《More than Human? (Hiatus until late June/early July)》


 Prologue – Solution

    -------- Planet Andron ¨C an extremely technologically advanced planet


    Acaserina sat cross-legged on her allocated bed, which was more a piece of foam on the ground than anything else, but still, it''s the best she¡¯s had for a long while. She looked over at the hundreds of others around her in the great hall. Some were reading, some sleeping and those lucky enough to still have living friends sat together talking.


    The huge room easily accommodated thousands of foam beds which were arranged in rows and columns with an occasional gap to maneuver around. The walls were high and made from brown, rusted metal and the floor, an unwashed cold slab of grey rock.


    After the eighty-year long war finally ended, the remaining Andronians started to band together again. Andron is a planet with only one land mass surrounded by water and eighty years ago, the four Kings of Andron met to discuss some data on a couple of planets. No one knew exactly what happened during the meeting but afterwards, the Kings declared war on each and all hell broke loose.


    For the ageless robots, death was not a common occurrence and could surely be avoided if one was careful. However, this time, unavoidable death swept through the lands. All manner of weapons were used, from handheld guns to devastating bombs.


    Only those lucky enough not to be found, and didn¡¯t fight for their nation, survived. You could say Andron was now a planet of cowards, so the fighting eventually stopped. Another reason for the end of the war was simply that there were not enough robots left to fight.


    Despite the war, robots all over the world came together again in relative peace, as they knew any more fighting would lead to the extinction of the species. Camps like Acaserina¡¯s were now the norm, with conditions much better than wherever the robots hid before, so no one complained.


    Acaserina thought about her friends Liona and Divitus, how they were gunned down, Acaserina barely able to escape. These memories frequented her mind but as a robot, she lacked the capacity to feel much emotions likesadness or loss, so insteadjust hada sense of disappointment in the world. For what reason did they even have to fight? The last king died forty-five years into the war but still it carried on for thirty-five more years.


    Acaserina sat on her bed for who knows how long. Robots don¡¯t need to eat, or even sleep really, so inside a building, the sense of time was greatly diminished.


    She waited for another announcement from Axel, the robot supposedly in charge. Last she heard from him had to be a few weeks ago at least. He said something along the lines of - ¡°We can¡¯t live like this forever; we need to rebuild the outside world and our population. To do so, we need more robots. I know you all think it¡¯s impossible but the scientists at this lab are searching for a way.¡± before disappearing from the large screen mounted on the wall.


    Acaserina thought about what Axel had said and laughed out loud, gaining strange looks from those around her.


    There was no such thing as making new robots. They have no sexual organs, why there were even genders was beyond her, and creating robots was not an option. They could make the body easily enough, even add AI but that¡¯s not enough.


    The robots of Andron are different from regular AI: they are conscious. They have the thing that makes somebody that person, makes you you, a soul or whatever you will. No amount of technology can replicate that.


    Still, Acaserina was curious of what Axel had in mind, so she waited patiently for the next announcement.


    ---------Planet Erasmas ¨C a technologically backwards planet possessing a great amount of mana.


    In a home somewhere on Erasmas, a baby was born. The mother looked with a delighted expression towards their nurse cradling her newborn.


    ¡°What will we name him¡± A deep, rough but gentle voice said.


    ¡°His name will be Ryuu, it means dragon, the strongest creature.¡±


    The man bent over and kissed his wife.


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect¡±


    ¡°Waaaaaaaaaaaa¡± The baby let out a wail.


    The mother giggled cutely, as the nurse handed the baby over. The look of pure joy on the mother¡¯s face suited her delicate features well. Her emerald eyes sparkled and wavy auburn hair tickled the baby who grabbed a tuft and started yanking on it. Even when faking a pained expression, she was still beautiful.


    Her husband laughed heartedly at the display, brown eyes crinkling at the corners. With his short brown hair and stubble, he had quite a normal looking face giving off a firm yet gentle aura.


    ¡°I can already tell he¡¯s going to be a handful¡± joked the mother.


    After cleaning up and feeding Ryuu, the nurse gently placed him into a handmade crib by his mother¡¯s bed and quietly closed the door leaving the three to settle into Ryuu¡¯s first night in the world.


    --------- Planet Andron


    ¡°Everyone it¡¯s nice to speak with you again. I bring wonderful news. A solution to our problems! The scientists have done it my friends. A serum has been developed which when injected into sentient lifeforms, will fuse nanobots with their bodies, changing them into one of us. Only species possessing an affinity with the robot factor will survive the transformation. Upon success, the entire species will be harvested, and used torepopulate our planet.


    We have enough serum to test a hundred individuals so far, so we will send out scouts to the nearest hundred planets to carry out the tests. Now I will call out the robots within this camp who will take part in this mission.¡±


    The abrupt announcement startled Acaserina, especially as the screen had been inactive for some time. Axel was reading from a tablet; bright lights reflected off his black and silver body. He¡¯s very attractive, she thought to herself. He must have been wealthy before the war.


    The news of this seemingly magical serum was fantastic, although Acaserina still had doubts about whether it could really work. But perhaps, there was a sliver of hope if the right species where found. What the scientists were able to come up with was still in its own right, mind blowing.


    ¡°Rin, Gilagan, Tia....¡± Axel continued.


    This adventurous mission excited Acaserina, who has wanted to get out of this dump and explore space for a long time. She would have gotten the chance to join one of the space explorer crews if not for the stupid war. But Acaserina knew the chances of her being selected were pretty slim.


    Her attentiveness started to decline rapidly as the list of names went on, none of them being hers.


    As all hope seemed lost, Axel¡¯s words shone a light into her dull world.


    Out of the twenty-three names that were called out, hers was the final one. Acaserina''s body took over and without a second thought, she dashed toward the door as Axel had instructed. Hopefully, she would be one of the ¡°bearers of good news¡± that Axel spoke of.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The selected group of robots were transported in black, armored hoverbuses toward the Northern Research Facility. The journey was over 150 miles but advanced technology allowed them to reach their destination in just under 15 minutes.The scenery barely changed from barren wastelands to deserted cities. The remains of once great, metallic buildings and infrastructure covered the ground reflecting the moonlight and creating a silver sheen. In a different circumstance, this view would be mesmerizing.


    They drove in silence; clearly not everyone was keen to be part of this mission. Rightly so, as there would be more than a few dangers involved.


    The bus suddenly came to a halt seemingly in middle of nowhere. Only when Acaserina looked out of the window closely was she able to discern the outline of a huge brown metal hatch in the ground. It started to open, revealing a tunnel which led underground and presumably to the facility.


    The only reason this facilityremained intactwas because the science facilities were funded by all four Kings and was extremely valuable to the whole planet as well as being heavily armored, well hidden and too large to destroy easily.


    Acaserina¡¯s group, being the largest one, convened with the other camps in a sizeable metal-walled room illuminated by long bulbs arranged in rows on the ceiling, casting a harsh, white light onto the surroundings.


    They were greetedby Axel who thenbriefed them on the mission, the main points being: everyone chosen for this mission was capable and there would be many trials ahead so be prepared for anything.


    Axel also went through the travel arrangements. For example, those traveling to the closer planets would use the MechaPods, being essentially small one-man, tear shaped spaceships. Those going further away would take thelarger Winstons which have more comfortable chambers and substantial storage areas for supplies.


    Both ships were equipped with the same wormhole technology which, for lack of a better term, teleports the ship a certain distance through space to traverse long distances that would otherwise take thousands of years.


    Leaving Andron, wormholing and navigating the rest of the way to the target planet in the MechaPod would take around five months in total. The Winston, a year as the ship needs to wormhole twice to get closer to the far away planets and the charge for a wormholetook months to build back up.


    Another thing Axel covered was what to do when we arrived: find a suitable subject, one of a young age but developed enough to take solids. This was because adults no longer went through changes like a child so would be unable to adapt to the serum and a new-born was too frail for the serum to be a success. Once found, the serum needs to be injected into the subject. We then would wait and observe any changes. If the transformation was successful, we would report our findings back to Axel.


    Details of the ship¡¯s layout and main functions, how to initiate the autopilot sequence, the supply of food and weapons on the ship and what to do in case of an emergency were also instructed in the form of a datasheet.


    After everyone was sure of their mission, each robot was assigned a planet and they separated into two groups, one headed toward the Winstons and the other toward the MechaPods.


    Acaserina followed the group heading toward the Winstons. They were led down multiple corridors lit with the same white light. At first, she tried to keep track of the turns they took but soon gave up.


    The twists finally led to an open space, the hanger. The room was gigantic, Acaserina couldn''t even see the end of it due to its massive length. On the right side of the hanger, Winstons sat neatly arranged in three rows next to launch pads, ready for takeoff. On the other side much bigger ships, each different from the next, were docked. Those were presumably for whole crews, back before the war, when space exploration was still a thing. Dammit, that could have been me Acaserina thought to herself.


    Nearing the ships, Acaserina couldn''t help but be a little excited.


    After what seemed like forever, she was finally shown to her ship. The Winston and MechaPod apparently looked very similar apart from the triangular wings on each side of the Winston and it being twice the size of a MechPod.


    Acaserina stepped into the cockpit of the ship. The interior was sleek and used mostly white and blue colours. Beneath a huge windscreen, various blue monitors with radars and driving functions blinked tolife.


    Some of the Andronains who were guiding her helped her into the chair and reminded her of the autopilot monitor''s location and its functions once again before the door closed and she was left alone.


