The Real Training

'I'd almost forgotten how creepy that thing looked' Lucas thought to himself as he stared at the Avatar.

Just as the name suggested, the Avatar was simply the physical manifestation of the system itself. It would only choose to show itself inside the domes during training in order to conduct proper supervision.

"As you are all well aware, the awakening shall commence in less than two and a half days from now", said the Avatar, "Once that happens, portals to all sorts of dungeons shall begin to spawn all across your world. Monsters shall rampage and kill anything that they set their eyes on. Therefore, you must all be well prepared"

"That is why from now until the day before the awakening, you're training shall be more hands-on", The Avatar finished before it snapped it's fingers.

DING!

[System: The limitations of your body have been lifted. Congratulations! You have awakened!

Mana +100]

Lucas suddenly received a notification from the system informing him that he had awakened. At the same time, he could also feel a rush of energy flowing through every single cell in his body. The others all carried looks of surprise on their faces as they felt the same thing too.

'I shall never get over this feeling no matter how many times I go through it' thought Lucas as he let out a blissful sigh. The feeling of being able to circulate mana again felt so refreshing for him and he couldn't help but close his eyes and savor the moment.

"Whoa! What is this?" asked one of the Becker sisters.

"I feel…so full of energy!" said the other.

"What you are feeling right now is mana, the most basic form of energy in the universe", explained the Avatar, "This is the energy that runs through every single being or object in existence. It is even in the very air that surrounds us, the ground beneath our feet and the food that you eat"

"For yours and your planet's survival, it is vital that you all learn how to utilize mana for it shall be the very thing that powers all of your attacks in the future", said the system Avatar, "All of your previous training sessions involved time sensitive intricate puzzles, long hours of meditation and hand to hand combat drills. Each of these practices were meant to prepare you for today"

"Huh? All that so we could learn how to use some stupid new type of energy?" Lucian asked in exasperation, remembering all the times he had gone back home with his whole body completely sore.

The Avatar was about to respond to Lucian's complaints before Lucas butted in first.

"The puzzles were meant to improve our basic IQ and ability to think on our feet, the meditation was to help improve our focus and the combat drills were to improve our bodies' constitutions", said Lucas, "Did I guess right?"

The Avatar nodded and continued, "All correct. Each and every exercise served a purpose to strengthen your bodies. Granted, even without the exercises you would have all been able to awaken your mana but it wouldn't have the same results as right now"

"You", the Avatar pointed at Lucian and asked, "What number is your current mana set at?"

"Me?", Lucian asked in surprise, hesitating a little before he amswered, "I-It's at 75"

The Avatar didn't say anything more and just went around pointing at all of them, asking the same question. In the end, Warren had ended up with the highest number with 120 mana points followed by Lucas with a 100, then Andre with 95, Caitlin with 90 and both Becker sisters with 80. Lucas was honestly shocked that his mana points were so high as in the past, his had been one of the lowest!

'Must be due to my new system' Lucas guessed.

"Wait just one moment!", growled an irritated Lucian, "Why do I have the lowest mana?"

"While you are undoubtedly skilled physically, your mental capacity is limited", answered the Avatar honestly, "Nevertheless, you are still quite gifted. The average person would have gotten anything between 15-20 mana points without special training, and 30-45 with training. You should consider yourself quite fortunate"

However Lucian looked anything but grateful for his talent. He seemed to have taken it quite personal being the one with the lowest amount of mana. His face was literally getting redder and redder, seething with rage.

"Shall we get started with the actual training now?" asked Andre impatiently.

"Of course", the Avatar nodded before it disappeared for a moment and reappeared a few feet above them, floating in the air, "Please eliminate the first wave of enemies that I have prepared for you"

CRRRRAACK!

'Something's coming!' thought Lucas as he felt every single hair on his body stand on end. Everyone else tensed up as well, feeling the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

"Over there!", Caitlin suddenly pointed to one side of the room. There, the space twisted and split apart forming a portal like rift. With his mana now awakened, Lucas could feel the absurd surges of energy radiating from the rift.

"Kikiki!"

"Keuk! Hiak, grok jok!"

"Hiiieeeeeaa!"

Emerging from the rift was a hoard of small monsters the size of children. Well, they all varied a little in size but the tallest amongst them was no bigger than a middle schooler. The monsters had red skin, long pointy ears and serrated teeth that stuck out slightly from their mouths.

