The training was going on as it had been, and they were now wrapping up the final stages. Each student was being called up to measure their strength on the pillar. As they were doing this bit by bit, a pair of guests had finally arrived.
“Freaking hell, why did that walk back feel a lot longer than the walk there?” Raze complained, his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
“That’s because it did take a lot longer,” Sonny replied. “We had to take a break around every five minutes. Are you sure you don’t have some kind of medical condition?”
Pressing his hand on his chest, Raze wasn’t sure himself. What if the after effects had been passed onto this new body? He wouldn’t be able to check his own condition, though, until he was at least a 3-star mage.
Walking over, Kron had caught their attention. He made eye contact with Sonny and nodded slightly before giving orders to the rest.
“Alright everyone, training is over for the day!” Kron shouted. “Why don’t you all head inside and rest up for the day!”
The kids bowed down, thanking the teacher for the lesson, stomping their feet together, and started to walk off. Raze stayed by Sonny’s side as it appeared that he wanted to talk to them about something, and that’s when his eyes noticed something.
‘Why is she walking with a slight limp?’ Raze thought.
The two adults continued to whisper to each other. From what he had learned, Kron and the Red Brigade clan were quite well connected, enough to ask him a favor to look after them.
It seemed like they were just discussing the results of the meeting until the two of them turned to look at Raze. 𝒪𝑽𝓁xt.𝒸𝑜𝐦
“Do you mind having a go at the measuring pillar again?” Kron asked. “Just use the two-step shift like before and strike out.”
Not caring, he walked up to the pillar and prepared himself.
‘Are they trying to see if I have the potential to join the Pagna Academy? If that is the case, I have a feeling they won’t like the result.’
Raze had gone through the steps perfectly, and it was looking hopeful in Sonny’s eyes, that was until the last moment when his fist was thrown out.
“Why is it so weak?” Sonny blurted out loud, due to how shocked he was, and the number that had appeared on the pillar had soon proved it, as a [6] had appeared.
“Six!” Kron shouted, shaking his head. Even he couldn’t believe it, but Raze knew why. It was simple, he was exhausted from climbing up all of those stairs. So his punch was less powerful than the last time.
“Did you not absorb the Qi pill I gave you?” Kron asked.
The pill had already been used up, so Raze thought it was better in this situation to tell a lie, especially if Kron asked for it back; he just was hoping that it wouldn’t open the doors to more problems or questions.
“I did.” Raze replied. “I felt better.”
The two adults looked at each other again, with Kron tapping his finger on the side of his face.
‘That was just a basic Qi pill; maybe he needs one at a higher grade. But that’s not even something the Red Brigade gives their students. If it had no effect, then his body might be filled with more impurities than he thought.’
“Alright, Raze,” Kron said. “You did well; why don’t you go rest up in your room for today? It might just take a couple of days for the pill to have an effect.”
Walking off, Raze could see the two of them still talking about something, but he had no tools or spells to eavesdrop. It was no doubt about him, something that they didn’t want him to hear.
‘I could tell Mr. Kron was lying about the pill. I wanted to know what type of effect it will have on me as well.’ Raze thought. ‘The important thing is the next step. What to do with the crystals.
‘I can use one of them to create a mana potion. I need to create an item that allows me to keep track of my mana as well. Then, one crystal could be sold on the market; maybe if I’m lucky, I can buy a Qi pill and see how it goes, and the last one, to open a portal when I go back to that place.
‘The main issue is, to get the items I need, I need to head back into the town somehow… at night all the markets will be closed. This might be difficult. Anyway, it’s time for me to get my crystals.’ Raze thought as he entered the main hall.
—
A little before the training had come to an end, Gren had entered Safa’s room. Infuriated with what had happened, before he had realized it, his anger had taken over and he had destroyed everything that was in the room, including the mattress.
However, he had struck a pot of gold because he had somehow found crystals. Pulling out the one he had seen, he could feel that there was something else underneath. Eventually, Gren had pulled out all four crystals.
He held them together in his hands with his eyes sparkling the same as the crystals themselves.
‘Four… I really have four of these things in my hand; this is unbelievable! How did those kids even have something like this in their room? Is it some type of fortune their family left them?’
Already, Gren’s mind was going through all the things he could do with the crystals. With them, he wouldn’t even have to worry about Mr. Kron anymore.
Snapping out of his daydream, he shook his head and looked at the state of the room.
‘Crap, I better get out of here; as long as no one sees I’m in here, they can’t fully pin the blame on me, they can only suspect.’
Taking a step forward, the door slid open, and Safa was standing inside the room. Immediately, her eyes looked onto one thing. It wasn’t the state of the room; it wasn’t Gren; it was the crystals that were in his hands.