The group made it back to the city in the evening. The area they were searching for earlier was somewhat close to Angla City, though on foot it was still 2 days away. It was a good thing that they had Silver and the modified carriage.

What would normally take other people days to travel would only be a couple of hours for their party. Of course, everyone had Cecil to thank for modifying the carriage. All the reinforcement runes and enchantments helped keep the durability of the carriage even after Silver's reckless pulling which would normally damage an ordinary carriage.

They were resting for the rest of the day after they turned in their quest. As usual, the high leveled quest wasn't known to the outside, but people were constantly seeing the high leveled quests being constantly cleared every week.

The faction scouts were constantly keeping track of the quest completions, but even they couldn't give a clear answer to who or what was clearing these high leveled quests. Of course, there were some factions and individuals who were privy to the party that kept on clearing these high ranked quests.

They sent many to cause problems on the group's quest, but their attempts were only for naught. The factions wanted to do more, but even the leaders were beginning to feel helpless at the power that the particular group displayed.

Cecil only smiled and thought that it was better for them to spring the surprise to the rest of the students after the academy announced the results. Their powers were now far above everyone else in their year and some seniors couldn't even hold a candle to them anymore, so he felt that it was now safe for them to reveal just how powerful their little group was. If problems came then just like Lucia said, the guys with the biggest fists have the last say.

"Hmph. We'll just power through all our problems~" Cecil grinned.

"What's up Cel? What's with that dubious smile?" Lucia asked.

The two were currently resting on top the carriage's roof at the outskirts of the city. Ainz and the rest were currently training or sparring with one another.

"Nah... I just thought it was kinda pointless for us to hide our strength..."

"Oh! Have you finally come to your senses?" Lucia asked happily.

"Tsk, it's actually your fault y'know!"

"How's it my fault?!" Lucia asked indignantly.

"Just think about how high profiled we've been during our entire time since we've enrolled in the academy, our magic evaluation battle, the magic research event, and everything else!"

"HEY! It's not just my fault! Even your little stint with the sage caused many eyes to turn to us! And how was our battle MY fault?! YOU were the one that decided to use Mana Burst in our fight!"

"..."

"Hah! Can't retort now can we?" Lucia said with a smug smirk.

"Tsk..." Cecil turned his body away and tried to fall asleep.

Despite all the hubris he said about being low-profiled, their past actions just weren't in line with what he had intended. Cecil just thought that it wasn't his fault that their fellow peers were just too weak.

"...it's not my fault that everyone else is so weak," Cecil mumbled.

"Exactly! It's not OUR fault! So why the hell should we sink to their level?" Lucia responded to his rhetorical question.

"...you didn't have to answer that."

"Well, I want to! Seriously... trying to hide our powers was the most stupid decision we ever took. Even when we were adventuring, we had no reason to hide anything! Seriously, why should we fall to the level of weaklings when we're strong?"

"..."

Seeing as Cecil kept silent, Lucia continued badgering him, "It's okay to be low-profiled since the attraction we attract to ourselves come in good and bad, but if there are fools who want to try anything on us... can't we just eliminate them? It's not hard! A single tier 7 spell and buh-bye fool!"

"I get it, I get it.... jeez... I just thought it would be better for us to 'fit in'."

"Fit in?"

"Well, it's something I learned back on Earth... it's something I heard from my siblings."

"Ooohhh!! Story time!"

"Ahaha! Well, listen then if you want. Back on Earth, the schools there weren't so accommodating like our academy... if you stood out, then the rest of the class was bound to hammer you in."

"?"

"Like I said, if you stood out, whether it's in a good way or bad way, the rest of the class doesn't like that."

"What? That's stupid!"

"Yeah, it is stupid. I didn't experience it personally, but my brother Gabriel did... also my eldest sister did as well."

"..."

"In Gabe's case, he had his twin, my brother, Luca, by his side. Fatima, my eldest sister was innately cold so she didn't care about what everyone thought of her. But Gabe... even with Luca's help became pretty introverted after all the bullying..."

"Hmph. If they bully you, then you should just bully them back!"

"What happens if the entire class was the one that bullied you?"

"...well..."

"Yeah, if it was on Alterna, then Gabe could have just beaten the shit out of everyone in the class. He's strong y'know? My entire family practices martial arts so there's no reason for him to not be able to crush those fools under his foot."

"So why didn't he?"

