Ava pondered next year and whether she would partake in dungeon dives. Rita didn't seem to be interested in her decision though.

"Well, just think about it. You'll have to decide sooner or later. Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. I'll be going. Just keep it in your pants, Dirk. You too, Ava."

"Sigh..."

Dirk sighed at his sister's concern as she showed herself out. Ava just sat there with embarrassment written all over her face.

"Here, let me clean."

"Ah, yes. Wait, no! Let me do it."

Ava handed her bowl to Dirk before catching herself and taking over. Dirk just rolled his eyes as she rushed to collect the dishes and joined to help. Once they were done, both went down to the basement to train their mana.

After a few months, Dirk had actually made some progress with his mana heart. With his soul becoming stronger and him training non-stop, a faint outline of a mana heart was taking form on top of his physical heart. The formation was plenty slow though, and when Dirk wasn't training it some of the mana would detach from the mana heart and be taken into his bloodstream, a process that reduced some of his progress continuously and would actually dissipate the heart if he didn't train for any long period of time. This meant he couldn't slack at all or the process would take longer than normal. Luckily, he didn't have any problems with slacking.

The heart became more and more corporeal by the week, but he didn't have any reliable estimation of when it would be done. He could only form it until he felt the things the book described, like a feeling of completion or solidification.

He went through his series of contractions and expansions for an hour. He was able to double the time he could pulse the mana heart through all this strenuous training. After that though, he was exhausted and decided to stop. After resting for a bit, he suddenly stood up and left the room. Ava heard this and followed.

After going up to his room, Dirk went over to his nightstand and opened the drawer. Inside was a knife, something he had requested from his father. The knife was basic and there was nothing special to it, but after Dirk felt the blade, he nodded in satisfaction. It was very sharp.

He grabbed it and then went back down to the kitchen. When Ava saw him with the knife, she tilted her head in confusion. But when he brought over a garbage can and sat down on the chair, her questions were quickly answered.

Dirk took the knife and suddenly put it up to his forehead, shaving backward across his scalp. Locks of hair fell off which he dumped into the can. Ava was stunned for a bit, but thinking about it, what he was doing was sensible. When he lost his hair from his anima destruction, it would be uneven. Dirk just decided to trim it all as he would rather not do so after he had already destroyed his skin.

It only took a few minutes before Dirk was completely bald. Since he shaved dry, his skin was also irritated, but that couldn't compare to the pain of a destruction cycle. Plus, it would be healed quickly anyway once he drank a potion.

After that, Dirk headed down to the basement room. He walked over to a corner where the case of potions had been placed and popped it open. The case had been moved here since this room was more secure than the rest of the house.

Plucking out a potion, Dirk downed it in one go. The potion tasted slightly sweet, making it very easy to drink. When this happened, the AI understood what he was going to do and isolated the potion for future distribution. With that, Dirk sat down and concentrated. Ava sat in front of him with a frown.

She didn't say anything about what he was doing. Dirk needed to do this to advance, and if it were her, she wouldn't let some embarrassment get in the way of her progress. However, she also wouldn't have chosen such a sadistic technique in the first place. She couldn't imagine how Dirk had justified such torture to himself.

After saturating the right half of his face with Anima, Dirk got started and began the resonation.

"Ow..."

He let out a sharp exhale as his skin cells were obliterated. On his face, red cracks started to appear and widen while the previously pale surface of his skin was turned red and made raw. His lips, eyelid, cheek, and scalp were all mutilated. In fact, his eyelid was almost entirely destroyed, leaving a few webs of skin. When closed, there would be gaps that revealed his eyeball underneath.

It was incredibly uncomfortable, but Dirk didn't make a peep throughout the process. He didn't even scrunch up his face as that would make things worse. He had perfect control over his reactions to pain.

After around 10 minutes, the process finally finished. While Dirk had only planned to do exactly one half, he decided to do a bit more and spill over the halfway point a bit to make things easier later on. The result was a horrific face that people would expect to see on a zombie. Even Ava cringed at how terrible it looked. Like all the other times, she couldn't imagine herself going through the same thing with such tenacity.

When the cycle was over, the AI commanded a flood of nanites to enter his face. The gaps in his skin were filled and sealed, including the gaps on his eyelid. The result was hints of gray among the red flesh. Especially on his eyelid, one could see patches of some metallic substance.

"How is it?"

"Like any other destruction cycle. I'll be fine. Although, my eyesight will be hindered some."

Dirk responded simply. It really was like any other cycle, only this time it was much more obvious. Also, the eyelid that was destroyed would remain closed while things healed. The eyelid on the other side was also damaged a bit since it was in the vicinity, but it could stay open without much problem. He was glad he wouldn't be blind for a couple weeks, though he would lose a bit of depth perception.

After the nanites finished their sealing work, he left the room and went to apply some medical bandages. The only thing he did was wrap a bandage around his head over the destroyed eyelid, making sure it stayed closed and didn't move.

