After a safe journey that lasted about one day, they finally entered Sonio City, the center and capital of the empire. Elius was snoring at this time, he was trying to constantly watch the surroundings curiously to see every place they passed when they first set out, but in the end, insomnia prevailed. Elius felt a hand on his shoulder and slowly opened his eyes. He saw Ian shaking him, but he wasn’t looking at Elius. Instead, he was watching outside with a big smile.

“Okay, I’m awake. Stop shaking me.”

Elius was still rubbing his eyes, trying to wake up.

“What are you watching, by the way.”

But Ian didn’t turn to him nor answer. He got curious and decided to look at what was going on himself. He was already hearing so many people’s voices simultaneously, but when he looked outside, he was just like Ian, shocked.

So many people, so many houses, dozens of different shops, the sound of people chatting and laughing, children playing, the clashing sounds of metals from blacksmiths, the smells of fresh fruits, newly baked cakes, and the scent of freshly cooked meals attacked his senses at the same time. He was mesmerized and watched all of it with his mouth open. It was the first time for him to be in actual civilization. He was about to jump out of the window to explore the empire, but Ian stopped him.

“What the hell are you doing? Our priority is to meet with the director of the academy. We will have plenty of time to do that later.”

Elius sulked and sat back.

“Fiiine.”

But a smile appeared again immediately after he saw two knights.

“Ian, look at them!”

He pointed out the knights.

“Whoa, look at their armors.”

They wore silver armor that covered their entire bodies, and a sword was hanging from their waists. Empire’s symbol, the two-headed dragon, was engraved on their chest plates. They seemed strong and dignified in the duo’s eyes.

“But I wonder why they are wearing armors. Didn’t my dad say armors are useless?”

Ian nodded.

“Yeah, I guess it is more like a uniform, although armors might’ve been reinforced with magic.”

“Yeah, might be. We should buy some reinforced clothes too.”

That was Wilbert’s one of the rare pieces of advice to them. It was not much, but magic-reinforced clothes might save your life. The best part is that you can choose your piece of cloth, it can be just a regular t-shirt, and it doesn’t have to be some heavy armor. It was pretty crucial in terms of mobility.

After a 15-minute city journey mixed with admiration and surprise, they finally arrived at the academy, and their astonishment only increased. Blernian Academy was almost as huge as the palace they only saw from afar. Moreover, the garden was enormous, as if the academy were a small city on its own. Apparently, there were no guards at the entrance, so they finally stepped in and walked towards the huge building after watching it with their mouths open for a while.

“Pretty quiet.”

Elius stated the obvious.

“Yeah, it is like a ghost town.”

That’s because the academy was starting tomorrow, but Idarin wanted to meet them beforehand in person and asked Wilbert to send them early. When they reached the building, the doors were closed. Elius tried to push, but it didn’t open.

“Should I punch my way through?”

He said while clenching his fist.

“No, of course, maybe we should knock?”

But Elius wasn’t listening to him, and he was already looking up and analyzing the building’s exterior.

“You know I can jump in through one of the windows.”

Ian rolled his eyes.

“Don’t…”

And he approached to knock on the door. But before he could, the door opened, and a middle-aged man appeared with his big smile.

“Greetings.”

Idarin’s eyes were lively, and his dark green hair seemed pretty neat. Considering he’s always wandering around with bloodshot eyes and messy hair, this was a solid improvement. He looked pretty formal with the black shirt he was wearing. Ian softly greeted him back.

“Hello, sir, we are looking for Mr. Idarin.”

“That would be me, and you must be Ian. Wilbert told me about you two.”

Then he turned towards the clueless kid with dark red hair.

“And you must be Elius. You have no resemblance to your father.”

“Yes, sir!”

Elius tried to imitate Ian and bowed sloppily.

“He said I got my eyes and hair from my mother, but I’ve never met her since she died while giving birth to me.”

Idarin nodded with an awkward smile.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me, by the way. Now follow me. I’ll spar with you as a welcome present.”

Elius smiled and became excited after hearing that.

“Cool! Are we allowed to go all out?”

“Of course.”

They followed Idarin and reached the backyard. That was the academy’s outdoor training ground. In one corner were target boards with arrows on them, on another corner were wooden weapons and railings, and the rest was open space, or rather the combat training ground. Compared to the training ground in the basement, it was very primitive. Not many people were using it anyway. Most of the training given by the teachers was held in the basement. Idarin stood in the middle and turned towards the boys.

“You two against me, I’ll put a five-minute timer. As soon as you start attacking me, the time will start.”

He put both of his hands behind his back.

“Come at me when you feel ready.”

