“Why do you keep contacting me? Why are you even here if you’re not going to watch the evaluations?” The skull I was holding aggressively chattered at me.

“It’s because I get nervous around here since I don’t know anyone…” I muttered under my breath to the communication skull.

“Then make some friends, damn it! You’ve been to a lot of evaluation tests so why not make some friends with the sorcerers?!” A fist was audibly heard banging against a table through the communication skull.

“Uwee…But these people seems so intimidating…” I quietly cried.

“Look, you’re not thinking right. If you keep using the skull, you’ll lose all your blood so try to talk with me less through the communication skull.”

“But it’s revolutionary! It could take days to get a message from one town to another. However, with this, it’ll only take seconds! I need to keep using it so I could optimize its efficiency!” I shook the skull as I protested.

“Yes, but just in case you forgot one important thing, the skull was made with NECROMANCY.”

“But it’s the only way we could fight the musclemancers back! Necromancy doesn’t need muscles or anything! With the power of numbers, we can beat anything!”

“Sure, but what would Kendra think?”

I was left speechless for a minute as I looked away from the skull in shame. What would my first and only student think of me?

“Aaah…You’re right. Her teacher, a failure, using necromancy…I could almost see her look of disappointment! In fact, it’s almost like I could see her right now,” I said as I rubbed my eyes looking at the other side of the coliseum.

I was dreaming that I was watching Kendra walk into the audience stand with a group of people of her age while being escorted by the Grand Sorcerer Bicepticus. Seeing her brown hair and the staff I gave her when we parted gave me nostalgic feelings.

Aaah…Such a good dream. I should pinch myself now to get back to watching the evaluation tests.

Ow.

…Maybe she’s right. I shouldn’t use the skull too much or else I would feel like this. Okay, one more pinch should do it.

Ow!

Eh? Why couldn’t I get out of this dream?! Could it be that I fainted?

Looking at Kendra’s group, I remembered the black-haired boy and the blonde girl. C-could it also be possible that they’re here?!

In my excitement, I stood up but froze when I felt a glare stabbing at my back. I slowly turned and there was an angry looking sorcerer sitting behind me. W-wait…he looks familiar…

“Keh, it’s the bitch that stepped on my boots before. Now, you want to block my view?” The angry man’s crossed arm started to bulge as his glare intensified.

I gave him a stiff smile then started profusely bowing in apology before sitting back down. I-I will just have to try again later then! Maybe in the breaks! I-I’m sure Mr. Sorcerer Man will go to the toilet at some point!

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the evaluation tests! Today will be Twelve Pec’s last evaluation. Should he pass, he would officially be recognized as a Grand Sorcerer of the Sorcerer City States!” The master of ceremonies announced before going over the events of today.

I wasn’t interested in the evaluation right now. My eyes were locked at where Kendra was sitting, observing her group.

The one I was cautious about the most are the two priests in their group. What if the priestess girl and the white robed man find out that I am a necromancer? How would I meet my beloved apprentice?

Hmmm…Hmmm…I get it! I’ll just follow them and find an opportunity where Kendra will be alone! Huu huu! This is a foolproof plan!

*

*

*

Someone is staring at me…

I looked around at the coliseum but my vision was just filled with mostly half naked musclemancers. I couldn’t even differentiate between male and female musclemancers. How do they even find lovers?

“Beor, answer me,” I whispered to myself and my shadow ‘leaned’ closer to me.

“What is it, Boss?”

“See anyone suspicious?”

“Everyone here is suspicious, Boss.”

“Er…Someone more suspicious than the sorcerers?”

“Can you specify what you want me to find, Boss?”

“I think someone is spying on us.”

“And you want me to find them. Got it, Boss. Give me a few minutes,” My shadow said as it slowly sunk back onto the seat and it stopped moving.

I couldn’t bring my entire companionship into the coliseum since we didn’t have enough seats so with the exception of the heroes and Satel, I let everyone tour the place as they please.

