“Thank you for this opportunity, Lord Gabriel.” Leroy said, a serious expression on his face.

I nodded at him and grinned.

“No need to thank me.” I said. “You’re one of my people now, and I look after my own. The stronger you become, the more it benefits me.”

The two of us were at the Northern Annex’s training ground, facing one another. Leroy held a wooden greatsword, while I held a wooden single-handed sword. It was morning, a few days after I formed my mana core. As usual, it was beautiful out today. The sky above was clear and the weather had warmed up to the point where no traces of winter’s chill remained. The branches of the nearby trees swayed in the gentle wind. The sound of birds singing, and the scent of green growing things filled the air.

I took a deep breath, before letting out a contented sigh. Yes, moving to the Northern Annex had been the right choice. Peaceful, quiet, and beautiful. This place felt like a small slice of paradise. This made me wonder why House Sturm used the Northern Annex to punish its troublemakers, or those who had fallen out of favor. Being confined here felt like a reward, not a punishment.

A moment later, I shook my head and focused on the present. Earlier today, I offered to spar with Leroy and he accepted right away. This was something I wanted to do right after forming my mana core, but my mother guilted me into spending time with her and my father instead. She said that since I would be leaving soon, she wanted to spend as much time together as possible. I managed to carve out some free time for today, and I intended to make the best use of it.

Sparring with Leroy benefited us both. It would be a good learning experience for him, and it would allow me to test my newfound strength. While I had the knowledge and experiences of my life as Brandon Norwood, I was in a new body. There were bound to be some differences. Besides, I was starting from the bottom again and I needed to get used to that.

“Before we begin,” I said, “Is there anything in particular you wanted to focus on?”

Leroy shook his head.

“No. We can focus on other things later. Right now, I just want to spar with you.”

I shrugged.

“Very well, let us begin then.” I took a stance. “I’ll let you have the first move.”

Leroy nodded, before charging at me right away. He moved so fast that he would’ve been a blur to a regular human. Martial artists had stronger and tougher bodies than wizards and regular humans. Not only that, they could use mana to enhance their bodies even further. This was something even First Star martial artists could achieve. At the higher ranks, martial artists were even more ridiculous.

As Leroy charged towards me, the ground seemed to shake beneath his feet. He was like a mountain, tall and mighty. Despite that, I held steady and waited for him to make his move.

When Leroy reached my position, he slashed at me in an overhand swing, which I evaded with ease. His wooden greatsword hit the ground, throwing dirt up everywhere, clogging my nostrils and obscuring my vision. Leroy took advantage of this to swing his greatsword at me in a horizontal slash.

Rather than dodge again, I parried his blow and redirected it away from me. Our wooden weapons collided with a loud thud. The force of his attack made my hands go numb. If I had faced it head on, it might’ve broken my bones, or at least cracked them. What insane strength. We were both First Star martial artists, but he was much stronger than me. In fact, from what I observed, I guessed he was on the verge of forming his second star.

Still, I wasn’t worried. Despite the disparity between us, Leroy stood no chance at defeating me. He continued to attack me with all of his might. I evaded or parried all of his attacks, to get a feel for his fighting style. Over the past month, I spent a lot of time observing him as he trained. However, watching someone and facing them in battle were two completely different things. Now that we were sparring, his flaws became even more obvious to me.

While I wanted to test myself, I also wanted Leroy to learn from this experience. The more I knew about his flaws, the more I could help him correct them. I figured I would get that out of the way first, before having my own fun.

About a minute later, Leroy stopped attacking and glared at me. Sweat beaded across his forehead. Meanwhile, I was barely out of breath.

“Lord Gabriel,” Leroy ground out, “Please, take this seriously.”

I frowned at him.

“What do you mean? I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just dodging and parrying my attacks. You aren’t fighting back at all. Nor are you using any enhancement techniques.”

“Well, yes. I wanted to get a feel for your fighting style first, so I can offer you pointers after this is over.”

Leroy took a deep breath before responding.

“Forgive me for my impertinence, Lord Gabriel, but that isn’t what I asked for. I said I wanted to spar with you.”

Ah, I see. In my arrogance, I disregarded Leroy’s wishes and insulted him, despite my intentions. Damn. Now I felt like a dick.

“I apologize for the disrespect, Leroy.” I said. “From this point on, I will fight back.”

