28 2nd Grade Magus

James returned to the warehouse each day and had death matches with various death row prisoners. Most were 1st grade knights. Occasionally a 2nd grade knight or dire-beast would be thrown into the mix. His skills continued to improve steadily as he fought these experienced ex-soldiers.

Two weeks later.

Blood dripped down from James katar blades. Three dead men laid on the floor in front of him. Their mana slowly flowed into his body. He smiled, "I finally broke through! Master, what spell are you going to teach me?"

"Your shadow threads are a control spell and can barely be considered a movement spell as well. You already have your katar blades, so you should choose a defensive spell next. Once you reach the 3rd grade you'll choose an offensive spell. At the 4th grade you'll choose a movement spell."

"Eh? But won't my defense become weak once I reach the 4th grade?"

"No. It won't. Spells grow in power as the magic-core increases in size. Your 2nd grade defense spell might be weaker than 4th grade defense spells, but it won't be weak in general." Skeleton pulled a book out of his ring and handed it to him. "This is the defensive spell I've chosen for you based on your combat style. I believe it suits you best. Remember to train it in complete darkness like you did with the 1st spell."

"I will." James nodded. He returned to his dorm and closed his door. He covered the window with curtains so no light was let in. Then he began reading the book using his finger. The spell was called shadow silk armor. It had an interesting requirement. Only those that had learned the shadow threads spell could learn it. 'I see… the dark element is typically weak in defense. The magus that created this spell wove a bunch of shadow threads together into a full suit of armor. It provides more defense than most dark spells. The armor is also thin and flexible like clothing. Seems convenient. I could probably create something similar without learning a new spell... but it would take too long to form the threads, combine them, and wear them as armor. The new spell will be instantaneous.'

He began to study the spell matrix. It was very different than the previous one he learned. The lines twisted together into large spirals. It was actually easier to learn than the shadow threads spell. It only took him a few days to learn it. He carved the spell onto his mana-core without breaking a sweat.

"I did it! I'm a 2nd grade magus." He yelled excitedly. "Finally, I can leave this hellish place! Thank the gods!"

[You know. You could have just equipped a different uniform and left anytime.]

"What?!" James yelled in shock. "Why didn't I think of that?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

[I thought it would be good to let you train… Ahem, anyways, congratulations on reaching the 2nd grade as a magus! A new hidden as feature unlocked! Please check the menu for details.]

"Hehe, what goodies did I get this time?" He opened the menu and selected hidden features. The second option was lit up. It displayed [???]. He tapped the question marks and nothing happened!

"Oy! System! What the hell kind of feature is this? It's just a bunch of question marks that don't do anything!"

[I fell asleep and forgot to come up with something.]

"Are you joking?! You're screwing with me, right? What happened to the system finally not being fucking useless?!"

[I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me that. My father gave me feelings you know.]

"Your father is a jackass!

[That isn't relevant to my feelings.]

"Cold bastard. So, what are you going to do about this?"

[…]

"Well?!"

[What do you want? Can I just unlock the map or something?]

"What the hell? No! That's a cheap feature I can buy as soon as I trade my gold for uniforms! Stop being lazy!"

[Ugh. Fine. Let me think for a moment…]

"…"

[How about something that helps you meditate?]

"Boring! I plan on hunting beasts to train as a magus."

[Picky bastard.]

"You've never talked this much before. What's with the mood swing? Finally get your period or something?"

[Systems don't have periods.]

"Who would have ever guessed! Color me surprised!"

[Okay. Enough with the sarcasm. How about a dream function?]

"Dream function?"

[Yes. I'll fill it with every person you've ever met just like the disguise function. You'll be able to train against them in your sleep, but they'll only be able to use moves you've seen them use before.]

"Oh, that sounds good! Let's go with that! How much will it cost?"

[Mm. We'll set it at 1 energy unit per day. Hopefully you won't get killed too early this way. I'm sick of switching hosts.]

"Eh? You've had other hosts?! Were you the same system that belonged to those other people on this planet in the past?"

[…]

"Hello?!"

[…]

"Fucking silent treatment again. Ugh, whatever." James selected the new dream function. It presented an on/off switch. He switched it to on. 'Hmm. Nothing happened. Guess I have to sleep for it to work.' He laid down on his bed to fall asleep. An hour slowly passed… "I'm not tired! Every time I almost fall asleep I get too excited about trying the new feature. God damnit!" He got up and left his room.

'Hmm. What should I do now? I could visit master? No, better not. Who knows what psychotic training he came up with for becoming a 3rd grade knight. I wonder if Virgil is back yet? We could go drinking?' He reached the living room and saw Adam and a big block of marble. He was slowly carving the marble with high-pressure water into the shape of a statue.

"Looks fancy!" James yelled into Adam's ear.

"Gah!" Adam jumped back in fright. The water moved with him and created a large scratch on the statue. "What the hell! Look what you made me do!"

"It was for your training! Honest!" He put his hands up to express innocence. "You let someone sneak up right next to you without noticing. Besides, you can practice patching your work now, right? See. I'm a good friend thinking for my brothers!"

"Hmph!" Adam snorted. "Buzz off. I don't have time to bother with you today. Go bug Virgil or something."

"Eh? He's back? Where is he?"

"He should be at the restaurant you two went to last time. He took a couple of woman there with him."

James headed out the door and towards the restaurant. The sun was slowly going down over the horizon. The crisp grass crunched under his feet. 'Hmm. What a beautiful day! The weathers great. I made a breakthrough. Nothing could ruin it!' He smiled as he reached the restaurant. He saw Virgil sitting with two women.

