Lexie sits down next to him
- How do you feel? asks Lexie
- My whole body hurts when I move and I am extremely tired.
- Healing magic instantly heals wounds but it doesn't recover your energy nor does it recover your stamina. And even though it heals injuries it doesn't heal the pain.
- So, how long do I need to stay here?
- You should be fine at the end of the day, so I recommend staying in here until tomorrow.
- Ok. says Noah. I am gonna take a nap then.
- What? But you just woke up, Boss! says, Abel. Are you sure you are fine?
- I really am so you guys should go to class.
- We'll come back later. says Gancelot
The trio leaves
- Don't leave like last time. says Lexie at the door
- I got it. Noah answers
Lexie leaves. Noah closes his eyes and enters his Inner Realm
- Seems like you finally realized. says Dull
- Yeah. says Noah
- Today is the last day of the week, therefore, it is also the last day your Demonic Instinct will manifest and at the end of the day, you will have to face off against yourself.
- Teach me how to use my Curse, Dull!
- Calm down. For now, you need to master Primus.
- What is Primus? asks Noah
- It's what you did against the Dire Wolves. It's the first release stage of your Curse Sigil.
- When my Curse Sigil lights up that mean I used Primus?
- Yeah.
- Then that's easy. I already did it. Let's move on to Secundus.
- Do it again.
- What?
- Use it again. Your Curse Sigil's first release; Primus
Noah looks at Dull with a perplexed expression
- Fine. I will do it
Noah sends some Aura toward his Curse Sigil which slowly starts lighting up but the light slowly fades until there is none left.
- Wha... What is going on? I did it just like when I was fighting the Dire Wolves. says Noah
- To release a stage of your Curse Sigil, you need what we call Extreme Focus.
- What's that?
- Extreme Focus is a state that is reached when your concentration reaches its limit.
Noah closes his eyes and focuses. When Dull looks at him he seems surprised.
{Dull}
" Not bad. At this rate, we will be able to complete his training before the fight against his Demonic Instinct."
Noah falls down
- What the hell? It's actually really hard. says Noah
- Did you think that you were gonna able to do it in one try?
- But I wasn't concentrated during my fight with the Dire Wolves so how did I activate my Curse Sigil?
- Wrong. says Dull. You were in a state of Extreme Focus during that fight
- Huh? Really?
- The state of Extreme Focus is reached when you are concentrated on either something or someone. What were you focused on when you thought you were gonna die?
- Surviving. says Noah while getting up. How to survive. What should I do to stay alive?
- Try again but this time remember how it felt when the only thing on your mind was surviving when the only thing on your mind was how to get out of this situation and focus on that feeling.
Noah closes his eyes again.
{Noah}
" How it felt like when the only thing on my mind was surviving. It felt like there was nothing else but survival in my mind. I need to empty my mind."
Noah starts getting rid of every single thought and keeps only one.
{Dull}
" He understood. To reach Extreme Focus you need to only have a single thing in your mind. You need to completely focus on one thing until the release is complete. It doesn't matter what. As long as you can devote every single thought to that single thing until you completely release whatever stage of your Curse Sigil."
- HEY! yells Dull
Because of Dull's yell Noah gets startled and his focus breaks
- WHAT THE HELL! I WAS ABOUT TO DO IT!
- Did you forget that you need to be able to reach the Extreme Focus state while fighting? Do you think your opponent will wait until you are done doing it?
Noah sits down
- Tsk! You are right. But by the way, do I need to stay in that state as long as I use my Primus
- What!? Of course not, you only need to do it until you release your Primus.
- For a second I thought I had to be in Extreme Focus as long as I use my Curse. I was gonna say that I prefer not using it then.
- Get back to training! says Dull
Noah closes his eyes and tries again
[Outside world with the first-year specifics class on the first-year training ground]
Abel, Gancelot, and Juliana are talking and someone approaches them.
- Where is he?
- Huh? says Abel, Gancelot, and Juliana
- WHERE IS HE!?
The trio turns around and sees Kramptus
- Oh! It's you, Kramptus! says Gancelot
- Who cares about him. says Abel
- I ASKED YOU WHERE IS HE!? yells Kramptus again
- Don't tell me that you are looking for Noah? asks Juliana
- Why does that matter to you? says Kramptus with widened eyes. Just tell me where he is!
- Boss can't fight you, anyway. says Abel
- Why?
- Didn't you hear? asks Juliana. He got injured while doing a quest.
- When is he gonna be back?
- Tomorrow. says Gancelot. But if I were you I would think twice before challenging him again. Maybe thrice after what he did to you.
Kramptus's face twists in anger
- And who the hell are you? HUH!?
Gancelot gets startled out of shock because of the sudden raise in voice from Kramptus
- Me? I am Noah Arcadios's first disciple! Gancelot Fayrak
A smile forms on Kramptus's face, a wide and devious smile.
- So you are that bastard disciple, huh?
- So what?