Not long after that, both Dirk and Ava were bidding each other goodnight. Dirk went to bed that night with the destroyed side of his face up.

..........

The next day, when Ava came over for morning training, she cringed at Dirk's face once more. Last night she couldn't see the best since it was rather dark, but now she got a full view of that brutal look. The cringe was out of pity though. She didn't like seeing Dirk get hurt or hurt himself. Though, she also questioned what had to happen to him that caused him to be so tough. His tenacity wasn't natural.

Morning training went by normally with Dirk acting like nothing was different. After they ate, both went to school, though not before Ava stressed her mind to find a way to cover his face. In the end, she couldn't think of anything that didn't involve wrapping up his entire head in bandages, so she watched as he left for classes with that single strip of cloth covering his eye.

And sure enough, Dirk turned practically every single head that day. Everyone whose eyesight he entered turned to get a better look at him. And seeing the mutilated half of his face, many gasped in horror. Seeing those wounds, none of them could fathom what would cause it.

"Oh my god... Dirk, what the hell happened to you?!"

When he entered his first class, his teacher practically shouted in terror. She flew out from behind her desk and approached Dirk, almost becoming engrossed as she gazed upon the brutal artwork on his face.

"It's nothing, teacher."

"Nothing?! Say that again and I'll rip a mirror off a wall and bring it here so you can see yourself. What caused this?"

"My training. My face will only remain like this for a couple weeks."

"What kind of demonic training does this? Is someone hurting you?"

"No, teacher."

"This is insane. You must be in so much pain."

"I've already drunk a potion. I'm fine."

"No, this is not fine. Come on, I'll take you to the doctor."

"Teacher, I don't need a doctor. If you need someone to reassure you, you can talk to my father. He understands the training I do."

"Your father? Oh..."

The teacher suddenly went quiet and stopped. How could she not know Ryker Strider, a Marquess who held one of the highest positions in the academy? She knew very well this father of Dirk's, and if he was able to vouch for Dirk, then that was that. Despite knowing this though, she was still worried. Those wounds simply look too horrifying.

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes, teacher. I've been doing this training for over a year, and all of my skin has looked like this at some point in time. It's just been hidden under my clothes. It's only now that you've noticed."

"I... I see."

"Thank you. I'll take my seat."

"...Sure."

The teacher looked on dumbly as Dirk went to his desk. He had been doing this for a year? All of his skin? What kind of torment has he gone through without anybody knowing? It stunned her silent, and she made a mental note to talk to his father when she got the chance.

That class went by with the teacher taking glances at Dirk. All the students also constantly looked back to get a look. Dirk had shut his eyes at some point, just letting everyone look as they pleased.

His other classes were no different. His instructor had a similar reaction to the first teacher, except when he saw that Dirk was toughing things out, he laughed proudly. He declared to everybody that Dirk should be their role model and emphasized the importance of toughness. Many of the students agreed with him after taking a single look.

As for his magic classes, Dirk explained his way through the earth and fire ones. But when it came to the dark element class, that needed to be handled a bit differently.

"Well strip me nude and tie me to a magic tower! What kind of abomination could you have possibly come across?! I've never quite seen anything like the wounds you have painted on your face right there!"

Garel, as enthusiastic as he was in all things, instantly ran over and checked out Dirk's face with the concern of a mother for her baby. He kneeled as if he were praying and even went so far as to accept the existence of Light mages if they could perform the miracle of healing Dirk, something that shocked the whole class as they knew very well Garel's deep hate for the Light element. Just how much did this teacher care for Dirk?!

Dirk had to very tactfully explain how he was okay in order to prevent Garel from carrying him to the hospital personally. Not even the name of his father could get him to back down because according to his words: "Not all parents are so loving as to go to the ends of the world for their children! Since they let you get hurt like this, I might just have to punish them myself!" Hearing this, Dirk panicked and hastily explained some more. He couldn't have this man fight his father, who was a Tier 7. He would die! And Dirk knew that Garel really would fight his father. That's how volatile the man was.

It took almost 10 minutes to finally calm Garel down and convince him that he was okay. However, after thinking of something, Garel suddenly took a step and disappeared from everyone's sight. Dirk could detect a body of darkness in his mana sense quickly leave and dash off to who knows where, obviously Garel. He couldn't even shout for him to stop, and he had a sinking feeling. What would he do? Dirk wanted to find his father at that moment and warn him.

However, after only a few minutes, he reappeared. There was a bottle in his hands which he gave to Dirk.

"Here. This is a special potion. It'll help you."

"N-no, it's okay. You don't need to give me something so expensive."

"Oh, it's not mine. Don't worry and take it."

"..."

Dirk was stunned silly. Not his? Then who's was it?! What went on in the mind of this teacher all the time?!

Dirk was genuinely stumped now. He couldn't understand the slightest bit about this man. However, as Dirk hesitated, a roar shook the school.

"GAREL!!! WHERE THE HELL IS MY POTION?!?!"

"Uh oh."

