For a few seconds, Princess Rias’s eyes remained on Michael, with a her squad of girls behind her. Then, without saying a word, she turned around and walked away, her long red hair dancing gently in the air as she left the classroom behind with her girls.
The rest of the class watched her leave, confused for a moment, after all there’s nothing that should have brought one of Class A’s strongest Evolver all the way down to the disposable Class C as other classes would call it.
Then, one by one, their eyes snapped toward Michael. Some wore annoyed grins, while others clenched their fists tightly beneath their desks, struggling to suppress the jealousy building inside them.
"And the surprises just keeps coming." Silva let out a quiet chortle before leaning back in his chair and resting his head on his folded arms.
"You mean Princess Rias? Is her presence in this class really that surprising?"
"You’re new here so you may not know this, but the Evolvers academy is made up of six classes, but what really makes it what it is are the three special classes that stands above the rest, Class A, B, and C."
"Six classes?" Michael turned to look at Silva.
"The remaining three deals with normal school stuff, so it’s not really important, what’s important is that the three special classes are world’s apart. We exist in the same building but they treat each other like they are in different dimensions, well, excluding us."
"So you’re saying this is the first time someone from the other two classes has come down here? And that person just happens to be one of the strongest Evolvers in Class A? Why?"
"Come on, you know why." Silva grinned.
"Because it is the principle of domination Micheal, power attracts power, you were brought here personally by Mr Jin, so I doubt she’ll be the only one to want to know why."
"Hm, Mr Jin said something about being the strongest, is that true?"
Silver slowly brought his hands down and crossed them over his chest before closing his eyes for a moment. "I can’t really say, not many has seen what kind of Origin he uses."
"Doesn’t he teach here? Why hasn’t anyone seen it?"
"Because those who have, did not live to tell the story, but rumors has spread all over the years about Mr Jin, and they all called him the same thing... The Dragon Sage."
"The Dragon... Sage?" Michael stared at Silva as his mind momentarily blanked out. He tried to process what he had just said.
’If that’s the case, he should be teaching me right now, not putting me in this miserable class.’ Michael felt that every moment he wasted in this class, is a moment more of the peace and happiness the royal family of Midgard didn’t deserve to enjoy.
"Come on." Silva stood up from his seat, grabbing his training gear from inside his desk. "We’re going to be late for training."
..
After a few minutes, all students of Class C assembled at the courtyard where their final training began.
"Pay attention, the training session has begun." Vance began.
"The academy has granted Class C one last chance and a final appraisal. The Abyss will be opening up in just a week, and that means if you are all serious about passing the appraisal and entering the abyss, your training henceforth will be most especially brutal. The end goal of this training is to develop your ultimate techniques, Nature Arts, that is the only way to pass."
"Because of our new student, I will explain this once more. Anyone that manages to activate his Origin is called an Evolver, you all know that much, but what you didn’t know before coming here is the building block behind every origin is what we call Natural Energy, or Nature Energy for short. They are the core of every Origin, and the sole method in creating a Nature Art. Observe."
Vance stretched out his right hand, and his Nature Energy surged from his inner core and flowed down his arm before gathering into a single point in his palm.
A powerful pressure spread across the academy grounds, causing the students to feel the ground beneath them tremble. A yellow aura soon emerged from his palm, drifting into the air like a cloud of smoke.
"To create a Nature Art, you need me feel and connect with your Nature Energy, as two independent parts working together to achieve a sole purpose."
Now that he was done with explanations, it was time to get down to business.
"Of course, in the Abyss Nature Arts are useless if the Evolver cannot properly use them wisely in battle. All the simulations you have fought in each training session, they are nothing compared to the monstrosity in the abyss, because of that..."
"I have!" A man shouted from the sky, his words bursting forth like a cannon shot.
All eyes stared up as a man plummeted from the sky, his arms stretched wide, embracing the rush of wind that whipped around him.
Then as he landed, he raised his thumbs and pointed it towards the students. "Arrived!" He said with a bright smile, the rays of the sun reflecting off his white teeth.
"N-No way... That’s Class B’s guardian.." One of the students stuttered.
