Fortunately, the spontaneous combustions weren't as bad as he thought. It was mainly because of Freya's manipulations that his kinetic energy went out of control. All she did was tweak his kinetic energy with her aura and gave it the last bit to destabilize his control over it.

She did make sure he knew that it would be very hard for anyone under Tier 6 to do what she did. It would require them to overpower Julius's natural willpower defenses, which wasn't something easily accomplished. That made him feel a lot better about the next time he fought someone.

Additionally, it wasn't as if he had lost total control of his kinetic energy. It had only become a little more dangerous to wield and a little more unruly. As long as he paid attention to it, he wouldn't accidentally explode.

He did some testing with Cain and quickly discovered his limits. The only real downside was the fact that he wasn't able to overclock his body like he had been against the Tier 5. That technique was barely controllable then, and it had only gotten worse with the new skill.

The moment he first attempted it, he had detonated like a bomb. Since the technique was already dangerous, it had left him with some injuries despite the usual outbursts not inflicting any harm to himself.

He healed himself right away, and they all unanimously agreed that the technique would be shelved for the time being.

On the bright side, his kinetic energy was much more… stable in other aspects. There was a weight and depth to it that hadn't existed before. There was also a newfound connection between him and the energy. The process of infusing his Force Concept into his kinetic energy was seamless; it didn't require too much thought or focus on his part.

It was surprisingly nice, allowing him to focus on the multitude of other things he had on his plate.

It was funny in a way. He had been transferred to the advanced course because Cain wanted him to learn how to use all of his kinetic energy, but he had been afraid that Julius would hurt the less experienced students.

Now, he was back to the same stage. He wasn't allowed to use all of his kinetic energy and had to work to get control of it again. However, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. It wasn't like he had gotten any weaker, far from it.

As a matter of fact, he had gotten stronger if you looked at it in a certain light. Using less kinetic energy now resulted in the same level of power he had demonstrated before. It took a little more concentration, but he didn't find his firepower lacking in any way.

He also knew that once he got the hang of it, he would quickly experience another growth in strength.

***

His new skill didn't go unnoticed by the other members of the advanced course. He was not surprised by that. They were all very talented in kinetic energy, and he would have been disappointed if they hadn't been. Furthermore, their kindness was put on display once again when they offered their help without any prompting.

Apparently, he wasn't the only person who had experienced a similar problem, and he was shown many exercises that would help him get better control over this powerful energy. He could not have been any more grateful either.

It almost made him forgive them for eviscerating him during their spars.

Almost.

Each time he peeled himself from the floor, he would remind himself of their kindness, and that somewhat softened the fact that he was getting absolutely whooped. It didn't help that since they were all around Tier 4 and had strong willpowers of their own, Julius found his kinetic energy getting siphoned more than he had ever experienced.

He had gotten a slight edge over the others in the beginner's course because they were unable to break through his willpower and siphon his energy. That wasn't a problem for most of the advanced class.

Although they couldn't easily absorb his kinetic energy, they were successful enough times to capitalize on it to significant effect. It wasn't all bad, though.

He had learned a lot of unique applications of kinetic energy that he hadn't really delved into before. For example, there was a girl who was exceptionally good at reading kinetic energy, to the point where she could predict their movements as if she were seeing into the future.

Arthur was extremely talented in using his kinetic energy to pierce defenses. He was able to compress his kinetic energy to the point where he could puncture through anything. That included any defenses that Julius threw up to protect himself. He was also one of the fastest people Julius had ever met.

The young man was terrifyingly fast. It was only due to [Absolute Spatial Perception] that he was able to keep up with his movements. If Julius had been relying on his kinetic energy senses, he would not have detected Arthur until the guy's fist was already in his gut.

Additionally, Einar was a beast when it came to reinforcement. His already strong body transformed into a tank when he harnessed kinetic energy. He was somehow able to manipulate his mass as well, which caused his attacks to be extremely heavy and way faster than they should have been.

He tried to learn from all of these people around him as they helped him improve his control, and he found himself getting better far more quickly than he had ever done so before. He sucked in all of the knowledge and experience they had to offer him and implemented it into his own skill set.

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He pushed himself hard. Even though he had always pushed himself hard, this time was different. He pushed himself harder than ever before. It was more desperate than most of his manic trainings. Every moment was spent pushing himself to get better and to get control over his kinetic energy.

It was exhausting and it wasn't easy. Yet, it was thanks to this effort that after two weeks, he finally started to regain some of his confidence and some level of control over his kinetic energy.

***

Arthur POV

Arthur used some kinetic energy to remove the rest of the water from his damp hair, flinging the water at Einar, who was right beside him. He received a heavy pulse of kinetic energy in response, staggering him into the bench. Arthur chuckled as he put on his clothes.

"So what do you think?" He asked the much larger man.

"About what?" Einar's deep voice rang out, muffled by a towel wiping his face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You know what. What do you think about the kid?"

