3 Magic Ranks

Since its inception, the Edin empire has always been ruled by the Savtrons. Not because they were the most powerful, but because of the mythic law they controlled: The law of Time.

Harlston

Days continued to pass as normal for Hade and the Ronen household. As usual, he would train combat with Dedric in the mornings and with Bartholomew in the evenings.

It had been a week since Hade obtained his law and yet up till now, he still hadn't managed to use it or even comprehend what it could do.

Do not get it wrong, it was not for lack of trying. Hade had tried absolutely everything!

From spending the night out completely naked to being lashed mercilessly by Bartholomew, he had entertained and attempted all suggestions, no matter how stupid or frivolous, but to no avail.

These were the downsides of having a law no one had even heard of.

Facing such negative feedback, Hade had begun to wonder if he had manifested any law at all.

Dedric however, had stressed that mastering a law wasn't something that could be rushed.

It could take decades upon decades before a practitioner could reach the pinnacle of their magic path and that is only assuming they had the necessary talent, potential, and, perseverance to do so.

Therefore, with that in mind, Hade had come to a decision- He would not try to rush his progress when it came to advancement in his law.

Instead, he would let things take their natural course and hopefully, in due time, the magic would reveal itself to him.

In the meantime, he would continue to focus on his physical combat aspects, in particular, his martial arts which he believed needed polishing.

Hade was trying to perfect his fighting style, which could only be best described as a combination of modern-day Jiu-jitsu and Krav maga.

The style was very unique in that instead of facing the opponent head-on, the practitioner would use the attacker's energy against him rather than directly opposing it.

For offense, the style incorporated rapid and brutal counterattacks that were designed to not only keep the practitioner safe, but also incapacitate the opponent as quickly as possible using any means necessary.

For an agility and strength-based fighter like Hade, whose stamina was only average at best, this style was practically godsent.

It was also a plus that the style did not require the use of weapons... Hade had always found weapons to be not only burdensome, but also very tedious.

Becoming proficient with one required years and years of practice and then more accumulating experience. Patience was the key but unfortunately, it was a quality Hade possessed in very meagre amounts.

You could call it laziness or idleness, you could call it whatever the fu*k you want. All Hade knew was that the day he touched a weapon would also be the day he forgave Bartholomew for all the abuse and torment he had caused him, and well, even the gods knew that that was not happening any time soon.

"No! Harder!"

"You used way too little force!"

"What are you, a baby?!"

"No! No! This time you used way too much force!"

"Focus!"

It was early morning at Greycastle and Hade and Dedric were in the middle of their morning training lesson. These lessons had begun the very day Hade learned to walk and they had become custom ever since.

While Bartholomew's teachings often integrated problem-solving skills and implementation of critical thinking, hypothetically, Dedric's were like a high-speed chase between a rabbit and a starved mountain lion... with Hade being the rabbit, obviously.

"That's enough, let's take a break," Dedric said as he wiped away the tiny drops of sweat that had conglomerated on his forehead.

After all, they had been at it for hours now.

"You know, it still amazes me but it's as if your strength doubles day by day. Just yesterday you could barely lay a finger on me yet look at you now... making me shed a sweat or two," the large man complimented, well sort of.

Roughly 3 meters away from him, Hade stood in a martial stance, shirtless, sweating profusely, and trying to catch his breath... like the f*cking rabbit he was.

Truth be told, Dedric was indeed impressed, perhaps even a little scared. He had known Hade from the day he was born but even now, he still hadn't gotten used to just how quickly the boy's strength increased.

"I can safely say that in terms of hand-to-hand combat, you can probably even go toe to toe against Bartholomew," Dedric stated.

"Just Bartholomew?" Hade asked with labored breaths.

"Haha, yes just him. Don't get this wrong, for your age you're definitely what they would call a... monster. Hell, if I were your age, you'd probably sweep the floor with my ass, but," Dedric paused.

"As we stand here and now, even without factoring in laws you're far from being my match... No offense."

Hade smiled.

"None taken."

He knew that the only reason why he would hold out his own against Bartholomew was that the old codger was not a physically oriented fighter.

However, if the fight were to include the use of magic laws, well, the result would be his own inevitable defeat.

