"I think it's about time … I'll talk about 'the Break' …"

"!!!"

'This is it! If I know more about this Break then maybe I could get a clue on how my parents disappeared. Or maybe a general idea of where they are. Nonetheless this is important… and my guess for the rush for awakening me…'

I was visibly shaking, waiting for the one info I desperately need at this moment. And I could see the old man ignoring my focus, keeping at his own pace. I mean I get that this is your lesson but you know why I’m like this.

" I told you before that every dimension has its sub-dimension and that there are multiple dimensions , right?"

"Yes."

"The break has something to do with that. When I said the universe was fair to everyone than that means it's even fair to the dimension. This means that this dimension has the potential to raise it's existence as well. But not only our dimension but every other as well. There are 5 stages and 4 will happen after the Break. The first stage is the existence stage which is the current stage we are at. The next is the returning stage which merges every sub dimensions to it's main dimension. This will turn our world into a combination of all sub dimensions and its main dimension, the earth, into one full dimension.

New planets that are habitable will come forth in a matter of months, Stars will be born and dying as well as our civilization will finally have ways to advance in its technology. But as much as it will bring us prosperity it will also bring us destruction. This is only because when the sub-dimensions merge with the main one, the living creatures on these will also come to our dimension and among those are monsters and beasts that you don't want to fight as well as the races that lived here previously. Elves , dwarfs , Demons , Dragons and so on will all come back. This only means one thing and that is that the supernatural world will be known by everyone at that point and hiding it will be useless.association

The Association has managed to not create too much trouble for normal people and Awakened that did were hunted down to make an example out of them. But if other races are getting here then holding the Awakened back would be pointless and a hard job to do anyway. In fact you could say 'the Break' is already happening as the Association, which I'll get to tomorrow what they are, is already negotiating with the other races and finding them a suitable place to stay on earth. For example, the forest we are in is going to be inhabited by Elves by the end of next week when you have to go back to school."

"WAIT!? ARE YOU FOR REAL?! I'LL GET TO SEE A REAL ELF?"

FLICK

Shit! I got a bit too excited when the old man flicked my head to wake me up from my delusions. A simple nodge was enough, old bastard!

"You, my stupid disciple, will be able to see nothing if you freak out like that. Now! The first phase will be merging the sub dimensions, the next thing will be concatenating all dimensions into one big pile of dimensions. This will connect some dimensions with each other by portals and as such. The connected dimensions will be limited to a dozen at most. After concatenating is webbing them together into a much more complex way. This will increase the amount of connected dimensions. Last but the most terrifying of them all is the moulding. Every dimension that has a connection with another will be moulded into one. The end result will be that the strongest dimension will eat every other dimension and add it into its own. Meaning that this is a fight of survival. And this is 'the Break'. The universe will have it's dimensions become one at the end of it. This will birth a world that is able to nurture everyone to become something stronger than they were once before. Any questions?"

"This! This is just crazy… "

I was speechless. I didn’t expect that our dimension could also evolve just like humans. It was different but also the same. And when ‘The Break’ happens, I’ll be able to use my powers openly… well. Theoretically that is.

'Hold on! Wait a minute…'

"Would I be able to get strong enough to travel to the sub dimensions before the Break happens?"

Seeing where I was getting at, the old man smirked lightly but he then poured cold water over my excited state. It was obvious what the answer to that question was but I still wanted to hear it from him.

"No this would be impossible unless you reach the [Transcendens] stage by then which even if you started now with a 100 times time difference and using every second of your time, would still be impossible. Advancing a rank doesn’t just amount to training. The universe is fair and so is their ability. If you have a great talent and know that your ability is strong, your speed in raising your existence will be just that slow."

"Then… I have an idea where my parents are… Well a general idea…"

"Are you implying they are in a sub-dimension at the moment?"

"Maybe … If the words of the principal can be trusted then a search for them before the Break would only be a waste of time if they are not in this dimension since when the Break starts , every sub dimension will merge with the main one. So even if they stayed there, ending up in the main dimension would be inevitable."

I thought about it a bit more. There were some flaws in the idea of the break though. And some questions I had to ask.

“How do we know how this world will exactly evolve? Can someone see the future or is there a will of the universe that told this?”

