Alex was about to enter when he saw a familiar face pulling up to the building.
"Hey Alex."
"Hey Paul." Alex replied to the man with glasses as he left his car.
"You are here early, are you trying to get some extra training in before Daniel whups yours and Taylor's butts tomorrow?" Paul asked.
"Nah just trying to see if I can whip his butt without hurting him too badly." Alex replied, confusing Paul because he sounded somewhat serious.
"Haha! Oh, I get it that's a good one." Paul laughed as he pretended to understand the punchline.
Alex chuckled in response and let out a soft sight.
Ever since Alex had left the dark cave he had noticed the abundance of light mana. It moved so fast that just by standing around he was absorbing it into his affinity, albeit very slowly.
The lightning mana liked to congregate in certain areas. He could feel large amounts contained within the dark clouds above.
'It must be every lightning mage's dream to soar into the sky and sit in such an abundant source of mana.'
"You seem out of it are you feeling sick?" Paul asked, seeing Alex grab opening the door and walking with an empty gaze.
"No, I'm fine. I was just thinking that it feels like a gloomy day seeing the clouds and all." Alex said as he left his wandering mind behind.
"While that is true that we see it as gloomy, all of the plants are probably thanking the heavens that they are going to be rained upon. You should be happy though you get to spend a good majority of your day with little ol' me."
"Speaking of which, you've finished the last of the runes haven't you?" Paul asked
"I have indeed."
"Good, you will have a fun time today then. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you learn how all of this comes together."
"I remember when I first learned it, that how I came up with the project that we are working on."
——————
Alex finished his daily dose of meditation, making sure to only absorb dark mana. The teachers would definitely feel the mana moving in his direction if he dared to absorb it.
He got up and followed Taylor who was also leaving the room.
"Hey Deb. How's it going?" Taylor asked as he walked up to the front desk.
"It's going good. How about you two, I know Taylor is feeling good, but you Alex I could have sworn you've been getting more handsome as the days pass?"
"It's probably all the training I've been doing, it's done a lot of good for my health." Alex said with a small smile while lightly scratching the stubble that was appearing on his face.
"You know I'm just picking on you. It's just too fun to see that smile of yours."
"So, same as every other day?" Deb asked while already grabbing the card.
"You know it." Taylor said while grinning at Alex.
"We'll see you later Deb, don't work yourself too hard out here." Taylor said as the two left to meet up with Tom and James.
She only smiled in response before turning her attention back to her phone.
Taylor reached the door. "I've got it this time." He said while carefully reading the card.
He used the card on the door after he held it correctly. When the door clicked Taylor opened it as quickly as he could.
Alex watched as he rushed in and tried to take Tom by surprise. Unfortunately for him, there was already a torrent of wind heading in his direction.
He ignored it and ran straight through it.
"Hey Alex." James said seeing Alex and Taylor entering.
"Hello James." Alex replied.
"I'm surprised by how fast Taylor is advancing, if this keeps up he may be able to catch Tom by the end of the year."
"He will not!" Tom said as he heard what James had said.
Alex fixed his ruffled hair and walked up to a dummy before saying "he will." In a lower tone.
James laughed as Tom had still somehow heard what Alex had said.
Alex gave a quick punch to the dummy. His fist seemed to disappear for a moment before returning. The dummy that usually just took the blow skidded backward as a loud smack was heard.
"Jeez Alex, did you get into Lockhorn's secret stash of strength-enhancing potions? You've been getting stronger over time but this has to be the biggest jump I've seen." James said with a knowing smirk already on his face.
Alex looked at the two captains, a look of surprise filled his face. Tom who had stopped for a second winked at him.
'Did the instructors tell them? If they did then that means that they trust them and to be honest I do too, so I guess this is for the best.'
"Hehe, that's a secret." Alex said noticing that by the way they were acting, this room probably had surveillance hidden around it.
"Well, congratulations on your secret. We will speak to you more later." James whispered into Alex's ear.
Taylor took the moment that Tom had stopped, as an opportunity drawing in close.
"Oh no you don't, the bruise you left last time just healed. Not everyone can get beaten up and walk it off a few hours later like you." Tom said as he sped off in the opposite direction.
——————
Alex and James entered the runes club.
"Hello you two." David said as they entered.
"Alex congratulations on the progress you've made with your wind affinity." David said as he noticed the mana within Alex had grown substantially.
"Thank you David." Alex said in reply.
"Alex, you're finally here let's get to it." Paul said as he put down a book and left for the other room, dragging Alex behind him.
Alex waved farewell to James and David as he was pulled out of the room.
