Hero Lucius was on his way to meet his father, the time for war had come.

  "Your majesty I have come to ask that you give command for the army to march out".

  "I could give the command but you know as well as I do, nothing could give them more morale than you giving the command. So why not do it yourself, sir Hero?".

  "There is no need for my exalted emperial father to call me hero".

  "Same to you, I can't help but call you hero when you refuse to call me father. You can't deny that you outrank me, I may rule over all of mankind but I still obey the heavens".

  Lucius could not win an argument against his stubborn father leaving him no choice but to compromise. After their discussion about the army they moved on to a matter that would dictate the future course of the empire.

  "Father what do you think of finding Faust a wife that will fill in for his short comings".

  The emperor thought for a while but could not make up his mind.

  "It sounds like a good idea but it's uncertaint we'll find such a woman. His demeanor will cause trouble down the line, I'd say it's good he's not refusing to succeed me".

  "He is the first honorary cardinal in the emperial family. Only the future can tell, will he be a ruler who doesn't understand his subjects or will it be his subjects that fail to understand him".

  Lucius already believed it would be the latter, but still saw the statement as fitting.

  The professor was absent like he said he would but no one thought of not following his instructions. They were sparring as ordered and it was during the second match when darkness covered the sky. No sun or stars to be seen, surprisingly everything around them was just as visible as any other day.

  (This feeling is the same as when I met the demon lords and Augustus before being a noble. It may actually be greater. As pleasant as it is I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the source).

  "What could your father be doing to cause this".

  Xeta seemed unbothered by the darkness unlike everyone else who were looking at the sky and likely felt the same as Noir.

  "He must be out of the castle, this is his way of signaling the start of the war".

  He was outside the castle that normally contained his presence so he had to repell darkness otherwise some unfortunate demon may be absorbed into his darkness.

  "I guess the war has begun then, must be why the Professor isn't here".

  Not a moment later the sky returned to normal.

  "I keep hearing about your father not once have I heard about the queen your mother, what's up with that".

  "Your not of noble lineage and haven't lived that long. I can see why you wouldn't know. Every member of the royal family are born from the darkness of the dark grail. Which is why we are also born awakened".

  This was news to Noir and it made no sense at first, raising more questions than answers.

  "Doesn't that mean that the demon king, your father is actually your brother".

  "No but in a way yes, it's much more complicated than that. We are born from the same darkness which makes us brothers but us being copies of that darkness makes us the same person, ending up different thanks to the experiences that mold us".

  This reminded him how he was not in state a new born would be in when he reincarnated, insignificant details at the time now however.

  "That's how the royal family is born, then what about the rest of us?"

  "I can only say it varies from family to family, in the end preference would decide how it's done. From as simple as fusion of darkness from the parents to something as tiring as child labour".

  Class ended with the a match from the second combatants of the day. When he returned he was still thinking on how simple and complicated demons could be depending on the situation.

  (Demons are darkness so what's the difference between demons and the normal darkness like shadows. Because if it's awareness then it should be possible for demons to make other demons through magic.)

  He began to test his idea, he formed a sphere of darkness. He was surprised he could not make it as big as he wanted to. Then he was stuck, how does he grant it intelligence, he was left with no choice but to ask Xeta.

  The following day while watching the others fight he asked his question.

  "How do you grant something intelligence?"

  "That's unexpected. Where do I start, there are three basic methods. The use of a mana AI, or moving a part maybe whole mind of an already existing entity to desired subject, or by use of concepts, binding it to the desired concept intelligence".

  Noir understood the first two but the last he was unsure of and noticing this Xeta gave him a demonstration. On the palm of his hands two birds were made who flew upon being completed.

  "Like you just saw I used a concept to make those birds. I gave no details of my own on its creation, not its color, size or intelligence. The concept of bird already had all those details".

  AI would require some computing and data format mana and he wasn't confident of making a life like mana AI, mind transplant required a mind, leaving the concept method. This is the method he used to complete his created demon. Completing it was no issue creating its intelligence by using the concept of a demon mind he was done in moments. The amount of darkness was small so he had to give it a small body.

  "It would be best to go with something small. I'm not a fan of dogs so I'll go with a cat. Doesn't need a soul too".

