"Next."

After knocking out Kyle, the class suddenly fell silent, and everyone began to look at Brenin differently.

Kyle was one of the best students in their class, and during the many sparring sessions he had done, he had always shown himself skilled in sword fighting and good at controlling his mana . For his classmates, Kyle was one of the closest ones to moving from Section B to Section A;

Still, seeing Kyle humiliated like that shocked everyone to such an extent that their beliefs were shattered, and despite Brenin's invitation to come and challenge him, no one at that time was willing to sparring him.

Professor Dwiel, on the other hand, in addition to being surprised with the ease with which Brenin defeated Kyle, was more surprised with his technique, which, according to an expert like him, was of an excellent level.

What troubled him, however, was the fact that to achieve such technique and maneuverability required years of experience, experience he could only get in one place: the battlefield.

He wasn't sure, but if Brenin really had all that experience, then it meant that among the students in his class, there was no one who could even give him a headache; he realized that the only effect this useless sparring had was to go and destroy the egos of his pupils, just as had happened with Kyle.

And then, in addition to the technique, he had noticed something strange in his movements and in the way he observed Kyle and the others; he didn't pay much attention to it at first, but now it had caught his attention.

[...I'm not sure, but if so... someone really interesting has arrived in this academy!]

Therefore, catching everyone off guard a bit, Dwiel decided to step up and fully test Brenin's talent, to see how far he could go.

"Brenin, I admit that you are really talented" - Dwiel exclaimed in a firm voice, heading toward the armaments and picking up a wooden sword and pointing it at Brenin, who was slightly surprised - "However, I'm still not sure of your level. How about sparring against me? It's more challenging, don't you think?"

When Brenin heard those words, he was surprised for a while, remaining silent for a few moments. Then, however, a small smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes, which until then seemed "dull" and joyless, began to shine.

Brenin was happy. Happy that he could give his all, and he was happy that he would be facing someone really strong from whom he could learn.

All this, for him, was experience. Experience that would help him become the strongest swordsman.

The professor joined him in the ring, thus placing himself in front of Brenin;

The young swordsman, upon just looking at the authoritative pose of his sparring partner, immediately realized that the gap between the two was really big; [Unbelievable ... His stance is seemingly drab and uncaring, yet ... I see no openings in his defense. And his composure is ...]

Brenin, absorbed in his thoughts, did not realize that a dozen seconds had passed since the two were face to face. At that moment, he had absolutely no idea what to do, and he kept mulling over how to proceed.

Dwiel was a bit taken aback by that behavior, and not understanding what was going on in that boy's head, he then decided to take the initiative -"Well, then I'll open the dancing!"

With precise and swift movements, he approached Brenin, who was shaken by those movements, unable to read his opponent's trajectory clearly [I see his trajectories, though--they are too many and they are too swift!].

Dwiel, with extreme speed, set off a violent horizontal slash, from right to left; Brenin for a moment, thought of dodging the blow, but in that split second, his brain made him realize that he wasn't fast enough to dodge the slash, and that he would most likely be blown away by that blow, ending up knocked out.

So Brenin, decided to do the only thing possible at that moment: he strengthened his arms to the maximum, and instead of dodging the blow, he replicated Dwiel's same attack but at a slightly different angle.

In doing so, Brenin managed to cushion the blow, however, ending up several meters behind, with the soles of his shoes smelling a bit smoky from the heavy friction with the floor.

"Hmm... Good decision. And you're brave, too..." said Dwiel amusedly, but he did not seem particularly surprised by Brenin's choice.

[I managed to parry the blow, but my arms...]

Although he had somehow managed to cushion the impact, his arms were sore, to the point that he lost feeling in his fingers for a few seconds.

At that moment, he was certain that he could not take any more such blows.

"Hey, don't get distracted, we're just getting started!"

Catching his student distracted, Dwiel decided to nip him in the bud by attempting to hit him with a swift and powerful strike; for Brenin, it was as if the tip of the professor's sword, from being several meters away, had teleported, bringing itself within inches of his face.

"Shit!"

Brenin narrowly dodged the blow tilting his head at the last moment, still suffering a small cut on his cheek. Brenin tried to back away, in an attempt to escape from Dwiel's pressure, but the professor intended to test Brenin by continuing to attack him with determination.

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Brenin at that point knew that he could not use his footwork to fool the professor, nor his wind element to accelerate his speed, and the only thing he could rely on was his mana and his eyes.

At that point, Brenin plucked up his courage and began to parry the professor's every blow with effort, resulting in a highly technical sword exchange.

"Ah! Now we're talking!" Exclaimed the professor, appreciating Brenin's courage.

Brenin's classmates watched that confrontation with amazement; to them, Brenin was nothing more than a blowhard, someone they did not want in their class. They hated him, found him far too foul- mouthed, however, at that moment, seeing how he stood up to the professor, they feel admiration for their new classmate, to the point that some of them, without giving too much away, began to cheer a little for the boy they considered arrogant.

As the confrontation went on, Dwiel was increasingly surprised by the speed with which Brenin adjusted to his barrage of blows; before, Brenin's parries were not so precise and were made with a bit of a lag, thus suffering major setbacks in his arms. Now, however, although his arms must have been extremely sore, with determination he continued to parry every blow he received. In addition, his parries had become more precise and were executed with the right timing, which made their confrontation almost "on a level playing field."

