Five years have passed since The Four Royal Families returned to their lands.
In the first year, Zeke helped the 15 children in training their bodies. He concluded that for them to practice combat styles later on, they needed to have suitable and enough strength to do so. He made them do their routine every day in the morning while he figure out how they want to fight someday. He also used half of his xp to buy new weapon techniques not just for the sword but also for the spear and the dagger. He bought four techniques, one for the sword, one for the spear, and two for the dagger.
The name of the dagger techniques are Nightstalker's Fangs and Bloody Berserker. They're both B+ Weapon Styles with different specialties. Nightstalker's Fangs are best used in sneak attacks where light is not present. The Bloody Berserker, on the other hand, prioritizes strength over speed. It was meant for short swords in a frontal and direct battle. The first skill is for assassinations while the second is for normal battle.
The spear technique that Zeke bought to mix in with his Imperial Spear Technique is the Might of the General. It was a B- Technique that doesn't have a focus, but it instead supplements the basic foundation of spear techniques. It included how to fight using a spear as well as certain body parts to hit when fighting someone. These body parts, when hit, will instantly cripple the enemy's combat prowess, making the user of the technique be victorious. Zeke planned to mix their Imperial Spear Technique over this so he could fully display the might of the spear.
The new sword style that Zeke bought and found interesting was Flash of Lightning. According to the book, it didn't have that many attacks, but it was ranked at A-, same as his uncle's Cloud Soaring Sword Style. It only had 4 attacks but when Zeke saw each, he had his jaws dropped. Each attack had devastating attack power enough to be ranked at A-. Each move was harder and costly than the other. Just by performing the first move, Zeke needed both immense power and mana. According to the System, Zeke needed at least 1000 strength and 75% of his current maximum mana to use it once. Zeke was shocked at how costly it was but he felt that it was worth it since he saw how powerful it is.
Zeke also had another crazy thought. He wondered if he could mix weapon styles of different weapons? Would it work? Although Zeke wanted to try it, he figured it'd be better for him to master all his newly learned weapon styles. Only then will he try to incorporate weapon styles suitable for two different weapons.
Zeke also immediately used Wisdom King's Grace on Spatial King's Domain. He made use of it as early as the first week so the skill would also be available earlier. After using the skill, Zeke immediately gained comprehension regarding Spatial King's Domain. It leveled up to level 5, which reduced its cooldown by 10 seconds, making it 50 seconds. Although the 10 seconds seem small, Zeke knew that this 10 seconds could mean a lot in a close fight.
By the end of the 1st year, Zeke used Wisdom King's Grace 12 times on 11 different techniques. He experimented on using it on Spatial King's Domain again but he found out that its effect was lowered greatly. It only reduced its cooldown by 5 seconds, signifying a 50% loss of effectiveness for every use.
He also achieved High Tier 1 by the sixth month. However, Zeke was surprised by the System's words. It said that Zeke's total mana capacity exceeds those of the same realm and it was comparable to a Peak Tier 1. Although it was just one small realm, the system noted that the higher the realms of the Perfect Mana Core, the more advantage Zeke will get in terms of mana capacity. It was one of the innate advantages of the Perfect Mana Core and add to that Zeke's titles, it's reasonable for him to have such abundant mana.
By the second year, Zeke was instructed by his parents to attend school. He complied to their wishes, but to his disappointment, the contents of the lesson were only on noble etiquette and simple mathematics, things Zeke already knew and excelled at when he was on Earth. Zeke then tried to find a way to escape school, and an idea suddenly formed in his mind.
He bought a skill in the system's shop that cost him almost 50% of his current XP just for him to escape school. It was an Epic Skill according to the system that's named Soul and Body Duplication. It made it so Zeke could split a portion of his very soul and have a second body. This body wasn't as strong as Zeke's original one as it only had 5% of his full power, but it was enough for 'him' to attend school. Although the power of his clone was permanently deducted from his stats, he could retrieve it back by merging his soul once more. Zeke initially thought it'd be that easy, but boy oh boy was he wrong. He swore and screamed a lot in his room as he felt severe headache much worse than any other. He felt like his head was being ripped apart but he couldn't stop as he was already halfway. After about 10 minutes of pure suffering, Zeke successfully divided 5% of his soul. It was very painful but Zeke endured it just so he could escape and use his time on training.
The separated soul of Zeke suddenly formed its own body, one that is the exact copy of Zeke. It then looked at Zeke just as Zeke gazed at it. Zeke felt weird as he could clearly feel and control another body. It was as if he's looking at a mirror in his vision. He adjusted himself and tried to control the clone while he was also doing something, but he ultimately failed. Then he remembered the skill he got from his previous quest, [Thought Processing 16x]. He immediately tried dividing his attention on two, with one on his clone while the other on his own body. He was delighted that it worked but after an hour of trying it, he found out that his mind became slightly tired. It seemed like it was hard for him to do something on his main body while his clone was also active, so he decided to just meditate while his clone is at school. This way, he wouldn't have to exert a lot of mental power on his main body as he already had a passive absorption of Mana from his Perfect Mana Core title. Unlike common magicians, he didn't need to force his mind to will mana to him as his mana core was like a magnet, sucking in all the nearby mana automatically should he will himself.
Zeke also found out to his surprise that his clone could actually practice too, and his main body will also get the benefits of his clone's training. The system noted that if the clone improved its stats, it will add up to Zeke's main body if both merged into one. Zeke understood all this as he felt like he was cheating. It was basically twice the training speed while also having someone to do his other matters. Esteban didn't know that Zeke had a clone as he only serviced Zeke to the school nearby. He thought Zeke was in school every morning so he didn't bother going inside Zeke's part of the palace, particularly the training room where Zeke's main body is training.
