Aligapa was the largest city I had seen so far. Well, it was the only city I had seen, and indeed it was a city, not just a village. Well, maybe a town was more appropriate, but it actually had walls and a gate, made of stone and wood. The buildings were also made of stone, and even the city streets were cobbled. Our little home village felt like a real backwater compared to the main island. There was also a real harbor with traders and the like attached to a bazaar. Danek was basically frothing at the mouth. I was interested too, because I wanted to learn more about this world, and who better to ask than traders who visited different places. But naturally I would let Danek handle that and just spoonfeed me the information.

The tournament would be held in a corner of the city, where they had a little amphitheater with an arena in the middle, with even some housing and other facilities around that area. Aligapa was organized and fairly large, with about four thousand people living there.

Danek and his helpers had gone to set up some business stuff in the harbor market. Naturally my father, tasked with taking care of them, went with them.

That left me, Alik and mother to find our home for the next weeks. 

We wandered the streets rather slowly. All of us were excited by the myriad new sights. Only my father had visited the city years ago.

“Look!” I said and pulled on mother’s dress and pointed at a stall. “What are those strange fruits?”

“My, they look weird!” mother said.

The stall owner waved at us and lifted a fruit. “This is a bongoba, young lad. Would you like one?”

I walked closer and recoiled. “Ew! It smells!”

The stall owner laughed. “An acquired taste. Perhaps a more conventional fruit. Where are you from?”

“Asaid,” my mother said.

“Oh, long way from home,” the merchant said. “The tall boy, is he going to be fighting in the tournament?” 

Alik gave him a polite bow. “Yes, as well as my better, this young sorcerer here.”

The merchant smiled as if expecting the punchline of a joke. When it didn’t come he frowned and looked at me. I raised my palm and produced a bit of water.

“How strange,” the merchant said, fascinated by my spell. “How can this be, you are so young?”

“He is a talented young boy,” mother said.

“Well, then he must eat to grow even stronger! Asaid, you say? You will be staying for the tournament? I have potatoes somewhere here…”

The merchant turned and started rummaging through his wares.

“Sorry, but we don’t have any money on us,” mother said.

The merchant turned back and gave an apologetic smile. “Ah, that is a problem.”

I kind of wanted a snack, and mother was rather embarrassed. So I peeked around to see some empty buckets at the back of the stall.

“How about this,” I suggested. “I’ll fill a bucket with fresh water. It will keep your hard-skinned fruits fresh and gleaming.”

“Oh,” the merchant said and considered this. “I was going to fetch water soon anyway, but it is a hot day and the fountain is far. This is acceptable! But fill both buckets please!”

I found that acceptable and filled the buckets. It literally cost me nothing to do anyway.

The merchant was happy with this and gave us a handful of fruits of my mother’s choosing in a basket.

Happily, munching on fruit, sometimes stopping to ask directions, we made our way towards the corner of the city, where our lodging would be.

We eventually found the district and started walking past a cobbled square. Small houses and shops circled the square and in the middle of it was a statue of white stone. The lodgings were visible across the square. A two-story stone building with several dormitories. These were apparently the barracks of the city’s guards, and would double as temporary lodgings during the tournament.

I could see some boys and girls between twelve and fourteen around the square. Some were just talking, but there were several who were clearly going to participate in the tournament and wanted to show off. Alik caught a lot of stares, but I was mostly ignored.

When we were crossing the square, we were abruptly stopped in the middle of it.

Other boys Alik’s age were standing around the statue. They gave us a hard look. One of the bigger ones approached.

“What is this? Backwater clothes, searching eyes, and two little boys being escorted by their mommy,” the big one said and laughed.

He had dark hair and dark eyes, and black and white paint over his muscular, shirtless frame. He was a bit older than Alik, and a head taller than him. On his waist was a club of polished wood.

“Can we help you?” I asked.

Everyone in the crowd of bullies blinked in confusion, having thought either Alik or mother would speak.

“Not talking to you, little kid,” the big guy said, turning a smirk to Alik. “But your skinny brother here. He should know better than to challenge real warriors. Do you even have a combat Class?”

“Maybe he was the only one on their island who had. The rest probably didn’t even have a class!”

