Chapter Seven: Humility and Perspective

The next day held a new set of classes for Kest to attend. The academy was interesting in the fact that they had students who would learn on two differently scheduled days. The days would switch off so that students would learn one set of subjects one day and another set the next. His first schedule was History, a stat increasing class, Court and Military Conduct, and Beasts: An Introduction. The classes he was tackling today were Magical Theory, specifically close combat today, Introduction to Tactics, and he would be taking a Mentor Course.

Kest crawled out of bed, still sore from expanding his magic network the night before, and made his way to the shower. After quickly taking a shower he got dressed in his school uniform and packed his bag before going to the cafeteria. He grabbed the fruit shake to go and quickly drained the nutrient shake before throwing it away and entering the building for his first class. Magical theory was one of the courses that he held no confidence in being able to test out of because he didn’t know the first thing about magic. He’d seen magic plenty of times before in person from his father to people within his father’s territory, but he had no idea how it actually worked.

As everyone sat down and the professor arrived, the class began quickly with Professor James covering the subject. He began by stating that everything in the class that is being covered was simple theory, and that while there was evidence of the theories that he’d be speaking of, they hadn’t found the One Truth. Magic seemed to have existed since the dawn of time, and as all creatures were made from the gods and goddesses, they would have also created every person and being from magic. This was the reason that all creatures had magic. He went on to explain that the evolution of beasts to higher levels and the evolution to monsters was all tied to magic. It was a force that continues to grow from the smallest levels and this creates the changes that we can see to the naked eye.

“Even upon eating, we all gain some measure of mana from what we consume. This is why we see some people realizing their magical capabilities before others, though there are other reasons,” the Professor mentioned. “By cooperating with researchers, people are beginning to discover that one’s pedigree greatly affects magical ability, the time of awakening, and also the basic stats that would develop over time. If someone is born to people that didn’t develop themselves, they would not have the same advantage starting out as someone else. The same could be said if someone is born to someone like the King and Queen. The prince awakened at the age of five and developed quickly. He was able to face down knights by the age of ten and was even capable of subjugating a hero-tier monster by twenty. Everyone can reach that level, no matter where you start. Where you begin is not an excuse for mediocrity.”

Kestevere found himself in awe of the Prince. Prince Theradin was a legend for his generation because he was such a powerful person so early in his life. The fact that he was able to take down a hero-tier monster alone was shocking, but even more shocking was the fact that he was twenty. Someone would typically take twenty years alone to reach that level of power usually. The only way to do it more quickly would be to leap into the jaws of death time and again. Kest decided upon hearing that to become strong like that some day. Less than one in ten-thousand people would reach the level of hero he’d heard, so he’d make sure that he would be that one.

The class ended shortly after, and it left Kest thinking about magic. It was simply a force of the universe that was able to fit any shape so to speak. If you needed fire, that energy could become fire. Moving rocks, water, air, freezing things, it didn’t matter. It was just a matter of using the energy properly to in order to maximize the effectiveness. With enough mana someone could even, in theory, create another continent, or even another planet.

The next course was one that he felt extremely confident in. Upon walking into the gym he saw that there was a uniform there for him to wear. It was a uniform for the summer and was made specifically for using for this class and the next two physical classes as well. Close combat, the obstacle course, and body conditioning were three courses that required a lot physically, whereas magic refinement was about the internal energy and strength one possessed. Due to being raised out in the country and fighting with his father, Kest was fairly confident in his ability to fight hand-to-hand.

“Alright, today we’ll begin with a test of sorts,” the Professor said strolling in. He wasn’t large or muscular, but Kest wasn’t dumb enough to believe that he’d be able to fight him. Professors were on another level in terms of strength, and it would be years before he’d even get the attention of a professor for a practice match.

“Today, as it’s your first day, we’ll hold a tournament. The rules are simple. One minute matches, no fatal strikes, and the first person out of the arena or to give up loses. Everyone got that?” the Professor asked and received a wave of nods. “Good. I’m Professor Wren. If you intend to give up the match, simply say mercy. Everyone line up along the wall and we’ll begin,” he said pointing to the wall. Kest followed the instructions and looked at the white-haired man. He appeared middle-aged, but it was difficult to tell. Getting stronger led to living longer, so it was often difficult to tell. The professor wore a battle robe, and Kest was sure that he was armed. He struck Kest as being a battle-hardened veteran.

“Alright, you two start,” he said, pointing at the two closest to the door. Kest counted the number of students and found that his opponent was the person to his right. He looked over to find that he was facing a boy that looked a few years older. He only hoped that he’d have a chance since the boy was larger and looked stronger than himself.

The matches went one by one and were fairly quick. It looked like the true test was to go against the clock, but not everyone was able to win within the time limit. The matches that reached a limit were decided by Professor Wren, and it wasn’t always clear to Kest why the person that moved to the next round won. Words were spoken to each pair of combatants so they could improve for next time, and the next match would begin. When he and his opponent were called, Kest followed him to the arena floor. Upon the Professor’s signal, the match began.

Kest immediately dashed within range of his opponent and narrowly ducked beneath a swing of his opponent’s practice sword. Kest himself decided to play to his strengths and had chosen a shortsword, and this paid off in the match as he was able to finish the match quickly by sending the point of the wood weapon into his opponent’s diaphragm, knocking the breath out of him. Kest let out a breath and helped his opponent up before going over to the professor. After both of them introduced themselves, the professor gave his opinion of the fight and instructions for the future to the boy who lost first, and then he turned his attention to Kestevere.

