~Few years later~
"Hey Ray!" A girl the same age as him, shouted as she approached him.
'Rina? How did she find...' He wondered.
"Why are you avoiding me?" She immediately protested upon reaching where he stood.
"No I'm not."
"Oh really... I haven't seen you for two whole months. And now you are literally using the minor academy's gate! Plus you didn't reply to my letters!."
"..." Ray silently began walking away, trying to create a distance between him and the yelping beautiful brown-haired girl. Whose scolding gaze made him uncomfortable.
It had been three and a half years since the talent examination ceremony, and Ray had completed his martial art training under his sinister instructor, master Kho.
Literally, his experience under Kho was so brutal that every time he remembers it, shivers run down his spine.
Now, using the influence of his prestigious family he joined an academy to do a research.
He had discovered that despite his weak talent he still managed to manifest the water element!
How you wonder?
Well, while training under master Kho, his aura's manifestation was a blue cold hue not yellow like normal. This showed he has an affinity for the water element.
This not only surprised him, but also his private instructor and his mother as well.
So he tried to cultivate and managed to form a mana core.
This motivated the boy into trying to infuse chaotic mana into his mana core to see if he can climb ranks and be stronger!
Unfortunately, this is something dangerous. Chaotic mana and Refined mana, cannot be mixed!
It will lead to a very beautiful explosion...
But the fact that he can use martial art aura and have a mana core at the same time encouraged the boy.
Hence his current situation, in an academy far from home. Researching about mana.
And being pestered by a young water elementalist named Rina...
"Who said you can just walk away!" She protested as she caught up to him.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." He said with a tired look on his face.
"What!" She gasped surprised. "You ungrateful bastard, can't you see I'm trying to look out for you!"
"Or don't you know just how many students die in their first year of study when they go out on quests!" She said a concerned look on his face.
"Don't care." He said as he showed the guards on the gate his student token.
"..." Rina did the same and quickly followed him.
"Did my mother pay you to be nice to me?" Ray suddenly asked as he gave her a long side eye.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" She was puzzled.
"Never mind—"
"Wait... are you from a noble family?" She said with a smirk.
"..."
"Where is your outrage your highness?" She added clearly mockingly.
"Tsk." He immediately clicked in displeasure turning his gaze away from Rina who was playfully curtseying to him.
"You are really annoying... you know that?" He added as he resumed walking.
"And you are a cocky bastard who can't even reply a simple letter!" She replied with the same tone.
"Fine, wanna know why I'm avoiding you? Because I'm not an elementalist! My talent is so weak that I can't even cast a spell."
"..."
"So for someone as talented as you, you should stay away lest you want my bad luck to rub on you. Now you know... so stop wasting your time on me."
"Do you expect me to pity you or something?" She said with a teasing smile.
"..."
"Since you went for mission and returned... I know you have some extra Merit points on you. So lets go to the cafeteria, you'll be buying me lunch!" She added before dragging him away...
'What's wrong with this girl?' He thought has he let her drag him.
~~
Ray sighed for the umptieth time after putting yet another scroll down.
He had read most of the scrolls around about the nature of mana and still yielded no results.
'Is it really impossible?' He thought as he stood up from his chair and prepared to go out.
The moment he opened his house's front door, a frown appeared on his face.
"You know when you first asked if your mother bribes me... I thought you were kidding. But now I'm convinced that you either come from a rich or a noble family."
A pretty young lady with beautiful green eyes and long brown hair said with a smile.
This is the Pearl Academy. Where there is biasness in services due to one's talent and wealth.
One such biasness is; normal students, they stay in storied-building dormitories. But the elite and the rich few, the stay in their own special bungalow houses on a separate side from the dormitories.
"How did you find my residence!?" Ray asked in bewilderment.
"Are you stalking me now?" He added, his frown deepening.
"Yes." She said with a sweet smile.
"I saw you walk towards this part of the academy yesterday and could help myself..." She added with a wry smile.
"Forget it, why are you here? Did you run out of Merit points again?" He asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips.
"... Do I look broke to you?" She asked with a pout and her hand crossed below her two peaks.
"Yes... yes you do."
Merit points are the academy's currency.
Students gain them mainly by completing quests and missions assigned to them by the academy.
Also some small tasks like being active in class can lead to one being rewarded with Merit points.
Aside from gaining Merit point as rewards, one can also exchange valuable items for them like: coins, beast cores, beasts remains( e.g. bones of a high rank beasts) and mana cores.
Of coarse Ray, being a rich bastard, simply purchased 1000 gold coins worth of Merit points and lived wonderfully in the academy.
The Merit points data is stored magically in their student tokens. Lets just say that those tokens were far more complex than they seem.
So the students of this prestigious academy could see their point's balance as well as do transactions, by simply using their tokens...
"Ugh." She exhaled in annoyance while taking out her token.
"I didn't come for your stupid points. I came here to challenge you!" She said with proud smile, as she channeled mana into her token.
"I Rina Leonhart challenge Ray Bluemoon in a friendly duel."
A buzz followed by a massage suddenly sounded from Ray's token.