The morning after the torture *cough* after my parents discovered I could write, my father dragged Aaron and I out into the yard.

The dawn sun barely warmed my cold cheeks and there were still night bugs chirping, Void was draped across my shoulders asleep, lucky little worm, and Aaron was barely standing with his body occasionally tipping to one side or the other..

I sent killing intent in the direction my chipper father, as the only other one even somewhat awake, I felt it my responsibility to express the group’s displeasure at being roughly woken awake so early in the morning.

Seph ignored my glare of death and continued to emit a cheerful aura.

"Alright boys! Today is the start of your training for the level testing that will happen in two years, when you turn seven."

I was fully awake now, Aaron even perked up a bit, this sounded interesting. I had yet to learn much about this world, having focused my attention on training.

I couldn't even read about it if I wanted to because the only access to books I had were the few children's books in my house, our town didn't even have a book store or library. I was amazed that my mother even knew how to read, most of the townspeople are illiterate, including my father.

Darn nobles and their monopolization on education.

My father continued his speech.

"Your level test will determine whether you can enter a school or not, and what level of school you get into, your father here was only strong enough to get into a lower level warriors school, but even that ensured that I got a stable position in a high nobles house.

Your mother is even more amazing, entering a lower mage school and becoming a fire mage, few commoners get such an opportunity as mages require a deeper level of education than warriors and most schools don't like having to teach their students how to read."

Hmmmm, so that was how Mom knew how to read, but still, determining a kid’s usefulness by level when they were only seven seemed a bit harsh...

My father seemed to read my mind.

"Training is easier the younger you are, so the schools decided to recruit children at the age of seven, determining that at that age they can leave home without too much difficulty, noble children are actually tested at the age of six, as their lifestyle requires greater level of responsibility, so they mature faster.

Wuuuuu, I'm glad I'm a commoner, but still, to think my two sons will be leaving me in just two years....."

My father drifted off into his own little world of depression.

I ignored him.

Nobles get to test sooner because they mature faster?

Hah! Yeah right! They obviously want their children to enter when their younger so they can gain more strength, weaklings are useless to noble houses, my own situation was a clear example of this.

Hmmm, that means that the That kid will be tested as the same as me...

My mind drifted back to the day where that noble brat of a brother of mine had been born.

It was about a month or two after I realized my rookie mistake, the town had interrupted in excitement at the news of her ladyship going into labor, placing bets on whether the baby would be a boy or girl, and if and when the child would be assassinated like the first child of the Redsword house was (That was me!).

I'm rather disappointed that NONE of the villagers have guessed that I'm not actually Seph and Adrianne's child, apparently there was some tradition to announce commoners children one day after they were born, another was nobles separate themselves, as they announce it right away, so that was how I could be reasonably passed off as Aaron's twin, but it still seemed absurd to me.

The announcement came several hours after the Lady's labor began, I now had a healthy little brother who would grow up never knowing that his older brother wasn't killed, but lived only a little ways away. I wonder if his heartless noble parents will even tell him he had an older brother.

His name is Adrian.

I wonder if that would have been my name if they hadn't abandoned me...

I haven't ever met Adrian, he stays inside the Redsword Mansion, probably cooped up with a dozen tutors trying to create the perfect heir for the Redsword house.

Few~~ I think I dodged a bullet.

Still, I'm curious, will he have ended up like the arrogant, idiotic noble brat I predicted him to turn out as? Or will he somehow have turned into a decent human being........

Pfffhhhhttt, not likely.

I turned my thoughts away from Adrian and directed my focus back on my father.

Hmmmmmm, seems he's sunk even deeper into his world of delusion and depression...

I walk up to my father and kick him *ahem* gently prompt him out of his self-made miasma.

"Ahhhhhhh! Felix, Aaron, you're still alive ! "

What did this idiot think up this time? Never mind, I don't even want to know.

I lifted my leg threateningly.

"Oh, ah, right! The test determines what your level of ki and mana is. Both use the same system to measure rankings, so its easier to keep track of.

The main rankings are high, middle, and low, but these are then divided into further subdivisions, each rank has five levels.

