I barely got any sleep after returning from the jungle, and what little I did, didn’t last; the Hero Program’s notification ping woke me up.

Ding! Ding!

It was six-forty in the morning, and my limbs felt like they were filled with sand. Keeping my eyes open was a battle in itself.

With bleary eyes, I stumbled into the Campus Cruiser which was a forty-seater bus. I was tired as hell, but where do I get a say in this?

During the journey, I stared at ‘Understanding Mana: Six Ways of Mana Shaping!’, the book the professor had gifted me. Something nagged at me that Advika would start a Q&A with me one of these days to see if I had improved.

My progress in mana shaping could be seen as ‘genius-level’ compared to an average person of this world from an omniscient perspective, considering I ‘arrived’ or ‘popped into existence’ in Draeth only recently. It was akin to a few-week-old baby starting to understand mana, compared to how it took most kids at least three years to develop mana senses.

What was I doing? Comparing myself to babies? I sighed.

I was twenty-four, almost twenty-five, and this body was seventeen. It wasn’t really ‘progress’ in mana shaping, but more like assimilation of what the other Noah was already capable of doing. But, I could also be considered a very poor student in mana shaping. Normally, it took students six-to-twelve months to learn the basics before moving on to advanced variations of mana shaping.

If I were to learn mana shaping from scratch after arriving in Draeth, I might not have even understood the basics. This was because mana shaping depended on sensing mana, which in turn relied on the brain’s neuroplasticity, a trait present in children but absent in adults. For anyone above the age of three, learning to sense mana became extremely hard, while children picked it up naturally. By the time a child reached adulthood, the ability to ‘develop’ mana sensing was entirely gone. Sensing mana was also connected to a person’s ability to gauge someone else’s strength level by combining their mana senses with the information from the status window.

When I first arrived in Draeth, after the sky explosion incident, what I now call 'The Paradox Point', I felt a static tingle on my skin, followed by a fluid-like sensation beneath it. That was the feeling of sensing mana. Technically, this would not have been possible for my now ‘17-year-old’ body, as I lacked the neuroplasticity to develop such an ability.

Luckily, I had the memories of the other Noah, which helped me understand this world’s concepts. I also suspected that the anomaly that brought me here modified my senses, giving my body something like a ‘software update’. This update allowed me to sense mana just like the other Noah could; however, I lacked his years of practice. I could sense mana the same way I sensed heat, smelled a scent, tasted food, or saw a thing—it was simply there.

That day in Avalonia Forest, the static tingle and fluid sensation were my first experiences with mana. If my theory was correct, my tactile senses were enhanced to perceive mana in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. As for my mana shaping skills, I could manage only a small portion of what the other Noah could, and even that took a lot of focus and effort. I could not take full credit for this ability either, as most of it came from what I inherited from the other Noah. Without proper understanding and practice, reaching his level of mastery felt like a distant goal.

Snap! Snap! As I was reading and thinking, sharp snapping noises hit my ears.

I looked up from my book to see a girl snapping her fingers, this time right in my face. There was something subtle in her gaze… a hint of condescension. She spoke up, “Do you mind stopping that racket? Some of us prefer silence.”

“Racket?” I muttered, struggling to make sense of her irritation through my foggy mind.

“That thing you're playing with,” she told me.

I glanced down at my hand. I hadn’t even realized I was still gripping the hand gripper, clenching it shut over and over—one of Nano’s many “suggestions” to improve my strength.

“Not like you’re doing anything useful with that thing, anyway,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she leaned back in her seat.

“Sure,” I said and went back to squeezing the gripper, returning my attention back to the book.

Let her complain all she wants.

The girl scowled again, “Are you stupid?”

I ignored her and continued my work.

Just then, the bus stopped.

Seems we’ve arrived, I thought, putting the book in my barrel bag. I was ready to leave when the girl brushed past me on her way out.

I sighed and followed her out.

Our class was now inside a new facility ringed by barbed wire and towering fences.

