Two nights flew by in a flash, it was now the morning that he was finally allowed to continue training.

Of course, Reivan hadn't spent yesterday fooling around with his new sisters — although he wouldn't deny that he did, in fact, fool around with his new sisters.

With his recent coming of age, Reivan was no longer banned from the vast majority of books in the royal library. It was the perfect time to bury himself in the books he loved.

As for the first king's notes, skimming it was enough. He knew about most of the stuff written in them anyway. Except that the notes were much more detailed than he expected.

'It's either my ancestor had access to Wikipedia while writing those books, or he's a massive nerd.' were his first thoughts.

Still, it was a new day and he was excited to show Donovan who was boss by breezing through whatever the bald bastard had in store for him.

But that had to wait since his appointment with the aged instructor was in the afternoon. For now, Reivan had to attend morning lessons with Valter.

'He said that the lesson was a bit different from usual. I wonder what we'll do?'

Once Reivan's feet touched the grass of the garden, he could vaguely see Valter's tall figure waiting for him outside a marble pavilion. Not wanting to keep his guardian knight waiting, Reivan walked with hurried steps.

'This is the same garden that big brother and Sir Gertrude were training in a few years ago...'

Was it a coincidence? Or was this particular garden intended to be used that way? Reivan didn't know but his heartbeat sped up in anticipation.

Once he'd made it to where his guardian knight stood, Reivan smiled. "I'm here. Good morning, Sir Valter."

Valter saluted before greeting back with a small smile. "A pleasant morning to you as well, Your Highness."

"So? What're we doing today?"

"You're very impatient today," Valter commented with a smirk, amused.

Reivan stretched his shoulders while replying, "After a two-day break, I really want to move my body around."

"A shame, since we'll be moving something else this morning."

With those words hanging in the air, Valter sat cross-legged on the garden's grass and gestured for Reivan to do the same. Facing each other with their butts planted on the ground, Valter patted his knees.

"Your Highness, do you know what Essence is?"

Reivan nodded. "It's a combination between Mana and Qi."

'Heh. I found out before I could even walk.'

He couldn't help but remember what [Supreme Insight] showed him when Reivan examined his mother's [Qi: Unleashed] extra skill.

[Qi: Unleashed]

An Extra Skill granted to those who have gained enlightenment in the control of their Physical Form.

Nullifies the effects of the Physical Form's aging.

Once this unit activates its Qi, its Physical Abilities are increased depending on the quality of its Qi and its control over it.

Qi can be unified with Mana, and [Harmony] can be achieved, producing [Essence].

Smiling, Valter nodded. "Correct. In certain parts of the continent, people call it Aura. But here in Aizen, we just refer to it as Essence. Anyway, as you said, Essence is the unification of Mana and Qi. Additionally, the true unification of Essence and one's body is the most important requirement for a mortal to become an Ascendant."

Reivan bobbed his head to show that he was still listening, even though he already knew most of what the knight was saying.

His guardian knight then held his hands out, palms facing the cloudy skies above.

"Your Highness, can you see these?" he asked.

Reivan leaned forward a little, looking at the palm of the knight's hand. At first glance, there was nothing there. But who was Reivan? His eyes could see everything, including the swirling vortex of blue energy on Valter's right hand and the white vapor wrapped around his left hand.

"This is mana," he said, pointing at the whirl of blue energy before pointing at the mist-like energy. "And this one's Qi, I suppose."

"Splendid." Valter clapped his hands together, immediately causing both energies to disperse in a burst of light. "Your Highness has exceptional perception. Most people are unable to see these energies and can only feel them at best."

Reivan chuckled in mild embarrassment. "I'm a hundred percent sure it's cuz of my eyes, Sir Valter. You don't have to praise me too much, I was just lucky to be born with such an ability."

The knight shook his head. "Do not be so dismissive of your luck, Your Highness. It is not something everybody has, and one definitely cannot get it just by wanting it, so it's always a good thing to have it."

"...You're right, Sir Valter."

"And if we're delving deeper, it is part of your luck to be born as a prince of our great nation. To be born with a healthy body and a loving family. As you can see, the results of luck are everywhere. Your good fortune is part of who you are, so do not disregard it. Oh, but do not rely on it either. One must prepare for the worst outcome in order to obtain the best one."

Reivan's eyes flashed before dipping his head. "Sir Valter has given me a valuable lesson. Thank you."

"I do not believe it was enough to lower your head for, but I'm glad you found this old one's words worthwhile." Valter cleared his throat. "We digressed a bit. But contrary to a squire's training schedule, we will attempt to improve your control over mana instead of trying to unlock your Qi."

"Hmm...? Can I ask why...?"

"Because the main reason we focus on unlocking Qi first, is to prevent a knight candidate from missing the chance to form a contract with a Soul Armament. Your Highness — someone from the royal family — doesn't need to worry about that."

'Oh. That's true.'

"And another reason is that you are part warbeast."

Reivan tilted his head in confusion. "Uh... I don't get it."

