While martial artists began cultivating upon reaching fifteen.
However, they had to begin with QI condensing before building their foundations.
On the other hand, the majority of mages viewed seventeen as the ripe age to begin engraving the first heart circle.
There were different types of circles, each unique in its own right, as the common granted only a single attribute, while the unique ones were able to achieve more.
For example: agility, strength, mana capacity, life span, and much more other options.
Black magic, such as hexes, curses, and summoning spells, was costly.
The bane of mages was their physiques, as stronger mages were able to have more than one attribute in a single circle.
Naturally, the best choices for Justin were mana capacity, strength, and agility.
However, his options were depressing as he could only pick a common due to his weak physique.
Strength could come later, and the same applied for agility and other attributes, making mana capacity the best option given the nature of his magic.
'Praise the devil for his gifts, now I can just light it!' Justin thought a moment later, celebrating his luck.
For the majority of the mages, they would need to engrave the circle first before placing their attribute spells.
However, some lucky ones were naturally born with their awakening circles dormant and active.
With the mana he collected serving as the fuel, Justin began filling the circle to the brim.
As a result, the once dormant circle was lit immediately as Justin felt heat coming from within.
With his long life and vast experience, Justin's choice was a special spell known for its high mana capacity.
It had many downsides due to his weak physique, such as the intense pain and the backlash he'd face.
Still, the advantages easily outweighed the downsides, given that he could strengthen himself later.
Once made up his mind, Justin began engraving the three runes making up the spell, and after ten minutes, he was done.
It was all thanks to the quietness caused by the imp's slaughter, allowing Justin to fully focus on his task.
"Praise the devil, what a wonderful life!" Justin stood, the corpses and the system notifications excited him.
"May I return to hell now, my liege?" The imp finally spoke, bringing Justin's attention.
The imp's intentions were clear, it needed a contract and a payment to stay.
However, Justin couldn't provide such a thing yet given he was in shitty suitation so he decided to just let it go for the time being.
It was a mere lesser demon after, nothing worth much concern.
"Thank you for your service, hell's peace upon you!" Justin finally responded as the imp walked to one of the scattered corpses before responding.
"Farewell, my liege. May the devil mark your path!" It waved its hands before swiftly crushing the stomach of the corpse with its foot.
Then it jumped down, disappearing completely from the classroom and leaving Justin alone.
"It's gone!"
"Capture this trash!"
"Don't let him escape, he must be punished!" The noises returned upon the disappearance of the imp, shocking Justin to a certain degree and causing him to shake his head in disapproval.
"Although I'd love to send you all back into your mothers' wombs, the devil beckons elsewhere." Knowing he was outnumbered, Justin decided to avoid fighting completely.
'Veil Craft,' Consuming some of the mana he had stored, Justin cast a spell as the shadows warped around him, making him completely invisible to those around him.
"Till the crows feast upon you," Ignoring his classmates' shock, Justin bid his farewell before slowly leaving the class.
His voice spread like a ringing bell as the students scattered, searching for him as he casually avoided those who came across him.
"Farewell," Justin spoke the moment he came outside, pausing momentarily as his eyes fell on the school's gate for one last time.
"Trash can." He resumed, the previous Justin's memories answering all of his questions about such a bizarre school.
A school was naturally a place where students were meant to be taught, or at least learn something.
However, this one was vastly different.
Teachers didn't teach; Their only purpose was ensuring the school's only rule remained unbroken.
As such, there were barely any teachers to begin with.
Students didn't learn since there was nothing to learn.
Everyone was particularly trash, the stronger trash bullied the weaker trash, slowly drowning into the illusion of false power.
It was also known for being used by great families either to keep an eye on their failures and abandoned members or to punish them.
A sort of mini prison, nonetheless.
As such, no sane parent would send their children to this school unless those precious children were horrible in one way or another.
'I suppose I need money and strength quickly,' Justin thought, guessing he would be wanted sooner rather than later cause of what he did.
Unlike him, Alister wasn't abandoned, and his value to the Wei-Liang warranted pursuit and revenge.
'Worst case scenario, both would come after me,' His thoughts deepened, money was easy given his family was super rich.
All he needed to do was kill all of his siblings and patriarchal candidates, and none other than he was left on the throne.
Crippled or not, he knew very well the majority bend their knees to the strong out of pure fear.
Never mind strength, he believed curses and hexes could easily pave the way for him since such things were bizarre for this world.
'Well, I suppose this world is as bizarre to me as such a thing to them,' Shaking his head, Justin walked through the streets before entering a dark alley.
He walked to the side before sitting down, canceling the spell before summoning his status panel.
[Status]
Name: Justin Valemond
Level: 8 | Exp: 750/4,000
Health: 175/250 (-750)
Qi: 0/0 | Mana 385/500 (-1000)
[Stats]
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 7
Vitality: 5
Intelligence: 2
—Free Points: 40
"Praise the devil, what a great time to be alive!" Impressed with the system despite its simplicity, Justin shouted in excitement.
Having such a cheat that allowed him to directly manipulate his physique with no effort was quite enough.
Not only that, but being able to know the exact state he was in was much better than being uncertain.
Intelligence and Vitality were both greyed out, preventing him from manipulating them.
'Guess I will have to begin with the other two stats first…' Guessing it was due to the negative stats on his Health and Mana, Justin shook his head before proceeding with strength.
Making up his mind, he decided to start with 20, and the moment he did, a light wave of pain assaulted his body.
The muscles across his body being torn felt surreal, and the sensation continued for a few more seconds before fading away completely.
"Praise the devil for his gifts!" Justin exclaimed, feeling much better compared to before.
His body no longer felt devoid of strength and his muscles were slightly present compared to before.
His health rose to 300, and his mana rose to 600, making him ecstatic.
"Alas, seems like I will have to clear the negatives completely to increase the rest." Having nothing better to do, Justin proceeded to increase Dexterity, curious about its effect.
Unlike Strength, Dexterity was a foreign concept to Justin.
However, his newfound memories gave him a vague understanding.
He believed it would be great if such memories were correct, as the stat was meant to improve his speed and accuracy.
He saw it as a treasure since he wished it could apply to his mana absorption speed and spell casting time.
Both were weaknesses, and eliminating them was fairly important to him.
"Let's see, ten points should be enough for now." Making up his mind, Justin decided to split his remaining points in half.
He wasn't sure if leveling up was the only way to earn those points, so he had to stay cautious.
"Huh, that's it?" With the dexterity update complete, Justin felt confused.
Unlike Strength, Dexterity didn't cause any change to his physique, making him wonder whether it was effective or not.
"Ah, it seems like I will have to test and see for myself." Having nothing better to do, Justin stood up, looking all around him.
The alley was slightly dark, even though it was still daytime.
He knew it was due to the towering buildings surrounding it on the sides, and he saw it as a great place to have a temporary hideout.
He made up his mind and walked to the edge of the alley from where he came, intending to cast an illusion spell.
He placed his hands on the floor and began using his mana, engraving some runes on the floor.
Once done, he proceeded to do the same on the two walls surrounding it.
Finally, both walls warped and connected together, forming a new wall before his eyes.
Still, he knew it was not enough, as the hideout was flawed.
Since it was merely an illusion, if someone was lucky enough to even lean on it, then they would be able to figure it out.
As such, he decided to make use of it since he needed corpses for his summoning ritual.