Chapter 16: Final Exam(1/2)

"What the hell just happened?!" Alaric had experienced things like this in the game, but the first-hand experience was just a completely different level.

"Well, I introduced you to some of the 23 Disasters of Mirth. I can't get into details right now as it might alter the future in the wrong way, but they were restricted very long ago because of their methods.

"In the past, they were known as the great beings who went being a mere mortal, known commonly as Living Celestials Or the Living Moons, and It was said that every one of them could destroy the moon if they wished to, hence the name.

"That's how terrifying those individuals are, don't let yourself be fooled by their nonchalant attitude, they are merciless and extreme.

"If they couldn't keep each other in check even the restrictions on them probably wouldn't be enough." Ark answered with a smile making the boy question if this man was capable of stopping smiling.

"I understand that, it's not a simple matter. I assume that nobody could kill them and that's why they were sealed?" The situation dawned on Alaric and he had to ask.

"No, it's not just that nobody could kill them. Nobody could fight them at all period. If I still had my celestial body, they would be easy to deal with, but as a mortal, they are an unreachable wall.

"Even the strongest adventurers at the mithril rank or the celestial combat apostles are nothing when compared to them. They are the reason Mirth has 13 continents.

"From what I know there used to be 1 continent standing, but the 23 Living Moons somehow acquired the level of power they have. The world as you know it today and all that's left in Mirth was molded by these individuals in various ways." Ark explained maintaining his smile.

"How were they restricted then? If nobody could hold their own against them?" Alaric was curious at this point.

"That actually was the work of a singular individual. The greatest abnormality in the entirety of Mirth, the man known as the Awaking Dreamer." Ark sighed as he spoke.

"What?… That contradicts all you were saying earlier! What's the point then? If this guy can just handle them all then just have him do it." Alaric expressed with a slight frown, already expecting an explanation.

"It's not that simple. Not the mention the problems that could be brought by a socio-political side, this guy isn't really under the control of anyone… He's more of a wild card than a trump card.

"Even I can't see what's going on with him. It's too risky especially when he just won't listen. You are much more… Humm… Approachable with great potential. As expected of a Trexus." Cardinal Ark expressed with a slightly forced smile.

"Calling me easy doesn't help you… But that's beside the point if there is so much brewing, I'll need my family taken care of in all this." Alaric put it on the table.

"No worries, I still have things under control. For now, the focus should be on the Solar Knights and their expansion.

"Their next crusade will start soon and they will cause damage, though how much they'll be able to do will depend on the Royal family and The Church of the 15 Divine Lords. You have nothing to worry about from me.

"Your family will be ok. Just know that things might be different... When you return from Palace or even the academy." Ark reassured him while setting up expectations, his smile having returned.

"I don't have to worry about family either way, according to my mother in a few months, my eldest siblings will come back. From what she says when she brags about them, I imagine they are close to Uncle Ross's level despite being half his age." Alaric was not too worried about his family, his mother, and father didn't seem to know much about fighting, but weren't weak, while at least one of his grandparents was a great warrior once, but had been retired for a long time now.

This was the point at which the two seemed to have reached a bigger and more solid agreement aside from the one they imposed on themselves and each other through magic.

"… So, about what you said earlier… Why am I going to a palace?" Alaric had been curious about that.

"It's not about going to a palace, you're going to the royal palace not all too long from now. What else did you expect would happen after your baptism? Prodigies like you aren't exactly common." Cardinal Ark pointed out the obvious.

"Oh, that… Yup, of course, it would end up like that. Any advice? Come on, I know you saw something, or you wouldn't bring it up." Alaric said to him.

"Beautiful. Take this with you. I know you're not a religious person, but having this with you will make contacting each other easier." Ark ignored the boy's question and gave him a crucifix, unlike the ones on earth, it didn't have a bearded man on it, but instead, a young man chained to what looked like the souls of many.

(He just casually ignored my question… I really don't like future perceivers, they are too annoying…) The boy thought to himself.

"I'll keep it then. Now, is there anything else I should know about?" Alaric questioned.

"No, not for now. When the time comes we'll have more going on. For now, just remember to treasure all life, it's important and those chasing power often forget." Ark told him with a knowing smile.

(What is he trying to imply here?) Alaric narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not really the best person for that type of thing." Alaric commented.

"You have more heart than you think, let's just leave it at that. Good luck." Cardinal Ark smiled once again.

Having finished their conversation, for now, the boy moved out of the Cardinal's office and went back to his family.

"So, what did the Cardinal Ark want?" Dad asked him.

"He wanted to talk to me about my future and gave me this. He's hoping I don't give up or get discouraged by the challenges ahead in life. That kind of thing." Alaric kept it vague but didn't really lie about what happened while showing Dad the crucifix.

"Good, you should trust in the 15 Divine Lords. If they gave you this path, it's because they have a plan for you. Don't worry, you will succeed so long as you do your part." Mother said after hearing what her son said.

"Exactly, it's as your mother says. Sometimes you just have to work through a world that seems to be against you, in order to find your own happiness." Dad added with a solemn expression.

"Don't worry, as long as you have money, you'll be able to thread through most problems, the rest is the annoying personal stuff." Roshva entered the conversation to add her own opinion.

"Hmph! Don't poison the child with your rotten mentality, one who lives for money only, has no real purpose. You must find your happiness separate from your success, otherwise, you will have no happiness even if you do succeed." Ermidia who usually stayed quiet interjected.

"I don't think that's how it works, isn't being happy just a choice with too many steps? Just relax and stop worrying so much. Try to listen to the world around you once in a while and see how you feel about that. Silence can be a great company if people give it a chance." Uncle Ross also threw in his side of things.

