Faneel's father Gord met up with the Mercenary Group and they were traveling toward Rakh Valley. The valley was richer than the Aiteet, where Gord is from. Along the way, the group showed marvelous martial prowess. They took care of the magical beings, that attacked the group without breaking a sweat. The Aboriginal mercenary groups had excellent fighting ability despite their small size. It was rumored to be led by a fallen royal knight. When the knight was discarded from his position, his loyal platoon members also joined him. In the Palia kingdom, there was a ranking of the knights. The lowest member of the Palia military was the foot soldier. They had to climb three positions to reach the title of lowest knight. The students who graduated from Sinki school with honors were granted the lowest knight position in the military.
Besides, the knights were divided into C-grade, B-grade, A-grade, and S-grade knights. It depended upon the merits and level of body channels of the warrior to succeed in those titles. Palia kingdom only had one S-grade knight. It was already 40 years, that anybody had seen him. It was rumored that S-grade knights were able to cut mountains and separate a body of water apart. S-ranked knights were those who had opened all seven channels of their bodies. There were only a few people in history who were able to accomplish such greatness.
Gord was a C-grade knight, he joined the Palia military in an infantry position as a foot soldier. Later, through his merits and martial prowess, he was promoted to the position of knight. However, he did not have the hope of advancement of channels. Till now, he had opened up to three channels in his body. He was on the verge of a fourth channel breakthrough but injury in the war had halted the advancement.
On the other hand, Gord had excellent knowledge of Ki handling, and Faneel trained in the same skill as him. However, his sword-breathing style had not progressed since his injury.
While walking through the hills, surrounded by plants, herbs, and trees, an old man strikes up a conversation with Gord.
Old man slowly catching up to Gord, "Heard, you were in the military, how long did you serve?"
Gord who could not sense the presence of the man, "...Ah yeah, I worked for seventeen years and retired after I couldn't take it.
And you? Looking at your posture, you seem to be military."
The old man keeps up with Faneel's pace, "I served during the old days when serving in the military was compulsory. I then bounced and traveled around the continent before joining this crowd.
What made you join, this mercenary group, it does not exactly pay more than the military."
Gord pauses after walking uphill and looks toward the old man, "I am betting my life, for my son's education. I hope he becomes formidable enough to not work during old days."
Old man, "Haha, you made this geezer laugh. If he is studying in a magic academy, he will definitely break the curse of wealth."
Gord sighs, "He is studying at the magic academy, but he will likely be a warrior like me."
Old man further pokes, "Ah I see, you look like you can handle yourself, what level are you?
Gord takes some time and answers, "I was a C-grade knight when I retired, it has been three years since my retirement. I guess I might be rusty."
The old man lights up his tobacco, "Hope you don't make me work twice as hard."
Gord laughs and bows, "If it's not too much trouble, please take care of me."
The old man pats in the back and moves on.
As he was walking another mercenary with deer antlers came across him.
"I did not think old man spoke much, I think he finds you amusing."
Gord looks at the guy with antlers, "...Who is he?"
The mercenary speaks, "Oh! You don't know, he is Silas, 20 years ago, he was regarded as the best battle mage in the country."
Gord now realizes that despite being a small force, how aboriginal group was able to survive. The platoon had an A-level mage and an A-level warrior leading the group.
*****************
Vultures who came after Pikey after his loss in the courtyard earlier faced the worst beatdown. Those who deemed him weak were clear from their brain fog. They ascertained that Faneel used his lifelong luck to win against Pikey after witnessing his mayhem.
Pikey after wiping the dust and blood off his face, "Is there anyone left to challeng'e me, I welcome ye."
He went to the changing room to join the rest of the warrior class. The Gaelish warrior thought to himself, I have to salvage my reputation and come on top.
However, there was a challenge for Pikey to reach the top of his class because the Vice-captain of the Minsk clan reigned his section. There was a power difference between those two. The Vice-Captain was a mage who held an advantage over him, thus he had not made a move to climb ranks.
Needless to say, he realized that he could not hide his ambition. If he wanted to put his failure behind him, he had to break through the top.
**************
Fannel and Mitta who were discussing the initiation, parted ways. Mitta went to his class. It was the first day for Faneel, he was a bit nervous. The class was truly new to him. After entering the class building there was a huge hallway.
Faneel after being bewildered by the atmosphere saw a familiar face.
He shouts, "....Arva! Did you find your class?"
Arva flipped her hair and turned around, "Ah hey, Faneel...Yeah, I found it,
You can read the name list published on the green board."
Faneel, "Okay thank you!"
Arva looks back to the Faneel, she was late for the class; she rushed for her session.
Faneel on the other hand, started to look through the board. He saw his name, he was assigned to section C of the fourth standard.
The young lad went into the class. Mostly the class was filled with humans but there were few inter-being kids. He saw bull, eagle, and monkey origin students.
After Faneel entered the class, he grabbed a seat near an empty chair. It was beside a long-haired boy. He was to be sleeping by putting his head down.
The class was too new to him, he looked around and did not see any familiar faces.
A red-haired girl comes near him, "Hey! you are Faneel right, who defeated Pikey in the initiation match."
He looked closely, the girl was bright, smiled ear to ear, and had an optimistic attitude. After seeing her for only a few seconds, he could assume that she was the most extroverted girl in the class.
Faneel with an awkward expression, "Ah yeah!"
The redhead girl replies with a smile, "I am Merida of Thrall clan, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask me."
Faneel was at ease after the girl was introduced to him.
Guy who was keeping his head down replied to Faneel, "Don't ease up on her, you can't trust her. She is too unpredictable."
The curious wolf replied, "Yeah! I don't trust her, I learned that on my first day at Sinki.
Faneel looked at the guy, hoping for his introduction but there was only silence between them.
The guy who was keeping his head down at the desk speaks, ".....don't want to introduce it is too bothersome."
Faneel was thinking, what an uncooperative ass was his desk partner. But, he subdued his frustration."
As he was taking out his reading materials, the professor walked in. Professor's face was of an owl.
Professor, "Class keep silent, I will be teaching today about body channels and breathing techniques."
Faneel got interested after listening to the topic as it was an eye-opener for him. He had only got informal education from his father. He was happy to have joined the biggest school with a plethora of knowledge. He was excited to get insights about the lesson.
Professor, "There are seven channels in all beings of this world. Root, Sacral, Plexus, Heart, Light, Eye, and Crown. You all know that channels are designated the numbers from 1-7.
The root is known for building a foundation and developing Ki for warriors and mana (external Ki) for the mages. Your roots should have a strong foundation developed through discipline, training, and hard work. If your root is not strong then all your channels might crumble while you open up the door for other levels.
The Root channel is known for your vitality, healing, and survival energy. It projects red Ki that should be harmonized with your respective breathing technique.
For instance, the root channel is for vitality and healing thus for all mages and warriors's root channel is an essential base. However, after opening the Sacral channel your breathing becomes formidable.
For sword breathing, your Ki becomes sharp, for Mace breathing your Ki becomes rampant and devastating, and for spear your breathing becomes camouflaged. The energy channeled from the body can only be utilized and controlled by breathing techniques.
After opening your channels, you all must focus on leveling up your breathing technique.