"The schools on Earth are a little different. They have a system that doesn't condone to any sort of violence," Cecil paused for a moment before continuing. "Unlike at the academy, if there are two people or a group who don't get along then you could just settle it with a duel and that's the end of it. On Earth however, there's no such thing. Even the teachers can't do anything about it. The only way they 'help' is by saying some stupid superficial advice that in no way helps out with the student's situation. It's stupid and I'm honestly glad I didn't go to school, although I was still extremely curious about it."

"...Well you're lucky then Cel~"

"Oh? How so?"

"You got to go to school in Alterna! And! You've met a whole group of oddballs that are just as unreasonable as you are!"

"Pfft... Ahahaha!!!" Cecil laughed uproariously at her words. He couldn't deny that. He turned an eye towards his friends who were now staring back at him, wondering what made him laugh out loud like that.

"A group of oddballs, huh... that doesn't sound so bad..."

"Hihi~" Lucia giggled at his words. She jumped down from the top of the carriage and landed on the ground. She turned her head upwards and called out to Cecil.

"Hey! Cel~ let's go a round!"

"...why not," Cecil followed suit and jumped off. The two made their way to an empty space close to the area where their friends were training.

They stood a few meters apart from each other, warmed up a little bit, but didn't take out any of their weapons. The two of them planned to fight barehanded this time around.

Once the two were ready and were about to begin, Lucia's eyes immediately changed to a fierce glare. She activated Elemental Burst and her body began emitting a dark crimson aura. She took a stance from Cecil's martial arts and waited for him. Cecil saw this and did the same. The two were mirroring each other, one enveloped in a dark crimson aura while the other was wrapped in a golden aura.

They dashed towards each other and immediately began exchanging blows. Each punch and kick rang loudly in the air when they blocked each other's blow. Their mana enhanced bodies flickered and flashed across the field. Their speeds that they no longer had to put a limiter on, were way too fast for the naked eye to keep up. Their friends were currently observing their fight, but they didn't even know what to look at.

They were moving too fast that the only indicator showing they were actually sparring were the loud booms and the occasional afterimage that flickered in the field, when they clashed.

Cecil had the upper hand in the fight since they were essentially fighting using his family's martial arts. Lucia was able to adapt to some degree to his attacks using her quick observation and combat sense, but even then she was always on the back foot in their entire bout.

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Cecil was enjoying the fight until all of a sudden Lucia stopped and yelled, "CEL STOP!"

"Huh?" Cecil immediately halted and stared questioningly at the girl in front of him.

"Your mana!" Lucia said while pointing at her bracelet that tracked his mana. It was glowing in an orange color which was dangerously close to red. If he used anymore of his mana, he would start losing control of himself again.

"Crap..." He immediately deactivated Mana Burst and retracted his aura. He stabilized his breathing and leveled his mana before sighing.

Lucia did the same and worriedly asked, "Are you okay? Do you need my mana?"

"No, I'm good," Cecil replied while sighing again, "Phew... I didn't feel the side effects at all...strange."

"You've stopped feeling it after your breakthrough."

"Yeah... I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not."

"It's better to be safe than sorry... I don't want you turning into a monster..."

"Ahaha, well, I'm pretty much already a monster judging by others' standards!" Cecil joked.

"...y'know what I mean, idiot," Lucia said while pouting.

"Don't worry about me, but you sure have gotten stronger."

"Hehe~ Of course! Though, I'm still far from your level." Lucia shook her head helplessly.

"You'll get there... eventually."

"By the time I'm there, you'd probably be at a higher level already!"

"Maybe..." Cecil replied with a smirk.

The two walked back towards their friends who were now looking at the incredulously.

"Hey... you two... what on Alterna was that?" Ainz asked with wide eyes.

"...just us fighting with no restraints," Lucia replied simply.

"No restraints? So you're saying you've been holding back all this time?"

"Basically, well we could go a level higher if we added magic into the equation."

"..."

"Tsk, looks like we're still far apart," Elizabeth said in frustration. She went back to her training and began doing the monotonous sword strikes that Cecil had her do as she mumbled to herself, "Looks like I'll have to obtain that Intent at all costs if I wanna catch up to them."

Cecil wanted her and the rest of his friends to find some form of enlightenment and awaken their Intents. In Elizabeth's case, it would be Sword Intent. Intent was some vague term that his father constantly told him while he was still training back on Earth on their family's private island, but he knew that there was a degree of truth to his father's words since he himself has one.

