Several days had passed since that first day back at school. My routine returned to being quite simple as usual—going to classes, spending the day with Brendu or my friends, and practicing in the training dome.

  Learning to levitate/fly is taking me quite a while; I have to stay completely focused on my movements so I don’t fall or lose balance. I can move more fluidly now, but the problem comes when I try to concentrate on something else—everything collapses within seconds, I lose balance, and my movements lag.

  The only good thing is the low mana consumption. I hadn’t noticed it at the beginning, but the bracelets have some kind of ambient mana absorption. It’s minimal, but it helps.

  “I hope I can control this before it’s too late.”

  At first I was a bit interested in improving my combat style or having more options, but now my mind is focused on soaring through the skies and exploring.

  The orbs are almost drained dry, and my knowledge of ice has improved enough that I feel confident in evolving my pseudo Law of Ice into a full Law. I’ll keep waiting until I obtain a powerful Law.

  The temperature control in my constructs has also changed. I can remove maximum heat in an instant, and I’m getting closer to my goal. The last thing is the yeti’s main skill—I’ve been picking up its mechanics little by little: a way to control the ambient mana around you and mix it with ice mana.

  My control within a couple of meters around me is very good; everything starts to slow or freeze—people, objects, even mana itself. The effect is weak for now and consumes more mana than expected. I’m planning to leave it on hold until I rank up or have more time to practice.

  The same is happening with the electric orb. I’ve had almost the same results—my two main affinities have received a small boost.

  And just like the other improvements, I’ll leave that skill’s upgrade on pause so I can finish older tasks, which are not few.

  Just imagining my prison strengthened by these affinities, or my Personal World using all three affinities, makes me smile. It’s a fantasy I’ll fulfill in the near future.

  I look at my status—many abilities have leveled up after so many fights and training, especially those under rank IV. It’s time to focus especially on one of them: Gravity Burst.

  Maki: 12 years old – Intermediate Sapphire.

  ABILITIES:

  ? Sharpness of Death (IV) – Level 12

  ? War Architecture (IV) – Level 6

  ? Mortal Arcane Construction (IV) – Level 6

  ? Personal World (IV) – Level 7

  ? Thundersnow (IV) – Level 5

  ? Dimensional Step (IV) – Level 2

  ? Advanced Vital Synthesis (IV) – Level 2

  ? Crushing Zone (III) – Level 11

  ? Electrifying Fierce River (III) – Level 6

  ? Gravity Burst (II) – Level 7

  Laws and Pseudo Laws:

  ? Yin-Yang Law: Life and Death

  ? Celestial Domain Law: Space

  ? Pseudo Law of Ice

  ? Pseudo Law of Sharpness

  ? Pseudo Law of Electricity

  Banner (special) – Rank 1

  It’s the only one still in rank II. I was surprised to see my Crushing Zone surpass level 10 without issue. Investigating in my cube, I found the reason—my Celestial Domain Law affected the skill. It makes sense, since that attack infuses gravity into a concentrated space.

  “What should I do with Gravity Burst?” I shake my head from side to side to remove that thought. Future Maki can deal with it.

  I take my battle stance, feet perfectly aligned and my weapons in the exact position to repel an attack or transition to offense. I’m not enhancing my body with anything—no more Imra than necessary, and my ice and electric affinities are taking a break.

  My first movement carries power beyond what a Sapphire rank could produce without abilities. I’m sure an Emerald rank couldn’t follow the strength and speed of my strike. And I’m enhancing my movements only with Gravity Burst, giving them the necessary momentum.

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  The next strike takes the perfect direction—I frown when my sword ends a few centimeters off the planned mark; I used too much mana to boost that attack. The following strike falls slightly short. The next one is perfect. The next—a tiny mistake when pushing my legs to move.

  Little by little, each movement gets refined. Each tiny error—imperceptible to a normal eye—gets corrected. Hours of practicing the same sequences pass, gradually adding variations until I’m essentially in full freeform. Fighting without restraints feels more comfortable; my movements remind me of Gase.

