Myth Of A Dragon

*Not right now, no Zeke. After you reach level 5, you could opt not to bring yourself to the next level and your xp could stack and exceed the required amount to level up.*

"I see. That"s good for me then."

Zeke browsed the shop for beginner spells. There were spells there that just by reading its name, Zeke could tell it was a powerful one. There were also spells like "h.e.l.l"s Descent" and "Ice Queen"s Domain" that costs a lot of xp that Zeke couldn"t even afford one of them. Of course, Zeke didn"t have any plans on buying magic like that even if he did have enough xp. He guessed that those spells were only for Tier 2 and higher Magicians and it would be better to get them later in his life where he has a lot of xp to spend.

With Zeke"s measly 275xp, he could buy a few beginner spells. He bought Fireball, Tremor, Water Barrier, and Wind Step to familiarize himself with the four elements. He also bought Light Shield and Dark Slash as extra spells to familiarize himself with the variant elements.

Only a hundred xp was left after buying the six spells. Zeke planned on saving it for his weapon style later on. He then went and tried to cast Water Barrier.

To Zeke"s surprise, it didn"t take him long to conjure a thin circular barrier around him. Although it was a bit thin, it only took Zeke seconds to conjure it. Was this really this easy?

*No, Zeke. It"s because of your level of mana circulation that you could conjure that almost instantly. Normally, magicians go straight to casting magic. In doing so, they slowly learn Mana Circulation as well but it"s very slow since they don"t have any foundation in circulating mana.*

"*Sigh*, why do people rush a lot?" It was just Zeke"s rhetorical question.

*It"s because they don"t have the luxury of time, Zeke. You see, they start having a mana core at the age of 7 or 8, unlike you who start very early. This gives you a headstart to them. I could"ve let you learn spells first but your speed of casting won"t be that fast. I figured you use your headstart to consolidate the basic foundations of a fighter and magician first before learning advanced things. One step a time, so to say.*

"And I thank you for that, System."

He tried to do Wind Step and it was also instantly cast. Zeke felt pleased by training mana circulation first as he felt like if he did this first, he would take a longer time to practice magic than he was now.

He didn"t try to do any other spells for now as he felt he might damage the house. He just meditated for a bit and slept.

Half a month pa.s.sed by. As usual, Zeke"s daily routine consisted of their morning routine, practicing basic hand techniques and magic in the afternoon, and then meditating in the evening before going to sleep. Today, when Zeke tried to execute Basic Hand Techniques as usual, he heard a ding sound in his mind.

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Progressive Quest "Combat Training" Complete!

Reward:

10xp

Skill Tome (Hand Martial Arts)

Access to quest "Combat Training II"

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"Oh, sweet!"

He didn"t realize he had gotten proficient in executing the four hand techniques. Right now, he could at least do the proper form of all four by 60 to 70%, and he can also do the fully executed ones after seconds of preparation. He was pleasantly surprised by how he got to level 5 so fast.

"System, what"s this Skill Tome?"

*It"s a skill tome where the Basic Hand Technique originated. You could say the Basic Hand Technique is the very basic martial art of the Skill Tome.*

"Could I use it now?"

*Yes, Zeke. Consuming Skill Tome.*

Another surge of information appeared in his mind. This Hand Martial Arts are numerous sets of techniques one can do with their two arms. This didn"t just use the hand, it also included the use of the elbow, the arm muscles, and all sorts of things even Zeke didn"t know about.

"I now have more to practice about."

*Yes, Zeke. Also, I"m integrating the Basic Hand Technique to the Hand Martial Arts since it was a part of it after all. There"s also the continuation quest.*

"Let me see."

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Progressive Quest "Combat Training II"

Learn Basic Leg Techniques.

Condition:

Practice the Basic Leg Techniques and achieve mastery Lvl 5.

Difficulty: D

Reward:

10xp

Skill Tome (CQC)

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"Leg Techniques?"

*Yes, Zeke. Unlike the Basic Hand Technique, this doesn"t have any specific moves. You only need to practice using your leg and make your legs as efficient as possible. Basic Hand Techniques focus on your offensive powers, while the Basic Leg Techniques focus on your evasiveness, counter-attacking, and most especially, explosiveness.*

"Explosiveness?"

*Yes, Zeke. Explosiveness just means that you can exert the full potential and power of your leg at your will. This explosiveness can be applied to when you suddenly sprint fast, or you suddenly launch your most powerful kick. This all depends on the explosiveness of your legs. Basic Leg Technique aims to hone that as well as prevent you from injuring yourself in case you explode your leg"s strength.*

"Alright. Another one to train, I guess."

Zeke had plenty of time. He still has half a month left till his training room was finished, and he was going to show his father a surprise when they spar.