As Hade went to sit down by the wall of the excessively large hall they were training in, Dedric stared at the grotesque-looking tattoo on his back for a few seconds but he said nothing.

"So, now that you're officially a magic practitioner, even though that's only by name, are you aware of the magic ranks that exist?" Dedric asked.

Hade nodded.

"Yes, now that I have a law I am no longer classified as unranked. I am an early Mortal class practitioner. Above that there is the Master class, the Sage class, and finally... Supreme class."

"Good, not entirely true but also not false either. So what rank do you think I am?" Dedric asked while flexing his huge biceps.

Hade chose to ignore the first comment.

"Both you and Bartholomew are Sage class practitioners. I'd say late Sage class for you and mid-Sage class for Bartholomew."

Dedric burst out laughing.

"You really underestimate the old geezer, don't you? However, you are not necessarily wrong, Bartholomew has indeed rusted a bit. That said, believe me, there are a lot of people out there who would prefer death rather than an encounter with him again."

Hade grinned lazily.

"Bartholomew, really?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes really!" Dedric affirmed.

"Trust me, young master, that baldie is not as nice as you think he is... And point of correction, he's also late Sage-class, the same as me."

Hade wanted to argue that he had never thought of the baldie as nice but he forced himself to let it go.

In any case, he had still learned one extra thing today. He now knew to be careful and discreet whenever he and his mother made fun of their dwarfish bald butler... This happened more times than he cared to admit.

Speaking of his parents, Hade knew that his father was Supreme class. As for his mother, Hade honestly had no idea.

This was because, on the one hand, Hade found his mother to be too cool and fun-loving to be anything other than a loving wife and doting mother.

However, on the other side of the coin, there were days that she scared him to the point that Supreme class seemed too insignificant a rank for her.

"What about Kain?" Hade suddenly asked.

Immediately, Dedric looked down at the boy anxiously.

Hade was usually indifferent to most things. Even things young people his age would rave about like girls and partying, he displayed an astonishing innate lack of interest.

However, curiously, almost anything related to his older brother Kain greatly fascinated the young man.

Even more suspicious was the fact that the brothers did not particularly get along. In fact, Dedric was of the assumption that Kain immensely despised his younger brother.

Seeing that the older man was reluctant with his answer, Hade continued:

"He is now going into his third year, right? Then he should be at least Master class, don't you think?"

Dedric cleared his throat:

"Well yes, late Master class if I had to take a guess but with his potential, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already pseudo-Sage class."

Hade looked down while appearing to be deep in thought. "I see," he muttered.

There was an awkward silence as Dedric did not know what to say. Internally, he cursed himself. This was another annoying trait the boy had inherited from his father- making a 40-year-old man such as himself feel uncomfortable.

"Hey Dedric," Hade suddenly called.

"Yes?"

"You also trained Kain right? Say he and I were the same age, if we fought, who would win?"

"Uhm..." Dedric scratched his head as he seriously pondered the question.

Now that he thought about it, both his Lord's sons were monsters but each in his own unique way.

The elder was deadly proficient in growing and manipulating his law while the younger was a freakish physical combat prodigy.

Dedric was about to answer who he thought would be stronger when suddenly, Bartholomew materialized out of nowhere to stand next to the sitting Hade.

If someone suddenly appeared next to you, the normal and logical reaction would be to scream, or even faint. However, the redheaded teenager did not appear to be flustered even in the least.

Dedric, too, had barely any reaction but that was only because he had known Bartholomew for more than 2 decades. What was Hade's excuse?

Yep, there were definitely a few loose screws in the boy's head, Dedric concluded.

Meanwhile, Bartholomew bowed.

"Young master, the Lord requests your presence. You should come too, Dedric," he said.

"You know what it's about?" Dedric questioned.

"No, but there is a visitor," replied Bartholomew.

'Oh?' Hade's eyebrows arched up in surprise.

A visitor? The last time they'd had one of those was nearly 2 years ago.

"Ok, we'll be right out," said Dedric before

Bartholomew nodded and vanished just as promptly as he had appeared.

"Well, Dedric, let's not keep them waiting," Hade, excited, said as he stood up to put on his shirt.

Another quick glimpse at the boy's tattoo made Dedric shiver involuntarily.

'Was the symbol always this big?' he wondered in his mind.