Low rank is divided into Sand, Pebble, Rock, Boulder, Mountain, this is known as the basic level, so its named with things of the earth, you need to be at least Rock level to get into school, most of the populous is naturally Sand or Pebble so they can't get in.

I was a Rock, and your Mom was a Boulder, so your levels should at least reach the minimum, potential is generally inherited, which is why the nobles are so strong.

But I want you to get into the best school you can reach to improve your future lives, so we're going to train to increase your levels. If you can reach Mountain, you should get into one of the higher tier low rank schools."

Seph puffed out his chest, clearly proud of his parental foresight and looking for praise. I ignored him and let Aaron fulfill the customary pats on the head.

I frowned, so a if its a high tier low rank school, there was probably middle rank and high rank schools as well..... Yet Seph thinks we can only make it to the low rank? I decided to ask him.

"If its low rank, shouldn't there be middle and high rank schools as well? Is it possible to get into one of those? And what are the levels for Middle and High ranks anyway? You never told us."

"Ah, well for middle rank schools, those are mainly for nobles as they require the ability to read and at the very least a Mountain ranking, and high rank schools only recruit out of middle rank schools, what they care about it skill level rather than potential.

A rough diamond is useless if it can't be cut and polished.

Middle rank is, Breeze, Wind, Gale, Storm, Hurricane, the air elements are between the earth and the heavens.

As you can probably guess by now, the High rank levels are based off the stars, Comet, Meteor, Star, Sun, and Void.

*Sigh* only the most powerful nobles are high rank after training, our king is actually the only Void rank in our kingdom, as far as I know, they say he could destroy mountains if he wanted to."

This guy...... he couldn't have possibly........

"Father, you remember that I can read and write, right?"

"Ah! I totally forgot!!!"

This idiot airhead, they put me through that torture *cough* they found out just yesterday, he shouldn't have forgotten it so soon!

Another thought occurred to me.

"I also killed that low rank magical beast in one blow a year ago, so I should at least already be a high tier low rank anyway right?

And you should have at least seen that I was ready for training at that time, if you really wanted us to get stronger, why didn't you start then? The younger the better, right?"

"Ahhahaha, I.....it...must have slipped my mind......"

Seph began to nervously scoot back.

What a terrible liar.

"Tell the truth"

I leaned in Seph's direction menacingly, once again raising my leg in preparation for a kick.

''Ah, All Right! You got me! Father was just really focused on his fantasy of training is cute little sons at the age of five like all the other parents do! It never occurred to me to do it at age four...."

I began to walk away.

"Wait! Daddy has trained to middle rank Wind, I can still train you to be strong even though I lied about the reason, and I can offer training advice, like how it’s hardest to level to new ranks and it gets harder the stronger you get."

Well, you just gave away the one piece of information I might have been interested in, thanks Dad, I can figure out everything else out on my own. Anyways, from what you've said, since I'm of noble origin, my level should be naturally higher anyway.

I turned back to my father and politely declined.

"Wuuuuuuuu, my own five year old son called me a weakling, he even said a useless idiot like me couldn't teach him anything, so cold......But Aaron, you'll train with father right? Wait! Where are you going!?"

"Sorry Dad, but I have to agree with big bro Felix on this matter."

"Waaaaa, Adrianne, the kids are bullying me......wu....uuuuuu"

There was the sound of shutter clacking open and my mother's sour voice filled the air.

"Be quiet Seph, I'm Trying to get some sleep here, its your fault for getting them up so early, if you had managed to wait a while. They might have not been as grumpy."

*BAM* The shutter was slammed shut.

I heard Aaron's familiar footfalls rapidly chase after me and turned to face him, not that it made much of a difference to me, but I've found that it makes other people more comfortable, so I've made a habit of doing for people that don't bother me too much.

"Hey Big Bro, will you help me train?"

I immediately turned away, not even bothering to answer him.

"Awwww, come on Felix, with the training of a strong big brother like you, I could definitely get into a better rank school than with that useless dad's training, I promise to work really hard and not complain..."

I considered it, thinking back on all of Aaron and his pack's old antics, I had caught not a few glimmers of genius within their chaos, especially in Aaron.

