'It seems someone already targeted me' Ares thought during his lunch.
He already expected that his school life might be interesting but he didn't expect that there would be some people who were too excited to give him trouble this early. It's only the end of the second week of school.
An unknown probably an illegitimate child of a well-known and prominent noble family, there would be countless people with various reasons trying to 'test' him. Before enrolling into HGA, Ares already realised that his status was a bit ambiguous and didn't seem noble enough for certain people thus he already expected various kinds of special treatment that he would get; not that he really cared.
"Ran, can you find some information about the members of the Parkour Club? Exclude the first year and only focus on the second year and above" Ares said to Ran who already finished eating.
"Yes I can" she answered calmly.
"Take your time. It is not urgent"
'It's not my style to retaliate just because of a childish trick like this. Trying to break my bones? I have even been poisoned so this kind of trick didn't even excite me much but that doesn't mean I will just let it be.'
Not long after that, there was a knock on the door and I just used my psychokinesis to unlock the door.
Knock Knock
"Come in the door isn't locked," Ares said without lifting his head.
"It seems like you've become more and more comfortable with me" Prince Theo commented before sitting down on the only sofa in the room as if it was his.
"So do you," Ares said when he saw Prince Theo took the jar of biscuits on the table and ate it like it was his.
"Hahaha, so what are you doing?" Prince Theo asked after seeing Ares seemed busy reading something on his laptop screen.
"Just a family-related business," Ares said while putting away the business report from Eris.
"So before we start, may I know what kind of magic spell have you learned?" Prince Theo asked directly since today is their first-day practising magic together.
"Mostly just basic attack spells" Ares answered honestly while chanting a few basic spells of fire, wind and lightning spells.
"Your wind spell looks a bit unstable but your lightning and fire spell seems fine" he commented after Ares had finished.
"So what do I have to do?" Ares asked.
"It seems like you're quite rushed when practising magic spells which I think I can kind of understand since you have to be able to use both mana and aura isn't it. So my tip is don't try too many different elemental spells. Just focus on at most one or two in your case I suggest you focus on fire element and lightning element spells. Fire spells mostly have the same base characteristic as lightning thus it's easier to learn them together."
"So how about this one?" Ares said before showing him my psychokinesis spells. Pens, papers, teacups and even the biscuits jar in front of him started to float around the room as if gravity didn't affect them.
"Levitation? No psychokinesis or some people also called it telekinesis. It's that one right?" Prince Theo asked seemingly excited.
"Yeah psychokinesis" Ares answered while putting down all the things back to their original spot.
"Isn't this kind of spell more complicated than regular attack spells? You're not planning to become a mage aren't you?" Prince Theo said while scrutinizing Ares.
"No, it's just that I created a simpler version of psychokinesis magic circle and when I was able to enchant it, I kind of like practising the spell quite a lot of times until it became the most proficient spell I can conjure," Ares said honestly.
"I see. So you're more like Kara Zanuki rather than Adrian huh. It's fine then since I kind of can guess that you will be using this spell when using weapons right? So I decided to help you master your fire and lightning spells but we have to go somewhere else since you can't practice these kinds of magic spells in a room" Prince Theo replied.
"I think I know where we can go," Ares said before taking his face mask and gesturing for Prince Theo to follow him towards the forest behind the residential building.
A few minutes later, we arrived at a plain grassy area the same size as a training ground. The area is hidden due to the tall trees surrounding it and the tree shades blocked almost half of the sunlight making the area dimmer.
It was the abandoned training ground that Adrian found.
"How did you know about this area?" Prince Theo asked seemingly curiously.
"My cousin, Adrian accidentally found it when he went on a stroll a few weeks ago"
Since then Ares would sometime train here since training inside the building felt a bit suffocating.
"This is nice. I will use this when I want to practice my magic later so don't claim this place yours" Prince Theo said shamelessly even though this place is also not his.
"Yeah sure"
"So let's start, shall we. I will give you a few mid-tier spells you can practise and mid-tier spells are your limits right now. To be honest, I thought that making you proficient in basic spells is enough but seeing you can conjure psychokinesis at ease, I changed my mind"
"However, don't rush and slowly make yourself and your mana used to the spells. Make it as if those spells are slowly being engraved into your body. Magic is not the smash martial arts or using aura where the harder you practice, the better you become. Being good at magic will always take time."
Prince explained to Ares clearly before giving me a few more basic spells and after seeing that Ares could conjure them even though a little bit crook, he (PT) continues teaching a few easy mid-tier spells.
