"Where is father?" Aleric asked his mother while they were having dinner. Aleric always has breakfast with his mother since his father is always gone by the time he wakes up, and he mostly has his lunch alone. When comes to dinner, the whole family always has it together. So, the absence of his father was something new to him.
"There was an attack in the village so he went to fend them off." Lady Brienne spoke nonchalantly.
"Who?"
"Orcs, they are attacking more frequently."
Enzo Xalvador is the lord of Warkinles, a small state in the human kingdom. Enzo is in charge of the villages in Warkinles, and it's his duty to defend and protect them from harm. A small village in the outskirt was attacked and he rode out with his knights to defend them.
"Are you not worried about his safety?" As a woman her husband left to fight against the orcs, Aleric was expecting her to be worried. Lady Brienne giggled at her son's question.
"Worried? Son, your father is one of the 8th-class warriors. Anything capable enough to drive him to a corner will be considered dangerous to the human kingdom." Lady Brienne continued her dinner. Aleric has studied the classes of warriors and magicians. They are all divided into classes and the highest class ever recorded is the 9th class and it is considered legend since no one has reached the 9th class in the recent time.
One can only be called an 8th class warrior if he is able to use an aura like he is using mana. One starts using Aura once he gets to 6th class, but the difference in using Aura in 8th class, when compared to 6th and 7th class, is like heaven and earth. As a magician, the 8th class becomes an Archmages and he or she would be able to change the weather in a large area. Aleric didn't study much about the classes since he is not even considered a first class for now.
"It's comforting knowing that father is truly strong." Aleric felt the pride in having such a strong man as his father.
"Yes." Lady Brienne answered quietly and Aleric noticed her sadness.
"Me being weak is not your fault mother." Aleric knew his mother have always blamed herself for the weak genes Aleric possessed. After getting married, they discovered she would not be able to give birth naturally. So, they tried all they could and used a lot of expensive potions and spells for her to be able to conceive. It was a long tiring experience but it was a success and she gave birth to Aleric but the boy was weak and not able to feel manner.
"You don't have to convince me?" She dropped her spoon as she lost her appetite. Aleric held her hand and squeezed it tight.
"I don't need to, you gave birth to a strong boy and one day I will be the brightest star everyone would be looking at." The words of the five years old boy found a way to brighten his mother's mood.
"I believe you son." They started eating and talking about other things. Aleric was glad his parents loved him and he swore not to disappoint them.
"Aleric, I think you're spending too much time in the library?"
"Yes, I plan to step out from tomorrow." Lady Brienne was happy about that. After spending time together they said goodnight and went to bed.
"Tomorrow I will try and find a way to enhance my physical strength and stamina." Aleric said before sleeping off. He knew to have too much mana and no endurance to match it will make him tire faster. So he decided to start training his physicality since he cannot feel mana. If only Aleric knew how fast he is going and that no child of his age has achieved this level of success.
Aleric went outside for the first time in months and everything seemed new. He knew it would have been easy to get an instructor if he asked his mother but he didn't want to bother his mother. Also, he didn't want anybody to know he was now not only able to feel mana but has a mana core. He needed to find a way to train without letting anybody know about it.
"How should I go about it?" He was walking towards the market and taking his time to look around the town for the first time. Their family castle is situated at the center of the town and is also its attraction. The whole town is built around the castle and everything looked like the medieval period. Aleric drew the attention of everybody not because he is the young lord but because he is extremely handsome.
"I feel he is even more handsome than the elves." A lady whispered and Aleric tried his best not to smile. He acted indifferently towards the people's remark, but inwardly he was excited.
"Get out of here old man!" Aleric looked towards the noise and saw a bar attendant pushing an old dirty man outside the bar. "Don't ever come back here."
The old man stood up and staggard away, Aleric noticed something about the old man. Though he was staggering, he appeared to be in control and successfully evades everyone around.
"That's not a simple movement." Aleric muttered and followed the man.
Aleric kept following the man until they have left the populated area. He wasn't being discreet about tailing the man so he wasn't surprised when the man spoke to him.
"Why are you still following me?" The old man asked.
"Curiosity."
"What are you curious about?" The man turns to face the five years old boy.
"How you were able to avoid bumping into anybody even though you are staggering."
"It is a habit that I mastered for many years of being a drunkard." He answered.
"But you're no longer staggering now." The old man was amazed at the observation of the five years in front of him. The old man wondered if the little boy was actually an old mage disguising as a child.
"What do you want?" He asked in a serious tone.
