“Adion, come on. You haven’t joined us for drinks for weeks,” Rufus's loud voice came from outside Adion’s door, disrupting his meditation.

“Haah,” Adion sighed and went to talk to Rufus.

“I don’t have time, Rufus,” Adion said as he opened the door, “I’m training.”

“There is a limit to training, you know,” Rufus said as he made his way into Adion’s room.

“Is there? Well, if there is, I haven’t reached it yet,” Adion said.

“You’re well past the limit!” Rufus exclaimed, “We’ve barely seen you for the past month.”

Adion looked at Rufus questioningly, “We eat together every day? And we’ve gone out hunting several times.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Rufus said, “That’s just eating to survive and more training. You need to have some fun and relax once in a while.”

“Training is relaxing,” Adion said, “I can’t help but feel angsty just doing nothing.”

“I know, I know,” Rufus nodded, “Because of Sell. I know.”

It had been a little over a month since Sell left. When she left, Adion experienced that feeling of helplessness that he hadn’t felt since his family clan was attacked and he was too weak to do anything.

Sell wasn’t exactly taken by force, but Adion was sure she wanted to stay. And if Adion was strong enough, there is no doubt that she wouldn’t have been made to leave. 

Besides, that Hesfym guy was a real bother. Adion found himself getting angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. Some guy thought he would be marrying Sell? Adion felt a strong urge to beat him to a pulp.

Unfortunately, he was far too weak at the moment. He would even have to keep quiet about his relationship with her just because he was weak. 

Pathetic. 

“I’m sorry, Rufus,” Adion said, “I’ll have to decline. I’m sure we’ll get some time to have a few drinks together when we’re traveling to Cyalis later. But I don’t want to waste my remaining time here in the Outskirts on things that won’t make me stronger.”

“Haah,” Rufus sighed, “I guess I get it, just…don’t overdo it.” 

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow, then?” Rufus asked as he made his way out again.

“Like always,” Adion nodded.

Rufus left, and Adion closed the door after him. He went to sit down on his bed again, focusing on his meditation.

It won’t be long before I reach peak Bronze. I’ll have to reach Silver before I begin my studies at the Academy. I don’t want to be stuck as a Bronze mage much longer. 

I wonder if I can find a way to advance faster. I don’t want to wait a hundred years before I have a chance against Heavenly Light and the Hesym family. But is there such a shortcut? Well, I’m already faster than other people my age. Surely, there is a way for me to advance even faster.

I should also find a way to increase the distance I am able to teleport. It does increase somewhat as I advance and gain control over space further away, but that’s too slow. I want a way to teleport over vast distances. Then, I would be able to do slightly riskier things. I could just teleport away before someone strong gets a chance to do anything against me. I could even take Sell with me. That would be nice.

I wonder how the teleportation formation between the Remori manor and the Celestial Phoenix Sect works. Maybe I should have spent some more time studying it. I guess I wouldn’t have much of a chance of figuring anything out as I don’t know anything about runes.

But it is still worth thinking about. It would put my mind at a lot of ease if I managed to figure something out.

Adion felt that his mind was buzzing with too many thoughts to gain any meaningful results from his meditation, so he stopped and got up from his bed.

I’ll just head out for a hunt to clear my head.

Adion went to the side of his room and focused on the street down below through his sphere of space mana. He made sure there wasn’t anyone close enough to spot him before teleporting down to the street. He could just leave the inn through the front door, but there was a risk his teammates were there, and Adion wasn’t in the mood to explain how he had been going to fight beasts alone.

Hunting alone was much riskier than doing so with his team, but it would help temper his Will better. He also wanted to fight beasts more often than his team, so Adion opted to go out alone once in a while.

Adion made his way to a relatively deserted place next to the wall running around the outpost. He focused on the space on the other side of the wall and teleported across. He didn’t want to explain to the guards why he was heading out without his teammates. And considering the guards were just regular Outskirters taking on a mission to guard the gate, he was sure that word would reach his team soon enough.

Once he was out of Lermen, he took off running, hoping to run into a beast as quickly as possible so as not to waste time. 

It took him almost an hour of running before he felt three shapes approaching. As he focused, he managed to unravel their strength, which was all low Silver.

Three beasts is a tough challenge. But I have to take on these challenges if I want to get strong. Thankfully, they’re all low Silver.

Adion stopped and turned to the approaching beasts. He was very familiar with the shapes they took up in space. They were Dark Grats. Adion unsheathed his sword and watched as the beasts approached.

The leftmost one will reach me first. I can take care of it quickly, but I need to stop the other two. 

Adion conjured a fire above his palm, the flame calmly swaying. He split the flame in two and threw it in the faces of the middle and right Dark Grat. As it hit, Adion Willed the fire to start its careful decomposition. The beasts shrieked in pain, but Adion was focused on the remaining beast that was now upon him.

He jumped forward, sword ready to make a lethal cut, and froze the Dark Grat still in space. It was not much trouble for Adion to fight the Will of a low Silver beast at this point, and the Dark Grat had its throat cut without any resistance. 

Adion shifted his focus to the two remaining beasts and took hold of the space at the back of the neck of the closest one. As fast as he could, he made the space stable and split the space into 256 different pieces, all moving around sporadically. He pushed his volatile space to take over the space of the Dark Grat’s neck. As the beast was still concerned about the fire that Adion had just thrown at it, the attack managed to catch it off guard and cause serious damage. It wasn’t dead yet, but it would be soon, even if Adion left it alone. 

