Kestevere was surprised that the introduction between Sophitia and the rest of his friends went smoothly. She was welcomed as a new addition to the circle, and it was clear that she was different from people outside of this group. Despite her initial hostility, she was a kind and sociable person. While she and Kestevere waited to eat, other students would come up and speak to her about classes, request assistance, or just make small talk. This was, of course, after giving Kestevere the side-eyed look of suspicion, but he didn't mind much. It was just another reason for him to push himself to go out and meet new people, even if it was only to make new acquaintances. When the two sat down with the rest of his group, Liadin was the first to open his mouth about Sophitia.

"So Kest, who's the newbie, and why are we adopting her into our band of misfits?" He lightly teased. Trysta shook her head in exasperation, and Gerold tried to cover his mouth to hide the laughter that shook his entire body.

"She's not a newbie at all," Kestevere said with a glare, "her name is Sophitia, and she is one of the quickest in the obstacle course class I'm taking. I don't know how she does it, but she'd leave most of us in the dust if it came down to a race."

"Oh really? And what does Miss Speedy have to say about that?" Liadin retorted.

"He's right, I'd dust all of you. Well, except maybe you," Sophitia said with a pointed glance at Trysta.

"I've seen how you move in a fight, even when you take it easy on your opponent. You're fast enough to leave me behind," Trysta responded honestly. Usually, she had confidence in herself and would be blunt about her strength. In a fight, Trysta told the rest of the group that there hadn't been a student that could best her in years. The last one to defeat her was a graduate from a year and a half ago named Lior Carter. He was a fantastic magic user, and by most accounts, he was said to be a genius. Trysta sought to catch up with him one day for a rematch.

"That's surprising. You're really humble," Sophitia murmured low enough that only Kestevere, who sat beside her, could hear. "Maybe one day we can test it on the course before we graduate."

"That sounds good to me," Trysta said softly.

"And what about me? I'm pretty fast, too. I was actually the fastest in my class," Liadin bragged.

"So what? I've seen the other students, and that bar's pretty low. Sorry to say, but you aren't up to it. Especially since no one in my class has seen what I can really do," Sophitia teased with a predatory grin. Liadin stared momentarily before throwing his hands up in defeat and telling her she'd won. The group laughed as they continued eating, and more than once, they received looks of annoyance from other students until they saw Sophitia. Kestevere recognized her as a leader among students, whereas Trysta was an unapproachable myth.

The group finished up with their meals and went to their individual classes. Kestevere could complete his tests and was sure he'd scored favorably. His concern was the training that would unfold after his regular classes. His new mentor seemed even more determined to train him to death than Sven had. Velkine was serious about her position as his teacher, and he would take advantage of his luck even if it killed him. When he arrived at the training area, she was already there and was standing by one of the private training areas.

"You shouldn't stay up so late when your first training day with a new mentor is the next day," she lightly chastised. Kestevere looked at her with an open mouth, but no words came out. "I heard you talk about it. I'm still learning about you, and Sven didn't have much to say about your character other than your willingness to work hard. Just being someone giving their all isn't enough to impress me, but being a good person intending to bring people together is."

"How were you watching me? Can you make yourself invisible?" Kestevere shouted, shocked that he'd been under surveillance all day and hadn't known it. With his recent developments in his power, he was shocked that she'd been able to watch him without being noticed.

"You're good, but that's only for a beginner student. You don't hold up against someone that's been doing this for nearly twenty years. I probably served with your parents," the woman declared with her hands on her waist.

"Don't people usually feel bad about getting old?" Kestevere asked, immediately regretting his decision as a glare was directed his way. The frigid air around them was proof of her distaste for his statement, and he mimed locking his lips shut.

"Just step into the training area, you little snot. Your goal is the complete destruction of all enemies. There are seven in there for you to hunt," she grumbled, and before Kestevere could give her a look of disbelief, he was pushed into the training area. He was pleasantly surprised at how many obstacles were in the small area. He recognized that he would have to explore the area. The entire training area had become a vertically expansive jungle of different environments. Kestevere fed mana through his body and started investigating.

