Having secured a magic crystal, Maxwell followed Cicero back to the gravity room.
"So you just place the magic crystal in the plug." The noble pointed at a brass magic crystal holder beside a metal dial.
"Okay..." Maxwell followed Cicero's instructions and stared at the magic circle.
VMMMMMM
The runes in the magic circle glowed vividly.
"Now turn the dial to the setting you want, I suggest you start small."
1.5x gravity
"Enjoy." Cicero smiled.
Maxwell nodded nervously and stepped into the magic circle.
"Argh!!" Maxwell's body felt much heavier as he stepped into the circle, making simply moving a difficult task.
"It's horrible right?" Cicero chuckled.
"Y-yeah." Maxwell slowly turned his body to look at the second year.
"It's the quickest way to progress, of course, it's going to be difficult."
'How the hell are they even doing that?' Maxwell turned his body again, focusing on the fighting magic knights in the centre.
"You seem curious, the third years are training at three times gravity."
"three times?" Maxwell choked.
"Don't feel too bad, I can't compete with them either." Cicero smiled.
Maxwell moved his body once more, every movement becoming slightly easier than the last.
The first year's eyes landed on his blonde classmate, who occupied a slightly larger magic circle.
"That's..."
"Lutz? He's here every day." Cicero followed Maxwell's gaze.
"Every day?"
"Yeah, ever since we were young he was curious about the gravity room. When he enrolled this year he started coming here almost every day." Cicero smiled.
"Since you were young?" Maxwell scrunched his nose.
"Yeah, we're cousins. His uncle is my dad." Cicero shrugged.
***
Sweating intensely, Lutz clenched his fist tightly.
"I need to get faster." He whispered.
Lutz opened his hand, revealing a dozen small flat cubes of a material resembling wood.
Lutz channelled a tiny bit of mana into the cubes and threw them into the air in front of him.
Caught by the increased gravity imposed by the magic circle, the cubes quickly descended.
'Time it correctly.' Lutz sharpened his eyes.
As soon as the first cube was in range, he thrust his rapier at the target, piercing right through it.
WHOOSH
Changing targets, the noble thrust his rapier once more, repeating the process till he had impaled every block or missed it entirely.
"Nine out of twelve." He shook his head disappointedly.
'No sleep till I get every single one of them.' Steeling his resolve, Lutz repeated the process.
***
Two hours later
Academy gymnasium
"You want to spar with me?" Luna stared at the imperial princess.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Yes." Marie nodded.
"I thought you hated fighting?" Luna tilted her head.
"That doesn't matter, I need to get stronger."
"Oh, well I don't care. As long as I get to fight." Luna grinned.
"What're the rules?" Marie asked.
"You're the weaker one, you choose."
"..."
"What? It's true." Luna shrugged.
"Aura is allowed, magic isn't. Wooden weapons only." Marie said.
"Got it."
"Tell me when you're ready." Marie fetched a wooden gladius from the weapon box.
"I'm always ready." Luna did the same, claiming an identical weapon to her adversary.
Beginning the battle eagerly, Luna dashed at her opponent, swinging her wooden gladius aggressively.
WHOOSH
'She's a bit faster, but I should be able to keep up.' Marie moved her head out of the way.
"You've gotten a bit faster since I saw you fight Amber." Luna thrust her gladius forward.
"..." Marie raised her blade, deflecting Luna's sword out of the way.
THUD
"Are you ignoring me?" Luna raised and swung her foot a the side of Marie's abdomen.
"...I don't enjoy the battle, so could you please keep quiet." Marie took a step forward, thrusting her gladius with all her might.
"Then you shouldn't have become a magic knight." Luna tilted her head to the side and shot her fist at Marie's nose.
BAM
"Argh." Marie staggered backwards.
"The battlefield isn't for you princess. Life is too short to be doing something you don't love!" Luna cleaved her gladius toward Marie's body.
"What else am I supposed to do...Fighting is the only way I can make a difference." Marie whispered and bent her knees, narrowly evading the wooden sword.
"You're one of the most politicily powerful people in the world, you can do whatever you want." Luna vertically slashed the gladius down.
"You just don't get it." Marie deflected the sword and forced her foot into Luna's chest.
