For the next year, Brin came to the training field every day that he was supposed to, learning a new spell on most of those days. By his sixth birthday he had learned every spell that Master Tanno knew, and they had begun sparing. The rules for these sparing sessions were simple. You could use as much magic as you wanted on yourself, but you must only attack with magic. No physical attacks that were non-magical were allowed. So, while Brin was fast enough to land a punch if he boosted his strength and dexterity, that wouldn’t be allowed. All physical combat was to be covered when Master Varris, a Tiger beastfolk and the strongest martial artist of the monastery, chose to begin his training. Unfortunately, Master Varris was off at the northern border, defending it against the latest military push by the Demon Empire. No one knew why they were attacking, as they had an entire continent of their own, but they had seized several counties belonging to this nation along its northern coast, and the Sati Monastery was asked to help take them back.

The fight began with Master Tanno throwing area of effect attacks at Brin. He had learned that Brin was fast enough to dodge most direct attacks he saw coming, so Tanno had resorted to area attacks that were harder to dodge. Brin was forced to use wind or explosions to push himself off of the ground, then weave and dodge to avoid incoming attacks. When he saw an opening Brin fired three fire bolts and a rock bullet at Tanno, though only one of the fire bolts seemed to hit him. While he could have used larger or flashier spells, he preferred saving them for when the enemy least expected them, and this opening wasn’t large enough.

The fire bolt impact had stunned him enough for Brin to remove the friction from the ground under Tanno’s feet, an effect which was amplified by him also smoothing the rock with Geokinesis. Tanno was surprised at first when he learned that Brin could even alter the physical properties of matter, something he had taken years to learn, but as the child had already learned most of his spells before that, he realized he shouldn’t be surprised. Tanno slipped, but was able to roll out of the effected area and stand back up in time to avoid a Mana Bolt the size of his head. Brin often used raw force attacks like Mana Bolt for their speed, so Tanno was half expecting it.

As Brin ran at him, Tanno lit the ground around him on fire, forcing Brin to jump high into the air. As the child cleared twenty meters, Tanno fired five magic missiles at the boy, sending four to his left side and the other one on a stealthy course behind him. Brin was forced to use Force magic to shift his coarse in order to avoid the homing attacks, only to be hit in the back of the head with another one. The split second of pain broke his concentration on the spell that would have let him land safely, and he face planted into the ground. The fact that he always placed a Physical Defense shield on his entire body was the only thing that prevented serious injury. Tanno quickly ran over and placed the end of his staff against the back of Brin’s head. “I yield.” said Brin, the got up and dusted himself off, seemingly unharmed from the fall.

“That was a nice trick, Master Tanno. I completely missed the one that was behind me. Thank you for the lesson.” He cupped his hands in front of himself and bowed.

“Not a problem.” said Master Tanno, doing the same, “Sparing with you has made me a far better combat mage. Who knows, it another decade I may make Grandmaster.”

Brin chuckled. “In another decade I might be able to beat you.”

“Oh, I suspect I have no more than another year before I take my first loss to you. Now, if you don’t mind, can I check your mana levels?”

“Sure,” Brin said, standing still. Tanno ran his hand over Brin and smiled. “Still level nine after those spells. May I ask what your maximum pressure is?”

“I’m not sure. I never measured it. Here, let me refill my reserves and you can check again.” A golden aura briefly enveloped Brin, then was sucked into him. “There, I’m full.”

“You have an ability to instantly refill your mana reserves? How does that work?”

“Its hard to explain. Let’s just say that there are other forms of energy other than mana, and I can convert one of those.”

“Like chemical?” That was where much of the mana within humans and magical animals came from, as the body could use chemical energy to recharge depleted mana particles.

“It isn’t chemical, but something like that.” How was he supposed to understand the two other sources of power he had, not including the ability to manipulate atmospheric ionization, heat, and radiation using them? He didn’t even fully understand the energy form that he could use to refill mana reserves.

“Interesting. I’ll have to research that.” If it could instantly restore all spent mana, it would be invaluable in battle. Tanno held out his hand and ran it over Brin. “Just over eleven. No wonder that fire bolt hurt so much. I’m still at twelve, and I’ve been trying to raise it for over two hundred years.”

Brin nodded. “So, you said there is someone here that you wanted to introduce me to?”

“I did. I think I found you a sparing partner other than myself. I taught her as well, and while her pressure is still ten, she has far larger reserves than you do.” Tanno motioned for Brin to follow and he followed the master to a fancy part of the monastery. As he knew the Cleaning utility spell and hadn’t even broken a sweat during the sparring session, there wasn’t even a need for changing or bathing. This wing of the monastery was where the Grand Library, the Room of Statues, and the rooms for all of the high ranking officials and visiting nobles were. The floors were tiled with marble, and the walls were painted with elaborate murals of scenes from Scripture.

