Chapter 234: Comparison

"What?! What did you just say?"

"You already advanced to Neural Stage?!"

Edward and Lisa wore dumbfounded expressions as they glanced at Adam who was walking ahead of them. The trio were walking through an underground corridor and were on their way to a magic practice room.

Adam slightly turned his head around and glanced at his friends with a smirk. "What? Is it so surprising?"

To anyone who wasn't privy to the youth's secrets, it was indeed surprising. Very surprising.

Lisa was having great difficulty trying to come to terms with this information, however, not for a single moment did she think that Adam was lying.

She couldn't help but incredulously ask, "When did you advance?"

"About a week ago," Adam replied as he walked with his hands clasped behind his back, his strides brimming with confidence.

A week?! Lisa paused in her steps, shock gripping her heart.

She was someone born with an A-grade talent, yet she was only an Organ Stage Magus at the moment. However, Adam, who was tested to have a B-grade talent, had already surpassed her.

However, instead of feeling deep suspicions, her eyes gleamed with fiery competition. No! I must work harder!

Meanwhile, Edward was also in a similar state of shock. Although he too now had an A-grade talent, in the end, he couldn't even catch up to Adam. For a moment, he didn't know how to feel about it.

Adam secretly glanced at him and inwardly chuckled, Blessed by mana? So what? I'm blessed by the lotus! Kekekeke!

"You guys don't need to be so shocked," Adam stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This advancement speed, isn't it a given for a genius like me?"

"Hmph, don't get so cocky." Lisa harrumphed and walked past him. "Just you wait. I'll catch up to you soon."

"Hehe," Adam only giggled mischievously in return.

He then glanced at Edward who was still standing in a daze. Seeing him like that, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. He walked up to the blue-eyed youth and put his arm around the latter's shoulder.

"What is it, fatty?"

Edward first glanced at Lisa. Seeing that she had walked farther away from them, he whispered, "Adam... do you think I'm not using my gifts wisely?"

Adam knew exactly what he was talking about. As the two started to walk toward their designated practice room, he asked, "Why would you say that?"

Edward replied honestly, "I don't know. It's just... practicing mindfulness has always come easy to me. I can feel my ridiculous speed of growth with each passing day. But despite all that..."

He paused for a moment before deciding to come clean, "When I see you advance through the ranks like it's a piece of cake, I can't help but feel I'm doing something wrong with the gift I've been given."

"Hahaha!" Adam burst into laughter. "So you're just salty, huh?"

Edward's face flushed red with embarrassment. He didn't reply. But his silence was all the answer that Adam needed.

"Comparison is the thief of joy, they say." Adam faintly smiled.

"But it is indeed true that you've gotten complacent ever since your last increase in talent," he spoke with a firm tone. "Ask yourself, are you still grinding the same way you used to when your talent was mediocre?"

Edward remained silent. It was indeed as Adam had said.

"Do you know how many times I've come close to death just so I could reach this point? Do you know the amount of blood, sweat, and tears I've shed?" He continued.

"If it wasn't for the risks that I had taken, perhaps I too would have still been in the Organ Stage," Adam stated matter-of-

factly.

He clenched his fist and spoke with passion, "You can't get discouraged when you're only at the Mana Foundation Rank. You've lost that fire, my friend. Find it back!"

With that said, he walked ahead, leaving behind his parting words. "If it is any consolation, you're one of the reasons why I work so hard to advance through the ranks. After all, think about it, me getting overtaken by a fat pig? Yuck!"

Listening to his words, Edward couldn't help but smile. He chased after him and started teasing, "So, you mean to say you look up to me?"

"Do you want a beating?"

"Hehe, I'm just repeating your words."

Seeing the two bantering with each other, Lisa couldn't help but break into a warm smile. The following moment, she waved a metal key card in front of the door, unlocking it.

"Let's start our training," she said to the boys before entering the practice room.

The magic practice room was one of many that was located all across the academy's campus. It was one of the many resources granted to the students.

Here, the students could practice their spell-casting without any outside interference. The walls, floor, and ceiling were carved with noise-canceling and energy-absorption runic formations, making it the perfect place to test out one's magical capabilities.

The trio walked to the center of the room and got ready to test out their moves. They weren't going to test it out on training dummies but on each other.

More precisely, it was going to be a two-against-one sparring.

Adam rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, displaying his chiseled forearms that were filled with scars. He looked at his friends and taunted, "Is ganging up on me enough or do you want me to go blindfolded as well?"

However, contrary to his expectations, Edward and Lisa didn't get riled up at all. They simply remained silent, rolling their eyes at him even. By now, they already knew that this was one of the tactics Adam used to get under his opponents' skins.

But such psychological tactics wouldn't work on them. They had become numb to it after repeated insults.

Seeing no response from his friends, Adam pouted, "Tsk, you guys are so boring."

"Enough chitchat," Lisa spoke with a grim expression. Then she waved her wooden staff, causing dozens of wines to erupt from the ground and rush toward the youth.

Edward, on the other hand, coated his entire body in blue lightning and dashed toward the youth, aiming for a pincer attack.

Adam got extremely riled up seeing the ferocity of his friends' attacks. He undertook the stance of the Phantom Dance and grinned from ear to ear.

"Fine, let's dance."