“Hmm~ smart to ask. Well! It was long ago when an Elder Dragon lived that had the ability to see the definitive future. The definitive future stands for an event that can not be stopped by anyone else besides it’s own and the universe isn’t conscious as far as I know. And the Dragon race is not an aggressive one like the Demon’s and beasts. They are just secluded and seeing them is rare. But not impossible and when a fellow Awakened from the Association once visited the dragon tribe where that said dragon lived, he also learned about ‘The Break’.”

“Can we trust such information?”

I was thinking about it. If the source isn’t so trustworthy, then why act on it?

“Because the Dragon’s had no ill relationship with either race. And at that time, that special Dragon was even keen on seeing the growth of Humans. When presented with the opportunity, the Elder Dragon thanked us by giving us this information.”

I get it. It was a mutual relationship where both sides got what they wanted. And hiding this big information would do no good unless they hate the Humans. But since they were interested in the Humans, I can conclude that they didn’t hate us.

I looked down, seemingly in thought. I was thinking about questions I could ask to raise the probability of being right. For some reason, I wanted to be right and wrong at the same time. Wrong in the sense of my parents being still on earth. But right in the sense of…

“Is it possible to go to another main dimension?”

“No. it is impossible unless you use the might of every intelligent person, sacrificing billions of lives to send over one person. Unless your parents hold the secret to omnipotence, I doubt that is the case. And seeing them getting kidnapped in the first place means that they do not have the secrets to that.”

This was all… I guess I can’t look for them. Unless ‘The Break’ starts and every being gets to earth. Dammit! At least that brings down the number of dimensions I have to actually go to in order to find them.

“So this means we do not know how many main dimensions are even out there, right?”

“Yes.”

This is just a gamble. But at least there are probabilities of me finding them fast. If I can find out which race had anything to do with my parents, I could go look for them as soon as possible.

“Don’t think you could search for them as soon as the Break starts. You are weak right now, remember?”

Now all my plans went down the drain. Old man! You are supposed to support me, not actually killing my plans! Ugh!

“Well then make me stronger! Wasn’t that your job, Oh-so-great Master? Argh!”

Another hit to the head! Man down! retreat!

"Now is not the time to idle around, boy. We have real life 7 weeks until the Break is happening, given that after 9 true days you'll have to attend school again and the amount of times I can use 25 times difference instead of 10 means that we have about 240 days worth of time until the Break. In this time instead of pushing you to the edge of the [Discipulus] stage it is more worth it to strengthen your foundation to the limit. The stronger you build yourself on the current stage, the more you'll have an advantage in the future. This also means that you'll take longer to reach the next stage but this shouldn't bother you right now. Since the more advantages you have in the future , the better.

And don't forget that. Don't rush because you need power or you find it cool to show off since at the end you'll only suffer from it. We'll try to peak your control of your current amount of Will. This itself will take 15 days fully with your training now for 4 hours while the 4 hours of movement training will help you adapt to your current body better. After that we will research every possibility you have with your ability for the rest of the days in this and after that the weekends will be filled with lessons of magic and martial arts. The theoretical lessons have ended for today so we will continue with your Will control. Now get down and sit in the most comfortable way you think you'd feel. Meditation doesn't need to be in a stiff posture. Only when you are truly relaxed and comfortable can you feel the Will for the first time and 'see' it."

After hearing his words, I sat down on the carpet in the hut. My left knee was slightly bent upwards as my feet 'sole was on the ground all while my right knee was facing the right side while on the ground with my other leg below my left knee. My left arm was resting on my left knee while using the other one to support myself. I felt relaxed in this position and closed my eyes. Well if that old man wouldn’t look at me as if I was stupid for chosing this position. What! I feel comfortable this way.

After closing my eyes, I could hear the old man walking around me slowly. His steps were firm and I could feel a certain presence around me. It was like you’d be with a very good teacher. I’m not sure how he does this but it is impressive.

