Will awoke, for Will the past three months, passed in single breath. Every second, minute, hour was spent meditating to increase the speed of his mana whirlpool, spell casting, and learning how to fight as a spellsword. Every night, his whole body felt fatigued, his mana pool emptied, and his mind crammed full of new information. However, each day, night, his mind, mana pool, and muscle memory improved. Will had grown taller, more handsome, his childhood cuteness was transforming to manliness. His stats also increased by large jumps.

Name: William vont Ballard Race: Human Rank: 0 Class: Merchant Subclass: Attribute: Constitution-42 Strenght--45 Dexterity--36 Intellect--63 Charisma--12 Rank Skills: Management (23), Diplomacy (23+7), Accounting (43) Class Skills: Appraisal (1, 100) Abilities: Apprentice Swordsmanship (23, 25), Apprentice Terramancer (21, 25)

Will's body had grown stronger, firmer. His movements were faster, sharper. Fighting a grandmaster allowed him to improve his swordsmanship my leaps, and his casting time and spells also improved. Listening to Elder Thaddeus' lessons had helped him comprehend better how to fight like a spellsword, spell craft, mana, and numerous other aspects about knightly and mage issues. Will's already high intellect soaked in these conversations and thus his already best stat rose significantly. Will learned when he reached the journeyman in both swordsmanship and terramancing would he become an apprentice spellsword.

The highlight of Will's training were the weekly reports he received from Anna detailing the Guardian's Quartermaster Command Post. Each week he viewed the reports calculating the money he earned. His heart filled with joy, and this allowed him to press on each week to endure. He kept the reports under his pillow and re-read them before falling asleep, dreaming of the piles of coin that awaited him. Each morning he'd wake up and the thought of his growing financial empire gave him strength to press on.

Will had not left his master's house in three months. The only company he had was Elder Li, who would stop in occasionally to updated Elder Thaddeus on the libraries. Occasionally, he would receive little gifts from his sister, she would drop of sweets or letters. This was a little unnerving, but Will appreciated the gesture. Will also received letters from his parents, who were proud their son has this once in a life opportunity. These letters gave Will a little motivation to work harder.

Now, that three months had past Will returned to the Knight Academy for the midyear battle. Will walked to the coliseum and could hear the crowd roar. The Knight Academy's midyear battles were open city. Thousands of people would attend, bet, and provided an economic boost for Guidon. At the Knight's Academy the third and second years would battle before the first years. Across the Kingdom people would attend these battles to get a picture of up-and-coming knights. Not only did winning battle improve your rank (and resources) at the academy, but it may also lead to earning a benefactor that could support you as well. Guilded cadets could earn further awards by ranking in the top 3, 5. With all these benefits, it easy was easy to understand the importance cadets placed on these battles.

Yesterday evening, Elder Thaddeus gave Will a night pass to walk the second-year championship battle. Last night, Will walked through the tunnels, past the doctor's office, past the waiting room, Will walked to edge of the opening of the tunnel that led to the battle stages. Currently, there was only one stage. This was the final battle of the second years. Rosalyn vont Williamson and Conner vont Harrington were battling for first and second place. Conner was in the Guardian Guild and Leroy was in Valkyrie. The battle was close, but Conner held a slight edge with both his strength and body enhancement. But Rosalyn had the edge in battle strategy and tactics. Rosalyn had slowly worn-down Conner over time. In the final moments of the battle Rosalyn swept Conner's let, when Conner stumbled and fell, Rosalyn mounted Conner's chest and pummeled him until he was unconscious. Rosalyn was declared the winner, and Conner was carted off to the doctor's office.

At the 8th bell this morning Will was in the waiting room with the rest of his classmates. The mood in the waiting room was somber when Will entered. He was the last to enter. Most people sat on tools, talking softly, or simply staring at blank walls. When Will entered the room, everyone's expression changed into exuberance. Seeing everyone's faces, when felt nostalgic and missed sitting down at the dining hall catching up after classes and physical training.

"It's nice to see everyone again," Will spoke first.

"Been a minute Will," said Evan.

"Yeah, it's great to see everyone again. Even you Vincent," Will said.

"I bet you think you're special being Grandmaster Thaddeus dripline, but today I'll be sure to beat you show the grandmaster he should have chosen me," Vincent spatted.

Will looked at Vincent and chuckled inside. Will didn't feel invincible, but he felt confident. These long days and training were spent for a reason. And Will worked hard each day, he diligently followed his master's direction and never slacked. Never once did his master scold him to work harder. Will could not be accused in this life or his last of not working hard.

Everyone stared at Vincent but said nothing. Since Will left, his temperament had only gotten worse. Others in their group were also taken as disciplines: Mark, Anna and Samuel, but Vincent hated that he was never chosen. Vincent always saw himself as the best among his classmates, even if Mark was the greatest warrior, Vincent felt his strategies could beat Mark every time. That was why he always chose not the spar against Mark. He didn't want Mark to see his strategies for defeating him early.