As he moved through the jungle-like area that welcomed him, he began pushing out to all of the elements so that he would have a roaming storage of power following him. Despite the area appearing peaceful, he wasn't letting his guard down. The problem was that his senses weren't helping much because the entire area was created from mana. The elements and mana were all around him, and he could feel them, but the movement felt the same in this situation. Kestevere stepped wrong and found himself falling into a cold ravine.

As he descended the slope, he could feel several different things stirring. Perhaps this was where he was supposed to begin. Kestevere used the momentum from the slide to roll from where he'd come from and managed to avoid an entity emerging from the soft ground. Kestevere glared at the monster because he realized it resembled the scale giant. This monster was massive and had heavily armored arms and legs. It also had a shell on its back that Kestevere instinctively knew he couldn't break through. He'd have to fire through the stomach as he'd done with the scale giant. Kestevere gathered his mana and the earth into a single point and prepared to launch it as he was knocked to the ground. Kestevere's breath was knocked out of his, and he looked up to find that another creature had snuck up on him. It looked like a giant ferret to him, with billows of wind winding along its limbs. He cursed and summoned the earth to him, clamping around the monster and holding it in place. Kestevere fell into the ground as the beast tried to free itself from the restraints.

Once he'd escaped, he used the water along an earthen tunnel below to gain speed. He slid down the narrow tunnel he'd made and emerged from the ground behind the wind-ferret creature. Kestevere summoned the wind to keep him in the air while a javelin of compressed air formed beside him. He grabbed the javelin by the hilt and hoisted it back before using his body's full strength and boosting the momentum with magic. Kestevere knew that this would dissolve the creature that his mentor had created, and as it was about to hit, the shell monster appeared and stopped the attack with its shell. When the dust cleared, Kestevere saw that the shell was marred by a fist-sized crack, but the beast was unharmed.

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The ferret broke free of the bonds that Kestevere attached to it and turned so that he was forced to face the two of them together. Kestever chuckled as he began to charge the magic around himself. It may not have been his most practiced element, but there wasn't much that could outspeed lightning itself that he knew of. The monsters approached cautiously, separating so the ferret went to his left and the shelled monster went right. Kestevere was done preparing, so he raised a two-layer dome around the shell creature and turned his attention to the ferret creature. He dashed towards it with mana in his hand, and the creature leaped into the air. Kestevere raised his hand towards the monster and fired a bolt of electricity from the center of his palm. The lightning shot through the creature, and Kestevere watched it fall into a useless lump as the dome behind him was broken. Kest turned and gathered the fire and earth elements together as the shelled creature turned towards him and launched a molten spike through the ground and into the beast. It began dissipating before his eyes, and Kestevere began relaxing before climbing up to the top of the training area again.

Kestevere sighed, knowing he'd face stronger creatures as he rose through the training area. He got up from recovering his mana and started back up the jungle-like tower. Kestevere faced new creatures as he went up from wolves made of ice to giant mice made of fire. Once he reached the top of the tower, he had to face off with a hawk made of hardened earth that could control the air. Kestevere hadn't fought a creature with the ability to use the elements, but he managed to overcome the creature. While more robust than other creatures he'd fought, the creature tried utilizing the air it controlled too much and found it couldn't control the air outside a specific range. Kestevere encapsulated the area around the creature in air he had complete control over. Gradually, he began to shrink the area around the creature until it was forced to come crashing down. Kestevere was prepared for it to come down and had a molten spiked area for it to fall upon. The creature exploded in a burst of magic, and the training jungle began to shrink until Kestevere found himself sitting on the barren ground of the enclosed area in front of his mentor.

"Hmm, not bad, but speed is as important as efficiency. With more experience, you'll grow faster as well, but for now, you're doing a fine job," Velkine said with a smile.

"I appreciate that. Is this what I can expect every day?" Kestevere asked, exasperated.

"Well, more or less. You'll never have an easier day than today. I can guarantee that, at the very least," she said, smiling deviously. "While this may be the end of our training session, you still have another person expecting you."

"Hey, are you ready to step up your game?" a familiar voice asked, and Kestevere turned shocked to see Trysta.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Kestevere shouted, feeling defeated.