"I am looking for someone that can teach me?"
"Teach you what?"
"Teach me to become strong." The old man laughed at Aleric.
"Judging from your attire, you must be a noble so finding a teacher won't be hard." The old man was right but Aleric has other things in mind.
"I need a teacher that would keep my secrets."
"And what secret could that be?"
"That I am a genius born once in a generation and I will shine the brightest." Aleric puffed his chest up to appear nobler but the old man only laughed at him.
"A lot of boys in your age believe that, be on your way boy?" The man said and dashed off and Aleric was unable to see his movement. Aleric looked around but couldn't find the man, he even used his mana but nothing happened.
"I guess I was right." Aleric was only guessing about the old man being strong but the cleared all doubt by his movement.
"Don't think you have escaped from me, I will make you teach me, old man." Aleric said before leaving. Some might be sad about the ordeal but Aleric was in fact happy about it. He never expected he would be able to find someone strong on his first day of stepping out of the castle.
"Long time no see Aleric." Aleric was on his way back when he saw Gavin. Gavin was among the boys that made him eat the mushroom.
"Gavin."
"I came to visit you but lady Brienne said you were not receiving any visitors." Gavin walked around Aleric, and it reminded Aleric of his days on earth.
"Yes, I wanted to be alone."
"Don't you miss us your friends?" Gavin feigned hurt but it was not enough to deceive Aleric.
"No, I am not your friend, don't act so friendly with me. I have things to do so I would be on my way." Gavin was shocked by the manner Aleric just spoke to him. Gavin is among the genius of the generation since he started feeling mana before any of his peers, and his grandfather spoilt him because of that. It was said he will be able to make a mana core by the age of 8 or so. The kingdom would be amazed if they knew that Aleric has already made his mana core in his heart.
"What made you so fearless." Gavin dragged Aleric back. Aleric is the young lord and that makes him rank above Gavin but because Gavin has spent years secretly bullying Aleric, he didn't care for rank.
"I should ask you that, what made you so fearless to drag your young lord." Aleric was never the type to use his family power, but he knew Gavin need to understand his place.
"Aleric."
"I know I have been weak in the past and allowed you to walk over me. I will have you know it would no longer be so." To prove his point, Aleric grabbed Gavin's hand and squeezed it as hard as he could.
"Aaaah!" Gavin screamed but Aleric didn't stop until he heard the cracking of Gavin's bone.
"Don't ever block my path." Luckily nobody was around to witness what happened. Gavin fell to his knees crying while holding his hand. Aleric knew Gavin's pride won't let him admit what happened to anybody.
"This is just the beginning." Aleric said as he went back to the castle.
Aleric kept searching for the old man and sometimes he would see him and sometimes he would not, but he didn't stop. The old man thought Aleric would stop after a few days but he was wrong. Aleric kept tracking him down and the old man has no other but to test Aleric. "Have I convinced you of my resolve?" Aleric asked the old man as they stood face to face in the same place they first had a discussion. "Not yet, first I should tell you I can't teach you anything about mana." "That won't be a problem." "Alright, here." The old man threw a bracelet at him. "What is this?" "Wear it, it would make you unable to use mana and harder to sense mana." "What is the purpose of it?" Aleric has just recently succeeded in sensing mana so he didn't like the idea of it being stripped away. "By holding back your mana, you would be able to develop your muscles and stamina without the use of mana. When you now start using mana after you have developed your stamina you would be so much stron
Aleric and Tatia kept going outside and Aleric would always leave her whenever they go out. Aleric no longer saw the bracelet he bought for her and when he asked about it, she said she lost it. He got her another one and she lost it again and it made Aleric angry for he felt that Tatia was losing it because he wasn't an important person to her. He decided not to think about it and was glad that Tatia didn't tell his mother about the way he was always leaving her.Months passed and Aleric started learning about combat style and he was progressing. He also felt his first mana while wearing the bracelet but it was just for a moment. "That's it for today." Sawyer stopped the day's training early because he knew that the boy need some breather."Alright." Aleric could go some more hours but he knew better not to question his master.He left and wandered around since it was not yet time to meet up with Tatia. As he was wandering around he got a glimpse of Tatia sitting alone beside a tree.
