Days and weeks passed of Loren's exciting school days, and it was already nearing the end of March, almost a month had passed since Loren's memories awoke. Loren had found a daily pattern of school, training, studying and spitting on the Salferia's statue, continuing to goad Salrie to join him in cussing out the 'idiotic Goddess'. Priest James had created a watch force to find the vandal, staying by the statue for hours a day, though not being able to stop Loren.
"It's Loren! Who else would disrespect the Goddess so much, I'LL KILL THE BRAT!"
"Preist James I suspect him just as much but we have no proof. Plus, carpenter Riot is currently helping us build an annex for the church, we shouldn't just attack his son Preist James..."
Preist James was seething in rage.
Loren's classmates were surprised the younger troublingmaking child had such good grades, acing every test, not aware that a 24-year-old man was inside the boy. While Loren never finished high school, elementary-level work was boringly easy for him. The tedious days filled Loren with contentment, memories of his unfinished education would pass through his mind at times, spending pointless wasteful times with his friends playing games and trying to find excitement together while in class.
Having fun did not mean that Loren achieved nothing, however. Salrie had officially memorized all the books Loren gave her, it turned out the little angel didn't spend her life at a desk for nothing, and Loren was almost done with his load also, but memorizing specific animals and plants was much harder than learning what the top 10 restaurants for tourists in Belmond Captial were. Loren had additionally begun to catch up to his classmates, now only being destroyed by the better half of the class, fairing evenly with the rest, much to Bort's annoyance. He already did well for a kid with no formal training, with official knights guiding his education, and his sword skills jumped by leaps and bounds.
"Next page."
"Alright." Loren flipped a page.
...
"Next page."
"No worries." Loren flipped a page.
...
"Next page"
"Got you." Loren flipped a pa-
"LET'S GO!"
"WAHH!" Sarie jumped back after Loren's sudden outburst.
Loren and Salrie had been silently spending time in his room like most days, Salrie focusing on a book about the Turk Republic's sewage system and Loren sitting in a lotus position when Loren suddenly jumped upwards in a triumphant position.
"I did It! I moved my mana on my own!" Salrie's eyes widened.
"A-already?! You've entered the 1st stage?!"
Loren scratched his nose with a grin. "Hehe, yup!"
"It hasn't even been a month! How is that possible!" Salrie was shocked by Loren's speed.
"It's not like I was chosen by that dumbo Goddess for nothing, I admit the b*tch had good eyes."
Loren's ego was rising, and for good reason, the average amount of time needed to enter the 1st path for most was 6 months! What Salrie and Loren weren't aware of though, was that Loren had an advantage others didn't have, he knew 2 ways to use his mana from the second it awakened, mana surge and body enhancement, giving him a head start in his mana mastery. That didn't mean Loren wasn't talented however, Bort had been training for 3 months earlier with the same advantage and had yet to make the same achievement.
"Alright! This means we can really start with becoming stronger, haha, wait until the rest of the class hears this."
"Loren... Your smile is starting to get, kinda, disgusting." Salrie had a weary expression.
Loren covered his mouth. "Just let me have to moment won't you?"
***
The next day during sparing class, Loren rushed to Rito and informed him of his progress.
"Already? Tch, can't believe I lost the bet..." Rito's expression was dark, he wasn't the biggest fan of Loren, but acknowledged his talent.
"Huh, what bet?"
"Nothing, now that you've entered the 1st stage you can choose an instructor to learn mana arts from... But! I've graciously decided to take you under my wing." He had an unnerving smile as he looked down at Loren.
"W-what, why?!" Loren was going to choose Lory as his instructor, her swordsmanship had a beauty that aligned with Loren's romanticised ideal of knights and she was also the teacher of Carol, the best in the class. Plus he found her cute.
"Because I don't trust you, I don't want you to do anything stupid in the name of 'training' so I'll watch over you myself." His words left Loren dejected.
"Don't complain, I'm the strongest teacher in our school, others would beg to have me as a personal instructor. But before I teach you any mana arts, we have to fix that dogsh*t swordsmanship of yours."
Loren was mad, he had just insulted his skill and disallowed him from learning mana arts, something's was very keen on.
"Dogsh*t?! How is it dogsh*t, I'm already catching up with the others with this, in your words, sh*tty swordsmanship!"
Rito only huffed. "Congratulations on beating 12-year-old children."
'I'm 9!' Loren felt indignant.
"Firstly you have no base, your foundation is sloppy. You're just copying the scattered moves some town guards taught you. Secondly, your swordsmanship doesn't suit you, it's too rigid and uniform, you have good flexibility and a creative mind, use it. And lastly, any swordsmanship in this town that isn't mine, is dogsh*t."
Rito motioned Loren to pick up his wooden sword and placed his hands behind his back.
"Now I'll show you your flaws, come at me. I won't use any mana, I won't even use my hands, while you can use whatever you want, mana surge included."
The other students had noticed their conversation at this point, all swallowing their saliva.
'He didn't enter the first stage already... right?' Only 5 students in the class had reached the 1st stage so far, Carol, Trina and 3 others. They were surprised by Loren's speed, beating most of the class while starting 3 months late. Bort was not happy.
