"You've grown stronger again…"
During the final exchange of the sword between the Ever-Burning Sword Dragon and his sole heir, the middle-aged war veteran couldn't help but notice just how fast the young man is improving, a faint smile appearing on his usually stern face as he praises his son.
"Makes you want to start cultivating, doesn't it, old man?"
Seeing the faint smile along with the trace of intrigue in his father's face, the young man replies as he walks away from the courtyard, the sword in his hand already showing great traces of damage, as if it is about to shatter into smithereens sooner rather than later.
The same holds true for the sword the war veteran is wielding as well, these traces revealing just how fierce the spar is between this father and son, something that will shock anyone should they be fortunate enough to bear witness to such private duel between the two.
After all, even the veteran himself couldn't help but feel astonished as he stands in front of his child's swordsmanship, something that feels even greater than his own, a swordsmanship that is just as honed in the battlefield as his, perhaps even more, as increasing his own strength above the young man's current level is the only way for him to keep up with said swordsmanship.
It is to the point that he wonders just where is it that the child manages to learn how to wield his sword like that, something that seems way too insignificant now considering just how much changes and improvement he had gone through from that single travel that seems to greatly benefit him, to the point that he discovers a way for him, who's barely able to feel mana, to tread the path of strength.
'Perhaps it's also because of cultivation as well'
The Sword Dragon thought to himself as he nods to his child's question, the interest he holds for this cultivation growing larger and larger as time goes by due to just how great of an improvement the young man is having day by day, improvement that is substantial enough for him to realize during every single one of their daily duels that he had grown stronger than the day before.
"It's a good thing I will have some free time in the future, perhaps I can start practicing what you gave me then…"
The father, Arthur, said along with the nod making the child in front of him reveal a look of relief, as if a burden was just lifted off his shoulder, that expression making the father curious but choosing not to ask anything about it as he thought of something, the fact that this boy, this child he had raised is now a grown, decisive young man.
'If he really needs or want to tell me about it, then he would tell me about it…'
He added as he also starts going out of the courtyard with great anticipation for the future in his mind, after all, he witnesses first-hand from his own son the power one could possess if they are walking the path of cultivation instead of mana, what piques his attention the most being the absence of need for the energy being used in cultivation, spirit energy, to show the strength that the physical body possesses, unlike the need for mana users like him to reinforce the body with mana in order to showcase its true potential.
As the two of them separates, the son, Argus, returns to his room with a satisfied expression on his face as he stares at his fist for a while, that expression breaking into an uncontrolled, excited smile as he realizes the amount of benefits doubling his cultivation speed brought to his own progress.
'Already at the peak of the First Stage of Body Refining Realm… it should've taken me another week from now but here I am…'
The once greatest sage in existence mutters to himself as he calms himself down, knowing full well that no matter how big of a progress he had made from this short amount of time, is still far from enough compared to the level of strength he needs to possess in order to deal with the tribulations he will face in the future, starting with the ones that poses the greatest threat to this world he was born in.
In this manner, the time of the father and son, along with the other residents of the Draconia Manor continues to go like this for each passing day as the scheduled time for the entrance trials of the Lumencia Academy gets closer and closer, the young man about to enter this place again for the second time only focusing on getting stronger, unconcerned with the undercurrents between the factions formed by the top potentials of this batch going around.
While the young man who returned from the future continues to focus solely on getting stronger in preparation for what is about to come, the center of those undercurrents is also preparing as much as they can in order to secure their spot for this year's freshmen of the Lumencia Academy, each of them taking everything seriously as they know full well the consequences of not doing so.
And even beyond those aspiring students, the academy itself is preparing to welcome those aspirants with wide open arms, if wide open arms mean having the strictest, most brutal and taxing exams and trials in order for a gifted young person to be truly called an individual worthy of studying under the Lumencia Academy's name.
"—of the neighboring county, Leugenesio"
"That's quite a lot of talents from outside our empire, what about the geniuses here?"
"Yes, ma'am, there are actually quite a lot of gifted young ones in this batch as well… for one, there's Duke Al Raias' sole heir, Selenia Al Raias, the Grand Chamber of Commerce's Second Young Lady, Marie Alisse Goldstein, the youngest of the Spear Mercenary, Lukas Galewind, those are among the top talents of this batch…"
"Hmm… they're quite stronger than even the top contenders from outside our empire…"
"Yes, ma'am, they're… how should I say it, according to the information gathered about them, they might not even share the smallest semblance to the path they're walking but… each of them is in a league of their own"
"Fufufu~~~ isn't that what makes this academy of ours all the more interesting?"
As those words came out of the figure who appears to be more authoritative between the only two currently inside this great office, the other figure nods in interest as well, seemingly hesitating a bit before they finally let out words that they seem to hold back out of fear of spreading false information to the figure in front of them.
"Actually, ma'am, there's one more name that I personally think might be of interest"
"Hmm? You? Aeonia, you found someone interesting? Show me, show me~"
Hearing those words, the more authoritative figure then starts listening about the information about this other person of interest, their lips starting to curve into a faint smile at the end of the report as they mutter to themselves.
'The child of that Sword Dragon… interesting~'