    Acaserina waited for the two ships in front to take off before a few moments later, she too activated the autopilot; her hand shook with anticipation.


    The ship went slowly straight up through a tube like structure overhead. Acaserina remained in the darkness of the tube for about two minutes before a metal door opened with a hiss and light flooded in. She had been transported back to ground level.


    After a seconds pause, the ship launched upward at a breathtaking speed clearing the planet''s atmosphere in just over ten minutes.


    Acaserina looked back at Andron. From this distance it appeared as a blue ball with a dark grey land mass in the middle. She turned away, greeted by the darkness of space.


    Acaserina smiled, her mission had begun.


    -------- One year later, planet Erasmas


    After all that blackness the scenery finally changed. Acaserina saw the planet she was to land on. It was a beautiful mix of blue, green and brown; embraced by a thin layer of white.


    As she got closer to the surface the ship¡¯s AI initiated the landing sequence. On the way here Acaserina had read about this planet called Erasmas, not that there was much to read. All she found was this planet was still very much unaltered from its natural state so presumably the people here were quite primitive compared to the Andronians who¡¯s planet was extremely built up with nearly nothing natural left.


    The landing was smooth and quiet. After touch down Acaserina stayed still, surveying her surroundings through the Winston''s window. She was encircled by a dense cover of trees. She had never seen any trees before, only heard stories of their rare existence on Andron.


    For organic organisms trees were meant to provide the oxygen necessary to sustain life but as robots that was not needed so eventually trees were replaced by factories, houses and all manners of Andronian infrastructure. After staring out of the window for some time, Acaserina finally stood up.


    A soft hiss and then a click sound resonated from the outside surface of the ship. Thinking nothing of it, Acaserina continued her business.


    It took a while for Acaserina to gather all her supplies. She took care with the serum, placing it in a padded pouch which she tied to the belt on her waist. She selected two weapons, a small handgun and a battle rifle both of the laser bullet variant which didn¡¯t need to be reloaded. The handgun was placed in a slot on her belt while the rifle was slung over the shoulder. A small energycombat knife could be seen sheathed in her belt. Thinking it would be important, she also took the Mimic device, which would allow her to be disguised as a human.


    The trees provided great cover for Acaserina''s disembarkation, she was undisturbed.


    Locking the rest of the weapons, supplies and a spare vial of the serum in the ships, which was inaccessible to anyone but Acaserina, she abandoned the ship and headed in the direction of the town she saw while landing. Her enhanced eyesight making light of the night¡¯s darkness.


    On her way through the woods she saw three smallish animal walking on all fours. They had silver fur that seemed to somehow reflect the moonlight and red eyes that glowed in the dark. On Andron there used to be animals too but because there was only one land mass they had nowhere to go while the Andronians erected cities and built over all the land. So over time the animals died out, not that their deaths had any negative effect on the Andronians.


    Acaserina locked eyes with the creatures, the red glow intensified for a moment before dimming and disappearing altogether as the animals turned and walked away, strange. Deciding to chalk it down to her lack of knowledge of this new world, Acaserina carried on her journey.


    Before long the city wall could be seen, it was made from grey stone and was roughly fifteen meters high. Guards in leather and chainmail armor were standing on top of the wall, on watch duty. Scanning the area further she noticed a wooden gate about eight meters wide which was currently closed.


    She made her way round and found an unguarded section of the wall. She activated the Mimic device andgrabbed her combat knife which was currently only ahandle.Pressing a button on the handle activated the blade which cast a soft pink glow. Digging her combat blade into the stone to help herself up she proceeded to climb over the wall. With inhuman agility, she was over in a matter of seconds.


    Silently, she dropped down on the other side, pausing to survey her surroundings. The buildings seemed to be made from stone and wood, none were very high. The town was immensely different from the cities on Andron which teamed with skyscrapers, well at least before the war they did.


    Some wheeled contraptions could be seen by the side of a cobblestone road.


    Acaserina took it all in and realized just how different and primitive this place really was compared to her home,guess it would take some getting used to.


    After walking for a short period of time, the cry of an infant sounded out from a nearby building. Perfect, Acaserina thought to herself, what a stroke of luck. She headed in the direction of the cry. Finding a test subjecthasbeen much easier than shefirst anticipated.

 Chapter 1 – A birthday gift

    -------Six years later


    ¡°Mummum, guess what day it is?¡±


    An overly excited Ryuu exclaimed as he bounded down the stairs. Chin length, dark brown hair framed his cute face and his silver eyes gleamed with expectation as he looked towards his mother who sat at the dinner table.


    ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t seem to recall anything special about today. Can you Erwin?¡± replied Liane , Ryuu¡¯s mother as she turned to face him.


    Erwin scratched his head.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t think of anything either.¡±


    Watching their child start to pout made them both burst out laughing.


    ¡°Off course we wouldn¡¯t forget your birthday honey¡± Liane laughed.


    Cheering up again Ryuu sat at the table, opposite his mother and dug into his breakfast which was a piece of wheat bread with cheese and a cup of warm milk.


    "Ryuu, your father''s going hunting with his adventurer team today for a special dinner so we''re going out to buy some vegetables and other ingredients. We also need to get you some stuff for school since you''re starting in a months time. Oh and you get to chose something small for your birthday present remember? Shall we go straight after breakfast?"


    Ryuu nodded beaming, clearly ecstatic.


    ¡°Yay, I¡¯ve been so excited to get a present for ages.¡±


    He gobbled up the rest of his breakfast and went upstairs to get ready.


    Ryuu¡¯s house was a moderate size, not too big but not small either. Ryuu had his own room upstairs with a small bed, a cupboard and a desk by the window. Next to it was his parent''s room and then the study where his dad sometimes worked when he was not out adventuring with his team the Adamantine Wolves. Downstairs, was the living room and the kitchen which had an open fire stove and many different storage units for various ingredients and kitchenware. The small area between the kitchen and living room contained the dining table with the stairs behind it. The bathroom and small backyard were located past the stairs.


    Ryuu and his family lived in theSouthSector of Zouron the capital city of the Kingdom of Nidia. Zouron is divided up intoNorth andSouth by a ten meterstone wall. TheNorthSector is where the nobles, aristocrats, wealthy merchants, mages and most of the adventurers lived. The south is filled with the common folk, small-scale merchants and the poor.


    At the heart of the city stood the glorious castle, the tallest building by far with magnificent pale white towers embellished with golden details that glistened in the sunlight. It was surrounded by a ten meter wall equally well decorated and connected to the wall separating the two sectors.


    The closer one got to the castle, the wealthier the residents. The high class noblesand magescould be found at the center of the northern sector closest to the castlewhilemerchantsandadventureson the outskirts. The same could be said for the south with a few adventurers and small time merchants toward the middle, beggars could often be found in the outlying districts where the streets were run down and houses uncared for.


    For protection against monsters the whole city, even the poor, were surrounded by a fifteen-meter wall with guards stationed at various intervals, although the majority were present on theNorthSector wall.


    Ryuu¡¯s house was toward the middle of the South Sector in the biggest district where most of the population lived and close to where the markets and vendors were located. His father decided to live here instead of in the North Sector even though he had high wages as a semi-famous adventurer because he took it upon himself to help the less well off and donated large sums of money to the hospitals, schools, and projects that helped rebuild the slums. Being closer to the poor districts also meant he could often go there to see how things were and help out.


    A few minutes later Ryuu and Liane left for the market.


    ¡°Hello Ryuu. Lovely weather today isn¡¯t it Liane? Where are you headed?¡± asked their neighbor a chubby, kindly looking old lady calledAne.


    ¡°Just to the market. It¡¯s Ryuu¡¯s birthday today.¡±


    ¡°Oh, little Ryuu growing up so quickly. How old are you now?¡±


    ¡° Seven¡± a proud Ryuu replied with a toothy smile ¡°I¡¯m going to school soon¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s wonderful, my husband Marcus is already out selling his famous meat skewers, tell him I said a skewer is on the house for Ryuu''s birthday."


    ¡°Thank you very muchAne¡± Liane replied.


    The two of them made their way to the main road and soon joined the hustle and bustle of the Monday morning market.


    They walked past most of the meat andvegetablevendors only stopping to pick up some of Marcus¡¯ skewers. As Ane had suggested, they were indeed delicious. They stopped at the clothes shop first, purchasing some smart clothes before buying a school bag and a few writing supplies. The total cost came tofourgold pieces and eightsilverpieces.


    The human currency system was fairly easy to understand; tensilver pieces made one gold piece and a hundred gold pieces is one gold bar.


    On their way back to the food vendors, Ryuu saw a small magic items shop tucked awayinbetween two larger buildings. He had only ever been in there once with his father but didn¡¯t have a chance to browse properly. There could be something interesting in there that he could ask his mother for as she had promised him a birthday gift.


    "Mum can we look in there quickly" Ryuu asked, tugging on his mother''s sleeve.


    "Sure, why not".


    In reality, the magic items shop in the South Sector could be considered nothing more than a joke store as most of the powerful and valuable items were sold in the North. Thisstore was filled mostly with junk.


    As Ryuu entered the store he saw a number of weapons ranging from small daggers to long swords, somewith small writing carved into the blades. All of the weapons had dents or clash marks over some of the writing so they probably didn¡¯t have their magical effects anymore. There were also small vials of liquid, trinkets, armor pieces, ores and all manner of items that Ryuu had never seen before littered all over the place. However, everything was covered with a thick layer of dust. It was like stepping into an abandoned antiques store.