"It's because warbeasts have a special way to automatically unlock their Qi." Valter clarified, a bit of a frown on his face. "That's what Her Majesty and Sir Viktor said. You apparently have to be around thirteen years old for it though, so we can't do anything about that for now. I find it very unfair how fraudulent warbeasts are, but I suppose it's advantageous to us in this case. It's so unfair though... really unfair..."

The prince ignored his guardian knight's sulking in favor of thinking about the special method Valter mentioned. According to [Supreme Insight], warbeasts just had a higher perception of Qi. There was no mention of automatic unlocking. This meant it really was a special method — perhaps similar to the Beast King's Ichor.

Valter heaved a sigh of defeat. "Since it's pointless to attempt to awaken your Qi right now, we must obviously improve your control of mana instead."

"Yes, sir." Reivan nodded, directing all of his attention toward the knight.

"I've heard that you've actually been practicing this in secret. And for a while now, too."

"The cat's been out of the bag for long time, huh? Yes, it's true sir."

To demonstrate, Reivan created ten wisps of mana and made them form a train of faint blue light and sail across the air between them. After doing a few swirls here and a few twirls there, he felt that he'd demonstrated enough and released the wisps as if they were bullets, aiming straight at Valter. Naturally, as a small collection of energy that had no substance, Valter was completely unhurt as they disappeared upon collision with his chest.

"Well, that's about all I can do with it for now." Reivan scratched his cheek with a wry smile on his lips. "How is it?"

"Extremely superb. I lack the words to describe my amazement." Valter excessively praised, his eyes wide open. "Only at ten years old, and much progress has been made."

"It's actually because of my [Formless Will]. I've never tried to control my mana without it..."

"So it could be applied in such a way? Truly Impressive." The knight crossed his arms and nodded in amazement. "We'll eventually have to let you try controlling mana without your ability, but we'll set that aside for now. With such precise control over mana, we can skip the first phase of your training entirely."

"I'm glad that I'm doing well with your training, Sir Valter." Reivan chuckled dryly. "Hopefully I have half as much success with Sir Donovan's."

"He's a harsh teacher, but a good one." Valter cleared his throat once again and put on a serious expression. "Your Highness, there are three ways to use one's mana, each of them is progressively harder than the last. There is Elementalism, Sorcery, and Augmentation."

"Elementalism, Sorcery, and Augmentation..." Reivan repeated to himself. Then he suddenly had a thought. "Is Elementalism related to one's elemental affinities?"

"Indeed it is." The knight nodded, a small smile on his face. "Elementalism requires only an infantile level of control over mana. Your current level has far surpassed that threshold."

The prince couldn't help but smirk. He quite liked having his ego stroked a little.

'Man, Valter's my favorite teacher. He really knows how to get me going! Muahahaha!'

"Through elementalism, it is possible for someone to manifest any element. However, they must expend about a hundred times as much as someone with that affinity. So although it is possible, it's not practical at all. Especially during combat."

Reivan nodded in understanding, having heard some of the information from Donovan. Valter explained it better, though.

'Valter, hooray! NO to baldness! Fuck that bastard!'

"Sir, I have a question." Reivan raised his hand. Having read numerous novels with an incredibly wide variety of power systems, he had a few ideas to clarify.

"Please go ahead, Your Highness."

"About mana. Do people have different amounts of mana? Like, you're born with it or something."

It was a common trope in fantasy novels, where people were born with a fixed amount of mana in their bodies. Naturally, it was advantageous to have a lot of it, since that would mean you could cast more spells. But then, Reivan had also read novels where having more mana made it harder to control — kinda like how it was easier to manipulate a glass of water than a pool of water. There were even novels where having a crap ton of mana made you sick and eventually die.

'Is it like that here too...? But I've never seen something like a mana bar when I look at someone's status page...'

To his question, Valter shook his head. "No, all humans have the same amount of mana in their bodies. About one hundred units of mana exist within us all."

"Units...?" Reivan's brows furrowed. Having units meant numbers, and Reivan hated math.

"It was a system introduced by the first king." The knight stroked his chin. "It's ingenious, actually. With precise measurement, we were able to study the intricacies of Sorcery in an organized way... or rather, in a scientific way.

Valter's eyes widened as if he realized something. He coughed dryly. "Again, we digressed. All humans have one hundred units of mana in their bodies. The amount never increases, but with better control, the amount you have to consume every time you do something with it may decrease. Which is why your ability to control mana more effectively is so great. You're truly blessed, Your Highness."

"Haha. I certainly feel blessed. Thanks."

"As for warbeasts, according to data from when Her Majesty and Sir Viktor were still mortals, warbeasts only have forty units of mana in their bodies."

"What..." Reivan's eyes widened, stunned.

"I suppose it's the heavens trying to balance the scales." Valter shrugged. "Having such an easy time unlocking Qi in addition to having a powerful transformation ability must have consequences."

'Wow, Sir Valter. You're really making it obvious that you had a lot of trouble unlocking your Qi.'

Reivan didn't miss how much emphasis the guardian knight was putting on the phenomena.

"Anyway, it is only because of this handicap that your respected mother and the Supremo had such a hard time Ascending. With less mana, achieving unification between mana and Qi became a lot more difficult. They had less to practice with, and less to work with during Ascension attempts. It is akin to climbing a mountain with only one leg."

