It was a warm and sunny day, like it usually was in Lyfast. All of the townspeople would be out and about, doing their daily tasks they did everyday to keep the town running. And, just like any other day, Allen will be once again training until the sun sets.

Allen had recently turned the age of 9, marking a full entire year of his magic training with his mentor, William. For his birthday, William had given him a wooden sword that he would be using to train with.

"If your magic is weak, find other ways to fight," William had told him. "You can use your magic to boost your ability, and then fight strong with a blade".

William had always talked strangely, unlike his parents or the villagers. William had to keep telling him what he meant because sometimes, Allen didn't quite get what William meant at times. Even so, he would eventually understand.

Because Allen's magic was weak, he needed to find ways to fight if he wanted to become a Magical Knight. At least, that's what he thought William had meant. William had often told him he was talented with the blade, even at an early age. Allen would trade both in magic and sword.

Allen had begun to swing his sword in front of him repeatedly, something that William had him start doing. It was to make Allen stronger so he could one day wield a real blade, least that's what William had said. Up and down his sword would go, until Allen got tired and took a second to take a breather. Then he would once again constantly swing his sword. It would often get boring after some time, but Allen's constant determination to improve is what kept him going.

Allen had been waiting for William to show up for the day. Each day Allen would wake up, begin to train, and then wait for William to get there so they could begin further training. Just as he was wondering where he may have been, he finally saw William show up.

"Hey Allen, I'm finally here," William waved and smiled as he began to approach Allen.

William was finally here to start Allen's daily training routine. However, William was not alone. To the left of him, stood a girl who looked to be slightly older and taller than Allen with long and elegant blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that seemed to warm the area around them.

"Allen, I'd like you to meet-,"

Suddenly, Allen woke up from his bed. He realized he had another dream about his past. For whatever reason, parts of his past were missing from his memories. Sometimes, he would dream about fragments he had forgotten about. He would often wonder why he had forgotten, and these dreams allow him to remember the past. But before he could really think about what he dreamt of, he heard banging on the door from outside of his dorm room.

"Yo, Allen you gotta wake up! Class is gonna start soon!," a familiar voice came from outside the door. It was Thomas, what appeared to be him trying to wake up Allen for the school day. Just now realizing the predicament he was in, he quickly got up and got ready as fast as he humanly could, and was out of his door.

There outside his door stood Tom and Lily, both waiting for him. Allen didn't know how long they had been waiting outside for, but with his uniform jacket halfway on, he began to walk with them.

"Took you long enough," Thomas laughed as they began to walk to class.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't hear you and my body refused to wake up," Allen apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. We should barely make it on time," Thomas reassured him. "Besides, I doubt Ms. Florence cares if we show up or not".

"Tom!," Cecily raised her voice at him.

"Woah I'm sorry alright! Don't worry Lily we'll make it on time, and we haven't been late before. Right Allen?," Thomas looked at Allen.

"Y-Yeah," Allen agreed while trying to not notice Cecily's death stares at both of them.

For the past few weeks in school, the three of them have been walking to class together. They've started to develop a great friendship between the three. They would often hang out after class, and even train together in the training grounds.

The three finally got to class and walked in to find Ms. Danet reading her book once again in her teacher's desk, and the other two students simply at their desks waiting. It didn't seem like they were late, although if they were Ms. Danet probably wouldn't care.

"Well, let's take our seats then," Allen said as they each sat down at the same seats they have been sitting in since day one.

Ms. Florence made no inclination to teach that day. She remained in her seat reading the same book even after they got into the room. She made no notion recognizing they were there, which is what she usually did. The three would usually "self study" in the class by discussing how magic works and figuring out what new things they could try on the training grounds. She sometimes did teach in class, so it wasn't too common for her to not do anything in class each day.

"So Tom," Allen began to say. "What was that ability you had used the other day? You still haven't really explained what that was".