[Now I am certain! This boy's eyes are special!]

On the other hand, however, Brenin had now reached his limit; he now had little sensitivity in his hands, his arms were heavy, and for several minutes now his mana had not been boosting his body as before, a symptom that he had almost exhausted all the mana in his core.

Things were getting bad for him, he was almost on the verge of collapsing on the ground, and yet, at that moment, he was enjoying himself like a child, since for the first time in such a long time, he had found someone who made him have so much fun.

[This is funny! I'm glad i came here...Huh?!]

Suddenly, his eyes saw, in his professor's defense, a small gap.

Throughout that exchange of blows, Brenin had not dared to go on the offensive, since he could not read his professor's movements well. But at that moment, when all his energies were focused to their fullest, he saw a small opening.

Normally, he would have thought twice before using such a gap in his favor, but his body moved even before he could assess whether or not it was the correct time to attack.Brenin then, confidently parried Dwiel's blow, and in the next instant, he used quick leg movements, bypassing the professor's asphyxiating pressure and finishing behind him in the air, leaving Dwiel surprised, who had not expected such speed.

"RRRUAAAGH!"

While in the air, Brenin raised his sword skyward, ready to strike the professor on the back of the head with all his strength. Brenin then set off his violent, mana-laden slash, convinced that he could at least hit the professor once.

Brenin was really certain of the success of his attack, but he forgot the fact that in front of him, there was a magical knight with long experience in battle.

"You did well, but you're light years away before you can hit me!"

suddenly, as if by magic, Dwiel's body "disappeared" into thin air, reappearing almost istantaneously behind him; for the students, it was almost likle a glitch, since he disappeared and reappeared within half a second. But Brenin, albeit with extreme difficulty, was able to follow his professor's movements, which to his eyes appeared as fast as a beam of light.

"D-Damn it!"

Brenin tried to stop his slash and turn around in time, but before he could even do thar, Dwiel hit him with a kick on the butt, knocking him awkwardly into the ring, triggering a bit of laughter from the rest of the students, who had just witnessed certainly an interesting fight anyway.

Brenin wanted to get back up; he had too much fun in that five-minute confrontation, and he wanted to continue exchanging blows with the professor. But the moment he fell to the ground, all the fatigue enveloped his body, making him far too sore and heavy to even think of holding the sword.

"Ahh...I lost!" exclaimed Brenin, although, at that moment, his expression did not seem at all sad or angry.

"You seem to have had a good time ..." - said the professor, who approached Brenin .

"A little bit..." replied Brenin breathily, trying to catch his breath after a pretty intense sparring session.

"Well, I'm glad ... at least you don't have that bored expression all the time" - countered Dwiel, a little surprised to finally see an expression other than bored - "Anyway, you're not bad, kid. You're really not bad."

Brenin was silent for a moment, breathing deeply and looking up at the gray ceiling of the training room. Then, however, his gaze became serious again as he looked again at the professor.

"So, do you think I can become the strongest alumnus in this academy? I think my chances are high, don't you think so too?"

[Again with this...] Thought the professor slightly stymied, who for a moment forgot about Brenin's cheeky character.

"Well, first of all, I understand why Leonard brought you here: your speed in making a decision when under attack is remarkable, for your age, your fighting technique is already at a good point, and your sword handling is not bad at all... Not to mention that you have an "advantage over others," thanks to the "Oculus Praecognitio"

"...How do you know?"

"Well, besides the fact that your eyes are turning red, you have adapted too quickly to the speed of my combinations. Then, your sleepy expression is---"

"I get it, I get it" - said Brenin, who didn't need to hear any more - "Let's get back to the important stuff-what am I missing?"

"Phew... you lack experience..." - exclaimed the professor, stymied by the way Brenin had interrupted him, almost brutally.

Before their sparring, he believed that Brenin had a lot of experience, but after their little fight, and after making sure that Brenin had "Oculus Preocognito", he finally understood why brenin's movements were so precise.

"You're not bad, let's be clear. Your technique is very good, and the fact that you have that kind of sight is an advantage. But you rely too much on this ocular ability of yours to fight, your movements are always a bit late because of thsi, and too often you are on the defensive because you are waiting for the right moment to attack. In addition, your attack patterns are very repetitive, and if you were facing the best student, you would be defeated within moments. In fact, there are probably a dozen students who would beat you without too much trouble in an official confrontation. I think that's why the principal and Ylenia decided to put you in the B section, so that you can fill in these technical gaps of yours."

Brenin remained silent, trying to process what the professor had said; sure, he knew he was far from his goal, but from the way the professor was talking, it sure sounded like the academy's strongest would-be knight was much stronger than he could have imagined.

[Well, if it were all so easy, then it wouldn't be fun...] Brenin thought, curious to see who this phantom number 1 among the aspiring knights was. With the professor's words, his expectations had risen, and he was looking forward to being able to face this guy.

"Anyway, professor, I would like to know more about this guy. Who is he?"

END OF CHAPTER 30 - TALENT