It was almost five o'clock in the evening and eight hours of training had passed, each of them made clear progress and succeeded in overcoming the minimum requirements that the teacher asked of them. Extreme fatigue was predominant in the atmosphere, so even the renewal of the mana did not compensate compared to the volume of consumption, and Mira returned with the teacher's clone and fell directly on her face.

'How can a copy be so powerful? Nonsense.'

'How come even with the two of us collaborating we didn't land more than three blows to the copy? Aaah.'

Yoon-Hwa was angry and punched the ground several times, exhausting her remaining strength and doing nothing again.

'It's the teacher's clones after all. Do you want to defeat them?'

Tai min responded to her while laughing, she was chasing after an unachievable goal.

'But this is crazy. A punch that can knocks down a wall did not even leave a scratch on it. I give up, it is much likely impossible.'

Of all, Dante and Aliana were in much better shape than the others, training more mentally than physically. Dante managed to transform into a shadow after swallowing the jewel, but the duration was limited and did not exceed a minute at best, while Aliana was able to distinguish three elements: wood, earth and fire. This gave her more options in combat than before, but it was not enough for her, who wants to become the best lady of spirits in the continent.

Maximus' copies disappeared after that and he rose from his seat after setting aside the book he was reading and applauding the disciples.

'Great performance as usual, don't exhaust yourself any more. Take these.'

He threw to each of them an unpolished mana stone and signaled to them to suck it. Five minutes later, everyone finished the operation and breathed deeply. Like a wilted flower watered with fresh water and reopened, the students revived greatly, although the amount of mana was not much.

'I'll tell you something kids, your current level was my ambition at the end of the month but you raised the threshold of challenge high in the sky. I'll get you to fourth rank by the end of the month.'

"Fourth rank?? Does that mean that our level is close to the third rank now?"

Then Mira noticed something wrong compared to the usual knowledge she knows about it.

'Why do you always say rank instead of ring/star/step? I still don't understand how to rise when we don't have magic rings or halo stars.'

What he has taught them so far is fundamentally different from the techniques and methods familiar in this world because he got them from another world.

'It is a system of power from another world, its origin and uses are different from the classical systems of our continent. Barriers between different classes and combat disciplines have been broken.'

It has become clear that a small part of the confusion about this topic is why the teacher mastered many areas, but the other question is where did he learn them? None of them wanted to ask, as the teacher is ruthless on off-topic questions. The heavenly sorcerer Maximus returned to the main topic without further side talk.

'This system is based on combat efficiency and is not limited to innate talent to some extent; currently you are in at least the third rank. Ostensibly, the third but already close to the fourth rank. You only lack techniques and practical experience now.'

Each of them cried out with joy and tightened his fists as if he had won a huge prize, a sense of inner peace that followed that joy as if all worries had disappeared overnight.

'From now on, the training program will change depending on how fast you progress as the boat has to keep up with the currents in the river. Enjoy the rest of the day then.'

'I'm almost starving, how about we go eat together?'

'A really good idea. So let's hurry, I won't wait for you if you're late.'

The others were hurried to eat and was going rapidly to leave the room. Dante, who rarely smiles, smiled, put his hands in his pocket and followed the others walking slowly.

.........

A few minutes and they arrived at the restaurant; each of them ordered his favorite food and not just one dish, at least two dishes each.

"Does he have a stomach or a black hole? It's his fourth dish already."

Everyone stared at Orion with a surprising look.

'Why are you staring at my face? Is there something on it???'

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They have seen him eating a huge amount before, but this time he has gone beyond logic, impossible for a human stomach to carry that much food as one meal.

'Where do you store food? This is not an amount that a normal person could ever eat.'

Mira was the first to speak with sarcastic glances on her face and pointed her finger at the dishes Orion had eaten.

'What's wrong with eating? My appetite is just a bit large sometimes. Eating is not a crime.'

Everyone burst out laughing and tears flowed from laughing at Orion's response, until Dante replied.

