Andric practiced the Standing Tortoise Manual for the rest of the day. In a little under three days of constant meditation, he had reached the second stage of the Human realm; such talent was unheard of in Einburg, but it wasn’t something to be joyous of. Andric’s grandparents would’ve been ecstatic if their grandchild had been born under normal circumstances. In their eyes, Andric’s talent was merely a small redeeming quality of his. At least with his progression through the martial way, he would be able to earn the family more money.

The next day, Andric attended Instructor Hubert’s class, and he was stopped by the instructor as soon as he entered the classroom.

“Second stage! I was wondering why you were gone for so long!” Instructor Hubert walked up to Andric and said. He could see the spirit energy inside Andric’s body with his Spirit Sight, making Andric’s advancement to Human realm second stage obvious.

“Thank you,” Andric bowed to the instructor and glanced across the room. If he could help it, he would rather have his talent remain unknown to the rest of the townspeople, but there was no helping the instructor’s sudden statement. Several town youths had heard the instructor, and they were sure to spread the news around.

“Don’t start slacking, now. If having a little bit of martial talent makes you think you don’t need to attend lessons, you’re mistaken!” Instructor Hubert laughed and said.

“I won’t!” Andric replied, and he took his seat at the back of the classroom.

For the past fifteen years, Andric hid most of his capabilities. When he was young, he couldn’t stand crawling on the floor and babbling, so he skipped directly to walking and talking. This action made Andric’s reputation in the town soar, but it also earned the ire of parents who wanted their own children to be superior. When Andric showed a hint of being a genius, the townspeople were eager to bring up his past! Once the town youths around his age learned that he had advanced to the second stage of the Human realm in less than a week, they would surely try to do something to prop up their own egos.

A few minutes later, a group of six boys entered the classroom and sat at the back, near Andric. Four of them were fourteen, and the other two were fifteen. Of the fifteen year olds, only one of them had reached Human realm second stage, and he had been practicing the Standing Tortoise Manual for several months. A youth from the front of the classroom scurried to the back, whispered something to the group of six bodys, and ran back to his seat. At that moment, the group of six boys stared at Andric with looks of hostility.

‘I was right!’

Andric had read the thoughts of the six boys like a book, but his options were severely limited. As a reincarnated magician, he obviously held much more power than six children, but there were much larger entities at play than a few town youths. If Andric ever revealed himself to be a magician, he would instantly become an enemy of Hochland! Therefore, using magic was forbidden!

When Andric’s previous life was ended, magicians and martialists were at war. It was too risky for him to out himself as a magician without knowing how the current political climate faired for magicians. If he used magic to defend himself from the six boys, he could very well face retaliation from a hundred thousand Hochland soldiers, or more!

Furthermore, in addition to not being able to use magic, Andric couldn’t use violence. His martial progressed made him stronger than five of the six boys, but he was weaker than the sixth. Also, even if Andric could fight equally against the six boys, he still had to worry about their boys’ parents and relatives. Most families in Einburg had between three and ten children. However, Andric was an only-child! While the six boys had older brothers they could receive assistance from, Andric had nobody!

Andric spent the class period thinking about what the six boys would do after class. If he was lucky, they would get up and walk out without saying anything to him. If he was unlucky, they would want to prove their superiority to his face.

The class eventually came to an end, and Andric saw the six boys beginning to approach him, but he was saved by Instructor Hubert!

“Andric, to congratulate you on your stage advancement, I’ll open your lung-diaphragm meridian,” the instructor said. He paused for a second, and he spoke before one of the six boys around Andric could angrilly speak up, “If anyone else can advance to Human realm second stage in less than a month, I’ll also open a second meridian for them.”

Instructor Hubert’s words silenced anyone who was about to complain. Although Instructor Hubert could easily open meridians, he never opened a second meridian for free. Although townspeople could pay Instructor Hubert to open one of their meridians, nobody had enough talent to warrant it. In the last ten years, Instructor Hubert had strictly opened one meridian per townsperson!

Instructor Hubert wasn’t withholding the use of his ability for no reason. Using spirit energy attacks was easy for someone in the Novice realm, and Instructor Hubert was limited in how many he could perform each day. Secondly, he needed to earn money somehow!

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If Instructor Hubert opened meridians for free, nobody would pay him to do it! Though none of the native townspeople would pay for it, outstanding talents from outside the town would frequently come to Einburg with chests full of silver coins specifically to employ Instructor Hubert’s ability.

There were a myriad of other reasons why Instructor Hubert didn’t open meridians for free. But, when he considered the circumstances of Andric’s birth and his talent, he allowed Andric to have a second meridian opened for free.

Andric stood and bowed and said, “Thank you.”

To his sides, the six boys glared menacingly at him, but they couldn’t touch him while they were inside the classroom. As long as no adult was watching the six boys could do whatever they wanted to Andric, but Instructor Hubert stayed in the classroom following his lesson, interrupting the six boys’ plans.

