Serum

All the kids perked up hearing the teacher. Dirk also listened closer instead of zoning out. 

"The academy is much different from this school. The work is harder, but more importantly, you all will finally be trained in either magic or body refining. While training yourself and gaining power sounds amazing, it's filled with trials, hardships, and danger. After stepping on that path, all of you will need to steel your hearts. The outside world is filled with death and destruction. It isn't the happy bubble that you all live in right now."

The children quieted as the teacher annunciated her words with emotion. She wasn't joking, and everyone could tell. It seemed like she was speaking from experience. 

"Body refining is full of pain, and learning magic is full of trials and errors that will make you want to give up. On top of that, all of you will likely experience some form of combat. This will take place in the dungeons or on a battlefield. Such a thing can't be avoided if you wish to advance in power. All people who reign over others have led lives filled with blood. If you wish to follow in the footsteps of those great men and women, you will also draw rivers of blood. The only other option is to die miserably, regretting the things you never accomplished. It is a life of bitter struggle and hopeless suffering. You all must know this, and think very carefully about the life you wish to live."

The teacher eyed every student with a low voice. The room had become so silent that one could hear students talking in the classroom next door. 

The students were fearful. They had seen the monsters in the books, but they didn't truly know what it meant to be face to face with one. They were all playing out horrifying scenarios in their heads. Dead bodies, blood curdling screams, their friends dying in front of them. Their imagination was sending chills down their own spines, making them want to cower behind a wall. Unfortunately, even then they couldn't know what it would really feel like. Their imaginations were watered down versions of the truth. It lacked reality. 

Every student felt their hearts shake their bodies with forceful pounds. All except Dirk. He continued to simply gaze forward. Ava looked to him as she also felt herself tremble a bit. But when she looked at Dirk, she was stumped. How could he feel nothing?

Ava had the peculiar power to lightly read psychological states. Upon looking at someone, she could sense the person's mind and feel their mental activity. For children, the minds she sensed were usually chaotic. For adults, they were deep and scary. For Dirk though, it was quiet. His mind was calm, though not in a serene way. It was simply still, not easily shaken and not boisterous. His thoughts were ordered, like a machine. Almost everything he did was like that. Strict and rigid. 

This was why Ava calmed when she looked at him. She sensed his calm and quiet and found herself mimicking it. It was a sense of stability, something she couldn't find in the children around her. And while she had gotten used to her power and the people around her, she was still drawn to Dirk. He was someone to simply follow. After all, he never wandered aimlessly. He always had some kind of direction to what he did. 

Meanwhile, Dirk was unaware of Ava's thoughts about him. He had never even asked about her power or why she was paranoid when she first came to the school. The only thing he noticed was her antlers which continued to grow month by month. Though, just because he didn't actively bond with her didn't mean he didn't value her. In fact, Ava would be shocked if she knew what Dirk would do for his first friend. For him, he had unconsciously assigned her his protection. He wasn't keen on seeing anything happen to someone he became friends with. He didn't want to experience any sort of loss. And there wasn't much he wouldn't do to ensure that. 

The teacher overlooked her fearful class and nodded inwardly. She had this talk with every class that came through, and she was serious about every one. It was good that they were scared. It would make them think harder when making decisions about their future. 

She wasn't worried about scaring them too much either though. As these kids went into the academy, they would forget their fears and valiantly push forward, stopping at nothing to become powerful. Their parents would encourage them, other students would encourage them, and the legends about god-like mages of power would encourage them. There was enough encouragement out there. What they needed was someone to ground them and pull their heads out of the clouds, if only a little bit. 

The rest of the class went on with the teacher talking to them about different aspects of the academy. It was all superficial knowledge though since the kids would learn all this stuff eventually. And those that didn't wouldn't be talented enough to enter the academy anyway. 

With that, the day passed mostly uneventfully. When the bell rang to signify the end of school, Dirk and Ava headed out for their carriages. As they waited in silence though, Ava suddenly spoke up. 

"...Are you going to the academy?"

She asked as she glanced at him. Dirk was simply waiting while watching all the carriages pass by, but hearing the question he looked at her for a second. 

"Yea, I am. My other siblings have already entered, so I will be too."

"Mm. So will I."

"Really?"

Dirk turned to her with a surprised face. While she had gotten over her paranoia, she still didn't seem fit for the academy. A place with danger and struggle didn't seem like a place she would want to or should go to. Would she really be able to handle herself there?

Ava saw his genuinely surprised face and pouted a bit. 

"What? My affinity qualifies..."

"No, I just... I didn't think you would want to go there. You're always timid. You can't be timid in a competitive place."

"..."

Dirk spoke simply, and Ava went quiet. She turned her head down and hugged her book bag a bit.

"I'll get stronger..."

"You'll need to. It's hard, but it's possible."

Dirk spoke from experience. He remembered when he was a kid with no confidence. A scared, weak, and helpless child. He remembered all the times he wanted to give up under the grueling torture that was training. It was several years of being broken and breaking yourself, all in the hopes that someday you would be able to handle the suffering. And in the end, he was forged through blood and fire to become the weapon that he was. Though, at least with the help of Gray who acted as the father he never had, he was able to retain his humanity. In this way, he was never completely broken.

