It took quite a bit less time than I was expecting to reach the exam hall. The newfound power of my high knight body made every movement far easier.

I didn't even need to try on the test. A series of exercises and obstacle courses that would have left me half-dead less than a week ago. Now I could breeze through them with ease.

Even the instructor, who had never really noticed me before was more than a little impressed.

With the exam taking far less time than either of us expected, I was free to head back to the dorm. Where the others were waiting for me.

None of them had expected me to be back so soon either.

A knowing look was on all of their faces as I came in early. It seemed that they all thought I had gained some great physical gift. Which wasn't too far from the truth. With my physical tests answering their unasked questions. They were more than happy to catch me up to speed about what was happening in the school.

I did feel a little disconnected from it all. What had been important to me days before, now didn't seem to matter all that much.

The idle school gossip disappeared from my mind as soon as it entered.

Looking at the people around me. I did start to think about what would happen if I tried to imbue someone who hadn't awakened.

What kind of head start would they be able to get?

Would it awaken them immediately and be able to head to the spirit world early? There were too many unanswered questions and no one I trusted anywhere near enough to try it with.

With me not listening to their antics, the room drew quieter once again. They quickly switched topics to something else.

"Have you seen the new videos coming from the Sword Saint's faction? His daughter's powers are already making changes in the union."

It was something I had forgotten to do the day before. To look up my new peer. While I had seen plenty of spirit footage over the years of the Sword Saint dealing with great monsters and native armies. His daughter was a blank slate in my mind.

I turned to my real-world tablet and began to search for videos of her. The others continued their endless praise.

I could soon see why. While much of the Sword Saint's power was unseen to the naked eye. The same was not true for his daughter. Who was already practising magic on the level of an Archmage. Many were claiming that she would be a Wizard-level power by the end of the week.

The most recent video was of her casting one of the most powerful spells of Light Magic. Something that was claimed to take over a decade to learn to do with any consistency.

She only had to take one look at one of the Union's Wizards performing it, to recreate it.

While she couldn't put the same amount of raw mana behind the spell as the Wizard. The potency of her burning a hole in a mountain was clear for anyone to see.

That alone as a Gift would be S rank, with her then going on to perform several other spells of a similar level. Her power was made clear.

It would only be a matter of time before she would become the most powerful Mage the spirit world had ever seen.

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I was left in awe of her ability already. I would have no chance as I currently was if I were to try and go against her.

While the others were looking at her as an unreachable object. I had to think otherwise. According to Gaia, our abilities were on the same level.

While I knew that not all gifts of the same rank were created equal. I had to believe in the potential of my gift. After all, I hadn't even unlocked half of what it was truly capable of.

"She has already been ranked in the Top 25 of the Young Spirit rankings. People are saying that by the end of the month, she won't even be placed in the Young Spirit Rankings. But will be in the Spirit Rankings themselves."

Now that was a little bit harder to believe.

While I did not doubt that she was worthy of her place in the Young Spirit Rankings. Which was limited to people who had spent less than a decade in the spirit world. Entering the Spirit Rankings would be a far harder task.

That was a ranking of the top 100 people in the entire spirit world.

While her father was firmly at the top of those rankings. It was a competitive landscape. With even the current last place being a peak Wizard.

While she was capable of powerful magics. There was still a large gulf between her and even the weakest of Wizards in terms of pure power.

We spent most of the time after dinner discussing people in the Young Spirit Rankings. There were a few other people who had only recently been awakened in the rankings.

I idly took a look at the last place to see how far away I was.

The current last place was equal to my level of a High Knight. But I imagined that I would have little chance of beating them in a true fight. But with my magical power alongside, I would have no problem being put in the rankings.

That made me feel a little better about myself as I headed towards the spirit rooms in the academy. I wouldn't be able to escape Eddie this time around.

Returning to the Spirit world. I was glad to see that the room was empty.

That didn't last for long, as it seemed that Eddie was waiting for me to return. A knock soon came through the door.

I gave a slight sigh in turn.

"Come in."

"Young master. I'm glad to see you back. Your help has already made a great change. Your new associate Wilson has been of great help. How many people can you give the power of a Mage today?"

His attitude towards me had changed quite a bit over the past few days.

With hopes of having a Third Year soon. I didn't want to use too many of the second-year graduates.

I decided that I would only imbue half the number of graduates each time.

"I can only empower four Mages today. But If you wish I can empower five people with the power of a Knight. As well as two people with the ability of a Three Star Enchanter."

While his face fell after hearing how many mages I could imbue. That quickly changed with hearing about the enchanters.

"We have no place for the Knights as of this moment. But the enchanters would be of great help."

I wasn't too surprised by that. The Knights wouldn't be able to do much before a fight. While they could be of help in construction, that could come later.

I followed behind him to the next group of trustworthy folk. While there were some familiar faces. Most of them were new people. Who all looked over in awe as I came inside.

I still felt a little uncomfortable under such a stare, so I was quick to imbue each of the people with the power of a Mage.

I had warned Eddie that the crafter would be better off with some experience. So he had to head off to find some other people to imbue.

He did drop another Rank 5 core in my hand before leaving. Something I was more than happy to see.

I had become addicted to supercharging my gift with the cores. Without them, It would have taken weeks to reach my current level.

I was a little curious to see what the teachers had been doing. I couldn't see any sign of them in the villa. I wasn't too interested in calling them back without any reason.

Thus I decided to head towards the centre of the city. Towards the City Lord's Mansion. That and the Mage Tower rose high above most of the other buildings in the area.

The central few buildings were some of the most important. The large tower was home to a former High Mage. It was where the controller for the runes on the wall was. It was also as it turned out where Eddie had moved all of the mages I had imbued to. Teacher Wilson was also there directing people. It seemed it hadn't taken long for her to get comfortable in this new world.

If she had any worry about the impending doom of the city, then she didn't show it. I got a few looks as I appeared outside of the city's Mage Tower. I could feel the mana running through the building.

Without it controlling the flow of magic around the city, the walls would quickly fall apart.