Aleric noticed the striking resemblance between the woman and Morgana, he figured the woman to be Morgana's mother. "What madness are you suggesting?" Enzo spoke in a calm frightening voice."Enzo my friend, we all want what is best for our children. I know you would make the same decision if you were in my shoes." Lord Brom said. He is the father of Morgana, and he is also a powerful ice mage. Morgana was betrothed to Aleric after she was born and then it felt like a good plan to make the Brom family more powerful. Lord Brom knew how strong the Xalvador family is, so he wanted to share in that power by creating a bond with them through marriage. But after it was discovered that Aleric has no talent, they started regretting their decision. They all knew that having no talent makes one worse than a slave, so they knew that having their child marry Aleric would lead to her ultimate demise. While they were thinking of how to break off the engagement, Morgana awoke very rare ice magic. T
"Come on boy, is that all you have?" Sawyer kept pushing Aleric to do more. They are currently sparing and Aleric has decided to become a magic warrior, the hardest all occupation. A magic warrior is an occupation of being a magician and also a warrior. It's the hardest o train, it's hard to be either of the two, so it's much harder to be both. Aleric discovered that life is like a story and for him to be the protagonist, he has to take the hardest road. "Your right is unguarded." Sawyer said as he strikes Aleric's right with his wooden sword "No, it's not." Aleric used earth magic to protect his back. Once again Sawyer was surprised at how Aleric can perform chantless magic and perform magic without waving his hand. It was possible for Aleric to do because his heart is his mana core so it means every part of him can be used to perform magic, he doesn't need to use his hands like other magicians. "You are truly fast on your feet?" Aleric said stepping on the ground. This simple mo
Aleric went after with an intent to kill, his bloodlust could be felt by the enemy and they picked up their pace."Don't let yourself be caught." The Chieftain ordered and gritted his teeth for not having things go according to his plan. He divided his force to attack two different villages when he heard that Lord Enzo has been summoned to the palace. He had no idea that a boy just a little above 12 would destroy the plan he took so long to devise."You guys can't escape me." Aleric cast a fire spell and threw it at them. "We can take him chief." One of the orcs that never saw Aleric in action tried to engage the teenage boy in combat. "Glory to the orcs!" He screamed and some of the orcs that never saw Aleric in action attacked together with him."Stop." Before their chieftain could order them to stop, they have already rushed towards the teenage boy who was running towards them also."Out of my way peasants." With a single swing of his sword that was enhanced with wind magic, Aleri
Lady Brienne was speechless after her husband told her everything the knights told him and the little he saw. It was unbelievable, after trying their best and giving Aleric all potions to get better, nothing happened so they gave up. Hearing that her weak son is now seen as a hero and songs are already being sung about his greatness. The ladies of the village that Aleric saved started singing of his greatness already. Every unmarried female wishes they would be able to get a place in his heart."My beautiful boy." Lady Brienne stared at her son who is still fast asleep as a result of exhaustion."This changes everything. I wonder what Lord Brom would say when he realizes that the rejected one is now the only third class of his generation." Enzo smirked. He was sure no child below the age of 18 would be a third class. He is 40 years old and it's not been long since he entered the 8th class and he is considered a prodigy. Some people live their entire lives without crossing the threshol
"What do you mean by that? You are the most talented among your peers so every academy would be glad to have you." Enzo would respect whatever decision Aleric took because he took himself from nothing to 3rd class but he had to make him understand how easy it would be for him to progress if he gets to study in the academy. "Look son, I know you are really strong and feel you don't need teachers or an academy for you to become stronger but that's wrong. The benefits studying at the academy would bring are tremendous. You would have beast mana core to absorb and make you stronger, you would make allies and a lot of things." "I know, perhaps I came out wrong. What I am trying to say is that I will not be attending the academy as a special student. I would get the admission myself by passing through their test." "Oh," Enzo breathed a sigh of relief and he wasn't the only one. "I would appreciate it if you don't tell the school representative about my abilities." Enzo accepted his son
It was just an innocent kiss of a little girl kissing her crush for the first time. It only lasted for about five seconds and Tatia broke off the kiss "Better come or I will kill you." She spoke without looking at Aleric and ran back to the carriage. Aleric couldn't control his heartbeat because that was his first kiss in both lives. The people that watched the scene smiled warmly "Looks like she laying her claim first." Lady Brienne muttered. "Why did you have to do that?" The representative asked Tatia. "He would soon be dragged by many women so I am laying the first claim." Tatia was still flushed and her heart was threatening to burst her rips. She knew that it would take a year or more before she sees Aleric and within that year, Aleric might have seen more beautiful girls so she wanted to great the first impression. The representative wanted to tell the naive girl that Aleric is a nobody and she will soon forget her "Let's go." She decided not to since she felt it was in