"Oh that," Tom began to say. "That is the magical ability I possess. As I've said before, I'm considered an 'exception' in my family which means my magic is different from the rest of them. My amount of mana overall is lower compared to the rest of my family, but I do have a magical ability that the rest don't".

"You mean your hardening like ability? How your fists were almost as tough as stone?," Allen asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Thomas responded. "I have an ability where I can use my earth magic to strengthen my fists. I learned how to use this and is my main way to go in a fight".

"So you have this ability but you are still considered F rank?," Allen asked.

"It's because of the amount of mana I possess. I don't possess enough to be considered D rank. I failed the main tests in the exam like you did Allen," Thomas explained.

"Yeah that makes sense. Sorry, I wasn't thinking," Allen laughed.

"Nah, it's fine Al. Don't worry, we are gonna train until we are all at A rank!," he said while pumping his fists in the air like he usually does when he is excited.

"I don't think we'll make it to A rank, but we can try at least," Allen tried to copy Tom's enthusiasm.

A slight snicker came from behind them. Allen, Thomas and Cecily turned around to see where it came from. It seemed to have come from one of the other two F ranked students, but they couldn't tell who.

"Wait a second, they actually make noise?," Thomas exclaimed. "Hey who was the one who snickered?"

Both of them seemed to be wrapped up in their own worlds of studying. Both made no inclination of answering Thomas' question.

"Seems like they aren't going to answer Tom," Allen stated.

"Hmph, seems that way," Thomas sat back down normally in his chair.

Just before they could go back to talking once more, Ms. Florence suddenly put her book down and got out of her chair. She slowly but surely made her way to the front of the classroom. She didn't even need to get the class' attention as Thomas already noticed her as she began to get up.

"Wait Ms. Florence, are you actually going to be teaching us today?," Thomas asked, surprised.

"I have decided that today I will go over elemental circles," Ms. Florence ignored Thomas, but indirectly answered him.

Everyone looked towards the front of the room where Ms. Florence spoke if they hadn't already. She was actually going to teach today.

"I'm sure some of you are aware of what elemental circles are, but not everything about them," Ms. Florence began to explain.

It seemed like she was waiting for someone to say something, but no one did. Even Thomas kept quiet and was paying attention, which was usually unusual as he is usually the first to speak up. When it seemed like no one was going to say anything, she continued.

"Elemental circles are the current foundation for how your inner mana is converted into elemental magic. This foundation was discovered possible by the Great Elemental Families about 150 years ago, in the 1400's. Previously, the user's inner mana was converted manually from mana to elemental magic via your mind and body. Mages found it difficult to control their mana reserves and turn it into elemental magic freely, which resulted in low output of elemental magic overall. This would mean spells that were cast at low power levels, even by high level mages. You could compare it to the magic you all cast at a normal rate today," she explained as she seemed to look around the room at everyone individually.

Everyone in the room stayed quiet and listened, even when she called them out. She waited a brief moment and continued.

"However, with the discovery of the ability to use elemental magic circles, controlling your inner mana and casting magic became so much easier. Mages were much more easily able to use their inner mana reserves and convert it into elemental magic, and then release the magic in physical form. The elemental magic circle would appear in front of the mage's casting hand, and would release through the circle. While many of the elemental magic circles' properties are unknown, we at least know that based on the size of a mage's elemental circle they produce, the more powerful the spell. This would mean the mage generally has more inner mana, and would equal a stronger mage overall," she explained.

"Since there's no way to gauge someone's inner mana reserves, everyone bases someone's elemental power based on the power of their spell and the size of the circle, correct?", Allen asked.

Everyone's eyes in the room drifted over to Allen. Usually, Allen doesn't ask questions frequently, as it is usually Thomas and surprisingly Cecily. Ms. Florence looked at him in surprise for a moment, and then answered.

"Correct, as there is no way to gauge the amount of someone's inner mana, mage's base their power on the size of the elemental magic circle they produce, as well as the power of the spell. This is how also the academy ranks their students in the A to F system," she responded to Allen's question.