Hearing his reassurance, Ava looked at him with a bit of naivety and hope. She suddenly thought of something and asked. 

"How... did you become strong? We're still young..."

Her thoughts drifted off, but her question was clear to Dirk. How did he get his strength, his strict attitude? He pondered for a second before answering.

"Training."

"Training?"

"I train my body every day. That's how you become strong. If you want to become less timid and become stronger, then you should train."

"I... don't know how."

"...I guess I could show you."

Dirk spoke as he looked at her. Ava was a small girl, not the kind that you would think to train. She was simply frail, and Dirk wondered if she was at all capable of running any noticeable distance. He wasn't too worried about that though. Anybody could train, that much was certain. The only variable was how hard they could train. 

Dirk knew the answer to Ava's problems. He knew what training could do to people. It could harden their mind and make them mentally strong. Training increased one's capacity for suffering, and when one was aware of their ability to suffer, they became more confident in their ability to handle problems. This was further amplified when one trained a martial art. The capability for violence was a great confidence booster when dealing with people. 

This was what Ava needed. She needed to suffer, and through that she would be hardened, bit by bit. 

Knowing this, Dirk came to a conclusion. His friend needed assistance. He was capable of providing that help. So he offered. 

Ava thought about Dirk's offer to train her. After a bit of silence, she nodded.

"Okay... I'll ask my parents."

"Your parents can't make the decision for you. Make sure they say yes. Oh, do you have the Anima attribute?"

"Mhm."

Ava nodded, and Dirk suddenly became more confident in training her. While he had never been a teacher to anyone, training was as simple as doing a workout right? He would simply let her reach her limits and watch out for injury. It couldn't be that difficult. And with Anima, she could train beyond just bodily strength. Cecilia said Anima let people train to extreme strengths, no matter who they were. This would be good for Ava since she was just a girl. 

"That's good. Hm, school is ending, so we can't train here. One of us will have to go to the other's house. Maybe you should talk to them about coming to my house. I train in the mornings and afternoons and have open spaces for running, so we can plan for those times."

"...Okay."

"Just talk to your parents tonight. I'll talk to my mother as well. Tomorrow we can discuss the details."

"Okay."

"Good."

Dirk nodded and turned his gaze back toward the line of carriages. Ava also went quiet, though her mind was stressing over how she would talk to her parents about this. 

Eventually, their carriages came, and they both went home. 

............

"Mom."

"Oh, hi Dirk."

When Dirk came back home, he approached his mother who was in the garden. She was tending to some strange plants that he had never seen before. He had gotten used to the alien sights though since this wasn't his first time here.

"Ava wishes to get stronger, so I have offered to assist in training her. I told her that since school is ending, one of us will have to go to the other's house. I've told her to try and arrange to come he-"

"W-wait. Slow down."

Cecilia stopped her gardening and put a hand up, prompting Dirk to go silent. She took a second to process his words. 

"You want to train Ava? The deer hybrid?"

"She wishes to gain strength, so I have offered her a way to do so through training with me."

"Okay... And you want her to come here?"

"That would be easiest since we have the forest for running and open spaces for the exercises."

"I see..."

Cecilia gazed at her son who spoke simply. He didn't think anything of this proposition, and she knew that. She had come to learn her son's mannerisms throughout the years. However, this was the first time he had ever come to her with something like this. 

"...I guess allowing her over here wouldn't be a bad thing. Her parents need to agree first though. Also, are you planning on training her yourself?"

"Yes. I know all the exercises and how to cycle them day by day, so I can form workouts."

"Yes, I'm sure you can, but her parents won't agree to you training her yourself. I let you workout by yourself since I trust that you know how to handle your body and know your limits. But she doesn't, and she needs a person who knows how to properly train someone. She needs to be trained by someone who can see her limits and guide her training systematically. That way she'll gradually make progress."

"..."

Dirk went quiet. Going by those words, he wasn't qualified to be that person. But if he couldn't do it himself, then what was he supposed to do? Was this plan going to be abandoned just like that?

Cecilia seemed to read her son's troubled mind though. She inwardly pondered for a bit before coming to a decision.

"If you really want to help her, then she can come over and I can train her. I'll need to talk to her parents though. None of this can happen unless they agree."

"I understand."

"Mm. Talk to Ava tomorrow and tell her that us parents can talk during graduation at the end of the week."

"I will."

"Good. Now go ahead and take care of your own training."

"Understood."

Dirk turned and walked off with that. Cecilia watched him exit the garden before sighing. 

"I guess I can't really turn him down. That's the first time he's ever asked anything of us. And it's his friend. Oh well. He's the last one yet to leave the house anyway. Shouldn't matter that we get connected to a couple of Earl's. Thankfully he doesn't have many friends. Er, I guess I shouldn't say that..."

Cecilia smiled and shook her head, going back to gardening. 

.........

......

