A week passed after Teras discovered Ronie's secret, he had almost recovered from his injuries, he could walk without having to use mana enforcement or a stick and he also didn't need the healing crystal anymore, he had moved back to the dorms with the others, Teras had trained his mana flow all this week so he became very good at controlling the intensity of his mana flow, all and all he could use mana better than everyone in the camp expect Becka and Recka of course, the other student had learned the basics of mana control and most of them could use it for fighting, today was the day they would finally learn about the power of the cards, it was the most exciting day for everyone, as the daybreak came everyone quickly got ready and went to the field where the lesson would start

"As all of you know today is a special day, It's the day you learn how to become closer to god, today you will learn how to use the power of cards!"

nobody dared to talk, it was so quiet you could hear the leaves of the trees clashing with each other

"It seems like no one is planning to waste time so I will get to the basics quickly, the power of cards can provide you power beyond something humans can achieve, you can enforce this power with mana like you enforce your body, before you choose a card think of what you really desire right now, don't go around picking a card that you don't like because you will be stuck with it for a very very long time trust me, so to begin the process you first need to close your eyes and activate your mana flow, now the most important moment! repeat what I say and don't get scared is all part of the process, also don't worry if you can't form a contract your first time you can request one multiple time but so you know god will accept you only if you are strong enough to handle his gift, now repeat after me"

Recka then took a deep breath and started channeling the prayer

"Oh god that rules the skies give me the power to overcome your struggles and conquer my human self and ascend to a higher level of life form, to a life form closer to you, I request a contract with your Highness!"

a bunch of people repeated it, and they fell unconscious, their eyes also became pure white, that scared a lot of people but in the end, there wasn't anyone that didn't request a contract, Teras then repeated the words too, he felt his body giving up on him he couldn't move a muscle, all he could see was an empty black place filled with a cloud of dark smoke, suddenly a massive golden eye opened, it was 6 times the size of Teras, the eye was also very close at him

"What a surprise! I didn't expect to see someone like you here... For your own good, I suggest you leave, and quick, if not then things may not end very well for you"

after the words of god, Teras woke up, he was sweating, he had a blank expression on his face, he was feeling hungry and thirsty, and his body was so weak that he couldn't stand up

"Whoa there Teras, stay down, after a contract with god your body becomes very stressed, I know it felt weird but you have to calm down"

Recka told him

"He didn't accept it, he said that I wasn't supposed to be there, well he didn't say this exact thing but that's definitely what he meant, he also kind of kicked me out"

Teras told her

"WHAT!!! you didn't get accepted? With this kind of mana control is impossible to deny a contract with you, how did this happen?"

Recka was very confused

"I guess not everyone can get closer to God, no matter what kind of person they are"

Teras told her as he laugh it off

"What are you even saying, you dummy? I'm telling you it's almost impossible to not get accepted"

Recka told him, she was angry at his reaction, Teras didn't really understand how the system worked but he brushed it off

'maybe I will try it again some other day'

Teras thought, he then got up and decided to check on the others, he first went to Lia, since she was close to him

"Lia, what card did you choose?"

he asked

"I chose the 5th card (electricity), it seemed very useful to me, how about you?"

Lia asked him with a clearly exhausted voice

"in Recka's surprise, I wasn't able to form a contract with god"

Teras replied

"That sucks! To be honest, I didn't think that you wouldn't have gotten accepted I guess you are unlucky"

Lia said with a sad expression on her face

"I'm going to check on the others, you stay here and relax"

Teras told her as he was leaving, he then made his way to Har and Cara, they were sitting nearby, and they seemed to be in a good mood

"What's up guys, what cards did you choose?"

Teras asked them

"I chose the 8th card(earth)"

Har said

'That was predictable'

Teras thought

"As for me I got the 8th card(water), what did you take Teras?"

Cara asked him out of curiosity

"I, unfortunately, didn't get a contract, but I'm sure if I try day after day I will eventually get accepted"

Teras said, it was hard for him to keep smiling, but he still kept a bright smile on his face, he didn't want to worry the others

"Well too bad for you I got a double contract, ever heard of them?"

Ronie popped out of nowhere, Teras knew everything about why he got a "double contract" but he kept it a secret only he and Becka knew about it

"Double? What did you get?"

