He shakes of the initial surprise, and bends the mana to his will.

And that brought him a vague visual of his internals.

\'Wow\'

Something incredible had happened.

The concentration of mana in his body was more than ever before.

A memory came up.

His last sensation before blacking out.

\'My heart\'

He places his right hand on the left side of his chest, where his heart his situated, and lit up his palm with mana.

\'I can\'t get used to this\'

A vague image came up.

His heart was beating fine, but something about it had changed.

\'If only I could see it\'

He was annoyed, unlike the minor changes of previous advancements, something much more phenomenal had happened.

He wanted to see what internals looked like.

A smile came upon him. \'Maybe Bard can help in that aspect\'

He calms himself and stands…only to squeeze his nose the next instant.

"I-

\'Right, the mana stones\'

With careful fingers, he takes them out, and stores them in his space ring.

Then, he looked at the vile liquid on the floor and all over his clothes.

"Lalalala" he flaps his lips, making funny sounds, before exhaling in relief.

\'It seems nothing happened\' then he stuck out his tongue. Contrary to expectations, it wasn\'t shining blue.

"I better clean up first"

-----------

*Knock*Knock*

"Yes?" answered Bard, opening the door.

His expression took an upward turn "Your highness. What a surprise, I was on my to come and see you"

"What for?" Ezra implored. On his way, he realized he\'d was unconscious for three hours.

Bard raised a purple potion in the air "This!" obviously excited.

Ezra just blinked, wasn\'t that the same potion Gwendolyn gave him?

"After a lot of effort with a little luck, I have transformed the potion"

"Get to the point"

"The potions I gave you before took latent potential as nutrients, this does not"

"What does it use then?"

Bard smiled, pushing his glasses in "Mana"

"To be precise, it converts mana in the body and uses it to supplement growth"

Ezra\'s eyes widened, but calmed right after, "What about side effects?"

Bard tapped his chin "As it as not being tested, there\'s no way to be certain"

Ezra sighed in relief and disappointment.

With mana overflowing within him, a voice nudged him to try it, but Ezra threw away such thoughts.

\'It\'s too risky\'

Never mind that its effects were yet to be verified, he\'d narrowly escaped death just hours ago, still unsure of how it happened.

No thank you, pushing his luck was not advisable.

"Till its effects are verified, do not bring it near me"

"Besides that, some strange happened to my mana. I\'m wondering if have some apparatus that can help me identify the cause"

Bard nodded. "I did feel that something about you had changed. Congratulations on getting to the advanced rank, it\'s a remarkable achievement"

"I\'d like that you kept such news to yourselves"

"Of course," Bard nods. "Hmm, the tools you speak of exist with healers. I don\'t have any of those here"

"Can you get me one?"

"Right now?"

"Yes, because I\'ll be leaving for the academy soon"

"Oh? Then my congratulations are in order"

"Thank you"

"I\'ll be right back" Bard exits.

-------------

Ten minutes later, Bard returns.

"So? How did it go?" Ezra asked.

"Are you doubting the head alchemist? Of course, I have it"

From his space ring, he brought a small crystal ball, the size of two eggs.

The upper and lower end of the crystal were smooth while the middle held tiny sharp pieces, jutting out.

Bard\'s hands it to Ezra "Place a drop of blood on the middle section, and it\'ll do its work"

"Ok" he says, looking over the crystal carefully before turning to leave.

Reaching the door, he suddenly stopped, turned to Bard and bowed, "Thank you sir, for all you\'ve done for me"

Bard folded his arms, a smile on his face. "You\'re welcome. Once the potions verified, I will send it to you"

"Thank you, but I\'ll be at the academy"

Bard waves, "I have friends in a lot of places, you need not worry"

Ezra nods and exits.

In his chambers, Ezra bleeds on the crystal, his blood now dark red because of poison within it.

The blood is sucked in and the crystal insides turn turbulent and drawing in Ezra\'s senses.

It recognizes the poison attribute, obviously. Then blue light emanates from within, growing brighter and brighter.

And then…*Crack*

A small crack appeared, and it only grew wider, until…*CRACK!*

It suddenly shattered.

Ezra guided his eyes from the shards with his shoulders.

Opening his eyes a few seconds later, pieces of the crystals littered the ground.

He rubbed his head, embarrassed, "How do I explain this to Bard?"

He decided to never mention it.

\'So…I guess I\'ll find out the old way\'

His normal way of assessing changes, training.

He enters a stance, his palms turned into fists.