He was still in the process of awakening his Sword Intent, but he had already awakened his Spear Intent from a young age due to his family's rather barbaric way of training though back then, he didn't even realize it.

Cecil was a natural genius when using a spear and the only reason why he's been using a sword more often was so that he could awaken his Sword Intent. Intent was an invisible force that a martial artist could utilize when they attacked with their weapon of choice after obtaining some form of enlightenment regarding the world and its principles.

This enlightenment couldn't be taught. It had to be obtained through a lucky chance which was extremely hard to come by for most people. Unlike Aura that needed mana to activate, Intent was something that could be generated by focusing one's mind and projecting their mental energy outwards. There were a plethora of different Intents, but the easiest ones to obtain, according to his father and grandfather, were Intents gained through enlightenment from wielding a weapon.

Despite their words, neither one of Cecil's elders had even awakened their own Intents. At least, that's what he believed since he's never seen them use one even after he had badgered them to give him an example of how it felt like. Naturally, his elders didn't know he possessed an Intent already because back then, even he wasn't sure about it. He only confirmed this power that he had here on Alterna because it was only after he came to this planet did he truly start to believe all of the fantastical elements that his father and grandfather had constantly been feeding him since he was 5.

If Cecil had ever used his spear while releasing his intent then he could, with a one hundred percent certainty, freeze his opponent in place relying on pressure alone, leisurely walk up to them, and then strike them down.

He had already secretly tested this after coming to Alterna during one of his party's previous outings for a quest. He managed to freeze an A-rank monster purely with his Intent and walk up to it while it was still frozen and kill it with a single stab of his spear. Through the entire process, the monster didn't do anything because it couldn't do anything.

Being helpless as it was facing death, the monster didn't even let out a sound as Cecil's spear plunged into its heart, killing it on the spot. He found it to be quite frightening because he could kill someone or something without them being able to put up a struggle, but despite how frightening he thought it was, he believed that it was a skill that was necessary since only Intent could counter Intent.

He's never used it on anyone before because he didn't feel the need to do so since it would be overkill, but from his experience he knew that Intent was important because there was bound to be others who were stronger out there than the people he's met so far. Just the pressure and change of presence one would emit from releasing their Intent was frightening.

He's actually even encountered other beings who unknowingly possessed Intent and it was an Intent that he believed to be the most common, Killing Intent. He didn't know how one could obtain such a thing, but from the name, it likely had something to do with killing. It was probably pretty hard to obtain such a thing back on Earth because killing was a really taboo thing, but here on Alterna, killing monsters was a necessity and occasionally, even people.

Obtaining such an Intent was the easiest thing to do since killing was common here. Cecil and his party had already encountered a high-ranking monster that possessed pseudo-Killing Intent and although it wasn't the complete version of Killing Intent, that alone manage to nearly cripple his entire party that one time. If it wasn't for him quickly projecting his own Intent to counter the monster's pseudo-Killing Intent, his friends would've likely been very injured from the battle that day.

Due to that experience, Cecil wanted to help his friends achieve this ethereal realm where just by relying on their presence alone, they could strike fear in their enemies and most importantly, stand tall when facing someone or something that had their own Intent and not be a sitting duck waiting to be killed.

Since he could do it when he was still a child, there was no reason why his friends couldn't do the same, right? Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Even after he had explained to his friends about Intent and what it was, they still couldn't understand what he meant because it wasn't something he could just explain to them. He wasn't skilled or wise enough that his words alone could grant his friends enlightenment.

In the end, they'd just have to get lucky and obtain enlightenment on their own. The only thing he could do was continue training them and the only ones he could train in martial arts were Lucia, Elizabeth, and Velicia since they were fighters.

As for Ainz and Fina who were mages, there wasn't much he could do to train them in regards to martial arts, but his magic theory and knowledge from Earth was enough to satisfy the two. However, despite not seriously learning his martial arts, they did practice with the rest of the group just to keep their bodies fit and healthy. This was good enough already because even if they were mages, having a strong body would be a definite advantage to them when fighting against other people or monsters.

Cecil looked towards his friends who had went back to train more seriously than ever. It seems that their fight had ignited a flame in their friends and he was rather happy about it.

"...we're totally going to win this tournament."

"That goes without saying," Lucia smiled seeing her hardworking friends.