Morning arrived. Two castle maids came to wake me. It had to be at least two in the morning right now. Fuck this sleep schedule! My eyes hurt so damned much! Do I seriously have to go through all of this each morning?

The maids finished cleaning and dressing me, so they began escorting me to the courtyard. I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I used a fatigue removal spell I learned in a spellbook. I slowly became less tired. It pays to have enhanced memory.

It took about thirty minutes to make it to the training room. It was a large, empty, gym-like room enchanted with first-class magic to prevent any destruction. When we entered through the door, a hooded man was wearing a black robe sitting down on a bench. Wait, there shouldn't be any benches here. When the man noticed us, he immediately got up. The seat disintegrated after he got up. Oh, that's what happened.

"Greetings, your highness. I am to be your magic instructor until you make it to the academy."

The man removed his hood to reveal a stunning face. He had messy brown hair and emerald-green eyes that had dark bags underneath. I looked at his cheeks, stubble was growing as if he hadn't shaved in a while. A faint smell of alcohol surrounded him. Wait a minute. I know this guy. Was he in the Knightford Kingdom at this time?

The man standing in front of my eyes was none other than one of the strongest first-class magicians in the entire world, Everett Maxon. I know him because he was the teacher and friend of Aaron in the later parts of his life. He is to be an S-rank adventurer that eventually moved to the Azure kingdom.

The novel never mentioned where Everett lived before moving to Azure since it happened so early in the story. So I guess this is where he was. I am to train under one of the strongest mages in the world, I should be overjoyed, right? Wrong!

Everett was an extremely powerful mage. In the novel, he was considered to be as strong as Aaron was. But he was a cruel teacher. Aaron often stated in his monologues that he could barely stand his teaching methods! The same Aaron that had so few emotions! I think I might cry.

"Greetings, I shall be under your care from here on out."

I greeted him with my right hand on my chest. The way royalty was taught to address other nobility. He seemed to like that and smiled. "I heard you were a genius even capable of using spatial magic, so I'm quite interested."

He turned to look at the maids and started speaking, "Are you lovely ladies here to watch? If so, I suggest you stand back."

He winked at them. The maids retreated away to a safe distance with slight disgust. On top of being one of the strongest mages, he was also a perverted guy. How cliché.

He turned to me and said, "Alright your highness, we shall begin with you firing your most powerful magic at me." What? He said such an absurd thing with a smile on his face. No wait, he's a first-class magician and a strong one at that. Yeah, he'll be fine.

I nodded and began preparing to use my most powerful spell. Over the years, I have read numerous magic books in the library. I have read so many books that I am positive there are no books on magic in the library that I haven't read at least once. Aside from that, I read many books in my past life too. While this world's principles revolve around magic, scientific principles should apply here too.

I concentrate nearly all of my mana on a spell called 'rock bullet'. It's a simple spell that involves creating a small rock and forming it into a drill shape and firing it at high speeds. I decided not to leave it there, I have knowledge of my previous worlds' technology, I might as well use it.

Continuing to use earth magic along with trace amounts of fire magic, I create and hollow out a rock bullet made of metal and begin filling it with charcoal, sulfur, and a little bit of potassium nitrate. I seal the bullet and form it to be sharper and longer. I begin rotating it at immense speeds. Faster and faster, I spin the bullet so fast the shell begins heating up and sparks begin coming from it. At the last moment, I fire the bullet as fast as I can, the recoil from firing sending me flying backwards.

The spell flew at a blinding speed before it stopped and hit a barrier right in front of Everett and exploded. The explosion was controlled, yet it covered the entire courtyard in a bright flash. The detonation was so deafening it ruptured my eardrum. If not for the magic barrier, the explosion would have done serious damage to the target… or maybe not considering who it is.

As the bright flash in the courtyard subsided, the picture displayed was disastrous. Most of the equipment was scattered around. The floor around Everett had turned black due to the heat. In the center of the courtyard, a single man was standing.

"Incredible! To think that such a young person could cause such destruction and even damage my first barrier." He exclaimed while pointing enthusiastically at a crack in his barrier.

A maid rushes from nearby and helps me stand up to my feet, "Ah, thank you miss."

The maid nodded and I regained my composure and politely thanked Everett, "Thank you for the praise sir, but I am afraid I used up nearly all of my mana."

I had finished healing my ears with a spell I learned in a healing book and began walking toward Everett. He looked excited and handed me a blue, pearl-like object, "Eat it. It will restore your mana. We shall begin training immediately."

