Although the receptionist looked puzzled at his appearance once ID was given, no further questions were asked and he swimmingly made it up the stairs.
As he was leaving he heard a sneering, familiar voice which angered him immediately, he sent three palms and a flurry of kicks in Kai and his gangs direction. They each could not absorb the damage and were quickly subdued.
"That's weird, where's the leader of your crew, my old roommate?" Zephyr asked about Claude, a bit confused why he was never present anymore.
"He went to the Duke in a bid to learn techniques to surpass you and restore his honor he said." A noble on the ground answered fearfully as Zephyr grabbed him and gave a quick punch to the chin, knocking him out.
"I see, no matter, Father told me never to get rusty and I cannot try his extreme workouts until he allows me so you all will suffice as good practice." Zephyr thought quickly on his way back to his room and hit the bed, snoring as he was fast asleep. He unfortunately only had one hour of sleep before Aqua had rushed him, telling him to wake up and get ready for school.
They all got their clothes ready and ran out to their class, Aqua and Magma were confused as why there were bodies laid on the ground by the stairs but nevertheless kept moving, choosing to ignore the random scene. Zephyr made his way to his desk but saw an unfamiliar person sitting close by with his hands locked behind his head in a lazy posture with a carefree smile on his face.
He had black hair and looked as free as the clouds. Zephyr just sat down and started minding his own business when he felt a gaze lock onto him. He turned around and made eye contact while baring his teeth in a wide smile.
The boy smiled back and moved his gaze away and looked else where. A few minutes later the girls appeared all in one big cluster with Lute in the middle as she held a golden fur ball in her hands.
It was lithe and graceful, completely showcasing a royal aura as it lay motionless in her embrace with it's head up high.
"Look at how pretty her spirit beast is." A girl exclaimed.
"Yeah I can't wait either to awaken, lucky she got a cute small pet that can grow with her too" another chimed in.
Soon Linus walked into class and everyone made their spots back to their seats while Linus told them some exciting news.
"Class, while this is just for a quick evaluation, grab a partner and we will begin to spar as it will show me where everyone's standing is and how I can better adjust for you all." He brought the bustling class out of the room and made their way through this maze like academy into a massive field.
There were already other classes and kids attacking or meditating and everything was very loud and the atmosphere was amazing.
"Okay, everyone find a partner, preferably someone you know on the same level of strength as you.
Due to Ivaldi, Lute had an increase in her popularity and many girls surrounded her, not even letting Zephyr ask thus he was all alone while watching people pair up one by one.
"You want to be partners? Zephyr heard a voice and it turned out to be the kid with hazel eyes.
"Hey, my names Simon, nice to meet you, I moved here today. Simon showed a friendly smile.
"I'm Zephyr, nice to meet you" Zephyr matched his pep and they started hitting it off and soon they were called up to spar.
"I hope you won't go easy, things have been a breeze lately in my practice battles with kids my own age, I hope you don't disappoint." Simon acknowledged Zephyr as a worthy opponent.
They stood five meters apart in a circular field with Linus in the middle speaking out the rules over and over.
"Summons allowed, energy allowed, stop when I say so. Go!"
Simon stepped back while Zephyr immediately bolted forward. A overflow of energy pulsed out of Simon as he stopped retreating and all out madly dashed at Zephyr, brandishing his fists. This was a first for Zephyr to see someone as young as he is have same level of energy cultivation as his brother, a stage seven Student at only eight years old!
This boy already didn't belong in the first two years whatsoever, he probably had at least two summonings to be that talented at that age.
Zephyr released his energy as he started turning greener and a shell sort of formed all around his body like armor. He received this a long time ago from Shelly but was only able to fully release it yesterday. He still needed more time for his black book however. The two's fists collided with a bang and they each showcased their talents, one in abundance in pure energy and the other with impeccable close quarters combat. After changing his center of gravity, Zephyr rushed in and placed one foot behind Simon and chucked him hard onto the ground on his back. It was a quick rumble but when Zephyr looked at his hands, he saw shattered armor like glass and was kind of shook inwardly.
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"Winner- Zephyr! I guess let's turn this into a competition, after seeing such a riveting performance, Linus got active and was ready to see things through the end.
