The brief exchange felt like it stretched on for hours. Lucid wandered through Andorrea, a world brimming with floating islands known as sectors. Golems patrolled the streets, and children played with broomsticks, laughing as they zoomed around. Lucid hadn't really taken the time to pause and absorb everything at once, but now, he found himself noticing the details of his surroundings—the way the sectors shifted, how the air seemed lighter, almost like the world itself was breathing.
After a while, Lucid found himself at the entrance of a recruitment center for mages and guards. His curiosity piqued, he stepped inside. Young teens, no older than 18, were sparring with swords and casting spells. The place smelled of sweat, debris, and, surprisingly, mana.
'Is that mana I smell? Wait… can you even smell mana?' Lucid thought to himself.
Before he could think further, a young man approached. His demeanor seemed responsible, and his eyes assessed Lucid carefully.
"Hey," the man greeted.
Lucid looked at him, noticing the sharp features—green eyes, brown hair, narrow eyebrows, and well-defined cheekbones.
"My name's Yannick. I'm in charge of this place. Is it your first time here?"
Lucid shook his hand. "Yes, and hello. My name is Lucid. I was just taking a stroll around the city."
Yannick studied Lucid more carefully. "Hmm, you seem fit, but I'm guessing you're not proficient in close combat. Are you a mage, casting spells from a distance?"
Lucid was bombarded with questions but tried to answer as best as he could.
"Well, kind of..." Lucid responded, unsure.
Yannick raised an eyebrow, clearly still analyzing him. "What's up with the glass mask? Are you an outlander?"
Lucid hesitated. He wasn't quite sure how to answer.
"Well... let's just say it's a mana birth defect, and yes, I am an outlander."
He was telling only part of the truth. After all, he had woken up in a forest with no memories, wearing this cursed mask.
"Huh... okay then. Well, there are no rules against outlanders participating in this center."
Lucid looked around, still processing. "So, what exactly is this place?"
Yannick grinned, his enthusiasm evident. "This place is a recruitment center, but it's also a group that forms individual mages, swordsmen, and both."
He threw his hands up, full of excitement. "We call it Gladia!"
"It's an association that's focused on creating some of the best archmages and paladins. We hire fresh recruits to get back at those snobby high-sector universities that only accept archmages and outright ignore the physical aspects of a Paladin."
Lucid observed the recruits in the back, swinging their swords like children playing pretend. One mage fired a spell that abruptly stopped halfway.
Lucid's enthusiasm plummeted.
'At least they're trying, right?' he thought, almost pitying the group.
Yannick, eager, turned to him. "So what do you say? Become a member, and we'll polish you into the fighter you were meant to be. Later on, you can fight in the tournaments between sectors and rise up, elevating our standing."
Lucid, now feeling cornered, spoke up. "Well, can you at least show me around first?"
Yannick eagerly agreed, showing Lucid around the spacious hall, which also extended outside into a yard. Inside, there was a dojo where some were training hand-to-hand combat. Lucid noticed the division: one side focused on martial arts and physical combat, while the other honed mana control and magic spells.
Lucid, impressed, asked Yannick, "So, in this world, are you born with the ability to wield mana, or do you need to be physically proficient?"
Yannick answered, "Well, birth doesn't determine your potential, but some people are more inclined toward wielding mana rather than fighting physically. In a sense, anyone can be what they want. However, if you want to rise to the highest levels, you'll need to focus on one side."
"That's why it's super rare to find vanguards proficient in both, even though some can rearrange matter."
Lucid, intrigued by this information, asked, "Can you tell me more about the physical aspect? Why is it so diverse, and why do the nobles look down on it?"
Yannick smirked. "Ah, yes, the road to becoming a Paladin. Here in Andorrea, we don't see many physical-based fighters who can go toe-to-toe with Archmages. The ones who do are called Paladins. Paladins are a universal term across the scattered worlds.
"The reason why nobles look down on the physical aspect is because it's hard to achieve, and in their eyes, it's barbaric to use fists or weapons to defeat an opponent. But I say it's not brute force at all. When fighting physically, you don't use mana—you use ether, which is the very building block of all existence. In essence, you're not using your muscles to fight—you're enhancing them with ether, and in some cases, mana."
Lucid thought for a moment and asked Yannick, "So, which is the best and easiest path to take?"
Yannick laughed, as if he had heard this question a hundred times.
"Oh, my friend... none. The cool part about this is that you can't go wrong with anything. As long as you find a way to improve above an Archmage as a physical-based fighter, you'll be considered better. There are no objective winners, really."
"That reminds of this Vanguardian who has mastered all forms of martial arts and can wield just about any weapon proficiently. He went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest Magia Vanguards in the scattered worlds."
"Guess who won?"
Lucid, deep in thought, answered, "Well, the greatest Magia Vanguard?"
"Wrong…"
Yannick looked Lucid in the eyes and said, "None."
"They were both so proficient that it ended in a draw."
"Wow, so is that a legend or are they still alive?"
Yannick replied, "It happened recently, five years ago. But the details are unknown, since no one else could handle the scale of that fight."
As they continued to walk around, occasionally helping members, Lucid saw someone struggling with their aim and offered a word of advice.
"You see that red dot? Think of it as the only existing matter in this world. Block out all other senses and focus."
Lucid was impressed by the advice he had given her. Was it something he used to tell himself, or something his old friend Kaori taught him? He felt a faint ache in his chest but composed himself.
"Well, I showed you just about all I could. So yeah, the rankings for magic wielders are: Mage, Mastermage, Archmage, and finally a Magia Vanguard."
He paused, drinking a cup of water. "And for the physical ether wielders, the rankings are rather obscure, but they're there nonetheless. Guard, Guardian, Paladin, and Vanguardian. Or you could just say Vanguard because a Vanguard is a Vanguard at the end of the day, no matter the wielder's type."
"And what about those so-called equal wielders?"
Yannick paused, clearly reluctant. "Now, for that, I'm afraid you don't know much about. There is currently no one in Andorrea who is capable of that, and no one ever has been, for that matter. However, in our Faction Astral, there is one person who is proficient in both, and he is a Vanguard. We call those who are proficient in both and reach Vanguard status 'Supernovas.' They quite literally are the best of both worlds. So far, there are only two people who have reached that status, and their current locations are unknown, as is the faction they belong to."
"I guess when you're a Vanguard, you really can do anything you want. Ahaha."
Lucid smiled and shook Yannick's hand. "Wow, thanks for the info."
"My pleasure," Yannick said. "Battle is what I'm passionate about. Feel free to ask me anything."
"This association isn't much, but it's all I have. I built it with my sweat and blood. So yeah, what do you say? Want to become a member? It's a one-time thing, and it's cheap."
Lucid hesitated but then gave in, signing the piece of paper. Something like this couldn't hurt him, and besides, he needed the exercise.
"Oh, and Lucid, there's a tournament coming up soon. If you want to show those nobles what you've got, now's the time."
Lucid, leaving and looking back at Yannick, said, "Yeah, sure."