"Relax your whole body and let every thought in your mind go. Use this empty state to truly feel what's happening in your body , from your heart that pumps blood through your body , from your lungs filtering your blood , your brain cells sending every impulse that you use at the moment to even your least used muscles and their cells. When you reach that state and feel an energy that's walking through all those in a rhythmic way , then you have started to feel your Will. "

After those words, I couldn’t ‘feel’ the old man anymore. He probably sat down on his armchair in that room and was silently sitting there. But that was for the best since I had to actually focus and with any kind of noise, getting in that state of no thought was hard.

It was harder than I thought. I may have not gone outside a lot and so lacked exercise before but my mind spun all the time, making it the most active part of me. And being used to this activeness only makes it harder to totally shut it down. Nevertheless, I started to slowly understand what the old man meant.

Every part of my muscles. From my toes to my fingertips, from my hair to the most inner part of my heart. I could feel every part when I stopped thinking at all. I couldn’t visualise it like someone would think after reading cultivation novels but it felt more like I’m aware of those cells.

I was aware that I had cells but this was that I truly knew each cell on my body. Maybe because I’m not a normal human anymore but now I could get a better understanding of my body with my senses. I didn’t know how time was continuing but just when I could almost finish feeling all the cells inside my liver, I could feel a tap on my shoulder.

Opening my eyes, I could see the old man telling me that the four hours are over… wow.

Did I really spend that much time in meditation? It felt more like 25 minutes to me. I was a bit down when I got interrupted during my meditation but I guess now that I could start training my movement technique, my mood got better by a bit.

I’ll leave this meditation for tomorrow.

Day 2 of my lessons.

Today's topic that the old man taught was about every faction that exists in the awakened society. These can be categorised into 3 . Good , evil and neutral with neutral not necessarily in a good or evil sense but not meddling with other groups and society as much as the other 2.

Big families usually tend to be in the neutral category while there are sects and cults that are in the evil category while some strong guilds and the Association at the centre were the good ones. The Association was working like a central government itself. Protecting the normal humans from the supernatural, negotiating with certain groups or working as a middleman for country leaders to solve problems without it escalating to a grand scale was their usual jobs.

The Association got only more serious with its stand for peace after nuclear weapons were invented. Since this weapon was dangerous enough to take whole countries with it, the Association worked hard so that nothing of that sort would happen that would put innocent lives on the line. This was especially evident during the cold war that almost broke into another nuclear armageddon during the standoff at checkpoint charlie.

The Association is the result from the first council of awakened that got created after the war with the other races ended and thus this Association has a great background and a lot of history to it which I had to memorise every detail of.

I even had to be able to explain every weakness it had like being too big to be controlled by one hand so splitting the task to one Director and 7 executives which may result into a power struggle. This led to the Director being strong enough to fight all 7 executives and win. It meant that the position of Director didn’t pass down to the one that was the most capable in this work but the strongest. But it didn’t mean that the Directors were idiots. Only that they may not be the best out there suited for this job.

And it was because of this power struggle that some went out of their way to create guilds that were groups of people with similar minds wanting to help the whole of mankind.

The evil category were a bunch of people that wanted to harm humans for power or entertainment and were literally evil. I had to memorise everything the old man knew about them, which was almost everything out there considering that the old man was the last Director of the Association which I didn't know until now.

After the lessons, I started to meditate again, starting where I left off yesterday. While I could feel every part of my body today, I was unable to feel my Will today.

Day 3 of my lessons.

Today I had to learn about every species that lived and lives on earth. This topic was ranging from general knowledge from the races that the old man only heard and never met like the Giants and Dragons to every detail possible for the races that he actually met like Elves , Dwarfs, Demons and the once that evolved out of the awakened humans like werewolves, vampires, witches and so on.

I needed to learn everything from their body structure and power system to the culture and general moral and ethics of those races. I could swear that the 6 hours felt like 30 and with the amount of knowledge I had to memorise. But I was someone who could memorise something very fast already before my awakening and now with my body leaving the realm of a mortal man, I had an almost photographic memory. This made it also easier for the old man since he didn't have to explain something again but it made it harder for me since I was the one to strain my brain to the limit.

After the lessons, I went back to meditation. There were no results today either. I shouldn’t be too impatient and do this thoroughly.

Day 4 of my lessons

Today I learned about every detail about materials and Artefact crafters.

