Kai woke up with an excited smile on his face. After brushing his teeth, he took a shower and put on his Astrong Academy uniform, preparing for another day that promised to be interesting.
"Why are you so excited, Kai?"
"Today, I'm going to challenge Enrico and show him my new level. There's no way he'll refuse after seeing my new power!"
Kai was talking to the fairy with whom he had formed a contract in the aquatic dungeon. Ever since returning, he had been strengthening his affinity with her and could already feel how his magic improved whenever they used their combinations.
"Enrico will definitely be excited to fight me!"
"Your enthusiasm makes me happy, Kai. I hope that, at least this time, you'll be able to provide Lord Enrico with some entertainment."
"You show him quite a lot of respect, considering you've known him for such a short time."
For some reason, the fairy held a respect for Enrico that Kai couldn't understand. This was even stranger because he himself respected Enrico far more than she did. Kai had asked her several times why she acted that way, but the fairy always preferred to remain silent.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you need to hurry up so you can fight him."
"You're right!"
Watching her contractor run off, the fairy sighed. She knew that Enrico was Kael because she could see the essence of those who possessed water magic. That was precisely why she respected him so much.
'He's the first human I've met with an affinity for both fire and water magic. Those are two completely different types of magic...'
As he ran through the academy corridors, Kai spotted Valença and Camila standing in front of two lower-ranked students. In front of them were three students wearing uniforms different from Astrong's: two boys, one with black hair and the other with blue hair, and a girl with red hair.
Kai slowed down when he noticed the tension in the area.
"What's going on?"
"Great, another idiot has arrived."
One of the three was holding an injured student. Looking more closely, Kai noticed that the boy had one bleeding eye, apparently because of a blow he had received.
His expression turned serious. He moved his hand toward the sword at his waist and stared at the three students.
"Why did you do that?"
"Judging by your rankings, you must belong to Class S. So you should understand that we're simply educating people who don't know their place."
The black-haired boy answered arrogantly, as if he considered it perfectly normal to attack weaker students.
"You were just bothering people weaker than you."
Valença pointed her staff directly at the young man's face. He looked at the object as if it were a child's toy, showing no concern whatsoever.
"You should get that out of my face before I destroy your little toy."
"As if you were capable of doing that."
The red-haired girl seemed irritated by Valença's response. She raised her hand and grabbed the staff firmly, wrapping her fingers in bluish magic.
"You seem strong, but don't be fooled. We're the three best students from Vesparello, while you aren't even among the top ten in Class S."
For the first time in a long while, Valença gave a sarcastic smile.
"Really? I'm sorry to say this so honestly, but that statement doesn't mean much to me. I may not be among the top ten, but I'm sure I can handle someone from an academy that isn't even among the top three."
"You..."
The two girls began staring at each other with hostile expressions, as if they were ready to start a battle at any moment.
Meanwhile, the black-haired student tried to approach the two students he had attacked again. However, before he could continue, Kai stepped into his path.
"Come on, why fight? We're the elite, and the elite should be above boys who think they can talk to us as equals."
Kai drew his sword and pointed the blade at the young man's neck.
The black-haired student's expression finally changed. The two stared seriously at each other, making it clear that a civilized conversation seemed impossible. To be honest, Kai had learned from Enrico that, when dealing with people like that, sometimes it was necessary to resort to other methods to make them listen.
"I completely disagree with your statement. And, to be honest, I think that idea is complete bullshit."
"What an audacious boy."
Kai felt a blade touch his back. Without showing any fear, he shifted his eyes to the side and saw the very light blue-haired student smiling arrogantly behind him. Suddenly, Camila's voice came from behind the student standing beside Kai.
"I'd say the truly audacious ones here are you."
The blue-haired boy was surprised to realize that two blades apparently made of ash were pointed at his neck.
Camila kept one hand raised while ash floated around her, forming the weapons threatening her opponent.
"You visit our academy and treat our companions this way? To me, you're nothing but rats who'll hide as soon as someone stronger shows up."
"What did you say?"
"It seems you're deaf, so I'll repeat myself. You're nothing but rats who'll hide as soon as someone stronger shows up."
The atmosphere among the six grew increasingly heavy. None of them seemed willing to back down, and the tension threatened to turn the argument into a fight at any moment.
Tired of the visitors' arrogance and watching them act as though they were superior, Kai lowered his sword and decided to suggest a way to settle the conflict.
"How about settling this in the arena? I'd like to show you how it works."
"How arrogant... Very well, I accept the challenge. After all, my hand is itching to teach an arrogant little brat like you a lesson."
"I want to see if you'll keep talking like that when you're on the ground."
Kai turned to help the injured students. With Camila's help, he began escorting them to receive medical attention, while Valença and the three visitors followed them.
The black-haired student looked annoyed at the three injured students.
"Why don't you let those three go on their own? At this rate, it'll take us quite a while to get there. Besides, they're mages, so they should be able to endure this kind of damage."
With some irritation in his voice, Kai replied to the student from the rival academy.
"Can you shut up? If you don't want to come with us, go ahead and wait for us."
The black-haired student narrowed his eyes, clearly irritated by the response.
"My desire to teach you a lesson just keeps growing."
Kai chose to ignore him and continued helping the injured students. When they finally reached the infirmary, the three students were handed over to the healers, who began treating their wounds.
Before leaving, Kai, Valença, and Camila received the boys' thanks. The three smiled and left the room, ready to head to the arena.
"Let's go."
"Right behind you."
As they advanced through the corridors, the atmosphere surrounding the group grew increasingly heavy. The three visitors continued following Kai and his friends, and none of them seemed willing to forget the confrontation that was about to take place.
However, far behind them, Enrico followed at a safe distance, eating popcorn while watching everything with an amused smile.
[Why that smile? You're not happy to see your friends get defeated, are you?]
'No. I'm just surprised that I can personally assess their levels. And I have to admit that this fight will be more evenly matched than I imagined.'
Amused by the situation, Enrico continued following the group, keeping even farther away so as not to attract attention.
He wanted to watch those battles up close, especially to see the surprised expressions of the arrogant students when they discovered Kai and his friends' true levels.