As thick across as my head, a white column of water rushed towards me, a roaring sound accompanying it. I leaned to one side, dropped my shoulder, dodging the attack without moving my feet. A cold spray of droplets scattered across the skin of my face, and I mentally kicked myself for cutting it too close. I sometimes forget to downplay my reflexes lately, and I knew that dodge was a little too precise for an average person.

Luckily, I was far enough that the move should not be too noticeable, and I made a stumbling step to one side, downplaying my agility. The stream shifted in place, sweeping high towards me, and I ducked down low before clumsily rolling along the ground. While still moving, I reached into my core, pulling a small volume of mana to one hand. Mana roared down my channels, heeding my call almost instantly, and I gathered it into a loose ball hovering in one palm.

I still needed to mutter incantations for most spells, but brute force mana manipulation was relatively easy to perform silently. Aiming across the room, I threw the sphere with a quick exertion of will before leaping high over a second water whip that skimmed just above the floor. Hitting the ground, I stumbled down to one knee, keeping my eyes locked across the room and trusting my senses to warn me of another attack.

The ball of mana flew through the air with enough force to knock the wind out of a man's lungs, but a wall of water suddenly rose up from the ground. Rising ten feet high, it intercepted my attack, the surface rippling under the force. I noted that the wall seemed to grow more substantial, as if it had somehow absorbed my mana and redirected it back into itself.

Pushing that observation to the side, I returned my focus to the more immediate concerns, such as dual water whips converging on me, threatening to crush my body. I ducked and moved, dodging the flurry of strikes but finding myself unable to take advantage of an opening. I could always fall back on Flicker Step to close the gap, but I needed to keep my full magical skills hidden.

Taking another few steps backward, I felt my heel brush against something hard. I glanced behind myself, realizing that I had been forced into the corner of the room with a start. If I could not use Flicker Step, and I could not dodge without magic, I only had one option left. Kneeling close to the ground, I pulled on my mana again, moving through the simple incantation for a defensive spell.

I preferred my personal variant Mana Shell, but I needed to keep that spell quiet just like Flicker Step. Regardless, I was still more than capable of a standard shield spell, and in just a second, I was covered by a half-dome of translucent green energy. An instant later, waves of water slammed into its surface, soaking the wall and floor beneath my feet. The force was enough to stun a regular person, but my defenses were strong enough to absorb the impact without difficulties.

I felt a slight pull on my mana, reinforcing my earlier theory, and I grinned in satisfaction before reaching into my core again. New streams of water rose in the distance, but they were slow, and I suspected my opponent was running low on mana. That left me the perfect opportunity to take advantage and win this duel in one strike.

I released my shield, and held out both hands, sending twin blasts of mana from each palm, which shot towards the wall of water at high-speed. As they flew, I pulled on the energy, guiding each orb and swerving them around the obstacle. I felt a sharp spike of pain at the focus required, which told me I was still too inexperienced to manipulate mana at such a distance. However, when I heard a grunt of pain from behind the blue-white wall, I grinned despite my discomfort.

The water collapsed to the ground, and Simon slowly stood, rubbing his chest and shaking off his soaked clothing.

"By the Founders, those things hurt," he complained, glaring at me.

I grinned, replying, "Sorry about that, Simon. Not for nothing, those water streams would likely be unpleasant, but I will admit I got a little carried away. I would not recommend trying to control orbs at a distance like that, unless you want a terrible headache."

Simon sighed, shaking his head and said, "I don't plan on it. Controlling those streams and the wall of water all at once was already exhausting. I thought I had managed to close the gap enough to win, but you're still so damn fast."

I doubted Simon would tell me any specifics, but over the last month of practice, I had slowly begun piecing together hints about how he cultivated. His method specialized in mana control, with a secondary focus on mana reserves. I had suspected the past few sessions that it had an auxiliary mana draining effect, but only today had it become noticeable enough to be sure.

I felt the same surge of envy I felt whenever I helped Sophia work on her cultivation, but pushed it aside. Although using an existing method would be preferable, part of me enjoyed slowly developing my skills. In time, I planned to try and combine everything I learned into my own personalized cultivation method, but that was still years away.

"Your skills have improved dramatically in a short time, and you are already better than me in controlling a battlefield. Only my reflexes give me an advantage, and that will eventually disappear in time. Besides, I have no interest in becoming a true battlemage, and I have only gone this far to give you someone to spar against." I commented, giving him a half-truth.

