Arriving at Avoma
A Little Over a Month Later
***
Xander stood alone inside a training room within the Lowell residence.
He was currently shirtless, as such, his toned upper body was exposed to the air.
Unlike the frail boy from a month before, Xander's body now looked like it had been sculpted by an expert. Every muscle was built to perfection. Not bulky but incredibly defined and dense.
His hair was still the same length, but his face, which had been delicate before... still looked fairly delicate. But now, there was more definition to his muscles, making him look less like a fragile boy to a maturing young man.
Sweat covered his body from the training he had been doing, but he paid it no heed as he breathed.
In. Out.
Every breath was audible, and had anyone been close to him, they would have been able to feel the surrounding mana churn around him with each breath.
Currently, his eyes were closed, and at his waist was a sheathed blade, the shape indicating that it was a longsword.
In his left hand was a handful of uncooked rice grains, and his right hand hovered over the hilt of his sword.
He took another deep breath, then he suddenly threw the handful of rice into the air, scattering numerous grains everywhere.
However, before any of them could touch the ground, he exhaled.
Eyes still closed, he unsheathed his sword, and with blinding speed, the sound of air getting sliced apart countless times in a heartbeat was heard, and then, amazingly, every single grain of rice, was split into two before they hit the ground.
"Phew." Xander straightened as he surveyed the aftermath of his training and smiled. He wiped some sweat from his forehead and nodded to himself in satisfaction.
'With that, Bladed Net is complete.' He hummed.
Bladed Net, as he called it, was one of the sword skills—or technically speaking—'body spells' he had developed over the past month.
After his breakthrough with Mana Breathing as he had aptly dubbed it, Xander threw himself into his training.
His days were a blur of exercise learning, and practicing/experimenting with blade techniques using his knowledge from earth.
As such, in just the span of a month, he had made immense progress in raising his skill as well as personal strength. Moreover...
'This thing sure is nice.' He looked at the sword in his hands.
The blacksmith sure had gone above and beyond when creating the weapon.
The blade itself was a faint bluish-silver which had been polished to perfection. There weren't a lot of decorations since Xander chose practicality over esthetics, but the blade was beautiful, no doubt.
Moreover, it was durable. Xander's main requests when he asked the guy to make the sword was that it should be very durable as well as possess great mana conductivity, and the blacksmith had done just that.
Even after practicing with it every day since he got it, the blade hadn't shown any signs of the usual wear that the practice swords displayed, and whenever he channeled his mana into it, it flowed as smooth as butter.
'It's also sharp as hell.' He hummed and aimed the tip at the floor before dropping it. No extra push or anything, and it straight up just sank into the ground. It didn't go super deep, but it was enough to leave it standing on its own.
Just as he picked up the sword and sheathed it again, a servant entered the training room.
"Lord Xander, the carriage meant to take you to Avoma Military school is ready to depart at any time." The servant, who Xander recognized as the one who had fed him after his training scare, reported dutifully.
He smiled and nodded.
"Alright. I'll go and freshen up first." He said before sending her off.
After a moment, he went and did just that.
He returned to his room, took a shower, and got dressed. However, he had shed his luxurious clothes for a simple black tunic and loose leather pants. His hair was also no longer combed back but instead looked a little messy, but done in such a way that accentuated his appearance.
With this, he exited the manor, and waiting for him outside was a carriage with his belongings already fastened on top and the female servant waiting for him by the door while the coachman sat at the reins, the creatures to pull it not horses, but two large white wolves that lay patiently on the ground.
"Are you ready, Milord?" The servant asked with a gentle smile which Xander reciprocated.
"Yeah. Thanks as usual, Mary." He said, and she just gave him a curtsy.
"The pleasure is all mine." With that, the servant, Mary, opened the carriage door, and Xander made to enter, but as he reached the steps, he paused and turned back while arching his head.
At the room located at highest point of the magnificent structure, the figure of Xavier Lowell could be seen observing the scene from a full length window.
Previously, Xander would have needed to squint in order to make out his figure properly. But now, he had no issue observing even his facial features clearly. And as expected, they were as composed as usual, though, he thought he saw the ghost of a smile on the man's face.
Xander gave a small nod, and Xavier reciprocated it, then he turned and entered the carriage.
No words needed to be said.
***
"The journey to the school will take about a week. Milord may use that time to familiarize himself with the institution before he gets there. If he hasn't already." Mary explained as the carriage soon left Forticia City, the place where the Lowell family resided and ruled over.
"Why couldn't we just use a teleportation circle again? Even it it doesn't lead to the academy directly, it can still take us to a nearby city and cut down the travel time significantly. " Xander wondered aloud. While rare, they did exist, and from his knowledge, the Lowell family had access to 5.