Students murmured, confused about where this was. They didn’t know, since the HP notification didn’t specify where we had to arrive, only that we needed to take ‘that Campus Cruiser’ exactly at 7:30 AM. And the Campus Cruiser had dropped us here.

But I knew. It was the Weapons Vault & Armory section of the A21 training facility.

“21” in A21 referred to twenty-one different establishments of the training area. A21 itself was 6 km² in size, with more training facilities spread across sections B, C, D, and E.

Soon, a luxury car parked nearby, and Aurora Lewis stepped out.

At that moment, Professor Advika Date emerged from the building we were standing in front of. She simply glanced at us with an expressionless face and told us to follow her.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

We were led inside, where we faced a massive, industrial-style vault door. The metallic circular door had a series of bolts and hinges. It was extremely thick and reinforced.

Likely weighs several thousand kilograms… I thought.

The professor then turned to us. “What do you think the battlefield relies on?” she asked, meeting the eyes of her class.

Everyone paused in thought, as if a race to be the first with the answer had begun.

Just then, Takahashi jumped in before anyone else could respond. “The battlefield relies on one's strength. Emotions are a distraction, and allies are liabilities. The battlefield is where only the strongest survive.”

Holy shit… A wave of second-hand embarrassment hit me, cringing through my bones as I heard Takahashi’s answer.

Aurora, standing beside Takahashi, gave him an amused look, whereas Professor Date simply said, “…incorrect.” Her eyes moved to the others present.

—“The battlefield relies on hope, ma’am,” another guy began.

“If we believe in each other, we can achieve anything! We just have to keep smiling and fighting!”

Professor Date frowned slightly.

“Incorrect answer, Nutora Umukazi,” she said, shaking her head.

Before any more of the cringe answers could continue, Aeravat Indrath spoke up, “The battlefield mainly relies on intelligence, logistics, and supplies.”

Professor Date smiled and prompted, “Supplies?”

“Arms and ammunition,” he clarified.

“Correct.” Professor Date said, seemingly satisfied with his simple words, and began, “Where you’re standing right now is the A21 training facility. And this is the armory.” She lightly tapped on the circular door. “Our Academy boasts experts who will train you to wield different weapons with utmost efficiency,” she declared and started to methodically open the door. A low, metallic groan resounded as it swung open.

After it unlocked, it revealed a weapon chamber.

The armory was a vast chamber filled with racks and displays of weapons.

-“Remarkable! It looks quite advanced,” someone exclaimed.

-“Are these lethal-grade weapons?”

The chatter of students soon filled the air.

Advika’s hands clapped sharply, drawing everyone’s attention and silencing the commotion.

“Pay attention,” she began. “Be wise, keeping your preferences and affinities in mind when deciding what weapon you pick. And…”

Preferences and affinities, huh? I thought, almost chuckling to myself. I didn’t even get to figure out my affinity yet!

Clap!

Date’s clap brought me back to reality.

“Select your weapons,” she instructed.

* * *

The armoury was stocked with a range of weapons: swords, spears, axes, knives, katanas, halberds, clubs, maces, flails, glaives, greatswords, rapiers, battleaxes, pikes, javelins, longswords, quarterstaffs, sickles, daggers, and machetes.

Oddly, guns were on display too.

Guns...

Guns weren’t effective weapons in this world. There were many reasons for this.

For one thing, no “gun arts” existed.

To develop an ‘art’ for any weapon requires thousands of years of dedicated study and research on that weapon. Traditional weapons like swords and bows have existed for millennia, and generations of experts over centuries practiced, refined, and passed down mana techniques for these weapons, birthing the sword and bow arts we have today. In contrast, guns were fairly new—a hundred years old—and didn’t have the rich history needed for the creation of something like ‘gun art’.

Then there was the mana problem: only mana can penetrate mana. Coating bullets with mana is difficult due to their small surface area, unlike swords and maces, which are easier to coat with mana due to their larger surface area. Even if someone succeeds in coating a bullet with mana, keeping it intact when fired from the barrel is difficult; the bullet moves too quickly and often goes beyond the caster’s effective range of focus. Even for expert mages, keeping a bullet infused in mid-flight is more trouble than it’s worth.

