We go inside the building, where older kids are roaming about. While navigating through the hallways, the sound of metal clashing reverberates in my ears. It piques my interest, so I stop following the group and instead find out where the noise came from.

I slowly turn the handle of the suspected room, carefully opening the door just wide enough to fit an eye.

There are a bunch of people fighting each other in one on one fights. The one closest to the door, however, catches my attention the most with his ambidexterity. My eyes twinkle in admiration at his skill of being able to use two swords at once while his opponent only uses one. The twin swordsman relentlessly strikes the other guy with endless attacks until he finally knocks his opponent’s sword out of his hand, causing it to clatter across the floor.

So cool! I’m going to train hard, so I can be just like him!

I close the door without a sound. In my distracted admiration, I lost the rest of the group. Panicking, I run to catch up, eventually finding them.

"We're here. We'll be going into this room," Fulharm says as he opens the door.

It’s a large, rectangular, flat room slightly larger than the dimensions of the lecture room from earlier. The floor is made out of fine wood instead of the hard black and white tiles in the hallways. Tons of swords of varying sizes are stored inside open barrels at the end of the room.

"Go ahead and go over there and pick something you like. These are all light-weighted training swords to build your foundations in combat. Once you have mastered this, you can practice with a different kind of weapon if you wish,” Fulharm says.

While the crowd runs over to pick up a sword, I walk over to Fulharm and then ask, "Instructor Fulharm, is it okay if I take two swords?"

"Hmm, that should be fine, but are you sure you can carry that much weight?"

"But aren't they light weapons?"

"Correct, but you haven't developed your body yet, so it may be difficult."

I walk over to the weapon selection. If it’s difficult, maybe I can start with the medium length swords. I spot what appears to be what I’m looking for. I grasp it with both hands, attempting to lift it in the air. So heavy…

I try to straighten my back while holding the sword in the air, but it’s tough to maintain my balance. I can’t stop myself from wobbling. This isn’t going to work.

I put the weapon back and then scramble around for the smallest sword available. I lift it up with my right arm without too much trouble. It has a wooden blade of about two feet. I make sure to take another one of the same size with my other hand.

"It seems everyone has chosen a sword for now. I'll have you kids practice swinging before you do anything else," Fulharm says and picks up one of the longer wooden swords in the barrel. He holds the blade in front of him.

"You can use both hands if you need to for this training portion. Grip it with your dominant hand above the other one. Hold it in front of you, raise it, and then swing it downward. Swing it by combining the forces in both in your arm and the elbow. You'll practice this until you can do this with proper form. It should look something like this."

Fulharm lifts the sword above him and swiftly swings downward. The force of the swing ruffles the hair of the kids in front of me. And the sound from it resonates around the walls in the room, slowly dying out in a few seconds. Amazing!

"Well, I don't expect you to master it to the extent that I have. Go ahead and try it for yourselves now, I'll be looking at your form."

Everyone spaces out around the room to practice their swing. Coincidentally, I end up standing next to Sitos on my left. He's using the same weapons that I chose. I point my left sword at him and exclaim, "Hey, you copied me!"

Sitos turns his head to me and quirks an eyebrow. "Huh? If anything, you copied me because I have been training in the art of dual-wielding for a year now."

Seriously? I do recall Drugo mentioning something about combat training, but I don’t know if it’s true. The way Sitos avoided my tackle makes me inclined that he isn’t lying. Whatever. This is perfect. When I outperform him, it’ll be a more substantial embarrassment to him this way.

Glancing between my swords and his, something isn’t right. He’s using two of the medium-sized swords! I could barely lift up one, how can he use two? He’s swinging both of them like it’s nothing! The thought of him being better than me frustrates me. I squeeze the grip on my weapons until my knuckles crack and turn white.

I copy Fulharm’s stance from earlier with my left foot sideways slightly behind me with my right foot slightly forward and with slightly bent knees. I imagine as if Sitos’s smug face is staring at me. I lift up my right arm and swing the blade down right onto his head.

Call me a scaredy-cat? Next is the left swing. It’ll hit the same spot as the first slash. I use all my strength for every swing one after the other.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ten minutes pass by, and I can't seem to get enough air into my lungs despite that I take deep, heavy breaths. My entire chest is on fire as sweat covers my whole body. It drips down from my face into my eyes, and the back of my shirt is drenched in it. I still swing down my swords, but it feels like my arm is going to fall off at any moment.

I can’t do it. I can’t go on. Not one more swing. I lose grip on my swords and fall forward. I flip to my back, still gasping for air.

But, Sitos is still going. He’s swinging those swords down with the same intensity as when he started. He’s better than me. It’s obvious now. The difference between us is like an ant compared to a lion. It’s clear to me now. Really clear.

