The First Sparring

Evan and Zak had been talking for hours. Several bottles of various drinks had already piled up on the table.

Evan listened intently to Zak. Evan was the strongest dark magician in his past life and knew his worth well. However, he was not an arrogant fool who thought he was the best at everything.

Zak's words were useful to him. They were the words of a skilled warrior and a magician who had seen and experienced a lot.

Most of the time they were talking about what kind of magician would perform himself best in different situation.

Evan got the general idea that if it was a one-on-one fight, the Amplifiers were the undisputed favorites in that situation. If we're talking about mass combat, the Creators were the best option. And when it came to aid, reconnaissance, and defense, the Summoners were unbeatable.

Naturally, everything depended on the magician himself. If you were strong enough, even as a Summoner you could defeat an Amplifier when met him face to face.

But that's more of an exception to the rule. Zak easily defeated Ermis, who was a Creator. Even though Ermis had prepared for their duel thoroughly, Zak just crushed him by force. That was it.

"Let`s go, I think Margaret`s been waiting for us." After their conversation was over, Zak told Evan to follow him.

They headed toward the entrance of the mansion. As soon as Zak opened the front door, many surprised looks were directed at Evan.

All the servants in the house, most of whom were the girls, looked at Evan with interest. In all the time they had served Zak, they had never seen him allow anyone to stay in his house for long. And here was the man, the owner of the estate had called as his successor. This news was a real sensation among the servants.

Evan didn't pay any attention on them, but Zak was of a different opinion.

"What are you staring at? Get down to work!" After his shout, all the servants shuddered and went about their business.

While they were walking through the central hall, directly toward the underground stairway, Evan had time to appreciate the interior.

Lots of expensive furniture, decorations, paintings, and fabrics. And in addition just phenomenal work by the maids. Evan didn't notice any speck of dust wherever they passed. He didn't know if it was Margaret's merit, but the result was worthy.

Just before going downstairs, Evan saw the entrance to the library. He decided to go there as soon as possible. The more you know, the stronger you are - a rule that works in all worlds.

It took them quite a while to get down. The stone steps brightly lit by the torches on the walls. After a few minutes, Evan saw a huge, circular platform, something resembling an arena.

He saw a room with equipment, as well as a room where some books were kept. There were not many of them.

Next to all the necessary equipment, there was Margaret.

"As always, the best in her biz." Zak seemed pleased with Margaret's work, but Evan didn't understand anything yet.

Seeing the owner of the mansion, the girl bowed and quietly asked: "Mr. Zak, everything is prepared, anything else?"

"Nothing else is needed, if you want you can look."

<Look at what?> Evan wondered.

But, he hadn`t time to develop his thought, as Zak gripped the hilt of a large two-handed sword tightly. The weapon was made of some kind of black metal. Zak raised it high, gradually pointing the point of the sword at Evan.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get your sword out. If you last a minute, I'll show you the spell book."

These words lit a fire in Evan's eyes and he instantly pulled his sword from its sheath.

Whoosh.

Evan prepared for battle and Zak attacked him at once, unleashing a deadly blow on the young man. He didn't use magic in that attack, it was just pure physical force and nothing more.

Evan took their sparring seriously, but he just wasn't ready for such a strong push. With great difficulty he was able to dodge the first blow and backed up a few steps.

He watched Zak closely. He just had to hold out for a minute.

Whoosh.

Zak made a quick dash toward Evan, and attacked him with his sword from the side. Evan reacted with lightning speed and blocked the commander's blow.

However, that was not all. What followed was an unceremonious knee strike to the stomach, but Evan had already prepared for it. He would have done the same thing himself.

Whoosh.

Before Zak's knee reached Evan, he had quickly blocked it with his palm. But Zak was too strong. He put even more force into his attack and sent the young man flying, forcing him to squirm with pain in his abdomen and cough up blood all the time.

However, Evan wasn't the only one who was surprise.

<Where has that boy got so much strength?> Zak looked at the torn fabric around his knee, thinking about what had just happened.

"He's pretty good, though. Now I understand your decision to make him your successor."

While the two men were fighting, Margaret made tea as if nothing had happened. She watched them fight, slowly sipping the hot drink.

She also drew certain conclusions about Evan from this fight.

After a while Evan stood up, and spitting a mouthful of blood, said: "One more try!" He knew he hadn`t lasted the minute, but he wasn't going to put up with it.

"You don't have to, kid, you`ve made it." Saying that, Zak pointed to his skinned knee.

"So that means that..." There was a wide smile on Evan's face. He was looking forward to opening the spell book.

"Yeah, you can go into that little library over there anytime. You can find many different spells for each Class there."

Evan didn't know what type of magic would work best for him, so he wanted to learn everything at all.

"Margaret will prepare a key for you. But right now there's no point in reading books or going to the library."

Evan frowned at these words and asked a little grudgingly: "Why? I was able to get into "Nirvana". I can use magic. What's the problem?" Evan didn't understand what other barriers remained between him and the magic.

Zak simply replied: "There isn`t a drop of mana in you and we're going to fix that little problem right now."

Zak looked at the closed iron door.