"Wait wait wait,", Damien said hurriedly. "So you are saying that you are going to roam around the continent with an unknown man learning the arts of an assassin?"

"Yes.", Robert replied as he flung his bag on his shoulders.

"That's stupid even by your standards!"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean why can't you join an academy?"

"Because no academy is offering that course to me," Robert sighed.

"Umm..."

"Listen here, Damien. I intended to tell you this last night-"

"Well, it is 3 in the morning; it is still dark," Damien shrugged his shoulders.

"What I am trying to say is that I have made my decision-"

"You use that phrase way too much," interjected Damien.

"FOR GODS SAKE STOP INTERRUPTING ME!" Robert smacked Damien's head.

"Owww..."

"I am going and THAT is final. I just wanted to inform you that face-to-face." Robert turned away.

"Jeez. Would it hurt you to say that you are worried about me?" Damien rubbed his head.

"Hmm?" Robert turned his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Give your brother a hug," Damien spread his arms.

"Oh shut it! It is exactly this kind of attitude that will get you bullied in school," Robert said and twisted Damien's arm to make him understand how foolish his actions were.

"Ow ow ow you know you shouldn't do that to your brother just before saying goodbye to him!"

"I don't want my departure to be sad, but you, on the other hand, want it to be exactly that!"

There was an awkward pause.

"That's because I'll miss you when you are not by my side anymore," Damien said after a long dreary silence.

"So this is it I guess. We might not see each other for years huh?" said Robert, as finally, some emotions started to paint his face.

"I honestly don't want you to go, but I know that this is the best chance you have of accomplishing your dream," said Damien and a calm yet beautifully gentle smile appeared on his face. Robert also smiled and tried to memorise the face of this brother of his whom he would not be able to see for a long time.

"Goodbye, Danny," said Robert as he finally hugged Damien. Although Damien was startled for a second, he came to realise how much Robert loved him and cared for him; a smile appeared on Damien's face.

"See you soon brother," Damien said these words and Robert finally let go. A faint teardrop could be seen on his face. Robert turned and started to walk out of the mansion gates.

"So, he went..." said Damien as he rubbed his eyes. He saw a black spot slowly disappearing in the horizon.

"Damien..." Lawrence stroked his son's hair.

"Yes, Father I will prepare for my departure too." Damien retraced his steps towards the mansion.

Katherine sighed. The two of them were standing aside all this time, watching the brothers part.

"Have you ordered everything for Damien?"

"Yeah, all the pieces of equipment will arrive tomorrow evening," Lawrence stretched his body.

"Lawrence, please act like a noble while you are outside," said Katherine. The plea was evident in her eyes.

"Well, I don't give a f*ck about formalities... so f*ck it," Lawrence laughed.

"LANGUAGE!", snapped Katherine as she punched Lawrence in the stomach.

"AHHHH!" Lawrence flew a few meters and crashed into the wall. The wall collapsed.

"Hmph." Katherine walked into the mansion as if nothing happened.

"Ahem ahem ahem." Lawrence got up from the rubble. Some blood was oozing out of his nose. He dusted his clothes and whispered, "What a brute."

"I heard that!", an angry voice sounded from the mansion.

(O: same R: Choose your next few words very carefully)

***

"Damien, are you alright?", asked Katherine as she entered Damien's room. It was afternoon, but the room was dark since the curtains weren't drawn.

"Y-Yeah!" Damien jumped out of his bed.

"Then tell me why you were hugging your pillow and crying?"

"I-I was not crying!", exclaimed Damien.

Katherine smiled at the innocence of her child and sat down on the bed. "Come, sit here."

Damien obediently sat down beside her. Katherine stroked his hair. "My sweet Damien, I know you are sad because of your brother's departure..."

"I-Its not-"

"Listen, Damien. You see, there always comes a time when someone or something parts from us, and there is nothing we can do about it. It surely makes us sorrowful to say goodbye to the thing we hold close to our heart, but remember, such moments are not the occasions to be sad. During such times, we must look forward to the time we reunite again! This is what makes life worth living," Katherine embraced her son, "The will to reunite again is what will make you live through perilous times! So Damien, do not be disheartened, you will surely meet Robert soon."

"Mo-Mother," Damien sobbed.

***

A few days later at the Wells terminal.

"It is like a chain reaction... now I have to leave you too.", said Damien with a bitter smile. A servant nearby held the suitcase on which was engraved- 'Damien Wells'.