Leroy nodded, before charging at me once again. This time, instead of waiting for him to come to me, I charged towards him as well. I used my mana to enhance my body and increase my physical prowess. I grew stronger, tougher, and more agile. I also used one of the basic techniques of the Mist Sword style.

[Concealing Mist]

I exhaled a cloud of thick white mist, which coated my entire body, including my wooden sword. At first, this technique might seem useless. However, martial artists predicted their opponents’ next action by noticing minute and subtle movements. By concealing my body with mist, this technique made it more difficult for my opponents to predict my movements.

I could’ve covered the entire training ground with mist, but I decided to be nice and limit it to my body. Even so, this still gave me a significant advantage, especially when used in conjunction with this next technique.

[Mist Sword]

I used mana and mist to create three illusory copies of my wooden sword, while making it seem as if I were holding all of them in the same hand. When Leroy saw me use these two techniques, his eyes widened a fraction, before he recovered his composure. Even though we were still a fair distance apart, he hefted his sword up and I realized that he planned on using a technique of his own.

With a roar, Leroy slammed his wooden greatsword into the ground and let out a burst of mana, shattering the earth beneath our feet and throwing a cloud of dust into the air. This threw me off balance, almost causing me to trip. Leroy used another technique as he launched himself at me, thrusting forward with his greatsword.

[Elusive Mist]

I contorted my body, bending my spine at an almost impossible angle to avoid Leroy’s attack. His greatsword brushed past me, almost touching my skin. It felt like being grazed by a mountain.

Thrown off balance by my evasion, Leroy barely had time to react as I retaliated. I jabbed towards him with my real sword and the illusory copies, aiming for a different location with each one.

Caught off guard, Leroy tried to avoid all of them. However, two of them managed to strike him, including my real sword. The illusory copy dissipated as it hit Leroy’s body, while I pressed the real one against his neck. He froze. If this had been a real fight, I would have cut off his head.

“Do you yield?” I asked.

Leroy sighed.

“I yield.” He said. “This is your victory, Lord Gabriel.”

I snorted, removing the wooden sword from his neck.

“Of course,” I said. “You might be on the verge of forming your second star, but my mastery is much higher than yours. Victory was always going to be mine.” I paused. “However, that still doesn’t excuse my actions earlier. Once again, I apologize for the disrespect.”

Leroy nodded.

“Thank you, Lord Gabriel.” He sighed. “I knew there was a gap between us, but I hadn’t realized how wide it was. I wanted to at least give you a scratch, but it appeared that was a vain hope. I couldn’t even touch you.” He snorted. “You are an annoying opponent to fight.”

I grinned at him.

“So I’ve heard.” I said. “If it makes you feel better, I understand how you feel. Whenever I sparred with my teacher, I could never land a blow against her, even when I reached Supreme mastery. It was… Beyond frustrating.”

Leroy’s eyebrows rose at that.

“Your teacher reached Transcendent?”

I nodded. Transcendent, or EX-rank for hunters, was the highest level of mastery a martial artist could reach. It was the pinnacle of the mortal realm. In order to go beyond that, a person needed to become a divine being, such as a god.

“Yes,” I said with a nod, “Or at least she was on the verge of it. She never told me her exact level of mastery.” I furrowed my brow. “Whenever I asked, she smacked the back of my head and told me to stop thinking such useless thoughts.”

I admired and respected Teacher, but I would be the first to admit that she had a terrible personality. Everyone called her an ornery shrew behind her back, and for good reason. Well, except for me. I said that to her face, though this often earned me a beating. However, it was worth it since it always pissed her off.

“Shall we go again?” I asked, changing the subject.

Leroy shook his head.

“No. There’s no point, now that I’ve experienced the difference between us firsthand.”

“In that case, let me give you some pointers. Your form is solid, but it could use improvements.” I looked around at the wrecked training ground around us. “However, let us move to someplace a bit more… Intact.”

Leroy followed my gaze with a contrite expression on his face.

“Yes, Lord Gabriel.”

***

In the week leading up to my departure from Sturm Manor, I alternated between spending time with my parents and training with Leroy. Over time, I grew used to being a First Star martial artist again. While it wasn’t as bad as being a weakling with a frail body, it was still pretty frustrating. I used to be an S-rank hunter, one of the best on Earth. Starting all over again irked me.