Ares conjured every spell Prince Theo taught him until he almost exhausted all of his mana. When Ares saw that Prince Theo didn't seem to be talking after a while, he take a look and see that Prince Theo seemed kind of lost in thoughts so Ares just let him be and take a look at the time on his(A) phone. It's already almost two hours since they came here, no wonder he felt hungry.
"Hey, want to go back and eat lunch?" Ares asked.
"Don't you want to practice more? It's rare for us to have a whole day free like this"
"Sure but I think I need to eat first," Ares said while looking around before he saw a plant that he knew.
It's a sweet potato plant!!
At a glance, it looked like your regular bushy grass but those who knew about it would know for sure what was underneath the ground below them. Ares quickly went towards it and started to dig after wearing another pair of gloves.
Ares always wears pair of black leather gloves when in public since it was his habit from his past life.
"Hey, are you going to eat dirt now?" Prince Theo asked seemingly bewildered by Ares's sudden behaviour.
Ares just realized this world has sweet potato plants when he saw them being sold in the market around Kazigare Valley before but since he was busy, he never had the chance to find them.
Growing up always have to survive, Ares or his original name, Rayyan Lee always went to the woods behind his family home and picked up some mushrooms and berries to eat. Later, some of his family's guards told and helped him to search for sweet potato plants which later become his favourite.
It's not because his family didn't feed him but it was just the bare minimum. Since he was considered the weakest among his siblings in terms of physical, he only got to eat plain rice and a fried egg as his daily meal while his siblings got to eat chicken and meat.
That's how they educated and instilled survival instincts in their children. The strong would get better and more things while the weak only get the leftover if they are lucky.
The strong took it all, that's what they wanted the children to understand. But he never cares about all that. He was the only oddball in the family and yet they still kill him despite him being the most harmless.
Snapping out from his thought, he continued talking to Prince Theo.
"It's a sweet potato. Have you ever eaten them? We can eat this for today" Ares said while plucking out a few sweet potatoes from the roots.
"What is this? Another type of potato?" Prince Theo asked curiously while taking a look at one of them.
After taking out about 15 of them, Ares throw away his gloves and started finding tree branches around the area to make a fire pit so he could cook the sweet potatoes. It's been a long time since he had last eaten a hot sweet potato outside like this.
"So you cook it like this huh"
"You can also make it into desserts and congee. The leaves are also edible and usually, I will stir-fry them and eat them with meats or chickens along with rice"
Ares continued babbling without noticing that he had been talking mostly about his past life. If Ron heard this, he might felt weird but luckily only the Shadows were following and as far as Ares knew, they would never care about whatever nonsense he spouted since they only have to protect him from the danger that could cause his life.
Prince Theo listened to him attentively since it was rare for this red-haired guy in front of him to talk this much.
"You sure like to eat huh. You always look like a kid when you eat even though the way you eat still aligned with etiquette but the way you focus so intently when eating makes you look more likeable you know" he commented when Ares passed him a sweet potato that has already fully cooked.
"Peel the skin like this and just eat directly. The dirt and dust won't kill you if you're worried" Ares ignored Prince Theo's words and started eating.
Later, they ate quietly and after lying on the ground for a moment Ares dozed off.
*************************************
"Sigh, he is just like a cat. Dozing off after his stomach is full" Prince Theo murmured to himself.
"So since he is sleeping, let me practice my ow magic for a while until this cat wakes up on his own" he decided before starting a few mid-tier spells that looked different from what he taught Ares before since the mana that he was using is different from Ares.
"Luckily he's a Zanuki so I don't have to toss him away somewhere else" he commented seeing the fragments of his mana linger in the air.
After finishing practising every mid-tier offensive magic spell that he knew, he sat down in a lotus position and started to regulate his mana all over his body. Since the mana that he was using is different, he always has to be careful when using them lest he'll experience mana depletion.
Prince Theo still can use regular mana at the same time to cover up his weaknesses but regular mana is not as efficient as the dark mana for him.
"Hmm is he meditating?" Suddenly a sleepy voice came from the just wake up red hair guy.
Ares yawned and scratched his messy red hair where his hairband had already fallen off somewhere.
"I thought I have to wait longer for you to wake up."
"You're regulating your mana? Are you experiencing mana depletion?" Ares asked seemingly concerned despite his unchangeable stoic face that Prince Theo had already gotten used to after seeing it for a few months.
"Why do you say that?" he asked half guarded since being able to use another type of mana is one of his biggest secrets
"I've been living in Kazigare Valley for a while before my enrollment here so I can feel that the current mana around this area feels the same as the one in Kazigare Valley" Ares explained clearly as if nothing was wrong.
