"Ok, I'll leave that part for now. Let's transfer the soul techniques."

Reo gave Kai two techniques. A passive one and an active one. [Soul Aura], it projects the user's soul to others making them feel fear, similar to [Mental Pressure] but the difference being [Soul Aura] is passive and may become strong or weak depending on the user's will to subjugate others. If the user feels that they're despairing over their weakness or incompetence, [Soul Aura] becomes many times weaker. But if the user has the will to fight and stomp the enemy below their feet, it will be many times stronger. Depending on the user's state, this may be even stronger than [Mental Pressure]. [Soul Aura] can also be strong enough to affect physical surroundings.

[Soul Call], it finds another's soul from a distance. The maximum distance Kai can currently do is one kilometer. Once his soul improves, this will increase further and further. The maximum distance is a hundred kilometers.

This move requires the user to encounter the user's soul at least once. [Soul Call] can also differentiate souls between others. Using the mind and soul techniques can improve the power and stability Kai's mind and soul.

"Kai, it's still quite early. We're gonna start when night falls when only the moonlight will serve as our guide. This is how dangerous the techniques you are training in. Anyone who sees your techniques would want to plunder these for themselves. A move at the level of monarchs, who wouldn't want them? I remember meeting an S-Class who had [Mental Pressure], he was an extraordinary figure who supressed everyone below him and was above the power of his peers. He succeeded in making [Mental Pressure] stronger, strong enough to affect people on the same level as him. But his strength was insufficient to affect them immensely, he could at most change their decisions for an instant. It's a formidable move nonetheless."

"He succeeded...?"

Kai was in disbelief.

"He was an S-class, but he only managed to make it a bit stronger...!"

Kai clenched his fist.

"A technique at the level of monarchs, of course he would have difficulty. But you need not worry, basic techniques are a lot easier to change and improve."

A few hours pass by as Kai was cross-legged on his bed. The moon began to rise as the sun began to fall, night had fallen.

Kai snuck out of his room and went to the backyard. The backyards in the clan all had walls three meters in height.

"Alright, time to practice!"

Kuroshi Clan's Training Area. Morning.

Three days had passed since Kai had begun his special training. Akane and Kai were walking towards the training area without hurry.

When Kai's parents had seen his condition in the morning of the first day, they were surprised to say the least. They expected that he'd be fatigued but he was actually very healthy. Although some hints of fatigue could be seen in his eyes, it was because of the training he underwent last night. He had used his mind and soul power under the guidance of Reo and trained in them.

The purpose of today's training involves using magic to attack, and the final three hours will be spent doing a mock tournament. Most of the kids have already received training from their respective families, especially the main branch kids, they had been taught various ways to train by their families and teachers.

The Kuroshi Clan has one main branch and forty separate branches, Kai belongs from one of the separated branches ranking at nearly the lowest. Even if they were family, they still had rankings to determine their importance. The genius who used ten minutes to awaken her element, Yoko is from the main branch and received special care from her family. She was given various elixirs to strengthen her body and magic.

Nearly all of the kids have undergone special training after the regular training to give them a head start though their training weren't nearly comparable to Kai's. Yoko was given various techniques from her family for her to train in. Akane was just trained to strengthen her physical body, the desire of her parents to not let her get hurt prevailed over the notion of her defeating her peers.

The Kuroshi Clan holds tournaments every three months so that they can check on the progress of the youth. But at a random day, they hold mock tournaments to see if the youths weren't slacking. Though they are called mock tournaments, they still give rewards.

When Kai and Akane had arrived, they were chatting with each other. That's what nearly everyone was doing, a few elders will arrive when training ends and become spectators of the mock tournament. The people who came early were the youths who were gonna train then participate and the parents of those youths.

Kai's parents would arrive before the mock tournament starts as they would naturally want to check on Kai's progress.

"The training will now start, everyone gather."

The youths went to the stage and began training, they all had straw dolls in front of them and were being trained to use magic.

"[Shadow Ball]!"

One of the most basic techniques taught to all members of the Kuroshi Clan was the [Shadow Ball], it manipulates the power of darkness to create a ball of pure concentrated darkness.

"[Dark Beam]!"

Another one of the basic techniques from the Kuroshi Clan, [Dark Beam]. It manipulates darkness and shoots it out in the form of a laser. Much like the attack from the wolfen.

Kai placed his palm in front of him then closed his eyes.

