A young man with black hair can be seen sitting on the floor covered in sweat with his eyes closed, appearing to be focused. Next to him, a middle-aged man is standing there like a guard.
"Clank," yet again, the same characteristic sound was heard in his mind.
"I feel your mana more potent. It seems that you've broken through once again," said the middle-aged man, Aragon.
"Yes, father. Those two weeks have been very beneficial thanks to you and mother," said the young man, Michael, while opening his eyes and revealing a pair of beautiful blue eyes.
`Status,` he called in his mind.
--- Status ---
Name: Michael Dacre
Age: 15
Rank: E+
Strength: D-
Agility: E+
Stamina: E+
Intelligence: E --> E+
Mana: E+ --> D-
Charm: A+
--- Profession ---
Swordsmanship lvl.3
Mage lvl.1 --> Mage lvl.2
--- Techniques ---
Draconic sword art:
(A powerful and versatile sword technique made by Nathaniel Dacre, an ancestor of the Saint household.)
Ice Domain:
(A technique that allows the user to create a domain of ice. The more mana is used, the bigger the domain and the more skills the user can create.)
`Hmm, intelligence, mana, and mage profession advanced. It seems I need a little more push to break through the D-rank,` Michael thought as he looked at his newly updated stats.
"Which stats have advanced?" asked Aragon with a rather excited voice, something out of place for him.
"My intelligence broke through the late E, my mana to the early D, and the mage profession has advanced to lvl.2, but that happened yesterday while I was training with mother," replied Michael.
"Hmm, that's good. You may need a bit more time for your stats to break through the D-rank since when you fought with the grey wolves, you had an explosive breakthrough in many of your stats. Also, don't forget that for you to advance a rank as a whole, you need at least three stats in your early D-rank, besides your charm," said Aragon while playing with his stubble.
"Yeah, I know. But to be honest, I thought I would be able to advance the D-rank, but my stamina didn't improve as much as I thought it would," Michael said to his father, trying to find some advice from him.
"You don't have to worry about that. Training sometimes it's not enough. You need the experience of fighting someone on a stronger level than you. Even though you are my son, I must inform you that life and death battles will always push your limits even further. If, of course, you emerge victorious," Aragon advised his son.
"Hmm, that's right. Should I go to the forest and fight the pack of wolves that has been spotted?" asked Michael with a slight expectation from his father.
"No, you can't. You broke through many times these days, and you must consolidate your growth. Even if this reason is not enough for you, tomorrow is your birthday party, and your mother and I want you to be in peak condition," said Aragon to his son while catching the slight disappointment on his face.
"You don't have to be disappointed. I can guarantee that you will be number one in the academy ranks. Also, there will be many opportunities for you to advance there," Aragon said again.
"Yeah, I guess you are right," said Michael as he stood up, supporting his body on his knees.
"You did well. I'm proud of you," said Aragon while holding his son's shoulder.
`Ohh? That's new. The memories don't show him saying something like this,` he thought, not letting his surprise show on his face.
"Thank you, father, I appreciate it," replied Michael with a bright smile.
"Now go. You can rest for the day, or you can go and spend some time with your sister. She hasn't seen you these days and seems to always be angry at me."
"Haha, yeah, don't worry I'll visit her," said Michael, leaving the training grounds.
As soon as Michael left Aragon called one of the guards staying outside the training grounds.
"Inform Amelia to come into my office," commanded Aragon.
"As you wish, my Lord," politely replied the guard.
-At Aragon's office-
"So he broke through again?" asked Amelia, her husband.
"Yes," he replied.
"And he is one step before advancing the D-rank?" she asked again.
Not waiting for an answer, she spoke once again.
"Didn't we both agree not to push him that much before his birthday party and to break through at the academy so as not to draw any attention towards him?" asked Amelia with a bit of a higher voice.
"I didn't even push him that much. I don't know how he progressed so fast. He is even faster than before," replied Aragon trying to calm his wife.
"Did you check about any potions?" she asked.
"Yes. I had shadow watch him these two weeks and even checked him myself to see if he had taken something before."
"Okay. I also won't train him today. I don't want to risk it anymore."
"That would be the right decision," he said, and the conversation ended there.
In another room inside the castle, a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman could be seen sitting across from each other, playing chess. They are Michael and Elizabeth.
"You broke through again, brother?" asked Elizabeth, her brother.
"Yes, today. I'm catching up to you, you know?" he replied with a slight smirk.
"I'm okay with that, but don't you think you are pushing yourself a little too much? Are you doing that because you think you'll disappoint them?"
"Check. No, I'm not doing this because I think I'll disappoint our parents. I had the chance to be trained with two S-ranked. Why wouldn't I take it? And you should've done the same," he said while checking her king.
"You don't have to worry about me."
"But you worry about me," he replied to her.
"Of course! Aren't I older?" she said with a bright smile, but that smile faded when she heard;
"Checkmate."