One week passed, and it didn't pass like a breeze for Shayan. He had to live through more suffering than he could have ever imagined. But, with all this pain and suffering came power. He could feel his body bursting with energy and even his brain could pick up things faster than before. In just a week, Shayan had gotten enough control over his body that he could go on no matter how much pain he was feeling. The first step to becoming a Prodigy Knight was joining Prodigy Academy so he could learn things about the world he was in and find something to look forward to.
"I think he is onto something." Burhan said as he stood on a giant and wide rock wall, "He is just a troubled kid." Ihaan said who was sitting on the edge of the wall with his legs hanging downwards. "I know you are not an idiot," Burhan walked forward and sat next to Ihaan. "He chooses to stay in Quwahar, then he asks who killed his family and how his family died. After that he takes on the worst curse anyone can ever get, he can't eat or sleep and he is in pain every second."
Ihaan sighed and looked at him, "I know all that. What's your point?"
Burhan stood up and stepped off the wall's edge but he didn't fall. It seemed like he was floating. "You need a lot of resolve and fire to accept the life he has chosen. And he says he doesn't want revenge and would do what? Become Prodigy Knight and save a Kingdom that he barely knows? I am warning you, this kid is onto something and we should be vary of him."
Burhan's body started floating away, "Burhan." Ihaan called him, "You are right there is something wrong with him, he is hiding something. But you should know that we are smarter than Humans. Even if he is an Aurian he was brought up by humans and they are not even insects compared to us. Whatever is going on with this kid, I don't think we need to worry. And you do know who will be teaching his class? The most intelligent and fearsome guy, The Devine Beast of Battlefield."
Burhan didn't say anything he just floated away, while Ihaan just sat there.
With the first light, Shayan rushed to the class he was to join the academy today. He stood in the lobby where there were multiple classes on both sides. He didn't know which one he was to join, in the corridor there weren't many people, only a few kids of his age walking around. Shayan noticed something, as he walked forward, there was a humungous gate at the end of the lobby. And quite a few kids were standing outside the gate.
They were trying to open it one by one. They all were standing in a line, and trying to open the gate if they failed, they would go back in line and wait for their turn again. Shayan looked carefully towards the girl that was trying to open this time, she tried to push the gate as hard as she could but couldn't even move it an inch. After failing and being booed by others, she went back in line. Another one started pushing now. The girl was standing at the end of the line. Shayan approached her and asked.
"What's going on here? What are they doing?" That girl bowed her head down and didn't answer. Shayan again asked but no answer. She had golden hair and her eyes were unusually golden too. Her hairs were trimmed to her shoulders. Shayan thought that she was afraid of him because he was new there. "Are you afraid of me?" He asked but she still didn't answer.
"She isn't afraid of you, she just can't talk." A heavy voice answered. Shayan turned back and found a man with black hair and a beard standing there with a slight grin on his face. He seemed in his late twenties, he looked bulky and had a very masculine yet gentle face with a scar right around his left eye. Shayan looked at him and asked "Are you a student too? You look old,"
"I am Harun Fadir from the House of Inventum, Master of Lava Hounds' Division." Shayan's face filled with curiosity, the man seemed like a mystery to him. "So, what are they trying to do?" Shayan asked by pointing his finger towards the gate. "It's an exercise, it's for strength. That door's weight is 800 kg. It's their first day just like you, they must go through this trail."
"Oh, I get it it's a lesson that we should work together to overcome hardships. They can't open it if they try one by one but if they work together, they'll be able to open it, right?" Shayan said thinking of himself as a wise person. He said, with a smile and it seemed like a genuine smile for the first time.
"What the hell are you talking about? If they push all together, what's the point of this exercise? And even if they all push together, they won't be able to open that door, because it's locked from inside." Harun said with a wink.
Shayan was shocked to know that this world doesn't work the same as his. "Locked? So, what's the point of even trying?" Harun looked at the door, a glimmer of wisdom in his eyes. "If they apply power to something moveable, then what would be the point? They are nobles from great Houses. They have lived like kings and queens. Thinking they are the strongest and the mightiest. If one of them can do it, the others will be motivated by it or disheartened. But now on this door, nobles can see that they are nothing more than the kid standing behind them. They are equal in power, at the moment at least. There is no such thing as equality neither are we born equal. But we need the mirage of equality so that they can evolve properly and try to work hard and not rely just on the talent they have been given. Hard work beats talent, but what if talent works hard as well? So, to show them that none of them is 'Extraordinary', we conducted this little test."
