The special five students were left behind after the battle royal.
Clover paced around as he looked at them keenly.
He stopped at the first student in the line
“Marcel Raizer.
You managed to muster a group of students and launched a coordinated assault.
That is the heart of what I wished all the students would learn this year, team work.”
Clover handed a golden ticket to the student dressed in his golden armor. Raizer wiped his bright blue eyes and fixed his out of place blonde hair and smiled as he accepted the library golden pass.
“Yonder Silverwing.
You gathered a smaller force and led them from the front, ensuring a more tactical approach.
Truly the embodiment of the generals I wish all my students to become.
Here you earned this.”
Yonder smirked as he received his pass pushing up his chest a little higher as though trying to show his superiority.
Clover shook his head and continued down the line.
“Lloyd, the cannon fodder.
You joined not one but two different groups that teamed up to attack me.
While you may have seemed like any other nameless face in the assault, that tenacity is outstanding.
A great leader knows when it is time to follow, here, have this ticket.”
Lloyd was on the verge of tears, his swollen face appeared more like a swollen cherry than a face, he looked as though he had been through a lot.
To be frank despite his ordinary appearance Lloyd was the only one who survived being hit by Colonel Clover three times. His tenacity alone was enough to impress anyone.
Alric looked over at Lloyd and remembered he was the same student he had helped in the entrance exam.
Alric looked at his appearance and made a note of it after all it took some kind of skill to survive those kinds of hits.
Clover looked at Alric trying to look over at Lloyd and smiled then continued down the line.
“Anka Heraldry.
Your craftiness and ingenuity truly caught me by surprise and amazed me.
You embody the brain over bronze that I wish all my students could embrace by the end of this semester.
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You deserve this.”
Anka pulled the pink hair reaching down on her face to the back of her ear and bowed slightly as she accepted the colonel's reward.
“And finally, Alard.
I can see why you are ranked first amongst the first years.
In a split second you can change the tide of a battle.
But remember no one man can fight the entire world.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those around you.”
Alard graciously accepted the Library Pass.
The special students were dismissed and sent off the arena.
By now the arena was empty and Colonel Clover stood there deep in thought.
‘Those ones definitely have some potential.
But I just can’t figure out why he felt so familiar…’
Clover’s hair stood on end and his heart raced as he felt a breath at the back of his neck.
“So what do you think?”
When Clover heard the voice his heartbeat slowed back down and he exhaled a sigh of relief.
‘As always completely undetectable to me,
Truly a monster.’
Clover always wondered how his old friend always had the upper hand against him.
“They are a decent lot,
But that one… he is a serious case..”
Clover thought as he spoke, rethinking the few seconds fighting Alard.
“You felt it too didn’t you?”
Clover nodded before continuing to speak.
“How could I not?
It was almost suffocating.
Even worse when he attacks.”
Gerard smirked hearing Clover speak,
“That’s rich coming from you old friend.”
“Yeah, but he is a young lad.
There is no way he should have a killing intent so vicious, it felt like I was fighting a wild beast!”
“What about how he fights?”
Clover looked at Gerard and then looked up and thought,
“Just as you would expect any beast to fight… No, any apex predator.
That kid's aura feels like he would skin his own mother alive if she made a good enough jacket.”
Headmaster Gerard look at Clover with a serious expression and questioned,
“Do you think we should get rid of him while he is still weak and has no name?”
Clover shook his head.
“It’s way too early for that,
Plus he is the number one student right now, a little too popular.”
Clover tried to reason,
“But he is a peasant, there isn’t much him nor his family could do to stop us”
The headmaster rebutted.
“That is true. but talent like that doesn’t just appear out of thin air. Let’s look into him before we make a move.
Plus it would be a real shame to lose such a talent even if he is just a peasant.”
Colonel Clover continued,
Let’s watch him grow first.
If he does anything out of line I will kill that peasant right where he stands.”
Clover’s eyes glowed in a red hue and the Headmaster patted his shoulder before disappearing into thin air.
Colonel Clover stood there alone rubbing his neck remembering the short exchange.
‘As much as I dislike trouble I admire talent even more and that kid has more potential than all the snot nose brats that are at the school.’
‘I wonder if I really will have the heart to kill such a talent…’
Colonel Clover wasn’t against killing anyone but the nation’s talent was where he drew the line. He had always remembered his days as an officer where he would literally have to beg for some half decent soldiers. Not to mention how many lives could have been saved if just one more talent was on the battlefield. He found this conundrum a pity.
Clover walked out the arena deep in thought before taking another look at the arena and smiled…
“Another year, another amazing story to tell!”
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