Feeling dizzy is apparently a side effect of overzealous soul training. Nothing I can’t deal with, but have I mentioned that I hate headaches?

I think I did. Whatever.

Going down for breakfast, I notice that my mind seems to be a bit clearer than yesterday. Does that mean that exercising the soul and strengthening it boosts cognitive function? Seems logical.

I can see my brother at the dining table.

„Osric you are late, hurry up and go to school.“ my mother says. I still don’t know her name.

„Alright, I will just grab something, and we can go. George are you ready?“ I say while munching on a piece of bread and drinking some type of juice.

„Yes, let’s go. Hurry up or we are going to be late.“ George says.

„Alright I am finished, Let’s go.“ I say.

Both me and my brother leave the house through the middle door in front of the staircase. Outside of it, a slightly damp combination of a stone road and a dirt road greets me. The one thing that id didn’t notice, to my comfort, is crap all over the place.

I follow George in the direction of the tower.

I notice that the streets are not as clean as I had thought yesterday, but still way cleaner than they should be.

„George, say, what do you want to be when you finish school?“ I ask.

„I want to be a knight, of course! Like Sir Ronr. Dashing and cool. What can be cooler than riding on a white horse and rescuing...“ George let his mouth go loose and didn’t stop until he had praised knighthood to heaven and back.

„Yeah. But why not be a mage, they seem to be more influential.“ I say. Totally blushing on this sentence. I have no idea which side is more influential.

„Mages are creepy. I have only seen some mage apprentices from afar, but they don’t seem as cool as Sir Ronr.“ George said.

It looks like he is totally fascinated by this Sir Ronr. Whatever, not my problem, and it never will be.

„Why do you ask brother? Oh, you are leaving school in a week. What do you want to become?“ he asks.

„A mage, they are the strongest.“ While saying so I flay my arms around for a better effect and for acting practice. A little kid should not be as observant as adults.

„Really? But Sir Ronr-“ he says.

I interrupted him midway tough. „Yes, yes. Sir Ronr here, Sir Ronr there.“

„Don’t be so mean, bro.“ he sulks. With a pouting face, he turns to the other side of the street, seemingly ignoring me. Not that I have a problem with that.

While he concentrates on our little conversation, I am observing our surroundings.

The closer we come to our destination, the cleaner the street become. Also the houses have more grandeur here. I believe that we are slowly moving closer to the city centre. At the centre, there should be some kind of merchant or central district. I would say that the people living here are upper-middle class.

After we finish our conversation we arrive in front of a medium-sized compound. A big black metal arc welcomes us. The words „Ronr school“ are written on it. Huh, no wonder George is so engrossed with that Sir Ronr guy.

Just bevor going through the door someone literally jumps at me.

„Osric, how are you?“ a slightly shorter guy asks. The same guy that jumped on my back.

„Lampard, leave Osric in peace. You know, you don’t have to annoy everyone all the time.“ a second unknown boy answers.

„But- but… where is the fun in that Peter?“ he says.

„You never change.“ Peter sighs, only to immediately facepalm afterwards. “What did I do to get a friend like you?”

„Alright, alright let’s move. I don’t want to get scolded for being late.“ With that Lampard leads the way to a three-story building. Closely followed by Peter and me.

He silently asks: „Have you decided what you wanna do after the week?“

„Yeah, I am going to take the aptitude test at the mage tower,“ I say.

„Woah, really? That is expensive. I mean I am also going to try it. Hey Lampard! What are your plans?“ he says.

„I am going to do the same thing my dad does. You know, accountants are popular at most places, easy to find jobs.“ Lampard says.

„Yes, yes, hurry up and take your seat.“

I see thirty seats with a small desk in front of the classroom. I rely on muscle memory and go to the last row, taking the desk by the window.

„Everyone be silent.“ a women, who had just walked into the class shouted.

She was 1.7 meters tall and had big boobs. Wow, teenager hormones, I have to watch out because of that. Don’t want to do some stupid stuff because of it. She also had blonde hair and grey eyes. Not a beauty, but one of the better-looking ones.

„To begin with I will announce the ranking for the last test.“

„Last place Ronald Genrol, 29th place Genäl Hudson, … 12th place Lampard Lard, … 9th place Peter Portar, … 3th place Osric Thale-“ she announced.

So my surname is still the same, good to know. And I am also somewhat smart. Good, then acting smart won’t make anyone suspicious.

„The students from place 30 to 24 have to repeat the class, better luck next year,“ she says. Not giving a crap about them. This is a normal situation I suppose. If even the teacher doesn’t give a crap anymore.

I can hear loud moans and curses from people around me. This makes me believe more than failing a grade is a big thing around here. Not my problem though.

„Alright, let’s begin the class.“ she said.

„But, aren’t we finished? We got our grade and everything.“ a random guy from the second row asked.

„Yes, you finished the school, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help you more on your way.“

„You all know that our continent is not the only one, the exact number is unknown, but we know of 3 more…“

„…As you know being a knight or a mage is a big honour. But those who don’t have the aptitude for either, don’t worry, the graduates of our school are still widely wanted for company’s or if you have luck, as a retainer of a noble.“ she continues.

She continues to describe the glory of being a retainer or a high-ranking member of a company. I call bullshit; she just wants to motivate the untalented.

Not my problem, so, whatever.

The whole day goes by annoyingly slow. While different teachers are holding all kinds of motivational speeches, I focused on training my soul. I continue to manipulate my soul. I notice that because of yesterday’s breakthrough, I am now able to manipulate without a deep mediation. Which is good. Or else I would now be insane out of pure boredom.

Not that it would be able to ever bore me. The highly concentrated training I received from an early age made me boring resistant

Back at home, after dinner, which was a thick chicken like soup, it was good but not excellent, I went back to my room to further my soul studies.