"The Grade 4 Evolver! Aegon!" Another beamed with an unbearable excitement that she tried to contain.
"Aegon... I have told you countless times, there is absolutely no need for your dramatic entrances." Vance said, his icy gaze fixed on Aegon.
"You’re still as uptight as ever, but you’re going to have to deal with it since you want my help." He replied, laughing loudly as he placed his hand over Vance’s shoulder.
Most of the students were shocked, but their excitement overwrote it.
"Mr Vance, why is Mr Aegon, the Ironheart Guardian of Class B here?" One of the students asked, her voice filled with excitement as they all wanted to know. The source of this chapter is g.com.
"Like I said, this is your final appraisal, so I have taken drastic measures to make sure you don’t fail again. Aegon will be assisting in the most important part of your training, combat training. From here, he’ll be in your care." Vance was done with his business for the day, so he left the courtyard leaving behind a note of warning.
"Try not to do anything that’ll endanger their lives Aegon."
"I didn’t come here to murder anyone Vance, relax!" He laughed out loudly, leaving the students puzzled.
"Now then." His voice dropped as he turned to face the students.
"Listen Up!" He began, his behavior changing unexpectedly. The warm smile and cheerful laugh he wore all vanished without a trace, leaving only an expression fueled by total seriousness and focus.
"Combat is the core of the human race, from generations to generations it has been adapted into our lifestyles, it won wars, saved mankind, and protected mankind from the creatures of the abyss."
A smug grin formed on his face as his eyes lit up like a blazing fire.
"In the abyss where survival is the only necessity, only an Evolver sharpened by discipline, skill and wits will survive!"
With a deep breath, he turned his back around, his sights facing ahead as the tone of his voice deepened.
"Come at me at once."
"Huh?"
His sudden request for them to go at him all at once left them puzzled.
"By now you should have mastered your Nature Arts haven’t you? Use them, and your ultimate techniques if you feel like it’s necessary to defeat me, that’s the only condition to pass this exercise."
A heavy silence descended, punctuated only by gasps of disbelief.
Training them was one thing, but even if they used their Nature Arts, how did they hope to win and pass this selection? After all, there was a dimensional difference between Grade 1 Evolvers and a Grade 4, not even 10 Grade 1 Evolvers could beat a single Grade 3 Evolver.
"Tsk." A student — Gordon, grunted.
’Fight him with our ultimate techniques? He actually dares to look down on us?’ He thought.
Out of annoyance, he charged forward at Aegon, cloaking his right hand with a golden aura. "You asked for this! Don’t be sorry!"
Gordon activated the third Origin, and gained the ability to create an astral projection of his body. But with the level he was right now, it was limited to just body parts.
His right hand was surrounded by a large golden fist that he aimed at the back of Vance.
"Third Nature Art: Astral Fist!"
Aegon stood with his back to Gordon as he charged at him. Just as Gordon’s fist was about to hit him, Aegon pivoted on his heel and turned around in one smooth motion.
He raised his right arm and redirected Gordon’s punch toward the ground. The impact of his Astral Fist, which contained enough energy to knock down a bear, created a powerful shockwave that sent Gordon off his feet.
Aegon though, was completely unfazed. Without wasting a moment, he spun around and drove his right leg into Gordon’s stomach, launching him several meters backward before he crashed into the ground.
A heavy silence filled the air.
The students stared in disbelief, some with their mouths hanging open. Gordon was no pushover, but Aegon took him down with almost no effort without even using his Nature Energy.
"Next." He said as he settled into a normal stance, placing his left hand behind his back while extending his right forearm forward.
The heavy silence became increasingly disturbing, they were hesitant to fight after witnessing the swift reaction time of the combat specialist.
No one could muster the courage to face him, no one except for three individuals. Silva, Fried and finally Micheal.
Michael stepped forward, glancing down the path that Aegon stood in.
’I might not look it, but long before I attempted my first activation, I was taught by the best fighting instructors, so I will make up for my inexperience with Nature Arts with my combat prowess.’ He thought as he rolled his fist softly.
"Let’s go." Silva muttered, dashing forward at their instructor along with Michael and Fried.