  The sphere began to change shape forming a black cat. He watched with curious eyes as it opened its eyes for the first time and it asked.

  "Are you my creator?".

  Having created a lifeform of his own with magic he understood why the One who created the world isn't seen as some great being but a grand mage.

  "Yes I am".

  "What is my name and for what purpose was I made".

  "You don't have a name. You are a product of my magic test, so you've already served your purpose".

  The cat was dejected the drop in its mood evident even in its voice.

  "I see so what will happen to me now".

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Noir stood up and went to open the windows and responded.

  "You're free to go, sorry I didn't think what I'd do after so...".

  The cat did not move, where would he go. He was a cat but not a cat, cat.

  "Is staying an option".

  "Yes. Why stay though, don't you want to be free".

  "I have no where to go, I know no one, as my creator your the only one I have".

  (Don't tell me it looked like I was chasing him out to be someone else's problem). "You can stay, so what should I call you?".

  "I am ok with any name you come up with".

  "You're black cat so how about Nero, from Kuro Neko".

  "Then it shall be so my creator".

  "Creator sounds too grand, call me something else".

  "How about father or master".

  "I'm not that old and I don't want to be your master so just call me by my name Noir. You can do whatever you want just don't disturb my meditation, I've got a match tomorrow".

  When Nero started to ask questions Noir just transferred some of his memories to him and was left undisturbed to form a fighting plan, perceiving the world through time studying Van way of fighting and how best to counter it. Of course he knew this version of the future was no longer going to be the out come, the resultant one beyond his level to perceive.

  The day arrived, Noir and his opponent Van were in fit condition, they were the first fighters of the day. When signalled they closed the distance. He had a dagger in each hand, he blocked Van's sword with one dagger and stabbed the neck with the other. This was his first time fighting with the use of foresight and his opponent being on same level in magic did not help, he could only see a future of Van not being aware of the future. Looking too far into the future was also useless moment to moment what they saw would change making it almost pointless. As a result the two reached a stalemate both sides failing to land any significant blow.

  "How about we scale up our magic a bit".

  Said Van who unleashed a pulse of darkness that covered the entire platform, after covering the entire platform dark spikes emerged from it. Left with no place to stand on Noir took to the skies.

  "Try to dodge this if you can".

  He said while raining down countless blades he created. Blade clashed with spike and shattered while the latter dispersed like smoke, those that found their way to Van through the entrenchment of spikes that moved to protect him were easily parried. While deflecting the blades that got through there was a loud boom, an explosion right where he was. But he had evaded, as he soon appeared further away emerging from the ground.

  "That was close you almost had me there, even with foresight such an attack is unavoidable without my level of speed".

  Van who was also looking into the future understood the nature of the attack, it would not travel to its target but materials where and when it's target was, making it impossible to evade even with knowledge of the future.

  "Fine I'll play by your rules, I'll make the entire platform a minefield".

  He drew back the darkness that covered the platform, and formed a sword with it. He slashed in the direction Noir was in, when he tried to evade the attack its principals changed. At first they were no different from regular slashes that went beyond the blades physical range even foresight told him as much. They changed into the same type of attack he used only after successful evading them. The first wounded his shoulder, the second he parried the third he deflected. The barrier was normally useless against such attacks without any adjustments.

  "Such attacks are the best counter against time perception, wouldn't you agree".

  "That is the case, normally I would have conceded but I can't disappoint those watching".

  He looked at the rooftop of the auditorium, there Nero was watching his spar so how could he give up when someone who called him creator was watching. He combined the two daggers in hand into a sword, teleported just behind Van. Van intercepted the stab with his own sword, sparks scattered accompanied by the sound of colliding metal.

  "We are equally matched let's just agree to a draw".

  "Our strength and level in magic is equally matched but can you say the same for fighting tactics".

  "What..."

  As Van was about to jump backwards he was locked in space unable to move, with their speed they could evade attacks that have the same coordinates as them but what if space became a no movement zone.

  "This is my final strike let's see how you deal with it".

  A beam of darkness was unleashed, aimed at Van who could not move, but not moving was not the same as incapacitated. Van countered with a beam of his own, this was within expectation Noir used his true move. He striked with a spike with target coordinates, from the moment it appeared Van was already impaled.

  "I concede".

