Status.

Overall Stats: Vanguard

Strength: E- (Vanguard)

Constitution: S (Sentinel)

Agility: E (Vanguard)

Mana: D- (Vanguard)

Skill:

Fireball

Aqua Burst

Tremor Burst

Mana Manipulation

Roy's muscles grew noticeably, and a surge of overwhelming energy coursed through his veins. Despite feeling fatigued from the intense battle against the red bear, the increase in his mana instantly rejuvenated him.

"This is amazing!" Jack laughed as the green aura dissipated from his body. "My strength is now at the Vanguard rank!"

"Same goes for my agility," Robb replied with a chuckle, "and my mana."

Jack furrowed his brow at Robb's subtle jab but was soon overtaken by elation. Grinning widely, he unsheathed his sword and enveloped it in a shining blue light. Then, with incredible speed, he lunged forward and sliced through the air. The blue aura burst from Jack's sword and slammed into the ground before him, causing a thunderous explosion.

"Stop being such a brat," Fred complained. "People are trying to sleep."

"Don't be such a killjoy," Jack retorted, flipping his sword by the handle before sheathing it. "A little fun never hurt anyone."

Roy rolled his eyes at his friend's antics before turning to Fred and Alfonse. "What about you guys?"

"Unfortunately, none of my stats have reached Vanguard yet," Alfonse replied with a wry smile. "My Strength and Constitution are at S-, while Agility and Mana are at S."

After shooting Jack a glare, Fred refocused on Roy and flashed a toothy grin. "My Constitution is at Vanguard; E- just barely."

"Lucky..." Alfonse muttered.

Hearing Alfonse's complaint, Jaimie flared up. "Lucky? You guys are all lucky! If I'd gotten to fight the red bear, my stats would be Vanguard too!"

Roy was taken aback by Jaimie's outburst before letting out a light chuckle.

"Look at this brat," Jack teased, clicking his tongue and playfully ruffling Jaimie's hair. "You think fighting monsters is a game, huh?"

As his friends continued to banter, Roy's gaze drifted toward the Village Hall. Aswad, the enigmatic guardian, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile on his face as he gazed up at the luminous moon.

I should tell him to help me learn Mana Manipulation.

With that thought in mind, Roy's focus shifted to the rest of his friends. Jack maintained a headlock on Jaimie while playfully roughing up his hair, as Fred and Alfonse tried to talk some sense into him. Robb, on the other hand, stood on the sidelines, laughing heartily.

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Roy couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Despite the heaviness in their hearts, he was glad to see his friends still finding the energy to joke around with each other.

"Jack is such a bully!" Jaimie exclaimed, trying to fix his tousled blonde hair with tearful eyes. "Just you wait. When I get stronger, I'll bully you too!"

"Say that when you're actually stronger," Jack retorted with a 'humph'. "Until then, you're just a brat."

With the situation relatively diffused, Alfonse decided to change the subject. "Hey, it's past midnight now. Roy, should we go tackle the dungeons?"

"No, not now," Roy shook his head. "Just take the night off. Get used to your new skills or get some sleep."

"I have too much energy from the update to sleep," Fred said, stretching his shoulders and cracking his neck. "I think I'll spend the night training my skills."

Jack grinned at the idea and added, "Same here. I think I'll test out my spells outside."

As the group discussed their plans, Robb looked up at Roy and asked, "What about you? Want to train with us all together?"

Roy bit his lip before responding with a wry smile. "I think I'll go train with Aswad. He told me he's going to teach me Mana Manipulation, and that seems really useful."

"Oh yeah," Robb exclaimed, recalling Aswad's earlier demonstration. "If you can control multiple fireballs like he did, you'd be incredible."

"Multiple fireballs, huh? That sounds cool as all hell," Jack replied with a chuckle. "But join us later when you're done. I want to see how I stack up against you."

"Sure will," Roy responded before making his way toward the Village Hall, saying, "See you all later."

As Roy approached Aswad, the guardian's focus shifted from the moon to him. "I presume you've come for our scheduled training, my lord."

"Yeah, I want to learn that thing you showed before," Roy said, scratching the back of his head with a chuckle. "How do I do that?"

"Well, you surely won't be able to do it on your first try," Aswad smiled. "But if you follow my training properly, I promise you'll reach that level very soon."

"How soon?" Roy inquired, tilting his head.

Aswad looked up in thought before making eye contact with Roy once again and smiling. "I would say in two weeks."

"Two weeks? That long?" Roy was puzzled by Aswad's estimate. In less than a week, he had gone from a scrawny kid to a mage capable of defeating hundreds of ordinary people with his spells. He couldn't understand how gaining a small amount of control would take him two weeks to master.

"Well, enough talking, my lord." Aswad walked past Roy and turned around after a few steps. "Follow me; we need a private place to start our training."

Roy silently nodded and trailed after the enigmatic guardian. The more he observed Aswad's outfit, the stranger it seemed. In his relatively short life, he had encountered many wealthy merchants and a few nobles, but he had never seen such a suit. The fabric was so dark that it appeared to absorb all light, resembling a void. Moreover, it was tailored to perfection, something only the wealthiest men in the empire could afford.

Within a few minutes, the two reached a secluded corner of the village, far from the houses and the people who resided in them.

Aswad turned to Roy and instructed, "Please, sit in a cross-legged position, my lord."

Roy nodded and complied. Although sitting cross-legged on the hard, dirty ground wasn't the most comfortable, he was already accustomed to it.

"Now, I want you to conjure a small fireball," Aswad explained, demonstrating by creating a fireball the size of a rice ball in his own hand. "Try to make it around this size."

"That's pretty easy," Roy said, opening his palm and conjuring a small fireball. Its size closely matched Aswad's. "Is that it?"

Aswad smiled but didn't respond to Roy's self-assured question. "Now, play with it like so."

The guardian effortlessly tossed the small fireball from one hand to the other, as if it were a rubber ball.

Roy's expression turned serious as he swallowed nervously. "I can do that."

He concentrated intently on the fireball in his right hand, raising his left hand in anticipation.

"Don't do that, my lord," Aswad cautioned, gently pushing Roy's left hand down, which nearly startled him. "You could seriously injure yourself if you do it that way."

Although slightly annoyed by the guardian's intervention, Roy simply nodded. He adjusted the position of his left hand so that his palm faced the sky, as Aswad suggested, and then carefully nudged the fireball sideways with his mana.

Shwii!

The miniscule fireball shot past Roy at an incredible speed before exploding into a small, though larger one. Roy could only watch in shock as the spell, which was supposed to land atop his left palm, struck the ground ten meters away from him.

As Roy glanced at Aswad, the guardian's smile never wavered.

"Let's try again," he encouraged.