Hearing his question, Mary tilted her head slightly, her auburn hair slightly obscuring her eyes.
"Your father said it would be good for you to experience the world properly. As you have never left the manor before. That includes traveling naturally instead of using teleportation circles." She answered frankly, and Xander pursed his lips but eventually dropped the subject.
He sort of understand Xavier's mindset. After all, even though his 'son' had suddenly found some backbone, he was still technically very sheltered. So it was better to start allowing him to find his footing and experience the outside without too much assistance.
'Eh, it's fine. At least I get to see the kingdom and its for myself. After all, the previous Xander never saw it for himself. This is still a new world with all sorts of things I've only ever imagined roaming its surface.' He thought with some anticipation.
'Also, it seems like I finally stopped doing that particular 'thing'.' Xander resisted a sigh.
He recalled how, in the past months, he had some issues differentiating between himself and the original Xander.
It couldn't be helped. After all, when he inherited his memories, it wasn't like he was just reading from a book, it was more accurate to say that he had 'lived' the past Xander's life. His experiences, grief, opinions, and personality traits.
In a way, that thing had actually helped Xander in the beginning of his transmigration, as in some ways, he had subconsciously behaved like the past Xander. For instance, by calling Xavier 'his' father without a second thought or feeling uncomfortable. Unconsciously avoiding 'his' half-siblings, and occasionally lamenting 'his' situation.
Because of this, while 'his' sudden change had been jarring, there still remained various traits that prevented them from even considering that 'his' identity had been swapped.
It had helped Xander in regards to avoiding suspicion, but it was quite troublesome in many areas. One of which a was the constant doubt and lack of motivation.
The previous Xander had given up and fallen into despair. So sometimes while the current Xander would be training or learning, he would suddenly feel strong bouts of discouragement and self-doubt.
And Xander knew it was the memories of the past Xander influencing him because, while careful, Xander was and still is a very self-assured individual who is extremely confident in his own skills. So he locked down on the strangeness almost as soon as it appeared. So besides training, a large part of this month was spent with him putting a clear line between who he was and the memories of the person that once inhabited this body.
Else, if he wasn't careful, there would be conflict between the two, and maintaining his identity would become problematic, leading to issues down the road.
'A lot has happened, huh.' His hand shifted to the hilt of his blade which rested by his side.
Soon, the carriage exited the city through the main gate, appearing on what Xander could only describe as a magical highway.
The road wasn't tarred, but still had a smooth stone-like material on its surface. Moreover, there was a shimmering blue barrier that surrounded it, almost like a large tunnel.
As soon as the carriage reached this place, the coachman made a sound, and suddenly, the wolves which had been moving at a calm pace suddenly lunged forward.
Xander's eyes went wide as the carriage suddenly shot forward with the speed of a sports car back on earth. And amazingly, despite the sudden acceleration, he felt no jarring sensation, nor did the carriage rock, both a result of magic.
'Damn. Well, it makes sense. Just because this world doesn't have technology doesn't mean it's underdeveloped.' He thought as he stared outside the window, unable to hide his excitement as the carriage zoomed forward.
'Avoma, here I come.'
***
The carriage arrived at its destination a little under the estimated arrival time, and when Xander stepped off the carriage, he gave a big stretch before yawning. While the carriage was enchanted to ensure maximum comfort, he had been sitting for quite a while. They made some stops here and there to resupply and rest, but it was still tiring overall.
'Finally.' He thought as he turned on his heel towards the large gates of Avoma Military school.
They were huge, black, and gave off a solemn feeling. Which tracked, as from what he learned, Avoma was a place that valued pragmatism over appearances.
'Even though its a military school and not as prestigious as Bellion Magical Academy, it's still one of the best Military schools in the kingdom. Whether it's soldiers, tacticians, or generals in the making, few can compare to it.' He noted as he turned and helped Mary with some of the luggage.
Around them, other carriages started to pull in as well, but not too many. Xander and Mary made the coachman goodbye before walking towards the gate, however, as they neared, both of them slowly came to a stop.
Standing in front of the gate was an older boy. He had a buzz cut and possessed very sharp features, his body muscular but not overly so.
His attire was the Avoma uniform that consisted of a pair of black leather pants and a yellow undershirt, finished with a black jacket on top. The academy logo—a pair of intersecting swords with a magic wand in the center—sat boldly on his right chest.
'Yellow. A second year, then.' Xander thought, not looking particularly surprised.
Around him, other new students also came to a stop as they observed their soon-to-be senior, each of them showing various signs of wariness but not surprised.
One custom of Avoma was that new students had to fight against someone who was already in the school, typically second years, and the result of such a battle would determine what class the new student would be placed in.
They didn't necessarily have to win. But perform well enough to get into a good class. Otherwise, they were in for a miserable school experience.