"No! To stick to one's code of life and values! That brings the greatest happiness, to know your integrity is untouched is a source of pride and satisfaction on a level needed to lead a healthy lifestyle." Timina expressed.

"Stop it! You all are putting all your insanity on my grandson. He's happy and I know it! He'll work through it, you're just confusing him!" Grandma yelled at everyone.

"Don't worry Alaric, you'll do great even without the fancy stuff. Do you know why? Not because of the 15 Divine Lords, not because of Money, not because you've pursued some sudo-happiness, you'll do great because you worked for it. You've been putting in the work for 4 years now, and that's why you'll succeed." While Grandma was scolding everyone, Grandpa came to talk to him.

(They all seem rather serious about this…) He could only think as he sighed internally.

"Yeah, I'm not worried. I know I'll get there." Alaric was happy that everyone was trying in their own way to help him lighten up, even if he wasn't really in need of it.

From then on, the way home was a light trip with a bit of talking here and there. After they got home, they went their separate ways as he followed Uncle Ross and his party to their training ground, where the training continued.

-Months later-

We have gotten too close to the year 715, as in a day only a month will be left before the Great Sage Gustav Academy's enrollment period opens up.

As expected they didn't send him any privileges or anything, but he continued to work on his magic, his physical with Uncle Ross's party, and even exp farming with Uncle Ross. Things were adding up to making a pretty decent development overall.

Today was his last day of training, so it was basically an exam of sorts where they would see how far he could go against them. Uncle Ross was the only Gold rank adventurer in his party, as the rest were all Silver-ranked adventurers.

Though then, there was no reason to underestimate them at all, adventurers in the mid-tier are where things would start going crazy, heck, even an Iron-ranked adventurer could do some real damage if allowed to do so.

"Come at me with all you've got Alaric. If you hold back, I'll break your ribs." Ermidia who was now standing in front of him with her stance in place warned him of the consequences of taking this lightly.

Thus he charged at her full speed without using mana to boost himself, before going in with full force with a feint punch, which she sided-stepped.

Letting him fall to the ground with his punching hand as support, he threw in his real attack as he kicked with a spinning low kick, almost as if he was breakdancing.

That too was evaded as she jumped over it and used his face as a platform to create distance between them.

"Nice try, but you have to remember there's a big gap between us, so simply fighting well is not enough, you have to find some way to corner me." Even as they fought she pointed out what he was failing at.

"You say that, but aren't you supposed to lower your abilities to my level or something like that?" He retorted as he grabbed some dirt from the ground.

"No. That's for training, this is an exam. You have to prove yourself capable. Otherwise, we are not letting you enroll at the academy." She responded shamelessly.

While she was speaking Alaric went with a kick and as she was backstepping out of the way, he used all the strength he had and some mana, in order to change his attack's trajectory, through sheer force by throwing himself at the ground back to support on both his arms, before going in for a double stomp kick while folding one of his legs.

She stopped it with her arm and as soon as she did he used his folded leg to stomp it out of the way, before throwing the dirt at her face.

As soon as the dirt hit and he hit the ground, the boy used mana on his whole body and charged at her full force before she had the dirt removed, but was unfortunately met with a kick to his stomach that sent him flying for a few meters before he bounced off the ground creating a crater and hit a tree.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* "DAMN! That frikin hurt!... My organs!... I don't think my organs are ever going to work properly again..." Alaric couldn't help but complain about the pain he was experiencing, as he held on to his stomach.

"Great job! Now we just need to do one more thing." Ermidia praised him which made him remember that he had used dirt like this before and it might become a bad habit to keep doing this...

Would people start associating the move with him?

The boy was lost in his thoughts, when he noticed that Ermidia had approached him it was already too late, as even his mana flared up and activated instinctively.

At that time he knew that no matter what he did, he could not dodge this attack that had already basically hit him. If this hit... He would die... That was the conclusion and final result. No way out, it was just the end.

*BOOM!*

Alaric fell to the ground on his ass, as chills down went through his spine, and crawled throughout his back.

As his head lay on he looked at the scene that would be behind him if Alaric was standing, and what he saw was a barren dirtland as everything in that direction had been flattened, from trees to grass, it was all gone for a wide area.

This was the result of a single punch from Ermidia, as hundreds of trees were instantly flattened in an area that looks nothing like it used to house life a second ago.

"See? As I told you if you use mana internally well enough or meditate to the same level, you can aweken your Chi, internal energy. That right now was just the result of me compressing the energy of my punch and sending it all out as an energy wave or maybe calling it an impact would be more accurate.

"Anyway, if you want to reach this level you still have a long way. Then again, I always feel like you're hiding something, and more so focused on combat as a whole rather than getting stronger. So, you can consider this my punishment for that. Congratulations, you pass. I'm really happy you were my first student." Ermidia congratulated him with a smile.

"Holy... Forget it. Also, you don't have to keep telling me about chi, I can use it, but it's exhausting." Alaric complained.

"Of course, I do, that's the only way it will stick to that thick skull of yours. Oh and about chi, you seem to be using it well enough, I can give you the breathing technique now. Using this it should make working with chi way less taxing. It's your reward for passing." Ermidia expressed.

"I'm still in pain, Roshva, please." He requested.

"Don't worry, getting used to pain is also part of the training. If you think about it, in the past you would have passed out at this level, but now you're doing this great. It's beautiful to witness." Ermidia let a bit of her sadistic side spill out while they were talking as he saw her blush a bit while she talked about pain.

"..." He could say nothing in response, he knew she would hit him again if he did. This woman did not care if she was hitting a child, now that he was legally an adult, there was no way she would be cutting him some slack.

After a few more agonizing minutes, Roshva healed Alaric, and it was now time to face Uncle Ross.

Chapter end