THUD
***
10 days later, at 8:30 AM (The present.)
Martial arts practical session, the Class 1A classroom
Dressed in casual training attire a girl standing in an empty classroom rummaged through a leather bag.
"Where is it?" Amber whispered.
'I was sure I packed it today...'
"Are you looking for this? I think you must've dropped it on your way out of dorm alpha." A young man behind her asked.
'Is that...' Hearing the familiar voice, Amber's blood ran cold.
"Hm?" Putting on a calm mask, Amber turned to face the fifth Rising Star.
"Your training head scarf, you're still wearing your formal one so I'm assuming you lost this one." Jerald offered the white cloth to the PTC.
"Yeah...Thank you."
"No problem." Jerald smiled softly and turned around, heading to the classroom's only door.
'He's acting strange. Since when was he so chatty? He barely speaks two words to anyone other than Veda or himself.' Amber took off her black silk head covering, preparing to put on the more breathable training one.
CLICK
'Did he lock the door on his way out?' Hearing the latch on the door suddenly click, Amber froze.
"Since we're alone, I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions." Having locked the doors Jerald turned to face his classmate once more.
"What do you want?" Amber scowled.
"No need to be hostile, I just wanted to know something... It's only fair, don't you think?"
"Fair? What're you talking about?"
"You've been following me for two weeks straight, I should at least know why." As the words left Jerald's mouth, the room's temperature suddenly dropped.
'He knows?! How? I used my 'Anti-reflection' to make sure I was invisible, I was cautious to make no sounds at all and of course, I concealed my mana and Aura. How was I caught?!' Amber took a step back, dropping her formal head covering on the ground.
"Your light magic is really useful, you can bend the light so that you appear invisible. You used that spell multiple times to constantly stalk me. But you slipped up. You didn't mask your spirit correctly every single time."
"What're you talking about?" Amber stammered.
"It's difficult to consistently mask both your magic and aura while simultaneously casting a continuous spell; especially for someone like you who is mediocre at using Aura." Jerald explained.
"..." Despite the cold classroom, every single sweat gland in Amber's body began working in overdrive.
"So I just want to know. Why?" Jerald slowly walked towards the PTC.
'He won't attack me, will he? Of course not, we're in the classroom. Killing a PTC is a global crime, he'd be tortured for life. He wouldn't dare.' Regaining her composure, Amber stared at the Rising Star.
"What do you know Amber, or what do you think you know?" Jerald leaned forward.
"I know what you are." She said sternly.
"I know that you're a damon." She finished.
DEMMM
Before the prodigy could even finish her sentence, Jerald's Wicked Aura-enhanced fist ripped through the air.
SHATTER
WHOOSH
Drenched in water and steam coming from his messy Russian-violet hair, Adonis entered the classroom through the window and lodged himself between the PTC and the damon.
'Supreme Devil Art, Stage two...' Adonis used his arm to intercept Jerald's attack, protecting Amber from any harm.
Adonis' arm was cloaked with Earthly Aura, although strangely the Aura only encompassed the region Jerald's fist would connect with.
"Kagami." Adonis whispered.
{You're getting the floor wet idiot.}The Devil Goid reprimanded.
***
*Extra Information:
First-year Rising Stars fun facts:
Tarzy Goliath: Despite being a giant now, growing up Tarzy was always shorter than Marie. He only surpassed her when they were 11.
Luna Triksta: Despite being a fighting fanatic, Luna has never been to the Colosseum.
Amber Shine: Amber only found out what the abbreviation PTC stood for when she was 15(This year), almost a decade after she became one.
Lutz van Alexia: Lutz is scared of lemons.
Jerald Cecil: Jerald hates the daytime because quote "Why does it get to be bright and happy every day?"
Marie Jupiter: Marie's favourite food is puls, a porridge made from wheat and water.
Adonis P. Vindicta: When Adonis was younger and he couldn't sleep because of his PTSD and nightmares, Eos the Devil God would tell him a bedtime story.
Maxwell Aster: Whenever Adonis makes plans to study, Maxwell comes up with the most ridiculous excuses. The latest excuse was "His desk was stolen by an escaped goblin from the simulation room."
John van Ani: John's favourite hobby is bird watching.
Toni Modster: Toni only learnt to read last year.