AN: I noticed that i messed up with the name of the test administrator, at some points i used Saim while it should have been Raim.

Chapter 7

The directions, he had gotten from the letter that had held the key, led him to a building at the border area of the academy grounds. This building looked older than the other buildings and was surrounded by trees. As such Marcel had never noticed it before. Its brick walls had long since lost their bright red colour and had turned into a greyish red one. Thick curtains blocked the view inside the building. The overall impression was a rather eerie one and a cold chill ran down Marcel's spine as he pushed open the door.

Marcel entered a big gloomy reception hall, a robed man greeted him, although he couldn't see his face Marcel was rather certain that this voice belonged to a man. “Ah you must be Marcel. The headmaster informed me that you will come here sooner or later. This old academy building is currently used by many mages, who need a place to do their experiments. Like them you too are welcome here and I will show you your future workshop. But before that we will have to go over some safety rules.” The robed man spoke without revealing his face.

“First of all. Most of our clients like to keep their privacy. You will have to accept that or I can't guarantee your safety. Secondly, we don't judge the morality behind the experiments, as long as all parties involved in the experiment have approved of it even experiments on sentient beings are allowed. What we don't judge, you too shouldn't judge. Although we are rather open with our policies, I have to warn you that those that we have established are strictly enforced. You will receive a complete list of them shortly. And the last important rule. Never, absolutely never enter someone else's room alone! There are quite some malevolent beings in these halls that can emulate a humans voice and or appearance. They will beg for help and then slit your throat. Even if it really looks or sounds like an accident has happened you should come to the reception and inform us.” He said while he led Marcel through a dark corridor.

“Here we are. This is your door. We took the liberty to transfer your equipment from your old workshop to your new one. As you may know we are rather discrete with the secrets of our clients, as such I hope you won't hold this intrusion in your private matters against us.” The man said and left. Leaving behind Marcel, who was deep in thought about the question, whether it was wise that he got involved with people that randomly moved someone else's possession around. The only conclusions he reached were the facts that this move did spare him the time to move his equipment and that nobody could learn a thing from his equipment they didn't already know.

Hesitantly he took out the key and opened the door. Whoever transferred his equipment had been rather finicky about imitating his old workshop. If it hadn't been for the different measurements of the room and the darker gloomy atmosphere he might have been fooled into believing that this was in fact his old workshop. The only unfamiliar arranged things were a huge box and a table in one of the room's corners.

The box was made out of steel and had been sealed. The seal was unbroken and showed the insignia of the royal family. A stylised eagle holding two swords in his claws. Marcel walked towards the box and broke the seal. He slowly opened the box and was stunned by the sheer beauty of the magic metal within. To the mere eye it looked like a slightly golden black steel, but to Marcel's soul it was like a harmony of soul and material.

The soul particles were perfectly fused with the material and they moved together with the smallest parts of it. It seemed to sing to Marcel, resonate with his very being, begging to be formed. Marcel abruptly closed the box. If he had succumbed now he knew that he wouldn't leave this room for the next two months. This wasn't the time, he hadn't even read through the essays about his clients yet! He wouldn't even know what to form.

Hesitantly he turned away from the box, he could still feel the metal call him. He had read descriptions about this material, but never had there been any mentions about resonance with a persons soul. It had been described as a material that was easily mouldable through magic until it was given a sign from the person that had moulded it. As if sentient it would deny any attempts to change its form after that signal.

Objects made from magic metal can repair themselves, even when they have been completely evaporated they would reform, although it might be troublesome to find them again. They are destroyable but not for long.

Despite all this, objects made from this metal were rare. Not only because the material was rare, but the people that could give the signal to the material were even rarer! In fact most smiths were only able to stabilise one object in their entire lifetime. It doesn't cost anything to stabilise, but the material is picky.

Strangely Marcel had felt that all the ore chunks in the box seemed to beg him to be formed.

Marcel picked up the essays that lay on a table next to the box. They were about the generals and their preferred fighting style and equipment. That was mostly public knowledge, since it wasn't possible to be in constant conflict and still conceal ones cards. The generals had fought in many battles, their styles were known by enemies and alleys alike.

As he read through them Marcel began to take notes for possible equipment styles and their enchantments. He decided to make some prototypes first, out of ordinary materials of course, and send them to his clients. That would take some months, but he wasn't pressed for time and it was best if he got some feedback on his plans.

It was late in the night when Marcel returned to his dorm room. His head still buzzed with ideas and concepts for weaponry. Exhausted he fell into his bed and instantly fell into a deep slumber.

The next morning, Marcel and his friends once again sat at their table and ate together. Yesterday everyone had used the afternoon to their own liking, but today they wanted to hang out together. They were wildly discussing what they should undertake, when they noticed a commotion at the other end of the hall.

