The sword came through the gap, and he knew there was no way to avoid it. Will used all he had to stop it, but the blow was inevitable.

Squirt!!

The sword penetrated his flesh and lodged itself on his shoulder. He barely avoided a blow to his heart, but his right lung was pierced. The door closed, locking him inside the room.

Will fell to the ground while grinding his teeth, pain was a constant companion, and even the berserk mana being released by the sword wouldn’t put him down. He tried to get it out, but the mana in the sword would explode if he extracted it. Leaving it there was the only option, he would suffer, but at least he would live.

He slowly walked to the teleportation circle and began to analyze it. He knew time was against him, and he had to be fast.

One of the good things about this part of the plan, was that the technology to use a portal was standard. The portals couldn’t be breached without the correct key, making the person unable to travel to the destination locked into it. However, he could forcefully scramble the destination and make it teleport him at random.

Random teleportation would make the people not be able to track him, but he didn’t know where he would show up.

He controlled his trembling body and pushed his mana into the teleportation gate. He could hear the door bending behind him. The instructor was about to breach through the door.

After making sure that everything was right, he activated the gate and stepped through, just in time to see the instructor breaching through the door behind him.

__________________________________

The Doctor entered through the now ripped apart door of the teleportation chamber, and looked at his subordinate.

“Did you find him?” He asked the space mage going through the enchantments.

The mage shook his head and said. “The boy messed with the destination runes. He could be anywhere in the continent, or even the world.”

He felt a vein throbbing in his head. “How could a subject use a spatial CIRCLE??!!” his voice was raised at the end of the phrase. The people in the room trembling at the sheer power in it.

The mage lowered his head and said. “It's part of their education to know about common enchantments. This magic circle does not use cutting edge technology, making it possible for someone to mess with it with a bit of time.” Even through the scrutinizing look of the Doctor, he gulped and continued. “But even if the enchantments are not new, it shouldn’t be possible for him to activate it. The mana density required is beyond what any classless person could achieve. It would require him to have mana manipulation in at least Epic tier, and have gone through a round of reinforcement… He should not be able to do it, even with all the training they had here, that should not be possible….”

The Doctor wanted to rip everyone around him apart, but he contained his rage and left the room while saying. “Call the central base and tell them to come and renovate all the enchantments in the base. I don’t want an accident like this to happen ever again.”

After leaving the place, the Doctor went to his office and looked over the file of the escaped subject.

‘Willfred’

Showed promising talent in mana manipulation and sword mastery.

Experiments log:

regeneration enhancement: Achieved

Body enhancement: Achieved

Neural enhancement: Achieved

Has survived the tree basic enhancements, is a primal candidate for ……….

Based on skills shown, class optimization choices…….

The doctor sighed after looking over the file. The boy was one of the most, if not the most promising subject of this round of experimentation. And if he was able to escape, there were many things he had not shown to them.

“The boy was planning his escape for a long time… There was someone helping him…” His face darkened and rage filled him.

__________________________________

Willfred felt the space distorting around him, and he was suddenly somewhere else.

He looked around and saw what he thought to be the sun rising in the horizon, illuminating the canopies around him. The trees and leaves were beautiful to say the least. He had never seen such a majestic sight in his life. There was no way he could compare the white halls he was raised in with this place.

Even the pictures they had seen couldn’t come close to the beauty he was seeing.

He moved a bit and winced. The sword lodged on his shoulder was still releasing pulses of mana, trying to destroy him. But without its owner to feed it more mana, he would soon be able to remove it.

He stopped the mana in the blade from hurting him, and waited until it was exhausted. After making sure that there was no mana left in it, he removed the sword from his shoulder.

It was a normal long sword, but its quality was much superior to the ones he trained with.

He sat down to let his shoulder and mana regenerate. He circulated the mana to make the wound close faster, and let his natural regeneration do its thing.

He sat down and contemplated the view in front of him. Each insect and plant was a wonder. They looked so strange… so alien… It was almost as if he had lived in a different world.

The sun rose in the horizon, and after some time, his shoulder was healed. He moved it around, and felt that it was fine.

As soon as he got up to explore his surroundings, a voice called.

“Hey boy! Are you alright?” someone called him from the top of a tree.

He looked up and saw a man wearing leather armor and with a bow in his hands. Willfred was sure that if the man hadn’t called out for him, he wouldn’t have realized he was there at all.

The man jumped from the tree and landed in front of him. He could barely see any signs impact from where the man landed.

“Are you injured? Is that blood yours?” The man asked.

Willfred looked at him and said with a trembling voice. “I’m fine… This blood is not mine…”

His trembling voice was from excitement and fear. The former for escaping his fate, the latter for being afraid of being captured again.

“You can call me John, what’s your name?” The man placed a hand over his shoulder, and he felt a calming energy coursing through him. He felt rejuvenated, despite everything he went through.

“You can call me Fred.” He said. Lurior told him that both Will and Fred were normal names, widely used. Using his own name wouldn’t get him much attention, what would make other people find him was his talents, but he liked to be careful.

“Come with me to the village. A classless boy of your age shouldn't be walking alone in the woods.” John said, and began to walk.

He followed after the man while looking around and exploring every inch of the forest with his eyes. The insects and small critters he saw were simply amazing. He felt the incredible energy coming from all the life around him.

After walking for about thirty minutes, he arrived in a small village. Wooden walls surrounded the place, and a lone sentinel walked above the walls, watching the forest.

After getting close to the place, John waved to the man, and the man above the wall shouted something. A few moments later, the gate was opened.

Two burly men walked out of the village. Both were wielding spears, and looked fiercy to say the least.