"Son, don't you worry. We will meet every holiday season!", said Lawrence as he hugged Damien.

"Yes, Damien, don't worry. We will telegraph you every week, and if you become a Guardian then you can access the ManaNet!" Katherine kissed him on the forehead.

"So I will stay in the Marquis' territory for a week and a half. Then with them, I will go to the academy which is on an island in an archipelago which is 75,000 miles east of the continent?"

(D: as stated before it is a big continent)

"Yeah."

"That's messed up!", exclaimed Damien.

"Alas! Our continent is very big, so it will take you half a month to reach the Marquis's territory; I guess they will use space magic to teleport you to the academy."

"Woah! Then its worth it!" Damien smiled and said, "I will miss you all."

"We will too, Damien. We will too." Katherine brushed his hair.

"Oh! And the Marquis' fifth daughter? Yeah, she has enrolled in Hydra Academy too. I believe you have met her; her name is Erina.", said Lawrence.

"Erina has enrolled too? Umm, I know her, but she gives me a cold shoulder, mostly," Damien shrugged his shoulder.

"Ho! the train is about to leave! Damien get on!" Lawrence spoke hurriedly as he escorted Damien into his coach.

"Your luggage will be sent to the academy before you, so don't worry!" Katherine waved goodbye to Damien as he looked out of the window. With a high pitched whistle, the train started moving. Damien saw his parents waving at him; he waved back. Slowly, they were left behind and all Damien could see was the terminal, which too turned into a black spot as the train sped away.

"Jeez. They could have come with me to the Marquis' territory, but it is too far away..." Damien sighed as he relaxed on the couch. He seized an apple from the fruit basket and took a bite. "A fortnight in the train... God, this is messed up!", he said with a bitter smile.

***

Damien sat in the train looking at nature's painting outside the window, bored beyond measure. It had been 8 days since his journey started. He had hoped to find a lot of people on the train, but to his dismay, it turned out to be totally empty. He tried to read the books he had brought along with him, but they too proved to be of no interest.

'Ugh. This is so boring. Nobody to talk to. Nothing to do. I miss those times when Robert and I used to be the best companions to each other. I miss him.'

Damien looked up through the window into the clouds, feeling the cool breeze of Nix softly touching his face as it moved away from him. Another 3 days passed in idling and looking to cure his boredom.

Suddenly, Damien remembered that he needed to meditate to increase his mana quality and that it had been more than 2 weeks after his tests. Apparently, after your mage tests, you are not allowed to perform magic exercises for two weeks, and Damien had followed this for quite some time. It was now time to unleash his potential.

As Damien was about to begin meditating, a thought struck him in the head.

"Ah! I totally forgot about that letter!" Damien jumped out of the bed and rummaged through his bag. A certain letter had arrived from the Association on the day of his departure, but he had been too busy so he had stuffed it in his bag without a detailed inspection. Given his tension about departing to the Marquis' territory, he had forgotten about it.

He pulled out a creased silver envelope. Drawings of slender golden dragons decorated the front. In beautiful cursive writing, written in black, was: To Damien Wells; Son of Earl Lawrence Wells.

He tore open the envelope. A white sheet of parchment appeared. Damien read:

Damien Wells,

You have been tested of your ability. Since currently, you do not hold any information about your ability, the Holy Dragon Association sends you the information of your ability through this letter. ABILITY:

POTENTIA CLASS: SS

TYPE: PASSIVE

DESCRIPTION:

Increases the pure attributes of the person by 1.39% per day. KNOWN DERIVED SPELLS:

-Godspeed -God's Strength -Almighty Strike

(R: abilities can be active, passive, toggled, conditional and so on along these lines, they can be a combination too)

"Hmm," Damien said with a thoughtful look, "Sounds cool, but it went over my head. However, if my pure stats increase by 1.4% every day, then I would become 4 times stronger each year!"

Damien was joyous. But he then remembered his mage training. He put away his letter and made arrangements for his meditation.

Damien sat on the floor with legs crossed and went into a deep meditative state. Here, he felt mana rushing through his arteries along with his blood. He tried, with much difficulty, to control its circulation. He saturated his body with mana.

'Isn't this very hard? I wonder how Robert did it.'

As Damien continued circulating mana, he found that the control of his was condensing with each circulation from his heart to his organs, and the mana was refining itself.