Ignoring Vincent will Chole asked, "How was your stay at Elder Thaddeus house? Tell us as much as you can," Chole said quizzically.

Will described his time at his master's house, and the exercise without being too descriptive. Will didn't describe his master's house, only his room and training schedule. He spoke about casting magic and sword fighting against his master every day. After Will finished describing his time away. Mark, Anna, and Samuel also shared their experience, although Samuel was more tight-lipped, he described his training in only the vaguest of terms. The mood in the waiting room became more rambunctious and laughter flowed. The cadets forgot about their worries until….

"Alright you twats listen up," yelled Marshall Rolf. "I want each of you to draw to lots, making lots will meet in the first battle, this time no one gets to set out in the final rounds. Each of you will battle thrice. As long as you win two out three times, you can move on to the next round. Any questions?" he declared.

After lots were drawn, the first battles were set. Mark versus Vincent, Chole versus Grace, Anna versus Evan, Will versus Samuel, and others were matched up as well. Sarah was schedule to fight a boy Will never met, but both Guardians. Will made a note to self to get to at least know the names of his other classmates.

Like the second and third years, the battles should take three days. With most battles being fought on day 1, semifinals on day two, and the championship battle on day three. The first-year battles were fought last and were the most attended because everyone wanted to know who the new talents were and curry favor in advance. It was common for the cadet who won the midyear battles to receive various presents from merchants and nobles.

Being in the spotlight, Will's plan to was to earn third place. Third place was respectable but did not garner the attention that first and second places. Unlike the entrance exam, there was only one battle stage. This allowed for greater healing time between matches. To win a match you had to either knock your opponent unconscious, submit, or decline to battle.

At the start of the 10th bell, Will and Samuel were scheduled to fight. When Will walked out of the tunnel to battle stage and admired the filled coliseum. Will had never seen the coliseum filled with fans. It appeared there was not an empty seat. The tens of thousands of people in attendance resembled the filled football stadium during the UEFA Champions League Championship. Marshall Rolf stood in the middle of the arena and point to Will and Samuel to me him in the center of the ring.

The announcer was the first to speak, "Welcome esteemed guest, today we'll see what our first-year cadets have learned. This is their first skill test against their peers, and we'll see which cadets have increased in strength. We want to thank the guest for their patronage and support," the announcer concluded.

"Are you both ready?" Master Rolf asked.

We both looked at each other, then at Marshall Rolf and nodded.

"Alright, good. Bow to each other, bow to the crowd, and now bow to me. Follow my instructions at all times, now return to your corner and wait for the bell to ring," he finished.

Will walked back to his corner, more worried about the crowd noise, then the fight. Getting his head sat and calming himself. Will immediately cast his rock armor spell. In seconds his entire body was covered in brown dense rock. Will felt his body harden, but he could still feel the iron ingot in his pants pocket if he needed it. Knowing Samuel's assignation training, Will knew Samuel was more likely to focus on dexterity and sneak attacks. However, at 10 in the morning, Will knew Samuel would be at a disadvantage. If they fought at night, Will knew the roles would be switched and he'd fine himself in trouble.

When the bell rung, Will saw Samuel's brown eyes turn black and could feel his ferocious killing intent. Samuel was different than most knight, instead of using a sword, he preferred knives. However, with my rock armor Samuel would have a tough time defending against me. When the bell rang, Samuel disappeared in front of my eyes. The sun was shining, but a small part of the stage held shadow from the sun's angle over the coliseum.

Just as I was thinking about his disappearance, I felt a furry of strikes come from the shadows. Samuel's movement was lightning fast, I guessed that Samuel likely had high dexterity, but lacked strength. Just as soon as the furry of slashes came, they disappeared. By the time I turned around, Samuel was gone again.

This attack continued for five minutes. Samuel's speed and dexterity exceed every first-year cadet. Will guessed that Samuel was playing the long game, waiting for Will's mana to wear out before delivering the final blow. Samuel didn't know that Will could come to use his rock armor for hours now. Will decided to end this bout as fast as he could. Using [earthquake] he caused Samuel to stumble out of the shadows. It was apparent on Samuel's face he didn't know Will could use this spell. But now that he was exposed, Samuel decided to attack. Samuel launched at Will, speeding across the stage. Seeing Samuel running towards him, Will cast [earth wall] to create small half a meter walls, they looked more like small hurdles, but it was enough to catch Samuel's feet and make him stumble across the stage to Will. Samuel's tumbling impacted his frail body, and it was obvious each time he hit the stage he was in pain. Samuel stopped tumbling only after he reach Will's feet to break the momentous. Reaching Will's feet Samuel said weakly he submit. Regretfully, Will's first bout was anticlimactic, yet the crowed his cheered. Will saw many people, who looked important, talking about his use of magic. After Samuel submitted, he was given a recovery pill and immediately his bruises disappeared.

After Will's first bout, he walked off stage to the stands. He sat in the student section and received several compliments from various students. What Will really wanted to see were the next matches.