First Step

"Brother, breakfast is ready!"

Wallace's cute little sister called out to her brother after noticing that he was still asleep on his bed. Right now, there was only his parents and his younger sister living in the house. Though Wallace still had an older sister, she was currently serving in the military and wouldn't be back soon.

He opened his eyes and smiled at his 8-year-old little sister. He was actually awake for quite some time now and was only in deep thought.

"Mom said you will return to your school today. Is that true?"

"Yes, but I'll be back before the end of the year."

She pouted and seemed unhappy about her brother leaving again. During his several days at home with his family, he had only gotten closer with them especially with this little sister of his. She felt unhappy and was about to head downstairs for breakfast but before she left the room, his brother called her.

"Claire, I'll bring you another gift next time."

This time she smiled a bit and nodded before leaving.

Every member of the Ravencroft Family had grey hair. Wallace was not an exception, he was now looking at his reflection in the mirror. His looks could be said to be quite attractive with his fit body and pale skin.

He washed up a bit before heading downstairs to join the family's breakfast.

"Mom, Dad, I plan to participate in the Twelve Magic Academies Competition. No, I need to qualify to be a representative of our Academy"

Yes, Wallace had sorted his mind and already had plans for the near future, and joining the competition was one of them.

Both his parent sized up their son. They knew what he meant by announcing this, after all, students who qualified to participate in this competition possessed knowledge far above on what their current Academy could teach them.

This meant that students who were participating there boasted powerful background, either because of wealth or their lineage. They had a heritage that could keep them above the rest.

Looking at his family living in a simple house in a small town, they shouldn't be capable of possessing such heritage, and to participate in such grand competition should be impossible.

But Wallace knew his parents. Their background wasn't as simple as what it looked. His mother who was a diligent housewife was a member of the prestigious Mavis Clan. His father who was working right now as a mechanic had a good family background as well, though their family had somehow declined already, it had still produced many renowned Magic Engineers throughout the years.

Wallace was basically asking to get support from them. He was aware of the situation of their family and could only hope for the best.

His father Chase explained to Wallace while smiling,

"It's a good thing that you have an ambition, we will definitely support you. We can impart all our resources to help you here. But getting direct assistance from the family might prove difficult"

"Let's finish our breakfast first and we'll show you something later. This will help you to improve your performance as a Magic Engineer."

His mother Elaine unhurriedly suggested to her son. She looked glad as well that her son had plans to further improve himself. She could only hope that his plan would last for long and he wouldn't change his mind as improving in mana study would be very difficult.

The assistance she could actually offer for her son's endeavor was called Memory Crystal. But using this crystal could be very painful so it was not really being recommended and was only being used in desperate times. Normally, three crystal was the maximum amount that a person could consume.

Wallace had a weak affinity to mana. But it only meant that he couldn't exert control on a large amount of mana.

He could not be Combat Magician like his older sister due to this reason. He couldn't even create a Grade 1 Mana Shell that could cover his whole body. This skill was one of the most basic that magicians could learn without Mana Artifact. But unfortunately, Wallace could only manipulate a small amount of mana.

Even with these shortcomings he still had some talent in magic engineering. He was gifted on mana manipulation, mana blessing, and has a good brain which was enough for an average magic engineer who was aspiring to work in some Mana Artifact factories.

Wallace was different, his out of this world knowledge about advanced technology would prove to be very helpful in his career and the only problem he had right now was to also get a piece of advanced knowledge in mana study. He was obviously planning to merge both of them to achieve something new or different that would give him some edge to qualify in the competition.

He was planning to create something new. A new Magic Artifact never before seen in this world to guarantee that he would qualify in the competition. But to accomplish that, he required an advanced knowledge in Mana Manipulation, Mana Formation and Array, Material Enhancement, Magic Structure, and other advanced mana studies.

With all those said, he was also hoping that his parents had some surprises they could give for him. He then started eating his breakfast while feeling a bit excited as well on what his parents would show him later.

He knew his own weaknesses too, so he needed to take whatever help he could get.