(3RD POV)
Watching his peers glare resentfully at the second-years with envious eyes, Lyon could understand them.
If his uncle hadn't taught him how to distinguish himself, Lyon would likely be in a similar situation, if not an even worse one.
Most of his fellow students had at least one decently talented Kei Beast before ever stepping foot inside the Academy.
In comparison, Lyon had yet to even meet a Kei Beast of his own, with the sole exception of the pet Uncle Mark had left wandering the grounds of their home as a form of security.
While Lyon loved the demon like family, it didn't change the fact that he was at a serious disadvantage compared to his peers.
The impressive exhibition match he had participated in earlier could easily give someone the wrong impression, but Lyon knew better than anyone that none of the students had put their all into the battles used to determine the rankings.
Most of them, including the weakest students, simply couldn't trust themselves to control the additional power they would gain from their Kei Beasts. As a result, many had chosen not to summon them at all, which explained the underwhelming fights Lyon had witnessed earlier.
To be quite honest, Lyon considered it a wonder if the students had demonstrated even fifty percent of their actual combat ability with so many restrictions placed on them.
In comparison, Lyon had already displayed as much as three-quarters of his strongest combat ability, and even with that, he still hadn't been able to secure first place in the class.
It left a slightly sour taste in his mouth whenever he thought about how hard he worked every day to toughen his physique, only to be matched and even surpassed in combat by people who had signed contracts with what were, by his standards, subpar Kei Beasts.
In order to secure his position in the class and make a name for himself, Lyon needed to become the first-ranked student by the time the year ended.
It was the goal his uncle had given him, but more importantly, it was the only way his uncle would provide him with any more information about his parents' murder.
Toward that end, Lyon was prepared to give everything he had and more.
Looking at the students eating around him, Lyon took a deep breath and closed his eyes, using the moment to settle himself.
When they opened again, his irises shone with an emerald flame as he reaffirmed his next steps.
After waiting for the other students to finish eating, he began communicating with Azera through his mind space. He had to stifle a laugh as she immediately bombarded him with a barrage of accusatory and angry emotions.
Although she couldn't speak the human language yet, Azera had certainly learned how to speak her mind in her own way. She was a princess, after all, and would not stand for any disrespect. Yet what had her stupid human done?
He had actually locked her inside his mind as if she were some damsel in distress!
And then, AND THEN! He had the nerve to disconnect his senses from her.
It was an affront to her dignity as a legend, especially considering that she was the first dragon of her kind.
Facing the tirade of emotions and dissatisfaction from his best friend, Lyon smiled wryly to himself and worked hard to calm her down before she gave herself, and by extension him, a headache.
After promising enough fresh fish to fill a lake, Lyon finally managed to assuage Azera's temper. He loved her with all his heart, but sometimes Lyon couldn't help wondering if Azera would sell him out if an enemy offered her enough fish.
It was an amusing thought, and Lyon almost missed the moment when Teacher Virden appeared back in front of the Door. He had seemingly returned from wherever he had disappeared to when the second-year student first showed up.
(Virden POV)
When Virden popped back up, the students who had already started forming their own cliques and mingling with each other immediately jumped to their feet and rushed to be the first ones in front of him, hoping to impress him.
Knowing this but pretending not to notice, Virden looked over the eager youths and cleared his throat. "I see everyone has finished eating and getting acquainted with each other.
Now that you guys and girls have had your time to recover and pull yourselves together, we will be doing another small assessment when we get back to your homeroom."
Virden paused after speaking, carefully gauging the reactions of the students. Whether they knew it or not, they were going to become representatives of the Academy's future.
As such, there was a certain level of dignity that was both needed and expected from all of them.
To ensure that the countless praises and accolades associated with the Heaven Class were never called into question, Virden and the other teachers intended to push these students to their absolute limits over the next month.
They had already begun observing them from the moment they were selected to join the temporary Heaven Class.
Virden and the other teachers already had a fairly accurate impression of most of the students. Therefore, regardless of what the youths showed their fellow classmates, the teachers already knew most of their capabilities.
It was interesting, though not entirely unexpected, to see some of the children with better statistics according to their research lose to statistically weaker students, even if it was only a practice fight.
Still, all of the students' strongest abilities remained far below the criteria established by the Heaven Class.
It was no exaggeration to say that none of these students currently met even the lowest threshold required to become an official Heaven Class student.
Virden could only hope to raise these children to the best of his and his fellow teachers' abilities.
After all, it wasn't only the students' first time in the Heaven Class. Virden and the other teachers were fresh graduates of the Heaven Class themselves, having returned to teach their juniors.
The stress they had been under lately made Virden grimace with distaste.
With those thoughts running through his head, Virden couldn't help but lament the disappearance of the captain.
After all, you were the one who put us up to this in the name of helping your child, he thought with a trace of hidden bitterness as he covertly glanced toward the unaware child.