- Let's spar! says Kramptus
- You wanna spar! Against me!?
- Yeah.
- Let's go then.
They both go see Turo for permission
- You two want to spar?
They both nod in agreement. Turo looks at Kramptus and sigh
- Alright.
Turo activates the ancient artifact which turns the training grounds into the arena
- I hope you are ready! says Gancelot
- I am more than ready. answers Kramptus with the same wide and devious smile
-1...2...3...Go
- Summon! Earth Spirit!
A glowing little brown ball appears and starts floating around Kramptus
- Spirit Art! Earth Spirit! Rock Barrage!
The ground starts breaking and pieces of rock start floating. With a movement from his hand, Kramptus sends countless rocks toward Gancelot.
- Wind Magic! Wind Shot!
A sphere of wind forms in Gancelot's hand and he shoots it in front of him. The ball of wind shreds apart the rocks in its way and heads toward Kramptus.
- Spirit Art! Earth Spirit! Rock Wall!
A wall made of earth emerges in front of Kramptus blocking Gancelot's Wind Shot spell.
- Mana Bullet! Power Version!
- That won't work! says Kramptus with confidence
The bullet of mana heads straight to the wall and explodes and when it does it also breaks Kramptus's Rock Wall.
- And you were saying? asks Gancelot with a smile
Gancelot starts running toward Kramptus. Kramptus starts panicking because memories from his fight with Noah start flashing before his eyes.
- St.. Sto...STOP! DON'T COME NEAR ME!
Gancelot stops and looks at Kramptus
{Gancelot}
" He is trembling in fear. He wanted to fight my master to get over his newfound fear created by my master."
Gancelot walks toward Kramptus and extends his hand
- Come on! Get up! says Gancelot
Kramptus takes his hand and gets up
- If you want to get over it. You will have to fight my master again. says Gancelot
Kramptus grunts, slaps Gancelot's hand away and he leaves
* The bell rings*
Gancelot joins Abel and Juliana.
- Let's go visit, master! says Gancelot
The trio leaves and heads to the infirmary.
[With Yoan]
Yoan opens a door and enters a room
- What are you doing here? asks Telnoir
- I am sure you heard. Noah almost died today.
- Is that so?
- Telnoir, I will warn you. Do not touch either of my brothers otherwise our friendship will immediately come to an end.
Telnoir nods
- I understand that but why do you think it was me?
- I don't think it was you. I think you ordered someone to do it. answers Yoan
- What are you talking about? says Telnoir while frowning
- While he was in the forest, someone deployed a Field Of Mana. However, the mana was cleaned extremely well making it impossible to know to who does the mana belong too.
Telnoir smiles
- I thought there was more trust than that between us. Guess I was wrong. Don't worry. I have nothing to do with this. says Telnoir
- I will take your word and believe you as long as nothing comes up on you during the investigation. says Yoan
Yoan leaves
[First-year teacher meeting room]
- This was quick. We normally don't have meetings in such a short interval of time. says Hugh
- Everyone knows what happened this morning, right? asks Darius
- This is about Noah Arcadios, right, Mr. Principal? asks Durmon.
- Yes. While accomplishing a quest in the forest, he found a pack of Dire Wolves. He fought them and killed all of them.
- So it's true. says Durmon. He managed to slay a pack of 20 Dire Wolves all by his lonesome self.
- That's incredible. says Hugh. Even if it was one it would have been incredible but 20. That child is quite fearsome.
- So, did you find out how the Dire Wolves got inside, principal? asks Andre
- We all know that it's impossible for a monster to enter the Academy by itself even less possible if it's a whole pack of them. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that someone brought the monsters in.
- Makes sense. says Hugh. We are in the capital of the kingdom of Fayrak. It's impossible for monsters to sneak inside. But that's not the problem, we need to figure out how and why were they brought here.
- Took the words out of my mouth. says Darius.
- But that means we have to look at all the students within the Academy plus the staff. says Andre
- What!? says Durmon. That's a lot of people Darius
- We don't have to do that. Darius say
- Did you find something, principal? asks Hugh
- Noah said that after realizing their numbers he tried to escape but when he reached the entrance of the forest something was blocking him.
- A Field Of Mana. says, Hugh
- So the culprit is a Black-Gold rank magician. says Durmon
[In the Inner Realm]
- Just what exactly are you? asks Dull
- That's a question that I heard a lot but even now I still don't know. I thought that maybe you guys knew but I guess not.
{Dull}
" To think that he would reach such a level of control over his Primus in a matter of hours. This child is incredible!"
The sky inside the Inner Realm turns red and the ground starts shaking and breaking a red ball appears out of nowhere in the middle of the sky and starts changing.
- What the hell? says Noah
- It's time, Noah. says Dull
The ball finishes taking shape and falls to the ground. The dust clears and reveals The Daemon form of Noah. Legs of a goat, tail of a bull, and red skin.
- RRRRROOOOAAAAARRRRR