He walked over and grabbed a seat. "Hey Virgil! I'm crashing your party. I just can't stand seeing another man alone with two women. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Yale!" He smiled. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Haha, I've been busy training. I've been to the dorm a couple times, but never saw you. When did you get back?"

"A few days ago. I've got a big surprise for you! Your brother has taken care of everything!" Virgil rose his chest up confidently.

"Taken care of what…?"

"Haha!" He laughed. "You'll find out tomorrow. Don't worry about it." He poured a cup of wine for James and introduced the women sitting at the table with him. "This is Cherry. You already met her once."

"Right. I remember. I almost didn't recognize her without the red dress. Why the switch to magus robes?"

"I got punished with a week of cleaning the mountain last time I got caught wearing it!" She complained.

"Eh? How do you clean a mountain?" James questioned.

"You can't!" She exclaimed. "I had to use a broom and just sweep dirt everywhere for 16 hours a day! It was torture! You have no idea how much I suffered!"

'Suffer?! Just from that? Should I introduce her to master…? Eh, I better not. He'd probably make her a maid. Virgil seems to get along with her really well to. No need to ruin it.'

"Ahem!" Virgil interrupted. "This girl you haven't met. She is one year younger than me. She should be entering the academy next year. I pulled some strings to let her visit. Her name is..."

"I can introduce myself!" She pouted with an angry look. "I am princess Charla Drake. I am Virgil's half-sister."

"Sister?!" James looked back and forth between the two.

Charla had pale white skin which contrasted sharply to Virgil's black skin. She was short and appeared to only be around 57 inches tall. She had the standard silver hair and eyes that all descendants of the Elder Dragon had. Her hair was almost long enough to reach the floor and was tied into a bow in the middle. Her horns were much shorter than the other descendants. They only protruded from her head by a few inches before stopping.

"Why are her horns so short?" He questioned.

"She has a weird habit." Virgil laughed. "She likes to grind them down that short."

"It's not weird!" She complained. "They're too heavy when they grow big. They also get in the way of my hair. I don't like them!"

"Haha, I think her horns are pretty cute." James smiled. He thought back to his time on Earth. 'They sort of remind me of an anime I liked… Only the 1st half though. The 2nd half of that show was a total flop.'

"Really?" She blushed and rubbed her thumbs together nervously. Occasionally she would glance at him and quickly look away.

'Hmm? Did she fall for me? It makes sense. Not everyone can be as handsome as me!' He winked at her and her face turned completely red as she looked down to avoid eye contact. The group of four continued to happily drink the night away.

'Something isn't right?!' Late into the drinking session James realized something was horribly wrong! 'I'm already on the verge of passing out! How can Virgil and the others still be fine? The only thing I have absolute confidence in is my tolerance level! How can they outdrink me?! Even the shorty is doing better?'

"Virgil!" He slurred. "How can you three outdrinkth me? I comth from a long line of drinkers! I refusth to beliveth it!"

"Haha!" He laughed. "We descendants of the Elder Dragon naturally have high drinking tolerances!"

'Eh? Is that true?' He stared suspiciously at the two siblings. 'Lumi passed out with me last time though…? We should be at similar levels… Ah, it looks like Charla's face is pretty red? Maybe she's almost reached her limit too? Wait! What about Cherry? She looks perfectly fine?! It makes no sense…' He slowly drifted off to sleep as he passed out.

…

[Welcome to the Dream Hidden Feature. Which opponent would you like to train against?]

James stared at the list of options in front of him. Every person he had ever met was listed. However, most would be useless for training since he hadn't seen them fight before. He scrolled through the list and thought about what to choose. 'Oh? The beasts I've fought are here to? That might be fun… What?! The videogame characters from my last life are here! I've got to try it!'

[Initiating fight with Frost Troll]

James appeared on a large mountain covered in snow. A white troll appeared in front of him. It stood on two feet and looked like a great ape. Tuffs of white fur covered its body. It ran towards him and swiped with its sharp claws.

"Woah!" He jumped backwards and released shadow threads toward the troll. They were slightly stronger now that he broke through to a 2nd grade magus, but the troll easily ripped them apart. It swung at him again and he tried to block using his katar gauntlets. "Ugh!" He spit out blood as he was sent flying back like a cannonball. "Damn!" He ran forward and managed to leave a slash on the troll's arm. However, the shallow cut quickly healed. Not even a hint of a scar remained.

"System! This thing is too strong!"

[Choose something weaker next time then.]

"Okay. Can you end the fight?"

[Fight will end when troll or host dies.]

"Oy?! Are you joking? What happens when I die?"

[…]

"System?! Answer me? What if I die to it?"

[…]

"System!" He dodged the trolls next attack by a hairs width. 'Damn! Time to use my new Shadow Silk Armor!' A large number of threads shot out and twisted together to cover his entire body. It looked like he was wearing a black ninja outfit. The troll swung at him again and he hurriedly raised his arms to block. "Gah!" He was sent flying back again. He could feel his bones slightly crack from the attack, but his shadow armor held together. 'Looks like this armor is strong against slashing and weak against blunt force. I'll need to test stabbing later…'

The two continued to exchange blows. James tried using shadow threads to move quickly as he repeatedly slashed the troll. It worked, but the wounds healed faster than he could create new ones! He slowly grew exhausted as the troll occasionally landed hits on his body. He felt intense pain as he breathed heavily. Several bones were broken, and he could feel internal bleeding within his body. 'I've got to think of something!' He kept trying to think of a solution as the fight continued.

*Boom!* A strong attack landed on his stomach. He went flying through the air and repeatedly coughed blood. His eyes went wide as the troll neared him. He could no longer move his body at all. The troll lifted its claw and he watched in horror as it slammed into his head. All he could see now was darkness.