"You're here, Good. Get ready. Your training starts now, demon." After saying this, She rushed towards me.

I didn't understand why she was doing this, but I had a feeling she wouldn't be open to talking about it.

It was hard to follow her movements, but I could at least tell where she was going.

When she got in range, she sent a flurry of kicks towards my head.

Dodging my head backwards, I was able to avoid the attacks. But she quickly changed her attack from my head to my legs.

I was off balance already, so the attack knocked me to the ground. Before I could get back up, she was sending her fist down onto me.

I rolled to the side, giving me breathing room. I tried charging her, but she managed to redirect my rush with one hand.

She then grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards her, not allowing me to dodge.

A fist landed on the side of my jaw. I swear I heard it pop out of place.

Dazed for a moment, I couldn't react to the attack that came afterwards. Which was a kick to the back of the knee, bringing me to a kneel.

Following up, she crouched slightly, allowing her to push her body weight into a punch landing on my chest. This attack sent me flying back around 15 feet. She was far stronger than any other elf I've been hit by up until now.

I was at a complete disadvantage, I was less skilled, and she wasn't using magic. Meaning I had no way to close the gap.

" *Cough* *Cough* " She had knocked the air out of my lungs, apparently she did a little more than that, as blood spilt out of my mouth when I opened it.

"I- I yield. You win. I give up..." I pleaded with her. She wasn't letting me off that easily.

"You should take this training seriously. In a fight, your opponent won't stop just because you ask." She responded.

What is she training me for? How to be the VICTIM!? I was still on the floor, trying to regain my balance.

"Use your magic if you need to, there's no reason to only train one aspect." She advised me.

"I... *inhale* I can't use magic..." I explained to her.

"What? Why would you lie about something so simple?" She didn't believe me.

"I don't know what to tell you lady. I've never used magic, and I've never been able to use magic..." I insisted on it. She was confused by my statement for a moment.

This was a chance I couldn't pass up. I ran at her, and punched towards her face.

When my fist was inches from her, she leaned back, raising her legs up and locking them around my shoulder.

Before I could try to escape, she put me in an arm bar, and was applying extreme pressure.

*CRACK*

She had broken my arm.

"-aaAAGHHHH!" I screamed in pain. writhing on the ground.

She quickly got up and looked at me.

"You can't use magic? But... I saw it..." She began mumbling to herself.

While she was lost in her thoughts, I felt the mana in my body focus into the place my arm broke.

I, painfully, readjusted the bones back into place. After a while, the pain settled down, indicating my arm was mostly healed.

"That there, You just used magic." She said to me, pointing at my arm.

"Captain, respectfully... What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked her sarcastically. Her face regained the usual serious expression.

"Watch your tone, demon." She said, sounding angry.

"You're right, you're right... I'm sorry. But I don't know why you keep insisting I can use magic." I explained my confusion to her.

"My magic is foresight, I can tell what move people will make next based on the concentration and flow of mana in their body." She explained her magic to me. I realize why she was confused.

"I can't use magic, I just have mana in my body. I don't know the details of it, but I don't have manakyte in my blood, and the mana is from a recent accident." I tell her my situation.

"Hmm, I could tell you were special, but to think it was to such a degree." She said under her breath, blocking her mouth with her hand and looking away.

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

"W- what?" As I ask this, the pendant Grav gave me goes off.

"Grav? You there? Get Gen on the line." Findal's voice rang out from the pendant.

"Findal? This is Gen, Grav gave me this Tele-talk." I say into the pendant, holding down the button in the center.

"He just gave it to you? That bast- No. No, nevermind. It's easier this way anyhow. Octavia has some news about your 'condition'." Findal said, calming himself quickly.

"Hey listen, I don't know if now's a good time, I'm with the captain of the guard right now..." I tell Findal.

"Oh no, really? I mean... Sorry ma'am for interrupting, but this is very important." He replies, worried about upsetting the

"You've already interrupted, say what you will." The captain raises her voice for the pendant to pick it up.

"Thank you ma'am. Alright Gen, This is some big news. We think what you found really was a primal manakyte stone." Findal told me confidently.

"Wait, are you serious? How do you know?" I ask, wondering how he figured this out.

"Everything they were rumored to do, happened to you on a smaller scale." He continued to explain.

"Primal manakyte stones are catalysts for spreading magic, right? Well, when you got close, it recognized you as something to spread magic to."

"But since you were the only magicless thing around, you absorbed everything it was emitting, even if only for a second." He waited for me to ask questions.

"Why am I fine then? Shouldn't the shock have killed me?" I asked him.

"Normally, yes. But, Primal manakyte emits, well... a primal form of mana. One uncorrupted from thousands of years of exposure." He told me.

"It's easier to process, so instead, It jump-started primitive mana generation in your body." He continued.