Two students were in a loud argument and it apparently got worse with every passing second. There were no seniors around to break up this conflict, as their school year would only start at the end of this week. Luckily, before the situation had degenerated into a brawl, a teacher entered the hall. It was Raim Salem, Marcel's test instructor.

They didn't hear what was said at the other side of the hall, but Marcel and his friends heard the word that travelled through the room like a wave. DUEL. It was whispered, discussed and even shouted through the room. Everyone had noticed it and everyone followed Raim and the two competitors outside.

While they walked Julia asked around in order to learn who would duel and why. It quickly came to light that the two youths involved had known and disliked each other for a long time, but what sparked this conflict was a common female friend which they wanted to woo in the future. This conflict wasn't about who she liked more thought, it was about not wanting to share!

As they reached the arena, the mass was split into two groups, the competitors and their closest alleys and the spectators. Marcel and his friends sat down in the front row, like most of the others. This arena was rather big and the first years were only a fraction of the usual spectators.

“We are really lucky that we don't have lessons in the first period today.” said Steve, “I wonder which rule set they will use. First hit? First blood? I doubt that they would allow death matches thought.”

They didn't have to wait for long for the answer to that question. Raim spoke once again. “As always we will use blunt weapons, first 'deadly' hit counts. For realism of other hits the contestants are allowed to use the lesser pain aura spell to enhance their weapons. As you are both nobles I guess that you both know that spell. Am I correct?” They both nod. He continued. “Every other spells are prohibited as neither of you have taken the exam for Basic Magic Studies. Excessive violence or cruelty will be sanctioned. After this duel is concluded I expect both parties to cease hostile actions for at least one month. Now feel free to bargain your own conditions.” Raim stepped aside and listened while the two competitors set the stakes. When they had finished he walked towards the border of the stage. Marcel could faintly recognise a impish smile on his face.

Without any further ceremonial, since it was a personal and not a familial feud, the duel began. Unlike the comics and mangas Marcel knew from Oliver's memories the two hadn't directly charged at each other. Instead they took their respective stances and slowly moved towards each other. As they lurked and searched for openings they circled and distant themselves from each other. Then abruptly one of them made a step into the others range while pushing away his opponents sword. While binding his enemies sword he threw a punch to his enemy's face.

After a quick clash of fists and weapons, in which neither could overpower the other, they separated again. Once again they resumed their bizarre dance. They seemed equally matched in strength and skill. But after 10 minutes extensive fighting one of them faltered, his endurance was inferior. Not one to let this chance slip his opponent immediately charged at him.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Raim immediately ended the fight. Both of them were exhausted to their utmost limit, they had pulled all their stops in this fight, but surprisingly their ordeals hadn't ended yet. A completely furious girl ran into the arena and began to shout as if mad. Almost immediately the faces of the two drained completely of all the left colour and the smirk on Raim's face grew even wider.

Marcel couldn't understand everything that she said, as he was too far away, but the overall meaning was something along the lines of “How dare you decide without me who I like! Did even one of you two arrogant dipshits stop for a second to think about my feelings? No? Why ain't I surprised by that? Maybe because this wasn't the first time something like this happened! At first I had been flattered by your wooing attempts but now I have had enough! I don't want to see either of you ever again!” And with that she left the scene as quick as she had entered it.

When she had left Raim couldn't contain his laughter any longer. “Ah women the bane of every young man's sanity. Not that the old ones are save from it. They are just a tad bit more used to it.” He said while wiping away his tears of laughter. Just in that moment a honey sweet voice came from the entrance next to him. “Honey? Didn't you say you wanted to help me with the preparations?”

All Marcel saw from the woman that had spoken was a arm that reached out and pulled the bulky Raim away by his ear. In almost an instant he was gone. “Scary!” was all that went through Marcel's mind.

It was almost time for their first period. As such Marcel and his friends checked their timetable. Luckily they already were where they needed to be. In the arena. Unluckily the name of their teacher left a rather unpleasant feeling in all of them. They quickly went to the changing area. There they found a table full of clothes and leather armours. Some servants quickly and efficiently took their measurements and gave them some suitable clothes and armours, which were adjustable.

After they had changed they once again met up in the arena areal, but this time near the stage, not in the much more comfortable observer area. Nervously they awaited their teacher's arrival.

Finally she arrived. She looked rather frail and was merely a head bigger than Marcel. Like the students she was dressed in leather armour and if she hadn't entered from an entirely different door than the others someone could have mixed her up with a student.

“Welcome my dear students I am Alexandra Salem. Most of you probably already know my husband.” She introduced herself. “I will be your warrior instructor for the coming years, we don't really give a damn about those whole lessons system as such we will always refer to this as warrior training. Get used to it. In this first year we will focus on teaching you the basics about weapons, auras and body training.”

“Pfft as if she could teach me something new. I heard we will be her first class and then she is a woman too. I have trained with weapons since I was five!” A guy behind Marcel said silently. When Marcel heard that he turned around and saw that the people around the speaker desperately tried to signal him to stop.