When they reached one of those rooms, Tanno knocked and a girl’s voice told them to come in. They entered and I saw a yellow haired human girl of seven years old. For some reason, Brin thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, the difference between her and the other girls that were here like the difference between the cold gray granite of the wing where he lived and the vibrant murals of the hallway outside.

“Lady Celest, this is Brin, the most talented trainee here. Brin, this is lady Celest, the Saintess.”

Upon hearing her title, Brin took a knee. “No you don’t have to do that, I was just blessed by the gods with the power to do some special things, and will use it to serve them by one day driving out the invaders.”

Brin stood up. “Then I wish to join you on your mission.”

“But you are only six.”

“And you are only seven.”

She smiled and nodded, then looked at Tanno. “So, I take it you brought him here so that he could become the first member of my party?”

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Tanno shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking of that at the time, but if it is what he wishes then I have no objection. I brought him here to be your sparring partner for the next few weeks. I am needed on the front, so it will be at least a month before I return. During that time, I want you to practice with him. His magic is a bit stronger than yours at the moment, but he has poor reserves. By the time that I return, I want your pressure up to at least eleven, and I want his reserves to be as large as yours are now.”

“Yes, sir.” said both of the children in unison.

“In that case, please grab your gear, princess. There is a special training field a few kilometers from here that I want the two of you to travel to, preferably by running, where you can practice.”

“Running? But you know I hate exercising.” said the Saintess.

“I also know you need to. It’s hard to fight if your stamina is too low, and you can always run out of mana and be forced to retreat, not to mention having to dodge enemy attacks.”

The Saintess sighed. “Fine, step outside and I’ll change into my outdoor clothes.”

The two males did so, and she closed the door. After a few seconds, Brin spoke up. “I heard you call her princess earlier. Does that mean she’s a bit spoiled due to her special status?”

Tanno shook his head. “No, I was being literal. She’s the daughter of Prince Boran and his second concubine. They gave her to us to raise when they found out she was the saint, a duty I have taken seriously ever since.”

“But wouldn’t that legally make her a duchess? After all, if I remember the way noble titles work from my lessons...”

“Technically, yes. When she reaches the age of fifteen she will become a Duchess, even being recognized in Farin, where they require certifications to maintain noble title, as she is a healer, mage, combat mage, alchemist, and several other jobs. But she all but gave up her noble title when she joined us, as the title of Saintess is equal to that of King or Queen. Though perhaps one day she’ll be a queen as well, after she marries a crown prince.”

Celest opened the door wearing a robe made of fine silk, a necklace that sparkled with mana, and carrying a wand of monster wood. While Brin didn’t know anything about the monsters or their material the wand and robes were made of, he had heard descriptions of refined manacite, and how it put out pressure eight point four mana, which he could detect the necklace doing. No wonder she had such large reserves, when she could channel from such a necklace to never get below that pressure.

“You’ll both need to take a backpack with your supplies if you got into the field, but for now, this is fine.” They both followed the Master out of the monastery and fifteen minutes of jogging later they were at a large platform built into the side of the mountain. “This field is larger than the one at the monastery, and has a barrier around the outside to prevent you from leaving it from anywhere but the gates. That will prevent you from blasting each other over the edge. Now, I will leave the field and watch your first sparring session.”

Tanno left the field and once the Saintess caught her breath the two squared off, standing on one of six black tiles around the hexagonal field. “Begin” he called out and Celest opened with a massive fireball. Brin simply boosted his dexterity and strength and dodged it, allowing it to harmlessly fly off the side of the mountain behind him. She continued to fire targeted spells at him, all of which he dodged. The only time she even clipped his shoulder was when she fired a light beam at him. As it traveled at the speed of light instead of a few hundred meters per second like the others, he only had the aiming and charging time of the spell to dodge it. This gave her a way to deal with him and soon she only used light spells to attack him, landing a few glancing blows but not one serious enough to be declared a winner.

When Brin started seeing signs that she was becoming mentally exhausted from the effort he flung a single spell, removing friction from under her feet. She instinctively stepped backwards, only to slip and fall on her back. Brin ran over and, before she could stand, stepped on her chest.

“The winner is Brin.” said Tanno, not being surprised at the outcome. While the Saintess was a better mage, he had combat experience.

Brin took his foot off of her chest and helped her up. She touched the back of her head and her fingers came away with blood. “Oh, you hit your head.” he said then a pulse of blue light washed over her. Suddenly all of her exhaustion and injuries were gone.

“You can use ‘Full Recovery’? I thought that was a Grand Master spell.”

Brin shrugged. “Something like that, but not that.”

Master Tanno came over. “You’ll find that Brin has several unusual abilities that can’t be explained. His Full Recovery ability is just one of them. He can also instantly recover mana reserves.”

“Very unusual.” she responded. “Have you checked the library for any mention of such abilities?”