  Impossible movements for a human body flash through my mind; a horizontal slash abruptly shifted mid-movement by a gravity burst nearly tears my arm muscles. I only get a small tear that heals before the next movement.

  I stop holding back for a moment—my opponent is an invincible Gase. Every strike is precise, every step lands exactly where it should, every block is timely, every escape attempt necessary. My body moves in total harmony to chase the shadow of the girl who was my instructor for a brief time.

  I’m not fighting anyone—it’s all in my mind. The only bad thing is: I’m losing.

  The vision of my instructor is just as powerful as before, but a smile spreads on my face—now I can keep up with her rhythm, something I couldn’t do before, and I’m only using gravity impulses.

  I finish the imaginary duel much more exhausted than expected. My body drops to the ground like a sack of potatoes, my chest rising and falling rhythmically. Hours and hours of training paid off—I managed to level up the skill. Now it’s only a matter of time before it reaches rank III and becomes more useful in battle.

  I look at the room’s clock. It’s very late. Time to return to the apartment; I’ll only get a few hours of sleep.

  As I stand up, childhood memories flood my mind. When I first came to this world, I was obsessed with training—I only wanted to get stronger and stronger, to experience new sensations and be useful to my family.

  Tomorrow should be the day when the Owl Group arrives at my territory. I had already sent a letter to my grandmother a few days ago and gave one to Joaki for when he sees her.

  A small laugh escapes me as I recall the farewell. I only saw them for a moment. They were racing against time those days—organizing things, making plans, doing group matters—and I was busy with my own things too.

  Some of them have family or people they care about around the empire. They’ll all move to my territory to build their new lives.

  I take out a necklace with a small enchanted box as a pendant. Inside are Gator’s ashes—each of them received one, and they decided to give me one as well, to symbolize my bond with their group.

  “The last member of the Owls.” Those were Joaki’s last words before using the teleportation gate.

  On my way to my room, I run into several groups of students; all of them just watch me from afar and whisper something. A few greet me, and I return a smile with a short nod.

  Everyone except one— Why is there always one drunk idiot? A single idiot whose friends tried—and failed—to stop him stands in front of me. He stares into my eyes without saying a word, calculating something for two seconds.

  I get bored of waiting and try to bypass him, but as I walk past, I feel his hand on my shoulder.

  I inhale deeply to avoid breaking one of his bones or slicing off his hand instantly.

  “What do you want?” My voice sounds sharp. His friends are terrified—they want to intervene but hesitate.

  I shrug his hand off and keep walking. If he keeps this up, I don’t know how I’ll react.

  “Why?” Those are his first words. “Life has given you so many blessings—a pretty face, strength to be a limit-breaker, and you even won over the Thorn Princess.” I turn back to look at him, the red-haired boy staring at the ground.

  “Thorn Princess?” I ignore everything else—only that nickname matters. He must be referring to Brendu.

  “Yes… no one could touch her, and if they tried, they came out bleeding. The most beautiful flower in the garden, surrounded by thorns. I kinda envy you.” The drunk was simply being honest—I’m glad I didn’t cut off his hand.

  “You also have a bright future. You’re in the best school in the world and will surely end up with very beautiful women. There’s no need to envy me.” His expression brightens a little, but before he can reply, his friends appear, cover his mouth, and try to drag him away.

  “Sorry, professor, he’s a bit drunk.” They apologize. These youngsters are fast at running—within the blink of an eye, they’ve already turned around and walked several meters away.

  “Hey.” I call out. They freeze like statues. I control myself to avoid laughing. “Keep celebrating.” I toss them a bottle of wine from my storage bracelet. One of them catches it with quick reflexes and thanks me. They disappear as fast as they can.

  In the end, I had no reason to get angry. They even gave me something important— “The Thorn Princess.”I’m already thinking of several jokes I can make to Brendu in the coming days.They earned that bottle of wine.

  I check my surroundings—the other students had been watching the situation closely. Better to appear like a good guy rather than a cranky one.I use Dimensional Step to vanish from the curious eyes.