Author's Note:

And here's the second chapter for the day.  Finally a bit of action, huh? Lol, can't wait until things pick up, personally. Writing these chapters have taught me a lot. Hope you enjoy.

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Four days have passed since Johan arrived at the Academy. Four days of incessant studying and practicing cultivation. Rays of light poured into his room and caressed his body as he sat on the floor, absorbing mana into his spark. The sound of a key unlocking the door to his room tore him out of his concentration. He shot to his feet and sat on the only single bed in the room.

Two youths walked in; a human and an elf. The human was an average height male with short tufts of rich brown hair. His face was smooth and devoid of any malice or anger. The elf was nearly Johan's height and had long, straight blond hair tied into a pony tail. His eyes were a shiny golden color to match, and his complexion glowed in the sunlight. He watched Johan with faint curiosity.

"A titan for a roommate, huh," the elf said. "Could be worse, I guess. I'm Yudai Ueda."

"Don't be rude, Yudai..." the human said. "Hello there! I'm Arvin Sherman."

Johan stared at the two for a moment, feeling like his sanctuary was being invaded. He finally managed to say, "Hello. I'm Johan."

"Not much of a talker, are you? Well, titans aren't exactly known for their wit anyway," Yudai said.

"You don't have to squeeze an insult into every sentence, Yudai," Arvin said.

"Don't sweat it, he doesn't look bothered."

Johan felt all of his enthusiasm and energy draining from his body. The last four days of solitude had been a godsend to him. He watched the two of them at the door to his room and had to fight to keep the annoyance from his face.

The two of them walked in and a handful of servants followed them, lugging large, bulky bags over their shoulder. Within moments, the once empty room was now filled with color and life. Paintings were hung from the wall, carpets were rolled in, and fragrances were sprayed about the room. Johan sat on his bed with his eyes half-lidded, watching all of this with a a frown.

"Everyone's at Long Hall for breakfast, lets go," Yudai said to Arvin.

"Sure. Come along, Johan," Arvin said.

Yudai glanced at Johan, as if he forgot that Johan was even in the room. Johan thought long and hard about rejecting the offer, but eventually said, "Okay."

The three of them left their room and walked to Long Hall. The air was thick with tension. Arvin fidgeted endlessly, glancing left and right at Johan and Yudai.

"So, what're your goals at the Academy, Johan?" Arvin asked.

Johan shrugged and said, "I just want to learn magic. Not sure what comes after that."

"You don't need to go to an academy to learn magic," Yudai said as if talking to a slow child. "You can just buy the books."

"Yeah, but that would require money," Johan said.

"Ahh, your poor, is it? Could have fooled me."

"And you're rich?"

"Obviously."

"Wrong. Your family is rich. Your only accomplishment in life was being born to a rich family. You probably haven't earned a thing in your entire life."

Yudai whipped his head to Johan and said, "Watch your mouth—"

Arvin quickly said, "I—I wanna learn about healing so I can travel the world and heal peoples illnesses!"

Johan and Yudai stared at each other for a while longer before letting the matter drop. Arvin heaved a sigh of relief.

"So Yudai, what do you wanna do?" Arvin asked.

"I want to be a map maker. I want to travel the world, exploring foreign and uncharted lands," Yudai said.

"That's... more specific than I expected."

"Yeah, well, it seems like a good life. Free from your family and not having to keep any obligations."

"You wouldn't last a day in uncharted lands without your precious money and faithful servants there to keep you alive," Johan said.

"You—" Yudai began.

"Ah, we're here!" Arvin said.

Long Hall was filled with several groups of students, the sound of chattering echoing through the room. The smell of cooked chicken and steamed vegetables filled the air. Johan was able to keep himself from salivating; he managed to get used to the delicious smells after four days of experiencing them.

"Look at that," Johan said to no one in particular. "Everyone has already formed their little cliques."

"Don't be like that. You just have to reach out and try to talk to them," Arvin said.

Johan shrugged and walked off to go find some food. He filled his plate with any meat he could find, and then squeeze some veggies in on top. After he filled his plate, he looked around for Arvin and Yudai but couldn't find them, so he sat at the table by himself and tore into the food.

