Worries

Arwin Whitehorse walked off, leaving Ares alone. He was up to start a fuss there just to frighten him.

The other people around chuckled once seeing Ares' reaction to Mana. After all, he reacted unusually.

When Arwin said that any other person would have shaken his hand, he wasn't just making an innocent comment, but saying something to the others, and to Ares, implicitly.

"Did you see how he reacted?"

"Yes. It's so obvious..."

"Do you think that he can last in the exam? I don't think so. I bet that he will nearly die in the first challenge, hahaha!"

"What!? Are you naive or something? There are people inside here that will make him want to back away even before the day of the challenge! It is obvious that he can't fight back anyone inside this room. Even Xavier can beat him!"

"Hey, I heard it, you asshole! Say it on my face if you have the guts!"

Ares heard all that whispering with a confused expression. He was clearly lost there. What they were saying didn't make any sense to him.

He stayed in that environment for a long while. He tried to occupy his mind with other things, but couldn't do it. He was too distracted by what the others were gossiping about. He knew that it was about him, but he didn't get the point on all that mocking.

'What's wrong with my reaction to that handshake? He was clearly making use of Mana at that moment. I would be an idiot if I touched his hand. I bet that he was planning something against me. I bet that nobody here would ever dare to touch his hand... or would they? There are these kinds of people inside this room? People who are so strong?'

As he thought about those whisperings and giggles, Ares ended up realizing something. His greatest disadvantage on that exam wasn't exactly the experience of the other trainees. He also had experience in battles, he was skillful, and he had high physical attributes.

Instead, what made the others outstand so much was the fact that they already had their Awakening, which was something decisive in anybody's life.

In terms of power, they were very far away from Ares. He couldn't even match those guys. In a battle one versus one, he would get beaten by anyone there that had Mana.

'I remember of my sparring sessions with my father... The only thing that always kept the gap between us when he went easy on me was Mana. I couldn't even leave a scratch on him due to this fact. If these people use the same technique as him, just reinforcing their bodies, they will surpass me for sure...'

Suddenly, Ares began to tremble. He was quite confident before, he wasn't planning on lowering his head to the other trainees at all. He would maintain his dignity no matter what... But, in the end, everything wasn't more than just the blind motivation of an arrogant boy that knew little about the outside world.

In his small village, most people Awakened, but not all of them were strong. On the contrary, their Mana just served to help with chores and stuff. His father was the only one that used it as an offensive power, though he oftentimes would spend Mana with pacific activities.

Ares was completely ignorant about the level of power of other people outside his village. He didn't know how much strong his father was, either.

'All these people around me... they know how to use mana. They have their own Mystical Arts and Elements as well... Only God knows how far they are from me now.'

Ares was trying to think about anything that could help him in that risky situation. The dangerous thing now wasn't only getting expelled from Stokil, but getting killed before they could even claim if he passed the exam or not. The way that the trainees were referring to the challenges made it seem that they were deadly.

'Should I... Should I give up now? Are you kidding me!? Just because of some guys a bit older than me!? My story will end just like this because I am not strong enough, even after so many years of training and suffering?'

Ares spent the next hours thinking to himself about what he could do in order to turn the tables, but it didn't seem to have a solution.

The other trainees ceased their whisperings once they were satisfied, but none of them stopped to glance at Ares from time to time with sarcastic expressions.

The boy just stayed on his bed, sometimes giving a break from thinking so much and sharpening the blade of his axe.

Like this, lunchtime arrived, and everyone got up from their beds and went to the canteen of the trainees.

That complex of dormitories had also a huge cafeteria with many floors. The higher the floor, the higher the position of the person eating there.

Of course, the part that belonged to the trainees wasn't even part of the main building but an annex built on the side.

The trainees, of course, didn't bother with it anymore. They were only hoping that they would become Novices soon and would have a turning on their ordinary lives. Until that day, they just strived and not complained about anything.

Ares was eating with his bare hands and sitting on the ground some weeks ago, so he didn't bother about it as well. It bordered the luxurious for him. Also, he was too lost in his thoughts to notice this kind of thing.

Without paying attention to his actions, he took a tray with a white plate and got served by the cooks. He walked towards a table in a corner and sat there, starting to eat without tasting the food.

He was still immersed in his worries when someone approached his table and sat there without asking him to.

"Hey, you are that boy with the axe, right?" A weak-looking boy, with pale skin and freckles, asked as he put his tray on the table.