"Ready?"
"Yes, professor."
Zenaria, the professor of Class A, raised her hand and lowered it, signaling the start of the training. A door on the other side opened, and two Zara-level 2 Nartheis began to come out, with Serenya being the student facing them.
The first Zara, a brown tiger, launched the first attack with its claw. Serenya dodged by jumping, and the other Nartheis, also a tiger but green in color, shot green fire from its mouth.
'Dodge'
The fire veered slightly off course, and Serenya created two platforms beside the green tiger. As she clasped both hands, it was split in two. The brown tiger leapt to reach her but failed because she stepped on a platform.
"Now you."
Serenya began to lift the tiger using control magic with one hand and formed a platform with the other beside her, trying to shape it into something pointed, but it shattered. Serenya sighed and simply sent the remaining Nartheis onto a platform that sliced it in half.
"You failed in creating your new spell but managed to defeat two level-two Zara, so your grade is B+."
Serenya nodded to her mother as the students whispered, thinking the grade should've been higher. But to be honest, she didn't think she deserved more—because compared to Enrico, she was far behind.
"You did well, Serenya."
It was Camila speaking, who had become friends with her and Valença during the days without classes. Actually, not just her—looking at a table below, Kai was talking to Giulio. She didn't know why, but Enrico had asked them to become friends with them.
"I didn't do as well as you think."
"You're too hard on yourself."
Of course she was—if she let her subordinate surpass her that easily, she wouldn't be a leader. Serenya looked at Valença, who was writing a new spell. It seemed she wasn't the only one trying to create something new.
"Next is Enrico Solcren Ferreira."
Her mother had taken one last glance at her before calling the next and final student for the test. Her mother was always like that—testing those of lower rank first and saving the top ones for last because she would focus entirely on them.
"Yes, professor." Enrico left his table, where he sat with the elf Thalen Lioren, Rank 42, who had sworn loyalty to Elowyn, making others distrust him, and the orc Grakka Zarnash, Rank 40, who had helped them a lot in the fight against Elowyn.
"Friend Enrico is really strong, so it should be easy for him, right Thalen?"
She spoke of Enrico like a close friend, but it was always like that with orcs—they were only interested in the strong, which made Serenya wonder why she was still friends with Thalen. Was it because he was too innocent or just plain stupid?
"I think so..."
Thalen watched Enrico descend the stairs, yawning—it seemed he hadn't slept well. He wondered if Enrico really fought Serenya and her subordinates and held his own, but he couldn't say anything since he saw himself as weak anyway.
"Go master!"
"Show them you're my Ketsumei!"
The two new girls at the table next to Enrico seemed excited.
"He's not your Ketsumei yet, Rina."
"Aoi, you should be on my side."
No one knew the expression of the third girl behind the mask, but by her voice, she was amused. These three had entered by defeating ranked students and became Rina Rank 35, Aoi Rank 36, and Yumeha Rank 37.
Professor Zenaria maintained a neutral expression at the behavior of the new students, then looked away and focused on Enrico, who was warming up and seemed sleepy.
"Ready, Enrico?"
"Yes, professor."
Today was his first day of class, so it was a good time to test this rapidly evolving student who had caught Professor Virelle's interest. She raised her hand and released four Zara-level 2 Nartheis.
"Wait, four?"
"Isn't that too much?"
All the students paid attention, especially Enrico's group of friends. They knew he had gotten stronger, especially after the fight against Elowyn, but they were still worried. The only ones not concerned were the three girls from Tsuyokuni, eager to finally see his full strength.
'Looks like some are worried about me, and others trust me completely.'
Enrico stretched a little, seeing four lion-shaped Nartheis in front of him—three red and one larger black one in the back.
'Well, I can't let any of them down.'
Enrico had just completed his fourth artifact the night before and was waiting for the magic to bind with the liquid metal to drink it, which would surely be unpleasant.
The first attack came, and since Enrico wanted to seem unconcerned, he did something risky. He simply stepped to the side, activated his ring, and channeled forty percent of his mana into his fist. The lion Nartheis was pierced through, but Enrico didn't stop. Still using the magic in his fist, he quickly moved and struck through the head of another.
'Two left.'
He had turned his back on the third one on purpose, so when the red lion attacked, he took another step, letting it pass by. Each move was calculated and could've gotten him killed if he missed even once.
Enrico created a fire bow with a double arrow and fired, piercing the red lion and hitting the black lion charging behind it.
'Still not dead, huh.'
He ran forward, passing the red lion that tried to slash him with blade-covered claws, while the black lion went for a bite. With a simple jump, he made them crash into each other, killing the red lion.
'Alright, now to surprise them, I'll use a new technique.'
He wanted to show them he was a genius, but to pull that off, he always had to create something out of nowhere.
'I've been working on this during my three-day suspension.'
It wasn't a new spell but rather an improved version—he had combined his physical training from the week with an existing spell.
"Fire Magic: Zero Impact"
With an explosive motion, Enrico's fist was covered in fire, and a layer of flame surged over it. With a flash, he stepped back, then forward, and his punch seemed to vanish into the air. The chest of the black lion was pierced exactly where the two fire arrows had hit its core. With a dry thud, the lion dropped dead.
'I did it. Now it'll look like I never stop evolving.'
He still had thirty percent of his mana left, which was good. He didn't waste unnecessary magic, and his movements were perfect—even though his body was starting to give out a little. He looked at everyone, who stared in disbelief. Well, almost everyone—Rina and Yumeha were smiling, and Aoi's reaction was hard to read. Enrico was a bit surprised at their expressions, thinking the reaction would be smaller.
'Did I overdo it?... No, in the future I plan to do far greater things than this, so I need to get used to it.'