Three more weeks have gone by, and Zeke is now a full-fledged 3-year-old boy. Who would"ve known that this 3-year-old already killed two people? Zeke also celebrated his birthday on the second week with his parents as well as Esteban. The other three families also visited and greeted him while they also gave him gifts in the form of toys. Zeke felt like he didn"t have a use for that but he still appreciated the thought and was touched. The celebration was simple but Zeke felt very grateful for having a family that can give some love to Zeke. He missed these familial interactions which he had never done since his previous parents" death.

Zeke"s progress also continued at the same pace. He was now familiar with the moves of the Hand Martial Arts while his Basic Leg Technique was also at level 3. His Aura also leveled up to level 7, while his mana circulation and elemental mana circulation also leveled up by one. He also practiced his Mana Skin whenever he wasn"t doing anything, leveling it up to 3. The only stagnant technique/skill he had was the formless style, who he didn"t know how to start since he lack the necessary weapon styles.

Yesterday, Zeke saw his fully built training room behind their part of the palace. It was a room that looked like an extension to their house. Charles also made a doorway connecting from their living room to the training room. In this way, they won"t need to go out and walk around the palace just to get there.

It was early morning, and when Charles saw Zeke, he smiled and walked closer.

"Good Morning, son. We"re going to start your training now. Are you ready now?"

"Of course, Dad!" Zeke excitedly said.

They went into the training room after breakfast. When Zeke saw his training room, he immediately felt excited. Rows of different kinds of weapons lay on the left side while training dummies were lined on the right. There were also extra dummies laying around for replacement in the future. It was also quite s.p.a.cious along with brick walls that are meant to withstand magic spells and weapons. This was what Zeke expected his training room to have and it really made him satisfied.

"This will be your training room starting now. Are you satisfied with it, son?"

"Yes, dad! Very satisfied!"

"Good. Now I need to know your strength. Go to the training dummy and try out your moves. This time, try to do your casual moves, or moves that you can use at a fight anytime."

Zeke went in front of a dummy and did a casual attack of the four Basic Hand Techniques.

Albeit slightly surprised by his son"s strength, Charles managed to keep his stoic demeanor and pondered.

"Hmm... Your form looks a bit stiff, and your arm movement makes it so your punch can"t fully utilize your whole power."

"I know, Dad. Do you know how to improve it?"

"I know a bit about arm movements since I"m a melee fighter after all. You need to lower your stance more and twist your arms a bit more..."

Charles continued to guide Zeke in his Basic Hand Technique.

After a while...

"Son, what"s your progress in your mana core? Do you have a bit of mana now?"

"Yes, Dad. My progress is quite good actually."

"Hoh? How so?" Charles was interested in Zeke"s mana core.

"I can manage to conjure a fireball now!"

"R-really?! Since when?" Charles still can"t get used to his son"s impressive feats. His son could now even conjure beginner spells! Charles thought Zeke was still struggling with conjuring something so he was going to recommend Zeke to practice circulating mana first. But it turns out that Zeke could already do spells!

"Can you show me? There, hit that dummy. It"s designed for receiving simple magic. Try your fireball on that." Charles calmed down inwardly and pointed to a training dummy that has another layer of wood in it. The wood"s color was different than the wood used on other training dummies. It was slightly yellow-greenish in color and apparently, its specialty is on magic resistance.

Zeke conjured a Fireball in his hands quickly and threw it to the dummy. Such speed again surprised Charles.

"How could he already cast a spell this fast? What sorcery is this even?"

"S-son, can you tell me when you started learning magic spells? I"m talking about magic spells, not mana circulation. When?" Charles asked, slight excitement shown in his voice.

"Just this week, Dad. Why?" Zeke replied as innocently as possible.

"Just this week? You mean you just managed to conjure a fireball this week? and it"s already this fast?"

"Yes, dad. I don"t know how but maybe because I practice Mana Circulation for a bit now?"

"Ah, maybe... What?! You managed to practice it yourself?"

"Why, Dad? Is it bad?"

"Ehem... No, son. I"m just so impressed by how self-taught you are. Did you know the principle behind it so you chose to practice circulating mana first?"

"What principle, dad?" Zeke was genuinely interested.

"Hmmm, so you didn"t know, huh. What luck, you did the right thing in prioritizing that! Normally, when magicians form their mana core, they always, ALWAYS excitedly start practicing firing off spells.

Of course, this makes them learn mana circulation automatically but this will also mean they won"t be particularly well-versed in it since they only practice it unconsciously because they want to fire a spell."

"Yes, Dad. I figured it out too. When you practice circulating your mana first, you will become more comfortable in doing so, while your future practice would also be a lot less hard."

"You knew that?"

"Yes, Dad. Why?"

"I just can"t help but be impressed, son. You"re such a genius! I"m proud of you!" Charles said proudly as he held Zeke up in his arms and threw him upwards again and again.

The father and son duo continued their training there for the rest of the morning.