Shayan was lost in thought "Strange but it does make sense for some reason. I understand, that if they think that they are better than others they won't work hard and become better than they are, but if they get humiliated before even entering the room that would break their illusion that they are strong enough to handle anything without getting stronger even more. But it could break them as well, so this exercise is about mental fortitude and how you take failure. Because most people fail and then get dishearted and stop trying but others try harder and go through failure like a champion."
"There is a brain in that head of yours, I am impressed. We are breaking them so we can mold them," Harun answered as he backed a few steps up. Master Harun went near that humungous gate, all the kids stopped moving as if they couldn't move because of fear. Harun placed his one hand on the door and pushed it with just a fraction of his power. The gate didn't open, it fell downwards along with half of the wall. Everyone standing there weren't confused but astounded by Master Harun's power.
"He isn't known as the Strongest Hunter for nothing,"
"The Devine Beast of the Battlefield."
"I've heard he slaughtered a whole army by just blinking his eyes." They all started mumbling to each other.
Shayan looked at Master Harun with respect as he heard others chatter about his feats. "Wait, Harun? Didn't Zayan say that name when I met him a week ago, he said Ihaan is the strongest after Master Harun. So, does that mean Master Harun is the strongest there is?" He mumbled to himself, as he remembered his comment on Harun's age, saying that he looked old.
"Come in. Let's start our class." Harun stumped on the gate he had broken down and walked over it. Everyone followed him, as did Shayan. The room was as humongous as its gate, it was about 50 feet high. There were 20 chairs lined up in the middle of the room. The kids walked towards the chairs but none of them sat on any chair they just stood there. While, Harun stood on the other side, right in front of them. They all were facing Harun including Shayan who was standing in the end with the girl with golden hair.
"There are twenty chairs, just like every class in Prodigy Academy has. But we have an additional student with us. You are the first class ever to have twenty-one students in it." Master Harun said as he pointed his finger towards Shayan. "I am sure you all have heard the rumor about the boy who came from Human Realm. That's him, Shayan." Everyone in the class seemed shocked and they all shifted their gaze towards Shayan. There was no malice in their stares just pure curiosity. They all started mumbling to each other and they were looking at him as if he was an alien, which he technically was to them.
"So, I was saying," Master Harun said with a heavy tone, the class stopped mumbling instantly and paid attention to his words "He has come from another realm and doesn't know even the basics. So, today we will go over the basics. I will go over three topics Nur Force, Eldris Vessel, and Houses. Sit down."
Everyone sat on their chairs but Shayan was still standing because all the chairs were taken. "So, Shayan you know about Nur force, right?" Master Harun asked as he walked towards him.
"Yes, it's the energy that I got from Eldris that I met. It's just like life energy but more like secondary energy that Aurians use to do stuff. Like teleportation and Time manipulation." Shayan answered, Harun now stood next to Shayan. Harun stumped his foot on the ground, suddenly a chair started coming out from the ground, it was made of black metal. Shayan's eyes opened wide as he witnessed it.
"Incorrect. You didn't get Nur Energy from Eldris, you got a vessel to store Nur energy. Let me put it in simple words, we Aurians emit Nur Energy from our bodies from the day we are born. We emit it consistently, but it isn't possible to use Nur energy that is being emitted in such a random way and short amount, so we make a deal with Eldris and he grants us a Vessel that can store Nur energy. And we use that stored Nur to do things called Prodigies."
Shayan could see the complexity of what Harun was teaching them but he was astonished by the fact that he had laid it out in a way that even a child could understand. "That is so cool." He smiled.
"Of course, that is just a gist of everything. The third topic will be Houses. There are a total of six main Houses, along with quite a few small Houses. 6 main Houses can use six different styles of Prodigies. House Elysium can perform healing, House Inventum can create things, just like I created a chair. Then comes House Augmentum, which are little complicated to explain but simply put they can increase or decrease anything. The fourth one is House Manipulus, the people of this House can control things like air, sound, or other stuff. The fifth one is House Transendere, they can transform things by touching them, and they can transform water into stone and stone into bread. The last one is House Dynamo, they have the power to take and give. They can take something from person one and give it to person two or themselves. It can be anything. Everyone gets the same Prodigy as his father."
Shayan tilted his head, "I understand, there are six Houses and your Prodigy depends on in which clan or House you are born. But I wasn't born in any of the Houses, and my dad was a Human. Where do I belong then?" Silence filled the room. Harun sighed, "Well, there are people who aren't born in these Houses like I said, so knowing their Prodigy Style used to be very difficult. But now we can find it pretty easily. Burhan checked your Eldris Vessel, and he can tell which House you belong to just by looking at you. And according to him, you seem to belong to House Augmentum. All the kids in this room belong to one of the Six Great Houses. Many commoners tried to get into the academy but failed."