Garel frowned a bit. Even the students could feel the rage in that roar.

"Uhh, here, take it real quick before he comes."

Just as Dirk was going to reject the potion, Garel grabbed his shirt and pulled him over, shoving the potion into his mouth. He then used some magic to force it down his throat. Dirk's eyes shot up in confusion and rage as he had no choice but to ingest it. He wanted to stab the man right then and there.

"Pah! Get the hell off me!"

Once the potion was in his stomach and Garel loosened his grip, Dirk pushed away from him and got into a combat ready stance. It looked as if he was about to murder Garel where he stood. Fortunately though, the booming steps everyone could hear in the hallway meant he may not have to.

"Garel! You good for nothing, shit for brains, limp dick psycho!!! You don't just enter my workshop and take potions as you please!"

The doors to the classroom were promptly obliterated. Dirk dodged the shards of wood that came flying at him with agile steps and looked over.

A short, pudgy man came stomping in. He had wild blonde hair that stood up like fire and long pointed ears. However, he truly was short. He was only around 4 foot 6 inches and was almost rounder than he was tall. He looked like a mean ball of fat. The fact that he was elven shocked Dirk even more. Elves were supposed to look tall and slender. What kind of ironic joke did the gods play on this man?

Seeing the angry man, Garel just looked off into space as if it had nothing to do with him. Naturally, this pissed the fat man off to no end. His face reddened in rage.

"Garel!! You may have taken potions before, and that may have been more permissible, but not this time! Hand over that potion! If you don't, I will not hesitate to kill you!"

"Aiya, I'm so sorry Master Sheng. I do not have the potion."

"What?!"

"What's going on here?!"

Suddenly, another voice was heard as two people came walking in. One of them was a mean looking man with a fierce and deadly aura. The other was the valiant Duke Hillshire who immediately caught attention.

"Ah! Headmaster! Garel has stolen another one of my potions!"

"Sigh... Garel, we've talked about this. Taking the property of others without approval is against the rules! If you keep doing so, I may just let Master Sheng here have his way with you."

Hearing what happened, Duke Hillshire pinched his nose exasperatedly. Obviously, this had happened more than once before. Seeing this, the onlooking students were stunned silly.

Garel proceeded to complain like a child.

"But Headmaster! My student was hurt and needed immediate attention! I couldn't bear to see him in pain, so I gave him the potion I took from Master Sheng. His potions have always been able to heal wounds quickly, after all!"

"You what?! You fool!"

The fat man, Master Sheng, cursed as Garel pointed to Dirk. Hillshire and Master Sheng looked over to Dirk, but oddly, Master Sheng was trembling a bit.

"Dammit! You absolute moron! Quick! Get that kid to a medical room!"

"Wait, why? What's going on?"

The Duke and Garel both looked at Sheng, surprised and confused.

"That potion was experimental! It's not a healing potion! It's supposed to enhance the blood source of a Tier 6! The energy inside of it will kill him if we don't-"

*Cough!*

As Sheng was talking, Dirk suddenly bent over and coughed up a pool of blood, falling to his hands and knees. Blood began to seep from his eyes and ears, even from some pores on his body. He trembled all over.

"Hurry! Get him mana suppressants! That potion will destroy his blood lines!"

"Damn! Sheng! Go get something that will help! Theon! Bring him to the medical building! Tell Hervet to treat this kid right now! Go!"

After the Duke gave orders, the man with a deadly aura instantly ran over to Dirk and carefully picked him up before dashing out. Master Sheng also dashed out and ran back to grab some potions. Finally, the Duke left to go grab his friend, Dirk's father.

After no later than a minute, these people were all gathered in a medical building. A bed had been cleared off and Dirk's body was trembling on top of it. Blood constantly seeped out of him, already soaking the bed he was on. However, after a man dressed in a red coat came down from the top of the building, Dirk's situation stabilized some.

The man in the red coat looked mature but constantly fatigued. His eyes were sharp as he searched through Dirk's body and utilized his power. White strings of light seeped from this man's fingers and into Dirk's body, and the raging blood and mana inside of him were forcibly settled.

"Here! These potions will equalize the... my god..."

Master Sheng came running over at that moment with a whole case of potions, but when he saw Dirk, his heart dropped. It looked like all of his blood was trying to escape his body. His usually pale face became totally white.

"Where's my son?! Get out of my way!"

Suddenly, another shout echoed through the building as another man came flying over with literally blazing steps. His feet ejected flame as he moved faster than the eye could comprehend. In splits of a second, he was beside Dirk's bed. The Duke also appeared the next moment.

"What the hell happened?!"

Ryker spoke with seething rage, but he didn't allow his power to rampage for fear of hurting Dirk. Despite not being the culprit, Master Sheng cowered a bit. No matter what, it was his potion that caused this.

The man in the red coat, Hervet, glanced over for a second before sighing and turning back to Dirk. His white strings never ceased to operate. The Duke explained the situation to Ryker.

Meanwhile, Dirk was fighting his own battle.