“They ain't half bad.”

  Arthur turned towards Jacob, after neatly folding his clothes and setting them down in the locker in front of him. Putting on the linen shirt, he nodded at the other.

  “Yes. The size seems to be perfect, too, and they're comfortable to move around in.”

  They had arrived at the training grounds, which Arthur found out, took up a majority of the space of the underground complex. Sol had entered the training grounds directly, leaving the three of the Moirai newcomers to get changed in the locker rooms.

  He wasn't really afraid of anyone coming in to steal his prison clothes, but the lockers had some sort of lock in place anyways. They responded to specific Ark outputs, only opening and closing when in contact with the same person.

  Arthur tapped his dagger onto the locker, causing it to shut close. If he used his own Ark, chances were he would get most of it sucked out of his system.

  “Did you find a pair that fit you?”

  He turned his head towards Jacob, peeking at him. He shook his head, spouting profanities under his breath, before throwing a pair of boots onto the ground.

  Sol supplied the clothes for them, including the brooch imbued with a protective spell, but the training grounds offered combat boots for whoever needed them.

  Of course, they could only be used inside the facility itself, and only offered specific sizes instead of handing out tailored boots.

  “Nah. They're all a bit too bloody big, innit.”

  While Jacob was struggling to find any that didn't look like clown shoes when worn by him, Arthur had already put on a pair his size. He smiled.

  Despite their initial meeting, Arthur found out that the other boy wasn't too unlikeable, and after having to live together for a week they managed to chat a few times. They weren't quite friends, but they weren't on bad terms, either.

  Jacob even helped him learn more about magic, by showing Arthur some spells he was curious about, although he couldn't help much with the theory part.

  “Just put on the smallest pair you can find. I'm going in.”

  “Yeah, yeah…”

  After some more cursing, Arthur left the lockers through a secondary door, leading directly into the training grounds.

  He was expecting something like a gym, or a military training field. But much to his surprise, they were simply blank. A large white room, cubical in shape, devoid of any training equipment, furniture, accessories. Completely empty.

  Looking around the room, he spotted Irene and Sol talking to each other. She gestured to him to come closer, and he did.

  “Has he not finished changing, yet…? That guy is so slow…”

  Unlike Arthur, Irene just couldn't manage to get friendly with Jacob. Rather, they seemed to use every and any chance they had to duke it out, physically or verbally.

  “Not yet.”

  She dropped her head in exasperation, and Arthur turned towards Sol.

  “These are the training grounds, correct? Does the equipment still need to be set up, or…”

  “Nah. Jus' give it a moment, and ya'll see how this place works.”

  Sol glanced to the side, and Arthur followed his gaze. On another corner of the room, near the main entrance, Wilhelm was inspecting a metallic plate. Sparks of Ark bounced off of his fingers, and into the item.

  Arthur tilted his head, and out of curiosity, activated his Ark Sight.

  ‘What the hell is this…?’

  “Hah! Saw somethin' interestin'?”

  The man wrapped an arm around his shoulder, immediately after seeing Arthur's eyes widen in awe and surprise.

  The sight that showed itself before him, was an incredible one. His pupils glistened under the intense, magical light, his eyes entranced by the vision.

  As he expected, that metal plate was the interface to some sort of Gemstone. What he didn't expect, were the dozens of branching circuits, expanding and covering the entirety of the room they were in.

  They constantly shifted and changed shapes, but even in his ignorance about magic, he could tell this wasn't a state of chaos. They were being given specific forms in an orderly manner.

  It wasn't the size of that Gemstone ability that surprised him, but rather, the elegant and careful manner in which it was being handled. He already knew this, but it reminded him of how strong Wilhelm, the right hand man of Sol, was.

  The air around him started to shift and move unstably. Arthur blinked a few times, to deactivate his Ark Vision.

  “Is this that Gemstone's doing? The room is changing.”

  Sol nodded. Bursts of Ark were followed by the appearance of certain spots of the room changing.

