As soon as the period ended and the first year students were released, Wesley and Kellan donned on their respective training armors and started sparring. During the last month, Wesley and Kellan sparred everyday in front of the second elder.

Their movements while they were sparring were still extremely slow, but compared to the first time they sparred, they were three times faster. However, the strain these armors still had on their bodies was not small.

Furthermore, the more they got used to the armors restrictions, the longer their sparring sessions got. The original session that was three hours long was now five hours, this rate of increase caused Wesley and Kellan no small amount of worry.

However, the benefits of these sparring session was extremely clear, especially I Wesley who was not a swordsman by nature. His understanding of his sword technique increased, and his experience also increased. Wesley had plenty of experience in fighting and killing, but he often relied on his magic to gain the advantage over his opponents because his sword skills were simply too weak, but now, he felt like he could rely on his sword more.

"What kind of halfhearted parry is that. Use your opponent's strength against him, twist your arm when his sword comes into contact with yours."

The second elder's screams reverberated throughout the hall as he guided the two. The second elder would usually just stand there, but ever so often, he would scream at either Wesley and Kellan to tell them to improve something.

The second elder never tried to teach either of them a technique, rather he would just let them spar and spar without end using their own styles. Although this seems like a natural thing to do in order to allow for his students to improve by themselves, It also meant that the students have no idea what is required of them.

The sound of metal colliding against metal rung out unceasingly throughout the classroom causing all those who might have heard it to cringe at the force that could have caused such a sound.

If one saw Wesley sparring with Kellan right now, they wouldn’t think that he was an agility based swordsman. Wesley, while wearing his lanky, oddly made, armor was actually facing Kellan without dodging or running. This was unfathomable for an agility based swordsman, since speed and evasion was their forte.

This was because the second elder specifically ordering Wesley to fight Kellan head on without being evasive while Kellan was told to not simply block behind his giant sword. At first, neither Wesley nor Kellan could understand the reason behind this, however, after almost a month of constant sparring, they now understood.

By colliding head on without tricks, they first had to learn to face their opponents, this erased the fear one might have against colliding with the enemy's sword. Second, because neither of them can rely on their advantages to win, they had to come up with new ways to gain the advantage. They would use fients, counters, misderection, and a bunch of other things.

Although some of these things can be considered immoral and prideless ways of achieving victory, the second elder never protested nor voiced discontent. In a real fight, it is either life or death for all those involved, no one will ever be willing to trade their life for the sake of their pride, and if they were willing, then they truly deserved to be killed.

Both Wesley and Kellan understood this. They both relied on underhanded and sometimes shameless methods to gain the advantage. Kellan would often punch towards Wesley, Wesley would drop his sword and use his other sword, Kellan would sling the sweat accumulated on his forehead. It was an endless barrage of shameless acts.

Wesley and Kellan thought of each other as friends, in fact, it was safe to say that they were each other's only friend in this academy, however, when they spared, neither of them was thinking of the other as a friend, rather they saw each other as enemies out for their head, so each of them was not above using the most despicable of methods to survive. That was the mentality that the second elder planted in their brains.

"That’s enough. Sit and breathe for a short while."

Wesley and Kellan immediately stopped their movements and sat where they stood. These short breaks where all they had to rest and recuperate, if they wasted it, then they'll have to wait another hour before they can rest again while sparring. Neither of them were willing.

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While Wesley and Kellan were sitting inside the classroom resting, four blue robed students were slowly walking towards the classroom. One of them, a black haired youth, with a round face and a slightly crooked nose looked at another golden haired student who was walking next to him and spoke in a hushed voice:

"Eltier, class ended a long time ago. We won't find anything, let's just go back."

"Janal, stop being a wimp. If there is really nothing we'll just leave."

"But, why are we even going there."

"Hmph, the two seniors always stay behind after we leave. Seeing how senior Wesley is so strong, they must take secret lessons from the second elder. We'll just go have a look."

These four youths were all aware of how powerful Wesley and Kellan were, and as children who were not even past ten, they revered power and might and wanted to be powerful themselves. They not only wanted to figure what made their seniors so strong, they also hoped that they could also become strong after they figure it out.

The four of them, led by Eltier, sneaked to the entrance of classroom. After nodding towards each other, Eltier slowly pushed the door open. As soon as the door was opened slightly, the four of them looked through the crack.

They were expecting a grand sight, something akin to a bloody battle with swords flying everywhere, but they were extremely disappointed. All they see were to cross legged figures in the middle of the classroom, and although the figures were wearing odd looking armors, they were simply too ordinary compared to their expectations.

But before they could even understand what they were seeing, the two cross legged figures suddenly shot up from their sitting and stood up while facing where they were standing. The figures both had their eyes plastered on the group of four with their swords drawn. The chilly gaze of the two armored figures caused the four students to feel a cold sweat roll down their backs. They truly believed that the two figures could see them through the door.

