Alard, that is what his name was.

He was one of the few students whose profiles I had actually read simply because he came first in the entrance exam.

it was pitifully empty to tell the truth.

I have been sensing this student’s analytic gaze throughout the entire assessment. He was always looking for an opening. He wasn’t anything like a lion; his might was certainly nowhere near enough to be considered an apex predator.

But his patience, it was like a panther crawling closer and closer in the darkest night, his bright yellow eyes never leaving its prey waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

It was almost sad to hear that he was willing to give up this easily.

I guess he may have figured out I was nowhere near his league.

He smiled rather creepily as he walked forward, his hands clearly visible… empty… as expected.

His hair with a few strands reaching downwards onto his forehead twitched slightly in the wind. He muttered a word under his breath.

I couldn’t hear it.

But it took me a few nano-seconds to feel the mana shift in the air.

“equ-boost”

It must have been a personal spell since I haven’t heard that one before.

In an instant the student who was at least five meters away closed the distance and appeared directly in front of me.

His eyes that had appeared friendly had changed to that of a predator who was ready to consume its prey.

In his hands a strange sword that appeared out of thin air was cleaving downwards towards my neck.

My eye that had seen a thousand blows, saw his attack as though it was in slow motion.

But even I was surprised by the sheer speed and strength his brash attack was demonstrating, even so, I could still dodge this.

But when I told my body to move as it did a hundred, no a thousand times before, it felt like a house of bricks was sitting on my shoulders.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“When did he!”

I involuntarily let out a noise as the sword drew closer.

I could have sworn I saw his smug smirk as he saw the look of surprise on my face.

I was surprised indeed, I had thought his spell was enhancement magic on himself but it seems it was two spells merged into one.

Not only did it enhance him but it also slowed me down drastically, this was at least a fourth circle spell… as expected from the top student.

“Swift Dia!”

I activated a hastening spell while twisting my body dodging the sword and hitting his hand changing the trajectory of his attack towards the floor.

The impact of his sword strike hitting the floor was so powerful that it shaked the arena and split the ground wide open.

My eyes nearly popped out at the power that was behind that sword. Never would I have imagined that much force could be generated from that tiny body.

Back to reality I had stopped moving and appeared behind him tapped him on the back of his neck teleporting him into the stance.

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief as I saw that that monster of a child had teleported into the stance and rubbed my neck where that sword would have landed.

To my surprise there was a drop, albeit miniscule of blood.

Not only did he force me to use magic but he also drew blood, this child is definitely the real deal.

His talent and intuition for battle and mind games was not something to scoff at. Plus there was the fact that he used a fourth circle spell.

There was a nagging feeling about the whole situation though. For some reason it felt like I had fought this child before.

His movements and scheme felt eerily familiar, as though I was fighting an old rival.

I recovered from my thoughts only to remember he was the last of the students which meant the assessment was now complete.

-

Clover gathered the tattered students in the stands and began to give his lecture.

“Today is your first glimpse into the real world of combat.

You were given time to plan an attack but instead of coordinating as a force with two hundred strong you broke up into your pre-established cliques of fives and tens refusing to cooperate for a bigger picture.”

The colonel paused as he looked over towards the pink haired girl and then shifted his gaze back towards Alard.

“And even the supposedly smart and talented ones amongst you, always thinking they can fight the world by themselves, refusing to cooperate because they only believe in their own strengths.”

he made a sharp exhale and paused

“utterly foolish!”

He scuffed and continued to preach to the students sitting in the stands with their swollen faces and aching bodies.

“The truth is, in this world sometimes you will face insurmountable mountains and monsters that only an army can tear down.

So I implore you,

Learn to work together, or learn to die alone!”

The entire freshman block was sent to their dorms for the rest of the day. They all dragged their aching and swollen bodies to their respective rooms.

They left feeling depressed and beaten, left only to ponder the words they had just heard in their quiet moments of defeat.