Another day passed in such activity, and Damien rose with a much more refined mana pool than before. Several days passed like this and finally, he was about to reach Arenhal. The train had covered more distance in the same time due to the scarcity of passengers.

***

"Oof." Damien stretched his body. "It has been 12 days already?!"

Damien picked up his suitcase and hopped off the train. He was at the Draco-Pitch Station. As its name suggested, the station was made up of pitch black marble and black wood, with pictures of dragons carved on the walls. Except for these two aspects, it was similar to the Wells Terminal. "So this is Titos - the capital of Marquis Alexander's territory!"

"Excuse me, Sir, but would you be Damien Wells, the son of Earl Lawrence?", a person in an attendant's attire approached Damien and asked. A silver badge was glittering on his breast pocket. It was the symbol of the Marquis - a shining silver turtle, above which stood the Black Dragon flag.

"Yes," replied Damien.

"Young Master Damien, I am Carl - a servant of the house of Evans. My lord - the Marquis - has instructed me to receive you."

"I see," nodded Damien as he recognized the badge.

"If you will please follow me to the Marquis' castle," requested Carl.

"Sure, lead the way."

Damien followed Carl; outside the station, a carriage was waiting for them.

The all-black carriage went through the great city swiftly. Damien didn't get to see much. It reached the estate of the Marquis, the gates of which were made from steel and had the territorial symbol of the turtle on them. A long road led towards the mighty castle Ironstorm. The castle was said to be one of the oldest castles in the empire, constructed 3400 years ago by the first marquis. It had four watch towers on the vertices, and at the centre stood the main body of the castle - a grey giant with iron plating on its walls.

The castle had two gates on opposite ends. Made from black iron, they were said to be unbreachable. The walls of the castle stood at 80 feet in height and the towers at 120 feet. This castle was said to be capable of holding against an army of a hundred thousand men for more than 8 months at a time.

"The lord is in seclusion, Master Damien, but gives you his regards in passing the mage exams. He asks for your forgiveness for not being able to welcome you personally," said Carl as he took Damien inside the castle. Guards were stationed at every corner in silver armour, holding spears made from steel.

"I am thankful for his lordship's courtesy.", replied Damien.

Damien was shown into his room by Carl. His room was not much different than his own in the Earls mansion, except that it had a grey-black colour design and his personal belongings were not there. Carl told him of where the dining hall was, that he should rest, and also that the dinner will be served in 5 hours. Carl took his leave, after which, Damien left to explore the legendary castle.

Tall walls made from black and grey stone with an arched ceiling made a maze. All the walls had some kind of decoration on them. Some were draped with banners of the Evans family or had paintings on them. Suits of armour could be seen at long but regular intervals. Red carpets were laid in the corridors and ran at lengths. The walls near the periphery had clear glass windows draped with golden embroidered red curtains. Occasionally one could see an attendant walking through these passages.

Damien walked out of his room. "This castle is huge!", he cried out. He walked the hallways and as he was roaming around, he spotted the figure of someone he immediately recognized.

"Oh! Hey Erina!", shouted Damien.

"Who?" A girl walked back around the corner and asked. She was the same age as Damien was and as tall as him. Her crown of long, brown, silk-like hair dropped till her round hips; a red bow fluttered on her head. She had a cute round face, with hazel eyes embedded into it, which occasionally sparkled. Currently, she wore a white shirt over a black skirt, with long white stockings covering her legs and a golden bracelet glittering on her wrist.

"Hey, Erina! Long time no see!", Damien chuckled as he walked toward her.

"Hmm. Why are you here?", Erina asked stone-faced. Although she spoke in an adorable voice, a tone of disgust was evident in it.

"Yeah, I will be staying here for a week and a half. You see I have enrolled in Hydra Academy too." Damien brought forth his hand for a handshake. "We will have fun!"

"Don't act like you are my equal." Erina looked at Damien with eyes of contempt.

"Haha..." Damien awkwardly withdrew his hand.

"Why don't you just leave? Your uncultured blood doesn't belong here." She tilted her head. "You must have been really lucky to be able to take the mage test. So what if you have enrolled in Hydra Academy? You will probably get expelled soon. If you must be here, then please don't disgrace this castle."

Erina turned and walked away.

'Jeez, Father. How infamous are you for your complete lack of regards? This is why I hated noble banquets. Everyone thought of us as brutes even if they didn't show it.', Damien thought with bitterness. He sighed and started walking towards his room.