-Julian Reinhard's point of view.
Julian usually does a few things on his days off.
For example, one of those would be to go get a coffee while he could.
However, this day was different.
Julian realized that his power was not at all good in comparison to Asher's.
His friend likes coffee, the two have something in common, but Julian knows that Asher is much stronger than him.
Knowing that his friend is stronger, he would not be far behind. Just like Grey and Freddy, the two of them are stronger than him.
But of course, being stronger is not easy to achieve either; however, what happens when you are talented?
Then things change. Julian didn't know he had a great talent; his carelessness led him to think he didn't have a great talent like his friends.
But now that he has tested his skills in action, he realized that he could adapt to any fight in a matter of seconds.
His two affinities, lightning and air, are a perfect combination for fighting.
However, at first it will be hard and Julian will think he has no talent.
Although in reality it's quite the opposite.
"Affinities have three stages."
Exactly, each affinity has three different stages of power, and their characteristics become more powerful and more different depending on the mage.
Those three stages are called "elemental evolution." Julian learned this from his father, the patriarch of the Reinhard family.
His father is certainly an extremely powerful mage who unlocked two stages of lightning affinity, and yet, he is one of the strongest of the ten great families as a ninth circle mage.
His power is gigantic, also known as the god of lightning, the king of the heavens who controls the climates.
Certainly, his father obtained several titles throughout his life.
However, Julian, all this time was someone very lazy and lazy.
And now Julian realized his mistake.
Julian knew about the two unlocked stages of his father's lightning element, but then, what about the third stage?
"It's something unknown, so why didn't father get it?"
His father is extraordinarily talented, but that didn't help his father unlock the third stage of the lightning element.
It was a question Julian asked himself.
"If two stages are this powerful, then what would it be like with the third stage?"
It would certainly have immeasurable power.
One that would perhaps be far more powerful than a ninth circle magician and even discover a power beyond the ninth circle.
The so-called tenth that no one knows if it really exists or if anyone in the entire history of mankind has reached the so-called tenth circle.
However, this did not matter to Julian; his goal was to reach the third stage of the lightning and air element.
He had asked himself a question:
"One element with two stages is very strong, so two elements with the second stage?"
Certainly, Julian would be one of the most powerful mages in the entire world, far surpassing his father himself.
However, what if he makes it to the second stage of both affinities and then unlocks the third stage with two affinities?
How powerful will Julian be?
It was Julian's ultimate question; he was born with two magical elements, and yet that question was present every day he lived.
He simply wanted to know how far he would go.
Not only him, but Julian wanted to see his friends' growth and, of course, Asher's as well.
However, this led him to a new question.
"What is Asher's element? It's a dark one, and yet there is no such thing."
Certainly, when Julian learned of the element Asher had, one in which the mana is dark and has purple rays that flitted around him, unique but common-like abilities, and yet all of his abilities are related to darkness.
This led to a big question.
"What affinity is Asher's?"
However, Julian decided to call it "shadow magic." It was a temporary name until his friend tells him the true name of his affinity.
But, of course, Julian respects the privacy and secrets of his friends and, therefore, he would not try to get information out of him.
His friends are like his family.
He does not want to harm people he considers as his family.
"Huuh..."
Julian sighed, tired of being thinking about things about his friends and their types of magic.
However, he was frustrated.
"I wish I was stronger."
He wanted to be much stronger.
But he knew he would make it.
At some point, he could be someone as powerful, even more powerful than his father.
His goal is to be stronger than his father and to be recognized by him.
However, he needs to be strong in his own way, to achieve his power through his efforts and thus his own defiance.
It doesn't matter if he risks his life, but he will get his own power with his own hands and efforts.
Looking at the balcony window, Julian got out of bed. It was Saturday morning and the day was just beginning.
He stepped out onto the balcony and took a light sigh, then took a deep breath and let all the air out as he slowly stretched and looked up at the blue sky.
"I have five years, five years to be as strong as possible."
He knew perfectly well that he had five years to be as strong as possible.
Julian is currently 11 years old, and he will soon turn 12.
Like him, his friends will also turn 12 this year.
In exactly one month he will turn 12.
"Good."
Entering his room, he went into the bathroom. Several minutes passed and he had finally finished his homework.
Leaving his room, he walked down the long hallways of the building and down to the second floor of the building. He stepped out onto the campus and made his way to the academy.
Entering quickly, he went in the direction of the training section.
Just off in the distance, he looked at the writing on the top of the door that read "training section."
Being Saturday, perhaps there might be more than a few cadets, but he didn't mind, so he entered and, just at that second, blades shaped like sharp blades, resembling sword blades, appeared. But these he looked at were many, huge and sharp. The sharp blades were made of water, which meant that he was a cadet with the water element.
At that instant, a torrent of sharp ice crystals shot in the direction of the cadet who threw the sharp blades.
Both attacks collided and yet Julian looked at his two friends.