"Fine! I'll beat you black and blue old man, don't hold it against me."
Loren lowered his posture, channelling mana into his legs before kicking the ground, reaching Rito in the blink of an eye. He moved his mana into his arms, slashing at Rito. But Rito looked at him calmly, taking a simple step backwards.
'He learned dynamic mana movement by himself? Not bad...'
Rito stepped to Loren's side, hooking his ankle with his foot and raising his leg, forcing Loren to flip in the air, landing on his head.
"You ran at me with no plan and just swung wildly, do better."
Loren wiped his hair with gritted teeth, he grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it towards Rito's eyes, blinding him. Jumping off the ground Loren went into a mana surge, his child body now filled with the strength of a fully grown warrior. Loren brought his sword down with all his might, aiming for his head.
'I got you now you bastard!'
Rito only smiled, cleanly moving to the left and swinging his leg in the air. He twisted his body 360 degrees, his kick colliding with Loren's head. The loud smack! reverberated through the training field, making the surrounding students wince. Loren covered his head in pain, rolling on the floor.
"Argh F*ck! How?! I saw your eyes close!" Loren couldn't tell how Rito dodged.
"I felt the air move." He commented succinctly
"You felt the air... move?"
"Yes, it's an ability every instructor has, a person doesn't only have sight but also their hearing, smell and touch. Your trick may work with other students or someone who doesn't expect it, but I'm more experienced than you can imagine boy."
Rito ignored Loren's pained look, picking up his wooden sword before handing it to Loren. He then grabbed a spare sword from the rack and stood in front of him.
"Now defend, I'll be showing you the swordsmanship I'll be teaching you."
Loren picked himself off the ground still holding his head in pain and grabbed his sword with aggression. He readied himself, falling into a defensive position. After giving Loren a second to steady his breathing, Rito lunged in his direction, blade in hand. Each wild swing collided with Loren's sword with force.
Loren was surprised, every strike felt random and unruly but they all targeted his vital spots with deadly precision. Loren couldn't believe the person in front of him wasn't even a master yet, he couldn't find time to breathe between every successive slash. Left, right, above him, below him, each strike pushed Loren back in a flurry, causing splinters to spread in the air, the worst part was that Rito was only demonstrating, Loren could tell Rito was holding back.
Reaching his limit, Loren once again fell to the ground, gasping for air. He felt frustrated from his loss, but the spar made him realize one thing that annoyed him.
'He's right, this style is perfect for me... Damn!' Loren was torn on how to feel, as much as Rito disliked him, Loren had the same feelings for the taciturn man. He looked at Rito with a complicated expression.
"Good, I see you've realized how good my style is. This style is a better fit for a sabre so you'll spend the rest of the day getting used to one. Also, Lory informed me that you're passing your classes with no effort, so meet me in the field every day instead of heading to class, it's a better use of your time. I won't be teaching you any mana arts until I'm content with your skill, try to beat Carol in the spar first."
As Rito walked away, many of the students looked at Loren with jealousy, Rito rarely took personal disciples, teaching only those he chose himself. Loren didn't care about their envious looks though, too tired to lift his head.
"Loren..." While Loren only saw an impressive sword style from Rito, Salrie noticed something else.
"Yeah?"
"His swordsmanship, it doesn't belong to Seltera, at least I've never seen it."
Loren tilted his head. "Where's it from then?"
Loren wasn't too surprised by this revelation, Rito had dark tanned skin not easily found in Belmond, so he knew Rito was a foreigner. What he did wonder though was how a foreigner had the same name as his Town.
"From there," Salrie said as she pointed towards the sky, Loren looked to see a massive mountain range in the distance with its peaks entering the clouds.
"He should be from the western continent Rulland based on his appearance, but I can't figure out how he made it through the Drake Mountains as a 3rd stage knight. Every mountain peak houses an adult dragon and they all but forbid our 2 continents from interacting. One shouldn't think of travelling the mountain range unless they've entered their path."
Loren shrugged his shoulders. "Then he must've been born here, his parents probably taught him their swordsmanship."
"Maybe..."
***
Later that day, Rito strolled through the forest, his eyes glancing around as if looking for something.
"Bamby, I'm here."
Walking out of the trees was a hurricane deer with translucent blue antlers, it was the guardian beast of Rito.
"How many times have I told you to avoid using that childish name." The two looked at each other like old friends.
"Heh, It's the name he gave you, see it as a sign of respect. You were right by the way, he already entered the 1st stage, he's a monster."
"I told you, I've seen him since he was a toddler, running around my forest. I could tell he had talent."
"Well I'll teach him my swordsmanship as I said, but I don't understand why you want him to be my disciple. Just being talented isn't enough for you to go out of your way." Rito didn't understand why Bamby cared for the reckless boy.
"He reminds me of a certain someone."
Rito's eyes became wide. "Really? I didn't think that was what his personality was?"
"Not his personality, but his determination, I've not seen many who could jump off a cliff for only a small chance at using their mana early." It said shaking its head.
"If you say so, now I've brought some snacks for you. Come, let's eat."
The two went on to sit and talk, their close relationship visible to any who saw them.