018 | Eight Years

Hey there. I'm Asher.

Time passes in the blink of an eye. Who would have thought that eight years would have passed by so quickly? I'm now physically twelve years old. I do have to say that I have become quite the looker. How strong was my parent's genetics to give me both height and attractiveness?

I currently stand at 158 centimeters tall and my golden blonde hair was a bit longer than before. I had asked Patricia to cut it multiple times already and I tend to keep my hair out of my eyes. I'm quite the dazzling prince charming.

I had already habituated with my body and got my mana under control. With the support of Patricia, Rowan, and Calamno throughout the eight years that passed, I've gotten comfortable with the magic in this world.

I broke another seal, the fourth out of the Twelve Seals that the detestable and annoying Overseer placed on me.

This happened when I finally got 100% of my mana under control. It was quite painful and the old man had a surprisingly concerned look when he saw me sweating and gasping for air.

The fourth sword pierced my back repeatedly, reminding me of the memories from my past life. The pain was unbearable, slightly more than the previous, sinking deep inside my body and slowly pulling it out just to enter my back again.

When that ordeal was over, I found myself having almost double the amount of mana I had. Calamno had the theory that I'm a human born with an abnormal amount of mana. When my fourth seal broke, Calamno had believed that it was just me awakening my ability to use magic and that was his reasoning for the large quantity of mana that I got.

Of course, I decided not to tell the old man that it's just inheriting my power from my previous life. Alpha just HAD to make things difficult for me and seal my power in twelve different components. Although, at least I confirmed that each seal is giving me exponentially more mana back. I had to cultivate on my own to gain back control over the mana I once had. Unfortunately, no seal broke when I did that.

After all of us practically know of the upcoming civil war that will most likely happen in Naskac, the three Dark Elves seemingly split up their duties in teaching us.

Rowan was mostly in charge of physical types of combat, including different types of weapons. He also taught us trade and commerce. I skipped out on combat because I was already a master of anything Rowan threw at me. It got kind of annoying as if he was using me as a lab rat to experiment with what weapon I could or couldn't use.

Patricia taught us etiquette and a general overlook of everything this world had to offer. She also recommended we go to the neighboring Human kingdom, Yanalia. She also taught Rudif basic mathematics. I skipped doing my homework. It's quite funny to me how basic arithmetic is completely identical to my old world. There was a lot of interesting information that Patricia did teach us, though.

The old man, Calamno, obviously was in charge of magic. I was able to do this easily with the experience I had previously, Rudif struggled more than I thought.

Speaking of the mutt, he's now 15 years old and wild. Raging beastly testosterones, you should see the guy eating at the dinner table. I think he devours three or four portions. Five, if he's really hungry. He's 172 centimeters tall and nothing like the scrawny and skinny kid when I first met him. He's put on some muscle, albeit he's not completely ripped. With all the physical activity he's getting every day for eight years straight, there's no way he wouldn't have gained some muscle. Plus, as a Half-Beast, Rudif has extraordinary physical prowess.

Ah, in fact, Rowan taught me the other type of energy that Rudif talked to me about when we were in the cave.

Raw Energy. Think of it as mana but it can only affect you physically. It's an interesting concept that revolves around a special way of breathing. Breathing is essential for our body. Almost all our energy comes from breathing, and with practice, you can start to feel a secondary power that is just like mana. This Raw Energy is just like the name suggests, it's our energy in its rawest form. It flows all the time just like the blood in our system. One thing that's constant is that when one uses Raw Energy, they are covered in a fiery red aura.

Rowan demonstrated Raw Energy by covering his fists with the fiery red aura and completely obliterated a part of the forest.

Rudif is actually better at Raw Energy than magic, but in this world, the stereotype is that an individual capable of using magic is far beyond the skill of someone who can use Raw Energy. You can think of the concept as Raw Energy being a bow and arrow while magic is a rifle. I believe I don't need to explain anymore. Both are beneficial, so Rudif and I learned both magic and Raw Energy.

Ah, right now I'm currently sparring against Rudif. It's one of my daily pass times. The mutt also seems to enjoy it as well. We're just getting started as well, both of us stood on opposite sides of Rowan's training grounds.

"You ready to lose again, mutt?"

Rudif was no longer a scared little puppy. He grew his brown hair out and it reached to his shoulders. It was a little bit spikier than before, perhaps it's just his genes? He wore a white gi that exposed parts of his upper torso.

Since I have always been with Rudif, I know that he just got lazy to fix it up, and just left it open.