"So, still no magic? Will I be fine if I get normal mana in my blood stream?" I asked, I think I already know the answer though.

"It's gonna be no to both. Primal mana doesn't have attributes right off the bat, and since you absorbed it so fast, It didn't have a chance to manifest one. As for the normal mana, the two shouldn't recognize each other, meaning you're still attracting it all the same." He explained, rather in depth.

That's what I thought...

"Okay, well thanks for the update Findal." I tell him, putting away the pendant, before looking back to the captain.

"See? No matter what, I can't use magic, I just have mana." I tell her.

"The only thing mana does for me is make me stronger and heal faster, but I can only do that when I'm hit with mana." I continue.

"Hmm... Then just increase your primal mana amount." She tells me.

"What? How would I do that?" I ask.

"Magic is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Not having an attribute shouldn't change that." She said.

"But I can't use the mana without an attribute..." I retort.

"What about just now, when you healed your arm?" She asked me, pointing at my now intact arm.

"Well, yeah... That uses mana, but I can't control it. It just does that." I dejectedly inform her.

"Then just focus on that. After enough trying, you should gain some understanding to how it works." She tells me. This slightly worried me.

"Wait, are you saying I should just keep getting hurt?" I ask her.

"Of course not." She assures me.

Oh thank god...

"We'll be sparring, so you can learn how to fight while getting injured." She says, no emotion in her voice.

I should've burned that letter.

Without warning, she rushed at me again, preparing to strike.

The day was long, and extremely painful. But my cries didn't dissuade the captain from attacking.

By the time the sun set, the ground was covered in streaks of blood. All of which was mine, as I didn't land a single attack.

"Okay, it's getting late. This is a good stopping point for today." She tells me, as I picked myself up off the ground for what felt like the thousandth time today.

"You sure you don't want to break me down some more?" I sarcastically ask her.

"Hmph. As much as I should reprimand you for that remark, we need rest, otherwise training would give diminishing returns." She told me.

"I actually don't need to, that mana I have gives me all the energy I need." I explain to her the side-effects of my condition.

"Interesting, then you can practice this for the remainder of the night." She gave me a scroll with pictures on it displaying various punches, kicks, and counters.

"Just prioritize the basics for now, you can't build up if there isn't a good foundation." She left after saying these inspiring words.

I placed the scroll onto the ground in front of me, and began to try and copy the movements.

At first, it felt unresponsive, and my moves were clunky, but I continued checking my posture and positioning, slowly correcting my faults.

I also began to take mental notes of what would and wouldn't be viable in a fight with the captain. Though, I haven't seen any that would work yet. Regardless, I still put in as much effort as I could, only stopping to catch my breath.

Something strange I noticed, I wasn't sore. It seems like the mana heals my muscles too, which lets me train almost nonstop.

Before I realized it, the sun was rising and I could hear birds begin to sing. I sat down to bask in the sun and relax a little.

"Enjoying yourself?" I hear the captain's voice from behind me. I quickly stand up to face her.

"Uh, sorry ma'am. I was just taking a quick break." I say to her.

"Well, let's see if you actually managed to learn something." As she said this, I saw her ready herself, taking a defensive stance.

I adopted a similar stance, and waited for her to make a move.

She kicked up a stone and hit it towards me, it wasn't very fast, so I managed to dodge out of the way. But, I fell into her trap.

The Captain waited until I dodged to rush me down, I wasn't able to react as fast since I was off balance.

I could tell she was going easier on me, she was moving slower than yesterday. Because of this, even though I was off balance, I was able to put my arm up, blocking her attack.

It didn't do much good though, as she effortlessly pushed aside my arm afterwards, and nailed me in stomach with a knee strike.

Again, the fight wasn't much of a fight. But I could tell I was recovering slightly faster, even from attacks that nearly knocked me out.

"Okay, take a breather." She told me, easing up the onslaught of attacks.

"I have to say, it's been a while since I've sparred with someone who could stay up." She continued.

"Speaking of..." I begin to speak while laying on the ground.

"How long do you plan on having me do this?" I continued, finally sitting up.

"Well, yesterday and today were just me testing the waters. But I've determined that you have potential, so you'll be coming with us."

"Wait, what? Who is us? and where am I going?" I asked her, this is the first I'm hearing of this.

"Me, you and the rest of the guard trainees. We're all going out to the forest training grounds. It's a trip for newcomers that happens once a year." She explained to me.

"Oh, and your dwarf friend. Grav, I think his name was. He'll be joining us too, incase anyone needs repairs or replacements to their equipment." She added.

"Oh cool... When do we leave?" I asked, standing up off the ground and dusting myself off.

"Tomorrow. So I'd go and pack your bags for the rest of the day." The captain said.

Tomorrow?! Talk about short notice...

I tried to voice my complaints, but she dismissed me and I went back on my way to Grav's workshop.