Chapter 45: Days Leading Up

Julius spent another couple of hours playing around with his new skill and checked his notifications before he went back inside.

[Arcane Construct lvl 10 -> lvl 11]

[Pure Compression lvl 11 -> lvl 12]

[Fighter’s Will lvl 11 -> lvl 13]

[Mana Manipulation lvl 1 -> lvl 6]

[Arcane Construct] and [Pure Compression] had leveled up surprisingly, but so had [Fighter’s Will]. It was almost at level 15 and would evolve pretty soon. But he wanted to figure out a way to enhance his body using aura before he chose to evolve it. He hoped that if he did that he might get an option that revolved around that aspect.

[Mana Manipulation] was already over half the way there until it ranked up to uncommon. Orus was correct in thinking that the skill would increase very fast due to his already proficient control of mana.

It was early but Julius stopped at the kitchen to grab something to eat. He saw Rae there along with some other staff. They were preparing breakfast for the guards. It wasn’t quite ready yet so Julius decided to help out the staff while he waited. Rae tried to prevent him from helping and told him to just relax and enjoy a hot chocolate but after a long argument, he was able to convince her that he enjoyed cooking.

That was why he was currently taking a tray of freshly baked bread out of the oven. The smell hit Julius and he almost salivated all over the bread. As he was helping out he heard a soft ding ring throughout the kitchen and looked at the clock that it came from. It had just turned six and was time for the guards to make their way down for breakfast. Some didn’t have morning duty, but most still came down early to get at least a snack before training or maybe they were just hungry.

Julius grabbed himself a nice plate of eggs, potatoes, bread, and sausage, before tucking in and eating. He was almost halfway done when he saw people start flooding in, grabbing plates or for some just a cup of coffee.

He saw Orus walking toward him with nothing more than a simple plate of eggs and toast. Orus must’ve seen Julius looking at his plate and said, “I don’t like to eat too much before I train.”

That was understandable, no need to stuff yourself before you planned to push yourself, it might just be more to clean up later if you threw up.

“So how did your first night go?” Orus asked him.

“It was productive, I got [Mana Manipulation] a couple of hours ago,” Julius answered him through a mouthful of potatoes.

“A couple of hours ago? Were you too excited to sleep or something?” Orus asked.

“Yeah, something like that,” Julius didn’t mind sharing that his skill allowed him to not sleep much, but he thought they might try to stop him from training all night long if they knew. Declan, he suspected would forcibly tie him down to a bed.

After eating breakfast and some small talk with Orus, Julius found himself standing beside Orus in the courtyard along with many other guards. He had joined them for their daily training, he wanted to see their regime and learn it before he left for the academy. He got some looks from the other guards but didn’t pay them much attention. He was there to train, nothing else.

It was pretty standard. They started with some stretching and then an intense run. Julius didn’t use any mana for this, using his pure body to do so. Still, he couldn’t believe how light his body felt thoughout. He was running as fast as an Olympic sprinter with ease.

After the run, the guards split up into groups. Some went to lift weights, some practiced on some agility courses they had set up, and others sparred or trained with weapons. Julius followed Orus to the sparring area, where Orus taught some basic sword fighting to Julius. He was surprised that Julius had no experience with blades.

Julius was used to fighting with his hands, but he realized it might be worth it to learn how to use a weapon. Kinetic energy was easier for him to use with his bare hands, but if he wanted to create constructs to fight up close, something with a little more reach might be useful down the line.

Julius was able to pick up the basics pretty quickly. He already had a pretty solid foundation with his unarmed fighting so his footwork was already good. The only thing that was hard to get used to was using a weapon to create space between him and his opponent. Julius was used to staying within arms reach, but sword fighting was not like that. It was a game of distance control and anticipation. [Spatial Perception] helped a lot with that aspect.

Julius found Orus to be a wonderful teacher. He was patient but strict enough that he pushed Julius to do his best. He also was able to teach Julius in a way where Julius could feel the specific way he needed to move.

This book’s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.