Grey and Freddy, both were in a combat, they looked tired and yet they both stood their ground.
After watching the fight for a few more minutes, it finally ended and then Julian walked into the combat section and approached.
"Uh, hello, Julian." Grey then greeted him by waving his hand, while wiping his sweat with a handkerchief with the other.
"How are you?" Freddy spoke in a casual tone.
He was a little distant and less talkative, but that was about the only thing. However, Freddy does care about others, though he tries not to show it.
"Hi, how long have you guys been here?"
"About two hours ago, we were going to be done in two more hours."
Seeing Grey's sincere words, Julian smiled and then spoke.
"Can I train with you?"
"Of course."
"Sure, why not."
The two agreed and Julian only thanked them.
It was then that the three of them started training, there was some sparring and also talking, and then the three of them said goodbye, and Julian was left alone to continue training.
"I will try to get to the second circle as fast as possible."
He said to himself and then sat down on the floor, adopted a meditation posture and closed his eyes.
***
-Scene change.
-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
Luna and Gloriana, these two had not left Asher alone for the next few hours.
In fact, I'd like to be better with Julian and talk about the best coffees they've ever tasted, but these two wouldn't let me leave.
It certainly didn't bother Asher, but it had been a few hours and he was starting to get tired of the extra words Luna would suddenly say.
Things like animals in love, cadets who were dating, and teachers who she believed were having affairs with other teachers.
These things certainly missed Asher, but they didn't bother him; in fact, it was kind of funny what Luna was saying.
"It's like she's trying to imply something."
It was as if she was trying to say something and get closer to him, but Asher didn't understand anything.
After all, he had never thought about such words that Luna was saying every moment.
The strangest thing was that Gloriana sometimes covered her face, and that left Asher a little thoughtful.
"Is she just as sick as Luna perhaps?"
That worried him, however, he remembered that Luna was the same way and was now casually walking beside him.
Although her face was still a little red, as was Gloriana's.
Asher didn't know what was going on or what these two were doing. If they were sick, then they should be going to the medical section.
However, that didn't really seem to be the case.
"They're both acting weird."
Was what came to Asher, a question and also a possible answer.
"Maybe they like being with me, but I'm not someone very nice."
"More than anything, I'm like someone aloof."
Still, that was no excuse for Luna and Gloriana being so attached to Asher. The two of them were the first people Asher met in the early days after reincarnating in this world, and, of course, they were his dearest friends.
If something happened to these two, who knows what Asher would do about it?
These two were his first friends and the first people he met after reincarnating in this world, which at the time was completely unknown to him.
"Huam... I feel... Exhausted."
Asher muttered, and no one noticed.
Looking at a long and spacious bench, which was in a kiosk surrounded by a flower garden, Asher said:
"Let's go there."
Asher pointed them to the spot he looked.
"Okay," Luna replied, but Gloriana looked a little strange.
Still, the three of them headed over to sit down right away. Asher took his place in the middle of the two girls, in front of them was a view towards a water fountain, and up ahead were cadets wandering around.
After all, they were on campus, a place where cadets usually spent most of their time.
"Haa..."
At that, Asher felt somewhat tired, wanted to close his eyes, and slowly began to get sleepy.
This was again due to mental fatigue, however, he had mana in his brain to prevent mental fatigue very quickly.
But of course, that didn't stop Asher from getting mentally tired in a certain amount of time; however, this time he didn't get tired as fast as before.
After all, it had been several hours since he had gotten mentally tired and now it seemed to be happening to him again.
"Asher."
Luna spoke and Asher simply looked at her.
"What?"
"Hey, did you..." At that, Luna paused for a few seconds.
"..."
Asher looked at her somewhat confused and yet he didn't wait long before she continued.
"Do you like ice cream?"
"..."
"..."
Even she herself was puzzled by her own words, as Asher looked at her even more confused.
Ice cream... He had never tasted it, not even in his previous life.
"I don't know, I've never tried it."
"Heh, hey, is that for real or is that a joke?"
"It's true."
"Haa... Everyone has tried it sometime and you haven't."
Asher quickly shot back. After all, he was never interested in things like trying new things or things he had never tried before; he just focused more on coffee than anything else.
Coffee was familiar to him, and so he never tried anything different.
"That's... Nor... Wrong... Right?"
"..."
"..."
Luna and Gloriana looked at Asher, their eyes widening as he suddenly began to close his eyes and slumped to the side, right over Gloriana's legs.
At that, Asher dropped, and his gaze began to darken, but Luna and Gloriana's voices reached his ears.
"Asher... What...?"
"Hey..."
He could barely hear their voices, yet they sounded concerned. Luna had reached over and touched his face.
Gloriana then gripped him tightly.
Soon, however, Asher closed his eyes.
This was part of the mental exhaustion; that meant he would be asleep for a few hours and, above all, he would be immersed in the memories of his past life....