Father Gregory stood in front of the three boys who sat on the snowy ground outside the church, their heavy clothing preventing the cold from harming them.
The night had passed a bit quickly for the old man who was just lying in bed, staring at the ceiling all night, unable to sleep for some strange reason.
But that wasn't important right now; he had three potential stars in front of him.
"You three are all still young but have awakened your Sigils, and they're actually Combat-Based Sigils. But you do not know the necessary knowledge to even be called an ape."
Julius' pride was a bit damaged; he was the smartest in the whole world in terms of the previous era's information, but Sigils were a completely different beast at this point, so he would listen for now.
Gregory's eyes scanned through the three boys who were listening closely; they weren't interested just yet, but he'll need to hook them in with his first words.
"Sigils aren't the only way to get power."
Silence.
The kids were surprised, but Julius wasn't that astonished—he'd noticed that even in dangerous situations, his Adrenal glands didn't release anything except Mana, so it seems Adrenaline no longer exists in some or most people.
But he still pretended to be surprised, widening his eyes, parting his lips. A type of performance that would earn him an award.
"You heard me right." Gregory felt a little smug, finally. He had these brats surprised, especially proud at making Julius so utterly shocked.
"Sigils are just a highway, they provide structure for Mana, but. Nearly all Sigils can't enhance your physical strength. That's where Breaks come in."
'Breaks, huh?'
A small contemplative frown spread across Julius' face. He knew that this world wasn't normal, and that it was inevitable that Humanity, being so adaptable, would evolve, with or without Mana
'Just by going off their name, they're probably gonna be something like levels to physical prowess.'
Julius was right, Gregory went on to explain the concept of Breaks. Which were indeed like a system of increasing physical prowess beyond which even the most powerful of Sigils could do.
"There are a total of 10 Breaks, they're accessible to anyone at any moment, just need to break your mental and physical limits to even get a chance at one, your obsession for growth decides the rest."
Lukas slowly raised his hand, just a bit. He was still pretty wary of Gregory, but that was to be expected; this was the first official day of staying at the church.
"Uh, are there any strong people that don't have Sigils or Breaks?"
"Yep!"
Gregory was waiting for a question like this—time for the old man to flex his immense connections.
"There's a guy down where The Grand State Of Texas used to be, he owns the greatest academy for Sigil AND Break Users. He's a Break User himself and is probably the strongest guy you'll find in the South or even parts of the North."
"Stronger than Roy?"
Julius leaned forward, clasping his fingers together. He had an innocent smile on his face, but to Gregory, it seemed like the most real mask a man could wear.
"Of course, Johan, Roy isn't that special."
Julius silently nodded before leaning back, resting his head on his fist as he studied Gregory's expression and posture.
'Unsure. His eyes looked away just for a moment, he's fixed his posture a few times already, and is trying to be stern... Seems Roy is definitely pretty strong. He isn't lying, but he seems to be in the middle. So he doesn't know whose stronger, huh?'
Gregory took a deep breath to calm himself down
'Why is this kid trying to read me so much? And I can't even stop him without seeming like some idiot that thinks a kid is a manipulator..."
He shook that thought off; it wasn't necessary to think right now, especially since he needed to assert his 'dominance' in front of the children.
Stepping back a few steps, creating a bit of distance between the kids and him before he pulled up the shirt of the pajamas he wore, revealing the handle of a sword, which he pulled out.
"See this thing, kids? This is a sword-"
He was interrupted, Jonah letting out a gasp, rubbing his eyes almost in shock, and he wasn't pretending at all.
"If the handle was facing upwards, and the blade was down. In your pants. Did you chop your.."
Gregory slammed the bottom of the handle down on top of Jonah's head. WHAT KIND OF KID ASKS THAT KIND OF QUESTION TO AN OLD MAN?!
"SHUT UP!! LET ME TALK YOU LITTLE SHIT!!"
Lukas held back his laughter so much his face turned red; meanwhile, Julius was splayed out on the ground, laughing like a maniac. This was his type of humor after all, childishness was the best way to describe him.
Gregory inhaled sharply, his ears glowing like tomatoes from how embarrassed he was, especially since children aren't supposed to know about... The thing downstairs...
He's getting sidetracked; he needs to stay focused.
"Anyways.. The sword is a basic weapon you'll all need to master, and to do that. You'll first need to achieve the first level of Break: Snap. That'll put you on the level of grown adults as kids, but when you're an adult, it'll shine in its true potential with your Man Muscles. The other levels will melt out of your nose, so master the basics first."
Julius' weak point was now in front of him; he was a nerd in his old life and now, he couldn't even do a push-up, but now he was expected to learn fucking sword fighting.
'Great...'
He was not only armed with his knowledge about biology and medicine, but also with a healer who could make him recover instantly, which will lead to him not wasting time, and more exercise and training equaled more strength gain.
Especially for his Sigil which was partially awakened, Lukas will definitely help him and Jonah; he just needed Gregory to go away since he might butt in with 'You can't awaken your Sigil yet! You'll Die!'
"Okay, okay, old man, tell us what we need to do."
Jonah slowly stood up from the snow, still rubbing the top of his head. He was still grinning, just a bit more respectfully now, since who would want to have their skull broken by an old man?
"Well. Just stand here with a stance that you all think is comfortable. Imagine you're holding a real sword, feel the weight in your hands, see the glint from the sunlight."
Julius caught onto what Gregory was going to do; this old man was going to make them stand in the cold in that stance... But it was fine. It's not that bad of a training method since it'll train their mental toughness.
Julius and Lukas both stood up, the latter dusting the snow off of his woolen coat before he got into a stance, it was wobbly and it seemed more like Lukas was standing with one foot back and pretending to hold a sword.
Jonah did the same, only that he was more stable and seemed to actually try and feel a sword in his hands, but he was failing.
Julius shook his head in annoyance; The brothers weren't doing it right at all. It wasn't about 'imagining', no matter how vast imagination is, it can't have physical qualities like weight.
"Idiots, you think you guys are prodigies or something? Make your Mana flow into your hands, enough Mana gathered in a place starts to develop weight, just make sure your hands don't explode. Imagine the glint and look of the sword."
Lukas nodded immediately, while Jonah was a bit hesitant, but followed the instructions after a few moments.
'He's opening up.. Just a bit, Lukas is an idiot, so he doesn't count, but Jonah seems more reserved.. I guess he'll be a decent tool if I play my cards right. He isn't friend-worthy yet. If he's a good guy when he's older, I'll give him friend status... Why does that sound so wrong?'
Julius sighed deeply, closing his eyes. He was wasting time overthinking as usual.
He slid his left foot back and slowly lowered his upper body just a bit, putting equal weight on the front and back foot, his fists stacked on top of each other.
'Alright.. I'm stable, balanced and definitely a badass.. Let's see if the method I pulled outta my ass works or not.'
Yep. He just made everything that he said to Lukas and Jonah up, he just wanted to come off as someone who knows a lot more than them, or even if he was wrong, he could play it off as a joke.
He slowly managed to get the small amount of Mana he had access to flow towards the palms of his hand, and almost instantly, he felt the weight go up, just a bit, like something was pushing down on his fists.
Gregory watched them all with a scrutinizing gaze. How did Julius know about that method? It was shorthanded indeed but. It still worked for beginners like the kids.
"Well, adjust the stance when needed but don't move too much. Stand here until I tell you to move. Got it?"
No reply. The kids were all in deep concentration, which was exactly what Gregory wanted.
'Good. I'll see if there's a storm coming; if not, these brats will be here all night long.'