  It was Noir victory, they got off the platform and the next spar began.

  "Going all out I see".

  "Unfortunately that is true and it wasn't even a part of day Four's spars".

  "To be honest there isn't much difference between day three and four. And it may not look like it but being the youngest puts you at disadvantage".

  Noir was not expecting such a response and how could Xeta say with certainty that he was the youngest, to his knowledge there wasn't anything that detailed everyone's age. This led to him trying to use magic to determine everyone's age, and it was possible. The age gap between him and the oldest he could find wasn't even three years. There was no difference in magic for most of them which meant knowledge was the deciding factor, the older one was the more knowledge they would be. The exception to this would be Xeta, Luna, himself and possibly three others who he could not discern their age evident of their magic being a level higher than his own.

  "So is that cat demon the cause of your previous question?".

  "How could you tell. And calling him a cat demon, wouldn't that make us human demons".

  "Calling it cat would confuse it to normal cats and calling it demon would mislead one to think it looks just like the rest of us human demons. As for how I could tell it looks just like you. What's its name".

  "Nero that's his name".

  "You seem to have no problem coming up with names, so when will you decide on family name".

  He could not answer that, all this time he had not given it any thought, even with Nero he gave him a name because it would be convenient, as for his family name there was no urgency to the matter.

  "Congratulations on your victory, to be honest I thought you would be some undefeatable being".

  Nero said when Noir returned to his dorm.

  "I gave you some of my memories, so you should have known that wasn't the case".

  "That's true, but they're yours how am I to know they aren't false".

  The fourth day went on without a hitch, the day after the Professor had returned, just like the past few days they were outside.

  "... now if you look here here there are two cups both half filled with water, watch what I do next. I won't be offering an explanation".

  With no further words the Professor poured the water from one cup to another.

  (In spacetime the both future and past are fixed. But what if you could see the future, can you change it and if you can, what about the past can it also be changed. By extension the past should be equally changeable as well. And if both can be changed then are they really determined. This is a violation of how the world works but isn't establishing our subjective truths what it means to be a mage.)

  Even with a mind splitting pain Noir did not lose focus on what was happening, the same was true for the others.

  "You should be glad you had your first experience in a safe environment. First time side effects can be devastating depending on your situation. Now look at the cups once more".

  One cup was empty like before and the other was not full anymore, half full like before water was added to it. Everyone now possessed two memories involving the cups, the first memory of one cup filled the other cup and the new memory of magic draining it's water before it's poured into the other cup. Both memories were real the past was just changed.

  (The only way it begins to make sense is if space and time are also constructs of mana).

  "If you managed to accomplish your assignment the answer should be obvious to you. It's not all encompassing, being magic it still has to be a level higher to overcome an individual's resistance to magic, to have an effect on said individual".

  Now he and everyone else could understand why observating the world through space and time was a requirement such magic could not be understood otherwise or guarded against.

  (I still don't fully know what is considered to target the self, how broad is it).

  "If there is one thing you should know about mana it's that it is undetermined existence. Everything of the world is made of it thanks to its nature from the simplest things to the most complex things. Matter, space, time, laws, concepts, abstract and concrete, non concepts, antilaws, non time, non space and antimatter, even the dual system itself and all the other world systems. The only restriction to what can be done with magic is the user".

  Everything was made of mana that's what he found out not to long ago but this was not the everything he thought, his was much less. From his knowledge he knew space and time were not as abstract as they first appeared to be and the thought of them also being constructs of mana was not alien more so when considering the whole matter involving The One. With this information a lot of things made sense, mana wasn't attached to causality and by extension magic was not bound by causality let alone an aspect of it, temporal causality.

  "Today is your final day of class and I can say with certainty that you are all full fledged mages now. First prince you know what to do, next we meet I'll be a senior officer in the military".

  The Professor left and Xeta took the stage.

  "Everyone let's meet outside the city gates tomorrow, then I'll assign each of you a rank and battalion". After agreeing to what he had to say everyone dispersed.

  "So this is it, no more academy. It was much shorter time than I thought it would be. It was a peaceful time, no one looked down on me and tried to pick a fight or discriminating professor singling me out and fools acting up".

  "You are right but that just means you're robbed of a chance to look cool by putting them in their place ".

  "What..?"

  "What".