In a desert-like place with several rocks of different sizes, Takehiko was sitting on one of the rocks, eating an apple.
This was a training ground specially designed for the special-class training sessions.
Takehiko took occasional bites of his apple; it gradually ran out until Takehiko took the last bite.
Tossing the rest of the apple to the side, Takehiko stood up and stretched a little, crunching his back.
" Alright."
Then, nonchalantly, he jumped off the rock he was on to the ground.
Thud-
Woosh-!
When his foot touched the ground, immediately hundreds of daggers were directed at him from all directions.
"They chose a more aggressive approach today, huh?".
With quick footwork, Takehiko dodged the daggers headed towards him without managing to even graze him.
Woosh-!
A dagger separated from the others changed its direction and headed straight for Takehiko.
He, without the slightest effort, caught the dagger, but when he did, he realized something.
In the hilt of the dagger was an explosive scroll.
Boom-!
An explosion occurred the next moment, kicking up a large amount of dust that made it impossible to see any further.
Ben, who was standing on top of a rock 20 meters away, watched all this with his empty eyes without missing a single detail.
Thud-
Suddenly, however, he felt something leaning against his shoulder.
"Good idea, though you tend to rely too much on surprise attacks."
In an instant, he pulled a hidden dagger from his sleeve and turned to attack.
Bam-!
But with a single motion, Takehiko hit Ben's hand that held the dagger, sending it flying, leaving him unarmed.
He then raised his arm to hit him, but just as he was about to do so, a gold-colored rope caught his arm.
Looking in the direction the rope came from, he could see Beatrice holding it.
"It looks like he got better at controlling it."
Woosh-!
A shadow hovered over him, and when he looked up, he could see a little girl ready to hit him.
Boom-!
The stone they were on was shattered by the girl's massive strength.
"Hmm, not bad; maybe a little more technique."
He said that in one hand he had the unconscious girl clutched by the collar of her shirt, and in the other he had Ben.
Woosh-!
The shadow behind Takehiko began to twist, and out of it came Akiyama, wielding his katana, ready to stab him.
But before he could do so, Takehiko, who had released Ben and the girl, reached out and caught his face.
"Your attacks are too predictable; find new ways to sneak around."
"Kugh!"
Woosh-!
The shadow behind Akiyama twisted again, and from it came several tentacles made of shadows that grabbed Takehiko tightly.
"Oh, this is new."
Suddenly, the air became colder, and when Takehiko looked down, he found his legs frozen.
"It looks like you got better too, princess."
He said this and looked at the silver-haired elf who had cast the spell, but the curious thing was that she hadn't used a magic circle.
'Chants, huh, looks like she can use them in a better way already.'
Chanting was a skill that only a few races possessed. They allowed magic to be cast without the need for a magic circle. Of course, only members of those races were able to use them, and even those who could use the chants were rare.
"He used to freeze the entire area when he tried to use the chants; her control improved greatly in a very short time."
Woosh-!
As he thought that, two people positioned themselves on his vulnerable sides. These were Leticia and Kein, the latter with a golden gleam in his eyes.
They both swung their swords to try to cut him, but their surprise was great when all they managed to cut was air.
"What-?"
Boom-!
Kein couldn't express his surprise as his face smashed into the ground. Standing above her was Takehiko, who quickly moved towards Leticia, giving her a hit in the stomach and smashing her against a rock.
"Uagh!"
She let out a moan of pain, but Takehiko didn't stop there.
Boom-!
With another hit, this time to her face, Takehiko embedded Leticia even further into the rock, leaving her severely injured.
After that, he walked nonchalantly over to where Kein was lying with his face embedded in the ground and picked him up by his hair. Leaving his bloodied face exposed.
"That's all you got?"
"Kgh!"
Boom-!
As if trying to prove otherwise, Kein tried to knee Takehiko, but he effortlessly blocked it and then sent him flying with a hit to the stomach.
He then turned to look at Freydis, who was already waiting for her with a chant.
"Lómeléa naurë!."
A large-sized fireball shot from her palms directly towards Takehiko. But unexpectedly, the fireball exploded and split into several fire arrows.
Takehiko watched this without changing his expression as he approached Freydis, dodging the arrows.
Woosh-!
Suddenly, the shadow cast by one of the arrows expanded, and out of it came Akiyama, who swung his sword towards Takehiko.
"You hid in the shadow of the arrows; brilliant idea."
Takehiko praised him with a smile.
"But..."
Swoosh-!
Boom-!
With a quick movement, he dove, dodging Akiyama's sword, and on the ground, he threw a kick that impacted his chin, lifting him a few inches off the ground.
"That's not enough."
After that, he grabbed Akiyama and ran towards Freydis, using him as a shield. With Akiyama in the way, Freydis couldn't cast any more spells.
"Hey, that's cheating!"
She shouted in disgust at Takehiko's actions. During the time she had been in the special class, Akiyama was the person she had kept in contact with the most, so she already considered him her second friend after Arthur.
"Maybe you're right; I'll give it back to you."
Takehiko said this before throwing all his might at Akiyama. Freydis, bewildered, reacted too late and failed to dodge him, ending up colliding with him and being knocked unconscious.