Har asked, before Ronie could reply Teras jumped in

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"It's the 2nd(super strength) and the 4th(weapon mastery) right? correct me if I'm wrong"

Teras knew it all along since he overheard him and Prodo talking about it sometime in the past week

"Whoa you guessed right, if you could only use this kind of luck for your contract maybe things could have turned out better for you"

Ronie replied in a semi-aggressive tone, and a silence followed, the silence was then interrupted by Recka

"Guys write your names on these pieces of paper and gather them here"

she said as she was pointing at a table, the table had a box on it and a plate filled with small sheets of paper, everyone got a piece of paper and wrote their name on it, and placed it inside the box

"What is this for Recka?"

Teras asked, he found it kind of weird

"Did I forget to tell you? we are planning a tournament to test out what you learned from our training, after that tournament adventuring classes will start, where all of you will learn the basics about the continents and other important stuff for your adventures"

Recka replied, Teras was excited by the idea of a tournament, but also kind of annoyed by the idea of a school-like place, not soon after the box had been filled with the papers

"I will now pick papers and this will decide who will you fight, just for clarification is not really a round-based tournament, what I mean is that all of you will fight 3 times with different opponents and those with the higher score will get a special prize! So let's start by picking 2 names"

Recka told to the students, after that she picked 2 random sheets of paper

"The names written are Teras and Ronie! both of you get to the field and have a fair fight"

'whoa how convenient! The strongest person that I could fight right now was Ronie, why did it have to be him? well I can't do anything so first I will figure out his fighting style and maybe I can stand a chance'

Teras thought, the 2 men entered the field and got ready for the fight

'I will humiliate you right here and now, and then I will show Cara who's the man'

Ronie thought

'Just don't hurt him too much child, we need him'

Prodo told him, he sounded nervous about the fight

"On your marks 3.....2.....1.....START!!!"

Ronie launched himself at Teras with mana enhancement, he didn't waste any time, Teras enhanced his body and prepared to block, Ronie struck him with an aggressive swing of his sword, Teras easily blocked it but the pressure of the hit was great

'It must be his strength card, it's too damn powerful'

Teras thought, Ronie then followed up with a big swing from Teras's right side, Teras then quickly threw a jab at Ronie's face, he then blocked the attack, it was easier than before because Ronie was dazed from the hit, Ronie then fell back, Teras didn't let him recover, he quickly kicked a rock at him, Ronie blocked it, Teras saw an opening, he then stayed low and stroke Ronie at his legs with a similar way he did to Recka, Ronie fell on his knees from the pain, Teras then punched him twice and then kicked him at his face, Ronie almost fainted there, Teras quickly backed down after the successful combo of hits, Ronie was losing

'what are you doing you, idiot? don't let him beat you, you have my power and the powers of 2 cards you can't possibly be losing this fight'

Prodo told him, Ronie was pissed, he quickly stood up and charged at Teras like a wild animal, Teras then prepared for a finishing move, he charged his blade with mana and waited for an opening, Ronie again attempted to strike him with a big swing from the top, Teras fell as close to the ground as possible, before the attack of Ronie could reach him Teras stroke Ronie's blade with his mana charged sword, the strike ended up breaking Ronie's sword, before Teras could reach Ronie's face with his blade he stopped, a huge amount of air pushed Ronie back, the broken blade of Ronie's sword hit the ground, the match had ended, Teras won, a cheer from the students could have been heard, Ronie was very mad

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

Ronie screamed, as he released a huge amount of mana, he activated mana overflow, his body couldn't handle all this power, he was screaming from pain

"Ronie deactivate your mana flow, quick!"

Teras told him in an attempt to save him from this pain, he couldn't listen his screams were so much louder than Teras, Becka then quickly rushed to the field and stroked Ronie on a vital spot on his neck, her hand was covered with rock, to maximize the chances of knocking him out, Ronie ended up unconscious

"Are you alright Teras?"

Becka asked him

"I'm okay, shouldn't you worry about Ronie?"