While Wesley and Kellan were doing their breathing exercises, they still kept their guard up to its maximum. This was because, the second elder made their thirty minute break a competition. If one of them felt that he has recovered completely before the thirty minutes were up, he is allowed to immediately attack the other. Although Wesley and Kellan had a silent understanding to wait until the thirty minutes were up, they nonetheless kept close watch for potential ambushes from the other. This forced the two of them to always remain vigilant.

Suddenly, while they were breathing, a small creek to their back captured their attention. Since they should have been sitting next to each other, no one should be behind them, so after hearing the creak, one though arose In both of their minds; he's making his move.

They both immediately shot up and turned towards the source of the voice only to find no one there which surprised them slightly. However, looking to their sides, they both saw the other standing, they immediately thought that they were correct about the ambush, but before they could start sparring, the second elder's voice interrupted them.

"Young Eltier. Why are you here."

The whole classroom was silent for a moment before the front door was pushed in and four blue robed students appeared. They immediately bowed to the second elder, and Eltier immediately spoke:

"Elder, We wanted to observe the seniors' secret lesson."

"Haha, is that so. Wesley, Kellan, the two of you are done for the day. You youngster's come forward, I have an even better idea than just observing. Hahaha."

Hearing the second elder's words, Wesley and Kellan were delighted, while the four first years were terrified. Wesley and Kellan got out of their armors and walked towards the four students who were standing dazed at the entrance while smiling.

When Wesley and Kellan were about to go past the four, Wesley slightly leaned towards Eltier and spoke in a low voice while laughing:

"Haha, good luck Eltier."

"Senior?"

Eltier couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only did he not learn what he wanted to learn, he also seemed to need luck for what the second elder was planning. This caused him to curse his damn nossiness.

Wesley and Kellan knew first hand the second elder's personality. Although he wouldn't hurt his students, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t cause extreme amounts of anguish. They simply laughed at what was coming towards these unknowing juniors of thiers.

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Wesley and Kellan bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Today was the first time they managed to leave class early so both of them had somethings they wanted to do.

In Wesley's case, he had asked Lane to scour the study for any books dealing with mana. Because of the sheer multitude of the books in the Black Manor study, Wesley couldn’t possibly search through everything during what short periods of free time he had between studying, training and school.

Wesley immediately went to the Manor and walked in without pause. After a year of being in the Manor, all the guards and maids were clear on Wesley's personality. He was neither interested in greeting nor small talk, he always had somewhere to go, and he hardly bothered to inquire about any of the Manor's proceedings. While they all recognized Wesley as the true Master, they all started associating Lane with the role.

As Wesley walked past the guards and maids in the Manor, aside from few respectful bows, no one stopped him from moving. He immediately went to the study. As soon as Wesley reached the study, he found a green robed Lane sitting in one of the chairs reading.

The moment Wesley opened the door to the study and Lane saw him, he immediately stood up and bowed respectfully while speaking:

"Master."

"Lane, sit. Tell me did you find any books that fit my description?"

"Yes master. Only there are three in the entire study."

Lane spoke as he pointed to three books piled on the main desk in the study. Wesley immediately walked towards the desk, sat, then started looking at the books. Seeing this, Lane also went back to his reading.

The three books were extremely small, almost having fifty to hundred pages each. Two of the books had official looking covers while one of them was more worn and looked extremely journal like. Wesley reached for one of the official looking books.

This books had a white, eggshell like, cover with the words [The Gift of Mana] written in golden cursive letters on its front cover. Seeing the title Wesley started to get a premonition, but still proceeded to the introduction which read: [ In the name of the lord of light, beginner of all beginnings, and master of all things...]

Seeing these first words, Wesley sighed heavily, then unceremoniously tossed the book to the side of the desk. Lane who was sitting with his back turned to Wesley turned his head, and seeing the tossed book, a complicated, questioning look appeared on his face.

Wesley immediately reached towards the second official looking book. This book was less grand looking than the first, with a simple brown cover with the words [The Nature of Mana] written in green letters. Seeing this, Wesley immediately recognized this books origins, then proceeded to toss it towards the other white book with a frown.

The reason Wesley was dissatisfied with these two books was because he recognized that they held absolutely no relevant, or useful information. The reason for this was simple; these two books contained the philosophies of the two major religions of the continent, making them rather shaky sources.

There are two major religions in the four kingdoms, The Light Bishopry, and The Green Heraldry. Both of these two religions were highly centralized with extremely rigid hierarchy and even more rigid believes.

The Light Bishopry, believes in the Lord of Light. They believe in a single deity as the source of the world. They also claim that light magic is an extension of their lord's original form, which is why light mages call themselves Holy Mages. They have temples all around the four kingdoms, however, their strongest presence is at the Entaf Kingdom which also serves as their center. The other three kingdoms, the Norn and Tamin Kingdoms have a neutral stance with them; allowing their subjects to be members, but without giving them any power.

As for the Green Heraldry, they are more philosophical than religious. They claim that everything in the world is connected with nature, and that nature is the source of all things. They claim that the origin of everything is nature and that nature is where everything will end. The Heraldry has no official temples, but their shrines are built in numerous places all over the continent and are mostly found near forests, springs, or otherwise natural scenes.

