Skill he taught me, I smiled at my teacher.

“Yes, I think I’ve got the hang of it. Thank you for teaching me your personal Mana control.”

“Not a big deal. Since you’re my personal student, that essentially means that you’re my disciple. That’s a special relationship similar a parent and child. So it’s only fair that I teach you something like that. Also, along with better controlling your Mana, my technique also teaches you how to gather naturally existing Mana from your environment and absorb it to permanently increase your own Mana. But it seems you might have already figured that out.”

He stared at me incredulously while I sat on the ground meditating. I could feel Mana being sucked from the air and gathering inside my body. However, it was a slow process, just like the Skill description had implied. Stopping, I stood up and looked at my teacher. He nodded appreciatively before placing a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m glad to have a truly gifted and talented student like you. I shall train you to the best of my ability and make you into one of the greatest mages to ever live. That’s my promise as your teacher.”

“And I promise to do my best to learn what you have to teach.”

“Good. Very good. Now, on to your next lesson. Have you ever been in actual combat?”

“No, unless you count sparring with my father. He taught some basics in terms of hand-to-hand combat.”

“I see. So you’ve never had an actual training match against someone your own age, let alone been in actual combat against a training robot or a monster.”

“That’s right. Father said I’d have plenty of those kinds of experiences here at the Academy, so he focused on making sure I had a good grasp on the basics. He said that the basics are the foundation upon all other training will rest on.”

“And he was absolutely right. In that case, your next lesson will be fighting a training robot. I’ll just need to go and procure one. Wait right here, and I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

Leaving the training room, he was back in a few minutes just like he said. And he had a tall, lanky robot with him. It had a single large eye in the center of its head that glowed with a gentle green light.

“This is the robot you’ll be fighting. It’s an experimental prototype designed to learn as it fights. Basically, it’s the perfect sparring partner since it learns and adapts. I believe the nickname it was given is Proto. So, call it by that name if you wish to address it.”

“Got it. Proto, are you ready to spar with me?”

“Yes. I am. Mister Cythraul. Got permission. To use me. To train you. Let us. Begin.”

The robot then whirred to life. It moved much faster than I was expecting. In an instant it was in front of me.

“You are. Barehanded. Using fists. To fight.”

Proto swung its lanky metal arm. Ducking under the machine’s swift but obvious strike, I punched it in the torso. However, it didn’t shift at all and I merely hurt my hand.

“Use your Mana! Your physical body isn’t strong enough yet to compete with something like Proto directly without Mana!”

I heard Cythraul’s teaching and agreed. Releasing my Mana, the magical energy flowed out of my body. Surrounding my fists, they had a visible blue glow around them. Punching Proto again, this time it took a couple steps back.

“Opponent. Utilizing Mana. Will do. The same.”

I watched in fascination as the robot also released Mana. The energy was not as concentrated or focused as my own, but it did the job. Its metal fists glowed with a thin blue aura. Attacking again, its movements were even faster and slightly more refined. This time, I got hit by one of its punches.

The impact sent me staggering backwards. Reeling away from the blow, I shook my head to clear it. Howler, Proto wasn’t giving me any time to recover. Activating [Ki Control], [Chakra Control], and [Mana Control], I felt my body getting stronger and faster. Avoiding the next flurry of blows, I reciprocated with a few of my own. My punches hammered into its armored torso, denting it a little.

“Slight damage sustained. Auto-repair systems. Are activating.”

I watched as the dents popped out and the armor became good as new. Annoyed, I continued battling with the robot. But eventually, my MP ran out and I couldn’t keep using my Skills. Proto then completely overpowered my and Cythraul ended the match.

“Proto wins! But you both did an excellent job. That crazy inventor should be proud of herself, this robot of hers works perfectly.”

“Thank you. Mister Cythraul. Professor Claudia. Will be pleased. To hear that.”

“You don’t have to tell her I said that. Please. She’d never let me hear the end of it…”

“Understood. Mister Cythraul. I will not. Inform her.”

“Thank you. Now, it looks like it’s around lunchtime. You should head to the dining hall and get some food.”

“Okay, Sir. Thanks again for teaching me.”

“It really is my pleasure. Now, go and eat.”

I left the training room and headed to the dining hall. After several minutes of wandering, another student found me. Since he was also getting lunch, he decided to lead me there.

When I saw the dining hall, I once again marveled. Its size and grandeur was just as impressive as the front of entrance of the Academy itself. Grabbing some food, I sat down at an empty table to eat. However, I noticed that same older year jerk coming towards me.

“So, how’s the Academy’s genius student doing? I heard your personal teacher has already started giving you some lessons. What’s he been teaching you? How to wipe your snotty nose?”