With Freydis out of the way, Takehiko turned to look at the last three remaining students.
Alexander, Beatrice, and Noah, a boy who wore a lab coat over his uniform and had large dark circles under his eyes.
The latter raised his hand nonchalantly and said in a lethargic voice:
"I give up."
After that, he walked to where the unconscious white-haired girl lay and, carrying her with one hand, left the training ground.
This did not bother Takehiko. Students were free to decline training whenever they wanted, and that boy in particular always quit after his sister was defeated. His specialty was more investigation than combat.
"So, do any of you want to keep trying?"
He asked the last ones standing. Beatriz was the first to answer.
"It embarrasses me to say it, but I don't stand a chance, I'm retiring here."
" Alright, how about you brat?"
Boom-!
Several magic circles appeared around Takehiko and then exploded.
"I guess that's your answer."
Said Takehiko, who, in an instant, was standing next to Alexander and Beatrice.
"I think you'll want to step aside, princess, and if possible, take your companions too.".
"Sigh~, okay."
Beatrice, already used to the personalities of these two, followed Takehiko's instructions, creating several light bows that tied up her unconscious companions and left the training ground.
Making sure they were alone, Takehiko spoke to Alexander.
"Tell me, why didn't you help your companions? They all worked as a team, except for you."
"Hmp, I don't need to work as a team; I can only deal with you; they were just in the way."
"Is that it, or is there another reason?
Takehiko said as he looked Alexander in the eyes.
"Useless talk."
Alexander extended his arm towards Takehiko and a magic circle appeared in front of him, shooting a powerful lightning bolt.
Takehiko slowly raised his arm, and white energy coated his hand. Then, as if he were swatting away a fly, he deflected the trajectory of the lightning without moving an inch.
Alexander, seeing this, narrowed his eyes.
'Touki'
Touki was an energy different from mana. It was widely known and used mainly by the martial artists of the eastern lands.
It is a kind of internal energy that was awakened with the help of meditation and extreme training. It had several properties that made it similar to the aura awakened by warriors, but they were fundamentally different.
For example, a person could not have touki and mana at the same time; they were energies that did not get along well together and could cause fatal accidents if one tried to combine them.
It also had the property of repelling spells, which made it especially annoying to mages like Alexander.
"It's annoying."
One could say that Takehiko was the perfect countermeasure for someone like Alexander.
Woosh-!
Several magic circles appeared behind Alexander and began firing magic simultaneously, destroying the rock they were standing on.
Takehiko moved nimbly, taking advantage of the terrain to dodge the projectiles.
Using the rocks to propel himself quickly, he arrived in front of Alexander and coated his fist with Touki to deliver a powerful hit.
Alexander, extending both hands, created a shield in preparation for the hit.
Boom-!
Takehiko's fist impacted against his barrier, sending him flying several meters, crashing into the rocks in his path, and kicking up a large amount of dust.
Woosh-!
But the next moment, several pillars made of rock shot towards Takehiko.
Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!
The pillars split into hundreds of smaller ones and crashed to the ground in an attempt to hit Takehiko.
Takehiko, on the other hand, with fluid and quick movements, dodged the pillars and took advantage of them to move, running on top of the larger ones and causing them to collide with each other.
Thud-
Woosh-!
However, when he stepped on one of the columns to propel himself, it split, creating another column right where he had fallen and sending him flying at high speed.
Where he was being pushed by the column was Alexander, flying with several magic circles behind him.
"Take this!"
Extending his hand, the magic circles fired their magic all at once, impacting against the column, propelling Takehiko and generating a huge explosion.
The smoke made it impossible to see anything inside him and there seemed to be no sign of movement.
Alexander, with his breath hitching and sweat running down his forehead, let his guard down for a second, but that was a mistake.
"You know, after seeing him a couple of times, I think I know what your problem is."
Alarmed to hear a voice beside him, he turned quickly, only to see Takehiko standing with one leg over his shoulder.
'I didn't feel anything!'
How long had he been there?
He couldn't feel it at all; it was like a feather was perched on his shoulder.
"!!!"
The next moment, however, he felt as if the weight of a ton was pressing against his body.
Unable to stay airborne, Alexander plummeted, crashing to the ground. Even when he coated his body with mana, the damage he received was not small.
Lying on the ground motionless, Alexander looked up at the sky in great frustration.
" Dammit..."
"Don't feel so bad; just lasting more than two minutes against me is already an accomplishment."
Takehiko said as he lay down next to him and pulled out another apple.
"Since when do you have that problem?"
"What problem?"
"You're not able to use 100% of your mana, are you?"
"How...!?"
"It's not that hard to notice; I can sense that you still have a lot of mana left in your reserves, but you're still tired, What's more, it's not mental fatigue but a physical one, which doesn't usually happen in mages when it comes to using their mana."
Takehiko explained nonchalantly as he continued to eat his apple.
"So this leads me to the following deduction, your body is not capable of withstanding the huge amount of mana it has."
As he said all this, Alexander kept quiet.