"Nope. If you want to be able to graduate, you have to improve more quickly than anyone else. You don't have a choice if you don't want to be left behind," Velkine lectured. Kestevere lowered his head, with the two sides of his mind fighting against him. Part of him was furious at being made to do this, and the other part was appreciative of the mentor and friends he had. He got onto his feet and faced Trysta, telling her he was ready.

"I won't complain anymore about the help. I'll still complain about doing it, but I'll get over it," Kestevere pouted as Velkine giggled. She left, and Trysta set the practice weapons and armor before them. There were various options in front of them, but Kestevere selected his typical single sword style. He had no desire to use a shield; it'd just slow him down. Trysta surprised him by choosing a spear. "What's with the switch? Taking it easy on me?" He asked her in mock offense.

"No, this is how you'll know I'm taking you seriously. I'm best with a spear, though it's been a while since I used one," she said with a predatory grin. They moved the extra equipment to the side and walked to the walls of the training area, where they readied themselves. Kestevere gave the sword a couple of swings to loosen his arm for combat, but he wasn't confident he'd hold up against her. She asked if he was ready from the other side of the area, and he dropped into his combat stance and shouted that he was prepared.

She started by jumping into the sky directly in the sun's path. Kestevere couldn't see her, so he pushed out a wave of air to detect her movements. He was nearly defeated as she launched herself from the sky at him. He managed to evade the first attack, but she hit the ground and pushed off towards him with the spearhead aimed at his stomach. Kestevere increased his mana circulation to the max and collected air around his blade to increase the impact. Still, he could only narrowly deflect her attack. He grimaced from the force of her attack, and as he turned towards her, he found that she was already launching herself once again. The attacks continued for nearly a minute until Kestevere stepped into the sky, where she couldn't push off the ground. Kestevere saw her follow, and she gained more speed than he had. He released the air beneath him and fell below her attack, but she created a foothold from the air and could follow him down. This was a more dangerous situation than the ground since he couldn't deflect as quickly. When he tried to guard against the tip of her spear, he was launched into the ground. Kestevere could not move momentarily after hitting the ground and leaving an impressive crater.

"Not bad for your first match against me, but you're too stationary. I'm coming right at you, and you're facing that head-on. Your strength comes from using the elements, not from increasing your physical strength. Some people might call it cowardly, but you should avoid direct combat. It will make things easier for you in the long run," Trysta explained. She wasn't even winded, and Kestevere noticed that, if anything, she appeared bored. He felt his frustration rise at himself since he could not make her try. He asked her for another round, and the two returned to their starting points.

* * *

Kestevere returned to the dorm room bruised and battered from his training sessions. Gerold saw Kestevere enter the room looking disappointed and began laughing at him.

"You should see your face, man!" Gerold nearly shouted between laughing, "You look absolutely awful! Go take a shower, and then tell me about what happened."

Kestevere rudely gestured at Gerold before grabbing his clothes and taking a shower. Despite laughing at him, Gerold had been right about him needing a shower. It was helping with the muscle soreness and his mood. He was in a much better mood when he came out of the shower.

"It was a rough day, man. I didn't sleep last night, I had my first lesson with my mentor, and then Trysta had the opportunity to use me as her personal punching bag," Kestevere complained, lying back on his bed.

"Well, that's the way it'll be for a while. If it makes you feel better, all of us will take turns laying into you. We're gonna make you stronger all around, whether it is combat, using your magic, being faster, or being better with close-quarters combat. You're going to probably be as good as us by the time we all leave the intermediate academy, but we have to get you there first," Gerold explained with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, I know. I just have to get out of here so that I'm not left behind, I guess," Kestevere complained. Gerold explained that they decided it after their classes when Trysta found each of them after class, including the newest member of the group, Sophitia. They all agreed to help somehow, focusing on their strengths so that they could help him be the best he could be by the end of the month.

"If you wanna be left behind, I'm sure that none of us mind a little extra study or practice time," Gerold teased.

"No, I appreciate it. I'll put my best foot forward, but that means getting to bed on time!" Kestevere snapped. Gerold laughed in response as he flicked the light switch from his bed, and the room was bathed in darkness. Kestevere didn't have to wait long before he was asleep, practicing magic even in his dreams.