“Leave me alone. I’m just trying to eat.”

“Ooh, wow, he gets a little bit of special treatment and decides he can talk back to his superiors.”

“I haven’t talked back to my superiors, I’ve talked back to you. A jerk who doesn’t know his place.”

Thoroughly angry now, the boy slammed both of his hands down on the table. Everyone nearby heard the sound and turned to look at us. Smirking, the jerk seemed to enjoy the attention.

“Maybe if you beg me for forgiveness, I’ll leave you alone.”

“I’m not a dog. I don’t don’t beg.”

I watched as his eyelid twitched. Stifling my laughter, I hid my smile behind my hand.

“I see. So you’re just a stubborn and stupid kid who thinks he’s something special. If you’re so special, then why don’t we have a sparring match? Right now.”

“Can I at least eat first? I’m pretty hungry. Then I’ll fight you.”

“Oho, you think it’s actually gonna be a fight? Nah, I’m gonna destroy you, and everyone will know that you’re nothing special.”

“Does it make you feel better about yourself to pick on someone much younger than you? It fills some empty hole in your heart to know that you’re able to beat up an eight year old?”

He wisely decided not to respond to my taunts. Instead, he just snorted and walked away.

“After lunch. You and me. Sparring match. I’m gonna go get it officially registered right now with the professors.”

I didn’t reply and instead just ate. In fact, I even went up and got more food because I really was rather hungry. But when it was time for lunch to be over, a teacher walked up to me.

“Are you the one who agreed to duel Cameron?”

“Yes, Sir, I am.”

“Come with me then. I’ll take you to the sparring room. Though I feel like this is reckless of you to agree to this. Cameron might not have the best personality, but he is very talented and is highly skilled at combat.”

“It’s alright. If I didn’t think I could win, I wouldn’t have agreed.”

The teacher just sighed in response. He shook his head and mumbled something about the arrogance of the youth. But he continues leading me to the sparring room.

Once we there, I saw Cameron waiting inside. He had changed into some kind of tight fitting black bodysuit.

“What’s the suit for? Going swimming or something after this?”

“It’s for sparring! It provides freedom of movement and is resistant to damage enough to protect the wearer during training!”

“Just looks like a scuba suit to me.”

Cameron growled, but he waited for me to get into position. The teacher who guided me then acted as referee. He told us to begin and Cameron immediately charged towards me. Reaching out his hand, I saw an orb of fire condense in his palm. The orb then shot out towards me, but I casually sidestepped it.

“Gotta try better than that.”

Activating my Skills, I felt the increase in my stats. As soon as Cameron got close, I surrounded my fist in Mana. Punching the bully in the chest, he coughed and went flying. Slamming into the wall, he fell to the ground slumped over. But the suit did its job and he was protected from the worst of it.

“Cheap shot, punk. Now I’m fighting for real.”

Cameron staggered to his feet. Raising both hands, several orbs of fire began shooting towards me. Scoffing, I dodged the barrage of fireballs. As soon as I was close, I punched him again. This time, however, I put a bit more strength and Mana into it. Cameron gasped and coughed, the wind knocked out of him. He fell to his knees clutching his abdomen.

“Are you finished?” I asked. He just glared up at me. But even after he caught his breath, he didn’t reply. The bully simply stood up and stormed out of the training room.

“You win, I guess,” the teacher said. “That was really impressive. You’re a pretty good fighter yourself. Though, to be fair, Cameron okay used fireballs. He knows other spells as well. But you didn’t seem to use any spells at all, only Mana control. So I’ll give you credit for that.”

“Thank you, Sir. I’m going to head back to my teacher now.”

Leaving the sparring room, I walked back to Cythraul’s training room. Walking inside, I was immediately met by Proto’s fist. Ducking, I spun around the robot and turned to my mentor.

“Ambush training. You passed. This time,” Cythraul explained.

“I see. So, what’s the next lesson?”

“Don’t have one yet. Still new to this while teaching thing. But I figure, you’ve got the perfect sparring partner to train with while I figure it out. So go fight with Proto some while I figure things out.”

“Okay, I can do that.”

Proto and I walked to the center of the room. Staring each other down, I noticed that his hands looked different now. He noticed my staring and responded.

“I am. An adaptive machine. I learn. Train. Adapt. Grow. And evolve. My fists. Are now weapons.”

To prove his point, he raised his enlarged hands. They were crackling with electricity and there seemed to be a constant glow around them. I could sense a strong but still unrefined Mana coming from the robot’s fists. And I know finally knew why Cythraul had said Proto would be perfect for me to train against. The more we fought, the stronger we both would become.

“I can’t wait to see how far you can grow,” I said with a grin.