The group of boys laughed nastily.

“Was there truly no one else who was worthy from your island?” the big boy said and sneered at Alik.

He only gave the boy a slow smile. Then he nudged his head at me. “He won our gauntlet.”

The bully burst into laughter and the other kids joined in. Mother and Alik only shared a knowing smile.

“This little twerp? He can barely walk. What a joke!”

“Have the backwater islands really stooped this low?”

“Does he even have the System unlocked?”

“His Class must be Diaper Shitter!”

“Ahahaha!”

Meanwhile I wondered where our lodgings were. If we could throw our stuff there, we could go inspect the amphitheater and get to training with Alik. But for some reason the bully didn’t want to improve himself and instead insisted on wanting attention from us. That was rather annoying. I was getting a bit impatient.

“I am Gonor, son of Olemok,” the big bully said. “I am from the great island of Yavaid. A level two Warrior, with a total level of two-hundred-and-five. You will do well to address me with respect.”

“Mom, I’m bored,” I said. “Why are we listening to this idiot?”

“Oh,” mother said and smiled at the boys. “I just thought this was all very amusing.”

“It’s a waste of time,” I said. “I want to train with Alik.”

“Hold it,” Gonor said and pushed Alik forcefully. He stumbled backwards and fell on the ground. The chorus of idiots behind the big boy laughed.

“I demand a duel to show you are worthy,” Gonor said. “If you lose, you will sleep outside.”

I sighed. “Fine. But when you lose, you will leave my people alone.”

Gonor looked at me with total disbelief and burst into another cruel laughter. “Why is this kid talking to me? Just shut up and let adults do this.”

“Are you sure about this?” Alik said under his breath. “You will reveal your abilities.”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t intending to hide them. Besides, this guy looks like a small fry.”

“What did you say?” Gonor growled. “Little kid, I’m a polite person, but you will not talk like that about me.”

Then he turned to Alik, but he just took a few steps back and gestured at me. Gonor frowned but I beckoned him.

“Just start whenever you want,” I said. “Attack me.”

Gonor snarled at me. “Get lost, kid.”

Then the boy kicked me. To his credit, it wasn’t one designed to kill a toddler. I blocked his sandaled foot with a barrier. It stopped an inch away from my stomach.

“Ow! My toe!”

“What?!” one of the boys said.

“What the hell was that?” another gasped.

“Magic,” I said.

Gonor was furious. “You little—”

But I had already been preparing a Kinetic Push spell. Since he had a Class, I had a good idea of how much force I could use. The mana in this city was really rich, which made me happy. It was over double as dense as it had been on our home island. That made me a little too excited to experiment, and I might have used a bit more power than I had anticipated. But only about ninety particles packed. I wanted to do a full hundred, but I felt it might have been too much.

So I launched him straight into the crowd of the other sniggering kids. They all tumbled into a heap at the foot of the statue, which cracked the base.

Some of the people around the scene started whispering to each other. I picked it up because of my high Perception.

“Didn't he say he had two hundred levels?” someone whispered.

“He does,” another boy said. “Gonor is strong, I dueled him.

“Then what the hell is that baby?!”

Mother and Alik laughed and hooted as the stunned group of boys tried to untangle themselves.

“If all of the competition is this stupid, we have nothing to worry about,” Alik said and waved at the boys.

“Maybe it will do you good to sleep this night outside yourselves,” mother said to them with a wide smile.

“Come on,” I said impatiently. “We still have time to practice before father and Danek return and we can have dinner.”

*

Alik was preparing to spar with Luka again. They had been living in the barracks for several days now, and training pretty much from dawn till dusk. He couldn’t get enough of it. He had been the most talented boy in his village, remembered the difficulty of finding good sparring partners. He always had to pester the adults. Now he had abundant opportunities to lose, which he found was the fastest path to improvement in combat.

He tied his sandals tightly as the strange sorcerer stared at him impatiently, while likely fiddling with a barrier spell.

Over the last few days they had developed a comfortable training routine. For Alik, it was the most intense, but enjoyable training he'd ever experienced.

He got up and fastened his shield to his forearm.