    Scanning the items, Ryuu noticed a particular stone, the size of two thumbnails, that was not buried by dust. Taking a closer look the stone turned out to be a pendant of sorts. It wasround anddark in color almost black and had a tiny carving of a bird like creature in the center. Picking it up,the pendant flashed a sudden bright blue before returning to its previous state. Ryuu looked as his mother who seemed oblivious to what just happened. His interest peaked, this pendant must be special he thought. Ryuu decided that this would be his birthday gift.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Ryuu handed the pendant over to him mum and she agreed to ask for its price. The shop owner could barely be seen behind a desk covered and surrounded by yet more clutter.


    "Fourgoldpieces and that¡¯s final" the shop keeper argued.


    For a child''s toy, fourgoldpieces was way over whatLianewas willing to pay. She decided to argue her case one more time before she was interrupted by the ding of the bell that was fixed to the door. Two strangelookingmen walked in. There was barely enough room for the five ofthenin the crowded, smallshop.


    "One goldpiece" the shopkeeper suddenly exclaimed.


    Liane was surprised by the unexpected price reduction but she supposed onegoldpiece was a reasonable price.


    "Fine,I''ll take it. Thanks for understanding"


    The shopkeeper seemed to barely register her words as he held the pendant tightly in his hand, wrapped it in a piece of paper under his desk before hastily handing it over toLiane. Was his hand shaking? Thinking nothing of it, Liane took Ryuu''s hand and squeezed past the two men opening the door with a ding. Ryuu skipped happily out of the shop.


    "Thanks mum, this is the best birthday ever! Can I wear the pendant now?"


    "Sure honey, I don''t see why not, take good care of it though."


    Ryuu put the pendant over his head grinning from ear to ear.


    A few minutes later Ryuu and his motherreached the food market. His mother went off to buy thevarious ingredients for supper while Ryuu stared at a particularly funny looking batch of potatoes. Ryuu didn''t even realize when two figures walked up behind him and grabbed his pendant in a swift motion before running off into the crowd.


    "Hey that''s mine" Ryuu shouted, furious his brand new gift had been stolen.Ryuurecognizedthethievesas the strange men fromthe magic shop.


    He ran after the thieves, little legs carrying him surprisingly fast as he dashed between the crowd, slowly catching up to the thieves who had a much harder time navigating through the townspeople.


    As the crowd started to thin out, the thieves took a turn into a side alley that was shaded and devoid of people.


    "Hey, the little squirt''s still following us. What do you say we teach him a lesson about the real world?" said the skinner thief with a shaved headand wide eyes who wore a piece of leather armor that looked to be surprisingly high quality.


    The other thief who wore loose fitting brown clothes just shrugged in response. He looked well built even under the loose clothing and was about five inches taller than the skinny thief. Both had a scimitar strapped to their belts.


    They stopped running and turned towards Ryuu. The taller thief spoke.


    "Hey kid just turn around and go back to your mummy, don''t do this to yourself, it''s not gonna end well."


    "I''ll go back once you give me back my the pendant"


    "See I told you he wasn''t just gonna go, come on, let me go teach him a lesson" the skinny thief said with a sadistic smirk that spread to his eyes giving him a crazed look.


    "Fine but don¡¯t be too hard on him"


    "Sure, whatever"


    The skinny thiefsmirked andwalked slowly toward the boy. Then suddenly helungedforward, aiming an uppercut atthe boy''sface but before the punch connected, the boy simply stepped out of the way. The thief knew his punches were fast so how had this little boy dogged it whengrown men couldn''t?


    He had intended to knock the boy down in that one move and then maybe kick him around a bit more until he was satisfied.


    Seeming to imitate the thief, the boy lunged, punching him hard on the chin at a speed the thief couldn''t even react to, let alone dodge. The thief was knocked back several meters, his world spun and he almost fell over from the sheer force of the little fist.


    There was a look of unbelief in the thief''s eyes with quickly turned to hate. He no longer saw a child, instead he saw someone he wanted to utterly tear apart. The boy must be mocking him, copying his move as if to say, ha, I can do better.


    The thief drew his sword and readied himself to attack. He felt confident that he could win again the stupid, unarmed boy.


    Holding the swordoutin front of himself, the thief advanced toward the boy, closing the distance between them.


    Seeing that the boy had done nothing to guard his vitals, the thief thrust out his sword aiming at the heart.


    But again the boy just sidestepped the attack.


    The thief quickly recovered his stance and attempted a slash from the right.


    The boy stepped backward, the tip of the sword missing his chest by an inch.


    Again and again, the boy dodged the thief''s attacks that came from every angle imaginable.


    In a fit of rage, the thief activated his martial art [Raise Speed] which, as the name suggests, increases the user''s movement speed to theirbody''s limit. The thief could only stay in this mode for aboutfiveminutes and after the battle, his body would crash. But right now he didn''t care about all that, his one goal was to kill the infuriating boy.


    He raised the sword to a horizontal position by the right side of his body, took two powerful steps forwardthenseemed todisappear for a fraction of a second beforereappearingbehind theboy.Hebroughtthe sword out, slicing right to left atablindingspeed.


    The sword connected with the boy''s neck. The feeling of relief swept over the thief and he grinned smugly.


    "HIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" the thief screamed dropping his sword with a clang.


    The sword that was swung with the speed and force to cleave a tree clean in half only made a small cut about the length of a pinkie on the boy''s neck.


    What kind of monster was he?


    The thieflooked past the boyto his partner, panic clearly visible in his eyes, while the boy picked up his sword.


    "HELP ME!!!" He screamed. "What do I do?!"


    The taller thief,Lukus, had seen everything unfold from a short distance away and was surprised the boy could dodge Vail''s attacks.Lukushated to admit it but Vail was pretty good with the sword, rivaling the skill of some of the lower ranked adventurers especially with his [Raise Speed] martial art.


    From the start, he had decided not to intervene unless Vail was having real trouble, whichwasunlikelyagainst suchayoung child,as he didn''t like being involved withVail''ssadistic urges.


    But then the boy did the impossible, he was a monster. How could he not be deadaftera direct strike to the neck?


    Lukusstared, gaping,his whole body began to shake involuntarilywithfear. After being in that state for a few seconds, he finally snappedout of it andjudged that healsowoulddefinitelynot be able to kill the boy.Heyelled atVail to make a run for it since the boy must tire eventually and give up the chase for the pendant.


    His master has specifically asked them to retrieveitfor reasons unknown toLukusand that was probably why the shop owner sold it in haste after seeing them. Lucky the boy put the necklace on right outside the shop inplain view.


    Before Vail could respond,Lukussaw the boy pick up Vail''s sword and move just as Vail had done.The boydisappearedfrom hispositionandreappearedin frontof Vail.


    Lukus stared,eyes wide in horror, aghast as Vail''s body felllifelessto the groundwith a thudhe barely registered.


    Vail''shead rolled to as stop a meter away and a crimson pool of bloodstarted toform.


    The fearLukusfeltquadrupledandembedded itselfdeepinhissoul.


    Vail was beheaded in an instant.


    The speed of the strike was just as fast, if not faster than Vail''s.There''s no way that such a young boy can have enough time to learn and master the[Raise Speed]martialart so there''s no way the thing standing there was a child.


    Unwilling to risk his life against the monster that took the form of a child,Lukusthrew the pendant and ran for his life.


    Ryuu was stunned by what he had done. He had never fought anyone before so he had tried his best to dodge and copy the thief''s movements because he hadn''t the faintest clue what to do himself. But when the thief struck his neck, his body just moved on its own, striking back in retaliation. However, Ryuu didn''t expect to kill the thief as he didn''t kill Ryuu with the same attack.


    Being just barely seven, Ryuu didn''t entirely understand what had just happened.


    He felt a tingling sensation where the sword had met his neck. He reached over to feel the area with his hand but only felt smooth skin. There was nothing there.


    Shrugging, he picked up the pendant from the floor and headed back toward the main road, satisfied he had gotten back what was his.


    Stepping out of the alley, Ryuu saw his mother a short distance away with a desperate look on her face and shouting his name.


    "Mum I''m here!" Ryuu shouted back.


    His mother turned and ran towards Ryuu, embracing his in a hug.


    "Thank the gods you''re safe Ryuu." His mother said relieved. "Don''t ever gooffby yourself again you understand? There are dangerous people on these streets, you could have been hurt"


    Ryuu nodded in response.


    "Ok mummy, I''m sorry"


    "Fine, as long as you understand. Now what do you say we go home and cook up a feast for a certain somebody''s birthday?" Liane smiled.


    The mother and son headed back home in high spirits, hand in hand.


    From within the alleyway, a dark figure peered at them as they passed by.

 Chapter 2 – The Institute of Magic

    A man who looked to be in his early sixties, with short graying black hair, sat in front of a line of seven-year-olds with a bored expression. He wore a white mage''s robe which had gold sewn into the seams and sleeves, a two-headed Griffin was embroidered with the same gold thread over the chest area. The Griffin emblem showed that he belonged to the Royal Faction of mages who worked directly under the king. This particular mage was relatively powerful, being rank 5 out of the eight ranks mages were separated into, rank 1 being the weakest and rank8the strongest.Thereis also alegendary,insanelypowerful,ninth rank, also known astheS rankbut those mages areso few in number that the S rank normallyisn¡¯t included in normal conversation.


