Today was the day the qualifiers would begin, so Virelle walked to gather everyone from the academy's top five and take them to the designated location. She would go after Enrico first, but yesterday he said he would finish a special training she had given him and asked to be the last one gathered.
'If he finishes this training, he'll be able to put up a good fight against Victoria.'
Entering a secret training room belonging to the academy's director, she saw a level two circle barrier created by Hao, who was reading a newspaper while someone inside tried to break it.
'Even though the director made a circle two barrier, it's at the peak of that level and even so…'
Cracks began to appear on the round barrier — the magic being used by the person inside was quite powerful for their level.
"Professor Virelle, is it time already?"
"Yes, director. It seems you've been training her well."
"Of course. Now that the person I wanted to train already has a teacher, I want to show what he's missing."
That training wasn't just about breaking a barrier — inside it, a magical pressure was generated, forcing her to use her magic to protect her body.
"She's someone very powerful, but this girl still doesn't have anything to help her withstand more attacks, so I made this training."
"Maybe it's because her body has always been the peak of human potential since birth… you know, now I want to see her reaction when she finds out Enrico has the same kind of body as hers."
"I hope so too. Maybe then she'll stop looking like nothing at her level can hurt her."
The two wanted that girl to take being a mage seriously. They knew there were many prodigies who wasted their potential, but whenever she appeared, everyone wanted to see just how far she could go if she trained hard.
"This girl always tries to downplay my training, saying that even without it she's already strong... I wish she were like Enrico — even though he's a prodigy, he trains a lot."
'He's not exactly a prodigy.'
Virelle averted her gaze from Hao; people still thought Enrico was a prodigy, though he really did look like one from afar.
'It seems only Angela and I know... having a secret with my pupil feels good.'
An arrogant smile appeared on her face, proud of being the only one to realize that so far.
'I still have my doubts about how he increased his mana, but it must've been something from the future. I hope someday he shares that secret with his teacher.'
"It looks like she's about to come out."
Hearing a cracking sound, Virelle focused on the barrier, which completely shattered with one last impact — the greatest amount of mana ever seen from any circle two in the academy's history.
'Can't wait to see her future.'
"You damn old man! Why did you put me inside that sphere, you bastard!?"
"So you'd finally train seriously, brat!"
The first thing they saw was Victoria's purple hair. She looked serious, sweat running down her forehead, and her eyes irritated for having to put so much effort into something she thought was pointless.
"Miss Victoria, it's time to go to the qualifiers, so you'd better rest."
"That's exactly what I was going to do if it weren't for this old man."
"This brat is really annoying. That's why I prefer Enrico."
"Enrico? You keep talking about him, but I don't think he's that great compared to me."
Her face was neutral, as if everything she said were true — which made sense, since all her life, she'd always been right, even when she was wrong.
"I don't want to hear that name right now. Let's just go, professor."
Passing by the two, they exchanged glances and shook their heads. That girl knew her potential, and it was exactly why she acted as if she were the only one in the world that mattered.
'That's exactly why I started losing interest in training her, even with all that potential.'
She acted arrogantly, but her expression was still neutral. Arriving at another room, the three saw someone fighting several magical dummies made by the academy to help students improve their combat performance after classes.
'Students can come here anytime, but Enrico hasn't come often as far as I remember.'
"Director, is it time already?"
Lira Xuefeng, the academy's rank two, her expression completely cold. They all felt she hid her true personality behind that icy demeanor, but for some reason, none of them wanted to know her too deeply. Her long black hair reached her waist, and her dark green eyes stared sharply.
"Yes, please come with us, Miss Xuefeng."
"Right behind you, director."
The next they gathered was Elaris, who had become rank three. She was taking care of some matters as the Student Council president, but when she saw them, she quickly finished and joined them.
'These three haven't said a single word the entire way. Sometimes I wonder if they're really classmates... though the next one isn't that different either.'
The director shook his head as they entered the academy's second-level library. At its center, a boy with green hair was reading one of the books, completely focused. His black glasses gave off an aura of someone eager to learn more.
"Master Roberto, it's time to go."
"Already? Damn, I got too absorbed in this new magic. Just give me a second to tidy up."
Roberto Vioren, rank four. He was previously rank nine, quickly rising after seeing Enrico defeat Danyana. It seemed that somehow, that result inspired him to climb the ranks.
"Looks like only your fellow Enrico is missing, right, director?"
"Yes, it seems he's training in the academy's left training field."
"Well, I wouldn't expect any less from that training maniac."
A gleam flashed on Roberto's glasses as he joined them. Heading in the last direction, they began to feel something different in the air as they approached. Upon entering the training field, they saw the entire place destroyed — and Enrico on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Good morning. I think I overdid my training, so could you give me a hand to recover faster?"
Virelle sighed, approaching to heal him while the four students looked at the destruction with interest or surprise. All of the top five were gathered, and it was time to head to the qualifiers' location.