"My secret? I don't know what you mean." I gazed at Bella, confusion evident on my face.

"Come now, you know a skill of mine, it would only be fair to share yours as well. Have you already had some mana circulation training? Maybe mana expulsion? Condensing? There has to be something..... maybe you too are tier four and you have some mana suppression technique?" Bella pressed but I honestly had no idea what to say to her.

Glancing Bea's way I put on what I hoped was a pleading look.

Bea sighed and shook her head, "I do apologize Isabella, but Will here is indeed tier three like the rest of us. He does have a penchant for challenging those above him though. He was the one who challenged the squire those months ago. The squire was Samuel at that!"

"Samuel? What on earth did you hope to learn by challenging him? Any squire would be more than enough to humiliate you, and you challenge one of the best here!" laughing softly Bella just shook her head.

I had to agree with her there, while still not knowing how this world works, everyone seemed to put these squires way above us in the training class. I had no idea what could have prompted the previous Will to press Sam like that.

"Amusing as it is, I must vouch for him. We're both from the same town, Biel, and there was no trainer there for Magi, Priests, or Knights. Everyone also was basically a farmer or crafter to some degree. We have no training for any mana techniques, and quite honestly Ordning here is our only opportunity to not be just a random villager. I apologize if he's done something to make you think otherwise." Bea finished and looked at me disappointedly, as if I had done something wrong.

I raised my hands indignantly, but I didn't have much to say. I don't recall saying anything that would have given Bella that impression. I looked her way to see her just scrutinizing me closely. I stared back before she startled and looked away and blushed.

"No nothing of the sort, its just.... it really is a mystery then. Maybe he's a natural in one of the fields? All I know is he is keeping up with me and as I said, I'm tier 4." As she finished she glanced back at me and then studiously worked on finishing her tray of food.

"I honestly have no idea myself, sorry. I do wish I could learn about all those mana techniques you mentioned though. They sound amazing and are probably really fun to use." I chuckled and sighed wistfully.

"Ahh, well, its a shame you were not born around my home of Lucerne. There are all kinds of different teachers there. You could have truly learned which path suited you the most before committing. With whatever field you seem to be a natural in, I'm sure you could have been accepted as an apprentice to someone." She looked a bit sad as she finished.

Bella kind of killed my mood too with that. So I had been reincarnated here with a special power after all! I just wasn't being taught to use it due to circumstances!

I must've looked depressed because everyone tried cheering me up.

"I'm sorry Will, I had no idea. But don't dwell on it. We're here now and the only thing we can do is move forward." Bea jumped in first and patted my shoulder consolingly.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, the order is great! That's why I came here despite my parents' objections! Whatever your talent is you can obviously apply it here. That's why you're doing so well after all! I mean, you're in the top 10!" Tom chimed in. And he was right. I was doing well wasn't I?

"Yes, I mean after all that's what Walter has going for him anyway. He's clearly had some mana training. I seem him using mana circulation techniques all the time." Bella said with much aplomb.

Well that was news. "Wait is that what he's doing when he's sitting down and meditating? Mana circulation?" I inquired of Bella.

"Oh yes, most certainly. How exactly he is directing its use I would not be able to tell you, it would depend on his teacher and training. But see, even any teachings or talents can only get you so far. It is what you make out of it after all. As Thomas said the order here is one of if not the best places for those on the path of knighthood, just like the tower for Magi and the enclave for the Priests." Bella finished and nodded her head assuredly.

Okay now that was a bit to take in. As I was pondering the best way to continue this conversation Bea stood up. "I believe it is time we take our leave. Isabella needs to finish her meal and we should get back and get rested for the next day."

I glanced around and noticed the place was almost empty at this point. Guess time flew since I was having fun after all.

Tom stood also "Yes, sorry Isabella if we got too carried away. Will just gets carried away."

Et tu Tom? No hesitation to side with Bea.

A quick peal of laughter sounded out and I glanced at the source, Bella.

She had her hand covering her mouth and seemed genuinely mirthful. "Think nothing of it, and please call me Bella. After sparring with Will all day I can certainly see him forcing you guys to be here until we all fell asleep."

I sighed and stood up defeated. "Okay okay, I'm not fighting it here. Bella, I'll catch you tomorrow."

We all turned and headed back to the dorm. Once we were almost out of the room though I glanced back at Bella. She was back to wolfing down her food as fast possible. Heh, she was probably embarrassed to eat like that in front of us.

—----

Training continued much the same with little change. I paired off with Bella everyday and we beat each other until we were exhausted.

The little change that did happen was with Bea and Bella. Bea seemed to be getting the girl to open up a bit. Tom and I often had to continue to the cafeteria instead of waiting for them outside the bathing area. They would join us maybe 10 to 15 minutes later while we were already eating.

Bella never followed us to the dorm though. She always stayed behind in the cafeteria. I asked Bea about it once, but she told me it was a girl thing, that I wouldn't understand and to mind my own business.

As such we just continued to socialize in the cafeteria as much as possible.

I did get her to talk about her hometown, Lucerne, some more. She seemed extremely proud of it. Apparently it was actually the capital of the little kingdom we were in. It was past the town of Svart where Tom was from by about a week. Since the order here was midway from my town and Tom's that meant Bea and I were really from the boonies.

Bella gushed about pretty much everything there. She talked of missing the pristinely clean roads and buildings, the merchants and tailors, and all manner of culinary delights. She described a recent favorite dessert making the rounds when she left which sounded suspiciously like ice cream.

If Lucerne was going to hold all the technological advancements in this world, I definitely needed to make my way there at some point. I just needed to find out how to get there. This order life wasn't bad or anything, but like Walt had mentioned I was done one way or another here by 18.

Which made me realize. I didn't know how old I was! Nor when my birthday was. Ugh, that was going to be just one more thing I had to figure out before I got kicked out of here.

—----

When it came time for the obstacle course I gave up at the same point as always. I had actually brought it up to Bella one day, and she was noticeably further than me in it. I had no idea what made me get paired with her, and she had no idea either.

Either way, when it came time to the training I again got paired up with Bella, which we were both grateful for.

We had discussed a bit about me punching above my tier from time to time, but she had no further idea of why I was able to.

Just happy that I was special in a little way, I just continued our training regimen as usual. This continued until we had gone through all the weapons that we had available to us which to another month or so. My time in this world definitely seemed to be flying by.

—----

As I woke on this new day I was extremely excited. I actually rolled out of bed before both Tom and Bea, so I finally got to wake them up for once.

I pressured them to get to the cafeteria as soon as possible. We saw Bella and made our way to her table. As we ate we just chatted and eventually I brought up how excited I was for today.

Bella got quiet at that. "Don't be upset if today is not what you expect it to be. "

"What do you mean? Do you already know what's coming today?" I told my head as I asked her that.

"Yes, today should be the day we see the real world." Bella grimaced as she finished that thought.

How right she was.