Obviously, Zephyr did not encounter another problem in his next few matches and settled then with ease until the finals
"For our last match, Zephyr versus Lute! they both walked forward and faced each other while Zephyr had a toothy smile.
"Ready? Go!" Linus instructed.
"Ouch I rolled my ankle, I forfeit, the pains too much" Zephyr immediately grasped his left ankle and caressed it while wincing in pain. He then turned back and sat on the field while wiping tears from his eye.
"But you didn't move..." A boy whispered silently.
"Uh, I guess Lute wins" even Linus felt awkward but even he knew this class was stronger than normal. There were a few kids that stood out of course.
There was Gaia, a rough looking commoner boy who had a earth type bear summon, naturally awakened already. Then there was Streck, another young commoner who was also a healer who awakened to an ability that provided quick recovery to himself and others. Then there was Lute, the champion of this contest and had overwhelmed most of her opponents in a single burst and became number one.
The new noble young boy Simon also showed amazing talent and was a beast of a child as he had so much energy even at such a young age. Most of all though was Zephyr, he was a mystery to Linus. He was lazy yet sharp, strong yet irritating, shameless yet honorable. He had so many traits and he felt stronger every time he saw him.
Zephyrs automatic self cultivation was dormant until he first awakened to his black book, his energy was passively constructing his body to be sturdier and stronger every second. Zephyrs abilities had reached level six student and his energy reached a bottleneck after his book was awakened.
Although no more progress was made in terms of quantity, his quality and power was refined to its purest form and kept constantly being circulated into his body.
As Zephyr made his way to the plaza, he encountered Simon. Simon was busy observing something in his hands and upon coming closer, Zephyr saw it was a Coliseum ad.
It was massive and was especially popular in Oswald and was a favorite past time of everyone, observing great battles and new summons was always something pleasant to watch.
It was rumored that students in the battle academy would sign up for non lethal duels in the coliseum during their own time to earn money and experience. Zephyr was interested in seeing how things worked and wanted to watch one.
"Simon, you heading to the coliseum? Lemme go too!" He latched onto the opportunity.
"Ya, my brother is a second year in the academy and is a cornerstone of their squad for national competitions, he's entering the coliseum after a long time to earn more experience. I'm going to cheer him on, they start in a bit let's go." Simon explained and started walking out of school grounds.
After leaving school in the first time in a couple of days, Zephyr was once again reminded of the bustling city. There were chariots flying down the path with crowds of people on the outskirts, going to and fro everywhere with hawkers and merchants standing at the side yelling out their newest items.
Zephyr and Simon slowly followed the traffic south and after ten minutes of slow passage, Zephyr saw a massive building in the distance.
It was dark green in color and gave a oppressive and grand feel, and there was roars of a massive crowd all around.
"This coliseum lost many customers due to a lack of quality show timers or people risking their lives and are truly strong. It now is just a shadow of its former glory and is just a symbol. It is only fully packed during holidays and then that's when you will see the true enormity of the coliseum in all its glory."
They quickly showed up to the grounds and made their way to one of the many employees but were quickly stopped.
"Kids shouldn't be in a place like this" a man walked right towards them, ready to shoo them away. He was already late to his match and was considered a forfeit, so he took out his anger on these kids.
Zephyr and Simon were still eight and when they looked at this man who walked up to them, there was a massive disparity in size. The man had rippling muscles and although he didn't look old, he must have been in his young twenties.
His brown hair looked unkempt and he gave off a ruffian feel. Unluckily, his intimidation would have scared the meek kids, but both Simon and Zephyr grew up in fighting, aggressive families.
They looked at each other and quickly chose to act first in a surprise attack because the man clearly looked stronger than them. They dashed immediately and picked their targets, Zephyr aimed for the mans face while Simon aimed for his stomach.
The man didn't put them in his sights and had no awareness to his defense and took both blows head on. He was sent flying and crashed into the coliseum walls.
"Whoohoo!" The two kids cheered and high five while onlookers looked on in shock, mouths agape.
"You little!" An enraged snarl came from the cracked area and a reddish aura emerged as the man had an Axe in his hands, his eyes were spitting fire as he looked at them in rage.
His Axe was reddish brown in color and gave of off a sharp aura. Simon and Zephyr both turned serious as Zephyr took a fighting position and Simon enclosed himself clad in his sacred aura.