If polished correctly, he could even become an interesting toy....*cough* rival, maybe even on par with the little parasite draped across my shoulders.

Void suddenly lifted his head up and hissed in the direction of Aaron, hmmmm, what got him riled up?

A delicious thought came to me and I smiled evilly.

"I'll do it, bring those other brats *cough* friends of yours as well."

They were soon lined up in front of me, eager to see what I had teach, they already knew I was strong after seeing me kill that Nemean Lion a while ago.

"Alright, as your instructor, you shall address me as sir, and I shall you brat *cough* kid 1, kid 2, kid 3, kid 4, and Aaron."

"Ummm, Feli-"

"Sir"

"Ah! Ummm, s-sir, why can't you just call us by our names like Aaron."

The voice came in the direction of kid 3.

*Groan* Children are such a pain, I couldn't just tell them I didn't want to bother learning their names, it would hurt their feelings which would in turn affect their training. guuuuuhhhhhh.....

Hmmm, what's a reasonable excuse, Ah! of course, that'll do!

"I'll only speak the names of those that are strong, you are all weak, and so are delegated to numbers, as for Aaron, he's my brother, so he gets special privileges, though at the moment he is at the same level as you.

If not for my unpredictable mother, I would have happily delegated Aaron a number as well.

"Alright! Lets begin training!"

For the next two years, I tortured *cough* pushed Aaron and the numbers to their limits, causing them to reach levels they would have never reached with their parents training.

From meditation, to running, to sparring, to rock lifting and throwing, they were never given a moments unnecessary break.

No matter how far they ran away, I always dragged them back............

*Ahem*

However hard the training got, they struggled on with tears of determination in their eyes.

Aaron's level had risen even faster than I had predicted, all because of an unexpected addition, Void.

The first few days of training, Void didn't participate, and Aaron started hanging around really close to me, saying things like 'I made it through the whole schedule without collapsing like the others, aren't I really amazing and useful big bro?' and 'I just ran the fastest of everyone, p-praise me please!'

I, of course, ignored him.

Then Void joined in one day and easily beat Aaron in running and weight lifting, the running I could understand, but I had no idea how he managed to lift that big rock with his tail. The little worm then eagerly returned to my side, thumping his tail on the ground expectantly.

........ignored.

The next day, Aaron ran faster than he ever had and lifted more weight than he ever had. Though he still lost in speed, he beat Void in strength.

They then both came up to me, I once again ignored their senseless antics.

Since then a healthy rivalry has arisen between the two, though I'm not exactly sure why it started, as long as it improves their training, I don't care.

My best guess, however, is that they're training idiots because they often disappear at night and return hours later both covered in various small wounds, then come and ask me to patch them up for some reason, Aaron with words and Void with motions and ‘Papa’s.

I just pass them off to Mom, you think they'd learn their lesson after the first few noxious homemade salves, but for some reason they keep on doing it.

Anyway, the day for the test finally came, and we all packed for a several weeks travel. We were traveling to the city capital for the test. There were centers closer to us, but nobles prefer to travel to the capital because there are more middle rank school representatives that gather there, and they of course, also wanted to show their children off to the other nobles, if they were any good that is, it was something of a gamble with their reputation, they would be hugely embarrassed if their child turned out to be weaker than the other nobles’ kids.

All of the village kids were crammed into one carriage while the Lord and heir of Redsword house got their own carriage, because of this, none of the children's parents were able to come, and though we were accompanied by guards, my father was still unable to come because his horse came up lame.

After the first hour of obnoxious excited chatter and repeated accidental elbow jabs into my stomach, I elected to sit on the roof alone, and the rest of the journey passed with surprising ease.

Darn....... I would really liked to have fought with some bandits........

The capital was grand, I couldn't see it, but it was filled with thousands of different noises and smells, and the numerous buildings caused the wind to move in a strange, erratic way that was somewhat charming.

After stopping at an inn so the nobles could freshen up, we headed directly to the Testing hall, hundreds of people were crowded in front of the test hall, all of them commoners waiting for a chance to enter the hall for testing, which was only held 6 times a year, so the representatives could always be present during a test.