"What do you think, Mary?" Xander asked his maid despite already having his own preliminary judgment.
Mary cast a calm gaze at the student, her eyes glowing a faint blue briefly before she spoke.
"His Mana capacity isn't anything special, but his mana control appears exceptional. He appears go be a close combat mage." She explained dutifully, and Xander nodded before glancing at her.
He knew, the seemingly simple maid was in fact not so simple. But that was a matter for another time.
As he was deliberating whether or not to go in immediately, one of the new arrivals broke free from the crowd.
He wore a classical mage robe that was red in color, and in his hand was a magic staff. Seeing this, Xander raised a brow.
'People who use staffs often fall under the category of long-distance fighters, and their magic usually has longer cast times in return for more powerful spells. There's barely a distance of 20 meters between them. Is he in over his head or does he have a trick up his sleeve?' Xander wondered as the boy spoke.
"I would like to issue a challenge." He said boldly, his staff held in front of him.
The senior simply nodded and took out a black wand from his belt.
There was no countdown, so it would depend on who made the first move.
A moment passed, then.
"Flames of Annihilation..."
BANG
As soon as the one with the staff started chanted, the senior shot forward as he mumbled some words rapidly, and the tip of his staff glowed as a brown aura covered his body, causing his speed to rise dramatically.
'Silent and rapid chanting.' Xander's brows rose a little.
In a moment the senior arrived in front of the younger one who was still chanting and aimed his staff at him, his mouth still moving rapidly.
Immediately, several rocks the side of basketballs materialized and shot out with speeds not inferior to bullets.
Seeing this, his opponent didn't react, and everyone watched as a pendant on his suddenly glowed before a shimmering barrier appeared around him.
The rocks smashed into the barrier, but instead of breaking through, they shattered on impact.
'Defensive item,' Xander noted again, not finding the discovery dishonorable or unfair. Though, a few of the spectators seemed to think differently.
"... unleash devastation and raze your enemies into ash..." The boy continued chanting, unperturbed, and the senior continued his attacks, striking from various angles and using different spells. Earth spikes for penetration, hammers for blunt force. He even tried to manipulate the earth beneath the boy's feet, but the barrier disrupted his mana.
For all intents and purposes, it seemed infallible.
'Its weak point is the very center on top. That's where the mana converges to sustain it. A good enough strike will collapse the whole thing. But he doesn't seem to know that.' Xander noted again as the boy completed his chant.
"Fire magic: Inferno." Once he completed the chant, the mana in the surroundings suddenly became wild as a magical circle appeared dozens meters in the sky.
The new arrivals quickly retreated as a massive torrent of flame spewed from this magic circle to the ground where the senior was.
That wasn't all, though, as the flames converged and started to swirl, soon turning into a tornado of orange flames.
The heat was... terrifying, and onlookers needed to use mana to reinforce their bodies just to avoid secondhand burns. Yet Xander stood in his same spot, his eyes fixed within the flames as though he could see through them.
Then they widened.
'There!' Suddenly, the ground behind the boy opened up, but he didn't seem to notice as all his attention was on the inferno before him, a triumphant smile on his face.
From the opening, the senior who seemed unscathed climbed out and aimed his wand at the barrier.
"Earth magic: Disaster Drill." Everyone watched in shock as a massive drill made of durable earth appeared and slammed into the barrier.
The impact jolted the boy out of his reverie, and he spun with a look of bewilderment on his face as the drill started to rotate rapidly.
He cried out as he tried to chant again, but the drill with its sustained and concentrated damage caused that point of the barrier to turn inwards before it preached through.
The boy closed his eyes and held up his hands in a vain attempt to stop the incoming strike, but to his surprise, he felt no impact.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and his pupils contracted when he saw the tip of the drill just inches away from his chest where his heart was.
"You lost." The senior said simply as he dispelled the magic, causing the drill to deconstruct, and the boy slowly fell to his knees, his face pale.
Xander watched the senior return to his spot, his eyes shining.
'Right before the flames struck, he briefly created an earth substitute, using the light from the fire to hide when he entered the ground, and the substitute took the full force of the attack. He then waited for the boy to lower his guard before emerging behind him. He also seemed to notice that the integrity of the barrier weakened briefly after the flames were unleashed. The boy probably suffered from brief mana exhaustion after unleashing such a powerful spell, and the artifact doesn't seem to have its own independent energy source. So when his output dropped, the barrier weakened. The senior exploited that beautifully.' Xander's thoughts rapidly analyzed the sequence of events from start to finish.
'His sheer power isn't anything crazy, but his one on one abilities are a sight to behold. So this is a student from Avoma, huh?' Xander grinned as he stepped forward.
'Let's see what else you have to offer!'