He turns his head and smirks. I flip on my side, turned away from him, frowning bitterly. Damn it! I’m so weak!

The realization hits me hard. I don’t want to cry, but the tears are coming. I feel them coming, and I can’t stop it. It’s shameful.

I press my forehead to the floor with my arms wrapped to stop anyone from seeing it. Hot tears pour out of my eyes as I squeeze them shut. Every part of my face twitches uncontrollably, but I’m able to at least not let out a single sound. Warm mucus drips onto the floor. I’m careful not to sniff because of the noise.

I don’t know how much time passes. All I’m trying to do is calm myself down.

“Are you alright?” Fulharm asks. “You’ve been on the floor for over five minutes.”

The sudden attention frightens me. I don’t want anyone to see me like this. It sounds like he’s right next to me. My heart beats progressively faster.

Even my head has started to shake uncontrollably, though I try to minimize it. Since my nose is fully congested, I make an attempt to stabilize my breathing through only my mouth. I muster my strength to imitate my usual tone and reply, “Yeah. I’m just tired from training, so I’m lying down.”

“In that position?”

My face burns up in fear of being found out. I need to come up with an answer, fast! I can’t decide on an answer, but time is ticking. I blurt out, “It’s comfortable.”

Why’d I say that? That’s such a stupid answer that no one would believe. Not even me, if I were him. My heart beats like a drum as fresh sweat drips down my forehead. I need a miracle.

"I'll leave you to it then…but you should gather your strength soon for the next activity,” Fulharm says and then walks away.

I sigh, relieved that I finally got a break. Before I know it, the tears have stopped flowing. The fear of being caught crying must’ve overridden my other feelings.

"Attention! You've worked hard for your first day, but it's almost time for the next segment for today. Put away the weapons and conserve the rest of your strength. You are to report back to the front of the Academy for your next set of instructions. See ya kids tomorrow."

People groan and chatter around the room.

"I'm so tired,” someone says.

"Me too… I couldn’t last five minutes before I had to take a break,” another says.

I’m relieved. Hearing that other people had the same struggles lifts the heavy load off my shoulders. It doesn’t feel as bad.

I rub my eyes on my arms to get rid of the lingering tears. The snot that dried on my lips tastes salty. That’s a bit gross. I continue to rest in this position until all the footsteps leave the room.

I slowly push myself off the ground and stand up.

“Finally done crying, weakling?” Sitos asks behind me.

Wha-what?! Sitos was still here? I slowly turn around. He’s standing there with the same smirk from earlier.

I raise my voice and rebut, “I wasn’t crying! And I have a name, you know.”

"Huh? You are weak, so I will call you weakling. It is a befitting name for you. Besides, your eyes are completely red."

"No-that…I…it was the sweat! The sweat got in my eye, and it burned, that’s all! If anyone was crying, it was you earlier!"

He blushes and leans back slightly. "Wha-what are you talking about? Something is wrong with your eyes… Whatever, you are not even worth talking to anyway."

And with that, he walks out the door. What was he doing still lingering in the room? Did he really want to rub that smirk in my face that badly? He makes me so mad, but I can’t deny that he’s stronger than me. I’ll train hard and make him eat it.

I return the two swords I practiced with to the barrel. My stomach suddenly growls. Ugh. I’m so hungry. Especially with that disgusting breakfast that I threw up anyway, I have nothing left in my stomach. Just the simple thought of that soup is too much.

I head for the door but have a sudden urge to practice my Mana. I get into my position to do the same training from this morning to release Mana from only the tip of my finger. I think I’m getting used to it. The usual dark, blue Mana flows out of it. I was right earlier that it matches none of the three grades of Mana presented in class. What does that mean?

I bring Mana from other parts of my body to my finger, but no matter where I get the Mana from, it’s the same color as before.

I spent too long playing around. I’m going to be late. I quickly leave the room and head toward the front of the Academy. I bump into Moria along the way.

"Hmm? You are Kai, correct? What are you still doing here?” he asks.

“Uh… I was still training.”

“It is good to be dedicated, but you also need to learn how to rest too. You missed my instructions outside, and everyone has already moved on.”

“Moved on to where? I’ll go there now.”

“Lunch. They are behind the Academy, but there is a catch. You cannot go through the central corridor of the building. You must use the path on the right side of the Academy. There is no time limit, but you should probably hurry. Take this,” Moria says and then hands me a small piece of red paper.

Not sure what it’s for, but I put it in my pocket and follow his instructions for now.

I run outside toward the right side of the Academy. There is a path here between the walls of the Academy and the outer fence that surrounds the building. It’s a long way forward, and there’s no one in sight. I’m really late.

Saliva rapidly forms in my mouth just thinking about all the foods that would be served. I don’t waste any more time and run down the shaded path.