    This past week thismage had been going around all of the South Sector schools testing the children''s magical potential. It was just like him to lose a stupid bet with an old geezer resulting in his current predicament. A powerful rank 5 mage like him had to go out of his way for a bunch of children. But the mage guessed it couldn''t be helped, this process was necessary for the Kingdom''s future and required at least a rank 5 mage to do it.


    His job was to take a sample of blood from all the children and determine its mana concentration. Those possessing an above average concentration of mana would be recommended to study magic and become a mage in the future as their bodies could absorb and channelmore mana.


    Otherscouldchoosetoworkontheirphysicalabilities,becomingadventurers,warriorsor martial artistsor work on gathering knowledge, becoming scholars. There were also options such as an alchemist, a runesmith, a weapons and armorsmith or even if you just wanted to open or carry on a family business.


    All the children still learned the basics such as reading, writing, math and history and would just take extra classes in their chosen special field. The children in the South Sector could only choose to take one class in a specialized field, while in the north, the rich children could study however many they wanted with much more experienced teachers giving an edge over the common people, keepingthemselvesat the top.


    However, this process made sure that all the common people had a field of expertise, at least one thing that they wererelativelyskilled in. This enabled the kingdom to functioned more smoothly and efficiently and the common folk could find jobs and earn a living more easily. This also meant that teachers, who were few in number, didn¡¯t have to waste their time teaching lots of people who wouldn¡¯t end up taking their discipline.


    Of course, the kingdom wasn¡¯t so harsh as to say that a seven-year-old had to pick a discipline to take for the rest of their lives. Thechildrenwould only be learning the basic lessons at first. Whenthey reached thirteen years of age they would thentrial all the disciplines and pick two that they most enjoyed. Theywould be tested in boththesedisciplinesto find theonethey were the best at. Of course for them to enjoy the discipline in the first place, they musthave at least some proficiency in it. Itisimportant to the kingdom that people enjoywhat they doso that the citizens are kept happy.


    Therewerespecial circumstances where people would be recommended to take a different discipline if they were especially bad but on the flip side some could pick a discipline from a youngerage if theyproved to be especially good at it or aresure of what they wanted to do for example if a child was definitely taking over a family business.


    Mages on other hand were exempt from this process. As mages were so hard to come by, any child who had a high enough mana concentration would immediately begin their studies in magic. Most would want to do this anyway as mages were revered kingdom wide. No one would want to lettheir rare and innate talent go to waste.


    There was also another reason for the current schooling system and that was to find and nurture outstanding individuals who could aid in the Kingdom''s development and defenses against other countries and magical beasts. That was also why a visible effort was made to make sure as many children as possible had the chance to attend school or at least be tested for their mana percentage.


    Of course, there were still children unable to do so, such as those who needed to take care of sick family members, wereextremelypoor or in the worst case, worked as slaves in secret for nobles or underground organizations.


    The next child walked up to the mage.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± the mage asked the child.


    ¡°Philip Thorn¡± the child smiled nervously.


    ¡°OK Philip, I¡¯m going to prick your finger and then have a look to see how much magic potential you have¡±


    Philip nodded extending his index finger toward the mage who pricked it with a small, sharp glowing needle.


    The mage sighed inwardly as he closed his eyes and held his hand over the child¡¯s finger.


    ¡°Six percent,¡± the magus said, ¡°I recommend a non-magical route.¡±


    Disappointed, the child nodded and shuffled away.


    The percentage the magus spoke of meant how much of the child¡¯s body could store and channel mana. Usually, someone with a percentage of thirty and over would be recommended to study magic and someone with a percentage around twenty could dabble in the martial arts. To become a rank 1 mage, one had to have at least thirty-five percent and it rose in five percent increments for each class so the strongest mages would have a percentage around seventy.


    Thereason for thisclassification system ofmagesis that at every multiple of five, aperson''smana pool would increase by a whole level. So a mage with amana percentage of fortywould havea mana poola whole sizeabove a mage withthirty-fivepercent. Theincrease in the size of one''s mana poolwould open upmorespellsas well as known spells becomingmore powerful. The highest percentage ever recordedfor a humanis seventy-five percent from an S rank mage. This percentageseemed to be the limit of the human body as no matter how much the S rank mage trained, he could not raise it any further. This limit is not as damning as it seems however, as in a thousand years they may only be one mage who even comes close. Years of training is required toincrease one''s percentage and break through to the nextrank. The length of time and difficultyto do thisonlyincreasesas you reach higher percentages. This is why an S rank mageis so powerful andwould be able to wipe the floor with more thanahundred rank 1 mages.


    The next child stepped forward and then next. The mage repeated the same lines and same movements over and over again.


    None of the twenty children who he just tested had a percentage higher than thirty, that was to be expected from a South Sector school. There was, however, a girl at the twenty percent mark.


    A cute kid with brown chin length hair, wearing a black pair of breeches and a white shirt stepped up to the mage.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name,¡± the mage asked yet again.


    ¡°Ryuu Stein¡± the boy replied swiftly.


    ¡°OK Ryuu, I¡¯m going to prick your finger and then have a look to see how much magic you have.¡± This was really starting to get old.


    The mage pricked the boy''s extended finger and held his hand over it.


    The mage who was practically falling asleep in his boredom suddenlyleaptto attention. [Unknown]. Unknown? What''s that supposed to mean? No, it¡¯s impossible the mage thought, there must have been something wrong withthespell.


    The boy looked at the mage with a puzzled expression.


    ¡°Ugh, ahem. It seems my spell went wrong. May I have your other finger?¡±


    The boy obediently provided his other hand. The mage took it and pricked the finger. He concentrated hard as he held his own hand above the boy¡¯s.


    But his magic still read [Unknown]. What? No, this is impossible he refused to believe what he was seeing. In all of history, he had never heard of anyone or anything that the spell [Mana search] had shown unknown for. Sure therewasplenty of people and creatures who has a percentage of zero but never unknown.


    The mage was still very confused but he couldn¡¯t just sit there in a daze forever. He quickly contemplated what to say for the boy''s percentage. Saying the boy''s percentage was under thirty was probably the safe route but he was very curious to see what this ''unknown'' meant if the boy wasactuallyable to cast magic.If he said the boy''s percentage was thirty,but it turned out the boy couldn''t use magic he could just give the excuse that he was meant to say threepercentinstead of thirty or something along those lines.Knowing this, he resolved to let the boy try his hand at magic.


    "Thirty percent, congratulations boy, you are able to become a mage."


    Ryuu smiled brightly and nodded.


    "Thank you uh..."


    "T-Trey, my name is Trey" the mage repliedsurprisedthe boy wanted his name.


    "Ok, thanks then Trey" Ryuu beamed, excited that he was able to use magic.


    The magus named Trey watched the boy''s back as he ran out of the room. Ryuu Stein, he would remember that name. For now, he would keep what he found to himself as there was a chance the boy could be useless at magic and was nothing special. However, he would definitelymake surekeep a very close eye on the boy.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "I can''t believe we can both use magic! I¡¯m so excited to learn the cool spells that mydadcanuse!We¡¯reinthesameclasstoo.¡±saidaboywithshort,curlyblond hair smiling. He wore a green tunic, gray trousers and black boots.


    "Well there is only one magic class" replied Ryuu matter of a factly, before laughing and elbowing Riley in the side.


    Ryuu and Riley had been best friends since they were infants as Riley''s fatheris also in the Adamantine Wolves adventurer team and their mothersaregood friends. They often went round each other''s houses to play together.


    "What mana percentage did you get?" Asked Riley as they walked across a sizable open square area at the center of the school.


    ¡°Thirty, you?¡±


    ¡°Thirty-three.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you¡¯re only two percent away from being a rank 1 mage. That¡¯s soamazing¡±


    Riley looked shy for a second but then smiled proudly.


    A short while later the two arrived back at the front of the school where their parents were waiting. The school was a large square building with a central courtyard and training area behind. It was one of many similar buildings in the South Sector.


    "How was it son?" Ryuu''s dad shouted as the boys got closer.


    "Dad, Trey said I can become a mage! He''s told me that my mana percentage is thirty!"


    "Who''s Trey?"


    "Oh, he''s the nice mage who found out my mana percentage."


    "Ah I see. Ha ha, you''ve already beat your old man in terms of mana." Erwin laughed while rubbing his knuckles into Ryuu''s head. Erwin was a primarily a warrior who utilized some martial arts so he didn''t have, nor needed a very high mana percentage.


    "Well done honey." Ryuu''s mum said softly and bent down to kiss him on the cheek.


    "This calls for a celebration. My boy''s gonna become a mage!"


    Riley had also finished telling his parents the good news, although it wasn''t surprising that Riley had a high percentage since his father was a powerful combat mage for the Adamantine wolves.


    The two familiesheaded to Riley''s house. Ryuu spent the afternoon playingwith Riley andpretendingtocast magic. In the evening, theyate a superb dinner prepared by the two mothers, loud laughter could frequently be heard at the table. The mood was joyous as they celebrated the rarity of both their children being able to use magic. On average only about five out of a hundred people had a high enough mana percentage in the first place. Riley''s dad, Markus and Erwin drank late into the night, even when everyone else was already asleep. They seemed to be even more excited than the children.


