Damien sprinted out the door trying to maneuver around the other students. He wanted to quickly reach his first class with Nora so he could tell her his rank and possibly explain his situation.

He slipped by the mass of people only to see Cal heading towards his direction. The way he was coming made it so Damien had nowhere to go.

‘I’m going to crash into him or others if I don’t stop!’

Damien slid to a complete stop only to be directly in front of Cal. Cal, who had no idea what was going on, walked straight into Damien. Damien stood unmoving to the impact while Cal wore an expression of pain.

“Ow, man that hurt! It’s like you’re made of steel. You feel completely different.”

“You sure? Maybe you just bumped into me really hard because I don’t notice a difference, you know? I feel the same I did yesterday and every other day. There’s nothing unusual about me.”

“No, there's something definitely different about you. I can’t quite put my finger on it. If I were to try to describe it then it would be like you’re glowing. Like your body language is giving off confidence. I don’t know what changed overnight. Plus you are talking too much, there’s something you’re hiding!”

Cal quickly picked up on Damien’s odd over explanation. He decided to test out his own theory and threw a light jab into Damien’s chest. The sound of bones popping rang out through the corridor. Cal tightly held his hand trying not to curse out with every profanity he knew. He was able to hold his words in, but could not deny the drops of tears trickling down from his left eye.

Damien was ready to console him with a pat on his shoulder but stopped himself midway.

‘I’ll just be extra safe and not do that.’

“I might have broken some fingers from that. You have to tell me your secret! Do you see how puny my body is? I can hardly stand physical activity!”

Damien did not know to respond. First of all he had no clue what he did except eat some energy dense foods. He couldn’t just say that and expect to be believed.

Cal noticed his hesitation clear as day. He turned downcast when he noticed it was something he could not be trusted with. He waved his arm at Damien and turned around. Cal turned the whole situation into a drama as he sniffled and coughed.

“Forget it… I just thought true friends wouldn’t keep secrets…”

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but you have to know that this is the truth! I just ate that spirit food at the restaurant and woke up like this.”

His whole dramatic charade faded away as he turned around to stare deeply into Damien’s tinted covered eyes. Seeing that Damien was filled with confidence in his answer, he defeatedly slumped his body.

“You’re serious, and here I thought I could finally have some protection from Yuki. I’ll just have to settle with her surprise when she personally finds out about this.”

‘I don’t want to intentionally provoke her, but this could be my payback!’

“That’s why I’m in a rush to speak with Professor Mildred. I plan on telling her about this to get some answers.”

“That’s not a smart idea! I’ve been eating that type of food my entire life and look at me! This could be something special and you can’t just be trusting everyone with this information. Let’s go to the library after school and look into it instead!”

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Damien understood the meaning behind his words and agreed to go together after class. Right when they started to walk to class Damien unexpectedly ran into another student. Damien fell backwards on his butt and could not help but have an incredulous look of surprise.

He slowly raised his head and saw the back of the student who had azure blue hair put up in a bun. He gulped loudly in fear waiting for that person to turn around. It was Yuki who turned around and sized both of them up deliberately.

“I thought a mosquito flew at me… I wasn’t wrong.”

Cal quickly helped Damien back up to his feet and secretly urged him to run with him. The fear in Damien was easily visible along with Cal’s. They took off in the direction of their first class passing Yuki by.

“Sorry Yuki, we are in a rush right now! See you in class.”

Yuki watched them leave until they were out of sight. Once she knew they weren’t coming back she put her hand on her back. She stretched it out and moved her body around for a while.

“That actually kind of hurt. When did his body get that strong? Still not up to my level though.”

Damien and Cal arrived at class before anyone else. They quickly entered through the doorway without noticing the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign plastered on the window. Once they entered they noticed a tranquil atmosphere breezing around the grounds. Once it circulated through their body their hidden worries seemingly disappeared. They instantly relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of being unhindered.

Damien instinctively sat down in place with serenity. He surveyed the open class and discovered Nora standing in the middle with her sword drawn. Her sword was unique and nothing like Damien had ever seen before. It was a near transparent blade with a tinge of ocean blue flowing through it. Her sweat glistened down her face as she tried to control her heavy breathing. Even with all this her face was calm with no hint of emotion pouring through.

In Damien’s view, Nora had already lifted her sword above her head ready to strike down. He didn’t even notice her make any movements, it was like she had always been ready to strike from the beginning.

‘Am I imagining things? I couldn’t even register her movements. It’s like she had always been in that position.’

In reality the serene atmosphere combined with the natural fluidity of Nora’s movements caused her to meld with the outside world. It was as if she were a part of nature herself and everything she did was just a matter of course. If one didn’t put close enough attention they would’ve just looked her over and not realized she was there ready to strike you down.

In the midst of her training, Nora stole a sidelong glance at her audience of two. She very quickly realized that Damien was able to stay in focus and observe her actions. On the other hand, Cal was deeply lost in thought with a self-indulgent smile sloppily worn on his face. She was surprised to see Damien able to somewhat resist the temptation she was emitting. Usually if someone had a weak enough strength and will, they would forget about all their worldly concerns. All that would be left is their innermost desires consuming their mind.

Nora continued with her training and concentrated on her own objective. She kept her transparent blue sword above her head and chopped down. She intentionally slowed herself just enough so Damien could catch a glimpse of her motion.

Her swing could not have been more simple. It was a straightforward overhead slash with no frills attached. There were no holes in her technique, it was simply textbook perfect. Even so Damien could barely make out her swing. One moment her sword was up, then slashed down, and finally put away in her scabbard. It was like a frame by frame motion in Damien’s eyes. The profound mysteries of her strike was too much to uncover at the moment.

‘If I were in front of her trying to defend, I would be slashed without knowing.’

Nora took a handkerchief out from the inside of her robe and meticulously wiped the sweat off her face. She walked over to her two students who were now sobering up from the effects from earlier. Once she had sheathed her sword, the surrounding area returned to normal. Cal was clearly lost and bewildered the moment he came to.

“Where did everyone go? No! I need to go back right now! Professor Mildred, along with Professor Fordor and others were there! Take me back…”

“Cal Azurith, that is enough coming from your mouth. Now would you two kindly explain to me why you ignored the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign outside the door and came barging in?”

Damien and Cal slowly looked at each other making it very clear that they had not noticed the sign she was wearing talking about. Cal was the first to open his mouth to explain the situation.

“Well Professor Mildred it’s because we were running for our safet…”

“Professor Mildred, what Cal is trying to say is that I was excited to tell you about my results from yesterday. We did not notice the sign by mistake, we’re sorry.”

Nora was easily able to see through them both but decided to let them off the hook this time. She was more interested in how Damien was able to observe her and the results of his test.

“Let me hear your results then, Damien. I hope you haven’t raised my expectations too far.”

Damien dug into his pockets and took at his identification card along with her family emblem she gave him. She only took his ID card off his hands to examine.

“I have no need for that emblem anymore. To put it bluntly, my strength is enough to identify who I am. It would be of more use to you, so keep it.”

Damien could not debate her logic and decided to accept her goodwill. He held it tightly in his hand before placing it in his pocket. He then observed her reaction as she read his ID card. It only took a few moments before she wore an expression of surprise.

“Sky Realm Rank 1 Swordsman. You are the first of your year to accomplish this, Damien. This calls for a special reward, but before that I would like to see it for myself. Draw your sword and demonstrate please.”