Alik was fascinated by magic. He still remembered vividly the awe he had felt when Little God had leapt above the battlefield and rained destruction over it. For someone so young to be powerful, was a testament to how potent a tool magic was. Alik had no plans to try to imitate Little God. For all his power Luka was a scholar. 

Alik knew himself well enough to know he would not endure hours upon hours of magical training. Little God had explained how spell formulas worked, and the whole thing felt too complicated and annoying to Alik.

But that didn’t mean magic didn’t have application. He had seen how Little God used his body when needed. The mana augmented strength and agility was a sight to behold. Alik wanted to become a warrior. It had been difficult, growing up in Labaid village. There was no tradition of warriors. So he had become a Hunter. But now the plan was to learn Skills that enhanced his strength and develop them toward martial prowess. Then his Class Evolution should take him towards a warrior’s path. Perhaps a path augmented by magic.

Alik had never dreamed of such a possibility arising.

To think Little God had been so generous to offer him an Epic Skill. There was no way to ever repay such a gift. But that was only a testament to the power and potential Little God held. Only someone so mighty could give such a profound gift this easily.

Little God was not only powerful. He was wise to surround himself with these people. That child, Danek, was another anomaly. A mind unnaturally sharp for someone so young. A genius of another kind.

Alik knew he was a talented young warrior. But his talent felt small against these children. 

They were advancing so fast. Even during the journey, Luka had trained ceaselessly and apparently accrued a few levels. While his Skills were still relatively low, the rate was tremendous.

Alik stepped forward, pivoted his front foot and launched a spear by twisting his hips and letting his shoulder lead the throw. 

Little God was standing twenty yards away in the sand training pit, seemingly unarmed. He just tilted his head and gave Alik an unassuming smile.

The spear surged through the air and completely shattered on impact against Luka’s barrier.

This was great training for himself too. Alik would get hundreds of repetitions for his spear throwing. In hindsight, he should have attempted to throw a spear at Little God in the gauntlet. That might have resulted in a lucky win.

Now though, it was impossible.

In a mere month, Little God had learned this barrier magic, he spoke of it with such enthusiasm. Alik could understand why. It was overpowering.

Alik used Mana Absorption and focused on augmenting his legs, back and shoulder and chucked another spear at Luka. He didn’t have a Skill or Perk to directly power his muscles, but he had learned to absorb the atmospheric mana directly into the muscles he wanted to augment. It was far less powerful than Little God’s Perk, but it had advanced his capacity faster than anything before, except for acquiring a Class.

The toddler stood in a relaxed pose and extended a hand. The spear struck at nothing and shattered. Splinters of wood exploded into every direction. Alik was still amazed by this breaking of the laws of nature. But Little God only sat down and muttered something about making room into the spell formula to increase the available mana flow for localized reinforcement. 

Yes, Alik definitely had no interest in following Little God’s path. 

But he excitedly fetched another spear. He was getting the hang of this mana augmentation ability.

What Alik needed right now was to keep improving his Skills, so he could unlock a new Skill Slot. He figured that if he had Mana Absorption, Mana Manipulation, then he could unlock a Skill specifically tailored for mana augmentation. Little God had no such Skill and wasn’t interested in it, but it was likely to exist. If Alik completed a trifecta like this, he could unlock a very special Class Evolution.

He chucked another spear at Little God, then followed it with a rock, because Luka had requested consecutive blows.

One thing was for certain. Alik had never trained this hard. The way Little God trained his Skills was focused, deliberate and most of all relentless. Alik had no idea he had been slacking off so hard. But now he would prove himself worthy to follow Little God. So he grabbed another spear. He threw it and got the same result as every time.

Alik shook his head.

Little God was far beyond his reach now.

Even so, he knew someone in Aligapa who might be able to break through that barrier. That favored champion from that Belator house he had heard talk of. Alik had seen him fight earlier this morning during Luka’s meditation. The difference between his abilities and someone with an Evolved combat Class were as far as the moon and the sun.

And he wanted Luka to see him. He knew that would excite the prodigious sorcerer.

Tomorrow, he would take Little God to the amphitheater to see his biggest rival in the Silver Sea Tournament.