    -------Two weeks later


    It was the first day of school for both Ryuu and Riley. They were both going to be studying and boarding at the Institute of Magicin the North Sectorinstead of going to a normal school. The Institute of Magicwas the only magic school in the wholekingdom and was where all potential mages, regardless of Sectoror classwent to learn the magic arts. As you can imagine it is an extremely grand and well-funded establishment because of the high value of mages to the kingdom. The school consisted of classrooms, lecture halls, arenas, large training grounds and student accommodation. Despitethis, the school is only made up ofarounda thousandstudents including those who traveled fromtheothervillages, towns and citieswithin the kingdom.


    The two, accompanied by their parents, arrived at the front gate.Ryuu stared at the gateamazed.Itwas very large, almost five meters widebut was all made fromintricatelycarved,solid metal bars. The words''The Institute of Magic''couldbeseen curved above thegatein fancy gold-coloredmetal.The school itself wasrelativelylargetoo,spanningjust under five hundred square metersin size.


    Sincenon-mages who didn''t work in the instituteweren''t allowed in the building Ryuu and Riley had to say goodbye to their parents outside.


    "Good luck son, you''re gonna do great. I just know it." Erwin said with a proud look in his eyes.


    "We''re going tomiss you lots but you''ll get to come back every weekend and during the holidays so it won''t be too bad." Liane smiled.


    "I packed everything you need in this bag. Here."


    Ryuu took the large rucksack and looked from his father to his mother. Hesmiled confidently, excited for this new experience.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll make you proud." He said with clear determination before embracing them both in a big hug.


    Ryuu and Riley turned around, took and deep breath and headed beyond the gate.


    "Stay safe!" Their mothers called after them.


    As they passed the gate, a guard checked them against a list before allowing them into the school. The wide path they were on split into two, one led to the accommodation while the other to the classrooms and other learning facilities. Ryuu and Riley took the left path towards the residential blocks. Ryuu looked around, the buildingswere very fancy andthewhole place was bustling with activity. Many people like Ryuu and Riley had just arrived and were heading to their dorms to unpack.Somewere rushingaround to find their roomswhile otherswalked confidently,presumably returning from summer break.Afteraboutfifteen minutes the boys finally found theirhousing block.


    ¡°Wait whatnumber was our room again?¡± Ryuuasked.


    ¡°Umm¡± Riley pulled out apiece of paper from his pocket.¡°Seventy-six.¡±


    Thereweremanydifferenttypesofroomstoaccommodatethenoblechildren through to theless well off. There were hugeluxurioussingle roomsandrooms shared by tenpeople. It all dependedon the wealth of the occupant.


    Due tothemagesfrom all kinds ofdifferent backgroundsbeingmixedlike this,therewas a clear divideof class within the school even though the teachers tried tominimize it as much as possible.


    Ryuu and Riley were able to get a double roomto sharebetween themsince both their parents were relatively well-knownadventurers.They walked down the hallwayandsoon arrivedatroom numberseventy-six. Riley unlocked the doorand entered.


    ¡°Shotgun the window bed!¡± Ryuucalledas he entered the room too.


    Riley rolled his eyes. ¡°Fine whatever,I know you like being by the window,I don¡¯t mind that much anyway.¡±


    The roomhad fairly standardwoodenfurnishings andwas a decent size with two beds,endtables, wardrobesanddesks.


    The boysstarted tomess around whileunpackingbefore they realized they were going to be late for theheadmaster¡¯swelcomespeech.


    Ryuu and Riley ran out of their room towards the assemblyhall.


    ¡°Wait for me! I can¡¯t run as fast asyou! Slow down!¡± Rileypanted.


    ¡°Hurry up then. Westill need tofindwhere we need to go!¡±


    As they neared themainschool building,they sawmany peoplerushingin onedirection so they followedsuitandarrivedat the hall justas the headmaster was stepping onto the stage.


    ¡°Welcome to the Institute of Magic!For those of you returning from summer break, welcome back. I say thisevery yearbut youare the future of thiscountry, we need you to work hardto hone youramazingmagical talent. Many people would do anything to be in your place¡­¡±The speechcontinued.


    A girl,red in the face and pantingsuddenly came andsat in the chairnext to Ryuu in theback row.


    ¡°Yes, I made it. Well kind of.¡±Thegirlwhispered,breathlessfrom running.


    ¡°I¡¯m Maryby the way, nice to meet you.¡±


    Ryuu nodded back at her.


    ¡°Hi.¡±


    Ryuuglanced atMaryout of the corner of his eye. She wasvery pretty, herpetite featuresweresprinkled with light frecklesand she had a slenderbodyfor her age. But what really stood out about her washerlong,bright red hair which wassweptinto a loose braid.


    Seeming to noticeRyuu looking, Mary turned around and winked athim. Embarrassed, Ryuu spent the rest of thespeech staring straight ahead.


    After the headmasterand the school captain¡¯s speech, the students piled out of theassembly hallto their respectiveregistrationareas.


    ¡°Are youguysfirst yearsas well?¡±Mary asked Ryuu.


    ¡°Oh, you''re a first year? Yeah, we are too. How comes you rushed in late though?"


    "I wasn¡¯tthatlate." She pouted. "Well, it''s a really long story which may have started off with me not waking up on time. Okay, fine I just overslept, you happy now? I''m not proud of being late on the first day of school you know."


    Ryuu laughed out loud. This girl if funny hethoughtto himself.


    "First years come this way." One of the teachershollered.


    Theninetyor so first years followed the teacherinto one of the larger classrooms. The room wasverywell maintained and hadwhite and gold walls,shinywooden desks andlarge windows. Abig blackboard was onthe front wall behind the teacher''s desk. The room had to be up to a certain standard because of the rich noble children who attended. However, it wasn''t overly fancy as it was still fundamentally theclassroom of a school


    "Quiet downeveryone.Thereare only threeclasses per year so I''ll call out the names of the people in class A,B and then C. Don''t worry, there''s no difference in capability between the classes."


    As it turned out Ryuu, Riley and Mary were alltogetherinclass B.


    "Yay!I''mreallyglad they put us in the same class." Riley exclaimed happily to Ryuu.


    "Hey what about me? Aren''t yougladyou get to hang out with me all the time now?" Mary chatted. Ryuu was about to replybut Mary continued.


    "I''m joking, joking. We don''t know each other very well yet, hope that will change in the future though." She winked.


    After a few moreminutes,class B left for their own classroom which looked almost exactly the same as the classroom they were in before, just smaller. They were told to pick seats and wait for their homeroom teacher.


    The trio went towardssome seats inthe middle of the room. Ryuu was about tosit at a window seat when he felt a hand on hisshoulder.


    "I believe that seat is mine," demandeda boy who was almost a headtallerthanRyuu.Hehad on expensive looking attire and a mean scowl on his chubby face.


    "Why? The teacher said we can pick any seat and I got here first."


    "I don''t care what the teacher said, that window seat is mine."


    Ryuu looked around, there were still plenty of window seats left.


    "Why don''t you sit in the seat in front? It''s still by the window."


    "I told you to move. Don¡¯t you know who my father is?" The boy said with an ugly smirk.


    "No, and I don''t see how that matters."


    Theboy started to anger. "Look my father is rich enough to buyyour wholefamilyand make themmy slaves, so I would move if I were you."


    "No," Ryuu replied. He didn''t see why this boy felt he was so entitled just because he was more wealthythan others. In this school, there''s meant to be no difference between the wealthy or the poor. It''sa community of mages, and Ryuu intendedtokeep it that way.


    Ryuu watched as the boy went red in the face. Then he suddenlymoved to grab Ryuu by theshoulders in order to throw him aside. However Ryuu didn''t budge, hestoodrooted to the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. The boy pushed, pulled and punched. When herealizedhewas unable to getany results, hegrew even moreangered. He turned and yelled at a couple ofkids who had been following him around to help out. Before they made amove,Riley suddenly chimed in.


    "Stop, the teacher''s coming."


    The boy wasextremelyenraged bythis point but reluctantlylet go of Ryuu.


    "You''re going to regret this." He exclaimed frantically. "I''m Max, it would do youwell to remember that name."

 Chapter 3- Strange magic

    Ryuu was finally able to start the lesson in peace after Max went to sit in the seat behind.


    "Hello everyone, I''m Serina, your homeroom and general studies teacher. Since I call you all by your first names, I don''t see why you can''t call me by mine too; plus it will help us get to know each other better. I''m not really one for formalities anyway."


    As she spoke, Ryuu couldn''t help but stare. If you ever needed reminding of the definition of the word beautiful, all you had to do was look at her and you would know. He¡¯d never seen anyone so stunning in his life. She had perfect, straight jet black hair that flowed down to her lower back. Not a single strand seemed out of place. Her light skin coupled with big dark eyes, long eyelashes and features that seemed to be sculpted by an artist would leave any man in awe and any woman jealous of her perfect body.


    "Normally in the mornings you would have general studies with me but since it''s the first day of school, they''ve been cancelled for the headmaster''s speech and registering each class. You''ll still have magic lessons in the afternoon but that¡¯s with Mr Reyes. Anyway, right now there''s still half an hour before lunchtime so how about we play some ice-breaker games to find out more about each other?"


    They ended up playing a game called two truths and a lie. Which is when everyone thinks of two things that are true about themselves and one thing that¡¯s not. Then the rest of the class has to guess which one is the lie.