"So then, would it be possible that a mage's mana reserves may be bigger than what they think it could be, even if they cannot produce a powerful spell or a larger elemental circle?", Allen asked yet another question.

"How I look at it, as well as the rest of the school and alongside the Triumvirate, more than likely not. While we cannot gauge someone's elemental power directly, their elemental magic circle is the best bet to determining a mage's potential and their power," she explained.

"What about sensing your inner mana within you? Being able to detect for yourself how much you have?," Allen asked once more.

Ms. Florence looked at him in confusion and surprise, as if this was something completely new to her. She had to take a minute to process what Allen had said. Even everyone in the room seemed to look at him in surprise.

"I- I'm not sure what you mean," Ms. Danet responded in surprise. "Do you mean a mage being able to know for themselves how much mana they have?".

"Yeah, as in being able to feel the mana within your body and knowing how much you have at a certain time", Allen responded.

"I- I'm still not sure what you mean," Ms. Florence once again responded. "If you are referring to knowing when your mana reserves are low, mages can experience a headache. Since we believe elemental magic and mana has to do with the mind, getting a headache is like our mind's way of telling our body that we used too much mana, or we are currently very low on mana. Otherwise, mages are unable to know how much overall mana they possess," she explained.

Allen sat in thought for a moment. From what he knows, it is entirely possible to know how much mana you have inside of you. While he cannot fully do this quite yet, he learned it to be possible through his once mentor, William. There's also the ability to sense magic being cast around you, but he is yet to master this as well. It seems some of the things William tried to teach him are not of regular practice and knowledge. He made a mental note about this.

"Well then, do we have any other questions?," Ms. Florence asked the room.

No one else seemed to have any questions in mind. Allen was still a little lost in thought and wasn't paying attention.

"Very well. Seems like you all have some class time left so feel free to use it however you wi-,"

Before Ms. Florence could finish what she was going to say, the door to the room was suddenly opened. Yet another girl from the student council was here. She wore a very formal water uniform and a badge representing she was a third year. She had long, blond hair which held a shiny silver star pin in her hair. Her expression wore a somewhat serious look, one which someone would have when completing necessary work. Her blue eyes seemed to somewhat shine, and began to look around the room until they landed on Ms. Florence.

"Ms. Florence? I am Rose Marion, the Student Council President. I am here on student council business," she spoke in a serious, but refined tone.

"And what might that be?," Ms. Florence asked her.

"I am here to pick up a student by the name of Allen Fleming," she spoke, her tone remaining the same.

"We are already finished here, so feel free," she answered her.

Thomas began to look in utter surprise at Rose. Not only was the Student Council President here in person, in the F ranked class, but she is here to get Allen. This is not the first time that Allen has been called forth by someone of the Student Council. He looked over at Allen, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Allen, how are you getting so popular? You seem to be attracting a lot of hot females from the Student Council, including Rose herself. I'm starting to get a little jealous," he exclaimed.

Cecily then proceeded to lightly slap him on the shoulder as Allen came back to reality.

"Wha- what was that for Lily? I was just joking!," he exclaimed.

"Hmph," Cecily began to cross her arms and look away from him.

"Wait, what?," Allen asked in confusion as he began to discern what was going on. He looked over at Thomas as he was pleading with Cecily.

"Which student here is by the name of Allen Fleming? He is to come with me at once, by the order of the Head Director, William Windblade," Rose announced.

Allen looked over in utter surprise to see Rose standing at the doorway. He recognized her as the Student Council President from the entrance ceremony. Now that he was seeing her much more up close, he seemed to feel a bit confused, like it felt like this wasn't his first encounter with her.

"I- I'm Allen Fleming," he responded to her.

Rose's eyes began to look around the room until they landed on Allen. For a moment, it seemed she looked a bit confused, but then changed her expression back to her regular one.

"Very well Allen, please come with me," she asked him.

(Continued in Part 2 of Chapter 8 due to 15,000 Character Limit on Chapters!)