\'Let\'s go with the first five movements of the fist sequence\'

He punches out. *Voom!*

It moved the wind.

He freezes, blinking over and over. Before looking at his arm. \'This strength…isn\'t quite right\'

*Grrr* his stomach rumbles.

His vision turns dizzy. \'Right, I haven\'t eaten in a while\'

*KNOCK*KNOCK*

A loud knock on the door calls his attention.

"Yes…?"

"Yes?! Your highness why\'re you still in the castle?"

In front of him was an angry Bolton.

\'Why hasn\'t he left yet?!\' he thought.

A night had passed since he informed Ezra, but unlike he expected, the boy was nonchalant about it.

\'Does he not understand the urgency of the matter?\' he wondered. Then, his gaze turned weird, \'What is this I\'m feeling?\' he thought, looking thoroughly confused, \'What rank is this boy?\'

Ezra rubbed his head awkwardly. "Ah yes, the academy. I was just about to get going"

With all the weird things happening, it was skipped his mind.

Shaking away his thoughts, Bolton speaks, "Then I will see you off. A carriage awaits you"

\'Ugh\' Ezra was annoyed, but he had no excuses to send Bard away.

He\'d already sucked all his items into his space ring, so there was no need to go back into the chambers.

"Tell my vassals to get to the carriage. I\'ll have a change of clothes"

----------

In his room, Ezra wore a black suit with a jacket.

\'Should I tell mother I\'m leaving?\'

He decided not to. Afraid that if he saw her before leaving, he might not leave anymore.

He exhales to dispel nervousness. And took fast steps outside the castle.

There, a carriage, embroidered with deep red fabrics with two white horses in front of it and two guards at the sides, awaited him.

His vassals aligned themselves beside the carriage, looking fashionable in coats and gowns.

Ezra has their mentors discharged the morning after Bolton informed them of their travelling to the academy, because he didn\'t want anyone to know of their advancements to Expert rank.

The doors open, Ezra steps in.

"Your highness"

Bolton hands him a ring. Tip toeing to put his mouth to Ezra\'s ears and whispers. "A gift from the Emperor, it contains enough gold to see you through your academy years"

Ezra took it, then smiled ruefully. Whispering back, "So…I am unallowed to return?"

"Till your final exaltation, yes"

Ezra chuckled, looking upwards to the castle, \'How unbelievable. Then, an itch came upon his mind brought by his honed senses, \'Was this thought up by the Emperor?\' he wanted to ask, but kept his inquisitiveness within.

It was certainly ridiculous, but it only helped Ezra.

Now with a sufficient reason to stay away from the palace, he could do whatever if the academy did not accept him.

Nodding at Bolton, he turns to his vassals, "Get on"

With quick steps, they array themselves.

"Let\'s get going" he tells the carriage.

With a flap of the rails, the carriage started moving.

The guards mount horses, and trail besides them.

After twelve years, Ezra was going into the outside world.

Suddenly, he feels a tingle in his neck, immediately turning his gaze to the castle, and with a few glances, a culprit was revealed.

Staring through one of the windows was the third witch, Gwendolyn.

\'That stare, its not one of good intentions\'

He simply smiled. \'This is good, now I know my enemies in advance\'

With accurate information, Ezra would adequately prepare.

\'Better warn mom\'

Before leaving, he gave his mother on of the scrolls to maintain communication.

After seconds of locking gazes with Gwendolyn, Ezra turns head forward.

His stomach rumbled.

\'Right. I should get me some food while we move\'

-----------

\'What was that?\' thought Gwendolyn.

Her eyes held glee just moments ago as she watched Ezra move away from the castle.

Her opportunity was here!

But then, Ezra turned to stare back at her, and a chill came upon her.

She tried to rationalize what the feeling was, \'Fear? Me? From that brat? Impossible\'

But while the truth was clear, she vehemently denied it. It had to be something else, she rationalized.

But remembering the chilling gaze wiped her delusions. So, she rationalized it another way. \'Yes, yes, the boy must have something on him to posses such a gaze. An artifact most likely\'

She nodded, and slowly but surely, she started believing her own lies, and her fears morphed into greed.

Greed for an artifact that did not exist.

She rubbed her hands in glee. \'Finally, it\'s time. It will be so quick they wouldn\'t understand what happened until they\'re dead\'

A silent evil chuckle permeated her lips.

Oh! How grand it would be to see that wretched maid despair and wail when the news reached her? Gwendolyn couldn\'t wait to see.