The rest of the week went by with nothing notable. Alex continued to train his mana core as well as the black orb. Alex also raised his proficiency with casting the mana shield, being able to cast it without much thought. Until he went to high school, Alex would not be learning any more spells. His only attacks came from mana enhanced punches and kicks, so Alex also lowered the time necessary to build up mana.

Now, it only took Alex about one and a half seconds to form a mana shield and one second to build up mana in any point of his body. There was still one last thing Alex wished to try before fighting a magic beast.

Alex stood in his living room and began gathering mana to his fist, but this time he also added to black mana. Alex noticed that he had gathered enough mana in nearly half as long. Alex threw a punch,

* boom *

A loud boom resounded through the house, shaking it slightly. The punch had broken the sound barrier.

Alex collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

“Why did that take so much out of me?”

The black orb was spinning more violently than before and it left a mild burning sensation in his lungs.

“Okay… I will only use that as a last resort,” he decided. “I wonder what type of score I could’ve gotten by using that punch?”

Nearly ten minutes passed before the orb stopped spinning and the red and blue dots were glowing brightly.

Ugh… I'm really hungry now. I should start being more careful with how much black mana I use, he thought to himself.

Alex went to his kitchen to make himself a quick meal, only to find no food.

Okay. This black mana is only to be used in emergency situations, Alex resolved to himself.

Alex put on his jacket and left his house to go shopping. Luckily for Alex and his hunger, there was a market not even 5 minutes from his house. While Alex was grabbing food, he accidentally bumped into a young man.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Alex immediately apologized.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” the young man responded. “If it isn’t Alex, the brat who could barely even cast a mana shield,” the young man said condescendly.

“Say, Brodin. Seeing as he dared to bump into you, shouldn’t he at least pay?” Another young man said to Broding, the young man Alex had bumped into.

Brodin was recognized as the best fighter in Alex’s class, scoring a 77 on the Harbinger Test. He was one of the few Peak Soldiers in the entire school, and it was known that he would go out of his way to bully the weaker kids.

“You’re right, hehehe. Alright, pay up 50 credits or we’ll leave you half-dead and with no credits.” Brodin scoffed at Alex.

“Listen, it was my fault for bumping into you. But I need all the money I have on me to pay for food, so please accept my apology.” Alex said respectfully, not wanting to cause a scene.

“Who do you think you are to go against me, brat. The offer no longer stands, give us all the money you have on you right now and we’ll consider leaving you intact.”

“I refuse.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Brodin said as he sent a punch to Alex. Let’s see your weak mana shield block this, he thought.

Alex, not daring to underestimate the strength of Brodin, casted a black mana infused mana shield.

* Bang *

Brodins fist collided with the black shield and a loud bang traveled through the store. But to the shock of Brodin and his friends, Brodins fist was stopped by Alex’s mana shield.

“Huh?”