    It was a great game to pass the time and Ryuu found out many cool things about his fellow classmates. For example, a girl named Skylar once visited a village of elves. However, the fun was slightly lessened by Max who took this opportunity to talk about and show off his rich heritage to the whole class.


    "Well, that was a lot of fun. The things some of you said were really interesting but I''m afraid we''ll have to end it here because it''s lunchtime now. I''ll show all of you to the lunch halls before I leave you to it." Said Serina in her gentle and soft voice.


    She got up and headed towards the door, motioning for the class to follow. Her movements were full of grace and poise.


    The lunch hall was behind the classrooms and was a very large space filled with rows of tables and chairs. There were people serving food at varying price points fromeither end of the room. According to Serina, there was more seating outside and two high-class restaurants as well as a couple of stores to buy school materials and snacks. The restaurants were meant to serve the extremely wealthy noble children who could afford the extravagant meals and didn''t want to eat in the canteen with the common folk.


    Serina explained that lunch break was one hour long and everyone needs to return to the classroom afterwards, before leaving the students of class B to their own devices.


    Ryuu, Riley and Mary went to line up to get their food. When it was Ryuu''s turn he saw many different types of meat, vegetables, desserts etcetera. There was a piece of blackboard that had the prices of all the food listed. It ranged from an expensive thirty silver coins to just one silver coin. The school tried to accommodate mages from all types of backgrounds as much as possible.


    Ryuu''s mother had given him ten silver coins for food each day so he purchased some chicken with potatoes and a few veggies. It cost him three silver coins, a pretty average price for food. Mary and Riley bought similar things and the trio went to find a seat to eat.


    They ate their food while chatting. Ryuu found out that Mary was from a town called Windermere six hundred miles away or about two weeks travel on horseback. It was still part of the Kingdom of Nidia but Mary had never been to Zouron, the capital before. Riley suggested they give her a tour over the weekend to which she gladly agreed.


    After eating, the trio went to explore the school grounds and soon it was time to go back to class.


    They were greeted by Mr Reyes, a middle aged, dark skinned man with a goatee and moustache, wearing a set of black mages robes. Introductions were made and then the lesson began.


    Mr Reyes talked about the different ranks of mages and how mana pools increased as you went up the ranks. He explained mana percentages and that you can increase it by casting spells and regenerating your mana or by meditation, letting natural world energy flow through you.


    Then he went on the discuss the six different schools of magic: Wind, Earth, Fire, Water, Energy and Darkness. Each type had their own set of spells for example wind mages could use [Wind Blast] and eventually learn [Fly], earth mages could harden their skin with [Rock Armor] and produce mini earthquakes. Fire mages could cast a huge range of offensive spells such as [Wall of Fire] or [Ring of fire], water mages can cast massive healing and buff themselves and other mages, providing support.


    Energy and darkness were a bit different since they aren''t based on the fundamental elements. Energy mages could cast offensive spells like [Grenade] which is a ball of energy that explodes inflicting damage, they could also cast [Lightning] and other electricity based spells, at first seeming like an offensive magic school. However, energy mages can also utilise powerful defensive spells like [Energy Shield] or similarly [Energy Barrier]. Darkness or Dark mages can be powerful but are usually frowned upon as their skill set is ideal for assassins and necromancers being able to use spells like [Invisibility], [Shadow Leap] or [Raise Zombie] just to name a few. The Energy and darkness based mages are known to become very powerful but are also rarer.


    Each magic school has its own set of offensive, defensive and support spells but in general, wind is known as a long distance offensive class. Earth is the tank and distractor among mages. Fire is medium to short range offensive with the most powerful offensive spells. Water is the support mage leaving energy and darkness as adaptable wildcards. From this assessment, you can ascertain that if a combat team contained a mage from each class, they would be very well equipped for any situation even without adding any warriors or martial artists to the equation.


    Often a mage would find the school of magic they have the most affinity with and focus on learning the spells from that school since they would be the most powerful. However, it is a bad idea to specialise in only one class, for example, water mages may be vulnerable without a team so it is a good idea to learn a few spells from a second magic school, at least to some degree. This second school will usually be the one the mage has the second most affinity with.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Mr Reyes finished his explanation. It was now time for the students of class B to find out what school of magic they have the most affinity with.


    "Alright, now that''s all out of the way, we can start to determine all of your affinities. This moment is a really important part of a mages life and determines their role in the future so take some time to really get in tune with yourself." Said Mr Reyes with a serious expression.


    "I want you all to hold out your hand and imagine a ball of mana materialising above it. Concentrate and feel the mana and world energy flowing within you. Once you feel it, begin to concentrate it within the palm of your hand. Visualise it escaping from that point and then say the words [Mana Essence]. This will initiate the spell that will produce a small floating orb of mana belonging to whichever magic school you have the most affinity with. This will probably be the first spell any of you have cast so don''t worry if it doesn''t work the first time. Keep trying and I guarantee you will eventually get the hang of it. We still have plenty of time left today. Just remember to feel the mana flowing within you and try to bring it out in a material form." Mr Reyes continued.


    Ryuu closed his eyes and held his hand palm up. He did as Mr Reyes instructed, feeling for the mana flowing within him. At first, he didn''t feel much at all but after a few minutes, he started to feel a tiny pulsing ebb of power. He concentrated on this pulse and it started to grow larger and larger until it was like a loud beat ringing in his ears and throughout his entire body.


    He began to imagine this pulse of power gathering and releasing to form a ball of pure mana above his palm. He was about to say the words of the spell when he was caught off guard by something that felt foreign within his body. He hadn''t noticed it before. It was like a slight sensation hidden behind the constant pulses of mana. The feeling wasn''t uncomfortable in any way, just different. It made him want to shiver but not inthe bad way, it was more like the shiver you get after peeing.


    As he focused on this strange feeling, it started to grow just like the pulses did. As it grew Ryuu''s outstretched hand started throbbing and there was a sudden shoot of painbut it was gone as soon as it started as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.


    Slightly worried by this weird occurrence, Ryuu opened his eyes and looked aroundand down at his hand. Everything seemed normal, he saw his classmates around him, some were still casting the spell while others already had a floating orb corresponding to the magic school they had the most affinity with floating in their palms. Not wanting to get left behind, Ryuu closed his eyes and felt for the mana pulsing within him again. Soon all he heard was the rhythmic beat and this time he didn¡¯t feel the strange foreign presence. He prepared himself and spoke the words [Mana Essence].


    His palm felt warm and he quickly opened his eyes, excited. But instead of a floating orb he had a glowing blue disk stuck to his hand. The disk resembled the magic school of energy but why was it stuck to his hand and not a floating orb like the others? Maybe the spell malfunctioned in some way? But Ryuu was sure he had done everything correctly and said the right words. He cast the spell again and again but each time the results were the same. A disk that was still stuck to his hand formed instead of a floating orb. At one point Mr Reyes came over but he also didn''t know what was happening to the spell. He said he''d never seen anything like it before. It was as if the mana wouldn¡¯t leave his body even after it manifested into a solid form. It was still somehow attachedto his skin.


    Eventually Mr Reyes told Ryuu to stop before he used up all his energy. Even though the spell didn''t work as intended, it still served it''s purpose since the blue disk was clearly from the energy school of magic. Mr Reyes told Ryuu not to worry about it too much and that they would be learning different spells tomorrow so it was fine, especially as this spell wasn''t necessary for combat.


    Eventually everyone managed to cast the [Mana Essence] spell and found their affinity. Riley''s affinity was water while Mary''s was fire.


    Today has been a long day, so after a dinner and a little more exploring, Ryuu, Riley and Maryretired to their bedrooms. While getting changed, Ryuu unconciously scratched an itch on his right palm incidentally where the [Mana Essence] spell had manifested the disk of blue energy. Unbeknownst to Ryuu, a tiny black spot had appeared at the center of his palm.


    Trey had been watching Ryuu as he tried to cast the [Mana Essence] spell. He was using a magic item called [Mirror Image] to look into the classroom. Before the magic class started, Trey had planted a matching mirror inside Ryuu''s classroom which allowed [Mirror Image] to work.


    What he saw was very intriguing, the boy''s outstretched arm flashed for a split second. Had Trey blinked he would have missed it. But that wasn''t the only strange thing, when the spell was cast, a disk shape had formed instead ofan orb in the boy''s hand. Treywatched as Ryuu attempted the spell again and again but time and time again only the disk shapeformed.


    Was this what it was like when the body didn''t want to let go of mana? Mr Reyes was only a Rank 3 mage so he might not have known about this but in history there was one case where a young mage was unable to cast spells in the normal sense because his mana wouldn''t release from his body. However, if this was even true orpossible was debatable as very little was known about the mage and what happened at the time.


    Despite this,Trey felt his decision of letting the boy trycastingmagic was a good one. He couldn''t wait to see how the boy would fair in his lesson tomorrow. What would happen if he tried to castother types of spells? Curiosity swept over Trey.


    He then set[Mirror Image]aside, knowinghe would be back at the sametime tomorrow.


    ----------Planet Andron


    "Please give me some good news," Axel said frustrated.


    "I''m sorry sir."


    "UGH!" Axel slammed his hands down hardon the table in frustration.


    "How manytest subjects are still alivenow?" He questioned, fuming.


    "I''m sorry..." His assistant trailed of.


    "Just tell me straight, you idiot."


    "Just one sir"his assistant replied almost in a whisper, unable to meet Axel''s eyes.


