Rank 3

"Yan, come here," called Jarvan, a boy sitting on the ground. He had yellow hair and eyes the same color and carried an ax almost as big as himself. "This is Kayden, he will be your sparring partner for now."

"Hello, Kayden. I'm 12 years old and ranked 5th. My class is Knight," said the boy, holding out his hand with pride for his rank. Kayden shook his hand and replied:

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kayden, I'm 7 years old and I'm in second rank. I haven't decided on my class yet." Upon hearing Kayden's age and rank, Yan made a small look of disgust.

Normally, if you had a little talent, you'd reach 3rd rank quickly. Only after that would the speed of progress slow down. Yan reached 3rd rank at age 6 but only rose to 4th at age 10.

"You two can start sparring. Don't worry about injuries, I'm capable of healing anything and if it's fatal, I'll stop the battle", said the coach, and the two positioned themselves.

Yan wasn't taking this battle too seriously. His body was at least 2 times stronger than the boy's. Out of respect for the trainer, he assumed the battle stance, but he was oblivious.

Wanting to get this over with, he landed a low-side slash. Kayden dodged back and lunged at the boy. By reflex, Yan managed to dodge a full blow, but still received a long slash on his arm.

For a second, he didn't believe that a mere 2nd rank was capable of hurting him. It infuriated him. His sword came down on Kayden in full force. The boy reflected the sword to the ground, curving its blade, and then placed it on Yan's neck.

Fast, efficient, and deadly. These three characteristics were what defined Kayden's fighting style. When fighting wolves, he slowly got into the habit of making every blow kill his opponent. Every blow had to be quick and deadly.

Even with the difference in strength between the two, Yan lacked something fundamental: battles with the risk of death. He never risked his life. It seemed silly, but it made all the difference in battle.

As soon as Yan came to, he looked at Kayden and said, "Let's fight again. I was distracted on this one." It was obvious to those with experience that the boy fought emotionally and therefore lost.

"Alright, let's go." After the trainer healed the boy, the two positioned themselves again. This time, Yan would take it seriously.

And the expected happened: Yan beat him in just a few exchanges. This time, it was Kayden who asked for a rematch, and... he lost again, and again, and again. It looked like the kid had a burning desire to lose fights.

They fought for about 1 hour. After that, Kayden's body was no longer able to keep up.

"We're going to fight again tomorrow," said Kayden, feeling he learned a lot that day. Every time he lost, he thought about why and what he could have done better. This was an excellent exercise for the boy.

The next day, the same thing happened again. The next week was the same way, and the one after that too. Kayden was having the time of his life. For every day he spent cultivating, his mana veins increased.

The sense of progress was rewarding, something he had never had the opportunity to feel before. At that time, he was also managing to fight Yan with a 50% winning percentage. Considering the age and rank difference, it was simply unbelievable.

Kayden was sure that if they were on the same level, Yan wouldn't be able to catch a move from him. This is all thanks to your heart of mana, strengthening both your body and your ability to cast spells.

Another month passed, and Kayden now had a 70% winning percentage against Yan. He wasn't able to learn anything else useful from his struggles. The boy's victories were merely due to his superior strength.

Kayden asked the trainer for a new opponent and met a spear user. Her name was Samira and she was only 10 years old and ranked 4th. The difference in strength wasn't too big this time.

The main problem was the spear reach, which was ridiculously high. Kayden started with a 50/50 chance, but in less than a week, he was already winning 80/100. Once again, he went in search of another opponent.

It had been about 5 months since Kayden moved to 2nd rank and started fighting other people. During this period, he faced melee fighters, clubs, swords, and axes. They all became sparring partners and were slowly surpassed by the boy.

It didn't matter if they were older or of higher rank. Kayden has always compensated with technique and dexterity. None of their opponents had the will to fight to the end of their strength. He attributed this to their lack of life-or-death struggles.

When he realized this fact, he understood that he would have to look for this type of fight over time or he would stay in his comfort zone and stagnate. Today was also a special day: Kayden would finally reach the 3rd rank.

His heart was no longer able to support the amount of mana he was channeling. That was a sure sign that he was going to step forward at any moment. So he took the day off and asked Heimer for help.

In the same clearing, as usual, Heimer was gathering mana for a Kay

den in lotus position. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. 25 minutes. Close to the 30th minute, Kayden finally felt his heart begin to crack.

He had already used up at least 3 times more mana than would be considered normal for a breakthrough. Heimer considered this normal, given Kayden's talent. It was surprising that he was ready to break through to rank 3 at that age.

Kayden felt the same sensation as before, his heart felt like it was being squeezed and his veins dried up completely. Again, pain spread throughout his body, and a moan escaped his lips, startling Heimer.

As he had already witnessed this, the boy said nothing and just waited. After a few seconds, the process ended, and Kayden was able to feel his heart renewed and pumping out more mana than before. His veins were already coursing through almost all of his upper limbs.

By circling the mana, he felt that he was at least 50% more efficient and estimated that he should be at the level of a 3rd peak rank despite being at the top of that rank. Kayden estimated that he should be able to beat all of his opponents now, without losing once.

"Thanks, Heimer. I made it through," Kayden remembered thanking his friend as he got to his feet.

"No need to thank me, Kayden. We're friends," said Heimer, looking like he was holding back to say something.

"Go ahead," Kayden said, also sensing his friend's embarrassment.

"Kayden, I know you want to progress, but you're digging yourself a hole by accelerating progress like this," Heimer said honestly. His concern for his friend was visible.

An: thanks to ISEKAI_Fan and Louvor_O_Sol_5937 for the stones