MTLNOVEL Chapter 16: Climbing
Ares woke before the bell rang.
Darkness still pressed against their narrow window like a thick blanket, but his eyes snapped open anyway, sharp and aware. The cold stone floor bit into his bare feet like an old enemy as he rolled out of his cot and settled into his morning breathing ritual.
It was simple enough. Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out. Let everything go.
But inside that stillness, his mana moved,slow, careful, doing exactly what he told it to do.
He'd been holding back for too long.
His core pulsed low against his ribs, warmth gathering and building like the slow turn of a massive grinding stone. He pressed his mind toward it, not forcing the power, just guiding it where it needed to go.
Ten breaths.
Fifteen.
Mana slipped into his arms and legs, soft and shallow like warm honey.
Still too slow for what he needed.
Then the morning bell clanged through the stone corridors like a hammer hitting an anvil.
He let out a long breath.
Training session over.
For now.
---
The shrine rotation schedule had changed everything for him.
Each day they sent him to two different elemental halls instead of just one. His new schedule rotated him through Ice, Earth, Fire, Water, and Lightning shrines. Only Wind was skipped, they'd already tested him there and apparently decided once was enough.
The first shrine visit of each day usually left his muscles feeling like overcooked noodles. By the second visit, he could barely feel his fingertips.
But Ares never complained.
Instead, he watched everything.
Each shrine reacted differently when he walked in. Some grew quiet and still, like they were holding their breath. Others became more active, with energy crackling in the air or water rippling for no reason. The instructors never said anything about it, but their eyes followed him longer than they used to.
He gave them nothing exciting to write in their reports, no dramatic outbursts, no wild mana surges, no fancy tricks.
Just quiet, steady resonance that hummed like a tuning fork.
"You're different from the others," the Lightning shrine instructor had muttered yesterday, more to herself than to him.
Ares had just nodded and kept his mouth shut. Different was dangerous if you weren't ready for it.
---
That afternoon, his whole body felt like he'd been beaten with sticks.
Instead of going to rest like a smart person would, he slipped into the main corridor and studied the merit board again. A few other students were clustered around it, pointing and whispering about who had moved up or down.
The board now showed two numbers next to every student's name:
Class Rank (where you stood among your year group)
General Rank (where you stood among all 28 students in the Cradle)
Ares: Class Rank – 3rd.
General Rank – 22nd.
The numbers hadn't budged since yesterday.
He wasn't disappointed, though.
He didn't need people talking about him yet.
Let the others fight and scramble for every little point like hungry dogs. He would build his strength quietly, brick by brick.
---
On his way back from the board, he passed Caelum near the shrine entrance columns. His half-brother stood silent as always, his dark hair tied back in a neat braid, with stormy mana coiling around his shoulders like invisible smoke. Even from a distance, Ares could feel the power radiating off him.
Near the mess hall, Rowan was laughing loudly at something, teasing one of the younger water-natured students until the kid got so mad he nearly threw a bucket of wash water at Rowan's head. Rowan dodged it easily, still grinning like the whole thing was the best entertainment he'd had all week.
And somewhere in the distance, Ares could hear the sound of training, heavy strikes hitting practice dummies with bone-rattling force. That would be Evandor, working with some of the eight-year-old beginners in one of the private training rings. Ares had only caught a glimpse of his oldest half-brother in action once, but the sound his attacks made was unmistakable. Like thunder trapped in a fist.
These were his half-brothers. All three of them.
None of them knew it, of course.
And for now, that was perfectly fine with him.
---
"Are the shrines killing you yet?" Roul asked as they walked back toward their room that evening. His roommate looked tired but happy, he'd apparently done well in combat practice for once.
"Not yet," Ares replied. "I still have most of my bones in the right places."
Roul laughed. "Good. You'll need all of them when they start teaching you the advanced forms."
They walked in comfortable silence for a moment, their footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Then Roul added, "You're moving up fast, you know. That's going to make people angry."
"I've noticed," Ares said simply.
"The thing is, you're quiet about it. That helps. Just don't be too quiet."
Ares looked at him with raised eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Roul flipped his practice knife once and caught it smoothly, a nervous habit he'd picked up lately. "Being quiet makes people think you're hiding something important."
Ares didn't say anything to that.
Because the truth was, he 'was' hiding something important.
A lot of important things, actually.
But not for much longer.
---
That night, after Roul had fallen asleep with his boots still on, Ares sat on the cold floor with his legs crossed and his back straight as a sword.
He let his mana flow through his body in slow, careful circles, from his core down through his arms, back up through his spine, and out through his legs before cycling back to his chest.
He didn't push it. Didn't try to force it to move faster.
Just let it do what it wanted to do.
When you were at the peak of novice level, there was no reward for being impatient and rushing things. Push too hard and you could damage your core permanently.
There was only the slow, steady climb upward.
And Ares was very good at climbing.
He smiled in the darkness as his mana pulsed stronger with each breath. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new opportunities to prove himself.
And tomorrow, he would be one step closer to showing everyone exactly what he was capable of.