"Now quick quiz. Tell me the three different ways runes are powered." Paul said as he took pulled a chair up in front of Alex.
"Um, there are the runes that absorb mana from the air to accomplish low-cost functions, like the ones used in light crystals." Alex said as he combed through all of the runes he had learned of.
"There are the high-cost functions like the regeneration rune. They use external power sources like a beast core to do what they do. The last ones are runes like the durability rune. They store the mana that they receive, only using it when needed. They can be recharged manually much like the second type."
"However when runes take in mana they weaken over time. All runes except for those that have been perfected will eventually break, perfected ones can be repaired by the one who created them." Alex finished giving more information than was necessary.
"Very good, you've already got a better understanding than most others. Now, onto the real deal. These ten runes here, you'll see these repeat multiple times across the armor suit."
Alex nodded, the runes that were pointed out did almost nothing, and yet they were the most used ones on the suit of armor.
"Here watch the pure mana as I send…."
Alex left the room in a daze. His mind spinning as he learned how those seemingly insignificant runes when put together, acted like electrical logic gates. They worked very similarly to the new technology that created artificial intelligence. 'Cars can be made solely from runes, ovens can, anything can.'
Alex thought deeply as he walked out to the courtyard.
Paul smiled as he saw how shell-shocked Alex was from what he had learned.
Alex looked up when he noticed that he had made it to the courtyard. Taylor was speaking with Daniel and Michael and Tom and James were there as well.
"You're finally here. Come on let's head on back. We'll be right back Millay." Michael said as Alex approached them.
The two instructors lead the young men to the secluded room. They didn't need to turn off their watches today, as they weren't wearing them.
"Originally we were only going to give you these, but seeing as you have finally awakened your light affinity, we can give you this as well." Daniel said as he took three books out of his satchel.
"This is the most detailed and accurate book we could find about space. It came all the way from an institute that is leading the world in developing travel through space. This is a more detailed book on the dark affinity, it existed long ago but was outlawed a few hundred years ago. Only in The kingdom of light that is, you can find them in abundance elsewhere though."
"The last one I took from the school's storage this morning, it's the manual for light mages. I thought you might need it. Try to steer clear of any other King class mages it looks like your light affinity is not a normal one. I can feel that yours is almost on par with mine." Michael said.
"Here is one last thing that we wanted to give you, it took us a while, and we had to get David to give us a hand but it's done."
"This will hide your light mana's aura. It isn't pretty but it should hide perfectly under your clothes." Daniel pulled out a cloth that was inlaid with countless runes.
"Here, lift up your sleeve I will show you how to put it on." He wrapped the cloth around Alex's arm and made sure it was secure.
"Does this mean that David knows as well?" Alex asked.
"He knows that you are a mage of balance, but not that you wield the power of space." Michael assured Alex.
"Still can't believe you were hiding something that big Alex, but don't worry your secret is safe with us." James spoke up.
"How is it did it work Michael?" Daniel asked.
"It worked perfectly. Even with the higher tier of light mana, I am not able to sense any of it." Michael said after pausing for a moment.
"What about you Alex, it shouldn't have cut off your ability to sense light mana if it is working right."
"It's working perfectly fine then. I can still sense it and I feel like nothing has changed." Alex said while sending the energy around him.
"We know what you have put yourself through as well. I'll tell you this Alex when it comes to gathering strength as a mage, if you know that you can survive and the reward is worth it, then go for it." Michael told Alex.
"So many times in my youth, I had walked past a treasure of great value, and only because I feared the unknown." He continued as he reminisced.
"Just remember to know your limits. It's very easy to ignore them when you have such boundless talent." Daniel said to Alex to settle him down.
"James and Tom were really nosy and got scared that the two of you were gonna pass them easily, so that's how they got to know of what happened." Daniel said clearing up some confusion before laughing and continuing. "But we also trust them with many important details similar to what you have gone through, so we trust them."
The two captains only laughed and scratched their heads lightly at the accusation.
"Was that everything?" Daniel asked Michael.
"I think so."
"Good then off to your duel, I'll see you both tomorrow for our last spar." Daniel said his farewell with the pair as Michael took them to the dueling room.
"Why are those two following us?" Taylor asked Michael.
"Those two are your dueling partners for the day." Michael said with a big grin on his face.
"They are are what!?"
Alex smiled as he had already guessed why they were accompanying them. 'Well, it looks like we are gonna take a beating today. I know how much Tom wants to get revenge on Taylor for the sucker punch. Hopefully, James will take it easy on me.' Alex thought as Taylor whined on the way to the dueling room.