Elius was smiling, and Ian unsheathed his blade. The shadows began to envelop Ian starting from his feet, and he disappeared.

‘Hoo, a shadow assassin, let’s see what you got.’

After Ian disappeared, Elius decided to take action too. Suddenly he shot out like a bullet and started running towards him.

“I thought you were a mage.”

Idarin said curiously.

“I am.”

Elius answered with a smile. He was smiling for the last two years whenever Wilbert took them to hunt. It became a habit, and he began to smile unconsciously whenever he fought. He closed the distance between them in a few seconds and prepared to punch Idarin on the face. As soon as his punching motion began, Ian appeared behind Idarin and tried to stab his shoulder.

‘Nice, they are faster and more coordinated than I anticipated.’

They were about to strike simultaneously, but then both Elius’ hand and Ian’s blade bounced back by hitting an invisible barrier. Elius’ smile got bigger.

“Neat trick!”

“Right? I call this ‘Sound barrier.’”

Elius struck again with greater force, but it was futile. He bounced back harder than before this time. After Elius bounced back, Idarin took advantage of this gap and extended his hand towards Elius.

“And this one is… I don’t know. I don’t have a name for it.’

Elius felt an intense pain in his abdomen. He lost his balance and flew back a few meters. Idarin smiled.

“Good luck trying to get your balance back.”

Then his attention shifted to Ian, who was trying to penetrate his shield. Ian saw him turning back and put some distance between them. The ground under him crumbled, and spikes started to emerge. Ian barely dodged one, but the same thing happened as soon as his foot touched the ground again. When he realized that the end of the spikes would not come, he began to dodge towards Idarin instead of running back. Meanwhile, Elius was trying to stand up. His head was spinning like crazy.

‘What the hell is this.’

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath because his head wasn’t spinning naturally. Some mana particles were vibrating inside his head like crazy. Elius tried to circulate mana through his body and calmed them down. In a few seconds, the particles dispersed, and he came to his senses. Ian was already in front of Idarin. He ignored the crumbles under his feet and swung his blade. The spike that emerged from the ground was about to hit him from behind, but suddenly Ian disappeared and reappeared behind Idarin.

‘Ooh, he can perform shadow step at this age.”

Just for a second, Idarin felt like a snake was strangling him. He felt a chill down on his spine and quickly turned back. He was enhancing himself with magic, so he was also fast, not as much as them, though. Ian’s blade was about to hit him with full speed, but his arm suddenly slowed down before reaching the barrier. This time it didn’t bounce back but couldn’t go further either.

‘Nice, nice, he already understood how this barrier works.’

“Nice job Ian!”

Elius joined them back, but he kept his distance instead of rushing this time. Idarin felt a mana distortion under his feet and took a step back instinctively. Just like what happened with his spike spell, the ground crumbled, and a pillar of fire emerged.

Elius didn’t let him catch a breath. He made himself lighter with air magic, and after the last fire pillar, when Idarin lifted his foot to dodge, Elius closed the gap in an instant and clenched his fits.

“Trying to punch again, really?”

Idarin said mockingly.

But before Elius’ punch met with the barrier, his hand opened, and he threw three tiny water spheres at Idarin.

“Pft, cute.”

Idarin tried to taunt him, but then he realized the tiny sparks inside the spheres.

*BOOM*

Spheres exploded with a loud noise, but Elius knew that wasn’t going to be enough, so he was constantly scanning his surroundings. Idarin’s presence disappeared and appeared a few meters behind him in that brief moment. He reacted fast since he expected something like that. He wasn’t the only one. Ian emerged from shadows behind Idarin and swung his blade again. Elius was also prepared to punch him, and his fist was in flames this time. Just like at the beginning, they were going to attack simultaneously.

“Got you old m-”

Before Elius could finish, a strong force pressured them from above. It was squishing them so hard that both fell onto their knees and elbow. Idarin casually put out the flames on his shoulder.

“Oookay, times up, lads, that was fun.”

The pressure disappeared, and Idarin began to walk towards the building.

“Follow me. It is time for showing you around the building.”

Elius and Ian were breathless. As always, Elius trembled with excitement.

‘Mages are weak? Oh, dad, you’ve got some explanations to do.’

Idarin looked calm on the outside, but he was overjoyed inside.

‘A mage that can do close combat? It looks like he can’t mix two styles yet. Their physique is pretty good, but they’re still inexperienced and don’t have their own style. However, they are quite satisfying.’

A smile formed on the corner of his mouth. Idarin also trembled with excitement. He finally found someone to mentor, and he was going to do it as fast as possible because the sparks of the war were already ignited.

‘War is one thing, but what will come soon… I’ll make sure you are ready for it.’