A few days later, Dirk and his mother arrived at school. The rest of the week had already gone, and today Dirk would be graduating. 

The graduation ceremony was something like a ball. All the kids would be called up and given some awards for their achievements in school, and then they would all be given certificates that signified the fact that they passed the school. This was all meaningless when taken beyond the school, but all the kids enjoyed getting awards and receiving attention, so the adults simply indulged them. After all, they wouldn't get something like this again for a while. The outside world wasn't so nice.

Dirk and his mother either sat around a table or mingled among the parents during this ceremony. Cecilia had instructed Dirk how to carry himself in such a setting. This was another reason for the way the school put on this ceremony. 

Most of the parents that sent their children to the school were nobles of some kind. It apparently cost quite a bit to send a child, so only those with decent wealth could hope to enroll their kid. This meant that nobody there was poor. However, Dirk's mother and father were still the utmost echelons as Maruqesses even considering all that. 

The reason the school hosted a ball was to familiarize all these noble children with the event and how it proceeded. These kinds of events were hosted fairly often and for all kinds of different reasons, so nobles needed to be capable of maneuvering it smoothly. It was a good learning experience, and the parents had their kids play along because of this. 

Dirk and his mother mingled for a bit before the graduation ceremony started. There, all the students went up and received their awards and certificates. Dirk, especially, was decorated. Because he had aced every assignment, project, and test since his first year, he received the highest academic award. Though, if it were up to him, he would rather give the award to Ava, who came in at a close second. He had his AI. Ava didn't. She was very likely much smarter than him. 

Dirk received his award plainly and gave no speech. He had been notified of his winning this award before, and it was then that he told the staff that he wouldn't give a speech, no matter what. They could only accept it and he got to walk off the stage without so much as opening his mouth. 

Thus concluded the graduation ceremony. The ceremony then moved on to the 'food phase' where all the parents and kids were catered to. It was here that Dirk and his mother ate with Ava and her parents. 

"So I hear that Ava wishes to train with Dirk, Miss Strider. I'm impressed that Dirk is able to maintain a schedule of exercise."

Ava's father spoke respectfully. Cecilia was a Marquess, and he was an Earl. Despite being only one level below, their statuses were worlds apart. After all, in the Horizon Empire, status was determined by power and skill. Not only that, while Cecilia was only the wife of a Marquess, he had a feeling that she would have no problem earning the title herself. He could sense a faint but insurmountable power behind that humble appearance of hers. 

Cecilia nodded while taking a sip of wine. 

"Indeed. Dirk trains for a few hours each day, morning and afternoon. He hasn't once skipped a day of training for 4 years."

"I see. That's even more impressive. Not even soldiers maintain such a schedule."

The man spoke with slight disbelief, though Cecilia didn't fault him. Even she could barely believe it. Her son was unnaturally driven to pull off something like that at only 10 years old. Even with her status, it would be hard to convince someone that it was the truth. 

"Dirk has the Anima attribute, and he came to me for guidance. I simply sent him on the right path, and he's been walking it ever since. He actually came to me saying that he wished to help Ava. What are your thoughts on Ava training her body?"

"If that's what she wishes to do, then we won't stop her. Training one's body is good no matter what. She also has the Anima attribute, so it surely wouldn't be for nothing."

"That's good. Since that's the case, Ava, do you wish to train? It's not easy, but if strength of body and mind is what you wish for, then training will give it to you."

"..."

Ava was silent for a bit as she looked at Cecilia, and then Dirk. Dirk looked as if he didn't care for her decision. He would accept it either way. Cecilia also looked at her with a neutral stare. As for Ava's parents, they said nothing. Cecilia asked Ava, not them. 

"...Yes. I wish to train."

"Alright then. In two days you can come to our residence. That will be your first day. I'll teach you all the different exercises that Dirk does, but you won't be working with him right away. He's far ahead of you, and it will take time for you to be capable of what he does."

"I understand."

Ava nodded meekly. Cecilia then discussed the details with her parents. When they realized that Cecilia herself would train Ava, they wanted to pay, but she refused. If they were to pay for anything, they could chip in for meals which would let her eat with Dirk at the house. Otherwise, she would simply take on a bit more work. It wasn't like she was doing much after all. Once she set Ava down the right path, she would let Dirk take over.

The ceremony eventually ended after the sun had set, and everyone took their leave. Dirk and his mother were quiet on the way back home, at least until Dirk broke the silence. 

"Mom."

"Yes?"

"Why are we starting the day after tomorrow?"

Dirk asked. He figured they would just start the next day. But his mother apparently didn't wish to.

"Tomorrow we have something to do. We're going to the Duke's to get you a mana development technique. You're 10 now, so you should familiarize yourself with it for the next year or so before you enter the academy. We leave at noon, so be done with your workout before then."

"Understood."

Dirk nodded with a bit of excitement. He remembered when Rita got her technique. She had been excited for a whole month and did nothing but read through it and practice the beginner parts. 

Now he was going to pick one. This technique was the one that he would use for potentially the rest of his life. It was the key to power, and signified the beginning of his path. Even he looked forward to what was to come.