"Ready?"
"Yes, professor."
Zenaria, the Class A teacher, raises her hand and lowers it, beginning the training. A door on the other side opens, and two Level Two Zara Nartheis begin to come out. The student who would face the two was Serenya.
The first Zara, which was a brown tiger, makes the first attack with its claw. Serenya dodges, jumping, but the other Nartheis, which was also a tiger, only green in color, shoots green fire from its mouth.
'Dodge.'
The fire changes direction slightly, and Serenya creates two platforms beside the green tiger. As she closes both hands, the platforms move toward each other and split the Nartheis in two. The brown tiger jumps to reach her, but fails because it steps onto a platform.
"Now you."
Serenya begins lifting the tiger with her control magic, using one hand. With the other, she closes her fingers, causing a platform beside her to begin changing shape, trying to transform into a pointed structure, but it breaks. Serenya sighs and then simply sends the remaining Nartheis onto another platform, which splits it in half.
"You failed to create your new spell, but you managed to defeat two Level Two Zara, so your grade is B+."
Serenya nods to the teacher while the students whispered, thinking her grade should have been higher. But, to be honest, she also thought she did not deserve anything above that, because if she compared her performance to Enrico's, she was far below him.
"You did well, Serenya."
It was Camila speaking, who had become friends with her and Valença during those days when they were not having classes. In fact, it wasn't just her. Looking at a table farther down, Serenya sees Kai talking with Giulio. She did not know the reason, but Enrico had asked them to become friends with the two.
"I didn't do as well as you think."
"You demand too much from yourself."
Of course she did. If she let her subordinate surpass her so easily, she would not be a leader. Serenya looks at Valença, who was writing a new spell. Apparently, she was not the only one who wanted to create something new.
"Next is Enrico Solcren Ferreira."
The teacher takes one last look at Serenya before calling the next student, who would be the last one in the test. She always did it this way: she tested those with lower ranks first and left the top ones for later because she would only focus on them.
"All right, professor."
Enrico leaves the table where he was with the elf Thalen Lioren, Rank 42, who had sworn loyalty to Elowyn, which made them distrust him. Beside him was also the orc Grakka Zarnash, Rank 40, who had helped a lot during the fight against Elowyn.
"Friend Enrico is quite strong, so it should be easy for him, right, Thalen?"
She spoke about Enrico as if the two were close friends, but it had always been like that with orcs: they were only interested in the strong. This made Serenya wonder why Grakka was still friends with Thalen. Maybe it was because she was too innocent or simply an idiot.
"I think so..."
Thalen watches Enrico going down the stairs while yawning. It seemed that he had not slept well. He then wonders if Enrico had really fought Serenya and her subordinates and managed to endure it. However, he could not say anything, because he himself considered himself someone weak.
The two new girls who were sitting at the table beside Enrico seemed excited.
"Go, master."
"Show them that you are my Ketsumei."
"He isn't your Ketsumei yet, Rina."
"Aoi, you should be on my side."
Because of the third girl's mask, no one knew what expression she was making, but from her voice, it was possible to tell that she was having fun teasing her friend, who now had a tearful expression. The three had managed to enter Class A after defeating the students they faced during the test, becoming Rina, Rank 35; Aoi, Rank 36; and Yumeha, Rank 37.
Professor Zenaria maintained a neutral expression as she watched the behavior of the new students. Then, she looks away and focuses on Enrico, who was warming up while seeming sleepy.
"Ready, Enrico?"
"Yes, professor."
Today was his first day of class in Class A after the week of rest, so it would be a good time to test that student who was evolving so quickly and who had caught Professor Virelle's interest. Zenaria raises her hand and lowers it, unlocking four Level Two Zara Nartheis.
"Wait, four?"
"Isn't that too much?"
All the students paid attention, especially Enrico's group of friends. They knew that he had become stronger, especially after the fight against Elowyn, but they were still worried. The only ones who did not show concern were the three girls from Tsuyokuni, who were thinking that they would finally see more of his strength.
'It seems that they're worried about me, while others completely trust me.'
Enrico stretches a little while observing the four Nartheis in front of him. They all had the appearance of lions: three were red, while the last one, which was behind the others, was black and larger.
'Well, I can't disappoint any of them.'
Enrico had finished the fourth artifact the day before and was now only waiting for the magic to completely combine with the liquid metal so he could drink it. And, for sure, it would be horrible.
The first attack came. Since Enrico wanted to seem unconcerned, he simply did something dangerous: he took only one step to the side, activated the ring, and put forty percent of his mana into his fist. The first lion Nartheis was pierced by the blow, but Enrico did not stop. Taking advantage of the magic that still surrounded his fist, he moved quickly and pierced through the second one's head.
'Two left.'
He had deliberately turned his back to the third one. So, when the third red lion attacked, Enrico took another step to the side, letting the attack pass by him. Every movement was carefully calculated and could lead to his death if he made a single mistake.
Enrico creates a fire bow with a double arrow and fires. The two arrows pierce the third red lion and continue forward, becoming embedded in the black lion, which was running to attack from behind the red one.
'It still hasn't died, so...'
He runs forward, passing the third red lion, which tries to hit him with its claw covered in blades, while the black lion advances from the other side after a quick movement to bite him. However, with a simple jump, Enrico makes the two Nartheis collide. In that collision, the third red lion dies.
'All right. Now, to surprise them, I'll use a new technique.'
He wanted to show everyone that he was a genius, but for someone to be considered a genius, they always needed to come up with something new out of nowhere in front of others.
'I have been preparing this during the three days of suspension.'
It was not a new magic, but rather an improved version of a magic he already possessed, combining it with the physique he had acquired during that week.
"Fire Magic: Zero Impact."
In an explosive movement, Enrico's fist becomes covered in fire. A layer of flames appears around his fist and, with an intense glow, he takes one step backward and then one forward. His fist seems to disappear into the air, and in the next instant, the black lion's chest is pierced exactly at the two points where the two fire arrows were embedded, striking the core directly.
With a dry sound, the black lion falls to the ground, dead.
'I did it. Now it'll look like I never stop evolving.'
He had done all of that and still had thirty percent of his mana, which was good. He had not spent mana unnecessarily, and his movements had been perfect, even with his body beginning to fail a little.
Enrico looks at everyone present, who were incredulous. Well, almost everyone. Rina and Yumeha had happy expressions, while it was difficult to know what Aoi was thinking because of the mask. Enrico is a little surprised by everyone's reaction, as he expected it to be smaller.
'Did I overdo it?... No. In the future, I plan to do things better than this, so I have to get used to it.'