Training

Breakfast began bright and early the next morning. Plates were lined with pancakes, fruits, syrups, and an assortment of other breakfast foods. Everyone had just gotten up and were still slightly groggy from yesterday's rest.

As everyone finished eating, the blond-haired hero, Kaiba, raised his voice and said, "Everyone hear me out!"

The breakfast that was previously noisy, quieted down to hear what he had to say. It seems as if the class recognized the hero as the leader of the group.

The hero stood up from his seat and declared, "I know we haven't known each other for long, but together, we've already gone through a shocking experience, being summoned to another world! I know that fighting for humanity may be hard and that we'll endure many hardships…"

At this, some people began to be discouraged slightly. Their faces fell slightly, thinking about the demons.

"...however, we shouldn't let that stop us! We have been given amazing powers and with these, we can fight and save everyone! After all, with great power comes great responsibility. Who's with me!" Kaiba clenched his fists as he announced his noble intentions, flashing his famous dazzling smile that dazed a few people.

His overwhelming charisma started to take effect. Students who lost heart a few moments ago started to regain their composure. Each looked at him with admiration and wonder. A few began voicing their desire to join.

"I knew you'd say that. It wouldn't be right letting you go off on your own."

"Komori…"

"Looks like this is the only choice we have right now. I'm with you to the end."

"Miname…"

"I-if Miname's going to fight, then I'll go too!"

Soon everyone chimed in, showing their support for the hero Kaiba. Swept along by the flow, the rest eventually all agreed to help as well. Even not knowing what war was like, they believed they could succeed. In a sense, they may have just been trying to escape from reality to preserve their own sanity.

From the corner of his eye, Ayannokouji could see the woman from before, Elaine, monitoring the hero, adding in how cruel the demons were to fuel Kaiba's sense of justice. After all, it seems as if she had seen through his personality and happily made their enemy more despicable in the hero's eyes.

He would have to keep a closer eye on the high priest that kept watch over them.

Regardless, despite declaring war on the demons, the students still had no clue how to fight. Growing up in a peaceful world, very few of them knew how to fight. Even with all the power in the world, it was useless unless you knew how to use it.

To their assurance, however, the kingdom had prepared tutors and instructors in the art of combat for them to learn.

After breakfast, they followed Elaine to the training grounds. It was a large space full of training swords, targets, training dummies, and armor. Sparring circles made with painted lines were off to the side while on the opposite side lined what looked like a shooting range.

"Nice to meet you heroes. My name is Agis Belowin. I am the knight commander of Solia, the King's elite knights," introduced the trainer.

Agis was a large man with broad shoulders. Currently, he was equipped with light training armor along with a large broadsword strapped to his back. His smile was more genuine and felt much warmer than that of the king's.

"Two weeks from now, we'll have you heroes go to a nearby dungeon to test you. In preparation, today we will begin your training. I'll be leading the melee and weapon-based classes while my sister, Ayla, is in charge of training with mana. You will switch instructors after a few hours to help build your other stats. We'll start at this time every day, six days of the week. Any questions?"

Looking around, the commander could see many were shocked at the news.

"T-two weeks from now?" someone said.

"Is there a problem?" Agis responded with seriousness.

"Can we get stronger in just a few weeks?"

"If you don't get stronger even after training, you guys are the problem."

A few frowned at those words but didn't say anything back.

The heroes then began to disperse, following the knights to where they would be trained. 10 students went off to train in mana while the other 16 picked up weapons that suited their class. As part of those going to train mana, Ayanokouji followed the knights until they reached a large grassy area with an ancient oak in the center. To the side of the tree were a few stone targets and underneath the overhanging branches was a young woman with silky black hair and silk robes.

With a warm smile, she greeted them. "Welcome I'm Ayla Belowin, and I'll be training you in using mana or magic if you prefer. Gather round and sit."

Following her example, each of them sat in a semi-circle, facing their instructor.

"First, tell me what you know about mana so far?" Ayla asked.

"I heard that it's generated from your body," someone said.

"Correct, it is generated by what is known as your core. Mana pathways are connected to the core and guide the mana throughout your body. What else?"

The one known as Anno Enri nervously raised her hand. "Y-you use it to cast spells."

Ayla smiled lightly. "Indeed. Mana is a separate status used solely to fuel magic. The amount you have can grow through training and can be seen on your status. However, it can be deadly if you overexert yourself," she warned seriously with a grim tone.

"What do you mean?" asked glasses, who he found out to be Yoshida.

"When you completely use up your mana pool, you feel extreme exhaustion and fatigue. If you continue to use mana after exhausting your mana pool by forcibly generating mana from your body, you will feel extreme nausea, blood erupts from your orifices, you become temporarily crippled afterward, and over time your body weakens. At worst, you can permanently destroy your mana pathways, meaning you can never use mana again."

At these words, everyone took the training more seriously. After all, who would want that to happen to them?

Ayla clapped her hands. "Enough of that. Why don't we begin by getting a feel for your mana. By beginning to manipulate your mana, you'll be able to better use the skills you obtain at level 5. Once you reach level 5, you gain knowledge on how to use skills pertaining to your class. For example, you'll be able to use the skill [Fireball] if you are an Elemental Mage."

"Now, close your eyes and envision an orb of energy at your core. It should feel warm and familiar to you."

Ayanokouji closed his eyes as instructed and searched for his core. All he could find was darkness; it felt like tearing through a thick molasses. After searching for what felt like an eternity, he found a small white sphere that radiated energy. The small orb felt like a missing part of him. It pulled and tugged at its surrounding, eagerly waiting to be used.

"If you've found it, unclog the areas around it and allow the energy to flow throughout your body. This will allow you to unblock your mana pathways."

Ayanokouji dug at the viscous substance, slowly clearing it bit by bit. Inky blackness was replaced by traces of blinding white. Each piece that was torn away was one step closer for the excited energy to be released. As the last piece fell away, the energy flowed like a raging ocean, quickly circulating throughout his body.

It felt like a roaring stream, unobstructed, and full of power. The sheer force contained felt was beyond his imagination. It was exhilarating.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was the first one done. The sun had changed position so a few hours had gone by in what felt like 10 minutes. Seeing as everyone was still focusing, he closed his eyes and focused on his mana flow, testing the limits of his newfound power.

What he didn't see was the shocked expression of Ayla Belowdin, the prodigy magician of her generation. Said to have unlocked her mana the fastest in history, in a time just short of two weeks. Yet feeling the power the young boy had, even if didn't compare to those of higher levels, she could only gape at his ability. If he continued to grow at this rate…

"What a monster," she thought to herself. Didn't he only have average stats compared to the rest of his group?

After 30 more minutes, the session ended. By the end of it most were discouraged as only a few were able to begin clearing their pathways. The rest were still trying to find their core. "Maybe I overdid it?" he thought. He couldn't gauge how fast the others were progressing while in the meditative state. Worse, he couldn't control the output of mana when the pathways were cleared. He would have to work on that.

"Don't worry guys. You did great for your first time! I'm known as a prodigy and it took me two weeks to finally be able to do it! You'll get it in no time since you're the heroes!" Ayla said excitedly, breaking his thought.

"Now you'll be training with Agis to build your strength, defense, agility, and vitality!"

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A/N: Yeah, Ayanokouji is gonna be OP. While some may say that we wouldn't have shown his ability, etc. I think it's realistic that his talent was found out by Ayla. After all, he is new to it and can't conceal it.

Anyways, if you guys have plot ideas I'm all ears. I have some major plot points already planned but I'm open to suggestions.

Comment and leave a review!