I was not lying when I said he was better than me at controlling the flow and direction of a fight, but I left out that I was holding back most of my skills. I had initially proposed our arrangement to Simon to help him improve in combat, under the guise of a helpful friend. I would dodge and block, only ever attacking with little more than an annoyance worth of power, helping Simon adapt to the pressures of a fight.

Of course, the Esttons would likely disapprove of my training Simon, but Sophia and I had come to an understanding. As long as I helped her with cultivation and did not bring shame to her family, she seemed to ignore me for the most part. Leon, for his part, appeared oblivious to all of this, and we rarely saw each other outside of classes. This was fine by me, as it left me free to pursue my own research and interests.

In the past few months, I spent long nights digging through tomes on the anatomy of magic beasts and how mana applies to it. Piecing together cultivation techniques for Sophia was one thing, but I was effectively trying to create a method to strengthen my body from scarce details scattered through thousands of pages. I used extra gold to purchase more body parts from magic beasts, including organ, muscle, and blood samples, studying them with my mana senses.

It was around three weeks before I felt ready to apply my findings to undergo the process a second time. Although the answer was likely far more complex, my early conclusion was that body cultivation required two components, an enormous supply of mana and as rapid healing as possible to "force" out the impurities and imperfections.

Much like the first time, nothing unusual happened for nearly an hour. After around forty minutes, I noticed the early signs of my body absorbing mana like water-parched dirt in the hot sun. When I saw this, I grabbed as much mana as possible and pushed it deep into my body. Several tomes noted the process worked quickest when starting with the marrow and working outward, gradually cleansing connected systems as a side effect.

Thankfully, my hypothesis seemed correct, or at least workable, and the second process passed with even more significant results than the first. Mana driven into my marrow was absorbed immediately, seeping into my body and expelling a thick viscous black fluid. In my preparations, I figured out that I could guide these impurities into my channels, where the flow of mana from the array expelled them at higher speeds.

After the process concluded, I took as many notes as possible and carefully detailed everything I could recall. Two weeks later, I underwent a third treatment and noticed another minor improvement in my efficiency.

The changes were startling enough that I felt an almost addictive sense of growing stronger, that drove me to train and study with even greater fervor. I found myself neglecting things like sleep, but even without alchemic assistance, I could go for an entire day without rest and still function well. Wounds healed faster, my mind felt sharper, and I noticed my skin and hair clearly up, a healthy glow coming to my complexion.

I theorized that the removal of impurities improved the efficiency of my entire body, making every system work better than ever. If these were the results of an improper technique, what could I achieve with the real thing?

And of course, I had tempered my channels and core enough in the process that I could drain myself dry of mana, and experience only mild discomfort at worst. After a single more treatment, I would have to purchase more beast blood, but the results so far were incredible enough that this prospect was not particularly discouraging.

As he dried off, Simon launched into an explanation on the mechanics of the water stream, interrupting my musings. I had recommended that Simon study the mythical figure known as the Water God, and he had jumped headfirst into his research. Simon had concluded after several weeks of constant reading on the person that he or she was likely a real person, and a mighty mage born shortly after Ferris' founding.

Dozens of stories mentioned that they could use their powers to generate massive tidal waves, or rip apart ships, nearly all through watery constructs. Simon used both these stories and my recommendations for spells to begin developing his own skills. The technique he used now was effectively just two spells to generate and control water, which he combined to produce his whips and walls.

Of course, I doubted that he would be anywhere near as skilled if he did not have his family resources helping his growth, or my assistance in training, but I tried to ignore my envy. Jealousy was a useless emotion, and it was not Simon's fault that he was born into wealth and prosperity.

"-and I realized that increasing the diameter of my attacks beyond a certain size would become too mana intense, without notably improving force per area. So I decided that it would be better to increase surface tension to improve construct durability, which required improved mana control. Luckily-" he continued as we walked from the room and towards the dining hall.

Striding through the hallways, I noticed that several students glanced over at me and whispered as we walked. I hoped I imagined it, but there was no such luck as I saw a tall, lanky blonde man approach with a swagger in his step.

"Are you Vayne?" he asked after a second, staring down at me.

I nodded and replied, "Yes, sir."

Grinning, he said, "I heard you killed a magic beast by yourself. Would you have any interest in practicing together? I've trained with the blade for years, but I'd love to see if you could give me a lesson or two."

"Forgive me, but I am afraid that the story is an exaggeration. I barely survived, and I am sure you are the superior warrior. And besides that, I cannot accept such an offer, as it would be disrespectful to my lords, the Esttons." I said simply, bowing my head again and walking away with Simon.