Teras asked, even though Ronie is working with Prodo he didn't want anyone to suffer the same way he did

"He will probably stay in bed for about 5-6 days and he will be fine, of course with the treatment you got"

Becka told him

'5-6 days with my treatment? I was healing myself every single night just for me to get better quicker, so he definitely can't recover faster than me, but maybe this is a good thing, I could really use this extra time to find out about Prodo's plan'

Teras thought, he had mixed feeling about this situation

"Guys you take him to his bed! Teras go grab the healing crystal and come to the boy's dorm"

Recka told him, she looked sad, and she felt like she was responsible for another mana overflow accident, Teras noticed it and tried to comfort her

"Don't worry Recka it wasn't your fault, Ronie is the crazy type, he would use everything to win so cheer up"

Recka didn't reply, she still thought it was her fault, Teras then gave up and went to pick up the crystal, he entered Recka's house and took the crystal, as he was going to the dorms he thought

'Are 6 days enough for me to figure things out, maybe I should delay it'

as he thought about it he stumbled on a rock and fell down, he broke the crystal in the process

"Damn it!!! I broke it, what do I do now?"

Recka heard him from afar

"Is everything okay? what happen?"

she asked, she looked worried

"I tripped and ended up breaking the crystal, I'm very sorry"

Teras said, Recka was couth by surprise, she didn't expect this to happen

"Are you stupid?! how can you break a crystal are you 4 or something?!"

Recka told him with anger, Teras didn't expect that

"Hey, I told you! it was an accident, and don't yell at me!"

Teras replied, Recka ignored him and ran to the boy's dorm, in anger Teras left, he went to the back of the dorms in an attempt to find Prodo, once he reached there he screamed

"PRODO COME OUT YOU BASTARD!!!"

shortly after he did

"Do you finally remember me?"

Prodo asked with a happy expression on his face

"Why didn't you warn Ronie, I know you talk to him here, I saw it with my own eyes, that's how I know your name"

Teras replied, Prodo looked disappointed, he then tried to leave

"Don't go! I have a lot to ask you, firstly answer my question, secondly, I want to ask you about my past, you seem to know me"

Teras told him as he gripped his blade

"I don't have anything to tell you, you are useless for now"

Prodo told him with a smirk on his face

"Tell me or I will kill your precious little friend!"

Teras threaten him

"I don't care if you kill him, I can find someone else to give my power to"

Prodo replied, Teras was out of ideas he couldn't find a way for Prodo to tell him about his past, Prodo disappeared into thin air once again, Teras decided to go back to the dorm to check on Ronie, on his way in he found the 2 sisters

"Hey ho...."

before he could finish the sentence he was slapped by Recka, Teras glared at her

"Why didn't you come to heal him!? Did you get offended by my words, you little baby?! you always do this! you always do whatever you want without considering others! You are a coward!!! You shouldn't have come here in the first place if you didn't plan to be a good person! He is also your friend don't you care about him!!!?"

Recka told him, she was about to slap him again but Becka grabbed her arm

"Stop it Recka, you know you are wrong just go back and relax I will take it from here"

Becka told her

"Fine whatever..."

Recka said as she left, Teras began to walk inside the building

"Wait Teras! before you enter the building, I want to tell you something... Recka is kind of unstable now, she wasn't herself so please forgive her when you see her again"

"It's ok don't worry about it"

Teras said, he didn't look Becka in the eyes, he then entered the building but instead of going to the boy's room he went to the bathroom, he then started to tear up, it wasn't because of his pain or sadness, it was his rage, he was mad at himself

'she is right, I'm a coward, I'm an idiot, I always try to use people without considering their feelings, I will never be a good adventurer with this kind of mindset, I don't want to be like this, I want to be someone that can support others, I want to be a better person, someone I can be proud of becoming'

as he was sobbing Har entered the room

"I knew you would be here, wait, are you crying? what's wrong?"

Har asked

"You got it all wrong, I just cleaned my face and a fly flew inside my eyes"

Teras told him in an attempt to hide the fact that he was crying, Har found it hard to believe it but in the end, he pretended to believe him

'he must have a reason to cry, I will not question him further'

Har thought

"Let's go to Ronie, I heard he is badly hurt"

Teras said, Har agreed and the 2 men went to Ronie's bed, he was there, but he was unconscious

"I guess we came at the wrong timing, let's leave him alone, he deserves some sleep"

they left the injured Ronie alone, they had to continue this strange yet exacting day