"So, is that one of the strong ones? This attribute, this Prodigy style, Augmentum" Shayan asked with curiosity. "You dare disrespect our House?" A boy said aggressively as he stood up and turned back to eye Shayan. The boy had darkish gray hair, his eyes were gray as well. "Disrespect your House? I merely asked if it's strong or not because I need to get strong."
Master Harun interrupted, "It doesn't matter which House you belong to. Yes, some are easy to master and more helpful for offense. And there are attributes like Elysium that just help in healing. So, it all comes down to how gifted or hardworking you are, and most important in Augmentum is creativity. It's complicated but you can do anything with it if you learn to use it well."
"You haven't told me what is this Augmentum and attribute," Shayan asked as he sighed because he knew a long lecture was on the way but he did kinda ask for it.
"It's difficult to explain if you were born here, it would have been easy. Augmentums have the power to increase or decrease. For example, one can simply increase his strength if one concentrates their Nur energy at a point. They can increase the size, durability, and strength of an object or their own body." Shayan was a quick learner, but it was too much to get in his head and process over, even for him.
"So, all I can do is concentrate my Nur energy into my knuckles to punch hard. That just sounds like hitting the gym." Shayan shrugged with disappointment, the gray-eyed kid advanced toward Shayan with anger,
"We are considered one of the strongest. And it's not that simple. Just like Master said 'it depends on creativity. That I guess you don't have."
Master Harun smiled and went to the other side and stood next to them. "You are Amir from the Emir Family, right?" Master Harun said while staring at the boy with dark gray hair. Amir shook his head in approval "Yes. I am heir to the throne of the House of Augmentum."
"I think it's easy if you show him. Because explaining to someone who lived his life believing that all he can do is throw or take a punch is not the best way."
Amir smirked, thinking he had got a perfect chance to show how great he was. "I have been practicing weight increase and decrease," Amir said with pride.
"So, you work out to get slim and then eat to get fat?" Shayan laughed at him. Amir smirked at Shayan's compliment. "You are an arrogant one. But let me teach you what an actual Augmentum can do." Amir took out a small piece of rock not more than 3cm. The rock was perfectly sharpened into a square.
He took it in his hand and placed his other hand on it. Both of his hands started giving off yellow lightning. After exactly three seconds, the hands returned to normal. "Are you ready?" Amir said as he clenched the stone in his hand. Shayan was looking carefully. Amir took the stone in his right hand and hurled it towards Shayan with full power. He dodged it thinking the rock was coming for him, but the wall wasn't so lucky. The rock blasted through it. The wall looked like it had been struck by a cannonball. The stone made a hole through the 6-feet thick wall. Shayan's jaw dropped just like the other students. Amir folded his hands, ready to hear the praise.
"That was amazing." Shayan complimented with admiration. Amir was ready to be praised by other students, but he thought Shayan wouldn't be the one to praise him. He was shocked at how he showed his praise for someone who saw him just as a nuisance.
"Well, I come from a noble family." He shrugged, maintaining his cool.
"Noble or not, that is amazing. So, we can increase weight and power of anything, not just our body?" Shayan said with enthusiasm.
"Yes, we can increase and decrease weight, power, strength, flexibility, hardness, etc.," Master Harun said as he pointed toward the hole in the wall. "And Amir, you are going to have to pay for repairs. And we are going to report this to your father."
"But you asked me to show him. Please don't tell my father." Amir lost his cool for a second. Master Harun smirked and walked near the hole in the wall and placed his hand on it. "As you can see Shayan, it's not as simple as working out to get strong."
Shayan walked near Master Harun and said, "So, are you going to tell me how to do it?" Master Harun sighed and frowned at the same time, "Well, isn't that the reason we are here? I am here to teach you how to use Prodigies, and when I say how to use Prodigies, I don't mean just Augmentum Prodigies but all Prodigies. Because you two are the only Augmentums in the class, I won't have time to go over basics." Master Harun looked at Amir, "You both should get together after class. Amir, maybe you can teach him basics about Augmentum Prodigies."
"Me?" Amir shrugged, "Why would I waste my time over someone like him, he isn't even a Noble."
Master Harun stared outside from the hole Amir had made in the wall, "I should call someone quick to send the news to King Emir about what his kid has done here." Master Harun looked at Amir, "Please don't. I will do as you ask."
Amir eyed Shayan and sighed, "Tonight meet me next to the main gate of Prodigy Academy."
Master Harun went to the other side, "With that settled, let's begin our class." Shayan sat down on his chair and listened to every word that came out of Master Harun's mouth.