"[Shadow Ball]."

A ball of darkness shot out at high-speed and hit the straw doll. It shook multiple times and had some traces of darkness was left on the surface.

"Too weak..."

Kai felt dejected.

"My magic power is still quite average. Reo had already taught me some techniques, I could supress my normal peers but I'm not sure about Yoko."

Kai clenched his fist. If he wanted to be a monarch, how long would it take? Right now, Kai isn't even an F-class. An F-class has the ability to destroy part of the straw doll with one shot. Right now, Kai can't destroy it even he shot repeatedly.

"Amazing!"

"Woah!"

"Look at her!"

"A true genius!"

Shouts of praise sounded out on the other side of the stage.

Yoko stood there with her palm facing forward. The straw doll in front of her had the surface melted. Though it didn't quite go a fourth of the way, it still managed to melt the surface. To do that, one must have a considerable amount of magic power and it wouldn't be long for her to step into F-class.

"Hey, look at her too!"

Someone was pointing at Akane.

Her performance, although a bit weaker than Yoko's was outstanding. It was definitely better than Kai's performance at the least.

"Looks like even Akane surpassed me in terms of magic."

Kai sighed.

"I've been sighing a lot lately, haven't I?"

Kai stood back and let the next person go forward.

"I guess I'll go increase my magic power during training."

Kai sat on the side and closed his eyes. His posture was straight and his hands were on his thighs.

"Time to use that technique Reo had taught me to improve my magic power."

Kai breathed in a fixed cycle and his eyes were emitting black smoke.

"Amazing, I can actually feel my magic power rising. I never really used this since I focused on training my mind and soul. Reo told me that my affinity with the elements were actually very high, he also said that if I focused on magic, I would only need a decade or so to reach the level of a C-class."

Kai grit his teeth.

"So slow... Humans only have a life span of a century at most. If I use a tenth of that to temper myself and reach C-class, how long would I have to use to reach S-class..."

A few hours passed as Kai and the others were at the arena. It was only five minutes from the start of the mock tournament, Kai's parents had already arrived and sat on the seats all around the arena. The youths had just arrived and were bragging amongst themselves.

"I'll definitely take a spot in the top ten!"

"Oh, well I'll take a spot in the top five!"

"I'll take the spot right next to the geniuses Yoko and Akane; third place!"

The two shook their heads. This fellow was too ambitious.

An elder stood on a seat higher than the rest. He was looking over the whole arena.

"Let the mock tournament commence!"

Another elder stood in the middle of the stage and nodded at the elder sitting at the top.

"Contestants, step forward."

Two youths stood atop the stage and began clashing.

"Take this!"

The first youth punched the second one.

"Gah! Not bad, Misato!"

Shoyo punched Misato as they both stepped back.

Misato grinned.

"You're not bad yourself, Shoyo!"

Their fists both shot out and hit each other.

"Since we're so even at close quarters combat. Let's settle this with magic!"

Misato jumped back and Shoyo mirrored his steps.

""[Shadow Ball]!""

They both used magic at the same time.

BOOOOOOMMM

An explosive sound rang out as the two magic attacks cancelled each other out.

"So we're also evenly-matched here, let's settle it with magical capacity!"

Shoyo suggested.

"That's dirty! You know that my magical capacity is lower!"

Misato glared at Shoyo.

"Not my problem! [Shadow Ball]!"

"Tch, [Shadow Ball]!"

Both their attacks once again hit each other but Shoyo's attack got nearer.

"[Shadow Ball]!"

Shoyo once again yelled.

"[Shadow Ba-!"

Before Misato could finish his attack, Shoyo's attack had gotten near.

BOOOOMMM

The attack exploded in front of Misato as he flew back dozens of meters and fell down.

"I lost..."

Misato muttered.

"Yes!"

Shoyo pumped his fist up in the air and began to walk down the stage. Misato did the same seeing as his injuries weren't too severe.

Kai was looking at the battle closely.

"So this is a battle..."

Kai muttered under his breath. The only battle Kai had been in was against the wolfen which he had been destroyed in.

"Can I actually fight like that under pressure?"

Kai began to have doubts.

Reo did not support him in any way and just continued to watch over him.

You must overcome this on your own or else you'll never be strong.

Kai had his fist clenched and his teeth grit.

"I'll definitely take first place today!"

Kai made a vow to himself.