This is a topic that excited me since even if crafting wasn’t as flashy as fighting, they have an amazing purpose in most cases. The weapon can make a difference in a fight and this weapon can be truly change the whole fight.

Artefact crafters are the ones that use their Will and ability to create Weapons or items that can boost one's power or certain point or have the power to create a miracle with just the usage of the user's Will power. The ranks of the items were in order: [Common],[Uncommon],[Rare],[Epic],[Legendary],[Divine],[Transcendent],[One of a Kind] and [Final Emperor], which was a class that was like a myth according to the old man.

Artefact crafters is a profession widely spread among the Dwarfs. The Dwarfs were excellent in this field thanks to their innate talent with the earth and metal element as well as their resistance towards heat. But there were also excellent human crafters that had an affinity towards metal and earth just as much as the dwarfs thanks to their ability. I had to memorise every special alloy and metal that can be used to craft artefacts that the old man knew off as well as the crafters that are known throughout the supernatural world.

Today I still failed to feel my Will. I have to try harder then!

Day 5 of my lessons.

Today's topic: herbs and Alchemists.

Alchemists are the ones who can create potions and mixtures out of herbs as well as understand the natural aspect of the universe with their affinity towards nature. Elves have a high plant affinity so most of them can do Alchemy while there still exist other beings with such affinity that are equally or even better in Alchemy.

Alchemic products have 5 ranks that go as [Common], [rare] , [Epic], [Legendary] and [Transcendent] and creating them required a lot of energy depending on the type they are. This type can also affect their price on the market. For example, a drug that can affect your strength for a short time with no after effects in [Epic] would be more valuable than one in [Legendary] but with after effects.

I had to memorise all the herbs and most known Alchemists as well as basic recipes to concoct basic potions and products.

Results of my meditation was still nothing. Patience, Laith! Patience!

Day 6 of my lessons

Today’s topic: Martial Arts

Martial Arts is a system of using the Will power of a person to enforce themselves or create effects out of 'inner strength'. These can differ from movement, attack , defence to even healing or poison Martial Arts. Saying something is a Martial Art doesn't mean it can't bring forth a miracle like a fire punch or a jab that can stir the wind. As long as the power is considered inner strength it can be called a Martial Art.

I had to memorise every type of Martial Art as well as the main Martial Arts of every faction with their strengths and weaknesses. When I learned that the [Phasing Flash Step] was a family martial art of the Hashimoto's , I bowed to the old man, thanking him again for even giving me this art since every family treasured their Martial Art like it was their only hope.

Results of today’s meditation: nothing. Even when I was slightly worried, the old man assured me that it wasn’t a problem and only natural. I guess I should listen to him.

Day 7 of my lessons

Topic : Magic

Magic is the phenomenon of using Will power to create a miracle with external power. External doesn't mean that it has to be from another source but that it shouldn't be connected with their body strength. For example, while blowing the wind with a punch filled with Will is a Martial Art , using the Will to move the wind is magic. And magic doesn't have to be so simple like shooting fireballs or ice splinters but can also be speeding up the regeneration of one, even forcing it, so even a lost arm can be grown back together or reducing the gravitational pull someone has that they would feel lighter or doing the opposite and forcing them to feel heavier.

I had to memorise every Magic type and usage potential in battle as well as the prized spells of every faction and family with each strength and weakness they had.

Results of meditation: nothing.

Day 8 of my Lessons

Today’s topic was history. To be precise, the true history that happened after the great war. I was shocked when I heard that the old mythology and tales like Hercules against the hydra or the tale of count dracula were actually true with the sense that characters like Hercules or dracula where awakened ones while the beasts were usually remains of the old monsters that stayed after the war and were chased out for that.

I found it interesting that all the tales, fairytales and legends I heard since I was little were actually true in some context or full context. I had to memorise every part of this. Meaning I had to memorise every historical accurate incident starting from the great war. This took longer than I thought since history is such a vast subject and if not for some liquid that I presume were special potions, I could have sworn my head would have exploded

Results of meditation: nothing…

Day 9 of my lessons

Today’s topic was a bit different as it was about affinities and their meanings

An affinity was the basic concept of a person’s talent and understanding speed towards one subject. If someone had an affinity towards metal, then that person can understand stuff about metal way faster than other people and anything that has something to do with metal would be made faster and more efficient with less Will to use.

