I had not slept particularly well last night and as a result, was quite tired while eating breakfast. In order to combat this tiredness, I drank a few cups of coffee more than usual. After finishing breakfast, I went to the classroom. As always, I was the first person to arrive there. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's lesson but I had little excitement for today’s, as it was a martial arts lesson. I do think fitness is important but I was never a fanatic about physical strength and martial arts do not suit me as well as elegant sword fighting.

After a while, all the other students arrived as well. We all waited there to see our new instructor for arcane martial arts. Robert looked particularly excited.

Exactly at 8. a.m, the new instructor entered the classroom. He was a tall and very muscular man with grey eyes and quite short grey hair. He wore black boots, white pants, a black belt, a white t-shirt with short sleeves and black wrist wraps.

He went in front of the class and started talking: “Good Morning students, my name is Professor Ranegg, I will be your martial arts instructor and physical education teacher. In my lessons, you will learn how to use mana to enhance your physical abilities and how to use spells in hand to hand combat. We will start our first lesson today and for that, we will now have to go to the gym. Follow me.”

With this introduction, we now headed to the gym. It was a big hall with a soft floor and wall paddings. There were nets one could place to divide the hall into smaller arenas. He said that we were to get ready for the lesson, which would start in ten minutes. I change my attire to one suited more for sports. In the changing room, I observed Robert already starting to warm up with a small workout.

After those ten minutes, we all gathered in the middle of the gym. The Professor explained: “First we are going to start with a warm-up workout and then I will make you familiar with the principles of arcane martial arts.” After the tedious work out the Professor continued: “Arcane Martial Arts describes the usage of Mana to boost one’s physical abilities. This includes strength, resilience, speed, reflexes, and stamina. With the help of Arcane Martial Arts one can be inhumanly strong and fast without being physically muscular. Still, for a healthy lifestyle, one should exercise regularly. Also, there is a correlation between the extents of the effects of Arcane Martial Arts and physical capabilities.”

He then told us that we would now do a few regular exercises and after supper, we would learn the basics of Arcane Martial Arts. True to his word, we continued with another workout after his speech. After the workout we had supper and were to return to the gym at 2 p.m.

After we had all returned to the gym the Professor started talking again: “The basic premise of this technique is to use a special set of spells to temporarily apply an effect on the body. This constantly drains mana when active. Depending on the amount of mana and the proficiency with this technique, the strength of the effect will differ from individual to individual. It’s also important to note that the mana usage means that one can only maintain the desired effect for a limited amount of time and that one has to be careful when using this technique and additionally casting spells. If one runs out of mana, the effects of the technique will end shortly afterwards. Additionally, as it costs mana and needs proficiency in using, it should be obvious that everyone will use Arcane Martial Arts differently. Some will lay their focus on raw strength and resilience other on speed and reflexes. Some will use Arcane Martial Arts in a very balanced way and some will fully specialize in one form. How you want to use it is your own decision. I will give you a basic overview of all the techniques and will tell you how you can train in them. The rest is up to you.”

After giving us this speech, he then went on to show us how he could use mana to boost his physical capabilities. I had never seen such a display of power. He was able to lift objects multiple times his size and weight. He was also able to move so fast, I wasn’t able to see him. It was astonishing.

After this display of power, he concluded today’s lesson. I changed back to my regular clothes and went to the dining hall. After dinner, I went to my chamber and read a bit before going to sleep. I was reading a book about the history of the United Realms at that time. It was quite interesting to see how such a superpower came to be and what events left their marks on the land and people. I liked reading about the United Realms but I also liked to gather information on other countries in the world. After all, the world is bigger than most people think it is.