I ended up spending almost half the day casting magic spells to improve my mana. Whenever I reached my limit, he gave me another pill and I would start again. It was honestly hell. There is no way that a four-year-old should be consuming such a large amount of drugs. He stated we would be doing this three days a week for at least three or four years.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"While your mana capacity is quite large for a child, it's not good enough. To increase it we will have you continuously train your mana core."

"Yes sir."

After the lessons, the maids came to escort me to my room. I'm incredibly exhausted after spending nearly all day increasing my mana capacity. I should get ready for my tutor sessions with Casey. We probably won't get much time together from now on, I'll have to reschedule the times I can tutor him.

I jumped face-first onto my large bed and started thinking. These aren't things a four-year-old should be dealing with! What the hell is my sleep schedule? This is so annoying! Why am I even doing this?

"Maybe I should just quit"

"Young prince?" Just then, I heard someone enter my room. Eh? Who could that be? I turned to see a beautiful woman with light gray skin and luscious purple hair standing in my door frame.

"Excuse me, but I don't think you should quit magic training because it's too hard."

"Ahh, sorry. That was just a momentary thought."

That's right, I need to save Stella. I need to change this story's dreadful events. I need to create a happy ending. What was I even thinking just now? Give up? That would be a waste of an opportunity given to me by the author.

She smiled at my words and came to sit beside me. Yeah, why would I give up after a single day of training? I've been through far worse in my previous life.

"I have always known you had a talent for magic. However, you will never see the results you want if you quit beforehand."

"Yes ma'am."

"Remember, in the future, don't give up just because you find it a bit difficult."

I shouldn't give up just because magic training is a bit hard. Damn, I sounded like a lazy fuck just then, eh? Welp, enough with the self-deprecation. I slapped my cheeks. I need to psych myself up for tomorrow. Casting magic for nearly ten hours straight is going to be tiring.

Stella smiled as she observed. She got up and started straightening out her dress. She then walked over toward the door.

"I must take my leave young prince. The king has summoned all of the castle mages from 3rd-class and stronger."

"Hmm?"

"You may not have known this, but your Auntie Stella is a second-class mage." She grinned broadly and struck a triumphant pose.

Eh? Wait, what? Hold on, what did she say? Second-class? Her class was never mentioned anywhere in the novel. Wait, now that I think about it, she was demon nobility. Why would I just assume she was a weak person? She was from a strong demon bloodline.

Stella noticed my concerned face and immediately changed her posture, "It's nothing dangerous, I promise. Although I will have less time for you and your siblings from now on, the king simply wishes to explain the current situation with our country's neighbor, the Azure Kingdom. "

That doesn't calm me down in the slightest, but I do my best to put on a calm face. It must have been good enough because she regained her smile once more.

"Anyways, I must be off. The maids should be here any moment to take you to the study room. Take care." With those words, she exited the room.

I felt sick. Second-class magician? Does that mean a group of assassins strong enough to defeat a second-class magician is going after Stella? No way. That shouldn't be possible. Perhaps they just had the element of surprise? No, even then, the demon race has a strong sensitivity to magic the stronger they are. If she was a second-class mage, she could easily detect any magic users in a five-kilometer radius.

Is that what she meant when she said that she always knew I had a talent for magic? No, that's still not possible, right?

My head was racing as I struggled to process this newfound information. I felt as if I was going to throw up. There were no other bodies other than Stella at the scene. No other blood either. That means that the group who did this is strong enough to avoid being killed by a second-class mage.

At my current level, I probably couldn't even beat a sixth-class mage, let alone a second-class. I put my hand on my face to regain my senses. I began doing breathing exercises. Whenever I was overwhelmed before my reincarnation, I did these exercises. It feels different doing them as a kid, but they work all the same. Just when I finished breathing, Two maids entered my room.

"Young master, it is time for us to bring you to the study room." One said.

"Yes, I am coming."

I moved to get off the bed, but my legs went weak when they touched the ground. I almost fell, but one of the maids rushed to catch my shoulder, "Are you feeling well, young master?"

"Ah, yes, I am fine."

She helped me up to my feet and looked at me worriedly. She had short, light brown hair and hazel eyes. She had a small chest and appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties. I don't know exactly why I'm describing her like this when she's likely to be a minor character in my life to be honest.

"You seem to be sweating quite a bit, young master. Are you sure you're fine with going today?"

"Yes, I am sure."

She seems to be quite concerned about my well-being as of right now. Do I look that bad? I touch my forehead. Sure enough, it was soaked with sweat. Perhaps I should listen to Generic Maid One and take the day off? No, I need to spend as much time as I can improving!

I begin walking to the study room with the two maids. This is fine. With this newfound knowledge, I now know what I'm going up against. Yeah, I'm not nervous at all. Sweat dripped down my forehead and I struggled to walk as I thought.