Tanno nodded. “I have, but I found nothing. It is possible it is just a natural power he was born with, like a unicorn’s healing ability, but I don’t think he is a sapient monster.”

“Me either. I would guess a half elf, like yourself. Still, there are some rare bloodline traits out there. Maybe he has dragon or Troll blood.”

“Are you just going to talk about me without my input?” asked Brin, and Celest apologized.

“I didn’t know it would upset you. Aren’t you curious where you came from?”

“I don’t see that it really matters. Even if I was a half troll half dwarf with dragon blood, would you treat me any differently?”

Celest shrugged. “I guess not.”

“See, it doesn’t matter, now lets get back to the monastery. Nun Gertri is cooking supper tonight and she is an amazing cook.” With that, Brin started running towards the monastery. Celest attempted to keep up, but it was only by constantly channeling Revitalize through her necklace that she managed to not exhaust herself. Still, by the time she got there, every muscle in her body seemed to be on fire from the acid buildup. “There you are, slowpoke.” Brin said, slapping her on the back. A wave of pain went through her from the blow a split second before a wave of blue energy washed away all of her exhaustion. Now she felt stronger and full of energy. Could he really wipe away all of the downsides of exercising without wiping out any of the benefits? That could let her train quite quickly if it was true. They went inside and entered the mess hall just as Gertri came out pushing a cart full of smoked meats.

Another year passed with Brin and Celest racing to the training field every day. When he would inevitably beat her there, he would heal her, they would fight, and he would win eighty percent of the time. Still, she won often enough that he continued to gain combat experience. After he healed her of any injury she received during training they would then run back to the monastery and do physical combat training with Master Varris. Celest was by no means a fighter, but through practice she became competent with a staff and spear, and was able to fight on equal footing with about half of the recruits from the orphanage.

Brin, on the other hand, was able to fight on equal footing with master Varris. With the restriction that one could only use magic on themselves and all damage must be physical and non-magical, both of them had taken to enhancing their bodies to the limit of their abilities and protecting themselves with anti-physical damage magic, then hitting each other with punches or claw strikes that would destroy boulders and take down trees that were hundreds of years old. Brin won his first match when, as Master Varris overextended himself with some of his claw strikes, Brin slid between his legs and punched upwards, causing Varris to collapse from the pain. He healed Master Varris immediately, but was scolded for using such a dirty attack. He countered that he was told to win any way he could, and got off with a lecture and a promise not to do it again.

The next day, as they were heading out, an emergency meeting was called. The Saintess, and by extension her only party member, were asked to sit in on the strategy meeting. It seemed that the demons had broken through the northern lines and were attacking a city North of here. Master Tanno was there, trying to break the siege, but they needed to get the full Sati Holy Army, eight hundred and thirteen fighters, priests, monks, and mages, to the city quickly if they were to save it. Every strategy, from using carriages commandeered from merchants, to clearing out the nearby stables for horses, to trying to use what dragon mounts were available to move people a few dozen at a time could get them there in time.

That’s when Brin spoke up. “I can do it.”

“This isn’t a time for games, boy.” said an army captain the king had sent as liaison.

“I wouldn’t underestimate him if I were you.” said the head monk. “He has many abilities we haven’t yet learned to duplicate. If he says he can teleport that many troops in time, then I believe him.”

“Fine, but I want proof.”

“Then I’ll give it to you.” said Brin. “Meet me at the training field I’ve been using in one hour.” With that there was a rustle of wind and he was gone.

“Did he just teleport out of the meeting?” asked the captain, and the head monk smiled.

An hour later, the commanders arrives at the training field. An elaborate magic circle had been drawn on the ground in magic chalk, a material only used for temporary ritual casting. The mages among them started looking over the circle, but to the best of their knowledge the circle made no sense. It seemed to either be the scribbles of a child or based on a radically different magic circle theory than they had learned. As they looked it over the lines glowed slightly and a chill went down their spines. Something had definitely disrupted the flow of mana in the area, causing many of them to shiver.

“I also had that that reaction when he first used it on me to prove it would work.” said master Tanno, standing in the middle of the circle with Brin. “But we don’t have time to debate how it works. Just know that it does, and that the demon’s next assault will begin in less than an hour. Please bring as many troops as you can here as quickly as possible. It looks like it’s about to rain, and I don’t think the chalk will hold up for long after it does.”

Ten minutes later over a hundred soldiers arrived at the circle, with others already on their way. They stepped into the circle, being careful not to smudge it, and Brin extended his hands towards it. The circle gave off a faint purple light and there was a ripple through the mana of the area as the forces disappeared, only to reappear in the center of the castle’s courtyard over seventy kilometers away. Over the next hour he managed to send all of the troops there, and when he was done he stumbled over to a bench to sit down, exhaustion evident in his movement.

“To think a seven year old boy has so much magical energy.”

“That wasn’t magic.” said the High Monk. “That was something else entirely.”