"The first step to overcoming weaknesses is to recognize them."
He said and after a while Alexander began to speak.
"No, I can't use 100% of my mana; when I use it I feel as if an invisible pressure is on my body, and it only gets worse the more I use it."
This was something that absolutely no one knew. Alexander von Einzhart was not able to exert 100% of his abilities.
"I think I know what the problem is."
"You do?!"
This was a problem that had plagued him for a long time. If he could find a way to solve it, then he would be able to exert his 100% and reach new heights.
"To make a long story short, the vessel is too weak."
"The vessel?"
"Yep, the human body is the vessel, and the mana is what fills it; the stronger the vessel, the more mana it will be able to hold; however, what happens when the vessel is too weak?"
"This one breaks..."
"Exactly. If we don't fix this problem, several things could happen. An overload of mana would cause an imbalance in your body that can lead to serious illnesses, physical deformities, and even the loss of control over your magic."
"But...how can we fix it?"
"Easy, just strengthen the vessel."
He said this before finally finishing his apple and getting up.
"Wait! And how do I do that?"
"How impatient."
He said he was grabbing one of his legs and dragging it as he walked.
"That's something you'll be able to do during field work."
"Field work?"
"You'll see."
***
Inside the room were all the students from the special class. Most had bandages on their bodies and patches due to their injuries, but they still attended when called.
In front of them were Norma, Takehiko and Hari, the three strongest students of the academy.
Of the three, Takehiko was the first to speak and said bluntly.
" You are going to go to the city of Rosenheim. to capture Arthur Reclesia."
Silence was served over the room before Freydis finally spoke.
"What?"
This time, it was Norma who spoke
"According to some reports, it seems that Arthur Reclesia is headed for the city of Rosenheim. Their goal is to go there and capture him."
"Why us?"
Kein asked without understanding the reason for this.
"After some discussions with the academy leadership, an agreement was reached for the students of the special class to perform this mission to gain experience."
"I see."
After the explanation, everyone understood the reason for this mission; however, not everyone was happy.
"I'm not going; I need to work on my investigation instead of wasting my time on useless things."
Noah said this before getting up and walking towards the door along with his sister.
"We didn't give you allowed to"
"Leave it."
Norma wanted to scold Noah's behavior, but Takehiko stopped her.
"Anyway, this kind of thing is not his forte; if anything, it would end up delaying the mission."
Noah didn't bother with his comments and simply walked out of the room along with his sister without looking back.
"I'm not going either; I have better things to do."
Ben said this before leaving the room as well.
"Well, would anyone else like to leave?"
Asked Takehiko to the remaining students.
"I do want to go; I would like to see the Rosenheim rose field."
Akiyama said in a low tone
"I want to go too!"
Freydis said energetically as she raised her hand.
I had to tell him.
I had to let Arthur know that they were looking for him!.
"I'm coming too!"
Kein said he never liked Arthur, and now that he turned out to be a traitor who was in league with the demons, his dislike for him escalated to new levels. If he could capture him to stop him from doing any more damage, then he would gladly do so.
"Me too."
Beatrice said, which had a certain feeling of responsibility towards Arthur. And since she was going, naturally, Leticia would go too.
"I guess I'm going too."
Alexander said reluctantly that, if he wanted to strengthen his resistance or whatever, it was necessary to participate in these missions.
With all the members ready,. Takehiko nodded and told them the final details.
"During this mission, you will have to go alone; use everything you learned so far to capture Arthur Reclesia and bring him back. You leave tomorrow; have your things ready by then.
With that, the meeting ended, and the students left to prepare their things for their mission tomorrow.
Capture Arthur Reclesia.
***
"I'm hungry...".
"Caw!"
A young man who looked no older than 16 sat atop a huge tower with a crow sitting atop his head.
The young man had tousled black hair and striking purple eyes. He was dressed in baggy black clothing, and his arms were covered in bandages.
"I know you're hungry too Cherny, but we're already out of money and I haven't been able to find an errand that pays well."
"Caw!"
"Maybe we should go back to doing simple jobs like cleaning Grandma Anna's restaurant; at least then we could eat off the leftovers."
Woosh-!
As the young man was thinking of alternatives to get money to satiate his stomach, a piece of paper blowing in the wind stuck to his face.
The young man pulled it away in annoyance and as he was about to throw it away, he noticed the contents of the paper.
It was an order to catch the criminal Arthur Reclesia and bring him alive to the Reclesia family; the reward for doing this was nothing less than 10,000 gold coins.
The young man was stunned at the amount of money they were paying for the simple act of capturing a person and turning him in.
"10,000 gold coins. How much chocolate is that?"
"Caw!"
The young man was lost in his fantasy of swimming in a pool full of chocolate until the cawing of the crow overhead snapped him out of his reverie.
"You're right, Cherny; this could be the solution to all our problems."
Looking once again at the warrant, the young man stood up, and the crow above his head took flight.
"Arthur Reclesia..."
Memorizing the name and face of his target, he looked out over the bustling streets of the city, with several people drinking and enjoying themselves and some who seemed to be returning after a hard day's work.
"I'm going to hunt you."