'To our beloved Oscar,

Your father and I received your letter and are glad you are doing well.

We cried so much when you said you became an Exalt. The entire town came by to congratulate us.

You've worked so hard. But make sure to take care of yourself. Your father and I worry about you all the time.

Visit us whenever you can, particularly with that friend Frederick you mentioned.

With our love,

Mother and Father'

Oscar read the letter multiple times. He had sent a letter once a month, but the postage was slow. His first reply finally came two months after he sent it out.

He had been in the Blue Ocean Pavilion for three months now. Surprisingly, he had a much more mature look on his face. His worldview and the gravity of being an Exalt had matured him.

"Os! How long are you going to reread that letter? Let's get back to it." Frederick was waiting in the middle of the training room. The past two months did not have much effect on Frederick. He was still handsome with a lackadaisical expression.

"Coming, Fred."

Oscar got up and stood opposite Frederick. Both wielded a short sword, the best weapon for learning the basics of weaponry and positioning. They got these for free since they were just gradeless weapons for training purposes.

"DONG"

The bell rang, and Frederick sprinted. Oscar held a tight stance, ready for everything. The many weeks of sparring helped him calm his aggressive nature, and he took a more defensive calculated stance.

Frederick was not deterred as his Ein focused on his feet. A breeze followed as Frederick disappeared from Oscar's sight.

'Annoying Wind Step.' Oscar complained.

Frederick's 'Wind Steps' focused the Ein on his feet, transforming it into the wind. The wind under his feet would burst, quickening Frederick's steps. It was a great spell for positioning and movement.

Behind Oscar, Frederick swung his short sword down towards it. But Oscar turned around to block the incoming blow.

The swords clashed but did not make much fuss since they were not coated in Ein. A regular weapon would break from the pressure.

At that moment, Frederick noticed the Ein gathering his Oscar's eyes. He tried to close them, but it was too late.

Oscar's eyes looked normal, but his pupils were glowing blue from his ein. A line flew from his pupils to Frederick's. Frederick shook a little before standing still.

Oscar immediately swung his sword to attack the motionless Frederick. However, the line broke, and Frederick snapped free, distancing himself from Oscar's strike.

'Hah hah'

The two Exalts were breathing heavily. Although it was a spar, they utilized too much of their Ein and were exhausted.

One of the books Oscar read in the Neptune Archives was on strategy. Exalts could not immediately refine the Ein around them to recover, so they needed to manage their Ein usage carefully. Ein meditation while moving was a foolhardy endeavor that Oscar tried to no result and great pain.

The Exalt, with better control and usage of their Ein, had the advantage. Oscar remembered when Lewis mentioned 'tactics'. To drain the opponent's Ein while maintaining your own was one tactic. If a higher grade was depleted, they could not fight back.

However, these two were still wasteful in their Ein due to their inexperience.

"Let's take a breather." Oscar rubbed his eyes and sat down.

"Your link is still too weak. I was able to break it too fast." Frederick wiped his sweat off.

"You also overshot yourself. If you used your Wind Steps properly, you would have been more accurate in positioning." Oscar noticed that even though Frederick's feet were off-balance when using his spell.

"I know. I need to work on that. The biggest issue is your spell. The risk is too great for your eyes and mind." Frederick warned

"I'm still working on that."

Oscar lay down, thinking back on the battle.

'My eyes have gotten used to being filled with Ein, but the singularity is the problem.'

He tried repeatedly, but his singularity only advanced to being small as his entire pupil. The spell said to make it a fine point in the center. But condensing it was akin to concentrating all the heat into one spot. It worsened the pain, affecting Oscar's mind.

'The link is only strong when my mind is stable, and the singularity is reached. I need to practice more.'

"Again!" Oscar was sick of resting; he needed more experience.

The two repeatedly clashed.

Three months later, Six months since Oscar joined.

Oscar drank a Grade One Ein Amassing Elixir. It had been six months since the first distribution, so Oscar had drunk two already.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Unlike the first time, he was more experienced in the process. The Ein no longer fiercely burned as it shot straight to his core. The Exolsia core kept spinning as some geometric shapes began to brighten on their outlines.

'I couldn't break through again….'

Oscar hung his head down in disappointment. Some Grade Seven and Grade Six Exolsia students have already progressed to the Middle Apprentice Level. Oscar felt firsthand what it meant to be a Grade Four. It could not absorb and refine as efficiently.

"Damn, I couldn't break through." Frederick had an unsatisfied look and blew out hot air. Earlier, they found out Samuel had broken through to the Middle Apprentice Level. This put pressure on Oscar and Frederick to keep trying.

"We put our hopes on this batch of elixir. We can't handle another three months of Samuel's goading." Oscar was exhausted from hearing Samuel's taunts and jeers all the time. He wished nothing more than to put him under his foot.

Frederick crossed his arms in deep thought. He had a pensive look as he stared at Oscar.

"There is one thing we can try."

"What is that?" Oscar asked.

Frederick cleared his throat and said, "We can take on a mission to earn a reward and contribution points."

Oscar pondered for a moment, then nodded. They had avoided the Mission Hall for a while since they did not want to leave the safety of the Pavilion until they were at least Middle Apprentice Exalts.

"We can't be Exalts if we don't take risks. But, we have to choose one carefully." Oscar was cautious since students sometimes died on these missions.

Frederick did not have his usual joking face. He understood the gravity of what they were doing. But what choice did they have? Sooner or later, they would have to leave and experience the world.

With heavy faces, they made their way to the Misson Hall, where a small crowd of students was hovering in front of the gigantic board with papers tacked on it. Each paper was a mission delegated by the Pavilion.

