After enough time for him to recover, Edward still hadn’t found how to even create a non-mechanical structure with it. Mana didn’t serve as electricity as he had first assumed and it was more of an air turning the windmill. He could only create a wind-up clock-like device that would turn its hand with a certain interval. Of course its uses were numerous, such as launching pre-made ice shots after he turned the handle until the bullets ran out.

However, that was far from what Edward wanted. Trial and error, trial and error, trial and error, rinse and repeat a thousand times, he still hadn’t accomplished anything. The stainless steel constructs didn’t move at all, let alone function as he wanted them to. There was that time he got the eye of one light up, but that resulted in an explosion inside his mindscape.

His aching body had healed and he was now sitting on his bed in a lotus position, but the lack of muscles was apparent. He even seemed malnourished before he had eaten a week’s worth of food. After a frustrated night, he had gained some muscle, and some more the week after. It was his third week after his recovery, and he was now looking like a normal preteen.

Exercising was his way of letting out steam, and that happened very often, leading to his superhuman body from before. It wasn’t really a surprise after he had went through an exercise marathon for an entire year once.

A knock on the door halted Edward’s training. He grabbed a towel and opened the door while wiping off his sweat that would have otherwise drenched his shirt if not for his lack of one. The slightly taller than him Serena stood before him. Edward came to realize she wasn’t as tall as she seemed and he noted that she hasn’t grown an inch since his birth.

“What is it?” Edward asked. As much as he didn’t want to, he had grown up into his gloomier and loner attitude. The one who wanted to, and knew he could do everything by himself. The one who thought he was better than an entire team. These conflicting thoughts were killing him from the inside.

But he was never one to dwell on the past, a realist. He didn’t have emotion now, and he would probably get it after bringing her love back. Still, that was hopeful thinking. As long as he got her back, he would be happy.

“Umm… The lord has called for you.” Serena said hesitatingly.

“I’m coming.” Said Edward, slamming the door shut and proceeding to get dressed. He didn’t have many clothes, three or so shirts and two pants. One had been cut at knee-length, turned into a short. He changed into his more formal clothes: a white shirt and dark blue trousers, complete with a belt.

He was used to wearing formal wear, mostly due to the uniform he had to wear to school every single weekday. It was more of an obligation than a must, as he could get accepted to university without it, and learn everything in a single year. That only served to show how annoyingly hard magic was.

He swiftly left the room, thanking his height and leg length that helped him cut the time it took to reach the dining hall from fifteen to five. Serena had disappeared from sight, to who knows where when he had exited the room in a minute. There weren’t any doors out as far as he knew.

The dining hall’s giant door opened with the slightest touch, assisted by some butlers from the inside. Their presence signaled to show his sisters were here. Meeting all his siblings in a single place wasn’t Edward’s form of nice. Rather, it was the worst possible scenario.

He saw that his father was seated at his usual spot, at the head of the table. His siblings were seated along the two sides of the long table, attended by their servants. The image of two nearly identical girls, with green hair caught Edward’s eye. They were the daughters of the second wife of Albert, who died by illness leaving them in their father’s care.

They seemed to be acting like noblewomen, not letting a word drop. Those shallow camouflages must have already been seen through by Albert. They were the epitomes of corruption and sadism, and even tried to pick on Edward.

However, when the person is the beloved son of the lord, who could easily beat them at their own game of arguing and the lack of any other weapons than the house guards was surely a letdown for them.

The silence reigned supreme, forcing Edward to start a conversation.

“What is the matter, father? It isn’t like you to go out of your way to summon me.” He said.

“Ah, that’s right. It is common courtesy to indulge in studies and weapon training for a nobleman, especially our falling family.” Albert explained, pointing at the men standing behind him. There were two, one a larger man with an enormous blade on his back, not bothering to cover his upper body. The other one was a smaller one, holding a spear that looked to be too outsized for him. “I have excused you from the former, but I would like to ask you which weapon you prefer.”

“I’d like to learn the spear.” Edward answered. He had tried kendo and fencing for a while, but they weren’t his style. They had too much of an emphasis on sports, which he didn’t fancy much. It didn’t feel right and he didn’t have many options to choose from except kenjutsu, which appeared to have too short a range for his preference. Spear, on the other hand, seemed to be a semi-ranged weapon that could possibly be thrown in this absurd world known as Terra.

The bigger man walked away with a long face, and the smaller man seemed to have a smug smirk on his face. However, calling him short wasn’t really true.