This makes people work not every element like I thought most people should but into the direction of their affinity which I now understand why. Theoretically, everyone could learn something and it wasn't as if someone with a fire affinity couldn't learn water spells or they'd consume much more will but it usually took too much time to work on every affinity and there were a lot from basic and advanced elements like fire , water ,plant lighting, light ,shadow to even stuff like sword, spear, armour, future, gravity and so on.

But before I could sit down for meditation right after the lesson, the old man called out to me while pulling out a metal wand with blue engravings and a crystal on its tip out of nowhere. It looked like a replica of a movie crop but I could tell it was the real deal since I could slightly feel power from it.

"Hey boy ! Come here for a second! There is something we need to do before you start meditating."

I looked at this wand with curiosity. What does the old man want to do with that?

"This will let us check your affinity which we haven't tested yet. I have an idea of what it is but let's better be sure about this. I even got the newest model with voice function just for you so you owe me one."

I almost rolled my eyes at the old man’s last statement. Stingy old man! Who said you should get something so expensive?

"I did."

"Wha-?!"

"I didn't read your thoughts. It's just written all over your face, brat! Now give me your right hand before I beat you with this stick!"

I went stiff and gave my right hand hoping my wounds would only be on that same hand. The old man put the crystal gently on my palm as the crystal shone slightly.

"How lo-"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

'ARGH! He is really pissed now! How can I fix this before he has thoughts of killing me? Maybe…'

My thoughts couldn't continue as the crystal stopped shining and the wand gave a slight high pitched tone before starting to speak in a robotic but erotic female voice. I now get why it was expensive. This perverted bastard!

[Full affinity check has completed]

[Affinity of "Laith Arslan" are as followed]

[100% all Weapon affinity]

[100% all Armour affinity]

[100% all Accessories affinity]

[100% Space affinity]

[80% all material affinity]

[30% all elemental affinity]

[Appropriate Occupation would be]

[First Occupation: Combatant/Warrior]

[Second Occupation: Crafter]

A silence came and didn't want to leave. I didn't know what to say but the old man looked the same but for different reasons apparently. I didn’t know what this meant while my results probably angered him. I didn’t understand if this was very good or lacking. What did it mean with the ‘all’ word? But before I could even ask something, the old man started to mutter something which I could barely hear.

"…monster…"

"Excuse me?"

BANG

The old man hit me so hard on my back that I flew through the wall out into the open field, coughing blood. The old man looked very pissed with a couple of veins bulging in his forehead. Were the results that bad?

"You fucking monster! How can you have 4 affinities at 100% , one at 80% and one at 30%! You even have a second Occupation! Do you even know that most don't even have a second affinity yet you possess 6?! GET HERE AND LET ME BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU, FUCKING MONSTER!"

I guess my results were too good. But then why are you trying to beat your super talented disciple? WHY?

"UWWAAA! FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUCK!"

"GET BACK HERE AND LET ME HIT YOU ON BEHALF OF ALL THE AWAKENED!!"

Results of today’s meditation: …

Unable to meditate because of serious injury.

Final day of my Lessons

This day is solely to test if I did memorise everything. I had to answer every question the old man threw at me for 6 hours straight and for each question , I had 10 seconds to answer or longer depending if the answer needed more time to explain.

"Which alloy do you get when you mix titanium and Archalcum in a 3 to 7 Ratio?"

"Triberium."

"The name of the current Association Director?"

"Angelina Edwards."

I shot every answer in a matter of moments. This was mostly thanks to my almost photogenic memory that let me never forget anything with the huge pressure from the old man. This went on for hours until the 6 hours were over. When I finished answering the last question, I finally broke down on my chair. This pressure of not even daring to answer wrong once and the constant question was so hard! The questions went from general knowledge all the way to every detail like in depth calculations for certain Alchemical products.

"Good it seems you got the basics down."

"These were the basics?"

"For the disciple of the former Association Director? Yes. Yes it was"

THUD

I let my head fall on the table and rested for a moment before raising my body up again to sit on the ground and meditate. But it seems like the old man had a different idea.

"I think you should stop this…"

"What?"