Silence had encroached the group of students. In but a moment Alexandra had moved in front of the unfortunate student that had dared to badmouth her in earshot range. Her right hand was firmly planted on the students left shoulder. So firm in fact that Marcel believed to hear the sound of cracking bones. The pain filled expression of the dumb fellow further solidified that belief.

“I think you should see for yourself whether I can teach you or not and not just blurt your superstitious crap all over the place. Don't you think so too?” She said while slowly increasing the pressure on the boy's shoulder. “Yes mam.” He answered quickly. She released him and turned around. “Then let us get started! First of all we should get you warmed up! What are you waiting for? Start running!”

With these words she had started two hours of a strict and arduous training regime. “Good that is it for the physical training for today! Round up Ladies and Gents we will now begin the training for the magic part of the warrior training. Everyone is here? Good! Then I will begin the explanation.” Alexandra said. “The aura is a manifestation of mana around your body. Let your soul seep out from your body a bit and then draw in mana. Take note to not separate the film of soul around you from your body. You need this connection to form the mana into something like second set of muscles.” She explained.

“Uhm Mam? Why don't we use the mana internally?” Marcel asked. “Well if you wanna become a living torch you are free to try that.” She said to the paling Marcel. “There isn't any place in your body that can safely store mana. It is possible to convert it into mass and vice versa thought. That is slow but the only way to store mana. As such if you flood your body with rampaging mana you will most likely die in flames.”

Marcel came to the conclusion that he actually should have already known that! Even his enchantments couldn't easily store energy. They needed special reservoirs which would constantly use energy to keep themselves stable while filled. Gems were perfect for those as they had a stable and very orderly internal structure.

“Now please try what I have explained. If you notice that you heat up in any place immediately stop! This is a sign that you are drawing mana too deep.” Alexandra ended her explanation.

All over the arena the students tried to use aura, but there were only small successes. A small fortification here and there, but not for the complete body and the results were highly unstable and collapsed after a few seconds.

As Marcel watched them he came to the conclusion that most students were really bad in fusing their souls with their bodies. They lost contact all the time. He himself was already used to this fusion. He had enhanced his bodies muscles through a technique that requires very precise work in his body, it would be immensely strange if he couldn't fuse his body and soul!

His first attempt wasn't a success thought. The energy he pumped into his aura simply didn't spread right. He collected it at his back and from there it begun to spread, but his hands and feet were still not enhanced. And they wouldn't be if he didn't change the technique. The energy could only be distributed equally like that if he reach complete saturation of his soul. That would be strenuous and extremely wasteful!

He immediately begun to change the aura technique and created energy channels in the aura. Like one way blood vessels they were spread throughout his new aura. When he flooded those channels with energy he observed and adjusted the energy leakage of the channels to adjust the energy distribution.

Finally when he was pleased with his result he opened his eyes and soul sense, which he had closed while he had concentrated on the adjustments.

“Oh damn! Half of my preparations are for naught now. Who could have expected we had a damn genius in the group? What should I teach you from now on?” Alexandra said while sternly looking at Marcel. “Uhmm I am still lacking any training in weapon handling. Maybe that could be a good start?” Marcel said. “Oh! Then we will get started right away while the others are still trying to grasp the technique!” She said. “Before that I have a question. Why haven't you said anything about the need for energy channels?” Marcel asked. “What good would that do them? They are already troubled with the fusion of body and soul and the collection of mana. At the scale they are working on right now it doesn't matter whether there are channels or not! In fact it would make it even harder for them.” She answered. “I guess you are right.” Marcel said while watching the pitiful attempts of his classmates.

“Pray tell, isn't it strenuous to still maintain the aura? And which weapon would you like to learn first?” She asked. “I could maintain this level for three hours. It only increases my physical abilities by 30% thought. The max output could be around 80%.” He answered truthfully.”For weapons I would prefer a one and a half handed sword.”

“Not bad for a novice. Bastard or full?” She asked. “Huh? No, I am worldborn.” “The length of the blade not your heritage.” “Oh sorry. What are the pros and cons for each?” He said embarrassed “A longer blade will give you more reach and a faster tip speed. Also the weapon is heavier, alas slower in moving the whole weapon or changing stances. If the blade is shorter your tip strength is higher and it can be used in narrower spaces. It is easier to change the stances and the overall attack sequence is faster. If you think about it like it is a lever you should understand the rest on your own.” She explained. “A lever huh? I imagine that the weight of the weapon quickly loses meaning when one uses aura. And a too long blade can quickly become a hindrance in certain environments... I will choose the Bastard sword.” “Very well I will get the practice weapons and then we will start.” She said and dashed off.

At the end of this lesson Marcel was black and blue all over. Luckily he was able to control his regeneration...