On top of that, the people here had no respect for guns. People here saw guns as toys, nothing more than metal and powder. Unlike a blade, which carried centuries of mana-crafting art, a gun was just… loud.

Then there were the technological limitations. This world was a hundred years behind when it came to creating even something as simple as ultra-vibrating bullets. I doubted that the scientific concepts behind ‘ultra-vibrating metals’ even existed here.

Enchanting each bullet was also a huge expense. Given all these reasons, no weapon manufacturing industry paid attention to guns. They weren’t mass-produced; they remained rare. Guns were just mechanical tools rather than developed magical weapons.

There were other reasons, too, like the Central Union’s policy on gun art development—

A sudden commotion pulled me from my thoughts.

I could see most students picking melee weapons, while only a few opted for long-ranged ones.

Students swarmed around the main characters like bees around flowers.

Curious, I glanced around and spotted Aeravat at the centre of attention, wielding a single-edged, bent sword—a talwar. Naturally, many followed his lead and picked swords. Meanwhile, Takahashi selected a glaive.

Aurora opted for a rapier, whereas Emily confidently chose a bow.

Everything was going according to the Manuscript.

Lost in idle musings, my footsteps soon stopped in front of the armoury.

“Now, what should I even pick?” I mused aloud, my voice trailing off as I thought about my situation.

Unlike the other guys here, my proficiency with swords, bows, and traditional armaments was… lacking. But it wasn’t a completely lost cause. From the memories I inherited from the other Noah, I learned he was somewhat adept with spears and swords. By extension... so was I.

Then my gaze fell upon the far corner of the armoury. There, suspended, was a gun. A vague idea was forming in the back of my mind.

Guns were considered useless here, mainly because of limited technology. But I had technological knowledge centuries beyond this era. I could probably develop those ultra-vibrating bullets if I tried… Still, that’s not something I could do right now. Just a thought for the distant future.

I eyed the armoury once more.

“Nano, recommend what to pick,” I muttered slowly.

[Depends.]

“On?” I probed.

[Melee or long-ranged.]

“Melee.”

[Calculating…]

[Based on the existing armaments in this world, and given your unique situation, I would suggest you rely on multiple weapons instead of a single one. Prioritise the following: a heavy mace—preferably a Gadā—a chakra, a sword, and a spear. According to the advanced simulation, these traditional armaments will suit you best in any melee scenario.]

“The spear makes sense. Swords are also understandable to a degree. But the mace? Isn’t that… I don't know, impractical? and what is a Gadā and Chakra?” I asked, still confused.

[Activating augmented reality. Projecting images...]

Augmented reality was projected in my retina as images of two weapons appeared, seemingly floating in thin air before my eyes.

One looked like a two-handed mace, except with a distinctive, heavy, bulbous head, likely designed to deliver crushing blows. The other resembled a discus, thin with a circular cutting edge—likely a throwing weapon.

[A Gadā can be thought of as a mace measuring 90-145 cm long, but with a spherical head. It’s extremely heavy. On Earth, variations of Gadā existed which were mostly used as an ancient shoulder-exercising tool. However, here in Draeth, many ‘impractical’ war tools have been forged into proper weapons due to the existence of arts. Gadā is one such weapon. Chakra is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diameter of 12–30 centimetres. It is a practical throwing weapon as well as a hand-to-hand weapon. The biggest downside to a Gadā is that it is physically demanding and can cause fatigue very easily, meaning it can only be used for a short period of time. Swinging it requires substantial strength. Despite this, they’re very good weapons and can easily shatter armour. They’re also superior to weapons like swords. With your physiology enhancement programme, wielding a mace for you, master Noah, will become very easy in the future. And fatigue won’t remain an issue either.]

Right… my physiology enhancement programme. I almost forgot.

I gripped a mace and got ready.