Pyro Temple.
Inside the temple's vast and spacious library sat a young man looking in his twenties.
His stunning looks, well-proportioned figure, and unique disposition he possessed made everyone who looked at him unable to tear their gaze away from him.
At this moment, the young man held a book in his hands and muttered something under his breath.
"Initially, the concept of mana or magic didn't exist in the world of Astria."
"It was only due to the disappearance of a mysterious civilization in the past that made it possible for mana to exist in the world and allowed the people of Astria to utilize this mysterious energy…."
"At the same time, six magic crystals of unknown origins appeared. They were respectively known as the Pyro Crystal, Water Crystal, Wind Crystal, Earth Crystal, Crystal of Darkness, and Crystal of Luminescence…."
"Those said crystals chose six young and promising individuals to grant them authority to manage over them and utilize the hidden powers within them."
Just as the young man was about to turn to the next page.
He suddenly heard a low whisper from a man sounding beside his ear, making his hand stop mid-air, "That's enough reading for today, Saint. It's now time for you to head to the training grounds and begin training."
When Michael heard such a familiar voice in such close proximity, the hairs on his neck immediately stood on their ends.
He unhesitatingly shifted his body to the other side and closed the book in his hands.
He was just about to stand up and choose another spot to read in silence when a mighty hand suddenly took the book away from his grasp.
When he saw this, he couldn't stop his brows from twitching violently. "What do you think you're doing right now, Carlos?!" he spoke between his teeth while looking at the man sitting beside him.
Carlos, the man in question, was a handsome-looking young man. He had a wheat-colored skin tone and a fairly muscular build. He was decked up with a set of fiery-red armor that made him look heroic and valiant.
He simply grinned at Michael's question and replied, "Nothing? I might have or might not have taken a liking to this book, that's all..."
His playful and cheeky response made Michael's nerves snap. "Ha! How annoying! Carlos, return that book to me at once or I will tell the high priest about what you did back then!"
Carlos' smile visibly stiffened for a brief moment before it returned to normal. He then responded in a sarcastic manner, "Oh god, I'm so scared! How will I live with myself? "
He even acted like he was truly scared when he said this.
"Just to let you know, the high priest personally asked me to do this, okay? So, haha..." he added.
Michael was pissed off, but all he could do was grind his teeth and stomp the ground in a fit of anger.
A few seconds later.
He took a long, deep breath and finally calmed down. "Why would the high priest give you this kind of order, though?" he questioned.
Carlos smiled as he replied, "I mean, the high priest didn't exactly order me to confiscate your book. He instead asked me to give you some tests. In other words… he wanted to see the result of your secluded training by having a spar with me."
"How about it, Saint? If you win, I'll give this book to you and even ask the high priest to not disturb you for a few days."
Michael raised his brow in surprise. He didn't expect Carlos to be this generous. However, he didn't immediately accept his offer and posed a question to the man instead.
"What would happen if I lost, then?" he felt slightly nervous when he asked this.
Carlos grinned and answered, "Of course, you… will have to double your training intensity as well as extend your training time to eight hours per day for a whole month!"
Michael suddenly felt dizzy when he heard the outrageous words that came out of Carlos' mouth.
"What?! No! I will not accept this nonsense of a bet! Never—!" he didn't even manage to finish his sentence when he heard Carlos' faint whisper drifting to his ears.
He couldn't react for a moment. He blankly stared at Carlos, wondering if he was joking or not. However, he just saw Carlos smiling profoundly at him without saying anything.
"Would you really do that? I won't forgive you if you renege on your words, understand?" At that moment, he knew that Carlos was serious.
Carlos just nodded and replied, "Of course. When have I ever lied to you, Saint?"
A few minutes later.
Michael and Carlos finally arrived in front of the temple's training space.
Carlos opened the door for him and motioned for him to enter first. He silently nodded to express his gratitude and then entered the room.
Michael was immediately greeted at the sight of their temple's knights training arduously.
It could be said that their temple was truly capable. Every single thing inside the training space was only filled with top-notch equipment and state-of-the-art facilities that their knights could use.
When he saw a huge mana-measuring device in the corner, he got a bit curious. Its function was self-explanatory. It could accurately measure an individual's mana level.
Michael glanced at where Carlos was and saw that the man was busy in a corner with a training spear in his hands.
He smiled a bit when he saw this and thought, 'It wouldn't hurt to try it out, right? Hehe…'
Thus, he didn't hesitate any longer and headed to where the machine was and immediately placed his hand on the crystal orb that was beside the machine.
Then, he started channeling his mana energy toward the orb and only stopped when he felt he had already reached his limits.
Michael removed his hand from the crystal orb and patiently waited for the mana test results.
A few seconds later.
The crystal orb showed some changes.
It started to emit a weak white glow before slowly turning red and glow brighter and brighter.
The light was so dazzling that it made the templar knights training inside the room stop what they were doing and look at where the light suddenly came from.
"What's happening? Why is it so bright all of a sudden?"
"It's the Saint! He went to the mana-measuring device and tested himself!"
"Oh no! Why did no one stop him?!"
"We're doomed! Run!"
Their reaction was a strange one indeed.
It was because of the event that happened in the past. Michael had once used a mana-measuring device to test his mana level.
However, they didn't expect the device to suddenly malfunction and blow up the entire training room to smithereens.
Right now, the knights were facing that same situation, so how could they possibly stay calm?
Although there weren't any casualties reported at that time, who knows if maybe the high priest covered up the incident or not, right?
It was much better to be safe than to be sorry.
Thus, without further ado, they all stopped what they were doing and started to run for their lives, leaving only Carlos and Michael alone inside the training space.
Carlos, who noticed the anomaly, immediately looked around him and saw Michael standing beside the mana-measuring device.
He was stupefied when he saw this.
'He was clearly restricted from using the mana-measuring devices inside the temple. So, why did he still do it? Is he out of his mind?!' he thought.