    There was a pause.


    "Ha ha ha ha, just one you say, just one. We had a hundred test subjects and now there''s only one left alive?" Axel laughed, frenzied. "It''s been more thanseven years and there''s not even a smidgen of success after all this effort?."


    "Sir, the last one might be successful, you never know. Wemight finally be able to find you theideal speciesto change into robots.Then we can brainwash them because of the special serum within them andyou will become ourabsolute ruler. You will be King of a new generation of Andronians, all according to your master plan."


    Axel glared at his assistant, but secretly smiling at his own brilliance. None of the stupid Andronians left on the planet suspected a thing.


    "How many times have I told you notto say the plan out loud. What if someone overhears?Although I doubt anyone will."


    "S-sorry."


    "Nevermind. Anyway what of this survivor? What planet are they from?"


    "He''s from a planet called Erasmas and part ofaspecies called homosapiens."


    "Continue. How is his development?"


    "Umm... there''s nothing so far."


    "NOTHING!" Axel broke into a fit of anger again but managed to calm down eventually.


    "Make sure to keep aclose eye on this homosapien, I trust my minions are still functioning?"


    "Yes sir, the bots you sent secretly aboard the ship are still working fine andwatching over the boy as well as Acaserina, the Andronian stationed there."


    "Good. What about the development of more serum? How many do we have now?"


    "We have only managed to make eight more. We aresearching far and wide forthe materials to create thembut it''s been quite difficult."


    "I see. Well keep working on it. In fact, begin searching on nearby planets too and collect any spare vials of the serum from thefailed subjects since I sent two serums per planet.Nowbugger off, I have a relaxing bath scheduled to take my mind off of all these failures."

 Unrelated short story

    Queen of destiny or rather call me Mekinar.


    -------------------Prologue


    Some years ago having either some or no money in my purse I went on a journey around the world in search for dollies with lost shoes but unfortunately, I had a very serious illness (having a scratch on my ear) and got lost on an isolated island which is really how this story begins. On the way, I met mermaids with crazy hairstyles and weird dragons with fiery fish breath, which you do not want to smell.


    Being lost on an island wasn¡¯t what you might think of as good luck, but I tell you, it''s like a wild adventure at the same time. Blah blah blah blah blah¡­ sorry about that, I was just thinking about what to write. Keep reading and it will be more interesting.


    -----------------Chapter one


    Once upon a time, oh maybe that''s too fairy-like, we''ll start with: on a bright sunny day, well it wasn''t that sunny, in fact, it was quite a dim day but you know a good story always has a good beginning. So on a bright sunny day with either some or no money in my purse I was walking to my normal groceries that''s when I discovered my first last dolly shoe. I picked it up and walked home forgetting all about my groceries even though I was starving with hunger.


    Studying it all night didn''t help me to understand that the shoes were unusual. In the shoes, there was a little note saying: ¡°If you don''t return the shoes and the body parts of the doll to me on the island of distress, I will plant a curse on you and the rest of your generations.¡±


    I quickly dropped the shoe and staggered into my chair screaming for my maid who came running in after my voice. (By the way, I''m called Mistress Furner, no not really but anyway.) She asked me what happened.


    ¡°T-t-the s-s-shoe¡± I answered and then I fainted.


    -----------Chapter 2


    Captain Underpants saved the world! I''m sorry that''s the other book I''m reading forget about that bit.


    So my maid read the note and said that we will have to go to the place and return the shoe plus the other body parts. To be extra safe I checked the note three times and took off to the island of distress, which I have no idea of its location.


    Encouraging my maid to come with me wasn''t easy but after hours of persuasion, she finally agreed. After all, I can''t face this adventure all alone can I? By the way, when I said lost on the island by myself, that was just a bit of exaggeration and I didn''t even get lost on the island!


    --------------A rude interruption from the author


    Sorry to disturb you, but you do realize I''m slaving away writing, while my friend is slaving away typing. So, as a warning I tell you to the next chapter will not be very formal and skip chapter three if you are by any chance reading on the toilet.


    -----------Chapter 3


    You know when I told you about my maid coming with me; I also brought other people with me:


    -Crews


    -Sailors


    -Meg the fortune teller


    -Sam the cook


    Everyone except the captain. I was really thinking about someone who had experience sailing. But captains are hard to find these days.


    That''s when we all saw a crooked legged man walking towards us. Half of his teeth were black and through his ripped trousers and panties, we could see his bum hairs sticking out (that''s why I didn¡¯t want you to read this on the loo!)


    ¡°Hiya, ¡± said the captain with his finger which has a missing hand, I mean a hand which has a missing finger.


    ¡°Ah!¡± I screamed and my nose came off. Just kidding!


    I asked him who he was and he said he was a captain and had plenty of experience on ships. So I invited him to join us and when he did, his leg came off.


    --------Chapter four


    Fortune teller Meg ran up to me and said: ¡°In my magic ball I found a note saying: ¡®in the room of the gruesome blind, you shall find some buttoned eyes¡¯.¡±


    I remember that the captain (who is actually called Captain Book) is blind and very gruesome. So I went into his disgusting cabin and found something shiny in the special drawer that we never open. It was the button eyes. (I bet he use them to see!)


    --------Chapter 5


    So where was I? Oh yeah, in the button eyes there was a note saying ¡®thank you Miss I''m now not blind, two soft legs are on the sofa right behind¡¯.


    I looked behind me and there wasn''t a sofa so I went to ask my maid what it meant.


    ¡°The sofa they''re talking about maybe in another room.¡± She said.


    So I went to all the other rooms on the ship but I couldn''t find any sofas. I was just about to give up when my eyes fell upon an old storage room with a sofa in it. Nothing was on the sofa. Just then, Sam the cook suddenly came in and gave me a fortune cookie. I wasn''t in the mood to eat it but I ate it anyway. I bit on something dry and inside was a note saying ¡®behind the sofa¡¯. I looked behind and there indeed were the legs.


    I rushed to Sam and ask him where he got the cookie from. He said a draining pipe.


    ¡°YUCK!¡± I cried and spat it all out.


    ------------Chapter 6


    I was very careful putting the eyes and legs inside the cupboard as they are my most precious possessions at the moment.


    Have you ever tried paper soup? Because for your information, sam the cook is a bit dotty and adds pieces of paper to the soup he prepares.


    In my soup, there was writing on one of the pieces of paper. The writing was hard to see but I struggled to see it anyway. ¡®When the ocean starts to shake, two strong hands will certainly quake¡¯ it read. I gasped and ran to Sam in the kitchen.


    ¡°Where did you get this from?,¡± I asked urgently. ¡°TELL ME NOW!¡±


    I didn''t realize I was shouting and Sam looked at me as if I was crazy or something. He told me that he was looking for fresh meat (which really means fresh paper) in my room and he found the note on the floor right in front of the cupboard. I grinned, Sam can be stupid sometimes but you have to admit he''s good at finding things isn¡¯t he?


    ----------A note from the author


    By the way, if you really hate Sam then you''d better read on because Sam is going to die in let¡¯s say, a few words. Enjoy!


    -----------Chapter 7


    I walk around the room holding the piece of paper in my hands.


    ¡°I don''t get it!¡± I shouted, distressed. ¡°What does it mean starts to shake, starts to-AHHH!¡±


    That''s when it really started to shake because our ship is sinking, my maid is screaming, the captain is snoring, Meg is cursing and Sam is dying (I told you he was going to die). And I''m well, I''m fine really because at that exact moment a huge hand scooped me up along with the cupboard which contained the eyes and legs. I least I didn''t have to find those things again!Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The hands took me all the way to the island of¡­ I don''t know but let''s just call it the island of hands because that''s where the big arm came from.


    -----------Chapter 8


    I woke up from the craziness of the Shipwreck. I looked down at my feet and the hand was still grabbing on. I tried to take it off and after I did the hand shrunk. (By the way, the hands came with arms.)


    The hand had a note and it said: ¡®the hand next to your feet is the hand that saved you, find the matching and hand and the doll will praise you¡¯.


    I started looking for the matching hand alone. It''s beginning to get dark and all my clothes are soaking so I''m going to camp and rest.


    I came up to a cave with a glowing fire and my maid plus Meg (who is actually called Megara) resting by the fire.


    ¡°MAID, I FOUND YOU!¡± I leaped up and hugged my maid tight. Meg was sleeping so I didn¡¯t hug her.


    Then my foot accidentally knocked off one of the fire woods out of the pile. It flipped out and turned from black to white. I don''t think so I just put it back in the fire.


    Just then I had a feeling that things were not right so I fished the piece of wood out even though I was burning my hand in the process. It was the matching hand!


    I explain everything to Meg, who is now awake and she agrees to help me find the other body parts no matter what.


    ---------------Chapter 9


    The note on the hand was a little bit burnt but I still can read it. ¡®Thank you Miss I now can feel, a fluffy soft body you¡¯ll have to steel¡¯.


    We walked around the island until we came up to a river. Suddenly the ground underneath us gave way and we sunk in a massive whirlpool.


    I quickly grabbed on to some river weed but as you know river weed isn¡¯t that strong. So we fell in and accidentally ate the weed which the water made us eat somehow. It was mermaid Magic to keep us alive under water and we found ourselves breathing underwater.


    We swam around and saw some mermaids playing; we anxiously went to them and asked the mermaids with crazy hairstyles if they had seen a doll¡¯s body. A nice looking one said that the Queen found a soft spongy thing and used it for a pillow.