Andric walked to the front of the classroom, but Instructor Hubert did not immediately begin opening his lung-diaphragm meridian. Instead, he said, “Let’s wait until the classroom is empty.”

They waited a few minutes for the younger students to shuffle out of the classroom, and finally it was just Andric and Instructor Hubert. While Andric was anxious to have his second meridian opened, he knew he would have to face the six boys once he exited the classroom. The longer he took, the further away Andric’s encounter with the six boys would become. Instructor Hubert also knew this, so he took his time.

“To reach the second stage in less than a week is excellent in a small town like Einburg, but it’s nothing compared to the true talents in Mahtzig. Three years ago, a son in the Blanchard Clan reached Human realm second stage in less than an afternoon!”

Instructor Hubert’s statement shocked Andric. Even though he had knowledge from a previous life, it still took him almost a week to advance to Human realm second stage. If an ordinary child in a powerful clan could achieve the same in a fraction of the time, it just went to show how important it was to have natural talent.

What Instructor Hubert didn’t tell Andric was that the Blanchard Clan was a clan of renown generals in the history of Hochland, and that particular son had been a once-in-a-century genius! Normally, even a clan of generals would have a difficult time reaching the second stage of the Human realm in less than a week, but Instruct Hubert wasn’t going to tell that to Andric.

“I’ll continue to work hard,” Andric said.

“Good. Now, I’ll open your lung-diaphragm meridian,” Instructor Hubert said, and he turned to face Andric. He looked at Andric’s abdomen with Spirit Sight, then stabbed the location between Andric’s lung, heart, and diaphragm. His finger sank a short distance into Andric flesh, then he activated his spirit energy attack. Ten seconds after it started, it was over.

Andric winced in pain, but he refused to make a sound. He focused on the inside of his body, but he didn’t learn anything from observing Instructor Hubert’s actions. He thought he might learn something from the way Instructor Hubert cleared his meridians that would allow him to clear his own meridians, but it was futile. Perhaps, if he gained better control over spirit energy and spirit sense, he would be able to work something out.

Once Andric’s lung-diaphragm meridian was opened, Instructor Hubert sat at his desk. He allowed Andric a few seconds to recuperate from having his body stabbed, then reminded him, “Don’t slack off.”

“I won’t,” Andric replied, and he exited the classroom.

As expected, the six boys from earlier were waiting a short distance away. They stood outside a shop, chewing on thick stalks of sweetgrass. At first glance, they looked like ordinary town youths who spent their allowances on candy, but Andric knew they were waiting for him. Further away, in various locations, other youths from the classroom were sticking around to watch the inevitable confrontation.

Andric had no reason to fear the six boys, but he did feel aggravation. He wanted to return home to continue practicing the Standing Tortoise Manual, but a few jealous children wanted to start a ruckus.

The first boy to approach Andric was the leader of their group and the oldest, Audovacar. He wore farmer’s clothes, and his body was strong from doing field work for most of his life. In terms of physical strength, he would exceed Andric even if Andric was at Human realm third stage.

Andric’s only method of fighting Audovacar was through words. Contrary to many types of fights, the upper hand in a battle of words was gained through speaking second. Whatever Audovacar said, Andric needed to twist the meaning and make Audovacar seem like an idiot. Directly insulting him would work, but too much provocation would incite a battle of fists, which Andric did not want.

“Last night, my father said he would teach me his Ground Plowing Stomp. It’s a Human realm second stage martial technique, so not just anyone can learn it,” Audovacar spoke among his group, although loud enough for Andric to hear it. He then said, louder, “Andric, does your father have any martial techniques to teach you?” Half a second later, he pretended to catch himself making a mistake, and he appended, “Oh, I forgot that you don’t have a father.”

Audovacar went straight for the classic: bringing up Andric’s father. There wasn’t anyone in Einburg who didn’t know about Andric’s lack of a father, and the issue had plagued him for his entire life. The insult was as basic as it could get, and it meant Audovacar hadn’t thought through what he was going to insult Andric with.

Andric immediately replied, “Is that a sparring technique? Well, you two have fun plowing each other,” and walked away.

Audovacar and two of his flunkies were shocked. Besides them, nobody knew what Andric’s euphemism meant, and the insult had gone over the heads. In short, it was the perfect comeback.

If Audovacar were to get overly upset, the others around him would look deeper into what Andric said, and they would eventually discover the homosexual insinuation. If this happened, Audovacar would be faced with untold embarrassment. At least for the moment, Audovacar would pretend nothing had been said, and he could save some face, but he would have to deal with the knowledge that he took Andric’s insult without returning anything.

Audovacar’s inward perception and outward perception were clashing, and he ended up letting Andric walk away without any further dispute.