The Lord and Adrian both cut through the crowd, everyone moving aside once they saw they were nobles, and stood at the front. The rest of us were forced to remain in the back of the crowd. Soon the doors creaked open, and the crowd eagerly forward.

"Stop! No need to rush, once you enter the hall, form a line, no pushing or jostling for better positions, you will all get a turn."

It was an old man's voice, full of power, I wonder what level of expert he is.

My question was answered moments later.

"My name is Elder Shaw, I am a middle rank Hurricane, and will be presiding over this Test, please enter."

Hmmm, a fairly strong guy, just below high rank, impressive~

Nobles entering first, the crowd was soon completely within the confines of the hall. I could feel a vast space around me, this Test hall was very big, smart considering the number of people they had to process, still, it seemed bigger than it felt like from the outside.

Curious, I stretched my mana sense out..

Defense ward, defense ward, defense wa- Ah! There it is, a ward that causes the space inside the room to expand or contract depending on the number of people within it.

The line began to move forward at a steady pace, all the test consisted of was having the child place their hands on two orbs, one for mana and one for ki, which would then begin to glow either red for low rank, blue for middle rank, and purple for high rank, and the level of brightness that was emitted determined which subdivision they were placed in. Afterwards, the child would gather in the certain grouped area for his or her rank and wait. Only once all the tests were completed would recruitment for schools begin.

I, of course, couldn't see the light or colors, so I had to rely on the examiner's voice announcing the results to know the turn out of the other children. Nobles, of course, went first.

After about a dozen calls for nobles of either Middle Breeze or Low Mountain and the occasional lower score that resulted in loud tears, Adrian's name and rank was finally called.

"Adrian Redsword, Middle rank Wind mana and Breeze ki"

Ha, a whole level above his peers, pretty good for a prospective rival, I wonder when I'll finally be able to meet him.

My mind drifted off for a bit after that, not really caring about the hundreds of low score commoners in front of us, I only began paying attention again when it was our groups turn.

"Aaron Bardon, m....Middle Wind for both mana and ki!"

The entire hall was silent, a commoner, getting a middle rank? And not only that, a middle rank higher than all of the nobles present!?

Mwahahaha, my training paid off, take that you judgmental buffoons.

After Aaron came numbers 1,2,3,and 4, and the hall was struck speechless once again, they all got Middle Breeze mage and ki rankings.

M-my l-legs, are shaking........ with the effort to not roll on the ground laughing my guts out.

Oh man, mortals are sooo fun to prank like this, those toys*cough* kids played their roles perfectly.

After that, there were several more kids from the village that I had never interacted with, their normal low levels began to relax the crowd, perfect, this was just the reason I chose to go in back of my group.

A little tense, but not expecting another surprise, the perfect stage for my entry.

.

Just as I was walking up to the orbs, a voice rang out.

"Test proctor, is there even any point in testing this kid? he's blind, even if his power level is not bad, he won't ever be able to read, none of the schools will take him, so what's the point?"

It was stupid Redsword.

Laughter filled the hall, completely dispersing the tension I had so carefully cultivated.....*sigh* two years of training those brats, all down the drain.

Oh well, on to plan B.

Ignoring Redsword for the moment, I took out a piece of paper, an ink well, and a pen, and placed them on the table where the orbs were sitting. I then began to write.

"What, are you mute too brat? What can you do with a pen and paper when you can't even see?"

His voice now held the slightest tinge of worry, good.

I held up the paper, displaying the words I had neatly and clearly written, then spoke them out loud.

"Sight does not determine ability you dunder-headed idiot."

The crowd was once again silent, surprised at my extremely rude words directed at the Lord of a high noble house, they would have been even more shocked if they knew that Redsword was actually my own Lord as well.

Ah~ That felt Good

I then placed my hands on the orbs and the silence in the hall seemed to deepen.

Finally the proctor managed to stutter out my rank.

"Felix Bardon, Middle rank Gale mana and S-s-storm ki."

Mwahahahahahahahahahahaaha

Quote:Sorry this chapter took so long, I had three projects due for the end of school, so I didn't have any time to write chapters