Oscar glanced over the various missions posted. They were in the room for Apprentice Exalts, so these missions were tailored for them. However, some were for Greater Apprentice Exalts, while most were for Middle Apprentice Exalts.

The few that Oscar found for Lower Apprentice Exalts did not give the best reward or contribution points. Of course, they could do multiple Lower missions to accumulate contribution points, but that would take too long since the elixir was pricy.

"Os! Look here." Frederick was on the other side and waved Oscar over.

Oscar made his way to Frederick, who was pointing to a mission in the corner. The mission reward was three Ein Amassing elixirs as well as contribution points.

"Hunt a Night Raptor and bring back its core, blood, and body parts." Oscar paled and looked at Frederick.

He read about Night Raptors. They were silent killers who stalked their prey and made quick work of them. However, in exchange for their stealth, they had weak bodies. So Lower Apprentice Exalts could take it on if they had some help.

"There's two of us so that we could do this. As long as we corner the Night Raptor, we can take it two-on-one." Frederick tried to convince Oscar, but Oscar felt it was too dangerous.

"There are three elixirs as a reward. If we can find a third, then we should be fine."

"A third person. Who can we convince to join us?" Frederick felt as though he had a headache. He and Oscar could work well since they were friends, but could they trust another person?

At that moment, someone walked forward and bumped Frederick out of the way, grabbing the mission paper.

"Hey, you!" Frederick was pissed off and tried to tell the person off.

"Buzz off. Don't stand there like a moron."

It was a girl who waved off Frederick. She had bright orange hair tied into twin tails. She was about the same height as Frederick and was quite slender. Her smooth orange eyes were full of ferocity as she stared them down.

Oscar and Frederick recognized her as the girl they ran into for a brief moment during the trial.

"Hah? Who do you think you are? We were thinking about taking this mission."

"Me? I'm Emily Nevena. If you wanted this mission, you should have just taken it. Don't be a coward." The girl, Emily, was bold and did not back down against Frederick.

Frederick steamed in anger at the girl's words. What was that about him being a coward? He was just cautious; that's what it was.

Oscar observed the girl, "What realm Exalt are you?"

Frederick looked at Oscar, then at the selfish girl. That's right! This girl was far too arrogant. He'd show her the difference between them,

"I'm Middle Apprentice Exalt," Emily stated dryly but with a hint of pride.

"Impossible!" Frederick pointed at the girl. "This voracious, unmannered girl can't be a Middle Apprentice Exalt."

Suddenly, the girl kicked Frederick's shin. He could not react in time and yelped in pain. "Do you want to have a duel?"

Her orange eyes flared with hostility as she thought of Frederick as a scumbag. Oscar hurriedly stepped in between them and tried to calm her down.

"Sorry about my friend's behavior. But if you would like, the two of us can join you."

Frederick looked at Oscar with widened eyes.

Emily looked surprised that Oscar would propose an alliance. But she shook her head.

"From your friend's words earlier and how you hovered around the same paper, I can tell you're both Lower Apprentice Exalts, right? I don't like carrying around baggage. What can you offer?"

'She's smart.' Oscar thought. Contrary to her fiery appearance and harsh words, she was level-headed and observant. With this girl, the chances of catching the Night Raptor would be quite high.

"My name is Oscar, and this is my friend, Frederick." Oscar started with introductions to get better acquainted with Emily. Trying to propose something without knowing names was not the best tactic.

"Frederick has the properties of a good scout, and he will be able to find the Night Raptor."

Emily's eyes changed for a second, but Oscar noticed it.

'She's interested in the scout capabilities. So she must not have the same qualities.'

"What about you?" Emily pointed at Oscar.

"What?" Oscar asked in surprise.

"That idiot over there has some use, but what about you?" Emily stated while Frederick was complaining about who the idiot was.

"I'm sure if you find the Night Raptor, you still have to kill it. But it is fast and slippery, so even the two of you may not catch it." Oscar saw Emily's face change into deep thought and continued, "Once you have the Night Raptor, I will be able to hold it in place. Trust me on that."

"Hoh. Can you hold it in place? That's interesting." Emily smirked in amusement. She planned on finding someone who could track the Night Raptor, but that could take time. These two in front of her were contemplating the mission, so there was some credibility to their words.

Emily tapped her foot and fingers in thought. Oscar waited patiently for her answer while Frederick was still fuming.

"I agree to team up. But how do we split the reward?" Emily asked.

"The three elixirs will be handed to each of us. The contribution points are a total of 1000. You can take 400 while my friend and I take 300 each."

Frederick nearly exclaimed in protest, but he knew they needed a third member. As the Middle Apprentice Exalt, she would take a larger share.

"Haha, you're quite smart. You understand your place here." Emily smiled and shook Oscar's hand. "We have a deal."

Oscar smiled back. "Pleased to work with you."

Frederick tried to come up, but Emily put out her hand to stop him. "I don't shake hands with loud idiots."

"I swear, I'll beat you down once I'm in the Middle Apprentice Level." Frederick had had enough of this girl's insults and swore to bring her down.

"Whatever." Emily did not register Frederick as a threat. "Let's reintroduce ourselves."

"I'm Oscar Terr, Grade Four Exolsia, Lower Apprentice Exalt."

"Frederick Klein, Grade Five Exolsia, Lower Apprentice Exalt."

"Emily Nevena, Grade Six Exolsia, Middle Apprentice Exalt."

Oscar and Frederick expected it, but the truth stung nonetheless. Of course, she was a Grade Six.

"Looks like I'm the boss. Let's get to it, then. I don't want to be gone too long." Emily said.

The trio exited the Mission Hall and returned to their rooms to prepare for the mission. Unknown to them, someone slowly came out and watched as they left.

"I should tell this to Samuel. Those two finally came out of hiding."