"Again!"
I dashed with my draconic hands toward my instructor for what felt like the hundredth time. As he got into my reach, I started feeling him out again with a couple of jabs, *Don! Don! Don!*, which he blocked with ease using his hands.
"Now, do a 1-2-1-3 combo!", He shouted at me, which was pretty easily translated into left jab, straight right, left jab into a right cross. A very traditional boxing combo.
*Don! Don! Don! BAM!*
I unleashed my attacks as powerfully as I could, only for him to effortlessly catch all my attacks once more.
Before I could recover, I felt my legs getting swept from underneath, making me fall to the ground.
"How many times did I tell you! Don't stop moving!"
Mr. Brown sounded harsh, even to the point of being mean, but I construed his words as tough love. Even now, having only one session under my belt, I felt like I had gained so much. Unfortunately, it had also opened my eyes as to just how much I still had to learn.
Breaking his stiff façade, my instructor brought out a warm smile, "Now, that was all we had time for today. You did great, Red!"
Red was his nickname for me, as it was a lot easier to say than Sophie during a stressful spar.
'It's just so sad that my [Dragonize] makes me blue...'
It was truly a tragedy, having Red as my last name but transforming into a blue dragon.
"Thanks, Mr. Brown!"
Getting up from the ground, he concluded our session with some words of wisdom, "Now, Red, do make sure to try and keep your power at least somewhat hidden. There is no telling how many noble houses might want to kidnap you if they know what Manual you have. Oh, and also, do make sure to ask for a double serving for lunch. Your body will need it!"
As dark thoughts started to emerge in my head, mostly about the kidnapping thing but also a bit about having to eat a double serving as a lady, I just gave him a quick goodbye and made my way to the cafeteria, still dressed in my sweaty uniform.
****
[James's Pov]
Stretching my body after sitting down and meditating for four hours, I couldn't help but see something that made my skin crawl a bit.
All the other students were wearing the same kinds of clothes; They were wearing the official student uniform of Ainu while I was wearing sweatpants.
'Did I miss something...?'
Quickly figuring out that they must have gotten their uniforms during our first day of school, I felt my social anxiety creeping up on me again.
"Young man, are you alright?"
Looking to my side, Mrs. Bright had noticed my distress and come to my rescue, her appearance completely lifting me from the shackles that started to constrict my soul.
'If you were only about 70 years younger I would make you my wife so fast... Actually, make that 80 years...'
From the looks of it and, from my assumed knowledge of this world, she was probably more than a hundred years old. Just as I was thinking this, she slapped my hand.
*Smack!*
"Ow! Why did you do that???"
"Young man, your thoughts are leaking out, and that's no way to think about a lady! Now, what's bothering you, dear?"
She calmed down as quickly as she got riled up, getting right back on track to listen to my troubles.
"Well, I didn't get my uniform, and now it feels really bad thinking about what the other students think of me..."
...
"Is that it? Are you seriously stressed about just not having gotten your uniform?"
Mrs. Bright's face was completely blank, unable to comprehend that one of the elite students at Ainu was panicking over something so ridiculous.
Lowering my gaze to the ground in shame, as her words made me understand just how pathetic I sounded, I grit my teeth.
"Yes, mam."
I could feel a warm, and wrinkly, hand on my cheek, "Dear, you can't be that weak if you are going to stay at the academy. Just go and talk with your homeroom teacher and ask for a uniform. Now, straighten your back and walk proudly! You are a student at Ainu!"
Following her orders, and feeling much better about the situation after her pep talk, I stood tall, or at least as tall as I could.
"Yes, mam!"
"Good! Now get out there son, give them hell!"
Although I didn't know why I suddenly felt the urge to play basketball, I walked out of the classroom and let my feet lead me to the cafeteria for lunch.
****
Fully focused on completing my mission as fast as possible, eating the delicious food that I had been served, the people around me had for some reason multiplied.
There was no longer just Sophie and Arthur here, now they had somehow mimicked amoebas and multiplied themselves, as there were now two more individuals.
I knew both of them from the game already, Sarah who was a healer and a princess, and Anna who was a witch. No, I didn't mean anything bad with that statement. It was just that her Manual pretty much made her a witch as she practiced it, letting her learn dark attribute spells and curses.
"So James, why didn't we get to see you during the first day when we were all gathering in the gymnasium?"
The princess was the one who asked, most likely because Arthur already assumed I was training and Sophie knew about my personality.
Emptying the contents in my mouth, I have a curt answer so that I could continue eating, "I was busy training."
Sarah was truly a beautiful girl, breathtaking in fact, but because I was surrounded by people, I couldn't appreciate her appearance right now.
"Is that so? You must be pretty determined if you even risked getting suspended just to continue your training..."
What she just said caught my attention, as she made apparent yet another flaw in my plans. 'Oh right... This is a center of education, I could get suspended if I do stuff like skipping class...'
Now wanting to admit that the risk of suspension had been missing from my train of thought, I brought out the best poker face I could muster, "If they suspend me for spending my time with reason, then so be it. That just means that Ainu academy is not the place I belong."
Having finished eating already, I got up and quickly made my way out of the nightmare difficulty dungeon.
****
[Sophie's Pov]
"Tsk!"
Watching the small man leave us, having finished his food in record time, I couldn't help but click my tongue.
'What a dork... Does he honestly think that anyone will fall for his bullshit?'
"Sophie... Do you have James's number...?"
A somewhat flushed princess just showed some clear signs that she believed what that idiot had said, "No, I don't. And you should probably be careful about getting too close to him..."
Her eyes opened a bit, not understanding what I meant, "Why shouldn't I try to get close to him? I mean, he is a little short and skinny, but he was so handsome. And he seems so passionate..."
Instead of letting me fill in the blanks, the love of my life interjected and derailed her understanding of the man even more.
"Sarah, it's because he will not have time for you! He is too busy spending all his time improving, training as hard as possible to reach the apex! He even purposefully made a fool out of himself on the first day just to make sure he wouldn't get disturbed!"
Both of their eyes were currently glowing in awe when they thought about how hardworking James was, how he didn't even fear getting expelled as long as he could continue his training. However, I just got the true answer as to why he wasn't present during our gathering.
'So he fucked up during class and ran away? Or did he just do that teleportation trick to look cool? No matter what, he is such an idiot...'
****
[James's Pov]
"Welcome. As you see, we will be holding the mana manipulation class in the same classroom as the cultivation course. My name is Andrew Black and I will be your teacher for the year."
The second lesson of my school year had started, this time with manipulation of mana being the addressed subject, having a middle-aged man with a receding hairline as our instructor.
The students who took this course were almost the same as the ones who took the cultivation class with just one exception; The crazy student who called himself Harrower was not present. Although it was a bit awkward to be in the same room as Sarah after my little theatrical display at the cafeteria, I forcefully pushed it to the back of my mind and ignored it.
Having already taken the same lotus position as our last course, we were all listening intently to what our teacher had to say.
"The first exercise that we will practice is a pure form of mana cultivation where you will try and focus your mana throughout your bodies. A lot of Manuals have this form of physical enhancement as inherent skills but with this method, we are able to replicate those skills to a somewhat acceptable level."
I could feel the edges of my mouth rising as I listened to his words. What he had just pretty much said was that even though skills were superior, one could manually manipulate mana in order to replicate them. There was not a single fraction of me that didn't believe that this translated to a lot more than just physical enhancements.
Catching myself, and restraining my excitement, in both of my bodies, my main body still sitting on my bed, started to practice filling and enhancing one limb at a time with mana.