'Imps!' Lucas thought, recognizing them almost immediately. They were one of the most basic beasts that he had first fought in the past. His eyes narrowed slightly as he surveyed the hoard 'Twelve in all…it doesn't seem like any more will be coming out for the time being. There shouldn't be any problems then'

"Eek! What are those things?!" squealed one of the Becker sisters as she recoiled at the sight of the Imps' ugly faces.

"Those are our opponents", said Warren with a serious expression on his face as he took a fighting stance, "The enemy has nearly twice our numbers but as long as we do this strategically, we shou-hey!"

Andre charged passed him, having grown impatient of standing around doing nothing for so long. He had already adapted to the feel of his own mana and was now using it to charge towards the hoard of imps at a frightening speed, reaching them almost instantly. The three imps at the front of the hoard seemed to be caught off guard by Andre's speed and froze up for a moment.

'Perfect!' thought Andre as he pulled his right fist back, redirecting the mana in his body from his legs to his fist before slamming it into an imp's chest.

BAM!

"Kiek!", cried the imp as it flew through the air before it crumbled to the ground and lay still. The force from Andre's fist had completely crushed it's ribcage and raptured it's internal organs, killing it in an instant.

"Groowk!"

The other imps seemed to get agitated seeing one of their own fall so soon and they now kept up their guard.However, this didn't discourage Andre at all as he charged straight towards the other two imps, swinging his fists with ferocity.

"H-He's really going at it", said Lucian as he saw Andre critically injure another imp.

"Strong…", Caitlin murmured as she stared at the back of her elder brother. She then clenched her fists and said, "We should jump in too!"

"Really?" one of the Becker's tilted her head questioningly, "Why? He seems to have it covered"

Her sister nodded in agreement, "That's right. Look, he took care of another one"

Lucas glanced to where the battle was happening and noticed that indeed, three of the imps now lay motionless on the floor. Andre was still going, fighting and dodging the strikes from his foes but there was one problem-

"We may need to step in soon", said Lucas as he started walking forward.

"Hmm?", Lucian grunted ,"Why?"

Lucus pointed at the hoard of imps, particularly at the pair that stood furthest from Andrea. The two seemed to be waiting for something as they carefully observed Andre.

"Weak monsters tend to fight in groups", Lucas started to explain ,"The weaker the monster, the more numbers they bring to the fight. The two at the back seem to have the most mana and are most likely the ones coordinating the other imps. These creatures may look dumb but I can assure you that their battle and survival instincts are as sharp as ever. I'm sure they have already figured out that they have no chance beating Andre in a fair fight. That's why they want to tire him out first"

"Tire him out?", asked Caitlin in surprise.

"Of course!", said Warren with a light chuckle, "I see now. Throw the weaker ones to fight first, to test the waters and exhaust the opponent to the point where they drop their guard. And once they do-"

"Agh! You bastard!"

Everyone turned their heads and saw that an imp had finally managed to land a hit on Andre, sinking it's teeth into his left shoulder. Andre immediately reached and tried to grab it with his right hand but he suddenly slumped and fell to his knees.

'What the hell's happening?' thought Andre, panting heavily by the second 'I can't move my body anymore!'

[System: You have used up all of your mana. You now have mana exhaustion.

-20% movement speed for 5 minutes]

[System: You are under the paralytic effects of the saliva from the <Red Skinned Imp>.

-Complete paralysis for 2 minutes]

"Tch!", Andre clicked his tongue and cursed his luck once he read the system's message, "I shouldn't have let my guard down"

"Riiiek!" one of the imps at the back suddenly screeched, seeing it's opportunity and charged at Andre. As it lunged for his neck with it's claws extended, Andre shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.

WHOOSH!

"Eik!"

"Looks like you could use some help"

Andre opened his eyes slowly and was surprised to see Lucas standing before him with the imp from before now trapped in a headlock. The imp grunted and squirmed as it tried to break free from Lucas' grip, but Lucas held on with an iron tight grip.

"We can't have you killing him, now can we?" Lucas murmured darkly as he suddenly shifted his arms and twisted sharply.

CRACK!

THUD.

A sickening snap of bone of was heard as Lucas broke the imp's neck and dropped it to the floor. The other imps closest to him seemed stunned by his sudden appearance and even a little shaken up with the way he had mercilessly ended the life of one of their own.

"What? Lost your nerve already?" asked Lucas, grinning maliciously at the imps as they edged a little away from him. He could feel that odd sensation welling up inside him once again as he yelled, "Come at me!"

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A/N: How savage...

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