n

n

n

"HAH! I ain't telling you.

" Jace laughed.

nI facepalmed myself at his stupidity.

n

"It doesn't matter anyways, you can go for whatever girl you want so I'll help you get this girl. Meet me in the basement in the Chrono Chamber. We're gonna do a light spar.

" I said getting up, water dripped down as I walked towards my towel.

n

"Wait! I'll tell you her name. Promise me you won't tell anyone.

"

n

"I promise.

" I said looking back at him and drying my body at the same time.

n

"It's Naz.

" as he said that, he covered his face again in embarrassment.

n

"Okay.

" I really didn't care who he liked, as long as he was happy.

nI dried myself and walked out of the pool room. I wore a dark t-shirt and cream shorts. Putting my rings on one by one, I stared at the mirror.

nDamn! I was a giant! 6 ft tall at the age of 13, that was unheard of. My skin had a white complexion due to the demon blood coursing through my veins.

nMy dark hair grew again in length, long enough to be put in a bun. My muscles weren't huge but extremely toned, which made me look lean like a track athlete.

nI made my way down to the chrono chamber grabbing something to eat on the way. I stretched my muscles and did a light jog around the white box.

nThe chrono chamber was a 100 metre by 100 metre cube underneath the mansion; it allowed time to slow down inside meaning training in here allowed more progress.

nThe side effects were that it'd slowly make you age quicker, which was the exact reason humans were only recommended to be in the chamber for a max time of 2 hours.

nFor me it was different, demons aged at a different speed than humans and lived for centuries, still looking young. Lucky me, I could train for hours and not suffer any side effects.

n

"Yoo! I'm back.

" Jace walked into the white hall wearing a white t-shirt with matching grey trousers,

" So are we going to warm up first or what?

"

n

"Yeah. Do 50 push ups, 50 squats, 50 sit ups and 5 laps around the edge of the chamber, then we'll begin.

"

n

"What the hell! At Least half that. I'm a noob!

" he whined.

n

"I was tempted to give you a 100 of each. Stop whining and get on with it, this will build discipline in you and get rid of that laziness. Consistency is the key to improving.

" I rolled my eyes.

nJace cursed his luck before getting started with his warm up routine. By the end he was already sweating buckets and lying on the ground panting.

n

"I'm done for today. I'm leaving.

" he wheezed.

n

"As if,

" I laughed,

"I'm going to teach you a new technique, which will help you regain energy and mana while moving.

"

n

"B-But that's impossible. Even the professors at school always told us that's impossible.

" Jace said, still panting, now sitting on the cold floor.

n

"Well forget whatever rubbish techniques they taught you, I'm teaching you a technique I created on my own.

"

n

"As you know everyone has a mana pool and there's mana abundant in the atmosphere at all times, the same way oxygen and nitrogen are always present in the air.

" I started.

n

"Wait wait! What's this oxygen thing and the other thing you said?

" Jace was finally focusing and listening. I had forgotten that science hadn't advanced that far in this world.

n

"It's what the air is made up of. When we breathe in, oxygen goes into our lungs and diffuses into our bloodstream. The oxygen then is used for respiration etc.

"

n

"I understood none of that. What gibberish are you talking about?

" Jace scratched his head in confusion.

nI facepalmed myself taking a couple deep breaths before continuing to explain what I had initially planned.

n

"Forget about all that, just focus on the info about the mana. As I was saying, mana is abundant in the air at all times. When our mana pools are depleted we can replenish them on the move through this technique.

n

"Having a fine control over your own mana is the first step to mastering this technique, if you can manipulate your own mana that's flowing through your meridians, controlling the mana particles in the air outside your body becomes a much easier task.

n

"Therefore, the first step will be focusing on meditation. In the beginning we'll be focusing on perfecting your meditation technique. Staying still and gathering the mana around you, I want you to direct your mana around your body instead of into your mana pool directly. This will help your body get used to circulating mana, helping you to do this while fighting and moving.

n

"So begin your meditating, We'll do this for half an hour, then some combat basics. We also need to study for the exams next week, so don't waste time.

"

nJace nodded and began his meditation. When I saw his eyes close I removed my eye patch, so I could see his mana flow in his meridians. He was doing well but when his concentration faltered the mana flow disrupted and started spreading uncontrollably.

n

"This is harder than it looks.

" Jace said gritting his teeth, focusing hard on the mana in his body.

nI scoffed at his comment and put my eye patch back on, I also sat down and meditated, I wanted to break through to the 6th stage as soon as possible.

nMy fight with the Forest King showed me no matter how much work I put in, neglecting the basic things such as the power of your mana pool played huge roles during fights.

nGrinding levels and gaining power would never stop no matter how strong I became, I always had to prepare for the worst.

n**

n

"Come on, hit me.

