“Did you not sleep last night?” asked Belen.

“I struggled to fall asleep at first. Too much excitement from watching the duel.”

Ali chose to not share what happened the previous night. He still didn’t know if he could fully trust the girl and, even if he could, there was no benefit of having her share the burden of keeping the secret. He ended up with more questions than answers after all that has happened.

“I hope you are mentally prepared for your next class then.”

Mentally prepared?

The teenager took a moment to recall what class was coming up. With Belen’s reminder, he groaned at the prospect of learning how to read and write while he was dealing with fatigue. The combination of sneaking around in the air ducts and his journey to the summoner realm had greatly drained him. However, he knew attendance to his next class was mandatory. After he finished breakfast, he checked with Belen again on the directions.

This must be it.

Ali stared at the ordinary doors with markings he couldn’t recognize. He placed a hand on one of the doors and it opened easily. Poking his head in, his eyes widened at the sight of all the books. In the village, there were four books in total, all of which were in terrible condition. They were treated more as decoration given that no villager could read them. In the room, there were shelves upon shelves of books.

How many lifetimes does one need to read all of those books?

Seeing the coast was clear, Ali walked in to admire the books. Despite lacking the ability to read, he was always mesmerized by the markings that exhibited an aura of their own. As he turned the corner, he yelped and jumped back.

“You must be Ali,” said the person. “Come with me.”

The man wore the same black robes as Bardanes but he didn’t cover his head. He had a buzzcut and, when he turned around, there was a nasty looking scar beneath his right eye.

“Are you coming or not?” the man asked with a hint of impatience.

Ali quickly apologized and followed the man to the center of the room. There were semi-circular wooden desks with chairs positioned neatly behind them. No other student was present so the teenager was allowed to pick his seat. Once he sat down, Ali watched the man walk over to a metal wall.

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“My name is Juraj!” Some markings appeared at the top of the wall. “On the board, this is how you write my name. By taking my class, you will learn the basic literacy skills. For more advanced literacy skills, there are optional classes but we won’t get into that here.”

Juraj lifted one of the metal plates atop a cart without making contact and sent it flying towards Ali. Before it hit, the plate stopped midair and dropped to the desk. Then, he did the same with a small projectile with one pointed end and one blunt end.

“The metal sheet is as big as standard book pages while the stylus is used for writing.” The instructor made more markings come up. “This is how we write Ali, your first name. Try to write it on your metal sheet with the stylus’ pointed end. Drag the blunt end over your mistakes to redo it.”

For the next hour or so, Ali painstakingly copied the neat markings the instructor made on the board of his name. Juraj patiently showed him how to hold the stylus properly to minimize injuries to his fingers and wrist. They then went on to simple markings that would form the foundation of Ali’s literacy skills. By the end of the class, the teenager could make scribbles that somewhat resembled the actual markings. After he thanked his instructor, Ali walked towards the door, noting the few markings he recognized as he passed the shelves.

I cannot wait until tomorrow.

After a few wrong turns, Ali made it to the track room where Master Nabil was already shouting at some of the runners. The teenager walked up but, before he could say anything, a wristband was already on his right wrist. Knowing the drill, he went onto the track. After the run the previous day, he knew how to better pace himself. Therefore, he didn’t have to stop until he finished his final lap. When he walked up to Nabil, the master didn’t remove his wristband and instead pointed at one of the walls. Ali approached the wall and watched the participants there.

This should be simple enough. Looks like my training at the formation will finally pay off.

The wall was covered with holes and extrusions, all meant to simulate what one expected while climbing the side of a mountain. There were mats on the ground that provided cushion to those who fell. The wall was broken into sections with a number written at the top of each section, though Ali could only recognize numbers up to five at the moment. The starting location was labeled with a red dot and the end had a blue dot. The climber had to go from start to finish in one go without touching the ground. Touching the ground or falling off would result in the participant returning to the start.

Let’s do this!

Ali went through the first five sections with ease. While he was studying the other climbers, he also noted the best paths he could take. By the sixth section, he encountered a problem. Unlike the first five, the later sections’ holes and extrusions weren’t static. In other words, paths he figured out initially might no longer exist once he was midway through. Following a few tries, the teenager realized that there were several different patterns so he was mostly tested for faster reaction and better adaptability. When the bell sounded, Ali focused on the sixth section until he heard his name called. He ran to Nabil with a puzzled look.

“Good work,” said Master Nabil after removing his wristband. “I didn’t expect you to get through the first five sections so quickly. You can challenge the rest next week.”