Somewhere through an unknown place, Nohara was running.
"Damn it, why did all of this have to happen…" she thought, recalling the situation from a few days earlier.
[Flashback]
A few days earlier…
Nohara ran to her grandfather to tell him what she had learned.
"Grandpa, there's something I have to tell you."
The teenager passed on what Ray had told her.
"I understand. I didn't think it would come to this," the man said, scratching his beard.
At that moment, a strange circle appeared above the city, and it did not go unnoticed by Nohara.
"What is that circle?"
Seeing it, the girl's grandfather was terrified. "This is bad."
He turned to his granddaughter. "Listen, Nohara. You'll have to find my friend. His name is Barkut, and he will help you become stronger."
"What? I'm supposed to leave Kasegi? Where am I even supposed to find him?"
"His home is located between the borders of the country of Ozoro and our country. Only you can change what is about to happen."
The man placed his hand on his granddaughter's shoulder, then used teleportation magic to send her outside the city.
After Nohara found herself outside Kasegi, a Dome formed above the city, completely covering it.
"What is going on here?"
[End of Flashback]
"I'm slowly approaching the border. I should reach that place soon."
Derivan woke up in a strange room containing a bed, a small table, and a window with bars.
"Where am I?" the teenager wondered.
Soon, the door opened and a man stood in the doorway.
"You're awake. Great. Come with me."
"Who are you, and what is this place?"
"Shut up and don't ask questions. You'll find out later."
Derivan frowned. "I don't like this."
Willingly or not, Derivan followed the man. A moment later, they entered a large room where there were many children around his age. Across from them stood a man accompanied by two guards.
"Today, a new boy is joining our group. Step forward and say your name."
"My name is Derivan."
"My name is Morez, and I will be your mentor. You are currently in my underground base. I intend to turn you into real warriors."
"Real warriors?"
"Yes. Times of peace have caused the rulers of the other three great countries to lower their training standards for future mages. As a result, a generation of weaklings will grow up and I cannot allow that. No matter how peaceful the times may seem, one must always be prepared for conflict, which can begin at any moment."
"I understand."
"That's all for today. You may return to your rooms. Starting tomorrow, you will begin your training along with the others."
The teenager nodded, did as Morez said, and returned to his room, lying down on the bed.
"First, I'll have to look around this place and find a way out," Derivan thought, staring at the ceiling.
The next day, Derivan was awakened by the sound of a gong.
"Get up. Assembly is about to begin."
"Damn it, I thought I'd be able to sleep a little longer."
After putting on a new special outfit consisting of an orange shirt and pants of the same color, the teenager headed to the assembly area.
"Since everyone is here, today's training will consist of five hundred push-ups, four hundred and twenty sit-ups, and two hundred and fifty squats. Anyone who fails to complete every task precisely will not receive breakfast. You have time until noon."
And so the training began. Derivan, of course, had no problem with it, as he had already been training on his own with Ronibo's help, so he completed every task perfectly. However, he noticed that some of the children who were a bit younger than him struggled to perform even fifty repetitions of any exercise.
At noon, some of the kids sat down at the table for breakfast. A blonde girl his age sat next to Derivan.
"Hi, I'm Marta."
"And I'm Derivan."
"I'm surprised that you, as a newcomer, didn't have any trouble completing those exercises."
"Well, I had already gone through similar training before, so it wasn't a problem for me."
Marta looked impressed. "Wow, you must be strong if you've been training so hard from such a young age."
"Hehehe, I won't deny it, but I still have a long way to go before becoming the most powerful mage."
"You want to become the most powerful mage?"
"Yes. I want to surpass all the holy rulers especially that Midan guy."
"That's a very ambitious goal. I hope you manage to achieve it one day."
After breakfast, the group returned to further training. As it turned out, the earlier stage had only been a warm-up.
The next day…
This time, Derivan woke up before the guard arrived. When the man came, he took him to the morning training with the rest of the kids. Derivan noticed a key sticking out of the guard's back pocket. The teenager tried to grab it, constantly glancing at the guard to see if he noticed. Fortunately, he succeeded and took the key to his room.
"Alright, today we're doing the same thing as yesterday. Breakfast at noon," Morez announced.
And so the group of children once again performed the morning exercises. Unfortunately, today more people were unable to complete all the exercises compared to the previous day. When breakfast time came, Derivan once again sat with Marta, whom he had befriended the day before.
"Listen, I got the key to my room," Derivan announced, surprising the blonde girl.
"How did you manage that?"
"It looks like my guard is a complete idiot. He didn't notice the key sticking out of his back pocket, so it was easy to take. I'm planning to head out tonight and look for a way out of this place."
"That's dangerous. I've heard that at night, some people from Morez's unit go out on missions. They might notice you."
Derivan thought for a moment about what Marta had said.
"I think I'll try anyway."
At that moment, a boy approached Derivan and tugged on his sleeve.
"What is it? Are you hungry?"
In response, the boy nodded. Derivan looked around in both directions, making sure none of the guards were watching. Then he handed the boy a piece of bread. At that moment, one of the guards who had been observing from behind approached and struck Derivan's hand with a rod.
"Did you forget that we don't give food to losers who failed to complete the exercises? As punishment, you won't eat lunch or dinner today. Go and prepare for the next training session."
Derivan glared angrily at the guard.
"Just a little longer, and you'll regret this."
At the same time, Morez came to the king.
"Your Majesty, I came to inform you that yesterday I found an interesting child."
On the throne sat a man in a cloak, half of his face covered by some kind of cloth.
"Really?"
"Yes. On his first day, he completed all of my exercises without any trouble and didn't even get tired. He must have remarkable endurance for someone his age."
The king began stroking his beard. "Interesting. I don't recall anyone at that age possessing such endurance. Only demons of the Shonetsu race were known for great stamina from the day of their birth, but most if not all of them were wiped out. In any case, keep an eye on him and inform me of his progress."
"Yes, sir."
Later that night…
Derivan used the key he had taken from the guard and left his room. He then began searching for a way outside, walking along the corridor until he reached three other corridors.
"Which way should I go?" he thought.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps. The teenager looked around nervously, searching for a place to hide. A second later, he noticed a railing hanging high on the wall, so he decided to use it and climb up. He managed to do so without any problem.
"This will be an easy mission," one of the guards said.
"Hopefully. I want to finish it as quickly as possible so I can come back and get some sleep."
Derivan waited a moment for the guards to pass, then jumped down.
"It'd be better if I followed them."