  “Indeed. This was one of the gifts the Seven Founders gave ta the empire, Laug's Shiftrooms.”

  He looked over at Wilhelm, wiping off a bead of sweat with a slight look of satisfaction on his face. Arthur looked around himself. What was a blank, empty room moments ago, now looked like a proper training field.

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  He reached out with his hand towards a floating target, the kind one would use for archery practice. He believed it to be illusions initially, but it felt like a solid object. He was perplexed.

  “It's incredible.”

  “Ain't it?”

  The man responded with a chuckle, before walking over to Wilhelm. While they chatted, Jacob entered the training grounds. Sol clasped his hands seeing him finally join them, gathering them around himself after catching their attention.

  “Before y'all can start yer actual trainin', we hafta run some routine checkups. Wilhelm?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Wilhelm extended his hand, and the air in the room started shifting once again. Multiple items appeared out of thin air, surrounding the group with training equipment. Although, they seemed rudimentary, to say the least.

  ‘Is… Is that a boulder on a pole…?’

  Arthur swallowed.

  “We'll start with some physical tests. I needa know yer natural strength, so don't try and strengthen yerselves with Enhancement Magic, yeah?”

  He clasped his hands once again, with a delighted smile on his face. After a moment of silence, Wilhelm whispered something in his ear, to which Sol clicked his tongue and shook his head.

  “Can we start?”

  Irene raised her hand. Arthur smirked, even if it was only physical tests for now, he was hoping they would do some sort of magic examination, too.

  The tests were fairly normal, measuring parameters such as their physical strength, endurance, speed and stamina.

  As he expected, compared to Irene and Jacob, Arthur wasn't yielding any particularly good results. Of course, that was compared to those two. In fact, he wasn't only surprised, but in awe at how good he was doing.

  ‘This is the power of Ark… Even just having it course through my body, it makes me this much stronger.’

  Sol had mentioned Enhancement Magic, earlier. If he remembered correctly, it was an appliance of Primary-Type magic. When using it, instead of forming Ley Lines for spells, the caster simply enhanced the speed and intensity at which Ark coursed through their body.

  That simple use was enough to increase the body's physical traits, granting superhuman speed and strength. Moreover, similar results were present in everyday life, for someone that knew how to use Ark properly.

  The presence of Ark in Arthur's body, even if he couldn't manipulate it or form any Ley Lines, was enough to strengthen his capabilities.

  He leaned down for a moment, to catch his breath. The other two were busy running laps around the room, to value their stamina. He was already out of breath, but in his world's standards, it would've been enough to guarantee him a spot as an Olympic trackstar.

  “Oi, you alright?”

  Arthur raised his head, noticing Jacob and Irene staring at him worriedly.

  “Arthur, you look sort of pale. Are you sure your wounds have healed fine?”

  He quietly cleared his throat and smiled at them.

  “Yes, I'm alright. Truth be told, I'm just not that strong physically to begin with.”

  He wasn't lying. However, it was also true that the Ark Downpour Syndrome was affecting him. Even without using Ark actively, he noticed that some of it still bled out of his Ley Lines, despite the restorative effect of the medicine.

  “If you say so…”

  Irene helped him up, before looking over at Sol. He was busy writing something on a notebook, and after noticing they had finished the exam, gestured for them to walk over to him. Arthur took a deep breath, staying a step behind the other two.

  “All of yer physicals are done, with that.”

  He patted all of them in the shoulder, much to their discomfort. Then, he turned towards Wilhelm, who nodded and closed his eyes.

  “Now, we can move onto the real fun stuff… Ya know what I'm talkin' about, yeah?”

  Arthur's eyes widened in anticipation. This was what he was waiting for. The room shook once more, changing, and increasing in size.

  What was a training field, became an enormous, barren field, with the ceiling placed so high up it seemed overcast by clear skies.

  One after another, shadows began appearing in the sky. The room was quickly filled by those shadows, dozens upon dozens of floating targets.