'You are right, eating is not a crime but eating this amount is a crime against your stomach, boy. You didn't even ask it what it thinks.'

'Stop being silly, if it hadn't endured it, it would complain, it's not my fault.'

He completed his fourth dish, was full, and then each of them left heading towards his favorite rest zone to spend the rest of this long day...

---------------------------

'Did you send the envoy as I asked you to the Mydrias Academy? Haven't we received a response yet?'

'I sent it yesterday and it arrived this morning. He's supposed to be back this evening.'

'It's better for it to be a good response or it won't end well.'

In the midst of this conversation, a knight in his forties entered with short black hair and a scar on his left cheek, advanced towards the two men sitting at a huge circular table that mediated a large room. It looks like a meeting room for an important place.

'I salute Brooke the Summit sword master and the head of the High Castle Merion.'

'Sit down, Hudson, has the envoy arrived or is there something new?'

'He just arrived. There was a reply but you won't like it.'

A vein appeared in Brooke's forehead as he waited for a response eagerly, his servant, who had been with him for hours, tried to calm him down but was unsuccessful.

'What did he say then? Hurry up and tell me.'

'Attend the Minas auction and you'll know, don't get ahead of events. This is what the headmaster of the academy told the envoy.'

'Albus, you!! I will break your rough head next time. Because we're both on a similar level, it makes you think we're equal.'

Brooke crushed the glass cup placed in front of him to a fine powder with his left hand. Hudson and his deputy Marcus calmed him down and prevented him from breaking more things.

'Chill down your cold and hard of a head, you're too old to get irritated like this.'

'But—but that old man treats me like a customer he hates, I'm always fired or uninvited.'

'It's because of your nervousness. Man, get in control. Even your family suffers because of your mood.'

'But... Damn, I'll wait until the auction.'

----------------------

Albus, who was in his office, drowning in papers and letters from everywhere on the continent, heard a knock on the door.

'Enter.'

'Good evening, colleague.'

The troublemaker and the head of misfortune came himself, although they are close friends, but not a quiet day has passed since Maximus came to the academy and his latest actions are conclusive proof of this.

'Not you, please leave…… Because of you, I am stuck in a pile of papers and you say colleague. Leave before I hit your head with my stick.'

'I'll leave after you answer my only question. Did anyone come knowing about the bloody gate?'

'This morning, two people came saying so. I can send someone to get them.'

'Just tell me where they are and I'll go myself.'

'In that building there, on the first floor. You'll find several guards, tell them I sent you and they'll let you in.'

Albus pointed his pen at a building from the window to his right, and then continued writing to complete the replies to the letters.

'Thank you. I'm leaving then.'

Maximus waved his hand, said goodbye to Albus after the shortest meeting ever, and then moved immediately to the building in question.

'Shoot, I forgot he does this all the time. I hope it doesn't cause problems there.'

...

'Introduce yourself.'

'I'm a guest of the manager, here's my card.'

Maximus showed the gold card he took in the day. The card did not fully confirm his identity but it is original and is the Academy's special guest’s card, this is sufficient proof to confirm the identity.

'Sir, please come in. Do you need a guide?'

'No, I can do that myself.'

Maximus examined the entire building with magic and found the two people involved in a room on the first floor, continued in the long hallway, then turned and went up to the next floor and headed straight to the room.

A homemaker in her forties and a young man in his early twenties and his appearance suggests his work as a carpenter.

'Greetings to you, mister.'

The two bowed to greet Maximus, who appeared to have a high status.

'So, you are the first to come. I will tell you a little thing, if one of you is a liar, confess now and I will pardon your life. If you don't confess, you'll regret it later.'

'I'm not a liar, I'm telling the truth.'

Both swallowed their dry saliva nervously, they might be executed if they were liars. They had no reason to be afraid because they were telling the truth, but Maximus' aura was so stifling and deadly, a tingling sensation of hundreds of needles on the entire body, so the two felt.

'Let one of you start talking, who will start first?'

The two stared at each other, the young man decided to start talking first, and what Maximus heard made him laugh a lot...