As they quickly approached him, Fried attacked first, throwing a fast right cross at Aegon.
With a yawn, Aegon effortlessly caught his fist and used Fried’s momentum to redirect his entire body toward the others.
Silva quickly jumped over Fried and launched the first strike, a sharp jab aimed at Aegon’s midsection. Aegon easily sidestepped the attack and countered with a quick palm strike that grazed Silva’s shoulder.
The impact nearly knocked Silva off balance, but he quickly recovered and pivoted into a roundhouse kick.
’He’s good!’ In response, Silva leaped backward, easily avoiding the sweep. The moment he did, Michael used his blind spot and appeared directly in front of Aegon.
’Now’s my chance! I’ll test this.’
"Oh?" He grinned, behind him Fried also appeared. Simultaneously, Fried and Michael channeled their respective Nature Energy into their palms.
"Second Nature Art: Rotating Sphere!"
A blue ball of energy began to swell in Fried’s palm, growing larger as he poured more energy into it. In Michael’s hand, a dark ball of energy also began to form.
However, Michael’s was far weaker than Fried’s. It was his first time using the ability, and he still struggled to control it.
A smile slowly spread across Aegon’s face. He never expected them to actually corner him.
Or so they thought.
"That’s right! Resilience, perseverance! That’s when youth burns most crimson! However, my youth is far from burning out!"
Without warning Aegon’s leg muscles coiled like springs as he launched himself into the air. With a fluid grace, he arced above the ground, his feet barely grazing the dirt below.
In one swift, powerful movement, he reached out, snatching the wrists of the two boys who had ambushed him, one from the front, the other from behind.
"What!?" Their surprised faces flashed in the split second before he twisted his upper body, using their momentum against them and throwing them sideways.
As the boys fell, their Nature Arts tore into the ground, leaving behind deep holes. Fried’s impact created a much larger crater than Michael’s.
Aegon, however, landed safely on his feet. He he looked at the two boys with a faint grin on his face.
"Excellent! Let’s cont-" The academy bells rang, signaling the end of every class in session and the start of a new one.
Aegon glanced at the academy building, then let out a soft sigh and crossed his arms. "That’s it for today, we’ll continue tomorrow, so be sure to work on your Nature Arts and develop combat strategies to defeat me. You may leave."
As the students left, Aegon walked towards the craters the two boys created. He stopped when he saw Fried’s crater and chuckled softly. "Those boys are something el-"
He stopped as he glanced at Michael’s crater. "Hm?"
The longer Aegon stared at Michael’s crater, the less it looked like something created by a Nature Art, he knew the energy he felt from those two techniques. He narrowed his eyes before crouching down and examining it more closely.
The more he looked at it, the more the damage looked more like a hole punched straight through the ground by a powerful fist rather than the result of a Nature Art.
Aegon slowly rose to his feet and turned to his right. His eyes immediately landed on the trees in the distance, some of them split apart by an unknown force.
"What?" Aegon’s curiosity got the better of him, and he walked towards the split trees. As he stepped through them, his brows lifted slightly when a voice called out to him.
"It seems like you sensed it too." Aegon turned to his right and saw Mr. Jin crouched on his knees, his hands hanging loosely over them.
"Oh, It’s you Jin, you were watching?"
"Yeah... I wanted to see if my hunch was wrong, but now I’m convinced."
Aegon raised a brow before looking forward. Then the next moment, his eyes widened to their absolute limit.
"I’m never wrong."
What lay ahead before them defied all comprehension.
It was a massive crater stretched across the ground, filled with nothing but pure, unfiltered darkness. It swallowed everything within it, the trees, the earth, everything that came too close.
In fact, it didn’t look like a crater anymore, but a bottomless pit, one that seemed to consume anything foolish enough to defy it.
Aegon’s mouth hung open in disbelief, while his eyes flickered up and down several times, as if his mind was struggling to process what he was seeing.
"W—What is this!? Are you saying... This was that kid’s doing?"
Mr. Jin let out a soft laugh before slowly rising to his feet. He slipped his hands into his pockets, and then the smile on his face disappeared almost immediately.
"Michael Dreyar... What kind of an abomination are you?"