Rudif's occasional pitchy voice was a fair bit deeper now. Puberty hits him pretty hard.

"I'll beat you today, Asher. I've been practicing with Rowan for the past few weeks, doing EXTRA training."

Ah...

"Is that why I always wake up in the morning to your screaming?"

Rudif turned red and switched the topic. He smashed his fists together.

"S-shut up! Are you ready yet? Sheesh, you take so long!"

"I'm ready when you are, mutt."

"Don't call me a mutt! I'm a wolf!"

The two of us rushed at each other, Rudif made a claw with his hands and sent a flurry of attacks.

Left, Left, right, up, this side, that side, and center.

His attacks were still obvious but he's certainly better now that he's sparred more with me. What he really needs now is true combat experience, a taste of being in a life or death situation.

After dodging one of Rudif's back kicks, I grabbed his foot, closed into him, and knocked him down with my palm.

Rudif let out a few coughs but instantly got back up, "Heheheh, did you see that?"

Well, well, well...All that extra training paid off. I aimed my palm to take out all the air in his lungs but Rudif coated himself in Raw Energy right before he got hit. He also added some spin when he got knocked back to distort the impact of my attack.

"Not bad, mutt. Come again."

"I'll get you this time!"

I was surprised when Rudif did a feint. He crossed over with his left knee and kicked with his right. It was still an obvious attack as I experienced far stronger opponents, but for Rudif's age, he has great talent. If only he could learn how to transform into a large wolf, then I'd be traveling with a portable carriage. How cool would that be?

Ah, a fist went past my face and I tilted my head just in time. I smirked at Rudif, who turned around to kick.

"Hyah!"

As expected he did a feint with one leg and attacked with the other. I bent down to my knees and got close to Rudif, successfully dodging his kick to my head and tackling him down.

I had my knee on Rudif's body and raised my fist. I coated it in Raw Energy as well as added a few magic spells.

Rudif slowly shook his head in denial.

Too late, mutt.

I still can't do any chantless magic spells but I'm close. I do have to utter one or so words, depending on the type of spell.

"Acceleration...Greater Impact...Double Impact...Flames...Shock Absorption...Heavy Physical Enhancement...Light Weight..."

My fist was now a strange hue of neon green and blue. Perhaps the combination of a fiery red Raw Energy aura and all these spells made some abominable color.

"...Asher, no...."

I usually don't combine this many magical spells simply because it takes too long and is inefficient in a real fight. The time gap between each spell combining on top of another takes too long. At least for now, it does. This spell lineup took a little over six seconds. I prefer to keep things that take at most, one second. Each moment you let yourself be vulnerable is a moment you could lose your life.

"Are you ready, mutt?"

Rudif rapidly screamed his answer, "Nonononononononononono-"

"WHERE'S YOUR RAW ENERGY?!?!"

I smashed my fist down causing a small crater in the training grounds to appear and sent a small tremor throughout the nearby area.

Rudif had exerted an incredible amount of Raw Energy and his eyes widened.

I had aimed at the ground right next to Rudif's face. I smiled.

"Forfeit?"

The mutt sighed, "Yes...I surrender."

I got up and patted my knees. I lent my hand to Rudif and helped him up. He released his coating of Raw Energy.

He scratched his head and chuckled, "I thought I could scratch you today, heh."

"You were close. You didn't waste your time with training, I'm proud of you."

Rudif went in for a big hug.

"Yeah, yeah, big guy. Just keep practicing and soon you can finally transform into my personal carriage-"

A sudden explosion occurred on the opposite side of the mansion. The training grounds were at the back so something must have happened at the front. Rudif and I looked at each other and nodded our heads.

"The three are out right now, which means-"

Rudif added to my thoughts, "The best time to attack is now."

I saw Rudif grit his sharp teeth. That's a Half Beast for you.

"How dare Duke Wilfred act so cowardly!"

Seems like someone leaked information to the Duke.

It's most likely something along the lines that Patricia and Rowan are currently taking care of two important individuals.

The Duke most likely created a diversion that caused the three Dark Elves to leave the mansion. Using such a simple tactic, he succeeded in getting rid of his problems so he could send his men over to capture us. Did he think he could get away with using us as hostages?

"Mutt, there's exactly half a dozen knights. They're all fully armored and equipped with swords. One of them has a magical weapon, it's most likely their leader."

Rudif smiled, "Looks like Rowan's order for my punching bags has arrived."

I returned the smile, "Let's give them a test, shall we?"