The last Dark Grat had managed to get rid of Adion’s fire while he had his focus on the other two. It ran up to Adion with a nasty burnt face, a furious shriek warning Adion of its approach.

So much for my fire being inevitable. Adion thought to himself, but he knew his fire was far from complete.

Adion took his stance again, and as the Dark Grat jumped to take a bite of his neck, Adion froze the space surrounding it and pierced its head from underneath its jaw, killing it. 

The last Dark Grat that had been struck with Adion’s volatile space was walking away on shaky legs, its head hanging at a weird angle. Adion walked up to it, freezing it in space as he got close just to be safe, and cut its head off. 

Even in a group, low Silvers beasts like these are pretty easy for me to handle now. It’s amazing how much I’ve grown in strength despite not advancing. I should remember that the stage of one’s core is far from all that makes a mage powerful. 

I guess I have an unfair advantage against beasts, too. They usually rely on their strong bodies at these stages. Something I can pretty much ignore, thanks to my space magic. I guess fire mages can avoid a lot of the troubles that come with it, too, which is why they are seen as so powerful.

Adion went to gather the beast cores and cut off some meat. He thought he might as well make a fire and get something to eat, so he wouldn’t have to waste all the meat at least. He didn’t plan on bringing the bodies back to the Outskirts Guild. He wasn’t in any dire need of money, and a low Bronze mage bringing back three low Silver beasts was a hard thing to explain. 

It didn’t take very long before a fire was burning and the meat was cooking. 

It really is a world of difference between training with someone else and doing it alone.

Adion sighed, staring into the fire, thinking about the many times he had gone out of Lermen together with Sell to train. 

It’s okay. We’ll be leaving next spring. Then head straight for Cyalis. Hopefully, Sell will be there by then. It would be nice to spend some time together before the Academy starts its admissions. 

Adion and the team had decided that it would be a good time to leave the coming spring. It would give them a few more months of hunting beasts in the Outskirts, and no one really felt like traveling during the winter. His teammates would head for Rellen and make their way to the Kuwa Mountains from there, while Adion would head straight to Cyalis. 

I shouldn’t brood. This is an excellent opportunity for me to grow stronger. I’ve already noticed significant progress. My teleportation doesn’t take nearly as long as it used to, even in the middle of fights. 

My volatile space has gotten stronger, too. It has almost developed into a sort of feeling. I used to have to think properly of each step, but now it kind of just happens when I focus on the kind of space I want to achieve. 

I wonder if I’m getting close to grasping some sort of concept? It feels a bit similar. Perhaps I’ve already grasped something without realizing it. I wonder if I can achieve something similar with my teleportation? I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing and see where things go.

Adion finished eating and stood up to put out the fire. He was a little disappointed that no beasts had been lured by the smell. He felt he had one more fight in him.

I guess it’s for the best. I don’t want to be caught this far from the outpost with an exhausted Will after all. 

Adion left the bodies of the beasts behind and started making his way back to Lermen. He once again opted to run so he wouldn’t waste any time that could be spent more wisely.

I’ve focused basically all my attention on my space powers today. Tomorrow, I’ll make sure to give my fire some more focus. I can’t let it fall too far behind just because I don’t have Sell’s fire around to study.

Adion usually spent a lot more time on his space than his fire these days, mostly because he had spent so much time on his fire during his time with Sell, and he felt that his space abilities were starting to get neglected.

As for his practice of shadow magic, he didn’t give it any of his time. Adion was in a rush for strength, and that strength couldn’t be found in shadow magic at the moment. That wouldn’t always be the case, though. Sell had told him that her father came from a branch family that used to be part of a family of shadow mages on Quemer, which is why she also had the shadow affinity. She had promised to look into shadow magic once she was back in Iitha. 

Hopefully, she can find something useful so I get an idea of which direction I should take my shadow magic. Even if she can’t, I’m sure there will be someone capable of teaching me at the Academy.

Adion arrived at the street at the back of the inn he was staying at and, once again, teleported himself into his room. 

I hope no one noticed my absence. I’m not in the mood for a lecture from Benji. 

Adion was feeling tired, but he knew he didn’t have the luxury to rest. He sat down cross-legged on his bed and focused on his aura. He had done his daily meditation already. It was something best done with a full core and a fresh mind. 

Now, it was time to practice his aura control. Even if the Merillian Soul Peaches had given him a nice boost, he would need all the practice he could get in order to fool the professors at Cyalis.

Besides, Adion hadn’t forgotten that he needed a great control over his aura to advance to the Soul stages, and he wasn’t planning on being stuck at peak Diamond.

It was also a great way to temper his Will if he ended the day with hiding his aura to the absolute limit. And having a strong Will was something that was always needed. Adion knew it played a significant part when freezing opponents in space. He had been shocked when he tried freezing Sell in space, at her suggestion, and noticed she could break free faster than many Silver beasts. He was glad Sell had a strong Will, but he didn’t want to lose to her either. The next time they met, he wanted to be able to freeze her a lot longer than before.

A few hours into his nightly practice, Adion fell down on his bed, completely exhausted.

Time to get some rest, I guess. I will need to be well-rested tomorrow to make the most out of my training.