Andrew once again relieved his past life in his dreams. The same old immortal ambition for power that has never died out and never will.
But his dreams were cut short as he was disturbed, he opened his eyes and saw caretaker Latia look at him with a warm smile.
"Andrew, stand up it's time to go back" she said those words as she held his hand and helped him get back on his legs.
Unsurprisingly, only the winning trio managed to stand on their legs since head caretaker Tania has come here and used some magic to lift up all of the unconscious kids.
The trio looked around, the sports hall was free of blood and piss. It shined as if it just was out of construction, in its brand-new state.
They understood that an array cleaned all this mess up. They looked at each other, Andrew was expressionless as usual, battle crazed kid still had his crazy smile painted all over his face, while the little girl happily smiled at them.
The kids looked towards the center of the sports hall as they saw Instructor Koi in the same position as before, he meditated without care about their presence.
Tania approached him and she looked at him with a respectful and reverent gaze. She slightly bowed as she uttered "Thank you" and turned around to leave.
All the unconscious kids were stacked up on top of each other with mere 10 centimeters separating each of them. Tania walked out of the sports hall and everyone soon followed after her. She kept the kids just a mere meter above the ground. There were 117 kids stacked on top of each other.
The cadets of Oswool Boot Camp were used to seeing such things long ago, it wasn't anything out of ordinary. If those kids could actually make perfectly out of the sports hall it would make headlines in the whole continent! When was a mortal able to withstand the influence of surrounding mana without awakening their bloodline? This has never happened and will never do!
The path of evolution shouldn't be scoffed at since it defines one's existential standing in the universe!
Instructor Koi is an Advanced Apprentice Mage! It's utterly impossible for a normal mortal to withstand the mana which is influenced by him!
Soon, they arrived back into the orphanage. Andrew has perfectly recovered back after a sweet sleep. His mental foundation was something that no kid will ever have. But, it couldn't be said so about the rest of the trio.
Although they could walk by themselves, they still were exhausted, even the whole day of straight sleep didn't help them recover properly.
Andrew went straight to the Kids 5-10 #3 section after bidding farewell to the caretakers. He had to change his clothes since they were completely drenched in sweat. The stench was unbearable. He wondered why the array in Oswool Boot Camp didn't clean them up too. It could have done it in less than a minute.
'Is this phycological pressure? To show the consequences of our weaknesses and shortcomings? Or evidence of our hard work? he wondered as he passed by multiple hallways.
Soon he arrived into his section as he went straight to take a cold and refreshing shower.
Yes! There are water pipes and sewers! There is water and warmth provided to the common populace even without magic. The magic is said to have accelerated the progress in civil engineering, although not in all aspects.
He entered the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He undressed as his toned body shone in 4 feet tall mirror. His physique was just otherworldly since he was just a 7 year old! He could easily do any calisthenics exercise! He has complete control over his entire body and its corresponding muscles!
He was surprised by the fact that humans have evolved differently in this world, even mortals are far stronger and quicker to adapt to any change. That's why it took him a lot less time to recover from intensive workouts than a man from Earth would need.
He had a rigid daily routine and each day he would contemplate on things that he has achieved so far, he makes plans for the near future and reaches his goals impeccably. He doesn't care about distraction as staying consistent on his journey is a must for him to achieve supremacy!
He is not willing to give in to his human weaknesses or temptations. He is determined and willing to do anything to achieve what he desires! This has been his drive for as long as he remembers himself.
*Only after taking a hold of your emotions, you can grasp the reigns of your life!* this has been his motto in his previous and current lives.
He isn't going to quit just because it's hard, just because it's tough. He knew that nothing comes easy and that one has to work for it to achieve their goal!
'I MUST GRIND!' this is the only omnipresent thought in his kind.
3 days later.
All unconscious kids have come back to their senses and have made a full recovery. The caretakers ensured that none of them got a mental trauma or scar.
They told the kids that it's a standard procedure done by Oswool Boot Camp to asses their cadets. Naturally, the kids being kids even though they are smarter than the average kid from Earth, they still have inexperienced mentalities and fear towards certain things.
After the kids calmed down more or less, they were made to assemble after they completely came back to their senses.
A group of 120 lined up in 40 rows as they took the direction towards the boot camp. Although, the streets were wide, to not cause any trouble to some kind of powerful and influential freaks they stick to the sides and go at a moderate and careful pace.
Soon, they arrived at the boot camp and the kids started having unpleasant flashbacks, their gruesome experiences of running under the watch of death...
This time though, their assigned caretaker didn't go past the gates as a man draped in black robes instead came into the view. He had 2 stripes on his shoulders indicating that he was a second phase cadet, someone who has passed the examination to become a phase 2 cadet, quite logical isn't it?
The boot camp classifies its cadets by giving them their appropriate rankings. Those rankings will signify their standing in the boot camps scattered throughout the town. In sense, phases are considered as a sign of an excellent and resilient warrior.
One has to have an extremely powerful will to become a mage. The comprehension of mana sometimes drives people crazy if they take the wrong turn in their exploration of mana.
The man introduced himself as Erik, a person assigned to safely deliver them to their lessons until they completely learn the layout of the boot camp.
Erik told them to follow him as they passed by many buildings. Soon, they arrived at the place of their lesson. It was an unassuming story tall dojo. It had a design similar to the japanese style all over it. Andrew was pleasantly surprised by the coincidence.
Erik promoted all of them to enter and bow to whoever was there. The children were hesitant as if seeing it as another not so romantical meeting with death.
The winning trio stepped in first and soon the other kids cautiously followed after them.
The dojo was fairly big. Capable to house all of the children without a problem.
A lone man sat on the opposite side to the entrance. He was a handsome middle-aged man. He had his black hair tied in a bun as he wore a kimono! Japanese traditional clothes!
Andrew was bewildered, wasn't this too much of a coincidence? This man in front of him looked like a samurai only lacking a katana by his side.
Perfectly remembering Erik's instructions. He straightened his position as he bowed to the man in front of him. The kids were snapped out of their stupor as a series of bows followed soon after.
"Sit 10 people in each row, 10 meters from me" the man said as he sat cross-legged like an emperor ordering his subjects.
Andrew sat right in front of him as the kids slowly took their places. The dojo was vast as its height reached over 5 meters and its area was 500 meters square.
After seeing all those children obediently line up he spoke "My name is Arashi, you can call me Instructor Arashi. I'll be responsible for nurturing you all as relentless and fierce warriors which in turn will increase the possibility of you becoming mages".
As soon as he said those words Andrew clenched his fist with anticipation.
'Finally!' he exclaimed in his mind as he couldn't wait to put his fists to use in front of the line of some unfortunate bodies.
Hearing this the battle-crazed kid almost screamed from excitement! He had a similar thought as Andrew in his mind. To grind the bones of some unlucky weaklings!