So far, eight times, apprentices had approached me, asking about our excursion to the wilds. The first few weeks back, the story had been mostly kept quiet, but eventually, whispers began following me around as gossip spread. My name was unknown at first, but apprentices loved to talk, and by the third week of classes, I had noticed students paying more attention to me than I would prefer.

Most of them had been young men, usually asking me for lessons with the blade or practical demonstrations. Several even had offered to pay me some gold in exchange for my assistance. At least one had a dangerous glint in his eyes, and I suspected if I accepted his offer, I would have to spend some time recovering from the wounds he would give me.

Even less pleasant, if possible, were the two times my admirers were female. I involuntarily wrinkled my nose at the memories, recalling how they had kept giggling at everything I said, asking if I had the wolf's pelt in my room. Girem had taught me that sycophants would swarm towards whomever they felt had power and prestige, and they would do so with whatever they felt was my weakness.

I was less than thrilled that my suspected weaknesses were attractive young women and wealth, but then again, those would be the way to most fifteen-year-old boy's hearts. Sixteen, I mentally corrected, remembering that my birthday had passed. I had never learned my actual birthday and taken to using the start of each year as a rough estimate.

Since our first meeting, Flynn had approached me two more times, both times offering a kind word and a friendly smile. I began wondering if Leon was wrong about him, but decided to keep my guard up regardless. Flynn seemed kind enough, but Leon had never given me a reason not to trust his opinion.

Sitting down with a light sigh, Simon ordered lunch for the two of us, platters of meats and breads. Although I tried to eat more healthily lately, my taste had grown so sensitive that even mundane foods tasted better than decadent sweets. When the food arrived, I picked up my utensils to dig in, but before I could, a hand reached down, grabbing one of the slices of bread from off of my plate.

Amelia slid into a seat across from me, taking a bite of the bread and giving me a wink and a smile as she did so. I ignored the bait, raising an eyebrow at her but not saying anything.

"Thanks. You two look tired. How did training go?" Amelia asked, glancing at me.

"Simon is improving quickly. You will have to take over training with him soon, when he gets too fast for me to avoid. As it is, he nearly beat me today." I replied, smiling at Simon from across the table.

Nodding, she turned to smile at Simon, saying, "Sounds like fun. Vayne is decent with a staff, but he rarely wins our sparring matches, so you'll have more to learn from me. Especially since I can actually learn offensive spells."

Simon glanced at me, seemingly wondering if she was telling the truth, and I gave a shrug and a slight grin in response. While she was exaggerating, since I won around a third of our matches lately, she was still technically right.

"So, how has Caroline been? She hasn't been too liberal with details, but she's seemed a lot more upbeat lately. And I can't help but notice she has usually been busy on weekends." Amelia continued, leaning in closer to Simon. He began stammering, his face flushing red under her scrutiny.

I decided to intervene, partly to rescue Simon but mostly because I had more pressing concerns to bring up.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask you about something. Have either of you ever heard of the tourney held at the end of the year?" I asked after a few seconds, glancing between my two friends.

Simon shook his head, but Amelia nodded several times, replying, "It's an annual competition between apprentices that the Academy throws at the end of the second semester, usually involving duels between teams but sometimes including other challenges. It's meant to let them show off their skills and reward the strongest and smartest ones. The better you do, the greater awards you are given."

I hid my smile, saying, "I have promised my lords that I would help them grow more potent as mages. I know that the best groups often earn rare cultivation resources that are difficult to obtain, even for noble families. I wanted to propose entering the twins, but only teams of five can compete, and I would prefer having two other prospective members ready before presenting the idea to them."

Amelia raised her eyebrow, but Simon looked pale and nervous at my suggestion.

"I don't know, Vayne. I mean, I've gotten stronger, but this sounds risky. I doubt I could beat most apprentices, even with your help. Could I think about it, and tell you for sure later?" he said, looking down at the table.

I smiled, replying, "Of course, Simon. But just know, we would be glad to have your help. What about you, Amelia?"

She bit her lip, and I saw several conflicted thoughts run through her mind before she gave me a grin, nodding once.

"Sure, why not? It sounds like fun, and I'm curious where I stand as far as power goes among the rest of the apprentices. Not to offend you, though, but these competitions tend to focus on magic, not weapons. And I thought they didn't like you getting involved in these fights. How exactly do you plan on convincing your lords to let you compete?"

I gave her a grin in reply, stating, "Leave that particular problem up to me."