"Don't I know you?" a melodious voice rang out.

Johan turned around and grimaced when he saw that the voiced belonged to the elven youth that chased him throughout the city the other day. He was with a group of humans and elves, all of them looking at Johan as if he were an exotic animal.

"Nope. Definitely not," Johan said.

The elven youth and his friends laughed, then said, "Don't be like that! You're in better clothes now, but a pig in clothes is still a pig, you know?"

Johan faced his food and began to eat. The elven youth swaggered around the table and sat in front of Johan. His friends all sat around him.

"What's your name?" the elven youth, asked.

"Yudai," Johan said.

"Yudai... your parents must have really looked up to us elves, huh?" the elf said.

Johan kept his silence and continued eating. "Well, my name is Hidou Aihara. We must have gotten off on the wrong foot. My friends and I were about to head to Cochaigne to check out the recreation room, why don't you follow us?" Hidou said.

Johan took his time finishing his food, savoring the annoyed look on Hidou's face. He wiped his mouth and then stared at the faces of Hidou and his friends. He took his time, studying each of their expressions. They each had beaming smiles, but Johan could spot a false smile when he saw one. He sighed, and then said, "Fine."

They left Long Hall and walked a long way to Cochaigne. Johan made Hidou and his friends walk in front of him, not wanting to expose his back to them. It was a quiet walk for Johan, and none of them tried to bother him or invite him into their conversation.

Cochaigne building was the largest building that Johan has come across since joining the Academy. He had to crane his neck to see it in it's entirety. Inside, the images of godlike figures were painted on the intricately designed ceilings, engaged in fierce battle. Johan walked forward while staring at the ceiling, his heart fluttering from the scenery.

Johan cursed under his breath when he entered the recreation room. The first thing he saw were two students clobbering each other with thick wooden swords. The echoing sound of wood on flesh made Johan wince. Johan looked to his right and saw Hidou watching him with a smirk.

Hidou grabbed two wooden swords from a nearby rack and then led Johan into one of the various rings scattered along the grounds. He tossed Johan the sword and said, "I won't feel right until I've beaten you down at least once. Don't take it personally though."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

A shiver ran through Johan's spine. He gripped the sword and tried to find a comfortable stance, but it was too new to him. He bent his knees and gripped the sword tightly with his right hand. A cold look settled in his eyes.

Hidou's friends began laughing and Hidou just smirked and shook his head, then dashed at him. Johan took a step forward and then threw the sword at him with all the power he could muster. Hidou deftly knocked the sword out of the way, then leapt at Johan with his sword raised above his head.

Johan waited until Hidou got close enough, then sent a column of wind barreling into Hidou's raised hands, stalling his strike. Johan quickly took advantage of the delay and slammed his fist right into Hidou's nose with a loud crunch. His body spun in midair and landed in a messy heap. Blood spurted out of his nose and stained his white shirt. His face turned a shade of pink and he snarled at Johan.

Johan felt like he just punched concrete. His bloody knuckles throbbed endlessly. He winced from the pain and then darted backwards. Hidou dashed at him, not giving him any distance, sending a flurry of chops and swipes at him. Johan managed to parry a few strikes, but some got through his defense and clobbered him in the ribs and arms. Johan caught the sword in his hand and tried to punch Hidou in the face again, but Hidou swiveled to the left and kneed him square in the stomach.

He doubled over and spewed his recent meal out in front of him. He felt as if he had just been hit by a metal ram. Hidou dodged to the side and then slowly raised his wooden sword over head. With a shout, he slashed down, bludgeoning Johan in the back of the head. Johan managed to utter the name of the wind just before the strike, decelerating it a bit.

He laid sprawled out on the floor, warm blood sputtering from the back of his head. He struggled to keep hold of his consciousness. Hidou peered at him on the ground, pinching his bloody nose. Then he spun around, and walked off with his friends.

Johan laid there for what he felt was an eternity. Students were sparring nearby, completely ignoring his sorry state. After some time, his head stabilized and the blood stopped flowing from his gash. With massive effort, he managed to get on his feet and staggered out of the room.

"You look like shit, friend," someone to him.

