Preparations

-The following day-

"Peter, you won't believe me when I tell you. In fact I'll just show you the forum. Our question; it blew up! Oh wait, you're blind. I'll just read it out!" Mark said ecstatically pulling up a hologram screen in front of him, using his bracelet.

Peter waited attentively on the swing for Mark to reveal what the people came up with for the answer to his black tattoo.

[OMG! Is that a fake one or a real one? It can't be. No one with a stigma would openly show the world. This is a troll for sure…]

[How do we know it's a Stigma for sure?]

[Are you dumb? Look at those ancient patterns. Are you blind you dumb f*ck.]

[Idk looks kinda fake to me. No stupid guy would just make a post asking what it is? It's utterly atrocious to even think that that's a stigma. There's no way.]

[Yeah you're right. This is probably some bullshit post. There's no way someone has been bestowed a stigma in this day and age.]

[What if it's real though?! This could be a game changer. Oi @crazy_monké69, dm me, I'll help you out. I come from a big family; I'll provide you protection.]

[Back off you self centered idiot. He's ours. Come to us! The great Shiba family will protect you and provide you resources to make you a Magus!]

Mark read out most of the crazy comments that were building up and the forum post they had posted began to go viral and more and more comments were being posted by the minute; it was currently trending at the #71st spot worldwide.

"Peter, I don't know what a stigma is but that sh*t is probably valuable as hell for these guys to go crazy over you."

"Mark, delete the post immediately!" Peter raised his voice standing up from the swing, his face grim. He had no intention to become a walking target and he wasn't going to wait until dangerous people started looking for him. It was good that people doubted if it was real.

"Wait wh-"

"Mark!"

"Okay, okay. Chill bro… gimme a sec… and done… I also deleted the account the question was posted on. Why are you stressing, man? They'll never find us."

"Let's just leave it. At least we know we have to research what a stigma is. It's getting late so I'm heading home." Peter sighed, extending his walking stick.

"Yeah, it's getting dark. I'll also leave then. By the way, are you going to participate in the evaluation exam next week for the academy? The results will determine what class we're placed in, in the academy. Even though both of us can't use magic yet, our parents should be rich enough to get us in but it's better we aim to be in the top classes." Mark said.

"What day is it exactly?" Peter asked, turning his head towards his chubby friend.

"Next Friday."

"Okay. I'll be there. See you, then." Peter had a strong determination burning inside him. He was going to give this evaluation his everything and prove all of them wrong…

'I'm not a cripple.'

When Peter had arrived home, he had dinner and immediately went upstairs to his room.

"Friday."

"Yes sir. How may I be of assistance?"

"Tell me about stigmas."

"Sorry. This information is locked. You don't have enough authority to access this information."

Peter kissed his teeth in frustration. Why did the black mark appear on him? What was the purpose of a stigma? Maybe he should have checked the forum answers and learnt more about stigmas before getting rid of it.

'I'll cover it for now; I can always find out what it is later, it's better I keep this a secret.'

**

5 days had passed and it was currently Tuesday. Peter had created a routine to follow and although he struggled to stick with it, he knew without pain, there were no fruits.

He lived by the quote: 'No Pressure, No Diamonds.'

Peter would wake up early and begin his day by practicing the basic first 2 forms of the martial arts Ju-Moobong, then meditate for 5 hours, take a break and memorize the books he had bought from the old man's store. Then After a couple hours again, he would continue meditating until Emma would come home and he would play with her a little.

Emma was different to the other two bullies; it was a new feeling to Peter. He had never felt the feeling of having a little sibling.

He was lucky that Marcus and Alex also had to do an evaluation exam just like him before they could begin their year, so they were away from the house the whole day and would only come back extremely tired.

Every year evaluation exams were held to determine what rank class the students would be placed in. The higher the rank, the better the resources and opportunities to be scouted by high ranking mages, to become their apprentice. As a result the classes would always change each year along with the rankings.

What worried Peter the most was that he wasn't progressing as much as he should have. He had now fully comprehended and learnt the meditation technique to cultivate and grow his mana core rank but he had only reached the first stage of the Novice Rank after countless hours of meditation. Somehow, he had reached a bottleneck and no matter how much mana he absorbed, it all seemed to be going elsewhere, away from his mana core.

Peter decided to take a break and call Mark using his bracelet.

"Hey Mark. Wanna come over and spar? Maybe we can improve our combat skills." Peter knew that Mark wasn't skilled but he would definitely help Peter build up his combat experience and it was the same for Mark.

"Are your 2 step brothers home? I like my face as it is."

"Yeah. They're out right now, just come."

"Fine. Just know I broke into the 2nd Novice Stage yesterday, so I'll be whooping your ass!" He said ecstatically.

"Yeah. We'll see about that." Peter smiled.

**

Peter grimaced, blocking Mark's powerful punch. Although Mark was slow and inexperienced, he had extreme power due to the mana flowing through his body and large weight.

Peter listened to the sound of every punch and felt the vibrations in the air to navigate every punch and kick's trajectory but still, he couldn't move in time to dodge or block such slow attacks. His movements were sloppy and he would get hit often.

"Okay. That's enough. I think my Asthma is acting up. *Cough* *Cough*." Mark huffed and puffed.

"Yeah, my fitness level is poor too. We'll take a break for now."

Both of them went over to a large Oak tree and sat underneath the shade.

"I thought your meridians were damaged. How did you manage to cultivate? You're at the first Novice stage right? That's pretty good." Mark took a couple puffs from his asthma pump while speaking.

"It's a long story but I managed to get a legendary healing pill. It even purified all the impurities in my body." Peter replied, taking another sip from his water bottle.

"Woahh! Do you know what elements you have an affinity to?"

"No not yet, I'm not planning on getting help from my family. I want to live independently, so I probably won't find out like you have, I'll wait till Friday." Peter sighed. He knew, if he got help from the Magtris family like Mark got help from his; his life would be over.

Peter couldn't become another Guinea pig of the Magtris Family no matter the cost; he had to stay a 'cripple' in their eyes for his own good until he could grow up and leave the family.

"I've got an affinity for the Earth Element. Hehe." Mark puffed his chest in pride.

'That's not so bad. Good defensive spells.'

Based on the 'History of Mana' book that Peter had read, he knew there were 6 basic elements:

Fire

Water

Earth

Wind

Light

Darkness

There were other elements on top of the Basic elements known as unique elements. Only a couple were known like the Lightning Element and Magma element but it is believed that there are more out there that haven't been discovered.

Unique Elements only appeared in 1 in a million people and big families always targeted them to take them in.

'Let's hope I get something basic. This tattoo is bad as it is.' Peter sighed.