"So that's why..." Reivan nodded, feeling as if a few of the questions at the back of his head were finally given answers. He'd always wondered why his mother received so much praise for her talent and strength, but it took her eighty years to become an Ascendant, while Stella was already planning to do it in her twenties to thirties.

It had all been because of her race's innate handicap.

'Oh wait a minute. I'm part warbeast!'

"Then what about me...?" Reivan frowned in worry. "Do I have less mana too? I'm part warbeast, after all."

"No need to worry, Your Highness," Valter assured with a wave of his hand.

For a moment, Reivan felt relieved.

Until Valter continued his explanation, that is.

"We've already had you looked at, and you apparently have eighty units of mana. It's not that bad."

Reivan forced a smile. "Gee, thanks."

"Now, as for learning Elementalism, it's something easy that you can accomplish during your free time, so let's set it aside for now."

"Okay."

"Sorcery, or what's sometimes called Magic, is a discipline that requires one to have a special catalyst. And those catalysts are difficult to find, which is why Sorcery is not very popular in Aizen. We do have a few hundred sorcerers, but they specialize in enchanting items and buildings, as well as runeforging. Regrettably, we must also skip over this for now."

Reivan nodded. "That leaves us with Augmentation."

"Yes. Now, as for Augmentation..." The knight took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "Due to its complexity, Augmentation has earned the nickname of Advanced Magic Power Application."

'That's not a nickname.'

Reivan couldn't help but scoff in exasperation. "Why is the nickname longer than the actual name...?"

"I'm unsure, but I believe it was such a difficult thing to accomplish, that Augmentation was too simple of a name for it. Which is why people made up a longer and more impressive-sounding name for it. Well, I'm not sure at all. The name just caught on, I suppose."

Valter stood up, summoning his Soul Armament in the form of a spear. He stabbed it into the ground beside him before gazing deep into Reivan's eyes.

"Despite its difficulty, however, all of our knights learn it within a few weeks of obtaining a Soul Armament." The knight declared, a smirk on his face. "Do you know why that is, Your Highness?"

Reivan shook his head.

"It's because of Armament Energy, the energy that our Soul Armaments use to strengthen us."

"What does that have to do with..."

"Try it, Your Highness. But let the energy flow inside you slowly."

"Yes, sir."

With a serious look on his face, a knife materialized in Reivan's hands.

'Slowly. Slowly...'

Perhaps responding to his thoughts, his Soul Armament's energy streamed into him at a snail's pace, compared to how it usually gushed into him like a tsunami. From the hand holding the knife, up his arm, and then to his shoulder, he could slowly feel his muscles erupt with power.

'Hm?'

With such a sluggish speed, Reivan couldn't help but notice certain things.

'Blood vessels...? No, they're different, I think.'

The energy was traveling through his body using pathways that were similar to blood vessels — except these tunnels in his body were passing through bones and organs as if his fleshy vitals didn't exist.

'Holy shit. I know this trope!'

Though uncommon, Reivan had also seen this type of thing in a certain anime.

'What were they called again? It was related to computers, I'm pretty sure. Uh... Mana... Mana chips? Mana Circ... Circles? No. Oh, I got it!'

"Mana Circuits...!" Reivan blurted out without thinking. It was only after a second had passed that he slapped his own mouth. He gingerly sent his guardian knight a glance.

Contrary to his expectations, Valter didn't appear to find anything strange at all. In fact, the knight had a smile on his face. "As expected of Your Highness. You've read up in advance. I heard you've had your nose stuck to a book since yesterday, but I thought you were just sating your boredom by reading fiction stories. I see that you were diligently studying in secret. How praiseworthy."

"Thank you, Sir Valter." Reivan dipped his head, a faulty grin on his face.

"In any case, Augmentation is achieved by letting one's mana flow through the mana circuits throughout the body, letting the energy nourish everything it passes through," Valter explained. "It sounds simple, but it requires an absurd level of control over mana. In addition to somehow discovering where one's mana circuits are."

The knight's body suddenly started glowing with faint blue light, and even his eyes started to shine like sapphires.

"This is one of Aizen's greatest advantages over everyone else." Valter boasted with his chest puffed out. "A knight doesn't even have to control their mana to go through their circuits. They can just let Armament Energy pull the mana along. The longest it has taken a knight to learn how to do this was six days.

"Six days to learn one of the most notoriously difficult things for a mortal to do."

Reivan's eyes scanned Valter's glowing body, observing the blue energy snaking through the inside of his body like a spectral serpent.

"And this, Your Highness, is what we will be learning for the next few days. After you learn that, we'll move on to training in basic elementalism, in addition to finding ways to make use of your various abilities."

The prince grunted as he stood up, his eyes full of excitement. "Yes, sir. I'll learn 'em all! And more!'

Despite how easy Valter made it sound, Reivan didn't know how hard it would turn out to be. But he knew that he'd try until he died anyway.

With how many seemingly impossible things he wanted to accomplish, he would do anything for power.

Anything.