In terms of influence and presence, the Bishopry held the advantage over the Heraldry, but in terms of followers, the Heraldry held the clear advantage. The Bishopry favored light mages and hailed them as saintlike figures alienating the common masses to some extent, while the simplicity of the Heraldry attracted the people more easily.

Wesley held neither positive nor negative views on either religions, but he still couldn’t use neither of them to try and find answers. Religions tend to explain things so that they are in line with their core beliefs, making it prudent to take whatever they have to say with a grain of salt.

Wesley immediately turned to the last book of the batch. He hoped that this one last book would be different from the last two. As he brought the book close to him, Wesley was surprised to see that the only words on its brown, leather cover were [Mana]. Wesley was excited at the prospect at finding a proper book regarding the topic, but before he could read the book, something caught his attention.

To the side of the study, near the edge, a naiscule falctuation of mana caught Wesley attention. Wesley instantly recognized that this was the invocation of a spell, so he immediately reached for his dark sword, while staring at the place where the fluctuations were at.

After almost five breaths, a six feet pillar of earth rose from the ground then started taking the shape of a person. After another few breaths, the human shaped earth pillar disappeared, and a sturdy, dark clothed man stood in it's place. Seeing this person, Wesley couldn’t help but smile and immediately spoke:

"Neal. Good of you to visit."

Lane who was immersed in his reading immediately turned his head towards Wesley, then followed his eyes until he saw his uncle Neal standing there. He couldn’t help but be startled at how Neal could have entered without him noticing.

"Uncle....How..."

Wesley immediately interjected and spoke to Lane:

"Lane, your uncle is not a simple person."

Neal looked at Lane with tender and affectionate eyes and spoke in his hushed voice that caused people to strain to try and hear:

"Lane, I have something I want to discuss with Wesley. Mind giving us some time."

Lane simply switched his head between Wesley and Neal not knowing what to say or do. He simply couldn’t understand how his uncle got in, or what he wanted to speak to Wesley about. But after processing the information in his mind for a few seconds, he immediately got up and spoke before heading out:

"Then I'll take my leave."

As soon as Lane was out of the study door, Neal walked to the seat opposite of Wesley and sat down. Wesley, whose face was smiling while Lane was still here, instantly turned emotionless as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Neal, is it done?"

"Yes. The preparations are complete."

"Give me a breakdown of the general structure and potential."

"Yes. In the last two months, I have managed to plant nearly five hundred agents in various business, the city guards, and the Manors of the four families. Since the city is divided into the seven sectors and the walls where the guards reside, I have established a system where every sections is independent from the others; the agents in each section will send their intelligence to specific collectors, who will then send it to me."

Wesley nodded a few times pondering what Neal was saying. By dividing the agents into different independent groups, it insulates them from one another so that if one group is compromised, the others are not. This also enabled Neal to systematically scour the intelligence he receives, to better pinpoint which sector needs improvement and or attention.

Wesley was extremely impressed with this Black Family's expertise regarding these covert spy networks. It was no surprise that they were able to serve as the eyes and ears of the Royaume Empire.

Neal simply continued with his explanation:

"Although I couldn’t manage to plant too many agents in the four families, they should still be enough to give us a general view of the families. On the other hand, it was easier planting agents in the government and the city guards. As for the business, I focused on places like Inns and Brothels, but there are still a few agents in other business so as to not let any relevant information slip by."

Wesley was listening to Neal intently. This arrangement was not bad at all, not only did it allow for them to have the capability to go on the offensive against the families, it also gave them the ability to predict the families' movements against themselves. As Wesley continued nodding, a sudden thought came up to him and he spoke:

"Neal. How many of your agents are able to recognize you."

"None of them. I always have my face covered, and I can appear in most places unhindered, making it very hard for someone to follow me."

Wesley suddenly cracked a smile that if seen by anyone else would be considered sincere, but in Neal's eyes, it appeared extremely devious.

"Neal, I think It is time for the Black Family to return to Blackreach City."

Neal was instantly started at Wesley's words. They held the advantage when their enemies thought that they were dead because then their enemies would have to divert some of their resources to protection against the unknown enemy, some to investigation, and some to current operations, but if they stepped into the spotlight, then the enemy's entire focus would be on them....

Before Neal could even finish his thought, he suddenly understood Wesley's intentions. Neal was not a slow guy, and when it came to shadowy maneuvers, very few were better, but this Wesley somehow saw something he didn’t.

"You....You are planning to.."

"Haha. As expected of you Neal. To be able to see so much ahead, I am impressed."

"Why."

"No special reason really. I am not very ambitious, I just think that there are many neglected people in this city."

Neal thought about Wesley's words for a few moments. He kept looking left and right as if he was calculating something, then his gaze froze on Wesley and he spoke:

"Understood. I'll 'officially' arrive in the city tomorrow. Then I'll proceed to start waves and catch their attention."

"Good. Take Lane and the other kids. It is best that there is nothing that connects us."

"Understood."

"Good. Let it start."

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I have nothing quirky to say today, so enjoy