" I said as Jace struggled to land a hit on me. I taught him the basics of kickboxing and dilled basic combos into him. He didn't act like it, but he was extremely talented in combat. Still, he was a beginner, maybe I could teach him assassin techniques too later on.

n

"I'm trying! Stop moving all over the place.

" Jace's frustration resounded in his voice, as he imbued water mana into his legs and roundhouse kicked my head.

nA loud noise echoed in the hall as I blocked the powerful kick with my forearm, I pushed the leg back and punched his chest making him tumble back on the ground.

n

"Ouch. That one hurt. How are you so strong?

" Jace rubbed his chest in pain before getting up and dashing towards me.

n

"Aim for the vital points, the neck, the jaws, the groin. In a fight anything counts, there are no rules. Especially if you're weaker than your opponent, utilise the small advantages you have or things around you.

" I blocked another punch and parried his leg, I then stepped around him and twisted his arm behind his back, making him kneel.

n

"Aarghh.I tap out. I tap out!

" He said, groaning.

nI let go but that was a mistake. His speed increased suddenly, his body twisted facing me before he leaped up like a frog throwing an uppercut.

nHis fist was centimetres away from my face, on reflex I stepped back and instinctively threw a sharp left hook towards his chin.

nHis body froze before dropping to the floor limp. Crap! I knocked him out.

nI checked if he was okay and everything seemed fine, he wasn't dead. That caught me by surprise, I was so used to his slow punches that the sudden increase in speed almost cost me my chin.

nI let him rest on the ground. Facing the other way I continued my shadowboxing.

nA couple minutes passed before I felt a kick coming for my head. Guess he was awake now. I dodged the kick and pivoted to face myself towards Jace.

nSomething was wrong.

nHis eyes became plain white and I could sense his mana pressure growing with every second. He dashed towards me like a madman and threw a fit of punches and kicks, I struggled to dodge them and began parrying them instead.

nWhat was wrong with him? Was he fighting unconscious?

n

"Jace, snap out of it. What's wrong with you?

" Jace didn't answer back and instead shrieked like a beast before conjuring a wave of water.

nI levitated up into the air and used Ice mana to freeze the 10 metre water wave coming for me.

nJace's distraction worked well, he utilised it to flash step behind my line of vision. He leaped up and a water compressed gauntlet formed around his fist.

nThe punch made contact with my back making me rocket down and smash into the hardened floor.

nYou have suffered 700 damage

nI groaned before getting back on my feet. I didn't know how he improved so much in such a short time. Maybe his new form was a transformation; I just wanted to make sure he was safe.

nHis crazy shrieks made me feel scared for him but his combat prowess surprised me. He was getting stronger with every clash and as a teacher I felt elated. Maybe this lazy bum should always use this form.

n

"Jace. I don't care anymore, I'm putting your ass to sleep.

" the familiar buzz of lightning coursed through my veins and I advanced forward.

nOur clash made me smile as I enjoyed the hand to hand combat. Due to my experience I was able to take minimal damage but the same couldn't be said for Jace.

nHis body was becoming more and more battered by the minute, even though I was holding back.

nI tried to wake him up several times, using slaps, punches, grapples. Nothing worked. He was like a terminator, just looking to kill.

nFinally ending his crazy fit, I froze him with gravity magic and lightly knocked him out with a chop to the back of his neck. I made sure to chain him up with mana binding chains, which I had purchased from the black market for a hefty price.

n**

n

"Wakey, wakey!

" I said splashing water on the still unconscious Jace's face. Around half an hour passed and he still remained unconscious.

nSuddenly, he took a deep breath in like a drowning person breathing in air for the first time.

n

"What the hell happened and why is it so cold?

" Okay this was the Jace I knew. I smiled, warming him up with gentle flame mana.

n

"Bruhh! What's with the chains? Get me out of these.

" he moaned.

n

"So you have no memory of what just happened? That crazy fit you went on?

" I asked Jace, my arms folded.

n

"Hell no! Does it look like I remember? Let me loose.

"

nI sighed, removing the dark chains wrapping his body.

nWhen he finally composed himself he asked,

"So what happened? Last thing I remembered was trying to get a surprise uppercut on you, you somehow dodged and everything went black after that.

"

n

"After I knocked you out, you turned into some madman. It was quite cool I must say, your eyes went all white and your mana pressure became menacing. Nevertheless, you were still weak.

" I Shrugged.

n

"Damn! So do I suffer from some brain disease or something?

" Jace scratched his head.

n

"I'm not sure myself, you're pretty stupid as it is, I don't know if that counts but that thing you did when you went unconscious, it increased your battle prowess by miles.

n

"I thought you were a whole new person, don't worry though, we'll figure out what your mental issue is.

" I sniggered at the last bit.

n

"Oii!

"

n

"Anyhow, time to go study for the exams next week, we'll train here at the same time everyday till the exams. You go get some rest. I still have some meditating to do before I go and study.

"

n

"Okay. See you at dinner.

"

n