Ugh. At least it wasn’t a complete waste. The knowledge and experiences I accumulated on Earth would help me regain my former strength, if not surpass it.

Leroy and I didn’t need to pack much. Adventurers, as a whole, never stayed in one place for too long. They often traveled around, seeking opportunities. Thus, they packed light. The wealthier ones used inventory rings to carry all of their stuff, but the majority went without.

While I could afford an inventory ring, thanks to the quarterly allowance I received as a member of House Sturm, I decided against it since Leroy and I would disguise ourselves as beginner adventurers. Carrying around an inventory ring would attract unwanted attention.

Soon, the day for our departure arrived. Leroy and I stood at the entrance to Sturm Manor, while our family members saw us off. A plain, unmarked carriage waited for us nearby. It was just after dawn. Leroy and I had a long day of travel ahead of us, and we wanted to get going as soon as possible.

The two of us wore simple, but tough clothing. We carried large packs on our backs, which contained everything we would need on our journey. This included tents, just in case we needed to camp outside. However, I still didn’t wear my disguise, since my father hadn’t given it to me yet.

Dark gray clouds blanketed the sky and the air smelled of rain, suggesting that there would be a storm later today. Most people would take that as an ill omen. However, as the descendant of a storm dragon, I took it as a good sign. It was as if the heavens were blessing our journey.

My parents stood side by side. My father-No. Father wore his usual stern expression, while Mother sniffled, her eyes red and puffy. Caitlyn and Leroy stood off to the side, speaking to each other in quiet voices.

“Stay safe,” Mother said, her voice filled with worry, “And be careful of strangers, even if they seem nice. There are plenty of bad people out there. Don’t let them take advantage of you.”

I gave her an exasperated smile. She knew the truth about me, but she still insisted on treating me like a child. I found it both frustrating and endearing.

“I’ll be careful, Mother,” I said, “I promise.”

“If you ever run into trouble,” Father said, “You can always come back to us. No matter the circumstances, your mother and I will do everything in our power to protect you.”

I nodded, before I embraced both of my parents in turn. The smell of my mothers rose and pomegranate perfume teased my nose.

“Here.” Father said after we pulled apart. He handed me a leather portfolio. “This contains all the documents for your false identity.” He gave me a soft smile. “I decided to give you a familiar name. It seemed appropriate.”

I opened the portfolio and skimmed through the documents inside, before letting out a chuckle. Brandon Norwood. That was the name my father decided to give me. Fitting. According to the documents, I was from a minor noble family in decline, thus I turned to adventuring.

“Thank you.” I said, closing the portfolio and putting it away.

Father also gave me a plain looking copper ring.

“This is enchanted with a disguise spell,” he said. “Just put it on to activate it.”

I took the ring, but didn’t put it on right away. Instead, I would wait until after Leroy and I left Sturm Manor.

“I also have some gifts for you,” Mother said.

She pulled a small wooden box and a steel sword out of her inventory ring.

“This is a box of Spirit Elixirs.” Mother said.

Similar to Training Elixirs, which aided physical training, Spirit Elixirs aided in cultivation. Depending on the quality, taking one would save me months, or even years, of arduous cultivation. The highest quality ones would save me decades.

“And this is a sword I had made for you.” Mother continued. “It’s not the best, I know, but it will serve you for now. I’ll give you a better one when you return from your travels.”

The sword was an enchanted item. It didn’t produce any specific magical effect, but it was sharper and tougher than any mundane sword. A bit basic, but as Mother said, it would do for now.

“Thank you.” I said, taking the box of Spirit Elixirs and the sword. “I couldn’t have asked for better parents.”

My parents and I said our farewells, before I headed towards the carriage. Leroy also finished saying goodbye to his mother and joined me. The two of us entered the carriage, before it set off. I watched my parents and Sturm Manor through the carriage window, until both disappeared from sight.

Afterwards, I leaned back in my seat. Leroy looked at me with anticipation in his eyes.

“So, where are we going, Lord Gabriel?” he asked. “You haven’t told me our destination yet. Or do you plan on wandering around?”

“Brandon Norwood,” I said. “That’s my name for this journey. Start calling me it now, so you’re used to it.”

Leroy nodded.

“Very well… Brandon.” He said. “Where are we going?”

“North.” I said. “To the Icefall region, at the edge of the Solarian Empire.”