  “Now, this test is simple. Ya want ta explain, Wilhelm?”

  He froze for a moment before sighing, and stepping forward.

  “I will be timing and observing all of you. You have three minutes to hit as many targets as you can manage. There are no restrictions or limitations on the method you choose, or the spells you use. The criteria for this examination isn't simply the number of targets you hit, but your usage of magic as a whole. The time starts now.”

  Above his head, a floating countdown manifested itself, ticking down from three minutes. Irene and Jacob, surprised by the sudden start, immediately ran into the field. While they cast a number of spells to shoot down the targets, Arthur only unsheathed his dagger, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

  ‘Just let it take over you.’

  The cold rushed throughout his body, a swirling force of frost. He couldn't control it, nor could he direct it, to avoid bleeding out Ark.

  He wasn't using the Dipping State as a tool to use magic. He was only using it as an intermediary, a point of reference for the Ark he would be using.

  He let out a slow, sharp breath. His eyes were open once again. The Remembrance Stone embedded into the dagger appeared like a model of his own body, a raging snowstorm freezing everything inside.

  Arthur raised the dagger, pointing the tip at one of the floating targets. In that past week, he had visited Gunnhildr multiple times to learn how to use it, and the results showed themselves. However, he hadn't shown this to Jacob, Irene or Sol yet.

  “Most Tyrfingrs can only use one specific spell, or have a ‘manipulation’ sort of effect.”

  Her words resurfaced within his mind. His thumb moved, touching below the dagger’s guard. With a click, something inside the weapon shifted.

  “This guy is even worse, in that field. Which is why it has a special feature.”

  By observing the Ley Lines and feeling the Ark flowing through the dagger, he could perceive its makeup, all of its internal components.

  Three discs were placed beneath the hilt, which could rotate with a single flick of the thumb. On all of them, different symbols were inscribed.

  “There's three Ley Line Formulas stored inside, which allow for simple Primary-Type spells. However, someone skilled… Well, just try it out, do as I tell you.”

  Irene looked over at Arthur, tilting her head. A minute or two must have passed already, and yet he barely moved from their initial position.

  Despite the nature of her Gift, she wasn't the best at analyzing spells or Ark from a logical standpoint, preferring to use her instincts.

  She shuddered.

  Sparks bounced off of the tip of his blade. A few sparks quickly turned into a stream of energy as strong as cracking thunder.

  “Oi, you're joking, right…?”

  Jacob walked over to her, staring wide eyed at Arthur. Ark was pouring out from his dagger in all directions like flooding waters. They both had to brace themselves as the enormous amount of energy washed over them.

  “That… How is he using that much Ark at once?”

  Irene covered her vitals, as the tidal wave of Ark hit them. Surprisingly, it didn't as much as budge them, but instead inflicted a terrible chill. Still, she had a bad feeling. The air around Arthur’s blade crackled.

  Irene looked down at her body, frostbite slowly spreading on her scales. Her eyes widened, and before she knew it, a golden chain pushed her and Jacob towards the opposite side of the room.

  What followed was a deafening sound, akin to dozens of lightning strikes falling at the same time.

  Arthur lowered his blade, staring at the falling debris. All of the targets in his range had been struck down simultaneously.

  An expression spread onto Sol’s face, impossible to read. He walked over to the boy, with his arms crossed. The golden chains glimmered under the artificial light.

  A few moments passed in quiet. Arthur looked down at the Tyrfingr, and then back at Sol. He didn't know whether he was impressed by this feat, or was going to scold him for almost hurting his comrades.

  “Arthur…”

  He swallowed.

  “That was impressive, kiddo. Can ya explain how ya did it?”

  Arthur’s face immediately brightened up, seeing Sol smile at him. If there was something he enjoyed, it was explaining things to others. And in the particular case of magic, he found out he enjoyed this, a lot.

  “Of course!”

  While he started his explanation, the door to the training grounds creaked open.