Most of them were muscleheads anyway who only knew how to swing a big giant sword like that cranky old man Sarjay so they weren’t interested in how muscle magic would work.

They simply complained ‘Why couldn’t they invent this magic earlier?!’ and ‘If we had this, we wouldn’t have to suffer from Boss’ boring magic lessons!’ before leaving.

Boring my ass…I’ll show them…Grrr…

“Something the matter, friend? How about some lamb chops?” Bicepticus, sitting next to me, offered me a few sticks of chops. I decided not to ask where he got them and simply accepted them.

“You know, as much as the other sorcerers don’t like other mages, I believe that everyone should be welcomed to the ways of the muscles.” Bicepticus flexed his biceps and laughed heartily. He was probably talking about the earlier ‘attack’ against me by the elementalist and his buddy.

“By the way, how does elemental muscle magic work?” I asked Bicepticus while the announcer was still talking about the main events of the evaluation tests.

“Well, the non-muscle way of elemental magic is to summon an avatar to fight or do tasks for you. But for muscle magic, you summon an avatar to help you achieve your goals,” Bicepticus explained.

“What? Wouldn’t that be like summoning magic weapons, then?”

“Not exactly. Muscle magic is always about listening to your muscle.” Bicepticus slapped my shoulders heartily and went back to chomping down on his lamb chops.

“Now, for the event we’re all waiting for, give a round of applause to Tweeelvveee Peeeeecccsss!” The announcer raised his arms as a muscleman entered the field. He was wearing purple silk robes except the chest area was exposed. It was like someone ran out of materials to finish the robes and decided to give up.

Twelve Pecs boasted his abnormal amounts of pecs a normal person shouldn’t have and ran his hand through his oblique. The sorcerers went crazy with their applause, cheering for him. Twelve Pecs prepared for his final test by rubbing oil on his chests, abs and sides, followed by holding a metal flask.

“Bring in the legendary Gatecrusher!” The master of ceremonies announced. A huge pit opened in the field and out of it, a monster emerged. With its dark red shell, two orb-like eyes and a pair of folded claws, it resembled a giant mantis shrimp.

“This giant mantis shrimp’s punch was used to break down a gate made from mithril in a war. If a mithril gate couldn’t even survive the mighty blow of the giant mantis shrimp Gatecrusher, could Twelve Pecs survive it with his new spell?!”

Eh..? It really was just a giant mantis shrimp?! No, more importantly, they’re going to test his new spell with that thing?!

Although there wasn’t enough heavenium to go around plating my companionship’s entire bodies, just like me, most of my companions were simply reinforced with mithril bodies. Despite that, they could still survive blows from weapons made from stronger metals. If that shrimp could destroy even a mithril gate, which I imagined to be layers thick of mithril, could that crazy musclemancer even survive?!

“Watch closely, friend. Twelve Pecs doesn’t need to worry about death,” Bicepticus said to me.

“Why?”

“Because Twelve Pecs trusts his muscles, and his muscles trusts him.”

The giant shrimp charged towards Twelve Pecs as he started to drink the contents of his metal flask. Just as the shrimp was about to launch its two ram-like claws, Twelve Pecs flexed his entire body, exposing his abs forward.

“PROOOOOTEEEEEEIIIIIINNNNNN!” was the last thing I heard as a massive dust explosion erupted from the field. The explosion was so strong that a small earthquake formed which lasted seconds. None of the sorcerers panicked as their eyes were focused at the field.

As the fog made from dust settled, I leaned forward. No…

I was already standing by the railings before I knew it.

The giant mantis lay on the ground crushed by its own impact. It was like something chopped it into hundreds of pieces, grinded it with a fork and tried to form a salad out of it. Twelve Pecs, on the other hand, was standing proudly and unscathed.

My hands gripped onto the railings hard.

Now I truly understood it.