“Well then, this is Adrian, a Grandmaster spearman. He’ll be your mentor for the next year.” Albert explained, pointing his palm to the man. “He is also the mentor of your brother, Dario. I do hope you two get along.”

Edward’s sight landed on Dario. Now that he took a look at him, the fifteen year old didn’t look as dangerous. Athletic, but that was all. Not muscular, but a lean type. The age difference could be seen, as Edward looked at his likely ten to twelve year old body. It was immature, but the fruits of his training showed in the form of an athletic body. It was the way he liked it: no excess fat and a small layer of muscle. Having more would be impractical for the swift type like him.

Adrian walked out of the room, following the larger man and a face that said ‘I’m going to brag to the loser so he is even more miserable than now.’

The breakfast concluded quickly, and silently. The most silent of them was Dario, who hadn’t made a single noise. Edward noted that this guy hated him, for an unknown reason at that. His occasional glares would interrupt him from his thought process. Was that killing intent as pictured in some books? This world was ridiculous, after all.

As he found himself outside on the training ground, wearing his homemade shorts and the T-shirt, Edward saw Adrian, his new teacher, bringing two wooden spears, the front looked no duller than an arrow and he wondered if there was the concept of going easy on Terra.

Dario had a smirk on his face, warming up. Although Edward hadn’t really tried anything connected to spears, he once tried bojutsu once, finding it was a little too defensive for his liking as well before he finally settled on Muay Thai after all the looking. His fists, elbows and knees ended up being the most efficient weapons.

Dario had a smirk on his face, for the first time after they had met.

“Prepare to be beaten senseless, younger brother.” Dario said as Adrian threw one of the training spears at him.

“We’ll see about that.” Edward countered, grabbing the spear flying at him.

“Don’t go too rough on him. And Edward, it is strictly for measuring your physical prowess.” Adrian explained as he walked backwards, taking a seat on the ground.

Dario’s movements were fast, on the level of Edward being able to see, but not react. He thrust the sharp end of the spear at Edward, aiming at his shoulder. This wasn’t something that could be covered with technique alone, it was more a matter of speed.

He then slipped his feet, falling backwards. What would have been impossible for a normal person was easy for Edward. It wasn’t just this world which was absurd. If there was any absurdity or abnormality, then he stood heads and shoulders taller than most of them.

Then Edward used his spear as a staff and used it as a hold, jumpkicking Dario while holding onto it with one hand. It connected with Dario’s ribs, not much of a damage dealt. Moving without muscle memories was harder than expected. He’d have to train his techniques for a while in his new body. The difference between action smart and book smart showed. The body lagging behind.

Albert’s eyes widened as he swiped the ground with his spear, evaded by several backstep. Edward proceeded by thrusting with his own spear, the tip aimed at the shoulder. It never connected, but Dario’s did. He had countered with a single hand thrust, hitting Edward’s solar plexus, and would have pierced if not for Adrian’s hand grabbing the spear.

“Great. Your talent is even greater than your brother’s when he was your… started training.” Adrian explained. “As long as you put the effort in it, you can be as strong as him.”

Edward stared at the man in disappointment. He was the encouraging type, but the man didn’t know that he’d pass Dario in a month at most. That was the type of teacher he didn’t want to deal with too much. They hated his extreme talent the most.

Adrian pointed the spear at Dario.

“Run around the field 100 times and do a 1000 thrusts.” He commanded. “You can do twice less.” He said pointing at Edward.

Edward steadied his breath, breathing with his nose and letting out with his mouth. The field was no bigger than the school gymnasium, a hundred laps around it wasn’t too hard for the ace of the basketball team. The temporary one.

However, it evidently became true that his younger and lesser trained body was dragging him down. That wouldn’t do. He forced it to move. That was the way he trained his old body to that extent. Pushing forth after reaching his limit.

And he had passed it after the 80th when he was practically about to fall down. Muscle development came with age, not so easily to someone who just skipped eight years. The misimpression he had enough muscle and stamina for a normal preteen was falser than anything he had thought of.

Every step was a dozen times harder and he hated his guts for even accepting the challenge. But he smiled. It was only when he did the impossible when it happened. He dragged his ragged body through the field with an absurd grin. It was what he enjoyed most.

He could have stopped at fifty, but that wasn’t his style. He would get a perfect score, definitely.

Edward forced his legs to move, until he heard them nearly crack. That is to be said, he was in no form to walk let alone run. But he reached his goal nonetheless.

Next up was thrusting.