3 years have passed since then.
Zalan was now taking classes from his mother in language and literature whilst his father slowly introduced him to combat and the theory behind how Vis is circulated around the body. At first, Amanda was adamant about Alex teaching Zalan theory as that is usually taught to first years at the Snowflake but was shocked once again through Zalan's superior comprehension capabilities for his age.
The little man understood concepts that even Amanda had trouble grasping when it came to Vis control. Since then, Amanda hasn't questioned whether or not Zalan could learn it, but rather when he would learn.
'The concept of how Vis is controlled here is very similar to my previous world' Zalan thought sitting beside his father as he flipped through the second chapter of the textbook. Alex was teaching Zalan only the first —out of five —year content as Alex was positive Zalan would be enrolled in the future and wanted to give him a head start. It was usually taught to children when they were 13 year old first-years. Alex acquired the material from a dear, questionable and shady, friend of his who made a copy of the year 5020 syllabus for Vis control into an a textbook for Alex as the government made it illegal to pirate material from the academy.
The Snowflake is the giant cluster of building within the central district of Caelum city that was the most sought after academy by parents to enroll their children in. Not only do the elites of city enroll their children there, Snowflake also houses advanced labs in Vis and Chasm-Born research and gave students free access to most of it. This gives the students an unprecedented edge over their peers that have graduated from the other academies simply due to the quantity of research materials and technology that attract the best researchers from all the different districts or even other mega cities to join and teach students.
By now, Zalan learned that Caelum was divided into different distinct regions under the management of the 8 big Clans. Their territory were labeled by districts A through H, each having roughly the same amount of land surrounding the capital district where the Central government, awakener association, and Snowflake were located. The 8 big Clans were in charge of implementing the rules of the central government as well as defending their territory against beast and Chasm-Borns. Each guild had one tier 9 head with 5 of the other tier 9s in the awakened association and in the central government.
In the mean time when Alex wasn't going over the most basic martial arts with Zalan, Amanda would usual take Zalan out to the community daycare a couple kilometres away at the nearest town. Zalan lived in District C which was under the jurisdiction of the Vermont Clan, and their tier 9 head: Castor Vermont. District C was located on the southern side of Caelum city and conected to each of the other districts and the central one with high speed rails. The train could cover distances of thousands of kilometres in mere minutes.
However, it took around half a day to reach district G which was at the opposite side of the city to district C. There were slightly slower transportation methods connecting different towns within the district, in which Amanda and Zalan would use to travel from their farm land to the nearest town. Albeit having to take the transportation tube to the train station first.
Amanda would start making Zalan play with the other kids when she visited to get makeovers, or play with her friends. Like a mother of an ordinary child, she dragged a pouting Zalan across the streets of the town. Despite knowing where she was taking him and hating it, Zalan still enjoyed the walk around the town as he stared in awe as the various pieces of technology that intrigued him. From the colourful windmills that give life to ordinary stacked buildings to the giant white tower in the middle with a crystal ball that reflected the sunlight creating an artificial northern lights. The scene was still breath taking. As he was still taking in the scene, he noticed the dull grey building with the word "Daycare" plaster over top.
'Great, we're already here'. He thought whilst staring at the 'zoo'. 'Couldn't have at least made it a bit more beautiful?'
Before he knew it, Amanda greeted the supervisor, shoved him inside, and took off back into the bustling streets like a bird free of responsibilities.
Zalan stood there with his usual deadpan face glancing around. There were mostly 3 year old children running around until they collapse, loud screams, and others who were licking and smacking each other. Dropping off Zalan at play place for children with an adult supervisor only brought a scowled to his chubby face.
'Sigh. At least I can absorb Vis to form my core for a couple of hours' Zalan thought. Normally children form cores when they are 8 years old. Forming one at 3 years old was simply unheard of as toddlers didn't and couldn't differentiate the sensation of warm around their bodies with that of Vis. Zalan obviously didn't have this problem with his fully developed brain, and was close to forming a core himself.
He thought about how long was left until it formed whilst walking towards his usual meditation position. It was a pillow within a fortress made from a synthetic material like cardboard to prevent unwanted guest from cozying up to him. Checking to make sure no one peed on his pillow, Zalan promptly sat down cross legged and began accumulating Vis within his body.
The most challenging part was focusing on moving small particles that he could barely feel to the core located right beside his heart, whilst baring the screams of the other children.
'Com'on just shut up for once will ya!'
Zalan's eyebrows continued to furrow as tried to concentrate. It wasn't an easy task as his fortress has already been raided twice and now there was another kid wiping his saliva covered maraca on Zalan's back. It normally didn't bother him but that was the last straw. He couldn't stand this environment anymore.
'After 6 months of this a I am done!'
Turning around and glaring at the child who only smiled back innocently,
"You want to fortress, then the fortress is yours!" Zalan said with rage in his voice.
Zalan raised the fortress briskly before slamming it down on the child. Ignoring the muffled screams coming from underneath, Zalan turned towards the opening of the play area and briskly strolled towards it. However, upon noticing the supervisor, he needed to devise another plan to get past him. Since it he was the only person sitting there and watching something on his holograph, Zalan turned around to look at the other children with a malicious glint in his eyes and a creepy smile forming on his little lips.