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“For you, Kestevere, your speed is your greatest weapon. You may be lacking in strength, but the force that is generated from your speed makes up for this weakness. If your opponent had feinted this would have been a different match though. Carefully watch your opponent and don’t simply rely on your best weapon. Sharpen all of the blades in your arsenal so that you will have options when your strongest is broken,” the Professor said with a grim expression and sent them to their separate sides of the room. Kest thought on what the professor had said, but he realized that he only had his speed and, when the situation turned grim, his magical reinforcement. He was sorely lacking in any other ability or strength to speak of, and looking back on his last match with his father he realized that while it was something that made him strong for his age, he didn’t have another option and that’s why he’d lost. He watched the next matches and waited for it to be his turn again. He hoped that he’d gleam some kind of solution for his problem while watching.

When it was his turn once again he faced off against a girl that he’d seen fighting earlier. She held a short-sword and shield, opting for a more defensive fighting style than he’d use. It was also something that would challenge him since he’d have to break through her defenses. The match began and Kest followed the same strategy from before while keeping what the professor had said in mind. He saw the shield being pushed towards his face, so he slipped beneath it and got back on his feet behind her. He was nearly able to strike her from behind, but she parried the attack with her sword. Kest huffed in frustration, but he was similarly matched in strength. He would do his best to wear down her endurance instead. He moved out of the way of a sword swing that she tried bringing down on his head and kicked her arm. She dropped the sword in that moment and was able to guard the Kest’s sword. The two continued trying to land a blow that would end the match, and with a few moments remaining Kest dodged left of a stab and slashed his sword across the girl’s ribs and sent her falling to the ground. Kest was breathing hard and helped her up before going back to the Professor once again. He once again told Kest’s opponent what to work on, but this time he had only one thing to say to Kest.

“See how far you can go. Identify your weaknesses and you’ll be at the top. If you can’t do that then you won’t make it through the next match,” he said before waving Kest off. Kest walked to where he was supposed to wait with frustration building within. That wasn’t instruction in his opinion, it was just making Kest do the work that the professor was supposed to do.

The third round began with Kest and he centered himself before stepping onto the raised platform that counted as the arena. The opponent held a dagger in each hand, and he seemed comfortable with his weapons. The boy rushed towards Kest, and he was immediately off balance between dodging and parrying attacks. He ducked beneath a swipe of the wood dagger that was heading towards his face only to be met with a knee instead. Kest’s shortsword flew from his hand and he fell onto his back. He cleared his eyes in time to see the other boy falling from above with the dagger aimed at his stomach. Kest could only roll away and climb towards his sword with bleary eyes. He turned to face the boy with knives but found no one behind him. Instead there was a knife at his throat and he was forced to forfeit. He and his opponent left the stage and went to speak to the Professor.

“Do you know your weakness now?” The Professor asked, and Kest glared as he held his shirt to his nose to block the bleeding.

“Am I supposed to? He rushed me, and I didn’t know what to do outside of defending,” Kest said, his jaw perceptively clenching behind his shirt.

“Speak with your classmate after our class is done for the day. He’ll help you out, isn’t that right Liadin,” the Professor said as if it were a question, but once Liadin looked at the Professor his expression turned from rebellion to defeat.

“Yes sir, I’ll instruct him a bit over lunch,” he said looking to Kest with his brow furrowed. Kest would have sighed over the uncomfortable situation if not for the blood that was threatening to come out of his nose. Instead he just nodded and walked to the loser’s wall.

The rest of the class passed with Kest watching as Liadin seemed to completely overpower all of his opponents. It didn’t matter if the opponent was strong, fast, boy, girl, or if they fought dirty. He was on a whole other level than Kest was. It was almost unfair for someone that strong to be in the class, but Kest couldn’t complain too much. Once the tournament was done, the Professor briefly went over an assortment of books and manuals that could be found within the academy library on fighting styles, weapons and their usage, and also information on how some famous figures developed their own fighting styles and became nearly unmatched in their day. Kest noted each of the things that were pointed out and added them to the growing list of subjects to study over. After everyone was released to change back into the student uniform, Kest packed his bloodied uniform into the linen that it was initially wrapped in and placed it in a separate place in his bag away from his books before going outside and seeing Liadin waiting for him.

“Guess it’s time for my study session with you,” Kest said sarcastically only to be met with silence as Liadin led the way to the cafeteria. The two separated to get their meals, and Kest was more willing to shut his jealous mouth and listen after seeing Liadin with real food. “I guess I’ll listen to you, since it looks like you may have been here for a little while.”

“That’s smart. You should listen because the Professor told you to though, not because I’m eating food you’re jealous of,” Liadin said with a smirk before taking a bite of the food and letting out a sound of satisfaction. “I’m going to tell you a bit about the process of becoming a good fighter. First lesson, everything is fair on the battlefield. Anything goes until there is a factor, and you’re fighting to clean,” he said seriously with the smirk wiped off of his face.

“War and death is a scary thing, and it can ruin people. Good people die all of the time due to war, and the survivors are left feeling guilt or anger that they can’t overcome,” Liadin said while staring directly at his food.

“I’ll… keep that in mind,” Kest said to break the tension and Liadin began going over his process for getting stronger and also what he’d studied for individual tactics. Kest soaked up the information knowing that he’d improve beyond belief within the next three months. The two spoke for the rest of the time before classes and only stopped when they had to go in different directions. Kest felt that he’d judged Liadin too harshly and realized it was his own bias towards him just because of using two daggers and defeating him. Either way it was something that Kest realized and vowed to be more open with people from now on. Kest was a believer in the words “the greatest change comes from within,” that his mother had shared with him. With that pleasant memory, he entered his next class.