The man above the wall got down and joined the other two that were approaching them. The man had sharp eyes and well defined features. His dark blue hair was done in a braid above his head.

“John, where did you find that boy?” The man that watched the walls asked John.

“He was in the forest Simon. Even though I didn’t ask about his circumstances, it’s pretty obvious that he is either lost or running from something.”

When John mentioned ‘running from something’ Willfred almost flinched. Only his acting skill helped him keep his face still, not showing any reaction.

Simon looked at Willfred with his dark blue eyes and asked. “I don’t want to pressure you boy. But you have to tell me what happened to you before entering the village. Oh, and don’t lie to me. I’ll be able to tell if you’re lying.”

“Is he really able to tell if I lie or not? That’s not a skill I’ve heard of before. But if he is telling the truth, it’s better to not lie in order to not raise any suspicions.”

After thinking for a moment, he said. “I was running away from something. But I don’t know where I’m. I believe I’m not being followed…” He tried to be as generic as possible, not giving them any important information. He was afraid of how the man would react, and watched him closely.

Simon looked at Willfred for a moment and said. “You’re at least telling the truth.” He looked at John and nodded to him. “Take him into the village and place him under Clarissa’s care. She’ll enjoy taking care of a boy in need, mainly before the ceremony.”

John nudged him forward, and led him into the village.

Willfred’s mind was spinning furiously trying to discover what the ceremony was about. He had studied about many things, absorbing knowledge like crazy while in the facility. He learned about runes, about how to use his mana to create elements, and many other things. But he couldn’t discover what this ceremony was about. He turned his head to John and asked in a low voice. “What is this ceremony about?”

John looked at him with the corner of his eyes and said. “Well, it’s the ceremony, you know. The ceremony that happens every year, during the first day of the year, where those who are fifteen years or older can finally get their first class…”

Willfred’s nodded his head and kept his face straight. “So that was what would happen in a few days for us to get classes…” “Are there many people my age in the village?”

“There are some, yes. The village is not that big. We only have about 4 thousand people living here. But few youngsters were born fifteen years ago…” John said this with sadness in his voice. Fred chose not to ask and kept walking.

The houses in the village were mostly made of wood and rock. Even though the building materials were not advanced, according to what Fred learned, they were well made and sturdy from what he could see. Most houses were at least two storeys tall, and the rocks were properly processed and polished.

The aesthetic around the village was beautiful. Children ran through the streets, and people walked around while carrying some fruits and baskets full of materials. He even went through a small open fair, where many things were being exchanged.

After walking for a few minutes, he finally got to a small building on the other side of the village. It was one of the biggest buildings he saw in the place. It was entirely made of some white rock, and above the entrance, sat a wooden plate written ‘Wild Rose School’.

After entering the place, John guided him through some corridors. During the process, he saw that the place was empty, no one was in the many rooms through the building.

John saw Fred looking around and said. “The place is empty because the ceremony is happening in a few days. The younger children were sent home, and only those who are about to turn fifteen are staying here to keep training to get their desired classes.”

Fred nodded in understanding and kept following John in silence. Soon after, they could hear some noise coming from some room in front of him. John opened the door, and he was suddenly in front of a small gymnasium. Fifteen youngsters like him were around the place. Each one of them was practicing some kind of magic. Some were using fire, water and other elements, or at least trying to use them through mana manipulation, and the rest were using weapons while enhancing their bodies with mana.

A tall woman walked around the place, giving instructions and tips. She wore a green robe, and had blond hair, which was tied in a bun above her head. She turned toward them. Her eyes instantly darted toward Fred and scrutinized him. As she walked away, all eyes on the place turned to them. Without even looking back, she said. “Keep focus on your training!!” The teenagers visibly flinched and returned to their training. The woman Willfred assumed was Clarissa walked to them and asked. “Dear John, who have you brought to me?”

John patted Fred’s shoulder and said. “This one here is Fred. I found him in the forest, just like you’re seeing. With sword in hand and curiously looking around.” a small smile appeared in John’s mouth, and Fred’s face instantly reddened. John was obviously treating him like a child. He tried to keep his face straight, but even his acting skill couldn’t make it.

Acting skill leveled up to 60!

“Great time for it to level up…” He thought while focusing on the conversation.

“From what he said to Simon, he was running from something, and somehow appeared in the woods near the village.” John looked at her and said through some sign language. “He doesn’t seem to know a lot. Keep your eyes on him.” Fred was oblivious to the hidden conversation.

She nodded to him and said. “Understood.” Her eyes turned to Fred, and she continued. “You look like you’re in the right age to get your first class, right?” Fred nodded and she continued. “Then you’ll stay in school grounds. Here is where all your age stay before getting their classes during the ceremony.” She motioned behind her, showing the others.

“Now, follow me. You first need a shower and a change of clothes.” She turned away and motioned him to follow. John nodded to him and left the building.

Fred followed after Clarissa, and began to ponder on his options. He didn’t know if he should get away from this place, or stay in here at least until he got his class. People were treating him well. He could see that they could obviously tell that something was wrong with him.

_____________________________

Clarissa walked through the school corridors while observing the teenager behind her. Her heart hurt while looking at the kid. As a war veteran, she could see obvious signs of PTSD. The child held tightly to his sword while looking around with curiosity and fear toward everything. He tried to behave normally, and she assumed that he even must have the acting skill to keep his facial expressions under control.

It was truly a pitiful sight. “It is like he is afraid of everything, because everything is new to him…Is he one of those rumored…” she cut her own line of thought. thinking that it must absolutely not be possible. “Those things are just tales…”