*

*

*

The nature of magic was to be subjugated and to have one’s own will be enforced on it. Mana were things that only listened to the strong. They were gatekeepers to other realms of the world - Beings that not even the word ‘divine’ could describe them. Why should they listen to the weak? They only listen to those who are strong. Thus, only magic listens to the strong.

But what is the definition of ‘strong’?

Until today, I simply thought that it meant pure power.

The ability to erase those who wronged you. The ability to crush those who should be crushed. The ability to show your authority and enforce it.

The musclemancers don’t believe in nonsense like ‘parallel universes’ or whatever. They only believed in their muscles. They believed in the muscles that believed in them. There was nothing else.

Was magic truly just things to be brought down by brute force? Was this all to the meaning of ‘strong’?

Nonsense. Pure utter nonsense.

*

*

*

“Hey, Boss. Don’t go dying from shock on me.” Satel impatiently tugged my robes, pulling me back to reality. I quietly walked backwards and plopped back to my seat. Satel, confused, sat next to me and asked, “Do you now know how musclemancy worked?”

“Sort of. But I also realized that musclemancy comes at a cost,” I replied.

“What? Tell me!” Satel looked at me with excitement but was interrupted by Kendra.

“What are you guys talking about? Sure, that-…that was something,” Kendra gulped as she recovered from her own shock and continued, “but you guys can do something like that, right?”

Yes, but only after a lot of failures, tests and optimization. It took centuries of endless research learning how to form and maintain layers of passive magic shields but how long would it take for the musclemancers?

Decades? Years? Weeks?

“Sure. Whatever.” I shrugged at Kendra. It was the truth anyways. If I had to make a comparison, Twelve Pecs’ spell was as strong as a near-divine spell. I was capable of casting a stronger spell, but since it was a divine spell, I would rather not use it. The last time I used it was in my fight against the Abyss and I did not even like a single second of that fight.

“There you have it, sorcerers, witches and enchanters! Twelve Pecs has passed the test! From this day on, Twelve Pecs has earned the rank of ‘Grand Sorcerer’!” The announcer boomed into his orb and the audience went wild.

I silently clapped as I studied the new Grand Sorcerer from afar. He raised his arms in confidence, but I could clearly see the consequences of using such a high level spell.

Throughout the entire day, I observed each and every test, capturing every minute detail in their spells. Though it is claimed that muscle magic is different from traditional magic, there were still similarities to it.

I watched the activation of every spell, the flow of power and the impact caused by the spells. None of the spells used mana, which confirmed my theory on what the cost of using muscle magic is.

Every time there was a pause or break in the tests, I would explain the details to Satel. At first she was confused and perhaps unconvinced, but as the tests went on she slowly understood it.

It was impossible for me to try muscle magic because, well, I have no muscles. However, the concept behind musclemancy could be used for other purposes.

“That’s the end of the evaluation tests, everyone! There were some successes and many failures, but we could all agree that we learned new things today!” The announcer exclaimed and the entire crowd applauded, ending the evaluation tests.

“With that, there won’t be another evaluation until next year.” Bicepticus clapped his hands and stood up. He left since he had some Grand Sorcerer work to do like congratulating the new Grand Sorcerer.

“I’m tired…I think I will just sleep after this.” I sighed as I massaged one of my shoulders, even though there wasn’t anything to massage since it was just bones.

“Seeing muscle magic, will Vakasa be alright?” Blackhair spouted out a concern as he also got up from his seat.

“Ahaha…w-whatever. Musclemancy is nothing compared to real magic, right, master?” Kendra nervously asked me.

Well, all these thinking got me exhausted so I might as well have some fun.

“No, it’s impossible…” I shook my head.

“What?!” Kendra shouted.

“Musclemancy is the future and the future is now, young girl.”

“B-but…”

“In fact, I want to go do some pushups now.”

“N-no way…”

“Pfft, just joking.”

I ran off with Satel before Kendra could retort and viciously attack me.