"You're sharp aren't you?"
"My great grandmother said at least I'm not stupid" Ares replied nonchalantly while tying up his hair.
"Yeah I'm not using the regular mana like normal mages do since this kind of mana is rare and only certain places can provide for it, I have to regulate my mana to absorb back what I've released lest I will experience mana depletion. Using regular mana is not efficient for me since my body can't absorb or process too much of them" Prince Theo said honestly without knowing why I have to tell him something that I don't even want to share with my brother.
"Hey, have you tried searching for dead mana liquid?"
"I have, a few times. I got it from the black market but the supply is not much and they made it illegally by killing slaves after torturing them. The dead mana concentration is high but knowing the process behind it, I don't think I can continue consuming them"
"Want to go to Kazigare Valley with me some other time?" Ares offered.
Kazigare Valley is one of the places Prince Theo wanted to go but even the royal family must have a solid reason to be able to enter that place and only the Zanuki can enter that place at ease.
"Why are you giving me this kind of offer?" Prince Theo asked seemingly wanting to reject him.
"Because you taught me magic spells" Ares answered as if it was nothing.
"Didn't you say that cooking breakfast for me is enough as compensation?"
"So do you want to practice swordsmanship on top of magic with me? Maybe we can practice swords along with magic at the same time. Kind of difficult for me but I think it might be worth it" he suggested.
"I did say you can use me but I've never taught it will be like this? Sure why not. Bring me to Kazigare Valley at least twice a year during our break and I will practice magic and swordsmanship with you. So anything else you want to add?"
"Hmm if I give you something that you like in the future, you have to help me with something once"
"Sure as long as it won't cost me my life or make me destroy this country" Prince Theo easily agreed since this kind of deal equally benefit both of us.
"You're thinking too much. There is no benefit for me in having you get killed or making this country crumble"
"Are you not going to create a mana contract or something? What if I cheat you?" Prince Theo asked.
"Huh, why do you want to cheat me? You're richer than me so what kind of scam you're going to do?" Ares said flatly as if he was just stating a fact.
"Who knows? Maybe I will dig a pit for your family or cause them to lose money or something"
"It doesn't benefit you at all if the Zanuki fell into the mud," he said confidently and it's true.
If the Zanuki were to be destroyed or become weaker, Prince Theo will also be affected so it's doesn't benefit him to dig a pit for them since they were his survival aids and Ares realized that but Prince Theo still doesn't understand why Ares should help him when he(A) can just be a bystander and do nothing.
"Are you helping me because you felt pity for me?"
"No, I never feel pity towards you" Ares replied seemingly honest.
"Sure whatever. I don't mind since I'm not losing anything" Prince Theo said while brushing off tons of questions that he wanted to ask him(A).
No one knew about Ares's existence until around 5 years ago as if he suddenly existed out of thin air. Then, he remained hidden from public eyes until last year and only this year people could finally see him physically.
No one knew when he was born, who exactly his parents are or did he was really the direct descendant of the current Zanuki matriarch.
Prince Theo could kind of see himself whenever he saw Ares as if they were the same despite he(PT) knowing nothing about his(A) past since he(A) never talked about it.
It's not like he had ever talked about his past either but curiosity got the best of him so he asked, "I already told you that I didn't use regular mana and it's kind of a secret of mine so what can you exchange for that?"
"Ohh so you want equal exchange for everything. Sure I can tell you one thingit'sts not a secret since people will find out about it sooner or later. Since you tell me about you using dark magic, I will show you my aura"
Even though it was not something that he wanted to know, Prince Theo kept on observing him tentatively. The black aura started to solidify and had irregular shapes, swirling and peeking out behind him.
Later, the aura slowly took a shape of multiple metal chains with a golden colour coated by black mist. The golden chains kind of take a shape like long tails coming out from behind him and their sturdy, shiny golden look, make me amazed.
"So this is my aura. It's kind of like a mutated aura and I don't know how to use it yet but I planned to use it with my family sealing technique" Ares explained while showing off the metal chains for me to see more clearly.
"Your opponent will be swept away if you just swing one of these metal chains" Prince Theo commented.
"I can't control it efficiently yet so I'm not gonna use it during the battle the for the time being"
Later he also talked about his family's aura and said that that information was recorded in the royal library so it was not a big deal to tell him(PT).
When the sun almost set, Ares dragged Prince Theo back to their rooms before he(PT) barely managed to record the coordinate of that place so that he could just teleport there whenever he wanted to.