Age: 12
March 7th, 1259
Over this past week I got more used to all the information flowing through my brain, it may now be able to handle it but it was still weird seeing everything. And by everything I mean everything, mana, density, speed, distance, shape, and anything in between. I can build a mental image of my, what I now call, perception domain.
I also went into the busy part of the city with my mother and it was like seeing a whole new world. It gave me a bit of a headache and I realized crowded areas aren't me-friendly.
I went back everyday to train my brain to not be too overwhelmed and it helped enough that I'll be able to function from massive amounts of information flooding my brain.
Today, just like the ones before, Cedric and I walked to the training fields to meet our mage instructor for the months leading up to Mage Academy registration.
We walk in and see a pretty woman dressed in robes with red hair and fierce green eyes that seemed like they were glowing.
"Welcome, trainees. My name is Mrs. Dygler, and I will be your magic instructor. I will teach you how to use mana, your element, and your powerful traits. I myself am at the high crystallized core stage and I'm still a high ranking adventurer." Interesting, she seems stronger than father just from her presence.
"It is nice to meet you Mrs. Dygler." Cedric and I respond.
"Awesome, now that the greetings are over, tell me everything you know about your traits."
"My trait's name is Spatial Visionary, it provides me with a ten meter sphere of perception in which I feel everything: shapes, direction, distance, velocity, mana, you get it. Also I can see my whole body in perfect clarity at all times, this includes my mana channels and core." Her eyes widen slightly, I doubt she was told the full extent of my trait, just that it was powerful.
"Mine is called Radiant Reflex, when in light my mental faculties, and reflexes increase exponentially with the brighter the natural light is. At night it does weaken due to lower light." She once again raises her eyes, surprised at how powerful both of our traits are.
"Well, those are definitely very strong traits. I doubt more than three other children will have the same level of traits you two do. Now the elements and affinity rank."
"Space element, Mythic"
"Light element, Mythic"
"I can guarantee you both are the strongest awakened this year, only the princess will be a close third. That is an insane combination of powers you both have." She seems to be in shock, hopefully we didn't kill her, that would be bad.
"Alrighty, I can't really teach you how to use either of yalls element but I can provide research on both for abilities you can try to get. What I can do is help develop your traits in combat and teach basic pure mana manipulation. Both traits will be easy to implement if your fighting styles no matter what they are, and everyone must learn mana manipulation before even trying their element. Thankfully you've both been trained by that old fart Garron or else even with your awakened abilities you wouldn't make it into a mage academy without good physical abilities." Even with our awakened abilities we wouldn't be able to make it? Thankfully we were I don't know what we would do without it.
"First we'll do a trait training test to see how high both y'all's proficiency is. Cedric, you will do an obstacle course with blunted arrows and stones firing at you, keep in mind these arrows won't kill but they will hurt, badly. Kade, you will be blindfolded and random things will be hurled at you with different levels of speed, your goal is to dodge and tell me what the items are." That seems… difficult.
Thirty minutes pass by and Cedric's obstacle course is set up, my blindfold has arrived, and Mrs. Dygler got the guards who were off duty, though it wasn't hard to convince them, to throw stuff at us.
"Okay boys, we'll start as soon as both of you are ready and I'll say go. Once I say go the guards will start throwing random things at Kade and rocks and arrows at Cedric." Seems simple, hopefully I don't get hit by anything.
Mrs. Dygler stepped forward, her tone suddenly sharper.
"Remember, Kade — you're not just dodging. I want you to name the object based on its shape, density, and trajectory the moment it enters your range. This is a battlefield exercise. If you ever lose your sight, your perception should be sharp enough to compensate."
Right. I'd already forgotten that part.
I tightened the black blindfold across my eyes, sealing away the world. But the moment sight left me, my trait activated in full. The darkness didn't limit me — it clarified everything.
Ten meters in every direction. Space itself whispered.
"Guards," Mrs. Dygler called, "begin!"
A sudden pressure sliced into my range — small, dense, fast.
"Rock!" I shouted, twisting sideways. It whooshed past my shoulder.
Another object followed. Larger. Boxy frame, uneven density.
"Chair!"
I ducked just as it spun overhead. The space around it vibrated differently — lighter than wood, slightly chipped at the corners. I didn't see it. I knew it.
Then came something strange.
It wasn't heavy — actually, it was light. But hot. And humming with erratic energy. The space around it rippled unnaturally.
…Mana?
More than that — elemental mana. Fire, specifically. The shape, the temperature, the movement — it all screamed one thing.
"Fireball!"
Gasps echoed around me.
Mrs. Dygler's voice broke through.
"He really can feel it… Guards! Switch to spellcasting. All elements!"
I heard them shift. A moment later, the air flooded with motion.
A spear of water surged forward.
"Water!" I slid aside.
Jagged stones burst from the ground.
"Earth!"
A sharp arc of cutting pressure tore through my range, wind.
"Wind!"
Each element felt different. Not just in speed or shape, but in how the mana moved. Earth was dense, still. Fire was erratic, crackling. Wind sliced. Water flowed. Metal felt like weight condensed into motion. Vines crawled, alive, slow, tense. I couldn't describe it perfectly… but I just knew.
"Metal! Vines! Fire! Water!" I dodged left, rolled under a spinning table leg, then twisted to avoid an arrow.
Then—
"Shit!"
Cedric's voice rang out, followed by the thonk of an impact.
My focus faltered for half a second, and that was all it took. A wooden chair slammed into my side. A blunt arrow clipped my ribs. Something wet, probably a water spear, slapped across my shoulder. Pain flared, and I stumbled.
Mrs. Dygler's voice cracked like a whip.
"Stop!"
"Both of you lost. Cedric, you hesitated and didn't follow your natural reactions, and Kade, you got distracted by Cedric's failure, just remember you can't be distracted by loud sounds. Imagine you two get in a fight with a powerful warrior and Cedric gets hurt which causes you to lose focus and both of you die sorry, pitiful deaths because you couldn't concentrate!" Why is she so pissed about this? It's just the first day of training, mistakes are expected.
"Listen, in battle you must always stay focused, no matter what happens around you, stay calm. No matter who falls, no matter what you see — do not freeze. Because hesitation… kills." She sighs deeply and grimaces as if she's reliving a memory from her past.
"Alright you two start it over, this time the punishment for failure is running laps until you throw up! Go!"
We failed three more times, and yes we did throw up. But, just this first day was very enlightening on how I could use my trait in combat, and gathering information on an opponent. Finally Cedric was able to complete his obstacle course which actually takes a long time to complete, around fifteen minutes, and I lasted just as long dodging and calling out the names of stuff and what elements were thrown at me. Finally we both lay down gasping for air, muscles burning and minds exhausted from the relentless training.
"Good work for your first day. I can make a plan for both of your traits and continue with elemental practice tomorrow. Also sorry about that first failure, I was reliving one of my not so pleasant memories. Just keep what I told you in mind, it will save yourselves and others." With that she walked out of the training grounds mentally tired and seemed to be in a depressive episode.
"We finally get to learn how to use mana for the first time tomorrow!" I say out loud to Cedric.
"Finally, I couldn't wait any longer than that, I'm definitely gonna be better than you!"
We lay there for a few more minutes talking then head to our own homes, ecstatic for our lesson tomorrow.