    As we went I realized that every one of the mermaids had a fortune teller ball. Interesting isn''t it?


    That night, we crept up to the castle and stole the Queens pillow replacing it with Meg¡¯s magic ball. Although Meg regretted it, she still said it was the best thing to do.


    ----------------Chapter 10


    Humans cannot breathe underwater and now the river weed''s magic is starting to go. We must leave as soon as possible in case we drown and the Mermaids find out we stole the body.


    When we are on land again I reach inside the body and find a note that''s all wet and sticky but just ok to read. It says ¡®Thank you Miss I now am together, find my head or you¡¯ll be cursed forever!¡¯


    ¡°Can we eat now I''m starving?¡± said Meg.


    We sat down beside a coconut tree and camped. As I open my coconut, the doll''s head popped out giving me a big fright.


    ¡°I found the head!¡± I yelled.


    We all gathered round to read the note. But there was no note.


    ----------------Chapter 11


    Now that we¡¯ve found the whole body, since there are no more notes left, all I need to do is sew all the parts together and go to the island of distress.


    I asked my maid if she has a needle and thread and luckily she did (probably because she is a maid). I carefully sewed the pieces together to make the doll.


    We went back to the mermaids to ask them where the island of distress was.


    ¡°Goodness! Didn¡¯t you know that you are already on the island?¡± they answered gladly for they were too happy to receive Meg¡¯s brightest fortune teller ball.


    We looked for a place to put the doll that was not too hard and not too easy to find.


    Suddenly a hyena skin clothed wild girl, who I later found out was called Angela, leaped from the bushes while riding on a dragon with fiery fish breath.


    ¡°Where is the doll?!¡± She shouted.


    ¡°Under the tree¡± I answered.


    Hyena girl Angela examined it.


    ¡°AHHHHH!¡± She screamed.


    -----------A rude interruption from the author


    If you want to read on you will have to have a scratch on your ear, or you will not enjoy the next part. I suggest you don''t scratch it with a knife.


    ------------Chapter 12


    ¡°Catch them, they nearly killed me!¡± the hyena girl yelled.


    ¡°How?¡± I screamed as the hyenas edged forward.


    ¡°I can''t hold the doll for a long time without all the parts you dumb dumb!¡±


    I started to run and Meg followed after. My maid was too shocked to move so we left her there. I hope she¡¯s wise enough to at least move.


    Meg and I were screaming for our lives when suddenly we fell into a ditch. The hyena girl¡¯s hyena¡¯s circled us for a while but then gave up. The hole was too deep so they couldn''t jump down and attack. It¡¯s a miracle we didn¡¯t die falling in!


    I was also glad that my maid had caught up and was in the hole with us.


    ¡°Where''s the dress?¡± I sobbed. ¡° How could we have missed such a big clue like that?¡±


    (Warning the next part will be very random.)


    ¡°Actually, you need another clue to find the dress and I already cracked the clue on the ship and got it¡± muttered Meg, holding up a pretty yellow dress.


    ¡°Well that''s a bit late!¡± I said, taking the dress and putting it on the bare dolly.


    I turned to my maid who¡¯s really called Tess, guess that¡¯s a bit late too.


    ¡°What about you Tess? Did you find the ear that we also need behind my back and hide it so when we''rereally in trouble show it out of nowhere?¡± I smiled.


    Tess glared at me and shook her head innocently.


    ¡°I thought not.¡±


    -------------Chapter 13


    ¡°Wakey-wakey. It¡¯s a bright sunny day!¡± I cheered.


    Tess and Meg rubbed their eyes and begged for more sleep. But I wouldn''t let them. I''m fed up of being chased around so I''m going to find the ear as soon as possible.


    We¡¯re still trapped in the ditch we fell into yesterday but it won''t be hard getting out since I have so much energy inside me.


    When we got out I turned my thinking brain.


    ¡°Meg pass me the doll,¡± I said.


    I tipped the doll over and from its pockets fell a note saying: ¡®Gruesome gruesome, nearsome nearsome¡¯. Things aren''t getting easier for me which means I need a bit more power in my brain, full blast!


    ¡°It something gruesome and nearby¡± Tess wondered out loud.


    ¡°Wow you¡¯re really useful today, ¡± said Meg.


    That¡¯s when we heard a faint snoring sound ahead. Only one thing popped into my head, Captain Book.


    The closer we got, the louder the snoring became. Or should I say the louder the cat strangling became because that''s what the snoring sounded like. As we came up to the coast, we saw Captain Book on the beach strangling a cat. We tried to ignore it but it was quite funny. I had to shout to get his attention and when he turned, his ear fell off.


    I had to shout to get his attention and when he turned, his ear fell off. I screamed and my nose came off, not kidding. Yeah, that¡¯s what I said, not kidding! My nose did come off but it didn''t hurt at all. I think it''s just one of the hyena girl¡¯s harmless magic tricks. (NOT EXACTLY HARMLESS!)


    ¡°Hello good to see you. There goes my ear again. It''s been falling off ever since I fell out of that ship¡± said Captain Book.


    He picked it up and raised it towards me.


    ¡°Here take it; I don''t need this kind of burden with me.¡±


    I took the ear and brushed the sand off the bone part.


    ¡°Okay, um¡­.. goodbye!¡± I said to Captain Book because I didn''t like him much and I know he''s going to die haha.


    Suddenly a dragon popped out of nowhere and breathed its fishy breath all over me. I vomited through my noseless nose!


    Captain Book jumped on the Dragon''s back and hooked one of its eyes with his hookey hand. The fiery creature bit into Book¡¯s wooden leg and dropped him to his death.¡°Go on child, carry on with your destiny¡± Captain Book said with his last breath as thelast drop of sky closed around him, he was dead no doubt. I was starting to like him now but since he¡¯s dead there''s no point.


    ¡°Go on child, carry on with your destiny¡± Captain Book said with his last breath as thelast drop of sky closed around him. He was dead no doubt. I was just starting to like him too but since he¡¯s dead, there''s no point.


    ---------------- Chapter 14


    The thought of the hyena girl is enough to make me have nightmares. I was busy sewing the ear on when Hyena girl Angela came back, bringing her other hyena pets.


    I quickly pulled the last stitch before she snatched the doll away.


    ¡°Interesting very interesting. The hyena girl was really¡­


    ---------------An important note from the author


    You have reached the stage where you can choose your own ending, either a happy one or a sad one. The first chapter fifteen will be good and the second will be sad. Choose wisely, or just chose both I guess.


    ---------------Chapter 15 (A happy ending)


    The hyena girl was really sorry.


    ¡°I shall take away the curses which I have planted on you and I will return you to your home¡± the hyena girl said.


    I gathered my stuff while Meg and Tess went through theirs.


    ¡°We¡¯re finally going home!¡± we all cheered. I won''t be missing this place even though Captain Book died here.


    Hyena girl Angela waved her last goodbyes and said a magic spell. We were home in the blink of an eye. It was nice to see my old room again.


    I was very sad saying goodbye to Meg who was really Greek. Well, at least I''m back home with my loyal maid, everything is fine. Things can¡¯t get better for me and Tess. I finally get my groceries and Tess gets married to a handsome lord called John. I guess she doesn''t want to work for me anymore.


    Now I can''t see her straight away but I can still visit her and I did manage to get a new maid called Jasmine, she¡¯s even more helpful than Tess!


    My nose did you say? Well, Dr Steve sewed it back on and now you can''t even see the marks!


    Meg also got married when she went back to Greece. Her husband is a strong man called Hercules.


    Everyone lived happily ever after, the end.


    -------------Chapter 15 (An unhappy ending)


    The hyena girl was still angry.


    ¡°You haven''t found all the parts, the doll still has a pet call Ice! Now your time is up!¡± Hyena girl Angela cried.


    She never sent me home and planted the curse on me and ordered the dragon to eat Meg and Tess.


    The curse was body loss and now I¡¯m suffering from it.


    Sorry about that, as I was saying, I''m suffering from body loss and my arm just fell off so I''m trying to write with my left hand which is turning out to be quite difficult.


    You know, I''m actually writing with my own blood because the ink is really far away and both my legs have fallen off. No one is going to marry me is this state which means I have no future generations to pass this curse on to, so at least that''s good. But now the illness is serious, not just a scratch on your ear.


    Oh my right hand still works even though it''s not attached to my body. It¡¯s going to get more blood. I want some proper ink but it''s not listening to me. Well, I don''t need to write anymore anyway, I''m practically dead.


    Hey! Right-hand! Don''t draw on the paper and don¡¯t...


    Hi everyone this is right-hand writing. Sorry but my body just died because the brain escaped. I just want to say thank you for reading this book even though the author¡¯s dead.


    Everyone¡¯s dead the end.

 Im really sorry. I need to go on hiatus for exams.

    Hi guys, I''m really sad to have to make this announcement. I have to stop writing for some time because I have really important examinations this year (like determine mywhole future important). I thought I would be able to get one more chapter out but sadly I wasn''t able to do that. I will be back late June/early July. I really didn''t want to stop writing and initiallyI thought that I could keep writing through the exams as a way ofrelaxing but nowIrealise that''s not really an optionfor me. I hope you guys understand and please wait for me because I''m not giving up on this fiction. I appreciateall of you who have read and encouraged me so far. Thank you so much.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.