"Persistent and stubborn," Einar replied instantly. The man hadn't taken any time to think about it, which had Arthur believing that Einar had already been thinking about it beforehand.

Arthur bumped the slightly older man's shoulder with a laugh. "Is that all? Not talented?"

Einar shook his head firmly. "No. There is talent and there is obsession."

Arthur bobbed his head once. "Fair point." He agreed fullheartedly with that sentiment.

Honestly, when he had heard that a Tier 3 was joining them, he didn't expect too much. It wasn't like Tier 3s were that uncommon. Arthur had been one of those Tier 3s not too long ago. However, he had been expecting another talented kinetic user.

A talent like the young Barath boy, who Arthur heard was already close to joining the advanced course.

Yet, he had been pleasantly surprised when he met Julius. The boy didn't have an ego that Arthur often experienced with other talented prodigies. He was disturbingly eager, and he took criticism exceptionally well.

It was a known fact that the members of the advanced class chose to be as helpful to the new students as possible. It was something they had agreed to do a long time ago, and it had become a bit of a tradition now. They made sure to provide help wherever it was needed. However, not everyone took that advice to heart, especially in the beginning.

Some thought they were being picked on and disregarded the advice because of pettiness or sometimes out of sheer arrogance.

Julius didn't. He consumed all the criticism and advice like a starving wolf.

It was why Arthur agreed with Einar's opinion about the young boy. It wasn't like Julius wasn't talented, no, far from it. But perhaps, describing him as obsessed was a more accurate label.

Arthur knew better than anyone that talent was simply a head start. For example, he wasn't the most talented kid growing up. He had lagged behind many of his peers in his village, and it wasn't until he reached Tier 3 that he started to show some of his worth.

He had always been small and had a decent kinetic affinity, but it was the time he spent training and fighting that separated him from his peers. He fought with desperation and made the most out of the slightest bit of kinetic energy. He knew that if he wanted to get strong, he needed every advantage he could get.

After all, it was the only way he could survive the dangerous lands of the north, and that was all he did until the day an instructor from the Shattered Winter School found him half dead in a ravine after fighting a monster stronger than him.

The Shattered Winter School took him in, gave him a chance, and trained him. Then before he knew it, he went from middle of the pack to one of the strongest Tier 4s of his generation. He wasn't shy about claiming that either. He had fought enough prodigies to know that it was true. He was good, very good.

Therefore, when he said that Julius scared the shit out of him, he wasn't exaggerating. The kid was brutal. He was ruthless to his opponents and even more ruthless to himself.

Julius took an absurd level of punishment each class, and not once did he back down. Just because the class was supposed to help their fellow peers, it didn't mean they took it easy during spars. They had plenty of healers at the ready in case something went awry.

Yet even after weeks of this, the kid didn't slow down. Hell, he didn't even need the healers; he had a healing skill of his own that allowed him to keep on going like a man possessed. It had gotten even worse when Julius acquired a new skill that set him back.

Relentless. Every moment was spent training with various members of the advanced class. It got so bad that they started avoiding Julius out of fear. They all worked hard themselves, but the frantic pace the kid set was scary.

Arthur and Einar were really the only ones who didn't outright run away when they saw Julius coming. It was kind of hilarious to see.

However, that obsession showed its worth. Julius had gotten so much better in that short time than Arthur could have expected. He had regained a similar level of control over his kinetic energy. Something that all of them recognized as impressive.

"Have you heard the rumors?" Einar suddenly asked, breaking Arthur out of his reverie.

He turned to look at his friend. "No, what kind of rumors?"

"That Julius is the unofficial apprentice of Freya and possibly Cain as well," Einar replied.

Arthur turned to look at Einar with skeptical eyes. "That's impossible. I know that Cain occasionally finds someone from time to time, but Lady Freya doesn't take apprentices. We all know that."

"Well, I heard from Lise that Lord Galten has also been personally tutoring Julius at one of the healing clinics for the past month or two under the orders of Lady Freya."

Arthur's brows raised when he heard this. Galten wasn't as well-known as Cain or Freya, but knowledgeable people understood that Galten held almost as much, if not more, prestige. After all, the man had trained Freya when she was younger.

"That doesn't mean Lady Freya has taken him as a personal apprentice," he argued.

Einar shrugged casually. "No, but apparently, people have seen Cain, Freya, and Julius hanging out and eating together. So they think Julius is either a relative or an apprentice. I am leaning toward the latter as well. He seems like the perfect fit for Cain when it comes to personality, and he can heal, which would explain why Freya might take him as an apprentice as well."

Arthur bit off his reply because he couldn't argue with those points. Julius indeed had the perfect personality that everyone knew Cain loved. The insanely powerful man had always enjoyed teaching the crazy ones, and Julius did have a healing skill, so perhaps Freya was helping out as well.

However, if that was true, then Arthur couldn't begin to imagine what kind of monster Julius would become if they were helping him. What would Julius be like in ten years if he continued with this trajectory?

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