[ “Cryomancy Art: Ground Freeze” ]
[ “Cryomancy Art: Ice Wall” ]
[ “Glacier Shadow Slash” ] …
“… WOW!”
“Is this real?”
“Was he really a first-year like us?” …
Yui called Elysia along with their friends who were interested in Zero to watch the video of Zero’s fight. Today, they were finally able to see whether Zero is really what others claim him to be.
Sylvia gave a compilation of videos of Zero fighting. Ace Academy would usually keep such data in order to evaluate a student’s growth and analyze their strengths. But it was also open for other students to see it.
As a matter of fact, professors encourage students to do so. Students could watch the battle of strength and learn from it and it might also inspire students to work harder. It is also used as a reference by the professor while teaching the students.
Yui and others already expected that Zero would be strong but they never thought it was to that extent. At this moment, they were watching Zero fight with 9 other Top students in the Tournament Of Academies, where he was dominating.
Some of them remembered such fights being fought but forgot because what really mattered to people was the fight of Top-8 and as for other fights, no matter how interesting they were, it was pale in comparison to the final.
That’s why many forgot the unbelievable performance given by Zero. Now that they knew who Zero was, they were baffled by the power that he showed in the tournament.
*****
“Oh My God! Senior Zero was really strong. He could have easily won the tournament if not for being disqualified.”
Nina said.
“How could one master both sword and Magic Art?”
One of them asked.
It was not rare for people to use multiple Art of different weapons, however, the power of their secondary Art would be weak. In Zero’s case, both his Sword Art and Magic Art were destructive and it was difficult to know which Art was his Main Art.
Having watched the video, they can’t help but feel pity that Zero was not in Ace Academy. They could have witnessed more exciting battles and learned from him.
Yui was also satisfied to finally witness all the stories that he heard from Sylvia and the other students.
“Senior Zero was this powerful?”
Elysia muttered, finding it unbelievable what she had seen.
“Elysia? I thought that you knew that.”
Yui is surprised to find that Elysia has no idea that Zero wields such power. She thought for sure that Elysia already knew and wanted to meet him because of that.
“No! I didn’t know that he was so powerful. I simply wanted to meet him to clarify some things.”
Elysia replied.
???
Yui didn’t know what to say and was left confused. She could no longer think of a reason why Elysia was interested in Zero.
******
“Humph! One has already been removed, now I just need to remove another one.”
Professor William said as he held the wine bottle.
He was talking about Zero and Hiro, which he absolutely loathed. He didn’t like the fact that commoners like Zero and Hiro surpassed people of noble origin like him. Moreover, Zero repeatedly provoked him and had ideas about the woman he coveted.
He could not forgive Zero and had done so many things to bring him down including helping other Academies take down Zero in the Tournament Of Academies.
He thought he needed to do more after Zero and Hiro’s fame increased after the tournament. He didn’t want more people to support commoners and also didn’t like the fact that commoners thought that they could surpass people from big guilds.
He wanted to make Zero and Hiro suffer at Ace Academy. However, to his surprise, the boy who had been messing with him had finally quit Ace Academy. Though he thought that it was a pity that he was left off without many consequences.
Now, he thought that there was only one more dirt that he needed to remove from Ace Academy.
“Soon, I shall teach those commoners the difference between them and me!”
He happily drank the wine.
******
On the training ground.
Once a month, at Ace Academy, the Professor would gather students and teach them essential skills to make them strong. Last year, it was Professor Mia who taught Hiro’s class about Mana Condensation.
That day, it was time for one of the professors to teach a new skill to the students and for Hiro’s class it was Professor William. Professor used his connection to have him assigned to this class as he wanted to humiliate Hiro.
Professor William arrogantly stood in front of the students and began his lesson. First, he talked about the theory behind the skill that he was about to teach.
“Mana control is very important in order to have more power behind your attack without additional mana. A noble like me is already born with extraordinary control and is capable of …. “
Professor William’s explanation was clear and he was adept at explaining things. He did not appreciate people without backgrounds and praised people from high-grade guilds without any reason.
Many students didn’t like it as they were from a low background and Professor William was directly belittling them. Professor William also insulted Hiro indirectly.
“Some commoners may be hailed as geniuses but the true geniuses are people like us who have good backgrounds. He could only watch as people from the great guild overtook him.”
Professor William while looking at Hiro. It is clear as day that Professor William was talking about Hiro when say those words and one can clearly feel the hostility of Professor William from his words.
A lot of people felt uncomfortable and angry listening to this professor, but couldn’t do anything about it. Not only was Professor William a professor at Ace Academy but his father had a high position at The Authority.
Though there were also people who liked Professor William and agreed with him. They were the son and daughter of a high-graded guild who had nothing but a good background to show. They seldom worked hard and had only become stronger because of the potions and artifacts given by their family.
They hated the fact that Hiro, a person without any background and someone who should be working for them, was acting so high and mighty. The only reason they didn’t dare to mess with him was that he was friends with Zion, Lisa, and Sylvia who had a greater background than them.
Professor William’s unbearable lecture continued for another hour until it was time for the professor to show the real thing.
“Ugh! So irritating. Why is he our professor?”
Sylvia complained. She wanted to retaliate against Professor William for saying awful things to Hiro but she knew that it would only give the opportunity for Professor William to find more trouble with Hiro.
Hiro didn’t really care what Professor William said to him. Unlike Professor William who is obsessed with the pride of nobles, Hiro didn’t care what people thought about him. He was never a fan of fame and it was only unintentionally that he gained such fame.
“So, let me first show you all the difference between someone with good mana control and bad mana control.”
Professor William said as he brought a power testing machine. The power testing machine of Ace Academy could measure the strength of someone below S-Rank and was made up of rare materials.
“Hiro Ernest! You come up.”