Johan looked to his right and saw a man behind a desk looking at him with a bright smile. The man wore purple robes with his cowl pulled down.

"Well, I feel as bad as I look," Johan said through gritted teeth.

He was about to walk away until the man said, "Well, we have restoration pills. You can get five free restoration pill a day, each one after the fifth will cost you 50 silver."

The man pulled a pill out from a bag and tossed it at Johan. Johan searched the mans face, looking for any signs of deceit. He couldn't find anything, so he finally said, "Thank you."

He walked down the hall and immediately popped the pill into his mouth. A warm energy coursed through his body and massaged the gash on the back of his head, soothed his rattled brain, and mended his fractured ribs. Within 3 minutes, the feeling of pain was gone.

He chanced upon a meditation room and went in. The room was completely empty; there wasn't a speck of dust or furniture to be seen anywhere. Johan felt comforted while staring at the milky white walls; it felt like he were watching clouds drift through the sky on a clear day. He sat down on the generously padded floors and began to take several slow, deep breaths.

A small Elven girl immediately walked in, breaking his concentration. She had loose, straight black hair that cascaded over her shoulders. With her eclipse shaped eyebrows furrowed, she stared at him with emerald-green eyes. Johan smiled at her. She swung her head away and walked to the other corner of the room. Johan ignored her presence and went back to his mental exercises.

He closed his eyes and envisioned mana particles floating all around him, hanging in the air like mist on a rainy day. He could feel the different types of mana; most of the particles were dull and average, a few shined brightly and had a bit more energy, but there were a special few particles that shimmered brightly like stars in the night sky and bustled with energy. After a deep breath, he envisioned all of the special particles around him swirling around in front of him like debris in a tornado, and then he began to breath it all in, drawing it into his spark. The high quality mana particles felt heavy and tried to resist him, but he was able to overcome the resistance and draw them in anyway. As time went on, he became more confident and daring, and started to suck the particles in with increasing speed.

His chest started to feel warm as energy coursed throughout his body. It was euphoric. Johan lost track of time and remained like this until a horn blared, snapping him out of his concentration. He sighed and began to leave when he noticed the elven girl staring at him slack jawed.

"Oh my, you Elven girls are so forward," he said, putting both hands on his cheeks.

"Don't flatter yourself! " she said. "What were you just doing?"

"Ah, I'm new to this whole cultivation thing. I was giving it a go. It felt pretty good actually."

"You—"

"They sounded the horn, you know? We should get going."

They left the room together and began walking towards the houses. She kept peaking at him, and then turning away when he tried to make eye contact. He sighed heavily.

"So... what house do you belong to?" he asked.

"I'm in the same house as you," she said curtly.

"Oh? Can't believe I didn't notice such a cute little girl," he said, then gave her a wide smile.

"Y—you pig!" she said, starting to turn pink.

"I'm Johan, what's your name?" he asked after a hearty laugh.

"None of your business."

"Ah, that's true. So what classes do you have, Elf?"

"Don't call me—"

"I have Spark Theory early in the morning tomorrow. Then History and Scribing after lunch."

She stared at him for a while with her brow furrowed before saying, "I only have Faith class tomorrow."

"Fascinating. Anyway, we're here. Bye."

She tried to say something to him but he ignored it and walked away. He saw no reason to be polite to a person that doesn't respect him enough to give a name. When he walked into his dark dorm he saw Yudai and Arvin in their bunk beds. Arvin looked like he was sleeping, but Yudai was wide awake and began to laugh as soon as he walked in.

"I heard a Titan got put in their place, any idea who it was?" Yudai asked between laughs.

"News travels fast, huh," Johan said.

"Don't worry. No one expected you to beat him anyway."

"That's fine, because I wasn't worrying. He had years of cultivation practice behind him. I've only been cultivating for a few hours. Even then, I was still able to break his nose."

"You don't have to lie."

"Believe what you want."

Johan laid flat on his bed and began to envision the mana particles floating above him. There were more special particles here than in the meditation room. He began to greedily draw all of them into his spark. His body began to tremble as more energy filled him. He managed to keep it up for two hours before he drifted off to sleep.