Colonel Clover looked on from the sidelines as the three entered the stage.

He considered this a very good teaching opportunity.

Silverwing was your typical selfish noble who didn’t work well with others and was used to being handed everything. Meanwhile Lloyd was your below talented fellow that got to his level through sheer hard work.

The personality difference alone was enough to cause tension but with a common enemy they might be able to overcome their innate biases and become far better students.

But this lesson was really made for Alric. Colonel Clover needed to beat that island mentality out of him.

He needed Alric to understand the power that having a supporting partner could give him. Alric was simply too advanced for his age. If things continued how they were going now he would continue to think that he could fight the entire world by himself.

Colonel Clover more than anyone understood the problem with this line of thinking. It was how the most talented and genius self sabotaged.

They would never learn that there were always higher peaks and people far beyond them. They were the type to die alone and miserable.

Only in death would they truly understand. But Colonel Clover was a teacher, it was his job to curb this nature as early as possible.

This exercise was just the first of many to show him the benefits of having others around him.

Colonel Clover continued to watch as the training exercise started.

Alric looked at Lloyd and Silverwing then at the wooden dagger in his hand.

With the flick of wrist he held the dagger in a reverse grip and started moving to the left.

Silverwing, who looked like he had never swung a sword in his life, continued to turn, maintaining eye contact with Alric who was weaving back and forth.

Lloyd looked like he was in a better mindset and gripped his wooden sword and adopted a sturdy stance.

Silverwing, after only a few seconds of trying to follow Alric’s movement, got frustrated.

“Screw this, he is just one guy.

Let’s rain down some spells and see how he survives.”

Without giving Lloyd the chance to respond Silverwing threw his wooden sword at Alric. Afterall for someone like himself who was a full mage the sword really didn’t do much.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Icy shards!”

Silverwing saw Alric getting ready to dodge the sword and followed up with an ice spell that caused ice shards to spew from his palm.

Alric, seeing the attacks coming, smirked.

He dodged the sword only to grab it and use it as a shield against the icy projectile.

The icy shards connected with the wooden sword and caused a small burst of dust to expand.

“You idiot! You just gave him his favorite weapon on a golden plate!”

Hearing Lloyd’s word Silverwing wanted to bark back at Lloyd to question his inability to move thus far.

But Alric was already closing in, this time with a wooden sword in hand.

“Ice wal-”

Silverwing was about to cast a spell to block the attack but Alric was far too close for him to finish the spell in time.

Lloyd in a split second realized the mistake and pushed Silverwing aside to parry the attack, barely saving Silverwing from one embarrassing fate.

“Full Counter!”

Lloyd’s wooden sword glowed as he tried to counter with a slash of his own. White energy erupted from his blade rushing at Alric at almost point blank range.

Lloyd smirked in his mind feeling he had gotten the upper hand.

To his dismay a burst of ice erupted from the ground and blocked his attack.

Lloyd in complete disbelief looked at Silverwing who was still getting up off the floor.

“You idiot! You didn’t cancel your spell?!”

“You threw me on the floor when was I supposed to get time to do that?!”

Silverwing, furious at the treatment he had received thus far retorted.

But their squabble was broken when they heard a spell.

“Swift Dia”

The voice was low but audible enough to fire off every danger sense in Lloyd’s mind.

Almost instinctively Lloyd covered himself in a thin mana armor and raised his sword to slashed in the direction Alric was supposed to be.

But his attack only slashed the air and Alric was already behind him with a dagger at his neck.

Simultaneously Silverwing who had just gotten up was already eyeing down the end of a wooden sword.

“That’s the end of this exercise!”

Clover was the one to clap and signal the end of the exercise.

Truthfully Colonel Clover was in complete disbelief. His jaw hit the ground inwardly as he saw Alric complete the exercise with military precision.

If he didn’t know any better he would of thought Alric had done his class in a past life.

Everything Alric had done was straight from the army’s handbook. Colonel Clover really had to wonder if this child wasn’t the son of some great military officer.

“Ahem”

Colonel Clover cleared his throat trying to calm down the reaction of the rest of the class.

“Great work Alard.

As for you two,

What made you lose so badly?”

Clover looked at the two who were busy looking at each other in disdain.

“It’s cause this loser was too afraid to even move!”

“No, it's cause you don’t have an ounce of patience!”

Colonel Clover massaged his temple looking at the two still bickering.

“Silence!”

Clover silenced the two of them with a stern shout before continuing.

“First rule of fighting against multiple enemies, use their numbers against them.

Alard did this by using Silverwing to block Lloyd’s vision.”

Clover really didn’t want to admit how flawless Alric’s technique was but he couldn't contest the achievement.

“Next you use their advantages against them.

Did anyone see how Alric managed to do this?”

One student raised her hand before speaking.

“Um, he used the sword that Silverwing gave him.”

Clover nodded in agreement.

“That’s one way, another was timing his opponent’s spell to use it to his own advantage.

And finally the last rule for dealing with multiple opponents is to launch one quick and powerful assault to take the enemy by surprise.”

Colonel Clover explained to the class, still feeling a bit dispirited that Alric didn’t learn his part of the lesson.

“Well, with all of that explained now for the next set!”

“Christina, Phannor and Anka”

Colonel Clover tried to bolster his spirit hoping another set of students would learn something more valuable from the exchange.