After school, he would casually teach the 15 children about forming their own mana core. Although not all of them wanted to be a magician, Zeke clarified that having a mana core is still better as he could teach them spells that could enhance their body should they want to fight melee. The children understood Zeke's statement so they diligently did as Zeke said. After meditating, they would also have a 'spar' against Zeke. Here, they needed to catch or at least touch Zeke once and they win. Zeke agreed as it also served as physical and mental training for them. This way, they could improve their body as well as their decision-making skills and cooperation.
In the third year, Zeke broke through High Tier 1, making him a Peak Tier 1. Zeke felt that his mana pool got 30% bigger than before, and it made him excited thinking about how much magic he could deal before his mana pool depletes. In the last year, he used Wisdom King's Grace on most of his weapon styles, so Zeke decided it would be good for him to practice his magic this year. While his clone was out for school, Zeke was inside the training room practicing the new skills he bought. Since he had a mana pool comparable to a Tier 2 now, Zeke decided to get some Tier 2 Magic which is a notch higher than Beginner magic that he has.
He browsed the shop for Tier 2 Magic and found out that it costs a bit more than B ranked weapon styles. He only managed to buy 8 new magic skills before depleting his xp reserve. He carefully picked 8 out of the countless magic skills that he knew he couldn't learn by himself, and its names are Electric Discharge, Fire of Recovery, Earth Wall, Wind Walk, Chain of Ice, Feline Control, Blessings of Light, and Chilling Aura. These are all skills that he fancied out of all but he also didn't plan on limiting his choices on these. He planned to experiment and try to make a spell by himself. He didn't know how the inhabitants of this world learn magic but since they didn't have the System, they must have other ways of gaining magic, right? He just needed a good imagination as well as the correct element of mana and he might actually get himself a free spell.
This year, the children also asked Zeke to teach them how to hold weapons. Zeke didn't know why they suddenly wanted to learn combat but he nevertheless agreed to do so as long as they promise to use it only to defend themselves and not to harm others. The kids immediately agreed and Zeke consulted their preferred weapons. He realized that these kids must've seen a group of adventurers since their choice of weapons fit the standard group of one. Three of them, one girl and two boys, wanted to learn how to handle the shield, another three took interest in the sword, two fancied using daggers and stealth, two liked to attack in the distance using arrows and the remaining five preferred to walk the path of magicians in the future. The five unanimously agreed that if they are somewhat not fit for magic, then they will just be a supporting role for the others. Zeke was amazed by their camaraderie and how trustworthy they are with each other.
He was also surprised by Marcus' choice of picking the sword. Zeke thought he would want a greatsword or both longsword and shield since he was, after all, from a family famed for their knights. Marcus just shook his head and replied that he didn't like to use a shield as he only wanted to go on a hard offensive. Zeke then ordered Esteban to buy a set of weapons for them to practice on and he also carefully thought about what to teach them.
From the past years with them, Zeke knew the preferences of each of the 15 and he was pondering about what techniques to teach them with. Since his Formless Style had a lot of weapon techniques of varying weapons, Zeke didn't have any trouble picking styles for each of them, but he abstained from teaching it instantly. He felt that they needed to get used to their weapon of choice first before he give them high-grade combat techniques. It's better to have a good and solid foundation, after all.
In the fourth year, he graduated from school and had his clone holed up in his room, practicing different sword styles and slowly fusing them with each other. His real body then focused on honing his magic application as well as combat magic. He also bought four new sword styles to practice on.
This year, 14 out of the 15 children including Marcus successfully formed their mana core. To Zeke's surprise, Marcus was actually a variant magician! When he examined Marcus' mana, he found out to his surprise that it's actually the element of Metal, an element famed for its extraordinary sharpness. Zeke thought that Marcus would really have a good future towards being a swordsman seeing as his element completely matches and complements his weapon of choice.
There was also another two out of the 14 who were variant magicians. One was a boy who had the Dark Element while the other was a girl who had the rare element of Plant. Zeke felt it was weird to have a power related to plants but he nevertheless congratulated them. The fourteen felt intense gratefulness to Zeke as his status had already escalated from benefactor to their savior and ancestor. They felt that they were extremely lucky to have such a connection to a Young Noble who didn't discriminate towards their background but instead helped them achieve their current state. They deeply bowed while Marcus even kowtowed. Zeke was overwhelmed by their thanks as he hurriedly helped them stand up.
The last one out of the 15 who hadn't managed to form his mana core didn't get sad nor jealous. Instead, he was filled with awe and shock towards his 14 other 'siblings'. He clearly knew that not all people could be magicians, and only a few out of a thousand could. He concluded that he wasn't one of them so he chose to give up on his mana core forming. He instead approached Zeke and asked if he could borrow books related to Business and Economy. Zeke's eyes widened. This boy in front of him, instead of getting jealous or getting competitive, instead chose to pick a different occupation than most of them. When he realized that the boy really intended to be a business merchant, he immediately agreed and swore to support him and his future, much to the boy's expectation. He expected Zeke to frown and admonish him to meditate harder, but he instead got his full support and help. This made him really feel as if these people are all really very good people that they didn't judge nor criticize him for his decision. He also swore inwardly that he would support his fellow brothers and sisters in the future when he became successful.
By the fifth and last year, Zeke broke through to become a full-fledged Tier 2 Magician. According to the system, he was perhaps the youngest Tier 2 Magician in the last thousand years. Magicians who reach Tier 2 usually are around 16-17 years old while the geniuses are around 14-15. There was no recorded person who achieved Tier 2 by the young age of 9, and Zeke might possibly be the first one to break the current stigma that 'Magicians only bloom at later years'.